computer rendering of Best Buy Theater marquee (via NY Times)

For whatever reason, I prefer "Nokia Theater" - it almost doesn't sound like a sponsored name or I just got used to it. "Best Buy Theater" on the other hand - all I can think about is blue and yellow ("Danzig played the Best Buy Theater" doesn't sit well).... Press release below...

Continue reading "Nokia Theater is now Best Buy Theater (Linkin Park appropriately playing the inaugural performance)"

"bomb scare outside killfest 2010 at nokia theater in times square.. mayhem inside and out" - John

The Nissan Pathfinder that prompted police to close off parts of New York's Times Square contained bomb-making materials, the city's mayor said.

"There were gas cans and bomb making materials in the car," Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters early Sunday morning. "Who abandoned the car and why are under investigation."

Bloomberg said authorities found propane cylinders, fireworks and timing devices in the car.

The shutdown began late Saturday when a foot patrol officer saw smoke coming from a box inside the car with Connecticut plates on 45th Street between 7th and 8th avenues. [CNN]

Though some weren't able to get to the show due to Nokia Theatre's Times Square location (Broadway between 44th & 45th), Overkill, Vader and the other bands on the Saturday night metal bill, did play. John says, "yea the concert went uninterrupted just had to talk my way past police line. overkill, vader and god dethroned were on fire." BlueEyedDevil had less luck. He wrote that he "was enjoying a great afternoon in the city and walked to TQ to find it barracaded off. Just got home and what a f'n waste. Would have been a great time." Sucks, but at least nobody was hurt.

words by BBG, photos by Samantha Marble

Snake of Voivod!

As Kreator took the stage to "Choir of the Dammed," you could feel the excitement and adrenaline building in the venue. The band played with dead on accuracy, flawlessly mixing favorites from all eras to celebrate their 25th year in existence. There was extensive headbanging and a barrage of devil horns being thrown by the masses all night long. During the night, Mille informed us that after this leg of the tour, Kreator are heading back to Europe to do some summer festivals and then Kreator will get working on a new album.
Kreator played roughly an hour and twenty minutes and as the night came to a close, Mille had every voice in the venue bellowing "HATE" to introduce 'Flag of Hate" because when in New York at a Kreator concert on a Saturday night, how else do you show appreciation for the German Thrash veterans? - [MetalMachine.net]

More pics and some video from the NYC show (including shots of Kreator and Voivod's setlists), flyers and dates below...

Continue reading "Kreator & Voivod played Nokia Theatre in NYC w/ Evile & Nachtmystium (pics), continue on tour (SXSW & other dates) "

photos by Tim Griffin

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

Buckshot opened for De La Soul at Nokia Theatre in August. A full set of pictures from the show is continued below...

Continue reading "De La Soul @ Nokia Theatre in NYC - pics "

Chicago's nu romantics KILL HANNAH woke up on the eve of wrapping their fall tour with Jet, Papa Roach and Morningwood to a find their 15-passenger van and 14-foot trailer stolen. Taken between 4am and 11am today, Wednesday, November 11 from the front of the Holiday Inn on 900 Packer Ave, Philadelphia, PA-the same location that rock trio Mae had their van stolen from just a week earlier-the band lost over $120,000 in gear and merchandise, including one-of-a-kind vintage custom guitars and vintage custom effects. The theft comes just over a year after a devastating fire in Europe destroyed everything on the band's bus.

Lead singer Mat Devine says, "We're devastated and speechless. We've been touring so hard around the world for the past seven years and this is the most evil thing we've witnessed. Special Crimes say this was a coordinated heist."

The band regretfully has to cancel their remaining tour dates, scheduled for the Electric Factory in Philadelphia [Wednesday] and the Nokia Theatre in New York City [tonight]. Their seventh annual "New Heart For Xmas" weekend of shows and events are still scheduled in Chicago on December 18 at Reggie's Rock House and December 19 at Metro.

