DB & SV (more by Tim Griffin)

OH NO:

"DUE TO A SCHEDULING CONFLICT, THE JUNE 11th DAVID BYRNE & ST. VINCENT SHOW AT THE WELLMONT THEATRE HAS BEEN CANCELLED. REFUNDS AVAILABLE AT POINT OF PURCHASE. TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE FOR JUNE 12th."

As mentioned, Trent Reznor's project, How to destroy angels_ will be going on a tour this April around the time they play Coachella. The tour comes to the NYC-area for shows on April 28 at Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ and April 29 at Apollo Theatre in Harlem, and ticket info for the shows has been posted. Tickets for both the Apollo show and the Wellmont show go on sale Friday (3/1) at 10 AM. Presales begin Wednesday (2/27) at the band's tour page. More info on the presales is still forthcoming, but that tour page will be updated with new info as it comes and you may want to keep tabs on their Facebook as well..

The new How to destroy angels_ album, Welcome oblivion_, will be out on March 5. The band have also added a pre-Coachella show to their tour schedule, and updated dates are listed below.

In related news, Trent Reznor's other band, Nine Inch Nails plan to tour in 2013 and 2014 with a lineup that includes Eric Avery (Jane's Addition), Adrien Belew (King Crimson, Talking Heads, David Bowie, etc), Josh Eustis (Telefon Tel Aviv), and Reznor's NIN bandmates Alessandro Cortini and Ilan Rubin. No dates for that tour are announced yet, but Lollapalooza might be one of them.

Updated Htda dates are listed below...

Continue reading "How to Destroy Angels ticket and presale info, updated dates"

Trent says:

In addition to Coachella, we'll be performing in a few select North American cities in April. Here's the schedule:

4.12 indio, ca [coachella]
4.13 las vegas, nv
4.17 monterey, ca
4.18 san francisco, ca
4.19 indo, ca [coachella]
4.21 denver, co
4.23 chicago, il
4.25 toronto, on
4.27 boston, ma
4.28 wellmont, nj
4.29 new york, ny

These are the only dates we have scheduled right now. To preemptively answer the "when are you coming to my city/country??" questions: We just don't know. Right now, the dates above are the only dates. There are some other announcements coming soon that will impact this as well...

For these shows, we'll be doing direct presales for a limited number of tickets. Presales will begin Wednesday 2.27. More details, including venues and ticketing info, will be coming tomorrow. Stay tuned.

PREVIOUSLY: How to destroy angels_ reveal LP cover art and new video, making live debut at Coachella

Garbage @ Webster Hall in 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

It's been less than a month since Garbage announced a few North American shows including Terminal 5 in NYC (which is now sold out), along with a promise of even more shows. And the more shows have come, including one in Chicago, and more recently a NJ show at Wellmont Theater happening on March 20 (tickets on sale Friday at noon).

IO Echo, who also opened for Bloc Party at Wellmont, is opening that one, and the NYC show two days later, and other dates on the tour. All of them are listed below...

Continue reading "Garbage expand tour w/ IO Echo, add NJ show (updated dates)"

photos by Greg Cristman

Anthrax @ Wellmont Theatre, 10/5/2012

With Joey Belladonna fronting the band again, Anthrax made their way to the stage in front of a house full of metal thrashing fans... While I was a little disappointed that they didn't play more songs off their current album "Worship Music," the band put on an amazing performance that quenched my thirst. Their set included "Caught In A Mosh", "Death Rider", and "Antisocial". After finishing their set with "In My World", Anthrax left the stage but returned a few minutes later for a four-song encore including the Joe Jackson cover of "Got The Time" and ended the show with "I Am The Law". -[Concert Blogger]

More pictures from Wellmont Theater (though we missed Death Angel) are below.

Continue reading "Anthrax, Testament & Death Angel @ Wellmont Theater (pics)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Snoop Dogg @ The Wellmont Theatre 9/27/2012

Snoop Dogg (not Lion!) played two area dates at The Paramount in Long Island on September 26 and Wellmont Theater in Montclair on September 27. Pictures from the latter, including billows of smoke, moshpits (?), well-endowed dog costumes (??) and all adorn this post. NSFW?

In other news, it seems that Snoop's weed influence is going much further than fans and his son. Congrats go out to Snoop for being appointed to Obama's post as "Staff Chief of Joints" in the wake of his legalization of pot (not really). What are we talking about? The whole story is below in video form, along with more pictures from Wellmont Theater.

