Tickets to see Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Webster Hall go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see David Byrne and St. Vincent at The Wellmont Theatre and The Capitol Theatre go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Alice Cooper at Beacon Theatre go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Clutch, The Sword and Lionize at Terminal 5 go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Stornoway at Music Hall of Williamsburg go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Total Control at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Steve Earle & The Dukes and The Mastersons at Music Hall of Williamsburg go on sale today at 12:36 PM.

Tickets to see Mikal Cronin at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

Beach Fossils will play Brooklyn Bowl on March 20. It's a free show but you do need to RSVP.

Tickets to see Weird Al Yankovic at The Capitol Theatre go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Jonathan Toubin "play the hits" at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

Chicago is playing Capitol Theatre on June 22. Tickets for that show go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see oOoOO at Glasslands are on sale now.

Ronnie Spector is playing City Winery on May 6 and 7. Tickets for both shows are on sale now.

After Bonobo's sold out Webster Hall show with Shigeto and Nickodemus on April 12, Bonobo will DJ a late show at Public Assembly, also with Nickodemus. TIckets for that show are on sale now.

Fountains of Wayne have a few shows coming up this month, including a super-intimate show in NYC on March 19 at Bowery Electric. Tickets for that show are on sale now. All of their upcoming dates are listed below.

Continue reading "tix on sale: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ronnie Spector, Clutch, Bonobo, David Byrne & St. Vincent, Total Control, Alice Cooper & more"

photos by Jonathan McPhail

Legendary blues guitarist B.B. King did a two night run in NYC last week at (where else?) BB King Blues Club and Grill on Thursday (11/29) and Friday (11/30). We caught the Friday show and pictures from that show are in this post.

BB King will play NYC again at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival at MSG (4/12-4/13) in 2013 (tickets). He also plays the NYC area right before that at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre on April 11. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (12/7) at noon.

Speaking of the venue BB King's, don't forget Darlene Love is doing her Christmas shows there on December 9 -10 (tickets), and Ronnie Spector is doing her Christmas party there too on December 14 (tickets).

More pics from Friday's show (including opener Chris Bergson) below...

Continue reading "BB King played BB King's (pics)"

Darlene Love @ South Street Seaport 2010 (more by Chris La Putt)

November 2012 update from The Howard Hughes Corporation:

The safety and security of our employees, tenants and customers is always our top priority, and we are grateful that no one was seriously injured at The Seaport during the storm.

Hurricane Sandy caused incredible devastation to our City, and The Seaport was seriously impacted.

While we currently do not have a definitive timeline for reopening, The Howard Hughes Corporation is very committed to rebuilding the Uplands and Pier 17 as soon as possible. To that end, we are working diligently to coordinate all necessary assessment, remediation and inspection of the many buildings that make up South Street Seaport. In fact, remediation in some areas is already underway, including certain common areas. However, because of the various issues related to the Uplands and Pier 17, it will be several weeks before everything is fully evaluated by experts and a more firm timetable can be established. Some buildings at The Seaport may open sooner than others and we will share updates through our website and other channels as available.

At this time, tenants are being permitted to access their spaces to assess damage and address their own business issues. Otherwise, Pier 17 is currently closed to the public, except for essential personnel.

The Seaport is a popular and treasured destination in Lower Manhattan, and we have an exciting redevelopment plan for Pier 17 that will continue despite the storm. We are very proud of the hard work of our team and hope to be able to share more updates soon. We look forward to rebuilding and welcoming visitors and neighbors back to The Seaport as soon as possible.

Darlene Love, as always, will still be celebrating the holidays though. Her Annual Christmas Celebration at B.B. King's in NYC has gone from one to two nights of cheer. Tickets are sale for shows on December 9 and December 10. You can also catch Darlene on Letterman on 12/20 (watch the video of her appearance last year below and at NJPAC in Newark two days later. All of her dates are listed below along with the video of her performance on Letterman last year.

Ronette Ronnie Spector, also in the Hall of Fame and who has also played the Seaport tree lighting, is also keeping up tradition and will bring her "Best Christmas Party Ever!" back to NYC, DC and CT this year. Tickets are on sale for the 12th annual show at B.B. King's on 12/14. All dates are listed below...

