Williamsburg Walks '09 (bitchcakesny)

Last year's Williamsburg Walks closed Bedford Avenue to car traffic for six Saturdays in July and August. This year a much-reduced event will happen over only one weekend, on June 26th and 27th. Why? As seen on Gothamist and Free Williamsburg,

Neighbors Allied for Good Growth [who organize Williamsburg Walks] faced resistance last month from Bedford Avenue merchants, who complained that the street festival slowed customer traffic and cut down sales for several Saturday afternoons, typically the busiest retail day for many business owners.

"Thank God they've cut it," said Jill Goldhand, the owner of the N. Sixth Street furniture store A and G Merch, who urged festival organizers to reduce the schedule.

Williamsburg Walks may be shorter, but Neighbors Allied for Good Growth said it will be better. "We are confident that the event will be fantastic and we will establish a sustainable model for the years to come," said event organizer Gregor Nemitz-Ziadie. [Brooklyn Paper]

The event will still coincide with the L Magazine-produced Northside Festival happening June 24-27. A selection of Williamsburg videos are below...

Continue reading "Williamsburg Walks reduced to 1 weekend (which happens to coincide with this year's Northside Festival) "

by Bill Pearis

The L Magazine's fifth annual "8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear" issue just hit the streets and the internet. It's got some familiar names (Twin Sister, North Highlands, Oberhofer) and some less-known ones (Nohow On, Asa Ransom). And like ever year, it's sure to spark some friendly debate, which I'll start: what, no Beach Fossils? Anyway, here's the L's Class of 2010, with each band's next NYC show just in case you wanna check 'em out (three of them are conveniently playing together at Cake Shop this Tuesday, April 6):

• Ava Luna (April 6, Cake Shop)
• MiniBoone (April 6, Cake Shop)
• Twin Sister (April 1, Glasslands)
• Asa Ransom (April 6, Cameo Gallery)
• Nohow On (April 17, Cameo Gallery)
• Ball of Flame Shoot Fire (April 6, Cake Shop)
• North Highlands (April 15, Union Hall)
• Oberhofer (April 6, Music Hall of Williamsburg (opening for Cymbals Eat Guitars)

Honorable mentions include Die Hard, Shark?, and Ribbons. You may remember discussing previous L Mag lists in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

P.S. The L Magazine-produced Northside Festival returns this year: June 24-27

photos by Ryan Muir

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.

A set of pictures of Bell taken at Public Assembly during the 2009 Northside Festival are continued below...

Continue reading "Bell @ Public Assembly in Brooklyn - pics "

photos by Ryan Muir

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.

Happy Holidays! A set of pictures of The War on Drugs taken at Union Pool during the 2009 Northside Festival are continued below...

Continue reading "The War on Drugs @ Union Pool during the Northside Festival in Brooklyn - pics "

photos by Ryan Muir

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.

A set of pictures of Bishop Allen taken at Studio B (RIP) during the 2009 Northside Festival are continued below...

Continue reading "Bishop Allen @ Studio B in Brooklyn - pics "

photos by Ryan Muir

Like Lee Ranaldo, Bill Callahan's Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle was one of my favorite albums of the year. Bill is currently on tour in the South with his labelmates (and Brooklyn residents) Lights. They won't come anywhere near NYC unfortunately - the last chance we had to see Bill was during his June tour that brought him to Le Poisson Rouge & Music Hall of Williamsburg with Sir Richard Bishop as opener. An unpublished set of pics from the Brooklyn show, with all dates, below...

Continue reading "Bill Callahan on tour (dates) ++ a lost set of pics from MHOW"

photos by Jason Walker, words by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Pollution - "Tiny Black Burns" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Unearthly Trance - "Diseased" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Defeatist - "Isolation Tactics" (MP3)

Unearthly Trance

Call me greedy, but when I recently posted the Show No Mercy/BV-BBG lineup of Keelhaul, Minsk, and STATS, followed by that lonely "+1 TBA"... I got a little sad. Why just one? Luckily, Brandon Stosuy & I (we came up with the lineup together) were on the same page, so that +1 TBA is now +2, AND we are proud to announce the addition of Unearthly Trance and Defeatist to the August 2nd lineup at Public Assembly!