Continue reading "Snoop Dogg played The Wellmont Theatre (pics)"

by Kelly Pratt with photos by Bryan Murray

Kelly Pratt is currently on tour with St. Vincent and David Byrne, acting as co-musical director as well as one of their many band members. Since last week he's been chronocling that tour right here on BrooklynVegan. Welcome to the second installment, written last night...

End of rehearsals, Minneapolis, Milwaukee.

We finish our rehearsals at the beautiful Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey. Two full days of running the set as many times as possible takes a toll on the brass players' lips, but tightens up the choreography and transitions between songs considerably. Annie-B Parson is the choreographer for the show with Lizzie Dement assisting. She's worked with David in the past, and her next next project is with Baryshnikov--needless to say, she has some brilliant ideas that really expand the kind of performance we are used to. This is also the first time we have played the show with lighting design, which adds another level of difficulty.

The following morning the band heads to JFK for a flight to Minneapolis where we will have a much-needed day of rest. We travel on Sun Country Air. Ever heard of it? Me neither. The trip gets interesting when Ira Glass takes the seat next to me. He is on the way to Minneapolis to do a Q&A for the premiere of his and Mike Birbiglia's new film "Sleepwalk With Me". Always the workaholic, he interviews the guy sitting next to him who (after some deduction skills and Googling) I determine to be the inventor of the KneeDefender. He invites Jon and me to the premiere of his film that evening. The movie is great and we discover that Ira is as good at talking in person as he is on the air. The theater serves bourbon, a novelty for us (in the theater, not on its own).

The first show of the tour goes better than expected. It may sound obvious, but performing in front of a live audience adds an extra level of energy and intensity. It's like we finally realize the show, in its full potential, for the first time. Afterwards, a few of us go across the street to a bar where we meet some folks from Dero, the company that manufactures the bicycle racks David designs. One of the best aspects of this tour so far has been the focus on cycling. Nearly everyone in the band bought a folding Tern bicycle before we left. There are even a couple extras for the crew. This is the first time that I have toured with a bicycle and I will never leave home without one again. It's so nice to slip away from the tour for an hour or two for a long ride. It has also allowed me to see more of the city than the few blocks near the venue. Both Minneapolis and Milwaukee are great cities for cycling with long bike paths and beautiful views.

Next we go to Chicago for a day off. It's Carter's birthday, so we may have to get him a white wine spritzer or two.

To bed, for we rise at 9:30 for 10(ish),

---

David Byrne & St. Vincent, Kelly Pratt & band play the Chicago Theater tonight (9/18) before continuing on their tour which includes three NYC shows. Check out some more photos from their rehearsals in NJ, a video from Minneapolis, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "On the Road with David Byrne & St. Vincent (part 2)"

by Kelly Pratt with photos by Bryan Murray

Kelly Pratt is no stranger to the pages of BrooklynVegan. From being a member of Beirut to playing in Arcade Fire to performing at LCD Soundsystem's final show to his own projects Team B and now Bright Moments, we've written about stuff Kelly Pratt does a lot. Now we're going to let him write a bit. This time about his latest project, which as previously mentioned, is being co-musical director and a band member on the St. Vincent and David Byrne tour that begins this week in support of the pair's new album "Love the Giant" which is out now via 4AD and streaming on Spotify and at NPR. Look for a new post by Kelly right here on BrooklynVegan each week, starting now...

David Byrne/St. Vincent North America tour Fall 2012 - rehearsal

The Band:
David Byrne - vocals/guitar
Annie Clark - vocals/guitar
Daniel Mintseris - keyboards/co-musical director
Brian Wolfe - drums
Kelly Pratt - trumpet/flugelhorn/French horn/flute/co-musical director
Carter Yasutake - trumpet/flugelhorn
Rachel Drehman - French horn
Jason Disu - trombone
Dave Nelson - trombone
John Altieri - tuba
Bryan Murray - saxophones/clarinet
Jon Natchez - saxophones/flute/clarinet/flugelhorn

We've been in rehearsal for the last three weeks on an extremely intensive schedule: 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. The first week is primarily focused on drum programming and rhythm section coordination. With week 2 all the rest of us join in. As one can imagine, putting together a full set of music for twelve people can be a bit of a daunting task! Fortunately we have an experienced, talented, and motivated group of people involved.

By the beginning of the third week we are running the set with a pretty high degree of success. Then the choreography starts. I have six years of marching band experience (strictly "don't ask, don't tell" information), but most of the rest of the horns have never moved and played at the same time. Learning to play a brass instrument while walking around a stage is a bit like patting your head and rubbing your stomach. But way harder. Finally Sunday we manage to run the set with choreography. It's going to be pretty impressive.