Continue reading "No Christmas at the Seaport this year, but Darlene Love & Ronnie Spector still celebrating (dates)"

Ronnie Spector's career retropective theatrical production Beyond the Beehive makes its NYC debut on Friday (7/6) at City Winery and will play three more times this month: July 14, July 20 and July 27. Tickets are available for all performances.

The multi-media production chronicle's the former Ronette's life and musical career, with stories, videos, still images as well as more than a dozen songs performed by Ronnie and her band.

A video of Ronnie performing at Lincoln Center last year below...

Continue reading "Ronnie Spector's 'Beyond the Beehive' happening at City Winery throughout July"

photos by Chris La Putt

Like Darlene Love did last year (and Arlo Guthrie will do tonight at Lincoln Square), Ronnie Spector helped light a christmas tree at South Street Seaport on Friday. Pictures and videos from the holiday event continue below...

Continue reading "Ronnie Spector, Big School Chorus, School of Rock & more helped light the South Street Seaport Christmas Tree (pics)"

Robert Franklin as Santa @ South Street Seaport last year (more by Chris La Putt)

The South Street Seaport will ring in the holiday spirit on Friday, November 25th when the 28th Annual Seaport Chorus Tree Lighting Spectacular lights up the cobblestone streets of the Seaport's Historic District.

TODAY Show personality and fashion expert Jill Martin will host one of New York City's most beloved holiday traditions, with a 40-foot tree serving as the centerpiece of a seven-minute "Sparkle at the Seaport" light show spectacular. Festivities will kick-off with performances by the Darren Wallis Jazz Trio and the Soul Tigers Marching Band. All-male barbershop chorus, The Big Apple Chorus, will perform seasonal favorites, and costumed characters will help Santa Claus countdown to the tree lighting ceremony. To round-off the evening, Ronnie Spector will give a special performance, making it a night to remember for the whole family.

Ronnie Spector is also having the "Best Christmas Party Ever!" at the Cutting Room in NYC on 12/16 and 12/17...

This year the beloved tradition of twenty five years continues at the new Cutting Room located at 44 west 32nd street in Manhattan.

You can expect all the big Christmas hits-and Ronnie has the largest catalog of Christmas classics of any recording artist including 'Sleigh Ride' (#3 past decade) and 'Frosty the Snowman' (#17 past decade) along with her Ronette hits and cult classics. But what makes Ronnie's Christmas Party so special and endearing is her off-the-cuff patter and her childhood remembrances of Christmas and Santa in New York .

As the New York Times observed, "It's hard to think of a more appealing angel to welcome the holiday season than Ms. Spector."

by Jacob Blickenstaff

On Saturday (7/30), Lincoln Center Out of Doors in partnership with the Ponderosa Stomp, put on a remarkable day of music and music history under the name of "She's Got The Power, a Girl Group Extravaganza." Within its 10 (free) hours, the event included a 3-part, 4-hour panel of "Girl Talk" that presented Lesley Gore, members of the Angels and the Exciters, Seymour Stein (co-founder of Sire Records) and many studio musicians who worked closely with (r'n'r hall of famer) Ellie Greenwich.

The concert was organized into 3 parts covering 5 hours. First was a revue of girl group singers. Arlene Smith, of the Chantels, performed magnificently from her motorized wheelchair, commanding the stage by zipping back and forth. Then there were extended sets from headliners La La Brooks of the Crystals, Lesley Gore and Ronnie Spector (the Ronettes), and finally a tribute by the evening's artists to girl-group-godmother Ellie Greenwich.

This was not your father's PBS Doo-Wop special. Although the passing of Amy Winehouse was noted by Ronnie Spector, who performed part of 'Back to Black', it was more of a (tragic) footnote to the larger spirit of survival, brilliance, toughness and female chutzpah on parade. Many performers commented both publicly and privately that the spirit of Ellie Greenwich was the guiding force of the day. As stellar performance after performance dredged up tingly globs of our collective memory, the realization grew of just how much we owe to these artists, producers and songwriters who had just as much influence on the Beatles, Stones and other British Invasion bands as did the blues.

More about the show with lots of pictures, below...

