JONATHAN TOUBIN BENEFIT
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Heavy Trash, Stabbing Eastward (Tunde Adebimpe & Ryan Sawyer), Royal Baths, Rotating DJ's All Night Long: Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), Billy Miller (Norton Records), Bear In Heaven, Leo Fitzpatrick, Habibi, and Slowdance
FRI, DECEMBER 16, 2011
DOORS: 10:30 PM / SHOW: 11:30 PM
$25.00 - $100.00

THIS EVENT IS 21 AND OVER
100% OF THE PROCEEDS WILL GO TO ASSISTING WITH JONATHAN'S HOSPITAL & MEDICAL BILLS.
$25 MINIMUM DONATION IN ADVANCE.
$35 MINIMUM DONATION DAY OF SHOW.

Also, another update from the IheartJT Facebook page:

IheartJT Update: Hi everyone! We've set up a po box so that you can send gifts/cards to Jonathan. Please don't send perishables or flowers to this address though. The address is:
Jonathan Toubin
818 SW 3rd Ave
PO Box 293
Portland, Or 97204-2405

The Facebook Invite reads:

For those of you who know Jonathan you know hands down he is one of the greatest and most generous human beings on this planet and right now he needs all of us to show him some love. Friday night there will be a benefit for Jon at both Home Sweet Home & Motor City. Please come out!

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HOME SWEET HOME

8PM - 9PM Ethan Miller
9PM - 10PM Andy Animal/Danny Goldshtein
11PM - 4AM Josh Styles/Billy & Miriam of NORTON RECORDS

There will also be a raffle for a bunch NORTON RECORDS merchandise!
$10 suggested donation! ALL MONEY GOING TO JONATHON!

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MOTOR CITY

10PM - 4AM Drew Redmond/Jerry Lee

Suzanne Rogaleski will be donating a private trapeze lesson to raffle winner!
MORE STUFF TO BE ANNOUNCED!

words & photos by Keith Marlowe

Tandoori Knights @ the Bell House

I started the night, the fourth and final night of the the Norton Records 25th Anniversary celebration at the Bell House, watching Andy Shernoff from the Dictators playing an acoustic set in the front room. He ended with his hilarious zombie Jew song, based on Jesus's return to Earth.

The Figures of Light, who originally formed in 1970, played their classic proto-punk songs as well as tracks off their new album, Drop Dead, which was recorded this July in Brooklyn by the Gories' Mick Collins, who plays guitar in the band along with original members Wheeler Winston Dixon and Michael Downey, as well as Mark Natale and Miriam Linna from the A-Bones.

The Real Kids had to cancel due to illness, so another New Jersey band, the Swinging Neckbreakers filled in for them.

After them came the A-Bones, who feature vocalist Billy Miller and his wife, drummer Miriam Linna from Norton Records. They were joined at the end of their set Cyril Jordan and Roy Loney of the Flaming Groovies, who also played with the Daddy Long Legs the night before, and who played 'Teenage Head,' which was inspired by Kim Fowley when he was recording their record. Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan, who played the celebration on Friday night as part of the Condo Fucks, was also playing guitar in the A-Bones. as he often does.

Tandoori Knights, a take-off on the British show Tandoori Nights were next. They are fronted by King Khan and Bloodshot Bill, and the band is a slightly slower, more melodic sound than the two are known for in their other projects, but they still kept the crowd moving until after 1 am, when Norton founders Billy and Miriam came out to thank everyone who had made the sold-out four day event such a success. Billy, Miriam, and King Khan also all made late night appearances on the first night of the fest.

The Sonics @ The Bell House

After they finished the thank-you's at nearly 1:45, the band everyone was waiting to see, The Sonics, took the stage. They had headlined a show Saturday afternoon at Maxwell's too. I didn't see that, but Sunday night they took the Bell House stage and just completely laid it down. I was really impressed. They played an hour and a half set that just kept picking up energy the entire time, hitting all their well-knows songs, like Strychnine, the Hustler, Boss Hoss, Psycho and climaxed with their first and best-known hit, the Witch, and tore right into a cover of Louie Louie they totally owned, probably playing it better and with more authority than any other band in the world is capable of doing. The biggest surprise to me was how good their new songs are. Usually a band reforms knowing that they have a catalogue that people celebrate and will pay to hear, and they can tour on that nostalgia factor, or write some songs that completely lack the chemistry that the original members once had. I've definitely groaned when a reunion band announces, "we're gonna play some of our new songs tonight." but the Sonics have hit the studio hard. The new songs, Cheap Shades, Bad Attitude, Don't Back Down, and Vampire Kiss were really tight, and would sound right at home on both Here Are the Sonics and BOOM. Their new record, 8, was recorded by legendary Seattle producer Jack Endino and was released in 2010. It's great to see such an important band still touring and recording great songs......

