photos by Tamara Porras

"highlight of the First Aid Kit show last night: the sisters go off mic & unplugged, just vox & gtr. Sold out Webster sings along.#chills" - Arthur Owens

"Refreshing to see a band without MacBooks, let alone microphones." - Brandon Maxwell

"Really hard to decide who I preferred between First Aid Kit and Peggy Sue tonight @ Webster Hall, NYC" - Dan Northcote-Smith

First Aid Kit @ Webster Hall

Swedish duo First Aid Kit are currently on a tour with the equally talented UK band Peggy Sue, which brought them to a sold out show at Webster Hall on March 28, their largest headlining show in NYC yet (that's an understatement actually). First Aid Kit played a pretty solid mix of material from both of their full lengths, a Fever Ray cover, and a Patti Smith cover. Those in attendance were treated to an entirely unplugged version of "Ghost Town." Here's what The WIld Honey Pie had to say about it:

[They asked] everyone to be as quiet as possible, and to their (and my) surprise, the crowd obliged. They stepped forward away from their microphones and invited anyone who knew the words to "Ghost town" to sing along. Few those minutes, it was no longer a rock concert, but one of those singularly moving musical experiences that you happen to share with a thousand close strangers.

More pictures from the show and a video of First Aid Kit playing their unplugged version of "Ghost Town" below...

Continue reading "First Aid Kit & Peggy Sue played Webster Hall (pics)"

Mute Records announces:

Liars - Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill and Julian Gross - have announced further details of their eagerly awaited new album.

Titled WIXIW (pronounced "wish you"), the 11-track album will be preceded by a single, "No.1 Against The Rush".

Head over to www.facebook.com/LiarsOfficial to listen to the new song.

The title, WIXIW, is explained by Angus Andrew, "'wish you' is a familiar and universal sentiment of longing and hope, but when misspelled becomes uniquely shrouded and difficult to interpret, which in many ways is representative of our music and the songs we wrote for this album".

Watch what happens [below] when human beings are confronted with WIXIW and see it manifest in unlikely places.

He continues, "The word being a palindrome offered us some comfort, and came from superstitious behavior that was the result of extreme uncertainty and doubt. The word and spelling struck us because it seemed to exude a special quality or power."

Recorded in LA, self-produced by the band with additional production from Daniel Miller and mixed by Tom Biller, the album is hard to shake, tough to pin down, and impossible to get out of one's head even after an initial listen. Simultaneously the most accessible and most challenging release from these iconoclasts, it is both a summation of Liars' work up to now, and a complete break from anything you'd ever heard the band do previously.

"If we aren't confusing people, it's not us," Andrew laughs. "If we aren't confusing ourselves with what we do, then we've failed."

Liars have also announced two live shows to go with this announcement, and they are Webster Hall on June 20th in New York City and the Music Box in Los Angeles on June 22nd. Tickets for the NYC show go on sale sale Thursday, April 5th at noon (AmEx presale starts 24 hours earlier).

The above-referenced video can be watched below...

Continue reading "Liars announce new WIXIW LP & shows in NYC & LA"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

Of Montreal @ Webster Hall - 3/31/2012

Like they did on Friday, Of Montreal headlined Webster Hall on Saturday night (3/31), but this time with a different set of openers including the super talented and humble, but a bit mismatched Loney Dear, who had some trouble keeping the large crowd's attention. Probably not the best idea to put a singer-songwriter on right before an energetic band like Of Montreal. Kishi Bashi's opening set of vocal and violin looping went over a bit better.

If you compare the written setlist from Friday with Saturday's (below), you'll see Kevin Barnes & company mixed it up a bit to the benefit of people who went both nights.

Of Montreal's tour continues to Boston tonight. More pictures from Saturday in NYC, below...

Continue reading "Of Montreal played Webster Hall w/ Loney Dear & Kishi Bashi (night 2 pics & setlist)"

photos by Greg Cristman, words by Rebecca Strassberg

Last night (3/30), of Montreal stopped in NYC for the first of two shows at Webster Hall, as part of their current tour. (The second one is tonight. UPDATE: It happened and pics are HERE)

Openers Hard Nips and Computer Magic got the audience pumped, but by the time Of Montreal came on it felt as though the floor of Webster Hall was going to collapse before the end of the show. Beginning with songs from their new album, Paralytic Stalks, the band released white balloons, which reflected multicolor lights as they were passed over the crowd.

