Due to rain. Obviously. :(

UPDATE: It looks like this show will be moved has moved.

The XX, four young, sullen-faced youths dressed in black, have that alluring band-as-a-gang aura about them. They spent their youth at south-west London's Elliott School (fellow alumni: Four Tet, Burial and Hot Chip) obsessively tinkering with instruments in the music room before signing a deal and self-producing their album in their record company's back office.

At first glance, you'd expect them to make basement rock'n'roll songs serrated with guitar feedback, but they're more interesting than that. For starters, they're fronted by a boy/girl combo - Romy Madley Croft (guitar) and Oliver Sim (bass) - whose interplay lends their debut an intimate tension. Along with bandmates Baria Qureshi (keyboards/guitar) and Jamie Smith (programming/samples), Croft and Sim craft languid, sparsely arranged love songs that recall atmospheric 80s acts such as the Cocteau Twins and Mazzy Star. Better still, they betray their south London roots: gentle, plaintive melodies are framed by minimal beats that nod to dubstep and R&B. [Guardian UK]

In August the band is visiting NYC for a bunch of shows. As previously announced, they're opening for School of Seven Bells' South Street Seaport show on August 14th, but they're here at least a week before that. Their first NYC show comes on August 7th when they play the Mercury Lounge with Free Energy, Sean Bones and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros (tickets). Then, they play Bruar Falls on the 8th, Monkey Town on the 10th, Pianos on the 12th, and Music Hall of Williamsburg with Friendly Fires on August 13th. I wouldn't be surprised if they add even more.

The video for the band's song "Crystalized," with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "The xx - debut album on XL, video, lots of NYC shows (dates)"

photos by Chris La Putt

DOWNLOAD: Black Moth Super Rainbow - Born On A Day The Sun Didn't Rise (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Black Moth Super Rainbow - Twin of Myself (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Black Moth Super Rainbow - Twin of Myself (Go! Team remix) (MP3)

"Eating Us is the fourth album by Pennsylvania based band Black Moth Super Rainbow released on May 26, 2009 on the CD format. With a running time of just under 36 minutes, it is the shortest full-length release by the band to date. The album was released in a limited-edition "hairy" version, which includes synthetic hair inside the CD's inner sleeve, and also in a regular "super jewel" casing. The "hairy" version was sold-out before the album was even released due to pre-orders." [Wiki]

Continue reading "Black Moth Super Rainbow, Blank Dogs & Dan Friel @ South Street Seaport in NYC - pics "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Yellow Fever - Culver City (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Yellow Fever - Joe Brown (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fergus & Geronimo - Harder Than It's Ever Been (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Magic Kids - Hey Boy (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Coconut Coolouts - Party Jail (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Seaport Music Festival Sampler (Zip)

YellowFever @ Death By Audio - July 22, 2009 (by Bryan Bruchman)

There are a lot of out-of-town bands I'm looking forward to seeing this weekend, and luckily they're all playing more than once, and many are sharing the same bill.

First is Austin duo Yellow Fever who I have caught a few times in the last year and they are really something special I think. I wrote this the first time I saw them: "Their sound couldn't be more spare -- usually just drums, the simplest guitar (often just single notes, not chords), and Jennifer Moore's understated, kinda haunting voice. It's that space in between the instrumentation that makes them so special. It's a little bit like Young Marble Giants if Beth Orton was the singer instead of Alison Statton." My only complaint would be they are slow on releasing records, but I look forward to hearing new stuff from them while they're here. They played last night at Death by Audio, where Vivian Girls said this via Twitter: "Yellow Fever were amazing tonight! Don't miss their other NYC shows this week." So, yeah, don't miss 'em -- you've got four more chances, including tonight at Cake Shop. All dates HERE.

