As seen over 1,000,000 times on YouTube, and now in Target commercial that aired during the Grammys (!), Denise from Staten Island's great PS 22 Chorus can belt out some Adele. Check out the ad, and the original cover video that helped make her famous, below...

Continue reading "Denise from PS22 Chorus in Adele/Target commercial that aired during the Grammys (video)"

Givers at Deluna Fest in October (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Givers have announced a North American tour which will take place this January, and be followed by an Australian tour in February. The North American tour includes a NYC show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 5. Tickets are on sale now. Two days later, they'll participate in the 50th anniversary Preservation Hall Jazz Band show at Carnegie Hall (1/7) with My Morning Jacket, Mos Def and others. Tickets for that show are still on sale. Most of the dates on the tour are with Young Man, though no opener has been announced for the MHOW show.

The PS22 Chorus recently covered Givers' song "Up Up Up." Check out a video of that cover, along with all Givers dates below...

Continue reading "Givers covered by PS22, announce tour (dates & video)"

photos by Jim Brueckner

You've seen the uplifting YouTube videos of the school children from Staten Island, but to witness their contagious innocent joy in-person is even more of a must. It's almost as if each popular number that they cover, they are canonizing by allowing the listeners to hear the songs through the ears of a child. Their version of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" was a true goosebump moment. [Metro]

Staten Island's PS22 Chorus, who are known to cover bands like MGMT Ariel Pink, and Freelance Whales (who also played the festival), played day 1 (7/30) of the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island this past weekend. . They covered songs by Adele, Lykke Li, John Lennon, Austra and others.

Pictures and videos from their set at Newport below...

Continue reading "The PS 22 Chorus covered Austra, Lykke Li, Adele, MGMT, Ariel Pink & more @ Newpot Folk Fest (pics & videos)"

GGD on a Rocks Off Boat recently (more by Jessica Amaya)

today in NYC
* Evillive
* Burning Fleshtival
* Life in a Blender @ Barbes
* Zeena Parkins @ The Stone
* William Winant @ The Stone
* Kassav, T-Vice @ Terminal 5
* Anvil, ELKS @ Bowery Ballroom
* Black Lips, Night Beats @ Maxwell's
* Scott Kettner's Forro Brass Band @ Barbes
* They Might Be Giants @ the Stone Pony (NJ)
* Marissa Nadler, Faces On Film @ Littlefield
* Virginia Coalition @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise
* Double Dutch Divas @ Josie Robertson Plaza
* Ponderosa Stomp @ Damrosch Park Bandshell
* Eiko @ Koma @ Paul Milstein Pool, Hearst Plaza
* Christie Front Drive, Patrick Park @ The Bell House
* Ill Fits, Rewards, The Sundelles @ Cameo Gallery
* Eels, The Submarines @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Albert Hammond Jr. (DJ set), Slam Donahue @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Naam, Dead Stars, Unstoppable Death Machines @ Union Pool
* McDonalds, Bells, Moonmen On The Moon, Man @ Bruar Falls
* Stats, Gods & Queens, Ain't Rights, Dangerbird @ ABC No Rio
* Craft Spells, Gardens and Villa, Selebrities @ Mercury Lounge
* Prince Language, Das Racist (DJ), Ital, Vockah Redu, XXXY @ P.S.1
* The Knux, Mr. Mothafuckin Exquire @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* The So So Glos, Nova Social, Ghost Ghost, Old Monk @ Knitting Factory
* Sonny & The Sunsets, The Sandwitches, Friends, Carnivores @ Glasslands
* Teebs, Saturn Never Sleeps, Taylor McFerrin, Suzi Analogue @ Knitting Factory
* Dr. John & The Lower 911, Chuck Brown, Red Baraat @ Prospect Park Bandshell
* American Royalty, Waking Lights, Crazy & Brains, Prewer Yardsale @ Lit Lounge
* Jesse Malin & The St. Marks Social, Young Things, River James @ Bowery Electric
* Martha Wainwright, Teddy Thompson, Hayes Carll, Rhett Miller @ Stuvesant Town
* Gang Gang Dance, Zeds Dead, Claude VonStroke, BAIO (Vampire Weekend) (DJ set), The Hood Internet, Bosco Delrey (Mad Decent Block Party) @ South Street Seaport
* The Party Machine Hosted By Arden Myrin and Lisa deLarios w/ Janeane Garofalo / Jena Friedman / James Adomian / Bobby Tisdale / Brent Weinbach and Moshe Kasher / Plus, Adira Amram and the Experience @ Union Hall
* Hume, Dope Body, Cloud Becomes Your Hand, The Dreebs, Daniel Moon King @ Death By Audio