The energy of frontman Kevin Barnes increased throughout the almost two-hour set, and in typical Of Montreal fashion, the show included people in white bodysuits crowd surfing, white puppets, various psychedelic images flashing on screens, and the guitarist jumping into the incredibly enthusiastic crowd.

The encore was a twenty-minute mashup of some favorites off Skeletal Lamping, and Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer, which as I heard many saying upon exit, made the entire show worthwhile.

Barnes said he was excited to do it again tonight (3/31), but this time with Loney Dear and Kishi Bashi opening (the same openers from Chicago).

Pictures of Friday night's openers are coming later, but here are some of the headliner. More, shot of the setlist included, below...

Continue reading "Of Montreal played Webster Hall (night 1 pics & setlist)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Delta Spirit @ Webster Hall

Delta Spirit, who played Public Assembly a month earlier, played Webster Hall last night (3/29) with WATERS, one night after the opener played Macy's, and about a week after the tour-mates played Chicago. Here are some pictures from the big NYC show. More of them below...

Continue reading "Delta Spirit & WATERS played Webster Hall (pics)"

photos by Kurt Christensen

Jim James @ Webster Hall

"New Multitudes, a centennial tribute to Woody Guthrie, made up of the singer-songwriters Jay Farrar, Yim Yames, Anders Parker and Will Johnson, operates from within a cocoon of familiarity. Not with regard to the songs, exactly: all 12 on the group's self-titled debut album, released last month on Rounder, began with previously unused scraps of writing from the Guthrie archives, freshly set to music.

What's familiar about New Multitudes is that process of refurbishment, which has also given us several albums by Billy Bragg with Wilco -- a collection, "Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions," is due out on Nonesuch next month -- and one by Jonatha Brooke. In these and other instances, mostly smaller in scale, access to the material was enthusiastically granted by Nora Guthrie, the guardian of her father's legacy...." [NY Times]

New Multitudes hit Webster Hall on Wednesday (3/14) with Bobby Bare Jr. in tow. Here are some pictures, setlist included, from the NYC show. More below...

Continue reading "New Multitudes (Jay Farrar, Yim Yames, Anders Parker, Will Johnson) played Webster Hall (pics, setlist)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo, words by Rachel Kowal

Fanfarlo @ Webster Hall


After hearing their 2009 debut, Reservoir, I thought I had Fanfarlo pegged, but as the bridge on the cover of their recently released album suggests, the pop folk darlings are venturing into a new sonic territory. Sure, they're still as charming as ever, but as I learned when I saw them play at Glasslands last October, they've begun to grow teeth.

But before Fanfarlo took the stage at Webster Hall last night (3/6), Young Man and Nightlands played quick sets. I enjoyed Chicago's Young Man when I saw them open for label mates Local Natives at Governors Island a couple of summers ago, but sadly, they fell victim to an astonishingly terrible mix at Webster Hall when within seconds of their first song, the sheer force of the bass drum launched an assault on the crowd and made me feel like an unwitting participant in an old Maxwell tapes ad. The bass was so overpowering and unbearable that people around me actually broke concert cool to clasp their hands over their ears in a desperate attempt to preserve their hearing. Hopefully they fare better at SXSW.

Following Young Man's Richter Scale-tipping performance, Nightlands, the second act, hardly registered as a blip on the radar. For the Philly trio, a harp - not drums - rounded out the mix and offered a much-needed respite from the bass drum of death. Given what we had just witnessed with Young Man's set, the ultra-chill and beautifully melodic Nightlands seemed wildly out of place. Then again, Fanfarlo definitely seems to have its hand in a couple of pots, combining the quiet, safe side of orchestral folk pop with their newer, more experimental sound. (Experimental for them, anyway.)

