photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin, words by Andrew Sacher

Blondie @ State Theatre - 10/2/12

Anarchy symbols, peace signs, skulls, and other images lit up the high walls and ceilings of Port Chester's Capitol Theatre last night (10/7) as Blondie came out for their third NYC area show (and final date) of the tour they'd been on since September. Debbie Harry, at 67 years young, was looking as great as ever decked out in sparkling black sunglasses, a metallic silver coat, and bleach blonde hair to go with her sharp attitude, sleek dance moves, and a very in-tact voice. Debbie was joined on stage by original members Chris Stein (guitar) and Clem Burke (drums), and the lineup is rounded out by the more recently added Leigh Foxx (bass), Matt Katz-Bohen (keyboards), and Tommy Kessler (guitar), the latter of who looks like he wants to be a frontman and could've chilled with the Van Halen solos (though a chunk of the crowd seemed to love it). But that aside, the whole band was on point and still ageless in spirit.

In 2011, Blondie put their finishing touches on Panic of Girls, their first full length since 2003, so it wasn't a surprise that they chose to play a number of songs from that record. And don't get me wrong, Panic of Girls is a solid effort and the songs sounded good at the show, but of course the real treats came from the old singles. At under an hour and a half, my only complaint about the set is that I would have liked to hear more, but we still got a handful of crowd pleasers like "Dreaming," "Hanging on the Telephone," "Call Me," "The Tide Is High," and others. At the end of the rap-inspired "Rapture," they worked in a portion of fellow NYC legends Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Til Brooklyn," which they've been doing all tour (on past tours they've done it with "Fight For Your Right"). Debbie worked the crowd the whole show, especially doing so on "One Way or Another," for which she got everyone clapping and put the mic in the audience for the crowd to chant the song's title.

Unfortunately, none of the northeast shows on the tour were with Devo, who joined Blondie on most of the September shows (we did catch that tour in Austin though). This leg of the tour also hit the NYC area last Tuesday (10/2) at New Brunswick's State Theatre on Thursday (10/4) at Staten Island's St. George Theatre. The pictures in this post are from the State Theatre show, which The Smithereens opened. (No pics from the Capitol Theatre show but you can see some shots of the great looking newly renovated venue from Regina Spektor's show last week.) Though the public dates on the tour are over, as mentioned, Blondie will perform a YouTube Presents concert from the Google offices in NYC on Wednesday (10/10) at 4 PM, which will stream live on YouTube.

More pics from the State Theatre show (setlist written on a drum head included) and a video of Blondie doing "Rapture/No Sleep Til Brooklyn" in Houston are below...

Continue reading "Blondie played State Theatre & Capitol Theatre (pics, review)"

The sound system forever went silent Monday night at a famed Greenwich Village club that had provided a stage to struggling artists and superstar musicians over a storied [45] years.

Adoring fans had packed Kenny's Castaways on Bleecker Street to hear singer-songwriter Willie Nile and garage rockers The Smithereens blister through a pair of last sets inside the closing music Mecca.

"We started playing here in July of 1980. We were just starting out," said Jim Babjak, lead guitarist for The Smithereens. "A lot of people wanted you to play cover songs. This was one of the few places that let us play our own stuff."

Former neighborhood resident Steve Simels was in awe seeing his idols play one last time at the club.

"I used to live across the street and this was my clubhouse. Willie Nile and The Smithereens were like gods to us," said Simels. [NY Post]

A few videos from the show, below...

Continue reading "The Smithereens & Willie Nile shut down Kenny's Castaways (video)"

As we mentioned, legendary West Village music club Kenny's Castaways is closing its doors forever, and their final show is going down TONIGHT (10/1/2012). It's a free show starting at 8pm and will feature sets by Willie Nile and The Smithereens, as the NY Times also points out:

In the early 1970s, Willie Nile, a singer and songwriter who had recently moved to New York, went uptown to check out Kenny's. He said he recognized a young man with a scruffy beard sitting at the bar: Bruce Springsteen, who had just released his first record, "Greetings From Asbury Park," played some of his first New York shows at Kenny's.

"When you walk in there, you can feel the years, you can feel the presence of all these wanderers, visionaries and dreamers who came in there," said Mr. Nile, who was signed to Arista Records in 1980 after impressing the record executive Clive Davis with a set at Kenny's. Mr. Nile, along with the Smithereens, will be on the club's farewell bill on Monday night.

...at the State Theatre on April 30th with The Smithereens. Tickets are on sale (thx J!)

Sondre Lerche @ MHOW in September (more by Tim Griffin)

Sondre Lerche will be one of the many acts at the now-sold-out Bell House Haiti Benefit tonight (1/27). Sondre goes on tour after that with opener JBM. JBM is NYC songwriter Jesse Marchant, who's now signed to Partisan Records. The label will release his debut Not Even in July on April 13th. For some JBM right now, check out his recently-posted Daytrotter Session.

The pair travel the US for all of February - they'll play a NY-area show at Maxwell's on Saturday, March 6th. Tickets are on sale

Sondre is also scheduled to be at the Michael Dorf-produced Music of the Who show at Carnegie Hall on March 2nd. That show includes a lot of big names and City Winery regulars. They include Living Colour, Robyn Hitchcock, Matt Nathanson, Sondre Lerche, Postelles, Bettye LaVette, Mose Allison, The Smithereens, Gaslight Anthem, Bob Mould (of Hüsker Dü), Fab Faux, Asaf Avidan, Willie Nile, Vanessa Carlton, Rich Pagano, Nicole Atkins and Steven Bernstein & The Music Unites Choir. Tickets are on sale.

Finally, Sondre Lerche plays NYC's City Winery on Tuesday, March 23rd. Tickets are on sale. All dates below...

Continue reading "Sondre Lerche playing City Winery, Who Tribute @ Carnegie, NJ & touring (dates) w/ JBM (who is on Partisan Records) "

photos by Tim Griffin

As Buckshot reminded the Nokia Theatre crowd at the end of his solo appearance opening for De La Soul on Thursday night (8/14), he has an album coming out with KRS-One called Survival Skills. That album drops on 9/15. On Saturday, August 29th, at 1PM, the duo will perform a free show at City Hall Park in NYC as part of J&R MusicFest, a three-day 'block party' in the Wall Street area (near J&R) that will feature multiple free shows including one by Clipse at 6:00PM on Friday the 28th.

Full J&R schedule with more pictures, and a bunch of videos, from the Nokia Theatre show, below...

Continue reading "Buckshot played Nokia Theatre (pics, video), playing w/ KRS-One @ J&R MusicFest (so are Clipse & the Smithereens)"

Friday's "show has been canceled. Refunds at point of purchase."

P.S. St. Vincent is tonight (6/25). "Limited tickets available at the door."

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"