photos by Ryan Barkan

"i just want to say that i think glorified displays of people wasted out of their minds and passed out are really upsetting to me." - JD Samson

"Nothing turns me conservative faster than being on a train with a bunch of stoned Phish fans that just got out of Madison Square Garden." - Frank Hejl

"The floating fans above the crowd would've had me freaking at Phish MSG. I mean, Jesus. What if one hurled?" - Ravenval

"It's not the ball drop, but for tens of thousands of people, Phish's annual run of shows at Madison Square Garden, which winds up on New Year's Eve, is the more significant year-end event in Manhattan. Always an immediate sellout, the concerts are both a tradition and a challenge. Phish has to provide its familiar joys but vary them enough to surprise fans who are obsessively meticulous tabulators.

Thursday night's concert was Phish in crowd-pleasing mode: uptempo, playing familiar songs and ready to keep fans dancing -- never getting too abstract or experimental. Its two sets were both CD-length, just under 80 minutes each, with the Rolling Stones' "Loving Cup" as a splashy, gospelly encore....This was just a big, happy Phish party. The musicians' fingers flew; lights splayed above the stage; glowsticks were tossed, in mass bursts, at big transitions; balloons bounced around; the year-end ritual was intact. Thursday's concert was a high-level holding action; the next one, as always, might be something else entirely." [NY Times]

Were you there? Apparently JD Samson was. Did anyone see any of Trey's friends from the National in the crowd (or over the crowd)?

More pictures from night two (12/29), video of the hanging people getting put up into the air on New Year's Eve, and all four setlists (they covered TV on the Radio's "Golden Age" on New Year's Eve), below..

Continue reading "Phish played 4 New Year's Eve Week shows @ MSG, hung people from the ceiling (pics, video, setlist)"

Gogol Bordello - Dec 2009 (more by Paul Birman)

Once again, we're approaching the new year, and as always, there are tons of ways to celebrate in NYC with a number of different New Year's Eve shows.

Gogol Bordello are returning to NYC to play Terminal 5 on December 30 and 31. Tickets for both shows are still on sale and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to win are below.

Deer Tick will play Brooklyn Bowl on New Year's Eve. Tickets are still available and also available is a combo package that allows you entry to see the Deer Tick show and the Lucero show which happens at the same venue one night earlier (12/30).

Los Lobos, who, along with Deer Tick, have members in the new supergroup Diamond Rugs, also play NYE in NYC at City Winery. They're playing two shows at the venue and tickets for the early show and the late show are still available.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists will be in the NYC-area for NYE to play The Bell House on 12/30 (tickets) with Obits and Maxwell's on 12/31 (tickets). Comedian Kurt Braunohler opens both shows.

O'Death plays Spike Hill on New Year's Eve with The Woes. Tickets are still on sale.

A few similar electronic shows will happen on NYE, including AraabMuzik, Balam Acab, Light Asylum, Laurel Halo, and Run DMT at 285 Kent, a Laurel Halo DJ set at Zebulon and Nosaj Thing, El Topo (aka Nicolas Jaar associate Dave Harrington), and others at Glasslands. Tickets for the 285 Kent show and the Glasslands show are still on sale.

Another similar option would be the Cheryl dance party at Public Assembly (12/31) with a live set by Midnight Magic. Tickets are on sale now. The Underground Rebel Bingo Club is also throwing a sold out party in Public Assembly's back room.

There will also be DJ parties at Cameo Gallery (tickets) and Santos Party House (tickets).

Mister Saturday Night hosts a party at House of Yes.

Laidback Luke, who will set sail on the Holy Ship! cruise in the beginning of 2012, will be throwing a party at Pacha in Manhattan (warning: avoid at all costs). Another HARD-approved artist, Nero, will be at Webster Hall for an after-hours party, starting at 3:30 AM. Tickets for the party are on sale now (and is also probably somewhere you don't want to be).

Two Daptone Records affiliates will be in NYC on NYE. Charlies Bradley and The Budos Band play Music Hall of Williamsburg and Lee Fields & the Expressions with Sugar Pie Desanto will play The Bell House. Tickets for the Charles Bradley show and the Lee Fields show are still available.