Fergus & Geronimo

While we're in the Lone Star state, let's talk about another duo, Fergus & Geronimo, who are from Denton, TX and are playing two NYC shows this weekend. Andrew Savage and Jason Kelly are also in such Denton bands as Wax Museums and Teenage Cool Kids respectively, bonded over a love of '60s pop, Motown and psych-rock (a Texas specialty). Those influences come through loud and clear in their music, most of which is, at this point, only available on their MySpace, which was enough to get interest from Tic Tac Totally, Transparent, and Woodsist all of whom will be putting out their records. The Woodsist 7", "Harder Than It's Ever Been," is out now and you can download the A-side at the top of this post. It's a 1:47 pop gem, one of the best of its kind since Box Elders' "Hole in My Head." This is super-catchy stuff, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them this weekend.

Fergus & Geronimo, who are a five-piece when they play live, are at 92 Y Tribeca on Friday (7/24) with Crystal Stilts, Portland's Little Claw and Memphis' Magic Kids who I'll get back to in a second. They also play Saturday (7/25) at Market Hotel, also with Magic Kids, as well as YellowFever and the ever-present (and very good) Beets (who have a tour coming up with the Vivian Girls). Tickets are still on sale for Friday's show.

Magic Kids

Now onto Magic Kids. They're from Memphis and I first heard of them from a MySpace bulletin from Girls who played a show with them and enthusiastically raved about them. There's not a lot of bio info out there, but there seem to be a lot of them, and they clearly love '60s pop: Beach Boys, The Association, Tommy James & the Shondells, etc. The band have a record coming out sometime on Goner (home to Ty Segall and Box Elders and others) and you can download their single "Hey Boy" at the top of this post. They play Cake Shop tonight (7/23), that 92 Y Tribeca show tomorrow (7/24) and Market Hotel on Saturday night (7/25).

Personal and the Pizzas

Also this weekend we've got a couple West Coast bands, both of whom love a good slice, neither of whom seem to mind a little extra cheese, and they play together at Silent Barn on Friday and Cake Shop on Saturday.

Looking like greasers and sounding like New York 1975, Personal & the Pizzas originally hailed from New Jersey but now seem to call San Francisco their home. I'm not sure that there's a whole lot you need to say about these guys, you see their name you hear one song and you kind of know whether you're gonna like it or not. Maybe not for a whole album, but tracks like "I Don't Wanna Be No Personal Pizza" or "Brass Knuckles" would add flavor to any mix, and you just know they'll be fun live. Pizza Slayer interviewed them:

PS: Do you have pizza at all your shows? How does it enhance the experience?

P&P: Everybody loves the pie!! We probably order it like half and half..we're usually pretty broke so it's kinda hard to shell out like 70 or 80 bucks just for the love of it, but we'll do it. We don't care. Everyone loves Pizza and Pop. One time we was all dressed up in haWaiian shirts and coconut tits and all, and then we ordered some a them hawaaiian pizzas and then that delivery chic delivered the pies to us while we was playin with them shirts on and and she didn't know what the hell was goin on.

The Coconut Coolouts remind me of the Nuggets box set, where there are so many great bands with seminal songs on those cd's that I had never heard, it's hard to believe that the bands weren't bigger than their regional popularity. The Coconut Coolouts will likely be on on a Nuggets comp sometime in the year 2040 and people will be wondering why they had never heard of these guys with classics like Spinaround, Coconut Weekend, Party Jail and Stickup. Apparently they sometimes dress in banana costumes for gigs, no bananas were on stage but they were throwing out lifesavers saying they were acid.

Coconut Coolouts

A few more shows of interest this weekend. Black Moth Super Rainbow make their second Seaport Music series appearance on Friday (their first was in 2007 opening for Fugiya & Miyagi), this time headlining. Their latest album, Eating Us, was produced by Dave Fridman (Flaming Lips, MGMT among other things) and is pretty good. Opening will be low fi electro goths Blank Dogs whose new album, Under and Under, on In the Red Records I like a lot. They are also a band that benefits from good sound, something the Seaport has brought to every show this year. (Here We Go Magic in particular sounded stellar.) Also playing is one-man experimental band Dan Friel. Between the three acts there's gonna be a lot of temperamental old synthesizers, patch bays and homemade equipment on the Seaport stage -- let's hope it doesn't rain. I should also mention that Seaport Music has a "digital mixtape" you can download via Insound that features 15 of the acts playing this year, including all three of this week's acts (plus Superchunk, Casiokids and more). Download link is at the top of this post.

