words & photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

That so many of the characters in Greg Dulli's songs are met by misfortune (often self-inflicted) and find themselves in questionable circumstances, it was fitting that he and his Twilight Singers rolled into New York City on a Friday the 13th. Though anyone expecting something to go wrong during their feverish 21-song set were left disappointed.

"It's my birthday... three days later," Dulli joked at one point, but the entire 90-minute set seemed like a party. Nobody was having more fun than Dulli, who with this year's Dynamite Steps has released as many records as a Twilight Singer/solo artist as he did fronting the Afghan Whigs.

Early on, before a punishing version of "Bonnie Brae" (made popular by its inclusion in the television show "Rescue Me"), he accepted flowers from a fan in the front row, stepped to the mic and said, "You sure know how to make a man feel like Neil Diamond."

His voice was expectedly and delightfully off-key and his band sounded great, especially drummer Greg Wieczorek, "the best drummer I've ever seen," said Dulli during his band introductions. Erik Kang of openers Margot & the Nuclear So and So's (more on them in a second) came out to play pedal steel and violin later in the set.

As thunderstorms, porn theaters and other ominous images appeared on the screen behind them, set highlights included "Teenage Wristband", the cover of Martin Topley-Bird's "Too Tough To Die" and "On the Corner", "The Beginning of the End" and "Get Lucky" all from Dynamite Steps.

"Ladies and gentleman, The Killer," Dulli proclaimed, as a photo of that song's protagonist, Jerry Lee Lewis, and 13-year-old wife (and first cousin once removed) Myra Gale Brown loomed on the screen. It was the first song of a three-song encore and "The Killer" grooved and wailed better than anything else they played that night. Dulli closed with a ramped up version of "Esta Noche" ("This is the motherfucking finish line") that ended in a refrain of Carl Carlton's "Everlasting Love."

Margot and the Nukes' opening slot for the Twilight Singers made a lot of sense considering that bandleader Richard Edwards' songs traffic in a milder, Dulli-esque world of bruised and mis-handled relationships, but armed with Rachel's review of a show from last fall, I approached their set with trepidation. Then something happened when I got to the venue - I didn't care about any of that stuff. Bands shed and add members all the time and you either stick with them or you don't and I was just excited to see a band that I've adored since The Dust of Retreat. Sure, like a lot of people I'm nostalgic for the old version of Margot and (having seen them four times previous) missed seeing some familiar faces who were germane to a pretty great live show. But the version that recorded last year's Buzzard needed to be taken for the band it is now.

Ultimately, where the earlier Margot was more a chamber pop collective - this retooled lineup is a solid, straightforward rock band. "If you want to stay/Shut up. If you want to go/Get lost," Edwards snarled on Margot's set opener, the excellent "Claws Off" And then later in the song, "get lost" becomes "get fucked." But there are some lovely melodies in the earlier material, which was showcased on the stripped down version of "Broadripple Is Burning" complete with audience members singing along. There's still plenty of common ground to be found in their live show for fans of both incarnations.

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The Twilight Singers and Margot are still on tour. A list of all upcoming TS dates, more pictures and the setlist from the Webster Hall show, and a video of the band playing Letterman in April too, below...

Continue reading "The Twilight singers played Webster Hall w/ Margot & the Nuclear So and So's (pics & setlist & a Letterman video too)"

DOWNLOAD: The Twilight Singers - "On the Corner" (MP3)

The Twilight Singers have a new LP due on Tuesday via Sub Pop, Dynamite Steps, the band's fifth album. Stream the entire thing at Spin right now. After a pair of in-stores on the West Coast followed by an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on 2/23, The Twilight Singers will sit tight until mid-March when they kick of a world tour. The U.S. leg begins in early May with Margot & The Nuclear So & Sos opening on all dates. Kicking off in Oxford, Mississippi, look for the tour to hit NYC at Webster Hall on 5/13. Ticketing info is forthcoming, but it will reportedly "go on sale next week".

Meanwhile Margot & The Nuclear So & Sos recently dropped a new release of their own, Happy Hour at Sprigg's Volume 1: Live and Acoustic. You can order a copy through the band.

All tour dates and the new Twilight Singers video for "On the Corner" is available below.

Continue reading "The Twilight Singers releasing new record, touring w/ Margot & The Nuclear So & Sos (MP3, stream & dates)"

For the first time in his career, Greg Dulli will embark on a solo tour which will see him make stops in five different countries for a total of 29 shows. Beginning in New Orleans on October 8th, 'An Evening With Greg Dulli' will feature Greg along with long-time Twilight Singers guitarist Dave Rosser and multi-instrumentalist Rick Nelson (Polyphonic Spree) performing a stripped down set. Dulli will lead his band through a wide selection of songs encompassing his entire career...

...These shows will also mark the debut of several brand new songs from the forthcoming Twilight Singers album scheduled for release on Sub Pop Records in early 2011. The new Twilight Singers album will be the first release from the group in five years. [Sub Pop]

Continue reading "Greg Dulli going on solo tour (dates), releasing new Twilight Singers album (soon) "

Greg Dulli's Top Ten of 2009: (via)
1. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
2. Little Dragon - Machine Dreams
3. Tinariwen - Imidiwan: Companions
4. Wussy - Wussy
5. Various Artists - Gilles Peterson Presents Havana Cultura
6. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
7. Handsome Furs - Face Control
8. The Aliens - Luna
9. Dam-Funk - Toeachizown
10. Kid Cudi - Man On the Moon: The End of Day

The Gutter Twins @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - Feb 14, 2008 (Caryn Rose)

My odd thought about tonight was that this show was just - grown up. I haven't seen the lyrics and haven't lived with the songs enough, but this is not about Are you here to make par-tay or even the themes of loss and, well, loss that have hung over acres of Twilight Singers material. Don't get me wrong, this is still a collaboration between Dulli and Lanegan and it's not rainbows and puppies and roses, and it's plenty fuckin dark. But it was just at another level, and maybe because Mark's ass is also on that line, but I have never seen the band this whip-smart and sharp and just totally together, like Greg can put up one hand and conduct the band and they turn on a dime. [jukeboxgraduate]