For a different type of soul show, Fitz & the Tantrums are playing Gramercy Theater on NYE, but that show is now sold out.

The Stone is throwing their annual end of the year improv party with John Zorn, Thurston Moore, and others.

The Damnwells play two shows at Rockwood Music Hall.

Sandra Bernhard finishes a run of shows at Joe's Pub on New Year's Eve.

Barbes hosts Spanglish Fly.

Like he's done in the past, Chuck Berry will be playing two shows at BB King's on New Year's Eve. Tickets for the early show and the late show are on sale now.

For two shows that you definitely won't find BBG at, Phish play four MSG shows (12/28-12/31) and Matt & Kim play Hammerstein Ballroom on New Year's Eve with Super Mash Brothers and Body Language. Tickets for the Phish shows and the Matt & Kim show are still available.

In addition to Phish, another jam band option is Gov't Mule's two night run at Beacon Theater from December 30-31. Tickets for both shows are on sale now. Infected Mushroom is at Best Buy Theater.

The Fleshtones, Todd Youth All-Stars, The Waldos (featuring Walter Lure of Johnny Thunders' band), The Threads, Richard Bacchus & The Luckiest Girls, and The Dead Tricks will play Bowery Electric on 12/31 with a "surprise rockabilly legend." Tickets are on sale now. The flier for this show is above.

Patti Smith will do her usual run at Bowery Ballroom (12/29-31) but all three shows are now sold out.

In other NYC proto-punk news, New York Dolls will NOT be playing Irving Plaza on 12/30, the show has since been cancelled.

What else?

Details on how to win Gogol Bordello tickets below...

Continue reading "New Year's Eve concerts & parties in NYC --- Gogol Bordello (win tix!), AraabMuzik, Phish, Chuck Berry, Patti Smith, more"

photos by David Andrako

National week at Beacon Theater continued on Friday night, 12/16, for the fifth night in a row. Shara Worden's project My Brightest Diamond opened the show and she later joined The National on stage as did Thomas Bartlett aka Doveman, Richard Reed Parry of the Arcade Fire, Conrad Doucette, Rob Moose, Nadia Sirota and string quartet yMusic... and Phish's Trey Anastasio who members of the National are working with right now. As Jambands.com points out:

"The Phish guitarist emerged partway through the group's set for "Blood Buzz Ohio," "Squalor Victoria" and "Murder Me Rachel." While onstage, the members of The National described the guitarist as "a hero of ours." Anastasio reemerged alongside Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist Richard Reed Parry the evening's opening act My Brightest Diamond to play guitar on "Terrible Love." All of the night's guests then joined the members of The National for an acoustic sing-along based around "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks." National frontman Matt Berninger was particularly chatty throughout the show, jokingly describing Parry as a member of Kings of Leon and declaring "that's the sound of faces melting" after Anastasio's performance."

More about Night One HERE. Night Two HERE. Night Three HERE. Night Four HERE. More pictures and the setlist from Night Five (though none of the opening set unfortunately) below....

Continue reading "Trey Anastasio & others joined The National on Night 5 @ Beacon Theater (pics & setlist)"

SPIN says:

Trey Anastasio is quietly working on a new solo album with help from a formidable cast of indie rockers, SPIN has learned.

Since winding up his fall tour, the Phish guitarist has been making a daily commute from his New York City home to Bridgeport, Connecticut's Tarquin Studios, recording with his band and members of the National and Mates of State for the last month. Peter Katis, who owns the suburban studio and has produced a string of indie rock albums there (Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights and Antics, The National's Boxer, Mates of State's Rearrange Us), is co-producing the album with Anastasio.

A rep for Anastasio didn't return a request for comment, but early reports out of the studio say the sound is a mix between Anastasio's eclectic, Afro-tinged rock and the kind of experimental indie pop produced by the Philistines Jr., Katis' own recently reformed band. Before entering the studio, Katis told Sonic Scoop that Anastasio "wants to do something totally out of left-field."