Monday we play Jimmy Fallon, definitely the most welcoming and my personal favorite of the late night programs. It's our first public performance, and goes pretty well. Right before we play we all get a moment to warm up our horns. Carter starts playing Chuck Mangione's "Feels So Good" as he tends to do 70% of the time he puts the horn to his face. Jimmy Fallon comes over and beamingly declares "I love that song!"

The next two days we head out to New Jersey for full production rehearsals at the Wellmont Theatre. After that we hit the road, first stop Minneapolis!

'Til then,
Kelly Pratt

---
---

Watch the Fallon videos HERE. All tour dates, more pictures from rehearsal, and the official video for "Who". below...

Continue reading "On the Road with David Byrne & St. Vincent (part 1)"

DOWNLOAD: Sun Airway - I Need You Close mixtape (WAV)

Sun Airway

M83's sold-out Central Park Summerstage show is tonight (8/8) and sure to be quite the A/V spectacle under the stars. If you didn't get tickets, the band have a number of shows this fall, including the just-announced October 4 show at Wellmont Theatre, and two at Hammerstein (10/2-3) before that.

Opener for tonight's show is Big Black Delta who is Los Angeles resident Jonathan Bates, formerly of Mellowdrone if you remember them from the mid-'00s. You can stream a track below plus his remix of M83's "Midnight City." BBD (not to be confused with BV's own BBG) will play two additional NYC shows at Pianos this month on August 9 and August 17 and tickets are still available to both. They also play Brooklyn Bowl on August 11 with St. Lucia and Capital Cities (tickets). All Big Black Delta tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

While on the subject of M83 openers, Sun Airway will be touring with the band this fall, and will be at all three NYC shows in October. All Sun Airway tour dates are listed at the bottom of this post. The band's new album, Soft Fall, is out October 2 (the same date as the first Hammerstein show) via Dead Oceans. You can stream the album's first single, "Close," below. The band just released a new mixtape featuring Boards of Canada, Bowie, Dirty Projectors, The Chemical Brothers and more. You can check out the track list below and stream it, or download it above (warning: it's a half-gig wav file).

Streams and lists of tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Big Black Delta open for M83, playing Pianos; Sun Airway ready new LP, opening for M83 in Oct (dates & streams)"

M83 at Terminal 5, May 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

M83, who play a sold-out show at Summerstage on Wednesday (8/3) and two sold-out shows at Hammerstein Ballroom in October (10/2, 10/3), have added another NYC-area show: October 4 at the Wellmont Theatre. Sun Airway will open that show and they've also been added to both other Hammerstein shows (and a few other dates as well). Tickets for the newly added show will go on sale Friday, August 10 at noon.

Updated dates are listed below...

Continue reading "M83 add Wellmont Theatre show to tour (updated dates)"

Modest Mouse at Governors Ball last month (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Modest Mouse, who recently graced the NYC area with appearances at Orion Fest and Governors Ball, will play The Wellmont Theatre on July 20. Tickets ($40) for that show go on sale today (7/9) at 5 PM. That show is one day before the band heads to Dover, DE for Firefly Music Festival, which they play on July 21.

A video of Modest Mouse playing "Shit Luck" at Governors Ball, along with a list of all currently known dates is below.

Continue reading "Modest Mouse playing Wellmont Theatre before Firefly Fest"

Fiona Apple at Governors Ball on Sunday (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned earlier today, Fiona Apple has been scheduling new dates, including two in NYC which happen on October 16 and 17 at Terminal 5. Those dates are part of an expanding tour which will be opened by guitar great and solo artist Blake Mills, who is also member of her touring band and also opened for her in NYC earlier this year. That tour now includes another NYC-area date, which happens on October 12 at Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ. Tickets for that show, and for the T5 shows, go on general sale Friday (6/29) at noon.

Blake Mills recently recorded a 'Sound & Vision' video for Red Bull Soundstage, which you can check out HERE.

An updated list of Fiona Apple tour dates is below.

Continue reading "Fiona Apple also playing Wellmont Theatre; Blake Mills opening tour (updated dates)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Willie Nelson & fan @ Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ

Willie Nelson, who recently collaborated with Snoop Dogg and got a statue of his likeness unveiled in Austin on 4/20, came to NJ last week for two shows at the Wellmont Theater with fellow Texas singer-songwriter Robert Ellis. We have pictures from one of those shows, and there are more of them, along with video of a performance Willie did at SiriusXM while he was here, below...

