photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

The Loom @ Brooklyn Bowl


The Loom played a "Brunch After Dark" show at Brooklyn Bowl on February 9th with Pearl & The Beard & Team B, one of two NYC dates scheduled for The Loom in the month of February. The NYC band is now on tour with The Wailing Wall that wraps at the Rock Shop on Feb 26th with Soft Landing, Rice Cultivation Society, and Christopher Paul Stelling (tickets). Look for them at SXSW too.

Meanwhile, Pearl and the Beard, who also played a pop-up show in Union Square on Saturday afternoon (2/20), are gearing up for a tour of their own that will include SXSW as well as Knitting Factory on April 1 (tickets).

All tour dates, more pictures from Brooklyn Bowl, and some from the Union Square show too, are below.

Continue reading "The Loom, Team B & the Pearl & The Beard played Brooklyn Bowl, playing other places (pics & dates)"

photos by Leia Jospe

Four Loko is a caffeinated malt beverage which myself and many of my friends enjoy. Recent legislation has threatened the sale of Four Loko in New York State. We ask Dennis Rosen, chairman of the NYS Liquor Authority, to rethink his stance under the belief that Four Loko is essential to New York City's well being and part of a balanced drink menu.

It is my personal belief that New Yorker and American Forefather, Alexander Hamilt...on, would have enjoyed Four Loko and made it his drink of choice during the grueling Battle of Yorktown - as it is a drink which can keep you awake and warm - perfect for when Hamilton and General George Washington led the remaining 2000 soldiers of the Continental Army across the Hudson to Brooklyn in pure silence under the dark New York City moon - a maneuver which saved the army, won back New York and ultimately America from the taxing hand of the British.

Please join us on the steps of Union Square at 7pm on November 17th for this candle light vigil - share your voice, bring a sign, light a candle and lets UNITE AS ONE to stand for FREEDOM and something greater than the individual .. AS ONE WE CAN BE FOUR. -[Four Loko Supporters]

8-bit rockers Anamanaguchi (whose new song we debuted a little over a month earlier) stood up and fought for our rights as free American beverage consumers by organizing (along with Ryder Ripps), and playing a stripped down set at, an outdoor Four Loko rally, as described above, in Union Square last night (11/17). Part vigil, part outdoor concert, part rally, and all crazy, onlookers were treated to an acoustic set from the band, as well as their fair share of public (or should I say pubic?) nudity. Leia was on hand for the action, and her very NSFW pictures (possibly disturbing), and some video testimonials to the power of the beverage, (you've been warned) are below...

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi held a Four Loko rally in Union Square, things got very NSFW (pics & video) "

"No smoking at the Buzzcocks show, apparently there's a bomb scare outside. Fuckbeans..." - Joey Outten

Irving Plaza - 5/13/2010 (pics via tonearmmgmt & domifanotherkid)

"New York City police evacuated several floors of a building and several streets were blocked off near Manhattan's Union Square after a Thursday night report of a suspicious vehicle with two gas cans found in the back seat.

The bomb squad suited up and began an investigation of the 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, which was found in front of the Con Edison utility building around 10 p.m.

Chief police spokesman Paul Browne said several floors of a high-rise residential building were evacuated and some streets in the area were blocked off as a precaution. It wasn't immediately clear if the vehicle was a threat.

Union Square, located on Manhattan's East Side, is a major pedestrian and tourist thoroughfare. New York University, Greenwich Village, and the landmark Flatiron building are nearby." [AP]

Also nearby: Irving Plaza where last night's Buzzcocks show was happening at the same time as the bomb scare. Mikey reports that "they stopped mid-song (E.S.P.) to say the police want the owner of a 91 blue cutlass to move his car. Then finished the song..." and that "The announcement was made around 1130 and they continued playing untli midnight." Rob confirms that "Brilliant Buzzcocks show goes on despite bomb scare right outside. Surreal coming out into the street jammed w/bomb squad, cops, fireman." And finally, Michaela reports:

Amazing show tonight, truly did both albums and long, long encore. (Irving Plaza's crappy sound system was just an insult!) And yes to Anon 2:25, no Howard Devoto, but Diggle did a rabid Harmony in My Head. Glorious, and they too seemed to have had a great time!

The albums they played were Another Music in a Different Kitchen and Love Bites, and if you missed it, they aren't going very far. The next two stops on their 22-date North American tour are Friday night in Philly and Saturday in Farmingdale, NY! Videos from Wednesday's Baltimore show below...

Continue reading "bomb scare in Union Square & at the NYC Buzzcocks show"

photos by Brian Reilly

Another year, another pillow fight....

Continue reading "pictures from the 2010 pillow fight in Union Square"

"The 9th Annual No Pants Subway Ride went off without a hitch today in New York. It's tough to count, but we're guessing we had around 3,000 participants. Riders met at meeting points spread out all over the city and converged on Union Square. The high was 28 degrees." [Improv Everywhere]

The above three photos are by Juan P Zapata Bedoya. Many more at his Flickr.

Lots of videos from the 2010 event, below...

Continue reading "pictures & video from Sunday's No Pants Subway ride "

Union Square, NYC, April 18, 2008

Ballulah has a nice set of pictures from Friday's event (including the one above).

For you and your walkman (or so you know what the hell is going on when you walk by Union Square Friday night after work)...

Continue reading "'Silent Rave' in Union Square, NYC Friday night"

photos by Leia Jospe

Down and feathers are very popular fill choices for pillows, but one which unfortunately is associated with numerous animal rights issues. The material is collected from ducks and geese in one of two ways. Feathers are either plucked while the animals are still alive, or they're gathered after the animals have been killed for meat, says Karen Davis, president and a director of the advocacy group United Poultry Concern. Ducks and geese who are killed for their meat are typically raised in large factory farms where animals are raised in filthy living conditions and deprived of access to water and the outdoors.

Because of the animal rights issues associated with down, Pier 1 Imports recently decided to cease using it in all of their pillows. They had been purchasing the down from a subsidiary of Maple Leaf Farms, one of the country's largest poultry producers and one which is known for unsavory living conditions for animals.

Some companies advertise that their down comes from "free-range" animals and gathered during the animals' natural molting phase. However, "free-range" is not a certified label and does not provide any assurance that the feathers were plucked humanely. [National Geographic]

More pictures from today's NYC pillow fight below....

Continue reading "Union Square NYC pillow fight pictures (March 22, 2008)"

Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp joined New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and a host of local farmers today (June 11) amid the Union Square Green Market to announce a Sept. 9 date for the annual Farm Aid benefit at Randall's Island. As usual, the artists will be joined by fellow Farm Aid board members Neil Young and Dave Matthews at the event.

"This will be the first Farm Aid that provides 100% homegrown food at the concert," Mellencamp said proudly. Acknowledging the organic market just a few hundred feet away, Nelson said, "This is a great example of what can be done in the big cities." [Billboard]