More photos from the Sunday night show below...

Continue reading "Norton Records @ 25 -- the conclusion w/ the Sonics, Tandoori Knights aka King Khan & Bloodshot Bill & more (pics & review)"

photos by Jason House

After a kick off night on Thursday, another party Friday, and a daytime show with the Sonics in Hoboken on Saturday (11/12), the third night of the Norton Records 25th Anniversary went down at the Bell House on Saturday night with a lineup that included Question Mark & The Mysterians, Randy Fuller Four, Untamed Youth, The Nor-Tones (third night in a row), Daddy Long Legs (with appearances from Ron Loney and Cyril Jordan of the Flamin' Groovies), Hentchmen, Luis and the Wildfires, and South Bay Surfers. And the fun lasted into the wee hours of the morning.

Pictures from most of the night (none of South Bay Surfers or Untamed Youth), continue below...

Continue reading "Norton Records 25th Anniversary in Brooklyn ---- the rest of the night 3 pics (Daddy Long Legs & more!)"

photos by Jason House

Question Mark & The Mysterians @ the Bell House

ABKCO Records, in conjuction with Real Gone Music, is proud to present the two albums released by Question Mark & the Mysterians on the Cameo label, pressed on 180-gram vinyl with the original artwork intact! Hailing from Saginaw, Michigan, this group of Mexican-American teenagers will forever be anointed as the garage band's garage band with all the bonafides collectors of '60s cool cherish--the name, derived from a Japanese horror film; the sound, an insistent, three chord beat powered by that unmistakable Vox organ tone; and, of course, the sunglasses-shod Question Mark himself, who claims to have been born on Mars and lived among the dinosaurs in a past life. Though their signature hit, "96 Tears," ranks as one of the most recognizable and beloved songs of the '60s, their two original albums have never come out on LP in this country since their original re- lease...till now!

• The Two Original Albums Released by the Legendary Garage Band on the Cameo Label

• Reissued on 180-Gram Vinyl, Remastered from the Original Tape Sources by Bob Ludwig and Lacquer Cutting by Carl Rowatti of TruTone Mastering

• Mastered at 45 rpm for Maximum Fidelity.

• First Time Available on LP in America Since Their Original LP Release

Question Mark & The Mysterians, who are probably best known for their classic "96 Tears", headlined the third night of the Norton Records 25th Anniversary at the Bell House on Saturday (11/12). Pictures and a video from their set are in this post and it all continues below...

Continue reading "Question Mark & the The Mysterians reissued records, played for Norton Records @ the Bell House (pics & video)"

photos by Jason House

Great Gaylord @ the Bell House

After a raucous, sold-out first night of Norton's 25th Anniversary celebration at the Bell House, the party continued at the Brooklyn venue on Friday (11/11) where once again the night was opened by The Nor-Tones ("Norton's all-employee band includes members of the Little Killers, Daddy Long Legs, Stalkers, Girls At Dawn and LiveFastDie playing the hits of the Norton catalog.")

Night two also featured a set by mysterious cover band the Condo Fucks (aka Yo La Tengo) with Great Gaylord ("the Greatest Lousy Singer of all time"?). For the Condo Fucks it was their second NYC show in a short amount of time, though their first one at Mercury Lounge was sans Gaylord. Yo La Tengo will play eight more sold out shows over Hanukkah at Maxwell's (where Sunday's Norton show headliner The Sonics played on Saturday).

Also on the Friday night bill, some of which fell under the "R&B/Soul revue" umbrella, was Jackie and the Cedrics, a new lineup of Greg Cartwright's band Reigning Sound (featuring members of The Jay Vons), Mark Sultan (aka BBQ whose old partner King Khan played the night before), Lonnie Youngblood and the Bloodhounds with special guest Mick Collins (of the Gories and the Dirtbombs) on guitar, The Mighty Hannibal, Andre Williams (who also stopped by the night before), and Happy Organ man Dave "Baby" Cortez on keys.

More pictures and videos from most of Friday's bash, below...

Continue reading "Norton Records party @ the Bell House - night 2 pics & video (Condo Fucks, Reigning Sound, Mark Sultan, Mighty Hannibal & more)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

The Sonics @ Maxwell's

"When I heard that The Sonics, already in the New York City area this weekend to play Norton Records' 25th anniversary festival at Bell House, added an afternoon show at Maxwell's, I decided to buy a ticket. After all, I'd missed their previous East Coast appearance at the Cavestomp festival in Brooklyn several years earlier and since they're not playing here in Philadelphia, this seemed like a no-brainer.