Aretha Franklin's PNC Bank Arts Center show tonight was cancelled at some point. She does have a free show coming up in Coney Island though.

Read more about the free shows happening this weekend, including The Raveonettes on Sunday at Beekman Beer Garden.

We forgot one in that free shows post though: Martha Wainwright, Teddy Thompson, Hayes Carll and Rhett Miller today at Stuyvesant Town.

Check out This Week in Indie for more on some shows.

Today is another edition of PS1 Warm Up.

Alternatively there's the Mad Decent Block Party happening at South Street Seaport. Set times HERE.

Ill Fits, who play Cameo tonight, has members of MGMT and Amazing Baby.

Newport Folk Fest is this weekend in Rhode Island. The PS 22 Chorus played the fest today. Check out a video of Denise from PS 22 covering Lady Gaga with band director Gregg Breinberg, below.

Timber Timbre have a new video for "Bad Ritual". Check it out below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

"An exciting mix of folk music's founding voices and modern favorites highlights the 52nd edition of the Newport Folk Festival® when it returns to Newport's Fort Adams State Park July 30-31, it was announced today by the Newport Festivals Foundation, the recently-formed 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization which produces the event.

Tickets go on sale worldwide on Thursday, March 31, at 10:00 am at www.newportfolkfest.net.

This year's lineup will bring lots of great artists to Rhode Island in July. The Decemberists (who play Brooklyn 1.5 months earlier), Gillian Welch, Tegan & Sara, Delta Spirit, Mavis Staples, Wanda Jackson, Emmylou Harris, M Ward, Elvis Costello, Middle Brother (proof that the supergroup is not done yet) and even the PS22 chorus are on the list which you can see in full below...

Continue reading "Newport Folk Festival 2011 lineup announced, tickets too"

today in NYC
* Nymph @ The Stone
* Juan Maclean @ Kush
* Bushwalla @ The Rock Shop
* Brother, The Dig @ Maxwell's
* Furthur @ Radio City Music Hall
* Diehard @ Goodbye Blue Monday
* Bill Carney's Jug Addicts @ Barbes
* Depressed Buttons @ Brooklyn Bowl
* The O'Farrill Brothers Band @ Barbes
* Allman Brothers Band @ Beacon Theatre
* The Drums, Big Troubles @ Tribeca Grand
* Big Daddy Kane, Brand Nubian @ Southpaw
* Danielson, Out Fighting @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Thin Lizzy, Bear Hands @ Best Buy Theater
* White Out with Thurston Moore @ The Stone
* J Mascis, Kurt Vile @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Bajzel, Desert Stars, The Plushies @ The Gutter
* The Wood Brothers, Carsie Blanton @ City Winery
* Luff, Street Chant, Pint Shot Riot @ The Rock Shop
* Life in a Blender, The Debutante Hour @ Joe's Pub
* Joy By Proxy, Gabriel Miller-Phillips, SRI @ Zebulon
* Violent Bullshit, Open Ocean, Bubbles @ Union Pool
* Tog, Religious To Damn, Happy New Year @ Cake Shop
* Pterodactyl, PC Worship, Man Forever @ Death By Audio
* Capsule, Divorce Money, Close-Mouthed @ The Acheron
* The Wellington Papers, Spirit Animal @ Mercury Lounge
* Enid Ellen, Nathan Carrera, Nicholas Gorham @ Joe's Pub
* Les Chauds Lapins, Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra @ 92YTribeca
* Jacuzzi Boys, Web Dating, Outer Minds, Sleepies @ Bruar Falls
* Little Daggers, Wild Yaks, Steel Phantoms, Open Ocean @ Coco 66
* Light Asylum, Banjo Or Freakout, Shams, Ego Puppets @ Glasslands
* Ghost Ghost, Wojcik, Steel Phantoms, Hooray For Goodbye @ Pianos
* Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Those Darlins @ Bowery Ballroom
* Gatekeeper, StreetWalker, Innergaze (Pendu Disco) @ Secret Project Robot
* The So So Glos, Darlings, Snakes Say Hisss, Sundelles, Teen Witch @ 285 Kent Ave
* Mos Def, Ruby Dee, Gary Bartz @ Highline Ballroom
* Queens Of The Stone Age (playing "Queens Of The Stone Age" in its entirety) @ Terminal 5
* Original Innocence (a rock opera conceived by Dave Nuss and Eric Sanders) @ Issue Project Room
* If By Yes w/ Petra Haden, Yuka Honda, Shimmy & Yuko of Cornelius, Nels Cline, more, Summer Fiction @ Mercury Lounge
* Helmet, Saint Vitus, Crowbar, Kylesa, Red Fang, Howl, The Atlas Moth (The Metalliance Tour) @ Irving Plaza
* C. Spencer Yeh, Aaron Moore, Ignaz Schick, Goblin War, Barry Weisblat, Marcia Bassett, Bob Bellerue @ Silent Barn
* Ben Rubin, Scott Metzger, Josh Dion, Jonah Smith, Caleb Hawley, Wes Hutchinson, Will Knox, Ross Andrews Project, Adam Tressler @ Rockwood Music Hall

