Love it or loathe it, New Year's Eve is coming. Here are some of this year's NYC concert options, of which there are many.

One of the biggest shows of the night is Coldplay and Jay-Z at Barclays Center. If you've seen pictures of Coldplay's tour this year, you know they have this bluetooth controlled, light-up wristbands that (no matter how you feel about their music) makes for a spectacular interactive experience. And certainly Jay-Z will throw a good party at his own house.

Jay-Z's pal Kanye West is doing a three-night run in Atlantic City right before NYE (12/28-30) at Revel. Tickets for those shows are still available.

Another hip hop option includes Nas at Radio City Music Hall that also features Elle Varner. Tickets are still available.

Azealia Banks is playing a black tie party on top of The Standard Hotel (aka Boom Boom Room). More info is at the facebook event. You can RSVP for tickets ($250 minimum) by emailing unifiedpromo@unifiedpromo.com.

Also in the biggest NYE show race there is also Phish's sold-out night at MSG, part of a four night run at the venue.

If jam bands are your thing, you might also want to catch The Disco Biscuits, who kick off their four-night run at Best Buy Theater tonight (12/26) and then play NYE at The Theatre at MSG (tickets).

Another jammy option is Gov't Mule's two-night run at Beacon Theatre (12/30-31). Tickets for both nights are on sale.

If you're more into dancing, RJD2 will be DJing at Gramercy Theater with Com Truise and Chrome Sparks; and Moby and many others will be DJing at an as-yet undisclosed location (tickets).

Pretty Lights is also doing two sold nights at Roseland Ballroom (12/30-31). Another dance option that you might want to avoid is Afrojack is playing two nights on Pier 94 (12/30-31), but it's worth mentioning that if you get there early on night 1, you can catch opening sets by Diplo and Rusko. Night 2 (aka NYE) is sold out but night 1 is still on sale.

Brooklyn dance party The Bunker is throwing an event at the 70 N 6 St loft (above Public Assembly) with John Roberts, Mike Parker, Bryan Kasenic, and Mike Servito. Tickets for that party are on sale now.

Downstairs at the actual Public Assembly, Gaze 4 Daze is throwing two queer parties. Room 1 has DJ sets by Rizzla, Sebastian, and D'Hana, along with Emcee Ryann Supamakenzi and host Cherlyn. In room 2, they've got MIchael Magnan, Amber Valentine, Telfar, Mursi Layne, host Helen Harris, and live performances by House of Ladosha, Cakes Da Killa, and Abdu Ali. $10 at the door gets you into both parties.

Brooklyn warehouse party group Rubulad is presenting "Party-Go-Round" in three separate secret Bushwick locations near the Jefferson L stop. There will be live music by Friend Roulette, Not Waving but Drowning, Viva, and more; dance parties with music by DJ Shakey, Ol' Stark, DJ Mojo, $mall ¢hange and more; a puppet show, a midnight champagne toast, and more. Admission is $20, the events start at 9 PM, and there will be a party bus to navigate between the three locations.

Matthew Dear and Superpitcher are at Le Bain (tix); Ian Pooley, Pat Mahoney and more at Cameo; Onra, Nick Catchdubs, and Samo Sound Boy are at Williamsburg's Villian (tickets).

Holy Ghost! and Midnight Magic are at Brooklyn Bowl (sold out) and after that, Holy Ghost!'s DFA labelmate Juan Maclean will DJ an afterparty at the same venue (tickets).

Chris Keating of Yeasayer is DJing a BangOn!NYC-presented party at a secret warehouse location in Williamsburg near the Montrose L stop with Felix Cartal, Chordashian, Alex English, Sean Glass, and many others. There will also be live music by Carousel, Suntalk, and more TBA, art installations, an inflatable obstacle course, food trucks, and more. Tickets (more info at that link) are on sale and RSVP is open. Location will be revealed with the purchase of tickets or an RSVP.

If you'd rather dance to classic soul and R&B, there's New York Night Train Annual Dusk Till Dawn New Year's Ball at Home Sweet Home featuring a live performance from Kid Congo and the K-Holes, plus Jonathan Toubin and a crew of DJs.

For the indie rock inclined, you could go see Titus Andronicus at Glasslands which is a pretty small venue for them these days. While So So Glos were originally on the bill for this, they have since dropped off. Dapwell, formerly of Das Racist, is your MC for the evening and tickets are still available.

Right next door at 285 Kent, Florida's (awesomely) mopey Merchandise will visit,  plus Blanche Blanche Blanche, Tonstartssbandht and "speciial guests" (note the two ii's is "speciial") will surely be a wild night. Dive in, tickets ($20) are on sale now.

After that, DJ Rashad, DJ Manny, Sasha Go Hard, and others will play an afterparty at 285 Kent (tickets).

Psychic Ills and Herb Craft are playing Saint Vitus. Tickets for that show are on sale.

Also happening in Williamsburg, They Might be Giants play a sold-out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg (one of three shows there that week; Reverend Vince Anderson and His Love Choir will be at Union Pool (free); and at Knitting Factory it's a night of cabaret hosted by the great Murray Hill (tix).

More indie rock: Blonde Redhead and Beach Fossils are at Irving Plaza. Tickets are still available and you can also win a pair from us.