Continue reading "another band's van was stolen in Philly (same spot as Mae) (band cancels dates on best tour ever)"

DOOM @ Pitchfork Fest in July (more by Joseph Xu)

"[In response to why he wears a mask]...A visual always brings a first impression. But if there's going to be a first impression I might as well use it to control the story. So why not do something like throw a mask on?"

Or throw the mask on someone else Dumile routinely sends out one of his comrades in the DOOM costume and has him lip-sync the entire show. He sees this as a logical extension of the DOOM idea. Fans who have paid for tickets tend to disagree.

If Dumile had his way, he would take it further. He jokes that he'd like to dart backstage after a performance, take off the mask, and then wade into the crowd - beer in hand - and applaud his own work in conversations with strangers, if the subject of DOOM comes up, Dumile will simply play along, like Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne.

"I'm the writer, I'm the director," Dumile said. "If I was to go out there without the mask on, they'd be like, 'Who the fuck is this?' I might send a white dude next ... I'll send a Chinese nigger. I'll send ten Chinese niggers. I might send the Blue Man Group." [New Yorker]

The show will also feature a performance by Mos Def, a rumored guest on the forthcoming follow-up to 2004's Madvillainy, which will come out (date unknown) on Stones Throw Records. The NYC gig one of two currently on the schedule for DOOM. The other is a Madvillain set at L.A.'s We the People Festival.

Tracks allegedly from the new Madvillain record were recently leaked on East Village Radio's Fat Beats Live. A YouTubed clip of those are below.

DOOM is also set to release a new disc of "rare non-album tracks and guest appearances" called Unexpected Guests, which comes out November 10th on Gold Dust. A preview trailer for that mix is below, and its first 15 minutes are streaming at Doom-UnexpectedGuests.com.

DOOM's Madvillain collaborator Madlib is busy, as always, with plenty of other projects. DOOM played Pitchfork Festival earlier this year in July.

Previews and tour dates are below...

Continue reading "DOOM playing NY w/ Mos Def, releasing b-sides, Madvillain 2"

photos by Paul Birman

Devin the Dude

"Did ya'll like the motherfucking dancers?" asked Snoop Dogg, as two ladies in skintight red pants exited the stage at Nokia Theatre Thursday night.

"You can say you like them [even if] you got your girl with you," Snoop instructed. "Cause I like your girl. She look good. I think you should know that."

Snoop's hilarious on-stage banter went on for the entire two-hour show - at one point he told the crowd he doesn't even need to ask "if you got your weed tonight." (It was pretty obvious from the clouds of smoke.)

The Doggfather played over two hours - rocking jams like "The Next Episode," "Sexual Eruption" and "Gin and Juice" - and even called Da Brat and Devin the Dude onstage for collaborations. Guests, which included jaw-dropping openers Method Man and RedMan, along with Ice T, Coco and Verne Troyer, danced along from the sidelines. [Poison Ivy]

Continue reading "Snoop Dogg, Devin the Dude, Method Man & Redman @ Nokia Theatre in NYC - pics "

photos by Tim Griffin

Nokia Theatre, October 2008


There hasn't been a shortage of Method Man and Redman shows at Nokia Theatre in NYC. They played there over the summer with Ghostface, and did a show there in October of 2008... which Tim took pictures of, but they never saw the light of day. Here they are.

Their next show at the Times Square venue happens tonight (10/29/2009). If you go, get there early because the coolest dude on the bill might just be the dude who plays first on the bill, and that dude is Devin the Dude. Snoop Dogg headlines the show. All dates and more pictures below...

Continue reading "Devin the Dude on tour w/ Snoop Dogg, Method Man & Redman (Nokia Theatre again tonight - pics & dates) "

The Cranberries: hot or not?

Foreigner plays Nokia Theatre in NYC tonight (10/2).

America plays Nokia Theatre on October 16th. Tickets are on sale.

It's a two day pre-Halloween smoke fest. Snoop Dogg is at Nokia on October 29th (tickets). Cypress Hill is there one day later (tickets).