Defeatist, which contains members of the much lamented Anodyne (with Mike Hill of Tombs), recently dropped Sharp Blade Sinks Deep Into Dull Minds on Willowtip. The LP is actually a compilation of previously released EPs and splits that will have to sate us while we await the arrival of Sixth Extinction, featuring 19 new tracks recorded by Colin Marston. The band is scheduled to take on the destructive Texas duo of Mammoth Grinder (who we profiled here) and Hatred Surge (who I loved at SXSW) on July 17th at The Charleston.

Unearthly Trance recently played the BV-BBG bash at Europa, and are scheduled to take on Lit Lounge on Monday (7/13) with the mighty Harpoon, one of two dates for Harpoon (they headline The Charleston on 7/14). Full Unearthly Trance & Harpoon dates are below.

In possibly related news, Pollution, a band that may or may not contain members of Unearthly Trance and/or Villains, has been added to the kick-ass Harvey Milk/Torche shindig at Music Hall of Williamsburg on July 26. Tickets are still available. The band is also scheduled to play Don Pedro's on Saturday (7/11) with The Choke and Bukkake Boys. Pollution dropped the nasty.DNA cassette, which will reportedly surface on LP via Feast of Tentacles. Check out "Tiny Black Burns" from that release above. Feast of Tentacles is responsible for the recent 2LP of another fave, Cough.

More pics and some thoughts on Unearthly Trance, Cough, Howl, Javelina, Doomriders, Sourvein, and Clouds at the BV-BBG at Europa on 6/14, as well as tour dates for Pollution and Harpoon are below....

Continue reading "bands added to BBG Show No Mercy show (@ Pub Assembly), more pics from the BBG show @ Europa (Northside Fest)"

photos by Ryan Muir

The first concert at the new Brooklyn Bowl will be O'Death, Justin Carter, Eamon Harkin and Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt on Friday, July 10th. Tickets are on sale now. You may remember that O'Death's June 13th Northside Festival show, which ended up happening at MHOW, was originally scheduled for the venue. More pictures from that show below...

Continue reading "O'Death played MHOW (pics), playing Brooklyn Bowl (really) "

photos by Zach Dilgard, words by Black Bubblegum

Wetnurse

The first half of the BV-BBG showcase at Europa on 6/14 featured some excellent performances by the always dependable Wetnurse, "white-metallers" Liturgy, the intense weed-doom of Cough, galloping crusty-thunder of Howl, and sludgy-punk of Philly's Javelina. Though some equipment issues on the 2nd floor stage caused timing issues which ultimately led to both floors playing at virtually the same time, I managed to catch at least half of every set at Europa. Of what I saw, a few highlights come to mind:

Continue reading "Wetnurse, Cough, Howl & Liturgy @ Europa (BBG show)-pics "

DOWNLOAD: Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart (MP3)

Sunset Rubdown @ Studio B - June 12, 2009 (in our hands)

-tons of sound problems. extremely frustrating for the crowd and the band. vocals kept dropping out.
-studio b could be blamed? venue sucks. also extremely hot.
-one of the lead guitarists got stuck in one of the stage pieces, couldn't get himself unstuck. very sad.
-spencer- many "best show ever"s, very sarcastically
-lots of people yelling out "JUST PLAY ANYWAY". band became visibly frustrated. i thought spencer was going to lose it at times.
-new song was just okay. the rest of the set was great. wish there was more stuff from older albums, but what can you do.
[Anonymous | June 12, 2009 11:26 PM]

Sunset Rubdown's new album Dragonslayer is out today (6/23)! You can stream it at NPR. Tour dates and Studio B setlist below...

