photos by Vincent Cornelli

Ska band The Pietasters played a Rocks Off Concert Cruise on July 29th with DJ 100DBs. A set of pictures and videos are in this post.

The Pietasters will return to the area for a weekend of East Coast dates in October. They'll kick off the short run of shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken on Oct 7th. Tickets are on sale. All dates are listed below.

D 100DBs will also be on the 1s & 2s when ska band The Slackers play a Rocks Off Cruise on August 20th. Tickets are still on sale. The Slackers also play a boat show in Boston one day earlier with iLa Mawana.

In somewhat related news, Oi punks The Business will hit Mercury Lounge on September 2nd as part of a larger East Coast/Midwest tour before they loop back for a another leg of dates that will include RiotFest 2011. Tickets for Mercury are on sale. The Business released their last LP Doing The Business last year via Sailor's Grave.

Pics, videos, and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "pics from the Pietasters boat show, more dates & The Business & The Slackers too"

The Slackers

Lots of veteran ska bands hitting the road this spring and summer...

Congratulations to The Slackers, who will celebrate their 20th anniversary with a show in their hometown at Bowery Ballroom on June 17th. Tickets are on sale. The show comes less than two weeks after the band returns from a trip to the EU for a few weeks of dates which are all listed below.

Meanwhile, NYC's The Toasters celebrated their 30th anniversary with a beer (named after them, that is) (video below), and after the band returns from Europe, they'll play a Rocks Off Cruise on June 12th. Tickets for the NYC boat show are on sale. All tour dates are below.

The Pietasters will follow the lead of The Toasters, and play July 29th on a Rocks Off Concert Cruise. Tickets are on sale. The show is one of a few East Coast dates scheduled for the band, all of which are listed below.

Bad Manners returns to the US and to NYC with a pair of local shows: May 5th at Maxwell's with Hub City Stompers (tickets) and June 14th at The Studio at Webster Hall (tickets).

UPDATE: The English Beat have added a NYC show happening July 2nd at Irving Plaza in NYC.

All tour dates and some videos, below...

Continue reading "ska roundup (Slackers, Toasters, Pietasters & Bad Manners) --- upcoming shows & tours"

Yelawolf crowd @ Terminal 5 (more by Brook Bobbins)

Tickets go on general sale at noon for the December 30th Drive-By Truckers show at Brooklyn Bowl. Tickets are still on sale for their New Years Eve show at Terminal 5 too.

Tickets for the Roots at B Bowl on New Years Eve are sold out, but you can still buy your way in to Questlove's DJ set taking place one night earlier after the Drive-By show..

The Pietasters play Brooklyn Bowl on February 12th. $5.00 Tickets are on sale.

The Funky Meters, which is the continuation of The Meters, Art Neville and George Porter included, will play three nights at Brooklyn Bowl in February. Tickets go on sale at noon for February 15th, February 16th and February 17th.

Yelawolf just played as part of a big Thanksgiving weekend bill at the big Terminal 5. You can catch him in a more intimate and headlining setting when he plays SOB's on December 22nd for just $10.

Nicki Minaj played a huge NYC show on Thanksgiving. She plays another one ON CHRISTMAS, but this time up at the Paradise Theater in the Bronx. Tickets are on sale.

Levon Helm just played two big shows at Beacon Theater in NYC. He and his band return to the area to play The Wellmont Theater in Montclair on February 11th. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon for the Bright Eyes show at Radio City Music Hall.

Tickets are on presale for the upcoming Allman Brothers shows at Beacon Theater.

by Klaus Kinski

My recent contributions to BV have afforded me the opportunity to wax nostalgic about my checkered past (SKA reference), so why should this article be any different? When I was living in Greenpoint back in 2002, I had two important neighbors in my building; Jeff Mangum and Dave Karcich. And while Mangum had zero impact on my life, Karcich had more of an impact than he would ever know. You see, in high school and college, one of my favorite bands to see was Bim Skala Bim and my favorite venue to see them in was the Paradise. Trombone player Vinny Nobile's phenomenal stage presence made him an icon to my friends and me. Vinny ended up leaving Bim, heading to NYC to form a band called The Pilfers with ex-Toasters vocalist Coolie Ranx. A little ways into their existence, the Pilfers ended up losing their bass player and their drummer. Dave Karcich, former drummer for Connecticut based Ska band Spring Heeled Jack, filled the drumming void. And like zillions of other bands, The Pilfers too saw their eventual dissolution (only to reform just a few years ago).