Speaking of industrial, Skinny Puppy plays Nokia on November 17th. Tickets are on sale.

And last but not least (I think, maybe), what's in your head, The Cranberries have reunited for a tour, zombie, zombie, and are playing Nokia Theatre on November 18th. Tickets are currently on AmEx presale, and go on general sale at noon today (10/2). Oh, Oh, Oh, all dates below...

Continue reading "The Cranberries (reunited), America, Skinny Puppy, other tix"

photos by Jaecyne Howell

DJ Spinna and Q-Tip @ Nokia Theatre

"On Saturday, August 29th, what would have been Michael Jackson's 51st birthday, fans of the King of Pop gathered at New York City's NOKIA Theatre Times Square for Q-Tip Presents: "Long Live the King! A Birthday Celebration for Michael Jackson." The sold-out crowd danced the night away to never-before-heard remixes of Michael Jackson's hits, as well as rare video footage from the Motown and Sony vaults. Joining Q-Tip onstage to DJ were special guests DJ Spinna and Mark Ronson. At one point, Quincy Jones called in to say a few words to the audience. Other celebrities in attendance included Solange Knowles, Marsha Ambrosius, Grandmaster Flash, DJ Premier and Anthony Anderson."

Continue reading "Q-Tip, DJ Spinna, Mark Ronson & guests celebrated Michael Jackson's birthday @ Nokia Theatre in NYC - pics "

photos by Tim Griffin

As Buckshot reminded the Nokia Theatre crowd at the end of his solo appearance opening for De La Soul on Thursday night (8/14), he has an album coming out with KRS-One called Survival Skills. That album drops on 9/15. On Saturday, August 29th, at 1PM, the duo will perform a free show at City Hall Park in NYC as part of J&R MusicFest, a three-day 'block party' in the Wall Street area (near J&R) that will feature multiple free shows including one by Clipse at 6:00PM on Friday the 28th.

Full J&R schedule with more pictures, and a bunch of videos, from the Nokia Theatre show, below...

Continue reading "Buckshot played Nokia Theatre (pics, video), playing w/ KRS-One @ J&R MusicFest (so are Clipse & the Smithereens)"

De La DMC @ Nokia Theatre, NYC - 8/13/09 (by Tim Griffin)

As Del La Soul told the crowd when they took the stage at Nokia Theatre in NYC last night (8/13), their show was not going to be all music from 3 Feet High & Rising. Why would anyone think it would be? Probably because the show was billed as "20 Years High and Rising" (and everyone and their mother is playing full albums these days) (including Buckshot who opened the show, but didn't play a full album at this one either). I was more than okay with them not playing the full thing, though it would have been nice to hear a few more songs from that album. Specifically, I wished they played "The Magic Number" and "Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge)".

I loved every second of the packed show, and the 10-piece backing band was an especially nice touch. That said, I was selfishly hoping for a few more special guests, not that there weren't any. I thought for sure that Q-Tip would show up, and the Jungle Brothers and Black Sheep, and maybe even Doom, and who knows who else. Ends up they sort of kept the guests to a minimum. Bumpy Knuckles performed a short unannounced opening set. Prince Paul was brought out for a second to say hello. Dres from Black Sheep and Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest were watching from the side of the stage and were brought forward to dance for a minute during "Buddy". And then, the big, and maybe only real special guest moment came during a cover of Run DMC's "Rock Box" which was completed with DMC himself on stage as part of the group. They covered Rakim too, but he wasn't there, maybe because he was downtown playing his own show at Highline Ballroom the same evening.

This Sunday (8/16) indie rock leaves the Williamsburg Waterfront for one week (Central Park Summerstage stole it for the day), and another big (mostly) hip hop show happens in NYC, courtesy of JellyNYC, and it's free (and/or $50). The Sunday Pool Party lineup includes Gravy Train!!!, DD/MM/YYYY, Kenan Bell (who also opened for De La Soul on Thursday), a DJ set by Prince Paul (Plug Four), and a headlining set by DEL the Funky Homosapien.