Continue reading "Sunset Rubdown played Studio B ++ Dragonslayer released"

words by Showtrotta, photos by Ryan Muir

"S.L.A.M. is located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and is the home of STREB activities. Open rehearsals, performances, STREB classes, and other explorations of action mechanics happen here daily. SLAM is open to the public any time that staff is present." [STREB]

After seeing the Tallest Man On Earth for the second night in a row at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (6/13) (he was at MHOW the night before) I headed to the S.L.A.M. Warehouse in Williamsburg for "And Everyone Laughed" which was essentially a cross between a dance party and a circus (and part of the Northside Festival). As I was getting I.D.'ed I could see someone swinging back and forth on a trapeze as some bassy tunes bounced their way toward the entrance. Unfortunately the circus/performance part of the evening seemed to be winding down once I was inside, save for a dancer or two perched up front or climbing on various structures in the warehouse.

I wasn't certain who was deejaying initially (though I think it was either Worst Friends or Jakub Alexander) but within 5 minutes of being on the pleasantly packed and moving dancefloor Jürgen Paape's "So Weit Wie Noch Nie" (a favorite track thanks to Erlend Oye's excellent DJ Kicks mix, that I'd never heard played out before) was dropped and I freaked out. The rest of the set was decent, though nothing really stuck out too much as I was walking around, checking out the venue and trying to beat the horrible humidity that seemed to have settled in the warehouse.

Right around 2am Trus'me went on and transformed a floor full of people that were already moving pretty well into a group of people who were furiously getting down. His set was all over the place but in way that flowed very well, logically progressing from one of many genres (house, funk, soul, disco, techno) to the next and back again. The transitions were smooth, and the beats were expertly manipulated over the course of what was an excellent hour and half long set that seemed to fly by.

More pictures from the night below...

Continue reading "And Everyone Laughed (Trus'me) @ S.L.A.M. in NYC - pics"

photo by Ryan Muir

Gothamist: How did the band come together, and where did the name come from?

Motel Motel member: Well, I was depressed and without any friends, like a lot of people are when they first move to New York. I met Eric Engel and Timo Sullivan at The New School in September of '06. All three of us were students there. That was the beginning of the band.

Currently on a tour of the Carolinas, Motel Motel played a Northside Festival show at Public Assembly on Saturday, June 13th. Their next NYC show will be opening for the Harlem Shakes at Bowery Ballroom on July 1st. All MM dates and more pictures from Brooklyn, below...

Continue reading "Motel Motel - Public Assembly pics & 2009 Tour Dates "

photos by Ryan Muir, words by Black Bubblegum

More than ten years later, The Van Pelt returned to NYC, playing Brooklyn for the first time ever on June 13th as part of a show at Coco66 that the band curated for the Northside Fest.

There were a lot of people in Greenpoint feeling all '90s Saturday night when The Van Pelt reunited as part of the Northside Festival.

The strangest moment of the night happened during the anthemic closer "The Speeding Train" when a drunken Van Pelt enthusiast-turned-awkward dancer/mosher acted aggressively enough to start a fight in the crowd. All this while we were hearing about the beauty of the puppy's chin. Singer and occasional Take the Handle contributor Chris Leo quipped that the moshers had missed the Agnostic Front show. It made it feel even more '90s that there was some sort of debate going on about the ethics of moshing.

Regardless, the show was about as incredible as anyone who followed the band way back when could have asked for. It seemed like the band stuck more often to songs from Sultans of Sentiment, but this song, which served as the encore, comes from their first record Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves. It is called "Magic Fantasy (We Are Provincial)." -[Take The Handle]

The Van Pelt aren't done with touring yet either. They've scheduled a pair of shows along the east coast - June 21st in Philly at Kung Fu Necktie with Blacklist and This Frontier Needs Heroes, and the previously mentioned show with Frodus at The Black Cat in DC on June 20th. The Phlly show will be taped to broadcast by WPRB.

You can also catch Van Pelt front-man Chris Leo (brother of Ted who was in the crowd at Coco 66 on Saturday) at a reading this Friday night, June 19th at Bar Matchless in Brooklyn. Check out an interview with Chris Leo at the site Vol.1 Brooklyn.

Catch Ted Leo at one of his two upcoming NJ shows, or at the free one he's playing on a pier in NYC this summer.

The Van Pelt's first show back was at SXSW, and also with Frodus. Frodus played two shows down in Austin, and recently played Brooklyn too.