Continue reading "it was all about the girls @ Lincoln Center's 2011 Ponderosa Stomp (pics & review)"

As she has for over two decades, rock icon Ronnie Spector will once again ring in the holiday season with tour dates and other activity in December. On December 15, Ronnie will bring this beloved tradition to a nationwide audience with a special performance on The Late Show with David Letterman. On December 17, she'll perform her annual Christmas show at B.B. King's in New York City...

Ronnie's December dates include a U.K. tour and additional shows at The Strand Theater in Lakewood, NJ on Dec 16, The Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis, MN on Dec 19-20, and Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT on Christmas day.

The shows will feature a mix of songs from Ronnie's new holiday release, 'Ronnie Spector's Best Christmas Ever,' along with her musings and anecdotes from childhood Christmases in NYC, Ronettes classics - like "Be My Baby" and "Walking in the Rain" - and of course her definitive renditions of "Frosty the Snowman," "Sleigh Ride," and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," each among the most-played Christmas songs of all time.

On December 1, she'll appear at the Penn Plaza Borders to sign copies of 'Best Christmas Ever' beginning at 5pm. In honor of World AIDS Day, Borders will donate 25% of the purchase price to Lifebeat - Music Fights HIV.

Continue reading "Ronnie Spector confirms 2010 Christmas tour "

words & photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

The Relatives

The Ponderosa Stomp is now in its 9th year and has grown steadily since its origins as a backyard wedding party for festival founder Ira 'Dr. Ike' Padnos. The 2-day, New Orleans-based festival (that took place on Sept 24 and 25th this year) brings to the stage an amazing line-up of 'unsung heroes' and originators in the intermingled genres of country, blues, garage, rock n' roll, soul, swamp pop, rhythm & blues, and funk. Attendees experienced artists who actively recorded in the 1940's through the 1970's and 1980's delivering profoundly moving and authentic performances, providing a vivid glimpse into a world of music that might seem long-gone.

The Stomp is musically successful because it encourages artists to perform their original music and brings in talented and dedicated bands to support them. This year included many of the usual suspects (check out the review and pictures from 2009): New Orleans soul-blues veterans Lil Buck and the Top Cats, Western Music masters Deke Dickerson and the Eccophonics, Michael Hurtt and the Haunted Hearts, The A-Bones, and Eve and the Exiles. Jenny Dee and the Deelinquents debuted with La La Brooks of the Crystals who will be in NYC on October 20th when she plays a CMJ show at BB King Blues Club & Grill with Paula Valstein. Tickets are on sale if you don't have a CMJ badge.

The Stomp attracts a core audience of baby boomer soul and blues fanatics, rock-a-billies, Zoot-suiters, music writers, radio hosts, DJ's, record collectors, historians, WFMU-types, and a sprinkling of open-minded music lovers of varied backgrounds and ages. During the day, there are panel discussions between artists and respected historians, screenings of rare music documentaries and a record show. Even for the most die-hard, the sum total is a bit overwhelming. But Dr. Ike, an anesthesiologist by trade, seems to revel in the dazed and delirious look on people's faces at the end of 2 non-stop days. If you can keep your bloodshot eyes open, you'll see him floating from stage to stage with his airbrushed T-shirt that reads "Dr. Ike Stomped My Ass".

Pictures from both nights of the 2010 festval continue below...

Continue reading "the 2010 New Orleans Ponderosa Stomp (in pics)"

Joey Ramone's annual birthday party is happening at Irving Plaza on Wednesday, May 19th. The lineup has been announced and acts in attendance include Hank III, Ronnie Spector,Batusis (NY Dolls' Sylvain Sylvain and Cheetah Chrome of Rocket From the Tombs/Dead Boys), Sic F*ucks, ex-Voidoid Ivan Julian and The Independents, Heap. Tickets are on sale (the show is a benefit for lymphoma research).

Sylvain Sylvain also has a show coming up with the Dolls in Brooklyn in May. David Johansen plays a solo one in June.

Videos of those acts, the Ramones and Adam West's original Batusi are below...

Continue reading "Joey Ramone's 2010 birthday show lineup announced"

John Waters & Divine

"Giving gifts is incredibly difficult. The smarter you are, the easier it is to find a gift for you, because you have interests. And if you're really smart, you tell people what you want and they get it for you. If you leave it up to people who you know are going to get you bad gifts, that's your own stupid fault. Basically, a lot of the time people want to be told what to get you, because then they don't have to worry if you'll like it. But the best kind of presents are when someone you know collects something, and you find something that they never even knew existed. That's the top present, even if it costs a nickle. It's just finding something that they want that they didn't know existed.

