photos by Amanda Hatfield

"Twin Shadow killing it to an absurd extent. @ Music Hall of Williamsburg" Joe Peltier

"Twin Shadow just brought the house down at Music Hall of Williamsburg!" - @marcellobutron

Twin Shadow @ MHOW

Twin Shadow and Niki and the Dove ended their tour in NYC with two shows last week, including Webster Hall on Thursday (9/27) and then the more intimate Music Hall of Williamsburg the next night (9/28). Both shows were sold out and last night was especially packed with the whole crowd going nuts for Twin Shadow. He split his set pretty evenly between his two full lengths (2010's Forget and this year's Confess) and ended with straightforward but awesomely done cover of Queen & David Bowie's "Under Pressure." A video of that cover is below. After the show, Twin Shadow headed a few streets over to DJ the afterparty at Brooklyn Bowl.

Twin Shadow main man George Lewis Jr. joined Niki and the Dove on stage during their opening set for a song too. Niki and the Dove will take a short break now that the tour is over, after which they'll head out again supporting Miike Snow. That tour hits the NYC area for shows at United Palace (10/19) and Wellmont Theatre (10/23).

More pictures, video, and the setlist from last night's show are below.

Continue reading "Twin Shadow played MHOW w/ Niki & the Dove, covered Queen & Bowie's "Under Pressure" (pics, video, setlist)"

"Queen star Brian May has launched a new campaign against cattle farmers in a bid to save badgers from an "indefensible" cull.

Government officials are allowing farmers in West Gloucestershire to shoot badgers in a bid to slow the spread of bovine tuberculosis, which can kill off herds of cows.

Rocker-turned-animal rights activist May has teamed up with bosses at animal welfare charity RSPCA for the Save the Badger drive, in the hope of stopping the mass slaughter.

The guitarist claims the cull will make bovine TB rates worse as sick badgers will travel to other areas, thereby spreading infection even further.

He is urging fans to sign a petition and boycott dairy products made in the areas where badgers are being killed, insisting, "I would certainly not drink milk that comes at a price of badgers being slaughtered."

May adds, "This is a horrific proposal, truly horrific. Badgers have just as much right to live in this country as we do. They mind their own business. They do nobody any harm."" [WENN]

Continue reading "Queen's Brian May fighting for badgers"

by Bill Pearis

George Michael at the London Olympics Closing Ceremony

While Kate Bush didn't perform in the London Olympics Closing Ceremonies segment that "Running Up That Hill" was used in (that was cut from the U.S. telecast), NBC did cut a few actual live performances from it, including The Who closing out the whole thing with "Baba O'Riley," "See Me, Feel Me/Listening To You" and "My Generation." (Yet they left in Kaiser Chiefs doing "Pinball Wizard"!). The Who was not deemed as important as letting the world see the first episode of some new sitcom. NBC also cut Ray Davies doing Kinks classic "Waterloo Sunset" and Muse who wrote "Survival," the official song for the London Olympics.

What we did get: a Spice Girls reuinon where Posh, Sporty and the rest of them mostly rode around the track in separate Bentleys; Beady Eye doing "Wonderwall" (Noel must've loved that); Annie Lennox doing "Little Bird"; Eric Idle singing Life of Brian's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"; Russell Brand singing "Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and "I Am the Walrus"; current popstars One Direction and Jessie J, the latter of whom also sang "We Will Rock You" with Queen; Fatboy Slim in a giant inflatable octopus; Pet Shop Boys doing "West End Girls," Madness hoarsely performing "Our House"; and Ed Sheeran with Pink Floyd's Nick Mason and Genesis' Mike Rutherford for "Wish You Were Here."

The highlight, at least with the crowd I watched it with, was George Michael in his first live performance after a life-threatening bout with pneumonia last year. He still had the moves on "Freedom 90," though it seemed a missed opportunity by the ceremonies producers not to have the iconic video's co-stars Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell come out for it, as they were paraded around in a segment set to Bowie's "Fashion" early in the program. NBC cut (maybe not so unkind) the performance of Michael's new single "White Light" which you can watch the video for below that does feature Moss.

After the Closing Ceremonies, Blur performed in Hyde Park with New Order, The Specials and Bombay Bicycle Club and we'll have pictures from that show soon.

Video below...

Continue reading "George Michael, The Spice Girls & more played Olympic Closing Ceremony; NBC cut The Who, Ray Davies and Muse "

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Eleanor Friedberger & band @ Europa

After checking out Guided By Voices earlier in the day, Fiery Furnaces' Eleanor Friedberger played Europa instead of St. Cecilia's Church on Saturday (6/18) as part of the Northside Festival. The show was opened by Ida, Rebecca Gates, and Spectre Folk. To make that lineup even more exciting, Ted Leo showed up as a secret guest to perform a set right before Eleanor (the second time Ted played Europa in less than a month). Bradford Cox was among the Northside attendees at the Brooklyn show which is pictured in this post.

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Ted Leo @ Europa

If you missed Ted at Europa, catch him as a special guest again on Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen at Littlefield this Monday (6/27). He also plays a free 4Knots Fest kickoff show at Seaport on July 9. He won't be at the actual 4Knots Fest, but Eleanor will (and, as announced today, so will Mr. Dream, the band featuring ex-Village Voice writer Nick Sylvester).

Back in February Eleanor took part in a Loser's Lounge tribute to Queen show at Joe's Pub. Backed by an 8+ member ensemble, she got her Freddie Mercury on to "You're My Best Friend". Check out the video, and more pictures from the Northside show below...

Continue reading "Eleanor Friedberger played Europa w/ secret guest Ted Leo, Ida & Rebecca Gates (pics), covered Queen @ Joe's Pub (video)"

an Ahmet Ertegun Tribute....

continued below....

Continue reading "Led Zeppelin reunion concert photos & setlist"