It's a tradition! Yo La Tengo begin their eight sold out shows at Maxwell's in recently-Sandy-ravaged Hoboken tonight, Saturday, December 8th, the first night of Hanukkah 2012. As always, each night will featured a varied setlist, a charity and a mix of secret musician and comedy openers and special guests. So far we haven't figured out even one this year. Any guesses?

UPDATE: Night 1 openers were a reunion by The Raybeats and comedian Emo Philips. Tom Scharpling made the mix tape of the night (they sell it for charity). The charity of the night was, appropriately, the Fund to Rebuild Hoboken.

The reunited Rascals are about to kick off a series of shows at Capitol Theater, and Yo La Tengo definitely like the Rascals.

Local musical opener and guest possibilities include Ted Leo, Titus Andronicus, Real Estate, Thurston Moore, Stephin Merritt, AC Newman, Kurt Vile, Lee Ranaldo, and Paul Banks.

Someone guessed Big Dipper.

Andrew Bird, Richard Buckner and Os Mutantes will all be in town (as will Jason Lytle and Sera Cahoone).

Thoughts?

That's this year's new t-shirt pictured above. More Yo La Tengo tour dates are HERE.

The recently-reunited Rascals have added three more Capitol Theatre shows, bringing the total to six nights at the Port Chester venue. The three new nights are December 20, 21 and 22 which are in addition to the three shows happening 12/13-15 which are now sold out or close to sold out. Tickets to the just-added shows go on sale Friday (10/19) at noon.

As mentioned, these "Once Upon A Dream" shows will be the '60s legends first in over 40 years with the original line-up, and are being produced and directed by Steven Van Zandt with lighting and projections being handled by Mark Brickman (who has done lights for Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, and more).

Earlier this week we posted that E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt is working to fund the reunion of fellow Jersey band The Rascals, who haven't played live with their original lineup in 40 years. As of this post, their Kickstarter is just about halfway to its goal with 26 days to go.

At the time we had no idea how quickly the actual shows would be announced, but it has already been revealed that the reunion is set to make its debut in Port Chester, NY with a three-night run at the Capitol Theatre from December 12-15. As mentioned, the shows are dubbed "Once Upon A Dream" and are being produced and directed by Van Zandt with lighting and projections being handled by Mark Brickman (who has done lights for Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, and more). Tickets for all three shows go on sale today, 9/28, at 11 AM.

You can watch the Kickstarter video below...

Continue reading "The reunited Rascals playing 3 nights at Capitol Theater"

The Rascals' original lineup--Felix Cavaliere, Gene Cornish, Eddie Brigati and Dino Danelli--will reunite for their first public performances in over 40 years with "Once Upon A Dream," a combination concert/theatrical event produced and directed by Steven Van Zandt and lighting/projection wizard Marc Brickman. It's a Rock N Soul dance party meets The Jersey Boys.

In addition to the concert experience, the history of The Rascals, and the history of the '60's through their music, will be dramaticized by a combination of narration, filmed scenes of actors acting out key moments in the band's history, news footage, and archival footage of the band.

There will elements of the staging and light design never seen before just as Marc Brickman has done in his previous groundbreaking work with Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Blue Man Group, the Olympics, and Roger Waters' recent 'The Wall' tour. [Kickstarter].

The Last Shadow Puppets (Alex Turner) @ Sound Fix Records (Leia Jospe)

Despite the fact that Cake Shop's website currently says used to say that the Arctic Monkeys and The Rascals are playing a free show there tonight at midnight (March 5, 2008), I'm being told that it's just a Lost Shadow Puppets show. The Last Shadow Puppets consist of one (very important) member of Arctic Monkeys, and one member of the Rascals, and they played their very first-ever show in NYC at Sound Fix last night (so this will be their very-second).

words & photos by Bao Nguyen

A few weeks back, I was taken back by the fact that a mother and daughter drove four hours from Philadelphia in a snowstorm to see the Kooks play in Brooklyn. Last night I was blown away by the fact that two high school-aged friends and their mother flew in from Michigan for one night to catch the first ever show by the Last Shadow Puppets (March 4, 2008). Luke Pritchard of the Kooks may have a better stage presence than the Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner but it seems Turner has many more dedicated (or crazy) fans (editor's note: "...and much more talent").

Continue reading "The Last Shadow Puppets @ Sound Fix, Brooklyn, NY - pics"

Continue reading "first Last Shadow Puppets SHOW ever - BROOKLYN TONIGHT"

The Last Shadow Puppets are a band that currently consists of Alex Turner of Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane of Wirral band The Rascals. They are due to release their debut album, titled The Age Of The Understatement on April 21, 2008 (and May 6th in the USA). The Rascals supported Arctic Monkeys on their 2007 tour of Britain. The band has posted two short videos as teaser for the album on their website including short song clips. [Wikipedia]

Continue reading "The Last Shadow Puppets = Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) + Miles Kane (The Rascals)"