After a long set change, Fanfarlo kicked off their performance with the surprisingly edgy "Replicate," one of the stand out tracks on Rooms Filled with Light thanks to singer Simon Balthazar's staccato vocals and the quick blasts of keys that drive the song. I grimaced earlier when I saw the sound guy drag the mic stand closer to the bass drum, but luckily, the percussion - though still a bit too loud in the mix - was restrained. The band's new material has a sparse, scientific quality that calls attention to each delicate violin solo or assertive trumpet interlude. Absent from last night's show were the usual melodicas, mandolins, glockenspiels, and singing saws.

And yet, despite the band's adoption of cooler aesthetic on their latest release (randomly projected images replaced the whimsical lights and colorful flags that adorned the stage during their Reservoir tour), their performance, which included a good mix of their older songs, still radiates warmth. Balthazar hasn't lost that endearing swagger to his voice, and I have to say the addition of the impromptu Swedish lesson ("Skål!" Balthazar said as he raised his bottle of wine) was pretty adorable.

Another thing that certainly hasn't changed for Fanfarlo is their penchant for the gradual build-up. The tension in their new material is palpable, but somehow, though they've turned up the heat on the last album, they maintain a tight rein on the music, opting to substitute keyboard solos or occasional taps on a drum machine in the place of a rocking guitar riff or a more traditional breakdown. Looking around Webster Hall, I almost chuckled. The urge to dance is clearly in the air, but without the big moments, the audience's movement is comically limited to polite foot tapping and an insistent, but mild-mannered bobbing. And though I might have longed for them to let it all go, it's that careful restraint in that individuates Fanfarlo and has me longing for more. Given the natural progression on their first two albums, I'm already looking forward to what comes next. It's only a matter of time before that pot boils over.

---

We're happy to announce that Fanfarlo will be playing "Hotel Vegan" (at Hotel Vegas) at SXSW this year on Thursday, March 15th. Stay tuned for more details.

More pictures and the setlist from Webster Hall, below...

Continue reading "Fanfarlo played Webster Hall (pics, review), playing BV-SXSW"

photos by Ryan Muir

G N' R @ The Ritz

Guns N' Roses (Axl Rose, Dizzy Reed, Tommy Stinson, Chris Pitman, Richard Fortus, Frank Ferrer, and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal) completed a short intimate tour that mostly happened in NYC in February. It hit Roseland Ballrooom, Terminal 5, Webster Hall (which they renamed 'The Ritz'), Hiro Ballroom, House of Blues in Atlantic City, and Chicago's House of Blues along the way.

They played over 30 songs at Webster Hall, starting around midnight and ending after 3am, working in almost anything you would want to hear including a handful of covers like the James Bond theme, Pink Panther theme, "Riff Raff" by AC/DC, and their usual takes on "Live and Let Die" and Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." The full setlist is below, along with more pictures and a video from the 2/15 Webster Hall show that the Toilet Boys opened.

The band's next show is Monday (3/5) in Miami which is followed by some California shows which all happen before SXSW which is where GN'R member Tommy Stinson (formerly of the Replacements) will play at least six solo shows. Tommy then heads out on a short East Coast tour with Kurt Baker in April which hits Union Hall in Brooklyn on April 12. Guns N' Roses head to Europe for a tour later this year.

All tour dates (GNR, Tommy Stinson AND Slash too), more pictures and the other stuff, below...

Continue reading "pics of Guns N' Roses @ 'The Ritz'; Tommy Stinson tour dates"

The Drums at Bowery Ballroom in 2011 (more by Toby Tenebaum)

The Drums have some European tour dates coming up in March and will return to North America to play SXSW (including the Frenckiss Records showcase and a TBA BrooklynVegan party at 'Hotel Vegan').

After about a month's rest, they'll kick off a full tour of the US and Canada with some pretty solid openers, Craft Spells and Part Time. That tour hits NYC on April 22 at Webster Hall. Tickets are on AmEx presale now and go on sale to the general public on Friday (3/2) at noon. All dates are listed below.

Yesterday, The Drums aired the season finale of their Visiomento series. Check that out, along with all dates below...

