"Was the pope a nazi? Yes the pope was a nazi" - Johnny Rotten

PiL @ MHOW - 5/19/2010 (Brooklyn365)

"Hey. We were dancing next to each other for basically the entire Public Image Ltd. (PIL) concert at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Weds night. You were wearing a plaid dress and had blonde hair, I was wearing a fake leather jacket and a grey hoodie, with longer brown hair. I wanted to ask for you number but didn't want to piss the dude you were with off. If you want to hang out, listen to some records and talk about how amazing the show was, I am down." [Dancing to Public Image Limited - PIL at Music Hall of Williamsburg - m4w (Williamsburg)]

As that guy points out, it was an amazing 2 hour and 20 minute, tour-ending PiL show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on Wednesday night (5/19). Johnny Rotten was on fire. The band was great, as was the venue. I can't wait to see the footage they were filming for the "forthcoming PiL documentary directed by Alex Mar and produced by Artists Public Domain".

Check out the pics and setlist from the night before at Terminal 5. And some videos from T5 below...

Continue reading "Public Image Ltd. played Music Hall of Williamsburg "

photos by Greg Cristman

"Despite the leather-clad, spikyhaired lookalikes who peppered the audience at Terminal 5 last night, there is only one Johnny Rotten.

Rotten, 54, who these days goes by his given name, John Lydon, is still the brash, politically outspoken, anti-authoritarian punk who assaulted music, first as a Sex Pistol and then by leading the post-punk movement with his other band, Public Image LTD.

This show resurrected PiL after an 18-year New York performance hiatus. And the band's kitchen-sink mix of rock, noise, dance and pop remains as strange and engaging as its frontman." [NY Post]

Public Image Ltd played Terminal 5 in NYC last night (Tueday, 5/18). It was the band's first of two NYC shows. The next is at the smaller Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight (5/19). The reunion tour, which began around Coachella also included a performance on Kimmel. On Monday, the band made their second TV appearance, but this time on Fallon. A video from that, with more Terminal 5 pics and the setlist below....

Continue reading "PiL played Terminal 5 (pics, setlist) & Jimmy Fallon (video) "

PiL @ Coachella 2010 (more by Rachel Carr)

tonight in NYC
* UI & Dan Friel @ the Bell House
* Local H, Kinch @ Gramercy Theater
* Public Image Ltd @ Terminal 5
* Neil Halstead, J. Wise @ Union Hall
* Pearl Jam & Band of Horses @ Prudential Center
* Stone Temple Pilots @ Gramercy Theater
* Phantogram, Light Pollution @ Maxwell's
* Bees Are Flowers, Woom, Boveda @ Cake Shop
* Janelle Monáe, DJ Moni @ Highline Ballroom
* Mumford & Sons, The Middle East @ Webster Hall
* Brahms, Bell, Aislyn, Passion Pit (DJ) @ Pianos
* CAVES, Polite Sleeper, Nerd Parade @ Death By Audio
* Madden, Fostercare, DJ Harrison, Robin @ Glasslands
* Radical Sons, Byrds of Paradise, Pregnant @ Union Pool
* Recoil (Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode)@ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Keepaway, DOM, The Tony Castles, Rewards @ Mercury Lounge
* This Frontier Needs Heroes, Kath Bloom, Marcellus Hall @ Bruar Falls
* A-Trak, DJ Enuff, DJ Clark Kent, Lord Finesse, Boogie Blind, Sean C & LV, Henley Reid @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Sex Slaves, Eve To Adam, Black Water Rising, Hellbent Hooker, Honor Among Thieves @ Santos Party House

"Bees are Flowers" are really These Are Powers tonight at Cake Shop.

"Bassist Sasha Frere-Jones and drummer Clem Waldmann began playing together in 1990. Wilbo Wright joined in 1993 and Ui began recording. Ui's songs draw on rock, funk, dub and electronic music. The band's early releases incorporated instruments less common to pop - banjos, tubas and kettle drums - but the band soon stopped using any instrument that couldn't fit into a cab. In addition to one of the earliest known single-artist remix albums ("Unlike," 1995), the band has released four studio albums, including "Answers" and the nineties classic, "Lifelike." Ui has collaborated with Stereolab, Techno Animal, Microstoria and Luke Vibert. In early 2010, Dan Friel began playing electronics and baritone guitar with the band." Yes, The New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones is playing a show at the Bell House tonight. Parts & Labor member Dan Friel is both in the band and opening with one of his solo sets. It's Ui's first official show in 10 years, and a warm up for the slot they landed on the lineup of the Primavera Festival at the end of this month in Barcelona.

The new video for Keepaway's "I Think About You All The Time" is posted below. They play an EP release show tonight with DOM, The Tony Castles and Rewards at Mercury Lounge.

DOM also play the BV Northside show at MHOW this summer.

PiL's recent DC show is streaming on NPR. John Lydon is on East Village Radio at 10am. Pil play Terminal 5 tonight, and then the smaller Music Hall of Williamsburg on Wednesday.

DJ Roc Raida's birthday is being celebrated at Brooklyn Bowl tonight.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

The recently-added May 19th Public Image Ltd show has moved from Terminal 5 to the much smaller Music Hall of Williamsburg, but the May 18th show remains at the same giant midtown venue that it was originally booked at. Tickets for both dates are still on sale. Official reason? "This show has been moved from Terminal 5 for an intimate filming for a forthcoming PiL documentary directed by Alex Mar and produced by Nicholas Shumaker and Hunter Gray (Half Nelson, Voy a Expoltar)". hmm.

photos by Rachel Carr, words by Daiana Feuer

Jay-Z, Beyonce & Johnny Rotten

This year, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival reveals that tattoos are more ubiquitous among social scenes than ever before. A walking museum of quotes and legendary faces from Jesus to Michael Jackson decorates the backs, shoulders, calves and fingers of people fashionably reliving their favorite historical decades at this heat-stroke inducing music marathon.