And don't forget Sissy Wish has added another show while in NY -- she plays Union Hall on Saturday night. She's better than her name.

Tour dates and video after the jump...

Continue reading "Fergus & Geronimo, Coconut Coolouts, Magic Kids, Personal & the Pizzas, YellowFever & more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Chris La Putt

'Superchunk were awesome. I couldn't believe how much energy they had onstage. But Versus were good too.' - ]Anonymous | July 18, 2009 9:21 AM

"Twenty years of Superchunk. Twenty years of Merge Records. Mac MacCaughan and Laura Ballance, co-founders of both, have got to be feeling pretty good about things. And they certainly weren't at a loss for energy on Friday night. Following a great set from Versus (a sometimes-Merge band that's back at it after quite a few years off), Superchunk hit the gas and never let up.

As the sun disappeared behind the looming skyscrapers of the Financial District and mist thickened over the East River, the band laid down a set of songs from all over their two decades of existence. Though the Seaport has the potential to kill rock 'n' roll vibes with its touristy surroundings, Superchunk was immune to any such bumming-out. Instead they chugged, jumped, squealed and shouted like they were trying to blow the roof off of some smoky and sweaty midsized club.

And, indeed, they even seemed close to blowing the roof off of the dark and cloudy Manhattan sky, as a few errant rain drops hinted at an impending downpour. Fortunately, the deluge held off long enough for the band to bust out an encore of "Slack Motherfucker," a killer finale for a refreshingly spirited show." [John Ruscher]

Continue reading "Superchunk & Versus @ South Street Seaport - pics & videos "

a shot from the 1st Pool Party (last week) (more by Bao Nguyen)

Chances of rain aside, the free show prospects for this weekend are amazing. Tonight/Friday its the South Street Seaport (with Superchunk and Versus), Saturday is the Siren Festival in Coney Island, and Sunday brings Dirty Projectors, Magnolia Electric Co, and Crystal Antlers (not White Denim) to the Williamsburg Waterfront Pool Party.

Alternatively, Saturday also offers the the African Festival in Prospect Park, and Q-Tip and friends at Central Park's Summerstage.

Video of Magnolia Electric Co performing live (recently) (including one with The Avett Brothers), below...

Continue reading "Superchunk Friday, Siren Saturday, Waterfront Sunday (free NYC shows this weekend also include Q-Tip & African Fest)"

Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ South Street Seaport 7/10 (more by Tim Griffin)

Since their Seaport Music show on July 10th, Pains of Being Pure at Heart have updated their tour schedule to include an NYC show at Webster Hall on October 3rd. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday, July 15th at noon. General sales starts Friday, July 17th at noon.

Pains' tour dates, listed below, take them around North America in September and October. Cymbals Eat Guitars and Depreciation Guild will be joining them on that tour, including the Webster Hall show.

The band also has a short West Coast tour scheduled between their stops at Pitchfork Fest (in Chicago July 18th) and Capitol Hill Block Party (in Seattle July 25th).

Videos from their Seaport show, and a new Pitchfork.TV "Don't Look Down" video with Cymbals Eat Guitars playing on a NYC roof, with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Pains of Being Pure at Heart - updated 2009 tour dates (Webster Hall w/ Cymbals Eat Guitars & Depreciation Guild)"

photos by Tim Griffin

Agit Reader: Have you found it difficult to be a band in New York? Given the deluge of music that's here, is it hard to make your mark?