Continue reading "The Drums playing SXSW, announce tour w/ Craft Spells & Part Time (dates)"

photos by Stephen Yang

Stones Fest 2012 celebrated the Rolling Stones with appearances from a bunch of stars of music, film, and television including Adam Green, Will Forte, Norah Jones, Matt Vasquez from Delta Spirit, Evan Rachel Wood, Alia Shawkat, Michael Cera, Jody Porter of Fountains of Wayne, Jesse Malin, Nicole Atkins, Sammy James Jr of The Mooney Suzuki, and many others. Pictures and video of a lot of the the show (but not including everyone), which went down on Feb 22nd at Webster Hall, below.

Continue reading "Stones Fest 2012 pics & video (Evan Rachel Wood, Norah Jones, Alia Shawkat, Michael Cera, Adam Green, Will Forte, more)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Two nights after appearing on Letterman, the Heartless Bastards, celebrating their recently released Arrow, headlined their biggest NYC show to date at Webster Hall on Friday (2/24). Joining them was Devin and Hacienda. Pictures from the show and the Letterman video are in this post.

Since we last spoke, HB have also added many more tour dates including SXSW where they'll play playing a TBA BrooklynVegan Day Party at Hotel Vegas. Stay tuned for more info on that.

All tour dates, and the pictures and video, below...

Continue reading "Heartless Bastards played Letterman & Webster Hall w/ Hacienda & Devin (pics, video, more dates)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Zola Jesus was an extraterrestrial apparition who looked like she could start hovering Linda Blair-style at any moment. "Swords," the glitchy overture to Zola's latest album, Conatus, ushered the four-piece band onstage through fog and a wall of artificial blue starlight, Zola positioned front and center in a flowing white gown. She didn't stay put for long. Bolstered by synth, drums and electric violinist Christiana Key (whom audience members praised by name more than once throughout the night), Zola beautifully belted out "Avalanche," "Shivers" and most of the tracks from Conatus while floating, hopping and jazzercising across the smoky stage. After a hot hour Zola was already gone and back for the encore, stationed behind a double-decker Akai keyboard while Key's violin groaned along to the somber ballad "Skin." -[CMJ]

Zola Jesus lead the charge on an all-star cast at Webster Hall on 2/18. Liturgy (who is now down to a duo and a MacBook Pro) and Talk Normal opened the show. Pictures adorn this post.

Zola Jesus plays Lincoln Hall in Chicago tonight and her full slate of tour dates (including Sasquatch) are below. The dates ALSO include an appearance at SXSW as part of the Sacred Bones Showcase on 3/14 at Elysium with Amen Dunes, Led Er Est, The Men, Psychic Ills, and Wymond Miles.

All dates, pictures from Webster Hall, and Zola Jesus's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Zola Jesus, Talk Normal & Liturgy @ Webster Hall (pics,setlist)"

by Bill Pearis

While the rest of the world was asking who the #$%@ Bonny Bear and Paul McCartney were, I was asking that same question of Of Monsters and Men who are playing here in April. They've already sold out their 4/5 show at Music Hall of Williamsburg and 4/6 show at Bowery Ballroom, though the Bowery show was moved to Webster Hall (tickets are still on sale, but maybe not for long). Actually, half their US tour is already sold out (all dates at the bottom of this post).

Then I remembered I had actually seen Of Monsters and Men -- who are from Iceland --  at last year's M for Montreal at teeny tiny club Casa Del Popo. Their name is a bit on the generic side which is why I think I couldn't place it. (You also see a lot of bands at festivals. It's a blur.) Anyway, here's what I wrote then:

The other Icelandic group, Of Monsters and Men, made more of an impression with their stirring folk rock that was augmented by horns and an especially fancy accordion. (It had LED switches on it.) While also similar to a lot of other sweeping ensembles (fill in your favorite here), the songs were memorable and I did wish their set had been a couple songs longer. So it goes with festivals.

I don't think a folk band has snuck up like this since Mumford and Sons (or maybe The Head and the Heart).

They're already huge in Iceland (which is like being huge in Rhode Island, but still), where their debut album, My Head is an Animal, was released last year. Of Monsters and Men signed to Universal who rushed out the Into the Woods EP in America late December, which contains the KEXP hit "Little Talks". The band will be at SXSW too and are surely one of the "Bands to Watch" this year for some folks.