More pictures and video from the Brooklyn reunion show, below...

Continue reading "The Van Pelt played Coco66 (pics) ++ more shows & a reading "

photos by Ryan Muir

The Dodos will release their third album, Time To Die (produced by Phil EK), on September 15th via Frenchkiss Records...

Time To Die introduces one major addition to the Dodos' creative core: Keaton Snyder, a 21-year-old music school dropout who plays a mean vibraphone. As Long puts it, "He's a better musician than Logan and I combined. I don't even know what's going on with his music theory ideas half the time." On a similar note, Snyder-a classically-trained musician-is constantly learning what 'being in a band' entails. In fact, he didn't even know how to react when a chord was yanked during his Dodos debut. "After the show," says Long, "he was like, 'Yeah, I've never had to plug anything in before.' It was hilarious."

I wasn't expecting Studio B to be so crowded when I showed up for their 5pm Northside Festival show on Sunday (6/14). I wonder if the Miller commercial has helped ticket sales. It was so beautiful outside, and so dark and packed on the inside (not counting the roof deck - it was nice up there). I couldn't really get a good spot and was pre-occupied, so I don't really have an opinion on the actual show, but I loved the Dodos all the other times I've seen them, so I'll probably try and go check them out again when they come back in the fall. No exact NYC dates - just a bunch in Europe and Canada, and some festivals for now. All dates, the new album tracklist, and more pictures from studio B, below...

Continue reading "The Dodos played Studio B (pics), releasing 'Time To Die'"

photos by Ossip Kaehr

Miho by Miho Hatori :
brings you : NEW OPTIMISM with Sound
music squad : Shoko Nagai (keys), Timo Ellis (Bass)
dance squad : Nabe, Ravi Davis, Samer Ghadry
video squad : Prema Murthy

That's how Miho was billed at the Northside Festival show at Glasslands on Thursday (6/11). How did it sound? The pictures in this post are how it looked.

The Brooklyn show was one day before Miho (who by the way is also on the list of people that Thomas Bartlett sometimes plays with) played a Tonic-curated show at the Stone.

Tonight (6/16) you can catch Miho one more time, at what appears to be a DJ gig, at Le Poisson Rouge.

"Nat Geo Music is a free gallery bar party that features modern music from around the globe provided by DJ's from Nat Geo Music, Green Owl Records, & the one and only Miho Hatori."

More pictures from Glasslands, and a video, below...

Continue reading "Miho Hatori - Glasslands Northside pics ++ LPR party tonight"

DOWNLOAD: Fiery Furnaces - The End is Near (MP3)

The Fiery Furnaces @ Middle East Downstairs (6/12/09) (gikthechamp)

"Eleanor kept mentioning how most of the new songs were about ex-boyfriends, and at one point was almost apologizing for that fact, joking that they were now out of ideas. She shouldn't be so concerned. I love the more obscure and whimsical topics that have come up in past Furnaces releases, but I welcome this more straightforward, emotionally driven material. They've done it before, but it's never been as bittersweet as this, nor as neat and soulful. It was time to shift gears, and they made exactly the right decision -- their melodic sensibility is front and center, the preciousness is dialed down considerably." [Fluxblog]

Fluxblog's review refers to the June 11th show at Le Poisson Rouge where the Fiery Furnaces played a complete and re-arranged version of their new album I'm Going Away (out July 21 on Thrill Jockey). Setlist below. New studio-recorded track from that album, above.

Three days later, Matt's other band King's Crescent played a Martin Bisi-curated Northside Festival show at Spike Hill. Lucid Culture writes that they "flipped the script and played a joyous, virtuosic, completely in-the-pocket set of vintage Meters covers."

On August 9th, the Fiery Furnaces will join Simian Mobile Disco (who are playing DJ) on the bill of the free JellyNYC Pool Party at the Williamsburg Waterfront. Finger on the Pulse are also DJing at this one. All FF dates below...