We have a full set of pictures coming from De La Soul (more tour dates HERE), and we'll have some from Sunday too. In the meantime, here's a few videos from the show...

Continue reading "De La Soul (& DMC) played Nokia, Prince Paul DJing Pool Party Sunday (w/ Del da Funky Homosapien, Kenan Bell, others) "

Roger Daltrey's 'Use It or Lose It' Tour - his first solo tour since '85

Daltrey will be joined onstage by a longtime collaborator, guitarist/backup singer Simon Townshend, and a stellar crew of American players, including guitarist/musical director Frank Simes, keyboardist Loren Gold, bassist Jon Button and drummer Scott Devours.

Promising a healthy serving of Who songs ("but they'll be my versions of them"), solo material - including some songs he's never played live - and covers that pay tribute to his influences and admired contemporaries. Although he prefers to keep his set lists a surprise, it's no secret that Daltrey has over the years performed songs by the likes of Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Queen, among others, alongside favorites from his Who and solo catalogs.

The tour also includes four Jersey stops. Tickets to his November 17th show at Red Bank's Count Basie Theater are on sale now. The show at Montclair's Wellmont Theatre (November 11th) goes on presale August 19th. And his pair of Atlantic City dates (November 13th and 14th) go on presale September 2nd. All tour dates are below...

Continue reading "The Who's Roger Daltrey going on a solo tour (dates) "

Mama-se, mama-sa, ma-ma-coo-sa (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

"On Saturday, August 29, 2009 - what would have been Michael Jackson's 51st birthday - Grammy award-winning, hip-hop icon Q-Tip presents "Long Live the King! A Birthday Celebration for Michael Jackson" at the NOKIA Theatre Times Square. Q-Tip will be joined in the DJ booth by special invited guests Grammy award-winning producer/artist Mark Ronson and the legendary DJ Spinna."

Like he recently did in Central Park, Q-Tip is rapping (not DJing) this Friday at All Points West. More info on the Nokia show below...

Continue reading "Q-Tip DJing @ Nokia Theatre on Michael Jackson's birthday w/ Mark Ronson & DJ Spinna (and playing APW Friday) "

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: De La Soul - "Big Mouf" (MP3, Clean Version)

One of the great innovators of hip hop, De La Soul, are hitting the road in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their landmark 1989 LP (and one of my personal favorites), 3 Feet High and Rising!

The most inventive, assured, and playful debut in hip-hop history, 3 Feet High and Rising not only proved that rappers didn't have to talk about the streets to succeed, but also expanded the palette of sampling material with a kaleidoscope of sounds and references culled from pop, soul, disco, and even country music. Weaving clever wordplay and deft rhymes across two dozen tracks loosely organized around a game-show theme, ...Prince Paul (from Stetsasonic) and DJ Pasemaster Mase led the way on the production end, with dozens of samples from all sorts of left-field artists -- including Johnny Cash, the Mad Lads, Steely Dan, Public Enemy, Hall & Oates, and The Turtles.... If it was easy to believe the revolution was here from listening to the rapping and production on Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, with De La Soul the Daisy Age seemed to promise a new era of positivity in hip-hop. -[allmusic]

Pos and Trugoy of De La Soul's bandmate in Gorillaz, Damon Albarn, recently played a few reunion shows with his old band Blur.

De La Soul's latest release, Are You In?, is part of the Nike+ Original Run series that has included such notables as A-Trak, LCD Soundsystem, and Aesop Rock. Check out "Big Mouf" from that record above, and download all of Are You In? via iTunes. The trio discusses the LP and the making of it in the video, which is posted with all known tour dates, below....