Alex Naidus: We haven't thought of it that way. Other than having to pay for cabs to get to a show, it's fun to be a band in New York. If we started a band with the idea of "making it" then it would be hard, but we just like to play and have fun.

Peggy Wang: In New York, you're lucky because even if you play music that's not trendy or popular, there's still a niche. It's been nice to play a few shows and get momentum where people come see us play. We never had to play Fat Baby, like the last band I was in that had to play there. It's also nice because, while there's so many bands, there's quite a few bands with whom we fit and can play shows. There's always lots of options as far as bands to play with and venues.

Kip Berman: I know there's difficulties with practice space and the logistics of it, but in terms of the scene and culture being supportive of what we do, it's been great. I think of bands that play in other cities that are really good, but don't have other bands to play with and they feel really isolated. Here in New York there's other like-minded people that come to our shows and we go to their shows. It feels like a really good community.

Continue reading "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Zaza & Ribbons @ South Street Seaport, NYC - pics"

DOWNLOAD: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come Saturday (MP3)

Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Bell House in March (more by Chris La Putt)

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart headline a free show at South Street Seaport in NYC tonight (7/10). Zaza and Ribbons open. Zaza member Danny Taylor has done production work for Pains. Zaza member Jennifer Fraser used to be in The Warlocks. Ribbons, like Zaza, is a Brooklyn based duo - not to be confused with Ribbons aka 'jherek bischoff' who has played in XIU XIU, The Dead Science and Parenthetical Girls.

Last week the Seaport Music series kicked off with a July 3rd Here We Go Magic and Bachelorette show.

All Pains of Being Pure at Heart tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Pains of Being Pure at Heart - 2009 Tour Dates (FREE SHOW @ SOUTH STREET SEAPORT TONIGHT w/ Zaza & Ribbons) "

School of Seven Bells @ Sasquatch Festival (more by Chris Graham)

School of Seven Bells will head out on a headlining North American tour this fall. A bit earlier, the group is scheduled to play a free Seaport Music show on Friday, August 14th with The xx (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart play the Seaport this Friday, July 10th).

As for the tour, it includes a stop at Austin City Limits Festival on October 2nd and a tour-capping NYC, CMJ show on October 23rd at Webster Hall (The Drums also just announced a CMJ show). No ticket info for the NYC date, but partial tickets for the tour go on sale Friday, July 10th. A limited number are also available through a Ducat King pre-sale.

The group, composed of ex-members of the Secret Machines and On! Air! Library!, has been on tour almost constantly over the past year. They toured with M83 in fall 2008, which included a gig at Webster Hall. They followed that up with a Mercury Lounge show in December. The band warmed up for their winter tour with a January show at (Le) Poisson Rouge, then returned to the venue with tourmates Fujiya & Miyagi in February.

Most recently, the band played the Bowery Ballroom on June 12th as an end to its spring touring with Bat for Lashes, White Lies and Black Moth Super Rainbow. They wrote about the show on their blog:

bowery ballroom was the most perfect end of tour show we could've imagined, and we want to say thank you to all of our NYC people for coming out and making it a ridiculously sold-out night. luckily, bowery kept selling tickets way over capacity, so a few more people could catch the show.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells tour dates (the Seaport & Webster Hall) "

photos by Chris La Putt

Here We Go Magic

Bachelorette and Here We Go Magic kicked off the 2009 Seaport Music Series in Lower Manhattan on Friday night (7/3).

Amazingly there was no rain and New Zealand's Bachelorette, after an earlier DJ set by Mike Wolf, started right at 7pm. Unlike at Cake Shop earlier this month, Annabel Alpers (the main force behind the band) played completely solo. I wasn't looking too closely at what she was using on stage, but at a minimum it was a keyboard, a laptop, a guitar and her voice.