Continue reading "Fiery Furnaces played LPR, King's Crescent played Spike Hill, FF playing Pool Party w/ Simian Mobile Disco ++ new MP3"

by Black Bubblegum

Wetnurse in front of the downstairs bar @ Europa last night (Sunday, June 14, 2009)

A sincere thanks goes out to all that attended, supported, or otherwise big-upped last night's (6/14) BV-BBG Showcase at Europa (part of the first-ever Northside Festival). Special shouts go to the out-of-towners (Doomriders, Clouds, Javelina, Howl, Cough, Sourvein) and the mighty Unearthly Trance for filling in for the fallen Zoroaster at the last minute. More pics will be up soon, but until then, here are a few videos from the show of Doomriders performing three new songs, as well as the classic "Black Thunder" courtesy of our peeps at MetalInjection...

Continue reading "BV-BBG took over Europa last night - live Doomriders videos & thanks to all"

photos by Maryanne Ventrice

Drink Up Buttercup @ Bruar Falls

"After seeing somewhere around forty bands, eating exactly four amazing taco truck tacos, and drinking something like 40,000 beers, half of which were free and half of which I'm totally going to expense, the first annual Northside Festival has officially come to an end.

I believe I can speak on behalf of the L Magazine staff, as well as our sponsors and various partners, when I say thank you--to the people who bought badges, the press people who covered it, the pedestrians who stopped doing what they were doing so that they could watch bands perform on the street, the venues who trusted us with their spaces, the showcase presenters, and most importantly, to the nearly 350 bands that played--for making this entire thing an overwhelming success. [L Magazine]"

Mayanne Ventrice was running all over the place for the four dates of the Northside Festival. On the second day, Friday (6/12), she saw nine bands in four venues (Public Assembly, Spike Hill, Cameo, and Bruar Falls), stopped by Music Hall of Williamsburg for a peak at the BV photo show, and accidentaly caught Shilpa Ray playing with her band on the street. The rest of her pictures from that day are below...

Continue reading "Northside Fest 2009 - Day 2 in pictures "

photos by Maryanne Ventrice

You may have randomly come upon a band or two playing on the streets of Williambsburg this past long Northside Festival weekend. On Thursday, Pow Wow! was one of those bands. On Friday, many people on their way to the BrooklynVegan showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg passed by a street performance by Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers. Those are the pictures in this post.

Shilpa also played a more official show (with Pow Wow!) at Spike Hill later that night, and as usual, there are plenty of chances to catch her and her band in the near future. Options include this weekend's Olive Juice Music Festival, a show at the Stone later in June, a gig at Southpaw on July 1st, the Heavy Trash/Those Darlins show at Mercury Lounge on July 9th, Citysol a couple of days after that, and then the Sly Stone tribute at Castle Clinton not long after that. All dates and more street shots, below....

Continue reading "Shilpa Ray - street show pics & more upcoming shows (dates) "

photos by Chris La Putt

Dave Deporis / Olof Arnalds

"Opener The Tallest Man on Earth was a pleasant surprise, too. Playing solo with just an acoustic guitar, he overpowered the audience with a GIGANTIC voice that at times reminded me of JEFF BUCKLEY, though the sound was more akin to if Buckley was fascinated with Americana as opposed to NINA SIMONE, GENESIS and THE SMITHS." [The Big Takeover - review from the Philly show]

Thanks all for coming to the BrooklynVegan Northside Festival showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday night (6/12). The lineup worked out perfectly. From 7-9, photographers and friends of photographers hung out around their pictures hanging on the wall. At 9pm, those who were there early enough and were interested in watching the music were wowed by the magical Dave Deporis (at least the people I talked to). His set was especially emotional due to the song dedications to his grandfather who passed away one day earlier. Then Olof Arnalds played to a much more filled in crowd who did not want to let her leave the stage, especially after the amazing Nina Simone cover she closed her set with. Earlier she covered Springsteen. Up next came the, to quote the above review, "gigantic voice" of the not-that-tall Tallest Man On Earth which was followed by the headlining full-band set by the one and only John Vanderslice. More pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "John Vanderslice, Tallest Man On Earth, Olof Arnalds, Dave Deporis & the BV photo show @ MHOW in Brooklyn - pics "

by Bill Pearis

Chris La Putt's pictures on the wall of MHOW (by Maryanne Ventrice)

I'm gonna keep this Sunday (6/14) post short and sweet, or try to. First a couple announcements. The So Cow at Shea Stadium is now officially part of the Northside Fest, happily taking badges (hopefully). They're on at 10:30P. The rest of the evening is The Specific Heats at 7:30, the Gutsies (not the Gusties as I had called them before, sorry guys) at 8:30, and Knight School at 9:30. That should be a fun show.