Click through for all Of Monsters and Men tour dates, plus some videos as well.

Continue reading "are Of Monsters and Men Iceland's Mumford & Sons? (MHOW sold out; Bowery moved to Webster Hall) --- 2012 Tour Dates"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Chicago band The Smith Westerns headlined the final date on their tour with Porcelain Raft and Bleached on Saturday 2/4 in Milwaukee, four days after the band hit Webster Hall on 1/31. Pictures from the NYC date are in this post.

Porcelain Raft blogged their way through the US tour and will head to Europe for a string of dates, presumably blogging on the way. Check out a recent video for "Unless You Speak From Your Heart" by the band below.

If you missed Bleached, make sure and check them out at Knitting Factory on Saturday (2/11) with their tour-mates Black Belles. Tickets are still available for the show which also features the recently-renamed Bleeding Rainbow and Habibi.

All tour dates, that video and more more pictures from Webster Hall are below...

Continue reading "Smith Westerns played Webster Hall w/ Porcelain Raft & Bleached (pics)"

Chairlift @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Amanda Hatfield)

When we first discussed the upcoming Chairlift and Nite Jewel tour, we mentioned that Nite Jewel plays Bowery Ballroom on April 24, two days after their last show with Chairlift and that Chairlift had no upcoming NYC show. But, as predicted, it's been announced that Chairlift will headline Webster Hall on May 8. Tickets go on sale Friday (2/3) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (2/1) at noon. An on-sale date for the Nite Jewel show at Bowery Ballroom has still not been announced.

Updated dates below...

Continue reading "Chairlift headlining Webster Hall (updated dates)"

Guns n Roses @ the Varvatos store in 2010 (more by Nate "Igor" Smith)

Axl Rose's current version of Guns N' Roses are heading out on a short "up close and personal" tour this February, timed to coincide with fashion week (true story). The currently-six-show run kicks off with three NYC shows and also includes a NJ show. They'll play Roseland Ballroom on February 10, Terminal 5 on February 12, and Webster Hall on February 15, except they'll be calling Webster Hall The Ritz for that show, as that was the name of the venue when they filmed Live at the Ritz there in 1988. The tour also brings them to Atlantic City's House of Blues on February 24. Tickets for the NYC shows go on sale Wednesday (2/1) at noon and tickets for the Atlantic City show goes on sale Friday (2/3). All dates are listed below.

In related news, Guns N' Roses tribute band Appetite For Destruction plays BB King's on April 27. Tickets are on sale now.

All dates and the entire "Live at the Ritz" concert from 1988 (it's on YouTube), below...

Continue reading "Guns N' Roses playing small venues, including Roseland, T5 & "The Ritz" (dates)"

The Vaccines @ Escape to NY 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Speaking of even more bands that NME loves, The Vaccines, who are twitter friends with Howler, and part of the recently announced Coachella lineup, just announced a NYC show happening two days after their second Coachella set on April 23 at Webster Hall. Tickets are on sale. All dates are listed below.

In related news, The Vaccines were recently up against Anna Calvi, Magnetic Man, Selah Sue, and James Blake in the "Newcomer of the Year" category at the third annual "Festival Awards Europe" which took place in the Netherlands on 1/11/12. This is who won at that:

And the winners are:
Best Major European Festival - Sziget Festival (Hungary)
Best Medium-Sized European Festival - Off Festival (Poland)
Best Small European Festival - Haldern Pop (Germany)
Best New European Festival - Extrema Outdoor (Belgium)
Best Indoor Festival - I Love Techno (Belgium)
Best European Festival Line-Up - Rock Werchter (Belgium)
YOUROPE Green 'N' Clean Festival Of The Year - Melt! (Germany)
Artist's Favourite European Festival - Southside / Hurricane (Germany)
Best Newcomer association with Eurosonic Noorderslag - James Blake
Best Headliner - Coldplay
Festival Anthem of the Year - Coldplay 'Viva La Vida'
Virtual Festivals Europe presents Promoter Of The Year - FKP Scorpio (Germany)
YOUROPE Lifetime Achievement Award - Michael Eavis, Glastonbury (UK)

All Vaccines tour dates are listed below...