Both Helmet and QOTSA are performing classic albums in full tonight in NYC.

Little Dragon recently paid a visit to PS22 in Staten Island. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"

P.S. 22

"Because English singer-songwriter Dido, who is nominated with Rollo Armstrong and A.R. Rahman for "If I Rise" from 127 Hours, was not available for tonight's show, the producers have recruited Florence Welch from Florence + the Machine to appear with Rahman. Welch is coming off a standout performance in the opening number of the Grammys.

Along with the best original song nominees, tonight's show also will feature the P.S. 22 Chorus, an elementary school chorus from Staten Island, N.Y., who will make a joyous musical appearance singing "Over the Rainbow," according to The Hollywood Reporter." [BAM's Blog]

Trent Reznor is nominated for Best Score.

P.S. 22 recently posted a newer cover of Ariel Pink's "Round And Round" (newer than the one they posted in January). Check that out, and a Katy Perry cover they did at an Oscar press conference (they're going to sing with Katy Perry on Oprah on Monday), below...

Continue reading "Florence Welch & P.S. 22 on the Oscars (Dido couldn't make it)"

review by Rachel Kowal, photos by Erez Avissar

How to Dress Well at a church

"I'm sure you're all here to see How to Dress Well," joked the one-man opening act Autre Ne Veut as he walked on stage Friday night (maybe you also caught him Saturday at Pianos). But even if his frank assessment held a bit of truth, the mysteriously anonymous Brooklyn artist certainly caught the attention of the audience by his first move: stripping down to just a black tank top and underwear. (ok, so he was actually just changing his pants, but really - who does that on stage?)

Autre Ne Veut's set-up was pretty bare bones - just a guy singing karaoke style over 80s-fab beats and melodies and stumble-dancing around a smokey stage. Judging from the bemused expressions in the room, I know I wasn't the only one perplexed and bemused by the over-the-top performance. He may not have played any instruments, but the anonymous Brooklynite was constantly on the move - crouching down on stage, dangling the mic over his head, jerking back and forth, and swiveling hips in time to the music. "I feel a little like I'm watching a Paula Abdul video," whispered my friend Sarah. So true.

Near the end of his set, a little fan club of dancing girls formed at the foot of the stage. A couple of people even picked up the votive candles from the stage and began to swing them over their heads as Autre Ne Veut repeatedly sang the line, "You'll be dreaming about me." Even after he had concluded his set (with the requested song "Wake Up"), he stuck around on stage to dance when the house music (Prince's "Kiss") came on. How perfect.