And Crystal Stilts have been added to the Ponytail-curated bill at Studio B (moved from its original location at the Shank) which seems the place to be Sunday night. The lineup is: Cool Dads at 9:30, Thank You at 10:15, Ponytail at 11:15, at Crystal Stilts at 12:15. You could also spend your whole Sunday at Studio B, the day party features the fun Phil & the Osophers (3PM), Oregon folkie Laura Gibson (4PM) and The Dodos (5PM) who'll hopefully be playing a lot of songs from their new album which is due out later this year.

A couple other recommendations: Bruar Falls plays host to an afternoon of bands curated by 1928 Recordings. No Soft Pack (who are now signed to Kemado), unfortunately, but the awesome Browns (3PM), plus Air Waves (4PM) and the Sundelles (5PM).

And while it should come as no surprise that metal isn't really my thing, Black Bubblegum assures me the line-up he's put together at Europa would crush me like a bug. In a good way?

There is of course lots more going on at Northside on Sunday. Am I missing anything crucial?

Dodos video below...

Continue reading "Bill's Northside Festival Picks - Day Four (Crystal Stilts, So Cow, Ponytail, The Dodos... BV metal show & more) "

The Tallest Man on Earth @ Bowery Ballroom in April (more by Fresh Bread)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* THIS WEEK IN INDIE
* FRIDAY AT NORTHSIDE
* Helado Negro @ Sycamore
* Prince Paul @ Union Pool
* Baby Gramps @ Terra Blues
* Lucero, Roadside Graves @ Maxwell's
* Vision Festival @ Abrons Arts Center
* Miho Hatori, Dougie Bowne @ The Stone
* BARR/Brendan Fowler, Men @ New Museum
* Lusine, Deastro, Michna @ Studio B (NS)
* Joe Lally, The Glorytellers @ Union Hall
* Ida Maria, Right On Dynamite @ Hiro Ballroom
* The Avett Brothers, Nicole Atkins @ Irving Plaza
* Sunset Rubdown, Witchies, Elfin Saddle @ Studio B (NS)
* The Posies, Tally Hall, The Brunettes @ The Bell House
* Josh Ritter & the New York Pops @ Central Park Summerstage
* The Detroit Cobras, Dex Romweber, White Mystery @ Southpaw
* Moving Mountains, Irepress, Junius @ Studio at Webster Hall
* School of Seven Bells, Violens, Apache Beat @ Bowery Ballroom
* AJ Roach, Pepi Ginsberg, Paul Brill, Callen Sisters @ Coco 66 (NS)
* The Willowz, Savoir Adore, Acrylics, Your Nature @ Glasslands (NS)
* Agnostic Front, Wisdom in Chains, The Mongoloids @ Gramercy Theatre
* Golden Triangle, Sightings, Pterodactyl, Aa, Screens @ Union Pool (NS)
* Stars Like Fleas, Sharon Van Etten, Twi The Humble Feather @ 92YTribeca
* Meat Puppets, Retribution Gospel Choir, Dynasty Electric @ Mercury Lounge
* New Kids on the Block, Jesse McCartney, Jabbawockeez @ Jones Beach Theater
* These Are Powers, Javelin, Real Estate, Air Waves, Organs @ Death By Audio (NS)
* The Beets, Drink Up Buttercup, Zaza, Sean Bones, We Are Country Mice @ Bruar Falls (NS)
* John Vanderslice, The Tallest Man On Earth, Olof Arnalds, Dave Deporis @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (NS)
* Home Video, Screaming Females, Sisters, Palomar, Dinowalrus, Murder Mystery, Grooms @ Public Assembly (NS)
* Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, Secret Life of Sofia, pow wow!, Coyote Eyes @ Spike Hill (NS)
* Forest City, Kittens Ablaze, Motel Motel, The Eskalators, The Tony Castles, Forensics @ Brooklyn Invitational
* Character Comedy w/ Cherie Lily, Andrew W.K., Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Jon Glaser, Trevor Williams @ Cake Shop
* Teengirl Fantasy, Blondes, Rainbow Party, The Fabulous Failures, Michael Jordan, Broccoli Destroyer @ Silent Barn
* Red Wire Black Wire, Charlie!, Wild Yaks, The Drums, The Electric Tickle Machine, Soft Black, Dinosaur Feathers @ Europa (NS)