After the Pilfers, Vinny Nobile and Dave Karcich went on to form a band called Cenzo who, at the time when I met Dave, was kind of on their back burner. As a result of my living down the hall from Dave, and Dave's relationship with Vinny, I eventually got tight with them both, which blew the minds of the folks I stiil kept in touch with from high school/college. Sadly, my relationship with Dave was short lived. After recording my band's demo EP, Dave suffered a massive cerebral aneurysm and passed away on April 5th, 2002. Eventually, Vinny hired me to take Dave's place on drums in Cenzo and for a short while I enjoyed playing sold out shows with Cenzo in support of acts including The Toasters, The Pietasters, Murphy's Law, and The Slackers.

A lot of people give a knee-jerk scoff at SKA because it's apparently unfashionable; admittedly, the thought of skinny ties, checker-accented gear, black and white wing tips, pork pie hats, and massive sideburns makes me feel uneasy. But some of the bands from back in the day, back in my day, continue to bring serious talent and awesome sounds to those of us who are still willing to listen. So I was pretty skankingly excited to see that SKA powerhouses The Toasters and The Pietasters will be sharing a bill with Hub City Stompers and more for an all ages show at BB Kings on 10/29/10. People with even a casual interest cannot pass up the opportunity to see these third wave legends in the same house.

More tour dates below, including Bim Skala Bim, The Slackers, The Pietasters (who also play a boat tonight), and The Toasters.

Continue reading "The Toasters, The Pietasters & other upcoming ska shows "

by Klaus Kinski

As a former Boston skinhead with a former penchant for Ska and hardcore, it's safe to say that The English Beat's music radiated from my car speakers more than a few times as I delivered pizza back in the day. Though they weren't my favorite band of the genre, when they're good, they are freaking amazing. Now as an older skinhead-via-heredity, it's with mixed levels of enthusiasm that I announce that Dave Wakeling and the English Beat are embarking on a pretty serious Summer/Fall North American Tour, eventually skanking their way to Webster Hall on August 21, 2010. Bad Manners is supporting, which is AWESOME. Tickets go on sale July 9, 2010 (Amex presale begins today, July 7th, at noon).

Why the mixed levels of enthusiasm? Well, I am no purist, but I can't really get jazzed about seeing a band, any band, with only one original member. And though it is a scientific fact that David Wakeling (English Beat founding member and currently the only original member) is an EXTREMELY awesome guy, I'm not sure he necessarily deserves his title of "Legendary King of Ska". I can think of about 10 'ska legends' before he would even enter the picture, and ain't one of them a white dude from the UK. Legendary? Maybe. King? Hell no.

That said, between the Bosstones coming to Irving Plaza, The Pietasters playing on a boat (tickets), The Slackers also playing on a boat (tickets), and more Ska shows inevitably popping up, it's gonna be a good season for skankin' in NYC.

All English Beat dates (including a show in the Hamptons this Friday) below...

Continue reading "The English Beat tour dates & other upcoming ska shows"

Black Lips @ Brooklyn Bowl in March (more by Gabi Porter)

Rock Off have updated their summer schedule of NYC Boat Cruise shows, which, like always, has focus on punk & garage (though there are other genres too). It includes Jello Biafra on May 29th, Electric Six on July 15th, Murphy's Law's annual Jimmy birthday show on August 12th, The Bouncing Souls on September 13th, and an August 2nd show with the Black Lips (who are in town much sooner a free but full RSVP-only show at Knitting Factory on April 29th with Pierced Arrows).

Other gigs includes Dam-Funk on April 24th (TONIGHT), Budos Band on June 11th, three NY Night Train parties, and The A-Bones on June 23rd. Tickets for most of the shows are on sale. No ticket info for Bouncing Souls yet. Black Lips go on sale Friday, April 30th.