"Her debut for Drag City, and second proper album, has been described by a couple of writers as a sort of quirky "bedroom pop." I wholeheartedly disagree. My Electric Family is expansive, radical, and ionospheric. Packed with reverb, sweeping moods, and surrealistic lyrical motifs, Bachelorette is way too large for any bedroom." [The Decibel Tolls]

Many were sitting, waiting in the wings, and still just showing up as the opener played. It didn't seem like it would be the most-packed concert the space has seen, which made sense since it was a holiday weekend, but by the time Here We Go Magic took the stage around 8:00, the crowd actually filled in nicely. Seaport Music producer Stephen Dima mentioned the same as he introduced the band. And this time it was a full band, and they sounded great...

"...they opened up with new songs that are not on their album, we asked Luke [Temple] what his plans are for the future of Here We Go Magic and he is excited and about to begin his European tour and he is currently working on the new album. He was really nice, he also has a nice butt." [My Heart's Beat]

Bachelorette was also scheduled to play a Rooftop Films show on Friday, July 4th. More pictures from the Seaport below...

Continue reading "Here We Go Magic & Bachelorette @ the Seaport, NYC - pics "

Here We Go Magic @ MHOW in June (more by Tim Griffin)

We are free shows in New York City, down on Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport.

No reservations or tickets of any kind are necessary.

All our shows start at 6pm with guest DJ's or sometimes early band sets if there's more than 2 bands on the bill - more value for you the free concert goer!

There are several parking lots within 1-2 block distance from the pier but we encourage you to take public transportation - it costs less and is better for the environment! [Seaport Music Festival]

Continue reading "2009 Seaport Music Series kicks off w/ Here We Go Magic"

photos by Tim Griffin

DOWNLOAD: Kid Cudi - Dat New New (Viking remix) (MP3)

Kid Cudi @ Highline Ballroom in Dec (more by Leia Jospe)

New York's iconic Paper magazine celebrates the release of its summer music issue by hosting the biggest music event in its history -- a free concert featuring hipster-hip-hopper Kid Cudi, with prep-pop duo Chester French, and DJ sets by Brooklyn noise-rock legends Les Savy Fav.

The concert, Sounds Like Paper 2009 -- presented by Ray-Ban -- is slated to kick off at 5:30 p.m. this Friday, June 26, on the Pier 17 stage at The Seaport.

Viking's remix of Cudi's "Dat New New" is posted above. Cudi's debut, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, is scheduled to come out August 25th on Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music/Universal Motown.

Asher Roth, like Public Enemy, was among the artists who played the Roots Picnic in Philly earlier this month. A not-yet-published set of pictures from that show below.

Friday's free show is the second unofficial start to this year's free concert series at the South Street Seaport. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion played a Bike Fest show there last week. Here We Go Magic and Bachelorette (who is also now playing a show on July 4th) kick off the River to River shows (the regular season) there on July 3rd.

Friday's flyer, "Five things you didn't know about Kid Cudi," the above-mentioned pics, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Chester French & Kid Cudi, who is touring (dates) w/ Asher Roth (pics), play a free show @ South Street Seaport Friday"

words & photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

"I gotta go! I'm gonna ride my bike right out of here," said Jon Spencer at the end of the Blues Explosion's blistering hour-long set at the South Street Seaport yesterday (6/17). Playing to the riding masses as part of the Bicycle Film Festival kickoff, JSBX reminded those who braved threatening skies and this enduring spring's chilly temperatures that - as one foam finger displayed - the 'Blues is #1.'

The crowd may have been smaller than most to pack the Seaport but the New York-based Blues Explosion might as well have been playing for every single person in Lower Manhattan. Judah Bauer on guitar (and a fiery harmonica during the encore, "Bellbottoms") and drummer Russell Simins charged from one song to another with traditional reckless abandon.

Opening for the locals were French four-piece, The Teenagers. Their mashup of punk, pop and electronics was fun though lead-singer Quentin Delafon pulled much of the attention away from the band as a whole. Climbing over speakers and through the photographer's pit and over the barricade, Delafon spent more time strutting around off the stage, or handing his microphone off to audience members than he did on stage, even forgetting his cue at one point.