Continue reading "De La Soul going on tour w/ 10-piece band to celebrate 20 years of 3 Feet High & Rising (dates include Nokia Theater)"

by Black Bubblegum

Ghost & Rae @ Rock The Bells 2008 (more by villageslum.com)

The Wallaby Champ aka Ghostface Killah will join forces with fellow miscreants and Wu-affiliates (loosely and not) Method Man & Redman to play an "All Points West Kick Off Party" on July 30th at Nokia Theater. Tickets are on AMEX pre-sale starting at noon on 6/11, with gen-pop getting theirs at noon on 6/13. Get 'em here. The show is one of a string of dates dubbed as "The Footprints In Hip Hop Tour", and although full details are sketch, all known tour dates are below.

Meanwhile, Raekwon is still touting August 11th as the release date for Only Built For Cuban Linx 2, and in an act of good faith, released the Blood On Chef's Apron mixtape. Cop that here. Raekwon was recently interviewed by Allhiphop.com and dropped a video for "New Wu" featuring Ghost and Meth, which is viewable below. Raekwon is hitting the road with Rock The Bells this summer.

Red & Meth are touring off of their recent LP Blackout 2!, and I am guessing, building hype for their upcoming monolithic celluloid masterpiece How High 2. Not a joke.

APW 2009 also has it's share of hip hop goodness (tickets here), including the return of Organized Konfusion!

Dates & videos below...

Continue reading "Ghostface, Redman & Method Man - 2009 tour dates"

photos by Tim Griffin

"I won't lie....never had the chance to fully listen to 88-Keys, but when he came out and spit a few bars here and there...I was impressed..... From tricking fans by saying he was bringing out Yeezy (Kanye West to newly converted hip-hop heads) and instead coming out with his shirt open, black glove and lip-syncing to his lead single, 88 battled a handful of boos, a wad of paper thrown at his story-telling assistant which came out in-between tracks and poor microphone sound problems... On a side note, he did, however, bring out Bilal...)...

...Eminem [who got a taste of Bruno's butt at the MTV Movie Awards last night] told you to "take some Big and some 'Pac, mix 'em up in a pot, sprinkle a lil' Big L on top, now what the f*ck do you got," well, let me do you one slightly better. You take some hip and some hop, pour it all in a pot, surprise fans with Mos and Talib and fo' sure they gon' pop......' (laugh) Okay, maybe I'll stick to the re-cap and news covering....but when I tell you the place exploded with energy upon the arrival of Black Star's front men.... [SOHH]

Continue reading "Mos Def & Talib Kweli were Black Star again Saturday @ Nokia Theater in NYC - pics & videos"

photos by Chris Graham

"Mos Def took the stage looking like a New Orleanean shaman.

He kept gesturing beyond the crowd to the Columbia River, saying, "The dream is real! Look around you!"

My favorite moment: Mos Def rapping over a personal favorite beat by Oxnard, CA artist called Oh No (find it on an album called "Dr. No's Oxperiment"). It's got a strong '60s/'70s Turkish psych-rock guitar line running the whole way through...I want to say the original is by an artist called Selda. Not sure. But I remember when heard the beat about two years ago, I went straight to the music store and bought the album it was sampled from. Pretty sure Selda is the correct name. I just bought a greatest hits album. I don't know a lot about Turkish/Anatolian psych-rock. Wish I knew more,

Anyhow, I'm one of those long-time Mos Def fans that loves his singing voice, but wishes he'd rap a little more. And there he was, killing one of my favorite beats, rapping like he meant it. Felt great." [Seattle Weekly]

Tonight (5/30), Mos Def reunites with Talib Kweli for two Black Star shows at NYC's Nokia Theatre. The early show (with 88 Keys and Black Violin) is sold out, but tickets still remain for the late one (with Blaqstarr).

As the NY Daily News pointed out in a feature yesterday, 88-Keys is also known as a "Kanye West protege". Special guests are definitely rumored at tonight's show.

More pictures from Sasquatch below...

Continue reading "Mos Def played Sasquatch (pics) -- Black Star reunites tonight"

photos by Arcadia Media

"King of the Dogs," the lead single from Iggy Pop's forthcoming album Préliminaires, was released digitally on May 5 through all digital retailers including Amazon, iTunes and Rhapsody. Rolling Stone included the song on their "Hot List" calling it "Magnifique," and adding that "on this Big Easy-style single from his French-novel-inspired new disc, Ig gets his Tom Waits on." The track is also currently being featured on Stereogum.