Continue reading "The Vaccines playing NYC after Coachella (dates), lost to James Blake at 2011 Festival Awards Europe"

by Bill Pearis

The La's in 1990

Liverpool legends The La's will play their first American show in 21 years on March 12 at Webster Hall. Tickets ($25) go on sale Thursday (12/22) at noon. The show is part of the first-ever NYC extension of Liverpool Sound City festival. More bands are playing, and the line-up should be announced early January.

With songs like "There She Goes," "Timeless Melody" and "Way Out," one could argue that '90s Britpop started with the La's 1990 eponymous debut, an album that frontman/songwriter/perfectionist Lee Mavers didn't even want released. It was finished by producer Steve Lillywhite and disowned by the band, despite near universal acclaim. It's the only album Mavers made as the La's though there are enough demos, different versions of the LP's songs with other producers, and live tracks floating around that they filled a box set.

I don't think the La's really toured America the first time around, just some summer festivals. (Though my memory may be fuzzy about that.) Mavers reformed the La's a few times over the last decade, most recently with original bassist John Power who has since left again to reunite his post-La's band, Cast, whose new album is out in February. It's unclear who the members will be in March.

The NYC edition of the Sound City is part industry conference and part music fest. From the initial press release:

The inaugural New York Sound City (NYSC) will take place on Monday 12th March 2012 as a one day and night music event.

Designed by Sound City (the team behind innovative boutique events in Dubai, Norway and their home city of Liverpool) NYSC will feature key public and media partners from both the UK and US.

"Sound City has established itself as the coolest city centre festival and business conference in the UK. In the short space of 4 years we have delivered our bumper boutique events in Norway, Dubai, Texas and our home city of Liverpool. The UK businesses, individuals and artists we have showcased and assisted have gone onto generate over £12 million of real money for the UK music and digital economy. We do not mess about. For us to partner up with New York is the next logical step. Liverpool and New York have always shared a special relationship with each other. Two of the worlds biggest cities and both synonymous with art, music and pop culture. This is the first announcement in what is going to be an exciting time for the growth of our strong brand." David Pichilingi CEO Sound City

The live show will feature three UK bands (La's included) and three bands from the U.S. Again, details on that to be released next month.

Click through for some classic La's videos and live performances.

Continue reading "The La's are coming to NYC (as part of 'New York Sound City')"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

The Antlers recently got back from Europe and played their largest hometown show yet at the sold out Webster Hall on 12/10 with Canadian band Suuns. The majority of The Antlers' set was material from 2011's Burst Apart, which they played almost every song off of, but though it was given less attention at the show, a CMJ reviewer believes, "the Antlers' strongest album when performed live is Hospice, not Burst Apart." To quote Amanda, the Antlers "totally owned that room. Was amazing."

NYCTaper recorded the show and you can download a free zip file of the files at their website. More pictures, videos and setlist below...

Continue reading "The Antlers @ Webster Hall (pics/video/setlist/live recording)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

The Black Keys played Webster Hall last night (12/6), a celebration of their new LP El Camino out NOW (as you may have noticed from the ads on this site today). Though the sponsored-by-Southern-Comfort show was small (compared to their next one at MSG anyway), their set was not, dipping deep into their back catalog, as you already know if you were not at Lana Del Rey and one of the few who got a ticket, or one of the many who watched it online....

The set list covered the whole of Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney's journey through and out of their roots, going back all the way to "I'll Be Your Man" on their 2002 debut, The Big Come Up, and stopping off at "Your Touch" from 2006's Magic Potion. The history lessons highlighted how far the duo has come from the binary stomp and grind of their early records to the trailer-park T. Rex effect of "Everlasting Light" on 2010's Brothers and the crossed wires of glam-era David Bowie and the MC5's guitar chaos in El Camino's "Gold on the Ceiling." The inclusion of "Chop and Change," a garage-noir outtake from Brothers that ended up on the Twilight soundtrack, Eclipse, proved they have plenty of that adventure to go around.