Continue reading "Willie Nelson played 2 nights @ Wellmont w/ Robert Ellis (pics)"

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

DCFC @ Beacon Theater

Death Cab For Cutie completed their 3-night run at Beacon Theater in NYC last night (4/29). You saw pictures and the setlist from the first night. Here's some pictures from the Saturday, the second night, along with news that Death Cab will return to the NYC-area to play the Wellmont Theater on July 19, 2012 as part of just-announced summer tour (tickets on sale Friday, 5/4, at noon, after a fan club pre-sale on 5/2). All dates and more pictures from Beacon, below...

Continue reading "Death Cab For Cutie played 3 nights @ Beacon Theater (pics), add more tour dates (one at Wellmont in NJ)"

Levon Helm (more by Chris La Putt)

Sadly, tonight's Levon Helm show at Wellmont Theater in NJ (4/6), which was a make-up show to begin with, has been cancelled (postponed again) due to back injury (much like his March 30th Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom show was too). Stay tuned for more info. UPDATE: This statement has been posted:

Unfortunately, tonight's Levon Helm show at The Wellmont Theater has been postponed. Levon has had a slipped disk in his back this past few weeks as you may have heard, and despite daily therapy, it hasn't healed enough for him to move freely enough to travel or sit at the drums for any length of time. Levon would like to assure everyone that his health otherwise has been excellent as of late. Levon and the band have had a strong run of touring this past month and were very much looking forward tonight's show in Montclair with Deer Tick. Levon and the band are eager to get back on the road and hope to see all the fans soon. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. Refunds will be available at point of purchase.

Deer Tick was supposed to be opening that show, but now won't be playing another show until their tour starts in MA on 4/19. All is not lost for Jersey though, tickets are still on sale for the show Deer Tick play at the Stone Pony on 4/20 with Turbo Fruits (who join Deer Tick on the road for over a month).

That Deer Tick/Turbo Fruits tour goes from NJ to Washington where Deer Tick are on the lineup of the 2012 Sasquatch Festival which is now officially SOLD OUT.

Speaking of festivals, Pitchfork Fest just added a bunch of bands to the lineup, and organized them by day.

Speaking of Jersey, Bruce Springsteen just played there on Tuesday and Wedneday, and plays NYC at Madison Square Garden tonight.

Check out some videos of Levon and Bruce playing together at the Stone Pony in the 80s, below...

Continue reading "Levon Helm show postponed; Deer Tick tour soon; Sasquatch sells out; Pitchfork Fest expands; Bruuuuuce"

Gogol Bordello @ Terminal 5 - Dec 31, 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Gogol Bordello have announced a tour that includes dates in South America, North America and Europe. The U.S. portion happens and May and Junes and ends with a show at Montclair, NJ's Wellmont Theater on June 2nd with Two Gallants. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (3/23). All dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Gogol Bordello announce 'Radio Hutz' tour (dates)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Back before the Black Keys played MSG, before SXSW, and before They Might Be Giants hit Terminal 5, Dana caught Jane's Addiction at the Wellmont Theater in NJ (which was right after Perry Farrell and crew played a show in Long Island). Here are some pictures from the 3/6 show. More of them below...

Continue reading "Jane's Addiction @ Wellmont Theater (pics)"

As mentioned, Regina Spektor is releasing a new album titled What We Saw From the Cheap Seats, which is due out this May. The album's lead single, "All the Rowboats," which has some pretty huge drums, can be streamed below or downloaded from iTunes. That's the single's artwork above.

She's got some upcoming dates this spring with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. None of those are in NYC but she'll play her own show in the NYC area before the tour at Wellmont Theatre on April 10. Tickets for the Montclair, NJ show go on sale Friday (3/9) at noon.

Regina is also prepping a 7" for Record Store day where she'll be covering two Russian songs, "The Prayer of Francois VIllon" and "Old Jacket."

All dates and stream below...

Continue reading "Regina Spektor announces new LP & song, playing NJ before Tom Petty tour (dates)"

by BBG

Aziz Ansari at Bell House (more by David Andrako)

I could endlessly hit reload on Tom Haverfoods, but it would probably be much more rewarding to catch Tom Haverford live and in person. Thankfully Aziz Ansari will hit the road for the Buried Alive tour which kicks off on April 14th at Wellmont Theater in NJ and includes a NYC date at Beacon Theater on June 16th. Presale tickets for both shows go up today (2/29) at 10AM. Ticketmaster presale for Beacon kicks off at 10AM on 3/1 and go on regular sale the next day, while Wellmont tickets go on sale at noon on 3/2.

Do you want to go to Beacon Theater? We also have a pair of tickets to give away... details are at the bottom of this post.

Aziz recently did two last minute nights at The Bell House and is confirmed for Bonnaroo 2012, and the new Moontower Comedy Festival in Austin (but not SXSW Comedy).