In between sets, people milled around the small room of the church, sharing beers and exchanging stories as more people filtered in from the snowy Greenpoint streets
.
"I usually try to only play shows at Best Buy and Brooklyn Bowl, but a church will do" said How to Dress Well's Tom Krell near the beginning of his set. And he was right - a church did seem to be an apt setting given his soulful falsetto (Antony Hegarty meets Usher) and the air of reverence emitting from the crowd.

Krell may have had "a little bit of a cold," but it didn't seem to hinder his performance. From his perch on the dimly lit stage, he easily captivated the sold-out crowd with his distinct combination of lo-fi bedroom pieces and R&B slow jams. Much of Krell's live show may be based on samples, but the result is no less arresting.

After playing nearly the entirety of his debut album, Love Remains, Krell returned to the candlelit stage for just one more song. "Don't tell anyone about this. I could get sued," he hastily confessed. To the delight of the crowd, he concluded his set with an Ariel Pink cover - "Fright Night (Nevermore)" (or by his dubbing, "Friday Night").

--

Speaking of Ariel Pink covers, if you were wondering (like I was at first), why I didn't include the now-everywhere-on-the-internet Ariel Pink cover by Staten Island's PS22 in the post I did about PS22 on Friday, well it's because the very-bloggable video wasn't actually posted to PS22's YouTube until later that day. If you haven't seen it yet, you can now watch it below.

Also below are more pictures and videos of both acts at the church (including a shot of HTDW's setlist), video from a show How to Dress Well played in Toronto since then, and more tour dates...

Continue reading "How to Dress Well played Church of the Messiah w/ Autre Ne Veut, covered Ariel Pink (just like PS22) - pics, review, videos"

"The PS22 Chorus is an elementary school chorus from Public School 22 in Graniteville, Staten Island (New York). It is composed of 60-70 fifth-graders, and is directed by Gregg Breinberg. Students are assigned to the chorus after an annual auditioning process at the beginning of each school year. PS22 is the largest elementary school in Staten Island which draws students from a wide cross section of ethnic groups and socio-economic levels. The chorus meets twice a week during school hours to practice, and performs throughout the year at school functions, local events, and on special requests. It has been featured on several major national news and music networks after its videos had gained international attention within the popular video-sharing site YouTube. As of January, 2011 the chorus's videos have been watched more than 27,000,000 times." [Wikipedia]

PS22's view counts are only going to keep getting higher now that they've been invited to perform on this year's Academy Awards (at the Feb. 27th ceremony in Los Angeles). Congrats to them! Check out a video with some of their reactions after hearing the news below.

Their first appearance on this site came when they appeared on stage with Crowded House at Wellmont Theater. You might also know them as the children's chorus you hear on Passion Pit's "The Reeling."

Check out some brand new videos below, shot by filmmaker Jonathan Kalafer, of the group during some improv sessions and one of them doing an acoustic version of MGMT's "Kids" (a song they were already famous for covering). A recent one of the chorus covering Freelance Whales and some other ones are down there too...

Continue reading "PS22 going to Academy Awards, covered MGMT (new videos) "

Staten Island's PS 22 chorus @ Irving Plaza, NYC - April 30, 2008 (kenf225)

It's an ironclad rule of rock&roll that anything involving a children's chorus is a bad idea. From "You Can't Always Get What You Want" to the Clash's remake of "Career Opportunities," the results are usually mawkish at best and disastrous at worst.

But not last night, at Crowded House's show at Irving Plaza. The PS 22 Chorus, from an elementary school in northwest Staten Island, has made something of a name for itself by performing wonderful arrangements of contemporary pop hits, and has performed them with stars like Tori Amos. And last night they opened for Crowded House.

The kids came out and did a couple of songs on their own, under the direction of the teacher, Gregg Breinberg, and then Neil Finn came out, grinning from ear to ear and applauding, and the rest of the band joined him, and they did two more songs. The version of "Throw Your Arms Around Me" they did is beyond description -- it's a beautiful song to begin with, but the kids clearly love it and get it. [Riffs and Licks]

Last night was the last of three shows Crowded House played at Irving Plaza in NYC. More tour dates HERE. Video of the band playing with the PS 22 chorus, and the set list from night 2, below....

Continue reading "Crowded House & PS 22 played 3 NYC shows - setlist & video"