Thankfully, this performance more than justified the $30 ticket price. The Sonics were in excellent form with keyboardist/lead vocalist Gerry Roslie (unfortunately obscured by the monitor on the right-hand side of the stage, so it was difficult to see him from where I was standing) trading off vocals with bassist Freddie Dennis (who sounded like a rawer John Fogerty!) and guitarist Larry Papyra firing off riffs with saxophonist Rob Lind in fine form as well. Roslie, in particular, was a revelation, since at almost 70 he still has the golden throat, a white, suburban Little Richard-like howl!

As for the setlist, the hour-long show featured basically all the classics from their '60s albums Here are the Sonics (the crown jewel in their catalog and one of the best '60s garage-rock albums ever), the terrific follow-up Boom and even a few from the much-maligned but still pretty good_Introducing the Sonics_. In other words, we got "Dirty Robber," "Boss Hoss," "Have Love Will Travel," "Cinderella," "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," "Louie Louie," "Keep A-Knockin'" and of course their best-known songs "Psycho," "Strychnine" and penultimate, pre-"encore" (the band never left the stage) classic "The Witch", their still-incredible first single from 1965..." [Matthew Berlyant @ The Big Takeover]

Continue reading "The Sonics played Maxwell's w/ The Young (pics, setlist)"

photos by Jessica Amaya

The Black Lips / The 5.6.7.8's

King Khan joined The Black Lips on stage at Bell House on Thursday, 11/10, the first night of the four-night celebration of Norton Records' 25th Anniversary at the Brooklyn venue. The Black Lips, who headlined Webtster Hall two weeks earlier, were a late, surprise addition to the already-sold-out bill. King Khan was a surprise addition to their set. The show also included The 5.6.7.8's from Japan (who played Mercury Lounge two nights later), Alarm Clocks, Phantom Surfers, Dex Romweber Duo, and The Nor-tones.

Here are some pictures, and video, from that whole night. They continue below...

Continue reading "Norton Records 25th Anniversary --- night 1 in pics & video (Black Lips, King Khan, The 5.6.7.8's & more)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Theee Bat @ Mercury Lounge

Garage rock enthusiasts had a lot to keep them busy this weekend. Not only did Norton Records celebrate at the Bell House for four nights in a row, with related shows at Maxwell's, Japanese bands The 5.6.7.8s and Theee Bat got together with The Back C.C.'s (aka The Baxx Sisis) for a wild party at Mercury Lounge on Saturday. Here are some pics from that show.

Coincidentally (if you want to call it that) funk band "Here Come the Mummies" played Gramercy Theater in NYC, Manhattan even, that same night. I call it a coincidence because every time I think about "Here Come the Mummies", I think about the original The Mummies who you may remember reunited to play some shows in 2009 including one at Southpaw with The Back C.C.'s who played the Mercury Lounge show with Theee Bat who covered The Mummies and who did so for an EXTREMELY limited 7".

The 5.6.7.8s also played the Bell House on Thursday. More pictures from Saturday below...

Continue reading "The 5.6.7.8s, Theee Bat & The Back C.C.'s played Mercury Lounge Saturday (pics)"

You might know the all female Japanese trio The 5.6.7.8.'s as the band who performed in a Tokyo Club in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1. They've also been recording garage rock records since the early '90s, which are sung almost entirely in Japanese but feature several covers of American rock songs notably including the 1950s song "Woo Hoo."

The band came to NYC this week for the Norton Records anniversary shows at The Bell House, where they played the first of four shows on Thursday night (11/10). Pictures from that show are on the way. They'll be sticking around NYC to play their own show at Mercury Lounge on Saturday (11/12) with Theee Bat and The Baxx Sisi's. Tickets are on sale.

The 5.6.7.8.'s recorded a live session for Jack White's Third Man Records on October 22, 2010. The session was released on Third Man earlier this year as a 12" vinyl and features Jack White's guitar playing on the song "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield." The 12" is available to purchase and listen to samples at the Third Man webstore.

Videos are below...

Continue reading "The 5.6.7.8.'s playing a 2nd NYC show while in town for the Norton Records Anniversary"