Anastasio and Co. are working on about 15 new songs, with recording expected to wrap up in January. They'll take a weeklong break later this month, when Phish hold court for four sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, including their traditional three-set performance on New Year's Eve.

Continue reading "Furthur playing 8 Beacon Theater shows on Spring Tour -- more than The National who are working with Trey"

DUMP playing Hot Tub @ Littlefield this past Monday (by DoneWaiting)

Tickets go on sale at noon for the eight Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows:

*12/20 Night One Buy Tickets Here!
*12/21 Night Two Buy Tickets Here!
*12/22 Night Three Buy Tickets Here!
*12/23 Night Four Buy Tickets Here!
*12/24 Night Five Buy Tickets Here!
*12/25 Night Six Buy Tickets Here!
*12/26 Night Seven Buy Tickets Here!
*12/27 Night Eight Buy Tickets Here!

Tickets for the four Phish shows at MSG go on sale Saturday at noon.

Mavis Staples, The Head and the Heart & Dawes have a show coming up at Beacon Theater. Tickets on sale at noon.

Speaking of holiday shows at the Beacon, Cyndi Lauper and friends are playing one too. On sale now.

By noon tickets will also be on sale for Yelle, Nada Surf, Devo and BOBBY.

One of those Devo shows is at the Paramount in Long Island where Cheap Trick also have a show coming up at. It went on sale today.

Ill Fits recently played some shows at CMJ. They play Mercury Lounge on December 7th with Ladybug Transistor and The Echo-Friendly. Tickets on sale at noon.

by world's biggest Phish fan BBG

Phish at MSG (more by Ryan Barkan)

I can think of literally thousands (millions?) of things that I'd rather do around New Year's Eve than go to a Phish show. Get kicked in the teeth by a burro. Fall down some stairs. Murdered. But obviously some people (and there are a lot of people) still care deeply for the Vermont jam band that spawned acres (or is it ache-rs?) of followers, drum circles, hackey sack games, etc.

Today is your lucky day. Phish has announced that they will play Madison Square Garden over four nights including New Years Eve, 12/28 - 12/31. Tickets aren't on sale yet, but you can request them via the band until Monday, October 24 at 11:59 AM. Check ticketmaster after that for general sale.

All tour dates are below, along with some video including one of Phish & Jay-Z covering Big Pimpin' and 99 Problems. I can now die complete.

Continue reading "Phish announce another New Year's in NYC run (by BBG)"

The Outside Lands Festival, which runs from 8/12 - 8/14 in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, released their 2011 lineup in April (and now it's May, so consider this a catch up post). Tickets are on sale.

This year's fest will appearances from The Shins, Muse, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, Phish (two sets), !!!, Erykah Badu, Big Audio Dynamite (who played Coachella and are also playing Lollapalooza), Girl Talk and many more. The full lineup is below.

Continue reading "Outside Lands 2011 lineup"

Trey Anastasio played a 2-set + 1 encore show at Terminal 5 in NYC last night (2/22). Video of his second-set closing cover of "Empire State of Mind" and the full setlist is below with a new set of Phish dates that were announced today....

Continue reading "Trey Anastasio covered 'Empire State of Mind' & other songs @ Terminal 5 (video, full setlist), Phish announced a tour (dates)"

Ekorre/Squirrel (by Lars Andersson)

Tickets are on sale NOW for the Peter Bjorn and John show at Santos (note that it is in the smaller room downstairs, or the "South Pole" as they call it on Ticketweb).

Tickets go on sale at noon for the Smith Westerns show at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets go on sale at noon for both Mountain Goats shows at Bowery Ballroom.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the two NYC J Mascis/Kurt Vile shows including the small one at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets also go on sale at noon for both Sebadoh shows happening at Bowery Ballroom.