For this show, arguably a preview of the band's 2012 U.S. arena tour, the Black Keys flipped the script of their Brothers live act. Instead of opening and closing as a duo, Auerbach and Carney spent most of the night working with their expanded lineup - Wood and bassist Gus Seyffert - and slimming down to a duo for a mini-set in the middle. In either format, the Keys still rely on simple knockout dynamics: Auerbach's spidery guitar intro (a la Keith Richards in the Rolling Stones' "Stray Cat Blues") into the climbing grind of "Girl Is on My Mind" from 2004's Rubber Factory; the primary drive of Carney's kick drum in the crunch and surge of El Camino's "Dead and Gone." -[Rolling Stone]

What did you think?

If you missed them, make sure and catch The Black Keys at the slightly larger Madison Square Garden on March 12th as part of their US tour with Arctic Monkeys. Tickets are currently on AMEX presale and go on regular sale Friday.

More pictures from Webster Hall and the setlist below...

Continue reading "The Black Keys played Webster Hall (pics & setlist)"

Most 400 of the tickets to the 12/5 Webster Hall show are being given away via Southern Comfort's Facebook page. We're also giving away a pair.

PREVIOUSLY: The Black Keys announce tour w/ Arctic Monkeys, headlining MSG (2012 dates)

M83 @ Webster Hall - 11/22/2011 (via balirsmith)

M83 is in NYC to play what are probably two of the most in demand shows (that are on my radar) since Radiohead at Roseland. Tonight (11/23) it's at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Last night was Webster Hall. That show's setlist with more Instagrams from the night, below...

Continue reading "M83 played Webster Hall (Instagrams & setlist)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Deer Tick @ Webster Hall

Deer Tick hit Webster Hall last night (11/20) with Guards and Thomas Hardy (of Dead Confederate). it was the last date on a larger tour that kicked off in October and hit Reggie's in Chicago along the way, and it was probably the largest headlining show on that tour (and definitely much bigger than Death By Audio). Here are some pictures from Webster Hall, though none of the destruction (aka broken instruments) that ended the two hour show (Deer Tick is always good for ending things in style).

Two days earlier, the same lineup hit Ithaca where someone wrote...

Deer Tick's set was not as much a performance as much as it was a time for both fans and players to come together and enjoy each other's company through their love for music. Deer Tick was not playing and singing for us; they were playing and singing with us. This could not be articulated as accurately as when McCauley led a sing-along on opening number "The Bump," wailing "I suggest you move/We're full-grown men/We act like kids." This youthful playfulness that the band set forth from the get-go marked what would become an evening of a shared joy between the band and the crowd. But as much as both the musicians and the fans seemed to be enjoying themselves, the band may have overstayed their welcome. Even with a set that clocked in at over two hours in length including Deer Tick's set, some solo tunes from McCauley, and new material with a freshly formed supergroup featuring McCauley and opening acts Thomas Hardy and the Guards, the boys of Deer Tick seemed to have enjoyed themselves a little too much....
-[Cornell Daily Sun]

The dates were in celebration of Divine Providence, the Deer Tick's new LP out now on Partisan Records.

When the Webster Hall show was first announced, I'm pretty sure Virgin Forest were listed as opener. I'm not sure what happened there, but today another Virgin Forest show was announced and it's happening at Glasslands on 12/7 and Ian O'Neil of Deer Tick is opening. Tickets are on sale.

More pictures from Webster Hall and a video of the Deer Tick/Guards/Thomas Hardy supergroup (see above), below...

Continue reading "Deer Tick, Guards & Thomas Hardy played Webster Hall (pics), Ian O'Neil playing Glasslands w/ Virgin Forest"

Cults at ATP NJ (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

NYC indie pop duo Cults are currently on tour in the UK, and after playing the ATP there in December, they will return to the US and headline Webster Hall on January 19. Tickets go on sale Friday (11/18) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (11/16) at noon. Later that month they head to Australia.