"King of the Dogs" was inspired by New Orleans style jazz, with an arrangement featuring trumpet, trombone and clarinet. "At one point, I just got sick of listening to idiot thugs with guitars banging out crappy music," says Iggy. "I've started listening to a lot of New Orleans-era, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton type of jazz."

Préliminaires, which will be released in the U.S. on EMI Music's Astralwerks label on June 2, was produced by Hal Cragin and inspired by French author Michel Houellebecq's 2005 novel The Possibility of an Island. Iggy will also be performing at the fifth annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit concert honoring Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Kiedis, which takes place at club Nokia in Los Angeles on May 8.

Continue reading "Iggy Pop's new single streaming + more pics & video from Road Recovery 2009 (Street Sweeper, Perry Farrell, more)"

Iggy Pop, Billy Bragg, Perry Farrell, Don Was, Wayne Kramer, Tom Morello, Little Steven & friends @ the Nokia Theatre last night (edenpictures)

tonight in NYC
* Corn Mo @ Sputnik
* Tribeca Film Festival
* Lady Gaga @ Terminal 5
* Ben & Vesper @ Sycamore
* Bamboozle 2009 @ Giants Stadium
* Fires of Rome @ Tribeca Grand Hotel
* Buraka Som Sistema @ Bowery Ballroom
* Superpitcher, JDH & Dave P (FIXED) @ Studio B
* Look & Listen Festival @ Gary Snyder/Project Space
* Hexa, Air Waves, Jared Micah and Hats @ Glasslands
* The Kills, The Horrors, Magic Wands @ Webster Hall
* Bell Denmark, Grey Gersten, Shahzad Ismaily @ The Stone
* Kurt Vile, Gary War, Sightings, Drunkdriver @ Silent Barn
* Bloody Panda, Pontiak, Ocean, Microkingdom @ Death By Audio
* Bat For Lashes, Lewis & Clarke @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* King Khan & The Shrines, Mark Sultan, Golden Triangle @ Maxwell's
* Trevor Dunn's Madlove, Thurston Moore/Daniel Carter/Ryan Sawyer Trio, Pink Noise @ Union Pool

Iggy Pop (as pictured above) played the Road Recovery Benefit last night. Video below..

A video ad/interview with Bell Orchestre below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

Iggy Pop supports Michigan State University's decision to ban animal circuses from campus in 2009 and hopes the school will make the ban permanent.

"As students who are concerned about animal welfare have told you, performing animals are deprived of everything that is natural to them, including the ability to roam, forage and form families and friendships," Pop said in a letter to the MSU Board of Trustees. It was written on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA says the board of trustees decided not to allow the Royal Hanneford Circus (or any others with animal performers) on campus in 2009, for the first time in 16 years. But what about 2010?

"The circus industry is big, wealthy and powerful, and I'm sure that its leaders are encouraging you to reverse your decision," Pop said in his letter.

"I implore you to continue to keep the interests of your students and the welfare of animals at the forefront of your thoughts and stand firm on your policy." [Detroit Free Press]

Iggy, who has a new near-jazz record on the way, is confirmed to appear at the previously-mentioned Road Recovery Benefit happening at Nokia Theatre in NYC on May 1st...

An evening of high-energy rock and roll that's going to be "just loose enough musically that anything might happen," jokes Wayne Kramer... Perry Farrell (Jane's Addiction), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine/ Audioslave / The Nightwatchman), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Don Was, Billy Bragg, Iggy Pop, Boots Riley, Gilby Clarke, Carl Restivo, Eric Gardner, Bun E. Carlos, Handsome Dick Manitoba performing songs together and individually from their respective catalogs, as well as collaborating on MC5 songs and anything else that strikes their fancy

Also joining the show will be Joan As Police Woman, Ours, Miggs, and Road Recovery's Performance Workshop Program "House Band" Crazy James
Emcee: Matt Pinfield (Sirius Radio and RXP 101.9FM DJ)

Joan as Policewoman opened for Neko Case at the same venue on Tuesday.