More pictures below...

Continue reading "Jon Spencer Blues Explosion & The Teenagers @ South Street Seaport in NYC (Bike Film Fest) - pics"

DOWNLOAD: Bachelorette - Mindwarp (MP3)

"Annabel Alpers's debut album for Drag City (as Bachelorette) seems wholly devoted to her first uttered ground rule: "Daydream: Make sure it's good stuff." But though New Zealand's leading lady of bedroom pop is given to fanciful frolicking through lo-fi meadows, Alpers never mistakes daydreaming with checking out of reality entirely.

Quite the contrary: My Electric Family, even with all its electronic doodaddery, is a record concerned with locating something real in an increasingly virtual world. That its textures simultaneously subvert and enhance this hunt only attest to Alper's often witty stripe of smarts. The seething drone of "The National Grid" ramps sluggishly up, only to crest into a pistonesque march that's a lot more mechanical and plodding than its burgeoning energy would have you bracing for." [The Phoenix]

If you miss these shows, Bachelorette is not going anywhere anytime soon. Annabel will continue touring the United States at least until July 3rd when she is back in NYC to play a free show at South Street Seaport. All dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Bachelorette from NZ in NYC - MP3, videos, 2009 tour dates "

photos by Gabi Porter

The Jon Spencer BLUES EXPLOSION and The Teenagers to Play FreeBikes RockConcert at The Seaport

Kick Off to New York City Bicycle Film Festival
Wednesday, June 17, 6 p.m. Pier 17 Stage, The Seaport
Free

Continue reading "free Bicycle Film Fest show @ the Seaport w/ Jon Spencer Blues Explosion & The Teenagers who played CMJ (pics) "

Indie rock nostalgia continues this summer at South Street Seaport. The band Versus have been added to the free show schedule that already includes Polvo and Superchunk (who Versus are opening for on July 17th). Superchunk and Versus are also playing the XX Merge Festival in July. And...

"Versus still continued to tour occasionally but began a recording hiatus in 2001 after it broke up for a short period and Richard Baluyut relocated to San Francisco. The members afterwards moved on to other bands - James Baluyut and Patrick Ramos formed +/-, Fontaine Toups formed The Fontaine Toups and Richard Baluyut converted his solo acoustic project Whysall Lane into a full band. [Wikipedia]

All dates below...

Continue reading "Versus playing Seaport & Mercury Lounge with Plus/Minus"

"It's simple really: Summer. Friday night. New York City. The first port in the new world hosting some of the best new music, as well as those established and influential artists you already know and love. All of this amidst the city's most inspiring views of tall buildings, historic ships and nighttime sky. All for FREE.

Get ready, cause summer is coming and with it another great line up on Pier 17 at the Seaport. Hard to believe we're entering our eighth season of summer shows but 2009 promises to be amongst our best.

Highlights this year include Superchunk, Polvo, Obits, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and well, pretty much every night is a highlight to us.

Our FREE, outdoor series runs every Friday night from July 3 to August 14. The music starts at 6pm with a Guest DJ and bands go on around 7pm. Join us downtown to take in the stunning backdrop and enjoy New York's best open air venue.

Seaport Music is presented by the River to River Festival."

Continue reading "updated 2009 South Street Seaport Music lineup (free shows)"

South Street Seaport (more by Chris La Putt)

South Street Seaport - initial 2009 show schedule
June 13 (noon) - Children's Day
June 27 (7:00) - New York City Opera
July 03 (6:00) - Here We Go Magic & Bachelorette
July 10 (6:00) - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart & TBA
July 17 (6:00) - TBA
July 20-30 --- Sitelines (see below)
July 24 (6:00) - Black Moth Super Rainbow & TBA
July 31 (6:00) - TBA
Aug 07 (6:00) - Moshi Moshi day w/ Casiokids, The Wave Pictures & Slow Club
Aug 14 (6:00) - TBA

NYC's summer-long Seaport Music Series, part of the River to River Festival is back with more free, outdoor concerts in 2009. The initial portion of the always-indie-heavy lineup is here - both above, and in more detail, below...