NS=Northside Festival Show

There's so much stuff here today, and we are rushing like crazy (both because of Northside, so please double check lineups with venues before you go!) (although we realize that will only help sometimes).

The BrooklynVegan Photo Show starts at Music Hall of Williamsburg and is there until Sunday. Our own live show is at MHOW tonight. On Sunday Black Bubblegum put together the lineup at Europa.

Central Park Summerstage kicks off their season of free shows with Josh Ritter tonight.

Bonnaroo continues. So does the Download Festival.

BARR aka Brendan Fowler plays the New Museum tonight.

Hermas Zouplas was originally scheduled to play Sycamore, but had to cancel his US trip. Instead, the venue hosts Helado Negro, one of Hermas's Asthmatic Kitty labelmates.

Cursive's new video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"

DOWNLOAD: The Tallest Man On Earth - The Gardner (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: John Vanderslice - Time Travel Is Lonely (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dave Deporis - Be Strong (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ólöf Arnalds - Við og Við (MP3)

With the first BV Northside Fest live show & photo show (both at Music Hall of Williamsburg) just a few hours away, I thought I would take this opportunity to remind you to stop by (tickets will be available at the door and you can use your festival badge), and to finally offer a chance to win a pair of tickets to the show. Details at the end of this post.

Badge holders, don't worry, we will be letting the alotted amount through the door (and then more in when and if others leave). And though the show is not ALL ages, it is 16+. For those 21+, you may enjoy drink specials ($3.00 well/draft) from 7-8 to coincide with the premiere of the photos. Dave Deporis on at 9:00. Some MP3s above. Some new JV videos below...

Continue reading "BV show tonight, WIN TIX ---- new JV videos & some MP3s"

It's come to our attention that at last night's Strength in Numbers showcase at Shea Stadium, the show's organizers refused to let in badge-holders. First and foremost, we sincerely apologize to anyone who was turned away-you spent good money on a badge that we said would grant you admission to this show, and we feel terrible about it.

That said, we would also like to point out that if we're guilty of anything here, it was deciding to partner with an organization that would go back on its word in order to carry out what seems to be little more than a publicity stunt. For every copy of this flyer they distributed last night, we have an email from them stating in no uncertain terms, and with lots of exclamation points even, how thrilled they were to be a part of the Northside Festival.

We have a lot of work to do and a lot of music to see, so we don't want to dwell on this for too long. It's worth noting, though, that in orchestrating this stunt, which was meant to call attention to what they perceive as injustice, Strength in Numbers failed to realize that the only impact it would have was essentially to take money out of the pockets of people who support the work they do and the artists they love.

We apologize again, and hope that you enjoy the rest of the festival.

Sincerely,
The L Magazine & The Northside Festval.

The Great Pumpkin solves the mystery of why Northside Badge holders were not being let into Shea Stadium last night...

Last night was the first night of the North Side Festival. It started off really well with a great set by Ducktails at Cameo. We then headed over to Live at Shea Stadium to catch Marnie Stern and Magic Markers.

When we got to the show the guy at the door said that they were not accepting North Side Badges, and there was a sign saying that Marnie Stern canceled. He also handed me this flier...

Continue reading "no badges @ Shea Stadium last night because Strength in Numbers revolted against Northside Fest ++ Marnie Stern cancelled"