Moving from Dinosaur Jr. to um, Phish... tickets go on sale on Saturday for a Trey Anastasio show at Terminal 5. Tickets (3/22 and 3/23) go on sale at noon for two Mike Gordon shows at Brooklyn Bowl.

photos by Ryan Barkan

Phish completed their three night run at Madison Square Garden late on Saturday night (1/1/11). One night earlier they spent the last moments of 2010 in a hot dog hovering over the crowd. The stunt, which was part of a routine that involved the performance of Phish rarity "Meatstick", included costumed dancers that filled the stage, streamers and foam hotdogs, and was initally done on 12/31/94 for New Years at the Boston Garden. It was revisited in 1999 and finally retired when the hot dog was donated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Phish borrowed the prop back from the museum for the MSG show.

Over their three night stay (which you may have watched from home since Phish offered a pay-per-view webcast of each night), Phish played a total of seven sets and did not repeat a single song. In fact, the band only repeated two songs during their entire five show New Year's Eve run that also included two shows DCU Center in Worcester, MA. Those songs were "David Bowie" and "Backwards Down the Number Line" (both played once in NYC).

Pictures, setlists and videos (including multiple angles of the flying hot dog) from all three shows, below...

Continue reading "Phish played 3 nights @ MSG in NYC, including New Years Eve (pics, video, setlists & a flying hot dog)"

photos by Tim Griffin

""This festival is super-cool," said Strokes singer Julian Casablancas from the stage at Austin City Limits on Friday night. "Lotta stuff." It's true: The festival, now in its ninth year, packs 130 bands onto eight outdoor stages arranged around the 350-acre Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. The lineup is a mix of huge rock acts (the Eagles headline Sunday) and big-name indie bands, plus DJs, country singers and the occasional rapper. With an expected attendance of around 70,000 a day, the festival similar in size, if not in spirit, to Lollapalooza. "Lollapalooza has that city energy. It's like the hot girl you want to take home," one organizer, Lisa Hickey, said. "ACL is more laid-back -- it's like your best friend." And unlike South By Southwest, the music and film showcase that takes over the Texas town every spring, ACL doesn't have much of a music-industry angle -- it's almost strictly for fans.

On Friday night, the packed lineup presented the crowd with a happy problem: Four big-name guitar bands -- Spoon, Sonic Youth, Vampire Weekend, and the Strokes -- all had sets starting within two hours of each other, and seeing each set in its entirety was impossible."
[Rolling Stone]

Kings Go Forth pictures are HERE. The rest of the pictures from the first day of the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival (where Ezra Koenig joined Miike Snow on stage), continue, with a bunch of setlists (including Spoon's which points out that Eleanor Friedberger played a Fiery Furnaces song with Spoon) (video proof too), below...

Continue reading "ACL 2010 Day 1 in pics (Strokes, Phish, Black Keys, Spoon, Beach House, Vampire Weekend & more) "

As rumored, Phish will occupy Madison Square Garden in NYC on New Years Eve this year, and they'll be there on New Years Day next year too (their first-ever New Years Day concert). The jam band have actually announced five new shows, three of which are at the Manhattan venue (they're their December 30th too), and another two leading up to that, in Worcester...

An online ticket request period is currently underway at http://phish.portals.musictoday.com/ and will end on Saturday, October 2nd, at noon ET. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on October 9th. Included in the ticket price for each date is a free MP3 download of the entire show (a fully mixed soundboard recording). Redeemable at LivePhish.com, the downloads will be available often within an hour of the band stepping off stage. Phish will also be giving ticket buyers free MP3 show downloads of each stop on its fall 2010 tour.

Continue reading "Phish announce 5 new shows, 3 at MSG, 1 on New Years Eve "

photos by Ryan Barkan

Jones Beach, 8/18

One of the best things about Phish Tour is getting to see and enjoy shows with so many friends gathered in one place. It's social multi-tasking. It's a big fucking party! I met up with some of said friends and we pre-gamed appropriately for such an occasion: Phish's 2010 Summer Tour closing run at Jones Beach. Hershey Park was a lot of fun, but wasn't completely satisfying. This being the end of the tour, I hoped the boys would have their Tour Legs on and be ready to kick some major ass, as per the 2009 MSG run. -[Jambands.com]

Phish is back on the road this fall, tie-dying the rest of the East Coast and NYC does not get a look in this go around, but Atlantic City gets four shows including Halloween, and there are strong rumors of Madison Square Garden on New Years Eve (and speaking of hippies at MSG, Further is playing there twice in November). Tickets for the new Phish shows go on sale to the general public on Sept 10th and 11th, but a fan "ticket-requesting" system is up and running until then. For the upcoming fall trek, all concert-goers will receive copies of the show they attended (in MP3 form). The band also recently posted a free-for-download live sampler entitled Live Bait.