Continue reading "South Street Seaport - initial 2009 free show schedule is here"

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

"There's plenty of retro, synth-driven pop here at SXSW. We've already discussed Little Boots and missed other acts such as Tigercity. Add the Casio Kids to the list, whose afternoon performance was their 10th in the last four days. They didn't look any worse for the wear, with colorfully light and sweetly infectious dance pop. More live than sampled, the Casio Kids shot vibrant keyboard tones through slicing guitar lines." [LA Times]

It may have snowed yesterday in NYC, but that doesn't mean summer isn't fast-approaching. And that means lots of free shows at public places. One such place is South Street Seaport, and that's where Casiokids will be playing on August 7th. No other US dates scheduled at the moment, but I'm sure they won't come all the way over here to play just once (or if they do, it will be very unlike them). Stay tuned.

Casiokids were last in NYC right before SXSW, and before that it was for CMJ where, among other places, they played a show put on by the same people that do the shows at the Seaport. More SXSW pics and tour dates below...

Continue reading "Casiokids played SXSW (pics), playing South Street Seaport"

spectators @ South Street Seaport - Jan 30, 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Feb 5 - Anthrax, Valient Thorr, Black Gold & snowboards @ East River Park. TODAY:

3:00 PM - Gates open to the public
3:30 PM - Riders open practice - All 16 riders
5:05 PM - Valient Thorr Performance
5:45 PM - Red Bull Snowscrapers contest starts - 60 minute jam session
7:10 PM - Black Gold Performance
7:45 PM - Red Bull Snowscrapers Finals - Jam session - Top 8 riders
8:50 PM - Awards
8:55 PM - Anthrax Performance

upcoming shows @ South Street Seaport (Ice)
Feb. 06 - Project Jenny Project Jan & Black Gold (DJ set)
Feb. 13 - The Kiss Off
Feb. 20 - Heloise and the Savior Faire'
Feb. 27 - TBA

"All Seaport showtimes are 7 p.m., and the concerts are free. Individuals wishing to listen to the shows from the ice and/or partake in the skating, pay a $5 admission fee and $7 for skate rental (cash only)."

P.S. an anonymous commenter by the name of "scot-free", left this message (new rumor): "i have inside info that chuck d is gonna play with anthrax tonight, see you fuckers in the mosh pit"

photos by Chris La Putt

Neckbeard Telecaster and Maxi Geil! & Playcolt (who filled in for Grand Mal) were the bands that kicked off the first-ever season of Seaport Music Fest at the South Street Seaport on Friday (1/30)...

Slated for frigid Friday nights beginning January 30 and continuing through February 27, the Seaport Music Winter Fest will present New York City-area indie rock bands at a venue unlike any other in the city -- the outdoor ice rink adjacent to tall ships, skyscrapers and New York Harbor. Only strong-bodied, dressed-in-layers, die-hard indie music fans need attend.

Continue reading "pictures of bands playing outside at South Street Seaport's new Ice Skating Rink (Neckbeard Telecaster)"

The team behind the acclaimed summer Seaport Music concerts in lower Manhattan, are stirring up an intriguing musical cocktail -- on the rocks, if you will -- by presenting a five-week series of free outdoor concerts at Seaport Ice, the only ice skating rink in lower Manhattan.

Slated for frigid Friday nights beginning January 30 and continuing through February 27, the Seaport Music Winter Fest will present New York City-area indie rock bands at a venue unlike any other in the city -- the outdoor ice rink adjacent to tall ships, skyscrapers and New York Harbor. Only strong-bodied, dressed-in-layers, die-hard indie music fans need attend.