Cults recently performed for Spinner's Interface sessions. The band were interviewed and they performed "Go Outside," "Abducted," "You Know What I Mean," and "The Curse." You can watch videos of the whole thing at Spinner.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Cults headlining Webster Hall & stuff"

DOWNLOAD: Kurt Vile - "The Creatures" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Young - "Bird in the Bush" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Young - "Sweet" (MP3)

photos by Tamara Porras, words by Klaus Kinski

Kurt Vile @ Webster Hall

Last Friday was a pretty important day on three fronts. First and foremost, it was Veteran's Day. I won't bother going into one of my usual tangents and pontificate on the importance of honoring America's servicemen and servicewomen past, present, and future and how they have the scariest fucking job on the planet. Nope. Not gonna do it. Instead, I will jump to the second "important" aspect of last Friday. I put important in quotes because the element I speak of is actually not very important at all. In fact, it's quite trivial and lame and I pity the infantile adult mind who actually expended any energy in reveling in the fact that last Friday was 11/11/11. "OMG ALL THE NUMBERS OF THE DATE ARE THE SAME TODAY EVEN THOUGH THE FIRST TWO NUMBERS OF THE YEAR ARE ACTUALLY 2 AND 0 droollllllll." Yawn.

More importantly, Friday November 11th was important on a third front; it was the day that I finally got to see the great Kurt Vile and the Violators at Webster Hall. I know what you're saying; "But Klaus, you idiot! Kurt's played NYC like A THOUSAND TIMES! Kill yourself already!" And you're right, he has. And I am. And I won't... You see, Kurt is one of those dudes I have literally been unable to see for one reason or another any time he's played NYC. And I don't mean "literally" in the completely non-literal sense people use that word nowadays; i.e. "That joke was so funny I literally shit my pants" or "Yo momma's so fat when she fell into the Grand Canyon she literally got stuck". I mean I have literally been unable to see him. Ever.

Apparently the show wasn't sold out but the place seemed totally packed. And I am pretty sure Webster Hall broke the world record for having the most fog and hair in one place at one time that night. Holy smoke ring for my halo, Batman. Upon entering, I was handed a free commemorative Kurt Vile 11/11/11 45 RPM record which I will never play because I don't have a record player, but which I thought was a super cool thing to give out. I entered the live room about 5 minutes before Kurt went on so I missed the openers. How were they? Kurt and the Violators were absolutely incredible. They played about 16 songs, including one encore, and the crowd was just eating it up.

In the early part of the show, highlights included "Jesus Fever," "Runner Ups," and "Ghost Town." Kurt kicked it up a notch around the halfway mark with a pounding rendition of "Freak Train," which kicked off a fantastic second-half. After solo performances of "Pepping Tomboy" and "My Best Friends," The Violators closed out the main set with two more Halo songs "Puppet to the Man" and "Society is My Friend." After a brief encore break, Vile came out with drummer Mike Zanghi for a beautiful performance of "Baby's Arms." The full band then closed out a great 90-minute set with two songs from the So Outta Reach EP, "Laughing Stock" and a cover of Springsteen's "Downbound Train." -[The Swollen Fox @ the Philly show]

Kurt has a very monotone voice that doesn't divert very far from its point A, but when you add it to such massive, and plodding melodies the experience is intense. The room was super dark and, as I mentioned, very foggy, with very little in terms of stage design and lighting. It made for a very dark and profound experience. I have a very limited musical scope these days, but Kurt and his Violators really hit me in a way that very few bands do. It has all these elements of grunge, 70s rock, jamminess, hairiness, moodiness, and darkness and they're all blended together and served as one unbelievable and unique musical experience. Fuck yes I will try to see him literally every time he hits NYC.

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The NYC show fell the day befre Philly and three days before the release of Kurt's new So Outta Reach EP.

Support at Webster Hall came from from Widowspeak and The Young who also played Maxwell's with the Sonics the next day. Pictures from Webster Hall adorn this post.

If you missed Widowspeak (like Klaus did!), make sure to catch them at the BrooklynVegan Holiday Party on 12/17 at Bowery Ballroom with Twin Sister and Ava Luna. Tickets are on sale, and for a paltry $8! (stay tuned for more details).

More pictures from Webster Hall and Kurt Vile's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Kurt Vile played Webster Hall w/ Widowspeak & The Young (pics & setlist)"