More pictures and the setlists from Jones Beach and the new tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Phish played Jones Beach (pics), playing Halloween in Atlantic City & other dates (including MSG on New Years Eve?)"

"A Phish show is the last place you expect to have a sobering experience, but there we were during the setbreak, sitting down in the General Admission section savoring the "Antelope" that closed a stellar first set, when we saw the body drop. Though the distance between the mezzanine and the seats directly below it is approximately 25 feet, the body landed much further out, in row HH, indicating that the fan propelled himself outward. One security guard guesstimated that the total distance was about 50 feet. A witness told the Post, "He pushed people out of the way and he jumped; he didn't fall. It was intentional." Fortunately, as far as we know, he didn't land on anyone.

One concertgoer who claimed to know the victim told us late last night that the man, whom he identified by the first name Luke, is in stable condition. According to the Daily News, he suffered "massive head trauma" and is "clinging to life." Another fan told the Post, "I was sitting two rows behind from where he hit. He hit a chair and he broke the back of another chair. There was blood everywhere." After the man was carried out on a stretcher, security cordoned off the area with caution tape for the remainder of the concert, which continued on schedule. It's unclear if the band was told about the incident." [Gothamist]

TIME OUT NY: Do you listen to a lot of pop music?
Trey Anastasio (September 2009): I really liked MGMT when that record came out. I like Band of Horses, you know, [Singing] "I could sleep, I could sleeeeeep." That song really got inside me for a while. I was listening to Panda Bear.

Oh yeah, man. He's the best.
I couldn't stop listening to that record for, like, five days. I had it on my headphones...that "Comfy in Nautica"?

Yeah, man. Are you familiar with his band Animal Collective?
I didn't even know who it was! I heard one of the songs, maybe on Pandora or something, and I bought the album and I really liked it. I would be cooking in the kitchen and listening to "Comfy in Nautica." Really weird and layered.

You should check out Animal Collective. They're really creative...big Deadheads.
Really? Wow. I found it kind of to be a little Eno circa 1973. I just like the sensibility of it. That Band of Horses record really lodged itself in my ear for about a week. That "Ode to LRC" and all that. [Singing] "In the logbook of the LRC..." [Laughs]

Wow.
I'm always looking for a new band to fall in love with. I went through an MGMT thing for a while there. You heard that record, right? I love discovering new stuff. Oh, you know who I was listening to for, like, another week? It usually lasts like a week with me. Todd Snider. You ever listen to him? I'd never heard of him till somebody mentioned his name. I got two of his records. Peace Queer? I couldn't stop listening to that one for a while...like Panda Bear. So you've heard of Todd Snider?

Unfortunately, East of The Wall has been forced to cancel their appearance at the Acheron due to a medical emergency, but KEN Mode and Castavet are still on the bill.

El-P's new video for "Time Won't Tell", below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Video from Saturday night's show at Merriweather Post Pavillion below...

Continue reading "Phish covered Neutral Milk Hotel (video) "

ACL 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

October 8-10, 2010 | Zilker Park, Austin, TX

"The Austin City Limits Music Festival began as a modest, two-day event and now, as it enters it's 9th year, has become a perennial American music experience. Taking place at the heart of Austin, Texas in the legendary Zilker Park, ACL Festival has grown to 3 days, 8 stages and over 130 bands."