today in NYC
* NY Comedy Fest
* Alash @ Barbes
* Kraak & Smaak @ Drom
* MGMT @ Guggenheim Museum
* Louis CK @ Beacon Theater
* Eclipse Quartet @ The Stone
* Furthur @ Madison Square Garden
* Michael Ian Black @ Bowery Ballroom
* Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors @ The Stone
* Dub Trio, The Wicked Tomorrow @ Mercury Lounge
* Bosco Delrey, Cookies, Secret Music, Ropes @ Glasslands
* Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Winterpills @ Maxwell's
* Fitz & The Tantrums, Walk the Moon, Teachers @ Terminal 5
* White Laces, Pow!, Arches, The Numerators @ Death By Audio
* Girl in a Coma, The Coathangers, Noveller @ Knitting Factory
* I'm Turning Into, Conversion Party, The Thieves @ Union Hall
* Dive, North America, Daytona, Paiges @ Big Snow Buffalo Lodge
* Wooden Shjips, Birds of Avalon, Citay @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Celestial Shore, Miniboone, Bel Agosy, NY Funk Exchange, Miniboone @ Pianos
* Chaos Majik, Long Distance Poison, The Communion, Husere Grav @ Cameo Gallery
* Concussion, Worms In Women & Cattle, Syphilitic Lust, Sannhet @ Public Assembly
* Surefire Sound, Africa Hitech, Sepalcure, Mux Mool, DJ Kiva @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Red Wire Black Wire, Tiny Victories, The Dust Engineers, Empty Chairs @ Zebulon
* Night Manager, Life Size Maps, Heaven's Gate, The Fagettes, St. Claire @ Shea Stadium
* Sophia Knapp of Cliffie Swan, The Wooden Sky, This Frontier Needs Heroes @ Union Pool
* Les Rhinoceros, Kef, Toby Driver, Jeremiah Cymerman, Mario Diaz de Leon @ The Rock Shop
* Norton Records 25th Anniversary w. The 5.6.7.8's, Phantom Surfers, Dex Romweber Duo, The Alarm Clocks, The Gaye Blades & more @ The Bell House

Zola Jesus performed with M83 last night at the Music Box. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

Detroit Cobras on a boat in 2010 (more by Andrew St. Clair)

As mentioned in What's Going on Thursday?, the Detroit Cobras played Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ last night (8/11) with The Booze. They'll do it again in Brooklyn tonight (8/12) at The Bell House with The Baxx Sisi's and Des Roar. Tickets are still available.

Frequent tour-mates and sometimes member sharers, Reigning Sound, have shows coming up too. We mentioned that they play the Norton Records Anniversary shows at The Bell House in November, though the night they play, night 2, with Jackie and the Cedrics, is now sold out. Luckily both of those bands will appear at pre-fest show on November 9 at Maxwell's Tickets are on sale.

Night 4 of the fest, when The Sonics headline, is also sold out, though tickets are still available for nights 1 and 3, and for the show The Sonics play at Maxwell's on November 12.

Detroit Cobras video for "Cha Cha Twist" below...

Continue reading "Detroit Cobras are here, Reigning Sound are coming"

"The Sonics? Wow!" - Anonymous | May 15, 2009 9:52 AM

Classic NYC garage rock label Norton Records will celebrate their 25th Anniversary over the course of four nights at The Bell House (Nov 10-13). The shows feature some pretty incredible artists, including most notably The Sonics, whose 1965 garage rock classic Here Are The Sonics is regarded by some as the first punk rock album. Norton Records reissued the album in 1999. The Sonics headline the last night (11/13) of the run. Tickets are on sale now for all four nights.

Tickets are also on sale for a daytime Sonics show happening November 12th at Maxwell's. You can hit this show and still not miss the show later that night at the Bell House. Sunday during the day is the Brooklyn Record Riot at Warsaw.

The Sonics need no introduction, but those not familiar should consider that Kurt Cobain said in a Nardwuar interview that "They got the most amazing drum sound I've ever heard. Still to this day, it's still my favorite drum sound. It sounds like he's hitting harder than anyone I've ever known." The White Stripes call them the "epitome of '60s punk," "harder than The Kinks," and say that "life becomes better after buying a Sonics record." Newer band Japandroids love them too, and say, "When you listen to it, even at low volumes, it sounds like it's blasting. And I like how you can feel they would melt your face if you saw them live." Don't sleep on catching them live. Last time they were in NYC was 2007. Who saw them at Warsaw? How was it? Check out videos from a December 2010 KEXP appearance below.

Fellow '60s garage rock vets ? and the Mysterians, best known for their 1966 single "96 Tears," headline the night before them. Other noteworthy bands include The Real Kids, led by John Felice of the The Modern Lovers, and The Randy Fuller Four. Randy Fuller was part of his brother's group The Bobby Fuller Four in the 1960s, who recorded the first successful version of the single "I Fought the Law," popularly covered by The Clash. Folllowing Bobby's untimely death in 1966 at age 23, Randy took over the group, which he renamed The Randy Fuller Four.

Reigning Sound, Mark Sultan (BBQ), The Condo Fucks, A-Bones, Flamin Groovies.... there are so many people on these bills, it's too much to list. Full lineup and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Norton Records anniversary shows happening at the Bell House, two Sonics shows too!"