Kick Out the Jams (video) below...

Continue reading "Iggy Pop playing Road Recovery show, speaks up on circuses"

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

"It seems like every time I go on tour and I'm in a hotel room and turn the channel, there's some sort of animal-disaster show on, or somebody's just been mauled by a tiger in a zoo, and everyone's always so shocked," Case explains. "And I'm like, 'It's a fucking tiger! You got it in a cage and you were poking it with something, and it killed you! What the fuck do you want it to do?'

"Zoos are a bad deal: elephants are meant to walk 70 miles a day, otherwise their feet go bad and they go insane and die. Killer whales need to swim 200 miles a day -- why would it be happy in that little ice box?" [Neko Case to Eye Weekly]

Continue reading "Neko Case - Nokia night two pics & Letterman video "

photos by Chris La Putt

Neko Case played her first of two shows at the Nokia Theater in NYC last night (4/13). Guests and bandmembers included Rachel Flotard from Visqueen, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Norah O'connor and Kelly Hogan. At one point Neko gave a shoutout to fellow New Pornographer AC Newman who appeared on Letterman (with Nicole Atkins) on the same night. Neko will play Letterman on Wednesday (tomorrow). The second Nokia Theatre show is tonight (4/14). More pictures from the first night, including one of the setlist, below...

Continue reading "Neko Case & Crooked Fingers @ Nokia Theatre - pics, setlist"

DOWNLOAD: Neko Case on AOL's The Interface (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Neko Case - People Got A Lot of Nerve (MP3)

Neko Case's latest tour has arrived in NYC. Crooked Fingers open for Neko at the
Nokia Theatre tonight (4/13). Joan as Policewoman open for Neko at the same venue tomorrow (4/14). Tickets for both shows are still on sale. I also have a pair for each show to giveaway. Details below.

Wondering what it will sound like? NPR is now streaming Thursday's DC show in its entirety. As a bonus, Will Sheff opened at that one, and you can listen to that @ NPR too.

The stage was set in something out of a nature cartoon with trees painted on long banners and an owl overseeing it all. Behind them videos of cyclones, airplanes and anthropomorphic animals were projected on a screen. But the attention was clearly on Case, her stunning voice, as well as her solid backing band. [NPR]

You can also listen to Neko on WFUV on Tuesday at 1pm, and on a recent episode of AOL's The Interface (MP3 above).

Recent collaborators for Neko include Dexter Romweber and Marianne Faithful.

All Neko dates, her new video, and contest details, below...

Continue reading "Neko Case is here (win tix) - NPR show stream, dates & stuff"

this is what it will look like later

Times Square in New York may be one of the brightest places on Earth, but on Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 8:30 pm the premier concert venue, NOKIA Theatre Times Square, will be turning off its centrally located marquee from 8:30pm to 9:30pm as part of Earth Hour, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Meanwhile inside, Keller Williams, with special guest Reid Genauer, will be performing his high-energy, one-man show setting the scene for the global spirit of the evening.

NOKIA Theatre Times Square is among 28 AEG venues worldwide that will be taking part in Earth Hour, a global effort to raise awareness about the climate crisis and the power each one of us has to make a difference. More then a billion people and businesses in a 1000 cities in more then 80 countries will turn off their lights and come together to discuss these important issues on March 28.

"Nokia Theatre is proud to be participating in this worldwide event, demonstrating that each business, each person has the ability to make a global impact on the environment," says Blake Henry, Assistant General Manager Nokia Theatre Times Square. "By turning off our lights in the heart of Times Square we will be sending a visual message that we are taking action to combat climate change."

"Earth Hour seems so obvious. Hopefully this will lead to 'Earth Day' being 24 hour darkness," says Keller Williams. "There is beauty in darkness." [press release]