Continue reading "Austin City Limits announces 2010 festival lineup (Eagles, Muse, Phish, Strokes, MIA, LCD, Spoon, Gayngs, more) "

tonight in NYC
* The Buzzcocks @ Irving Plaza
* Ricky Gervais @ the Theater @ MSG
* The Big Sleep (late) @ Mercury Lounge
* TBA @ The National's High Violet Annex
* Crooked Still, Gabriel Kahane @ 92YTribeca
* Elysian Fields, Doveman @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* The Blow, Acrylics, Julianna Barwick @ Glasslands
* Nohow On, Pepi Ginsberg, Last Good Tooth @ Zebulon
* Team B, Landlady, The Relatives @ Knitting Factory
* Panda Riot, Midstates, The Twees, Daniel Klag @ Lit
* The Moog, The Photo Atlas, Morning Fuzz @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Drunken Sufis, Jookabox, The Whims, Birfday @ Cake Shop
* Greg Garing, Jacob Jones, Fletcher C. Johnson @ Southpaw
* Woods, MV & EE (Joshua Light Show Fest) @ Abrons Art Center
* Phosphorescent, High Life, Diamond Doves (early) @ Mercury Lounge
* Harvard Bass, These Are Powers, JDH & Dave P @ Santos Party House
* Laura Marling, Smoke Fairies, Pete Roe @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Milagres, Twi The Humble Feather, ArpLine, Mancino @ The Bell House
* Borrowed Eyes, Cavedweller, Gregory Stovetop, Racetrack @ Bruar Falls
* Francis and the Lights, Penguin Prison, Ryan Holladay @ Bowery Ballroom
* Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now!, Les Sans Culottes @ Union Hall
* Big Troubles, NT, Knight School, My Teenage Stride, Creeptables @ Death By Audio
* Beach Fossils, Midnight Masses, Mon Khmer (Deli's Best of NYC Fest) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Blitz The Ambassador, Das Racist, Mazzi and Sneakas, Dash Speaks, NSR @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* The Click Clack Boom, Cavalier Rose, The Shake, Midnight Spin (Deli's Best of NYC Fest) @ Public Assembly

The Big Sleep, returning from a hiatus, play a free show tonight at Mercury Lounge.

The Blow returns tonight too.

Phish is on Fallon tonight.

The Deli Magazine's Best of NYC Fest kicks off.

A video of The Tallest Man on Earth playing his tune "King of Spain" in Manhattan's High Line Park (check it out this weekend!) is posted below. Pictures from his most recent NYC show are here.

Effie Briest played Union Pool last night. Video from that show below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

Gwar fan @ MWTX (more by Leia Jospe)

Gwar is playing Starland Ballroom in NJ on June 18th. Tickets are on sale at noon.

Tickets are now on "Live Nation Presale" (no password required?) (or else password = popstar) for the Broken Bells / Morning Benders show at Irving Plaza. General sale begins Saturday at 10am.

Tickets are on sale at noon for Nas/Damian Marley show at Williamsburg Waterfront.

As previously mentioned, Josh Ritter has added a 3rd NYC show to accompany the two he's playing at Town Hall in in May. The new one happens May 22nd at the more intimate Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn and tickets go on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale at noon for Camera Obscura's upcooming show at Grand Ballroom.

Tickets are on sale at noon for Jay Farrar's show at Bowery Ballroom.

Tickets are on sale at noon for They Might Be Giants at Town Hall.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the 2nd Black Keys show (with The Morning Benders) at Central Park Summerstage.

Tickets are on sale at noon for Metric's show at Terminal 5

Tickets are still on sale for one LCD Soundsystem show at Terminal 5 (one is sold out).

Tickets are still on sale for The Clean at the Bell House.

Phish tickets went/are going on sale today and tomorrow.

photos by Fresh Bread

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.

The band had called it quits in 2004. Nearly 20 years of almost nonstop working and touring had taken a toll, especially on Anastasio, who describes his drug and alcohol problems as ``well-documented.''

``We just hit the wall on a lot of levels,'' says Anastasio. ``It was just rolling along with no end -- the whole thing had gotten to be a bit like a freight train that was out of control.