Brooklyn-based Neckbeard Telecaster and Grand Mal kick off the series on January 30. Neckbeard promises a "Calvacade of Stars on Ice," from its band of singing bearded men fronted by members of Dirty on Purpose (Joe Jurewicz) and the Shorebirds (Mark Ephraim). They deliver music that is part psychedelic, part country, and part glam.

Opening is Bill Whitten's "8.0-rated" Grand Mal, recognized for "dispensing classic riffs, bad attitude and stupid wisdom."

All showtimes are 7 p.m., and the concerts are free. Individuals wishing to listen to the shows from the ice and/or partake in the skating, pay a $5 admission fee and $7 for skate rental (cash only).

Made possible via support from The Seaport, General Growth Properties, Inc. (GGP) and Upsilon Ventures, LLC, the complete five-week series will be announced in the coming days.

Lockers and bag check services are available in the skating pavilion lobby.

Seaport Ice is locate on Pier 17 at The Seaport, and is accessible by the J, M, Z, 2, 3, 4, 5 at Fulton Street or the A, C at Broadway-Nassau

(King Khan and) BBQ @ MHOW, CMJ (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Fastball @ Maxwell's
* Jim Gaffigan @ Town Hall
* Arlo Guthrie @ Carnegie Hall
* Harry Connick Jr @ City Center
* Fishbone @ Knitting Factory
* Real Estate @ Cake Shop (free, late)
* Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio @ Iridium Jazz Club
* They Might Be Giants @ (le) poisson rouge
* Devon Williams & The Feverfew @ Cake Shop
* Ewan Pearson & 2020 Soundsystem @ Studio B
* The So So Glos, Lidia Stone, Radiates & Banzai @ Silent Barn
* El Guincho & Prefuse 73 (both DJ sets) @ (le) poisson rouge
* Gang Gang Dance, Marnie Stern & 18th Dye @ Santos Party House
* Amazing Baby, MBAR, The Muggabears & My Best Fiend @ Mercury Lounge
* King Khan & BBQ Show, Golden Triangle & The Jacuzzi Boys @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

What do you think of Fishbone in 2008? They play Knitting Factory tonight.

King Khan is also at Bowery Ballroom on Sunday. That show is with Vivian Girls.

Dr. Lonnie Smith (master of the Hammond B3 organ) and Jim Gaffigan (comedian) also continue their multiple night NYC runs on Sunday.

The Game was born today in 1979.

Tina Turner hits MSG on Monday - the same night Snow Patrol play their small venue show at Bowery Ballroom.

"I feel like I invite music into my life rather than solicit it. I like peppering my career with very successful music as opposed to going out in a very highly competitive field and missing a lot to get the occasional hit. I have the luxury of doing that because film is my primary career." - says John Travolta on singing in Bolt.

They Might Be Giants play Apollo 18 in its entirety at Le Poisson Rouge tonight (early). El Guincho and Prefuse 73 DJ Le Poisson Rouge tonight (late). They Might Be Giants play Le Poisson Rouge again on January 31st. El Guincho plays Le Poisson Rouge on December 2nd.

The Real Estate show tonight at Cake Shop is a free late show after the 4-band bill Devon Williams is playing.

Todd P isn't currently listing any shows, but says, "...a bit of a quiet spell for me. Don't worry though, there are a whole lot of secret(ish) shows in the works, plus some much much bigger plans still in the early but very time consuming stages..."

The Christmas tree lighting @ South Street Seaport is today. The Big Apple Chorus will be there today and every weekend until Christmas. Ice skating and other (more fun) live music is coming to the Seaport soon too. Rockefeller Center's tree gets lit on December 3rd.

Jdimytai Damour, RIP

Video of Reverend Billy preaching in Union Square on Buy Nothing Day (Black Friday) (yesterday) below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

Amid the visual splendor of tall ships, skyscrapers and New York Harbor, the new downtown ice rink opens November 28, 2008.

The Seaport Music Festival is producing weekly concert events rink-side through February! Check back for more info.!

Continue reading "Ice Skating AND bands coming to South Street Seaport"