The worst present is something that's obviously regifted. In that case, you should demand a receipt. [John Waters]"

Continue reading "John Waters adds a 2nd Christmas show in NYC, Ronnie Spector plays BB King's Saturday & Sunday"

John Waters as the other creepy old Santa...

A John Waters Christmas is hitting the road this December. Six dates are scheduled with a New York City stop at BB King's on December 22nd. The show takes the form of a monologue that "explores and explodes traditional archetypes as [Waters] shares his compulsive desire to give and receive perverted gifts, a religious fanaticism for Santa Claus, and an unhealthy love of true crime holiday horror stories." Tickets for the NY show are on sale. He visits New Brunswick, NJ's State Theatre four days before (12/18) and tickets for that are on sale too. All dates below.

A John Waters Christmas is actually the name of the director's own holiday compilation that features the likes of Fat Daddy, Alvin & The Chipmunks and Tiny Tim. Videos of few of those are below.

BB King's will host another holiday show with Darlene Love on December 13th. The singer is a 2010 nominee for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and she appeared at the museum's two-night MSG show with Bruce & the E Street band. A video of her annual Letterman performance of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is below. Tickets are on sale.

Darlene Love's Love for the Holidays will also be at Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ on Sunday, December 20th. Tickets are on sale.

Elsewhere in Jersey, Darlene teams up with Ronnie Spector for "A Christmas Gift for You" at Red Bank, NJ's Count Basie Theater on Thursday, December 17th. (Both got their holiday start in part from their songs on 1963's A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector.) Tickets are on sale.

Then, Ronnie Spector's annual X-Mas Party runs for two nights at BB King's on Saturday, December 19th and Sunday, December 20th. Tickets are on sale.

Spector's new disc The Last of the Rock Stars (...) has guest appearances that include Keith Richards, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Patti Smith, Patrick Keeler (The Raconteurs) and Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather). There's also a version of "It's Christmas Once Again" to add to your holiday rotation alongside ubiquitous Ronettes versions of "Sleigh Ride" and "Frosty the Snowman."

Speaking of Patti Smith, she has some annual holiday shows coming up of her own, but those are after Christmas and include New Years Eve.

Dates & songs from all three are posted below...

Continue reading "John Waters, Ronnie Spector & Darlene Love - holiday albums, videos & 2009 shows in NY, NJ, other places (dates) "

Ronnie Spector @ McCarren Pool (more by Ryan Muir)

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Pretty & Nice @ Pianos
* David Pajo @ Knitting Factory
* Moon & Moon @ Glasslands
* Life of Agony @ Blender Theater
* Ronnie Spector X-Mas party @ BB King's
* Duran Duran & Your Vegas @ The Wellmont Theatre
* Peanut Butter Wolf, Gary Wilson & Dinowalrus @ Knitting Factory
* Grouper, City Center, Kria Brekkan & Silk Flowers @ Silent Barn
* The War on Drugs, Drink Up Buttercup & TAB The Band @ Union Hall

Today is Monkey Day

Beth Orton was born today in 1970.

What else?

photos by Ryan Muir

More pictures from Sunday's free show at McCarren Pool (July 6, 2008) below...

Continue reading "Ronnie Spector & Rabbit Factory Revue @ McCarren Pool -pics"

Continue reading "who are Rabbit Factory Soul Review? (Sunday's pool show)"

Continue reading "2008 free McCarren 'Pool Party' lineup announced "

DOWNLOAD: Ronnie Spector - All I Want (MP3)

Hilly Kristal (RIP) & Ronnie Spector

* Todd Terje at Tribeca Grand
* Clutch is at Bowery Ballroom w/ Beatallica
* The Budos Band are having a party at Lucky Cat
* Langhorne Slim is at Europa in Williamsburg too
* Mika Miko, High Places & Numbers are at Death By Audio
* Battles & Deerhunter are playing for free @ South Street Seaport
* Institubes Tour at Studio B with Curses, Surkin, + Orgasmic

What else?