``And stopping was the best thing we could have done. . . . Everybody went home and reconnected with what's important, which is family and health. And when the time was right, we got back on the road.'' [Miami Herald]

Continue reading "Phish @ Madison Square Garden in NYC - pics "

Beast @ CMJ 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Lady Gaga was nominated five times. Considering her rocket to fame over the last year, many were expecting more for her. But at least the contests are going to be really interesting: Beyoncé, [Taylor] Swift and Lady Gaga are going head to head in three of the most important categories: album, record and song of the year. Will one of them sweep, or will the lady vote be split?

One of the usual complaints about the Grammys is that it over-rewards older, established, familiar acts at the expense of newer, fresher ones. MGMT, the Brooklyn synth-rock duo, was nominated for best new artist, a big coup although not unexpected. But some of the shoulda-been names that have been circulated and Tweeted: Grizzly Bear, another acclaimed Brooklyn group; Regina Spektor, a young New York songwriter who started in the underground and has found some mainstream popularity; Diane Birch, a young soul-style singer, just the revivalist type the Grammys usually adore; and the Decemberists, an alt-folk-rock band from Portland, Ore., that released an ambitious concept album this year. [NY Times]

One surprise (for me anyway) came this year in the video category. Montreal's Beast were nominated for "Mr. Hurricane". That video with a list of some of the other nominees, below...

Continue reading "Beast's 'Mr. Hurricane' video & other 2009 Grammy nominees "

The Wrens @ Sasquatch Festival in May (more by Chris Graham)

tonight in NYC
* Phish @ MSG
* Flobots @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Robin Williams @ Town Hall
* Ian McCulloch @ Other Music
* The Wrens, 12:01 @ Maxwell's
* Phoenix @ PC Richard Theater
* Peter Evans Quintet @ The Stone
* Gil Mantera's Party Dream @ Europa
* Bear in Heaven @ Sound Fix Records
* Antibalas @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* The Figgs, Nouvellas & the Sights @ Bruar Falls
* Imogen Heap @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* McCoy Tyner Trio w/ Gary Bartz @ Blue Note
* Tim Berne's Los Totopos @ IBeam Music Studio
* The Queers, The Leftovers, Tabo, Hollis @ Southpaw
* Field Music, Wye Oak, Pulsars, Rumours @ The Bell House
* The Big Pink, Crystal Antlers, Von Haze @ Bowery Ballroom
* Cable & Liturgy (Until The Light Takes Us party) @ Fontana's
* Seabrook Power Plant, The Inbetweens, Father Figures @ Zebulon
* Your 33 Black Angels, Wakey! Wakey!, Casey Shea @ Mercury Lounge
* Soundpool, Neon Gloworms, Family Portrait, Dream Diary @ The Cameo
* Dan Friel, Dinowalrus, Knyfe Hyts 81 and Electric Tickle Machine @ Union Pool
* Good Old War, Cast Spells, Hezekiah Jones, Gabriel The Marine @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn

UPDATE: Field Music canceled!

"Echo & the Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch plays a rare acoustic in-store performance at Other Music. The show is at 9PM, free admission, limited capacity, first come first served."

The Wrens are playing three shows at Maxwell's. The first, tonight, is a set list by (advance) request. Tomorrow's early show is their album Meadlowlands in full, and the late gig is new songs.

Bear In Heaven play a free in-store @ Sound Fix today and they were recently added as the opener for Mew at Webster Hall tomorrow.

Antibalas play their first of a few shows they have scheduled at Knitting Factory.

Dan Friel (@ Union Pool) is a member of Parts & Labor who have a free show coming up at Brooklyn Bowl.

Goes Cube had to cancel their appearance at Fontana's tonight.

Bill talks more about tonight's Field Music show in This Week in Indie.

Phish return to Madison Square Garden for the 2nd night in a row tonight. Some footage of the nitrous party going on outside the venue last night, below...