All "Buried Alive" dates and the tour poster below.

Continue reading "Aziz Ansari announces tour dates & presale, playing Wellmont Theater & Beacon Theater (WIN TIX!)"

Now a three-time Grammy winner, Levon Helm, former drummer of the Band, took the award for best Americana album last night, with his record Ramble at the Ryman.

Unfortunately, Helm was unable to attend the awards show due to an undisclosed "medical procedure" which also forced the postponement of his February 10th show at the Wellmont Theater in NJ. He's also sitting out of the next Midnight Ramble. His site reads: "Levon will be undergoing a medical procedure that will necessitate his absence from the February 25th Ramble. We wish him the best and we know he will have a speedy recovery. We'll continue with the normal Ramble schedule with special guests joining the band." We also wish him the best and a speedy recovery!" The last Ramble happened on 2/4 (they've been on a break since).

Things are looking good though because tickets are already on sale for a makeup NJ show taking place April 6 at The Wellmont Theatre. All tickets purchased for the canceled performance will also be honored at the show in April. Levon's next scheduled show is March 2nd in MA. All dates are listed below.

Opening for Helm at Wellmont, is Deer Tick, who will also be headlining their own NJ show at The Stone Pony on April 20 (tickets).

All Levon Helm, and all Deer Tick tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Grammy-winning Levon Helm recovering from a procedure, schedules new NJ show; Deer Tick too (dates)"

Willie Nelson @ ACL Live in 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Willie Nelson has a number of dates scheduled for the next few months including two in the NYC area happening on May 16 and 17 at Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ. Both shows are billed as "Willie Nelson & Family", and as you can see from one of his recent Austin shows, they truly will be family affairs. Tickets ($95.00, $75.00 & $45.00) go on sale Friday (2/17) at noon with a presale starting Wednesday (2/14) at noon. All dates are listed below.

In related news, if you were watching the Grammys last night, you probably know that a Chipotle commercial aired with Willie Nelson covering Coldplay's "The Scientis.t" You can purchase his cover of the track on iTunes and watch the video for the commercial (which has actually been out since August) below.

All dates and video below...

Continue reading "Willie Nelson covered Coldplay for Chipotle, announces more dates, 2 NJ shows"

Jane's Addiction at Irving Plaza in 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Jane's Addiction resurfaced in 2011 with The Great Escape Artist, their first new album of original material since 2003's Strays. They followed the release of the album with a club tour that included two nights at Irving Plaza. In February and March, they'll head out on another tour, dubbed the "Theatre Of The Escapists" tour, where they plan to hit various theaters in North America with support from Black Box Revelation.

According to a statement from Perry Farrell:

We chose to play as many of the great theatres that we could find because we wanted to immerse the audience in a unique experience unlike any they have ever seen at a rock show. Expect an orgy of musical and visual delights. We like orgies, and hope you do too.

All dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Jane's Addiction going on theater tour, NJ & Long Island included (2012 dates)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Ray Davies & choir @ The Wellmont Theater

67-year-old Davies brought out 46 members of the Dessoff Choir in the second half of his concert at the Wellmont.

Davies started the evening with an acoustic guitar before adding a rock band and then the choir, in a two-and-a-half-hour performance that covered most of his musical career (although with only a five-second snippet of The Kinks hit, "Lola").

And yes, the choir joined in for the encore, The Kinks' first big hit, "You Really Got Me." -[MontclairPatch]

Continue reading "Ray Davies played Beacon & Wellmont w/ the Dessoff Choir (pics & setlists)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Lykke Li backed by First Aid Kit @ Wellmont

Though she didn't stop in NYC this time around, Lykke Li headlined NJ's Wellmont Theater on Thursday night (11/17). First Aid Kit, who blessed NYC the night prior and who play Webster Hall soon, opened the show and joined Lykke Li on stage for a performance of "Silent My Song" before Lykke launched into a cover of "Unchained Melody" ("eeeeeee so good!" said one attendee). Listen to a studio version of the cover, watch a video of the three Swedish women singing together at a California show, and check out more pictures of the NJ show, below...

Continue reading "Lykke Li & First Aid Kit played Wellmont Theater, performed together on stage (pics & video)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

There's a lot young people (at shows) just like the old days," Santiago says. "Sometimes you see a parent with, I don't know, a tween kid. You could just see that, you know, it wasn't lack of babysitter. The kid really wanted to be there. It was probably his idea."

Continue reading "Pixies & Surfer Blood began a tour @ Wellmont Theater (pics & the Doolittle setlist)"