Punk and punk-like boat shows are listed below...

Continue reading "Bouncing Souls, Black Lips, Jello Biafra & other boat shows "

by BBG

The Bouncing Souls @ Webster Hall (more by Tim Griffin)

We're well on our way to making HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS the Jersey Shore's rockinest holiday tradition! This is our third year which marks the distinction between 'maybe we can pull this off' and 'a lifetime commitment'. We're happy to assemble a wild cast of our friends and comrades to entertain you and wish you well for the coming year. What's better than getting together with a couple hundred of your closest friends for the holidays and toasting each others' health? [The Bouncing Souls via press release]

The Bouncing Souls will play a four night residency at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ from Dec 26 - 30th as part of their 3rd annual Home For The Holidays series of shows. Each night features a different set of bands with:

• 12/26 getting Black Train Jack, Blacklisted, and Detournement
• 27th getting The Pietasters, a reunion of Worthless United, and Dave Hause
• 28th with their current tourmates Bayside, as well as P.O.S. & Static Radio NJ
• and on 12/30 with Chuck Ragan, Screaming Females, and The Night Brigade.

Tickets go on fan Pre-Sale this Wednesday, October 21st and Thursday October 22nd @ chunksaah.com, and then go on general sale on Friday, October 23rd.

Screaming Females continue to make NJ proud as they've also just announced a tour with the Arctic Monkeys.

Chuck Ragan was just in town over the weekend, bringing his Revival Tour to Gramercy Theatre on Saturday night.

Blacklisted are scheduled to play the Deathwish day party at Santos during CMJ.

The Bouncing Souls are currently on tour with Bayside and Broadway Calls, a tour which ends in early November. Full tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Bouncing Souls announce 2009 holiday shows @ The Stone Pony (openers include Pietasters, Black Train Jack, Blacklisted, Screaming Females...)"

I previously mentioned the big Mandela concert going down at MSG on July 18th. Well, that show was moved to Radio City Music Hall. Tickets are still on sale. The lineup includes Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Whoopi Goldberg, Gloria Gaynor, Will.I.Am, Dave Stewart, Angelique Kidjo, Jesse McCartney, Josh Groban, Wyclef Jean, Queen Latifah, and Baaba Maal.

Another upcoming show at Radio City involves the music of Lord of the Rings.

Andrew Bird plays there tonight (6/18).

Tickets are currently on AmEx presale for the Boredoms show at Terminal 5.

Tickets are currently on AmEx presale for the Gossip show at Terminal 5.

Tickets are currently on AmEx presale for the Dirty Three show happening at Bowery Ballroom.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Malajube show at Mercury Lounge. There are also shows scheduled at Littlefield and Maxwell's.

Tickets are currently on AmEx presale for the Warlocks show at Bowery Ballroom.

The Smithereens are playing The Bell House in Brooklyn on June 26th (TICKETS), and The Stone Pony in Asbury Park on June 27th (TICKETS).

Ted Leo has been added as the opener for the State Radio show happening at The Stone Pony's Summerstage on July 10th. Tickets are on sale. Make that his third upcoming NJ show, plus he's playing one this summer in NYC too. Chris Leo is reading on Friday night.

Anvil are touring with, and opening for AC/DC at Giants Stadium on July 31st. In June Anvil played in a movie theater. Video of Anvil playing "School Love" in 1984, below...

The Pietasters and Catch 22 are opening for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones at The Stone Pony Summerstage on August 16th. Tickets are on sale.

No tickets necessary to see Thee Oh Sees at the Siren Festival.

Tickets are still on sale for the Black Crowes show Levon Helm is opening at Central Park Summerstage on September 2nd.,

The 7th annual Brian Setzer Orchestra "Christmas Rocks!" Extravaganza takes place at Hammerstein Ballroom on November 30th. Tickets are on sale. Video of the Stray Cats, Live at Fridays, below...

Doveman plays with members of The National at Le Poisson Rouge tonight (6/18). La Blogoteque video of Doveman below...

Continue reading "Stevie Wonder, Smithereens, Boredoms, Ted Leo, Anvil, Mighty Bosstones, Levon Helm, Gossip & other tix"