Phoenix plays their 2nd NYC show in a row tonight. Video of a new Take Away Show they filmed in Paris, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

Doveman in an apartment in October (more by Ezra Caldwell)

tonight in NYC
* Imogen Heap @ Webster Hall
* Phish @ Madison Square Garden
* McCoy Tyner Trio @ Blue Note
* Happy Ending Music w/ Doveman @ Joe's Pub
* David Thomas w/ Greil Marcus @ The New School
* The Mountain Goats, Final Fantasy @ The Bell House
* The Shaky Hands, Takka Takka, US Royalty @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Titus Andronicus, The Beets, Algernon Cadwallader @ NYU Kimmel Center
* Jaguar Love, The King Left, Yes Giantess, Violent Soho @ Mercury Lounge
* Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica w/ DJ Spooky & ICE @ BAM Howard Gilman Opera
* Phoenix, Passion Pit, Jack's Mannequin, Manchester Orchestra @ Hammerstein

Jaguar Love is a band that includes members of Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves. Tickets are still available for their gig at Mercury Lounge tonight.

The Mountain Goats are in town for two sold-out shows with Final Fantasy. Last night was at Webster Hall. Tonight they're at the Bell House. John Darnielle also showed up to play a few songs at UCB Monday night. A video of John covering The Hold Steady in Minneapolis, below.

DJ Spooky's collaboration with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the multimedia work Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica, runs tonight, Friday and Saturday at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Video below.

Bjorn from Peter Bjorn and John is DJing at Cake Shop tonight. It's a free show with a performance by The Suzan who recently opened for the band at Terminal 5.

Doveman's appearance at Joe's Pub is one of many in their future. "Doveman and friends" at Mercury Lounge on January 12th is on sale.

Titus Andronicus also has a show coming up at Mercury Lounge, it's one of many New Years Eve shows in NYC this/next year.

Amazon is giving away a different free holiday song each day until Christmas.

If someone asks you for a miracle while you're walking by MSG this evening, it's because Phish is back. They covered TV on the Radio the other day in Albany. Video below...

Ann from Breakfast at Sulimays interviewed Neon Indian. Video below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

Festival 8 (more pictures by Fresh Bread)

Dead heads and pot heads take note. While the straight economy goes up in smoke with double digit unemployment, job prospects for hippies are booming -- and not just for boomers.

At the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) they're looking to hire an official Grateful Dead archivist.

And in Denver, where Colorado's medical marijuana industry is legally flourishing, there are these two recent job postings:

The alternative newspaper Westword is advertising for a pot reviewer, asking for a short essay from applicants on "What Marijuana Means to Me".

Similarly, a new biotech company, Full Spectrum Laboratories, needs scientists to test the potency of cannabis samples and salesmen to market their quality-control [ABC News]

Tickets are on sale (Saturday @ 10am) for the Jay-Z shows at the Izod Center and Nassau Coliseum.

Screaming Females are playing the Bell House on November 25th with the So So Glos. Tickets are on sale.

ATP NY 2010 is now on sale.

Magnetic Fields and other tickets went on sale yesterday.

Tickets are on sale (Saturday @ 10am) for the Phish shows happening in Miami at the end of the year (New Years Eve included).

Eli Paperboy Reed plays Brooklyn Bowl tonight (11/21)

Negative Approach is at Southpaw this afternoon.

Yo Gabba Gabba perform their first of THREE SHOWS TODAY at Beacon Theater this morning! if you go, report back with what special guests they bring out (if any).

Happy Saturday!

Continue reading "Pentagram, Screaming Females, Phish, Jay-Z & other tickets +++ Yo Gabba Gabba is here (3 Beacon shows today)"

photos by Fresh Bread

"It wasn't until concertgoers arrived at the gates that they finally learned what classic album Phish would cover in its entirety during their "musical costume" set at Festival 8. Reviving a tradition that began in 1994 when Phish covered The Beatles' The White Album, last night the quartet staged an ambitious cover of the Rolling Stones' 18-song double LP, Exile on Main St. As in years past, the costume choice was a closely-guarded secret until the day of the show, when thousands of "Phishbill" programs (à la Playbill) were distributed, complete with bios of the "cast," which included Sharon Jones on vocals and members of the Dap Kings on horns." [LAist]

Continue reading "Phish, with help from Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, covered Exile on Main St. @ Halloween 'Festival 8' in Indio - pics "