I thought Wale didn't show up, but later found out that he showed up late. Baroness demonstrated the art of rocking out at least three to five times before each song reached a satisfied climax. Metal can be a real turn on, especially surrounded by sweaty good-looking people. Deer Tick performed an R+B version of "Ashamed" followed by John McCauley caressing his nipples. LA band Iglu and Hartly had enthusiasm, but is this Mickey Avalon without the drugs and prostitutes? Which leaves what? Sleigh Bells began with a booty melting bass line palpable from the VIP section across the field, soon overtaken by hipster hop metal pop for people that like beaches and children. The Avett Brothers made an exciting second Coachella appearance on the Outdoor Stage. Two years ago, the band played Sunday gospel time, all manners and simplicity, but the Bros returned with a full band, and a few thousand people singing every word, stomping to the banjo, and hugging during the sweet parts. The banjo will take over America. Just wait. Country music is infiltrating avant-garde and above ground indie worlds alike.

Standing midway between the big stages, just a few feet from yet another girl with the words "Have u seen my friend Molly?" scrawled on her back, the Avett Brothers' heart-wrenching "January Wedding" got a reggaeton remix from Calle 13 booming on the Main Stage. This Puerto Rican dancefloor marvel used a tea kettle for a mic effect, and taught the audience to say "No me jodas las pelotas" against negativity ("Don't fuck my balls"). Speaking of balls, Yeasayer's crowd went absolutely nuts screaming, but the guys barely seemed aware, transported as they were to some space station cloud. The harmonies rocked like angelic aliens-but, smile, guys. Hockey demonstrated a genuine interest in moving indie rock standards forward, especially attracting the PG-13 festival contingency. M. ward raspy singing "Roll Over Beethoven" during She & Him's set delivered tingly shivers, but Zooey Deschanel's approach to "I Put A Spell On You" did not crumble souls. Her jazzy voice and bouncy energy otherwise made for a good time that elicited repetitive shouts of "I Love You!" from the first row.

Gil Scott-Heron

Music should be at least marginally weird or infinitely classic, but Tom Morello's band, Street Sweeper Social Club, brings nothing new to either category and so seems a waste of great musicians. Get weird or the future will never arrive. That being said, the musicians Coachella digs up from history often present the most exciting moments. Rock steady ska pioneers The Specials sent a crispy, warm message to Rudy that every witness appreciated immensely, but it was outrageous that barely any photographers showed up for Gil Scott-Heron's smooth, soulful set [editor's note: ours did!]. The man is partly responsible for getting Martin Luther King, Jr. a holiday, godfathered hip hop, and that doesn't merit attention? A large crowd attended his every word, but the photos won't show it. Later on, James Murphy screamed Gil Scott-Heron's name during "Losing My Edge" as if it were the name of God. Glad he gets it. LCD Soundsystem's first single in 2002, "Losing My Edge" is a historical document worth preserving for the ages, an essence that speaks to what Coachella seems bent on capturing and rewriting every year. Echo & The Bunnymen rode the high-hat zealously-as many have copied since-giving chapped lips sugar kisses. Public Image, Ltd., could not take Jay-Z's audience away from him nor unglue Fever Ray fans from Karin Dreijer Andersson's encompassing fog spell, but I'll be damned if PiL wasn't the best show all day. John Lydon's hair stood on edge and he rolled his rrrr's heroically. His gang of old men put the good junk in post-punk.

As this first 12 hour music summary comes to a close, a few acts remain worth giving a hoot about. Grizzly Bear's hypnotic power hardly needs mentioning and Vampire Weekend knows you love "Horchata." New cool La Roux magnetizes with a disco flavor that Anita Ward might approve. As hoped, Little Dragon's gentle fire breathing soul pop fronted by Yukimi's sexy voice and adorable stage presence comes in as Friday's second favorite. The music's weird enough, bent on discovering surprises. One-woman band Imogen Heap, as well, is the queen of surprises. She moves around her instruments, looping this and dubbing that as if casually mixing a magic potion or prepping a sandwich. Jay-Z's "On To The Next One" is an appropriate theme song for the attention span needed to get your money's worth at Coachella. And then Beyonce came out. We all bowed down before her short shorts.

Them Crooked Vultures, Passion Pit, Dillinger Escape Plan, Yo Gabba Gabba, and The Whitest Boy Alive also played sets on Friday. The Cribs were among those who could not. Coachella continues for a second day today/Saturday (Record Store Day). More pictures and videos and stuff from the first day, below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2010 - Day One in pics, video & review "

Public Image Ltd gave us a taste last night of what to expect on their semi-reunion tour that kicks off with a pre-Coachella show at Club Nokia in LA on April 13th. In what was their "first television performance in 18 years", the John Lydon-led group performed "This is Not a Love Song" and "Rise" on the Jimmy Kimmel show. Videos of both songs and updated tour dates below...

Continue reading "Public Image Ltd played Kimmel (videos), updated tour dates "

Wow...Public Image Ltd, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Grace Jones, Fever Ray, Devo, Hot Chip, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, Mew, Camera Obscura, Gil Scott-Heron, The xx, John Waters, Dillinger Escape Plan, Deer Tick, Gary Numan... Full Coachella 2010 lineup below....

Continue reading "2010 Coachella line up announced (Faith No More, Pavement, Muse, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke, Jay-Z, LCD Soundystem, ???)"