Swimming Cities and Gowanus Ballroom (55 9th St) are presenting The First Party Ever: Primal Reset for the Year Zero with dance parties by Barney Iller, DJ Shakey, and DJ Tinseltown; live music at midnight by Stumblebum Brass Band; an open bar from 11:30-12:30; visuals; "Serret's patented coal fire hot tub time machine"; "Live birth of the antichrist, according to Doctor Adventure"; and more. $15 tickets are on sale now (or $20 at the door, cash only) and all proceeds go to recovery at Serret Metal Works and the "BOATEL" art hotel project in Far Rockaway that were damaged during Hurricane Sandy.

Meanwhile across the Hudson, The Hold Steady will ring in 2013 with Lucero at The Wellmont Theatre in NJ. Tickets are still available.

Before that, Lucero will do a two-night run at Brooklyn Bowl (12/28-29) with Nude Beach supporting on night 1 and Hollis Brown on night 2. Tickets for night 1, night 2, or both are still available.

Amanda Palmer will be at Terminal 5, playing Prince's Purple Rain in its entirety which will surely be a spectacle. She'll play a set of originals too. Tickets are still available.

If you'd like to party like it's 1929, Spirit Family Reunion are bringing the old time religion to Pianos. Tickets are still available, includes a champagne toast.

More rootsy options include The Punch Brothers and Michael Daves at Bowery Ballroom (sold out); and The Felice Brothers, Yellowbirds, and Mail the Horse at Mercury Lounge (sold out).

The Felice Brothers also play Maxwell's (12/30) a day earlier (sold out), and on New Year's Eve, the Hoboken venue will host "Maxwell's Rockin' & Rollin' Ass Kickin' New Year's Eve Dance Party feat. The Two Giants: Todd-O-Phonic Todd & Mono-O-Phonic Matt Porter." They get their name from being big San Francisco Giants fans, and they'll be spinning "some of the greatest soul, r'n'b, garage, rock'n'rol etc" all night. Admission is totally free, no cover.

My Morning Jacket is doing a sold out pre-New Year's Eve three-night run (12/27-29) at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester.

After that, Capitol Theatre will host Steve Miller Band on 12/30 (tickets) and funky METERS with Dumpstaphunk on NYE (tickets).

For some old school punk, Manitoba (the project of Dictators frontman Dick Manitoba) and Sylvain Sylvain (of New York Dolls) will play Bowery Electric with The A-Bones and Daddy Long Legs. Tickets for that show are on sale.

To keep the party going the next day, head to SOB's for Questlove's holiday party.

Whatever you end up doing, be safe!.

What did we miss?

Heading to Austin? We have a list of shows happening there too. Update: And Chicago too.

Continue reading "A guide to New Year's Eve shows and parties in NYC"

Craig Finn in Austin in April (more by Tim Griffin)

As mentioned, Doveman (aka Thomas Bartlett) is doing his final Burgundy Stains Session of 2012 at Le Poisson Rouge on December 13. Since we last spoke, the guests for the show have been revealed: Sandra Bernhard, Yellowbirds, Hannah Cohen, The Perennials, Craig Finn (of The Hold Steady), and Joey Arias. Tickets for that show are still available.

Craig Finn, who recently told us his favorite albums of 2012, is an especially interesting addition to the show, as most collaborators usually have a known connection to Thomas, but this is the first time The Hold Steady and Doveman getting together. As mentioned, you can also catch The Hold Steady playing Wellmont Theatre on New Year's Eve with Lucero and comedian Kurt Braunohler. Tickets for that show are still available.

Joey Arias and Doveman are also teaming up later this month for an End of the World show at Joe's Pub (12/21) with special guests Narcissister, Cornelius Loy (theramin), and the Pixie Harlots, but unfortunately that show is sold out.

Hannah Cohen, who will guest at the LPR show, released her most recent album, Child Bride, this past April via Bella Union. The album featured production by Doveman and some appearances from Sam Amidon and Rob Moose as well. The video for the title track is below. Hannah and Doveman have also already began work on her next record, and she'll be performing some new songs at the show.

That video and a list of all Doveman dates are below.

Continue reading "Craig Finn, Joey Arias, Hannah Cohen, Yellowbirds & more to appear at Doveman's upcoming LPR show"

Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995, would have been 70 years old today (8/1) and, as you might imagine, there are some celebrations happening all over the country. Probably the world.

Here in NYC, you can head to Beekman Beer Garden tonight (8/1) to catch 7 Walkers (featuring Bill Kreutzmann of the Grateful Dead, George Porter, Jr. of the Meters, Papa Mali and Matt Hubbard) and Dead satellite musician Steve Kimock with Bernie Worrell, Andy Hess & John Morgan Kimock, and Yarn. Tickets for that show are still available.

Perhaps more interesting to regular readers of this site is a concert happening on Friday (8/3) that will be broadcast on the internet from Bob Weir's TRI Studios. Dubbed "Move Me Brightly: Celebrating Jerry Garcia's 70th Birthday," the tribute features Cass McCombs; Craig Finn and Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady; Chris Tomson of Vampire Weekend; former Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Band vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux; Jim Lauderdale; and Sam Cohen and Josh Kaufman of Yellowbirds , plus more usual suspects like Mike Gordon (Phish); Joe Russo (Furthur); Neal Casal (Chris Robinson Brotherhood/Ryan Adams & The Cardinals); Jeff Chimenti (Furthur); Jonathan Wilson; and Harper Sim. Amiable actor Luke Wilson will emcee the show and Bob Weir will be there too.

The tribute concert starts at 6:30 PM on Friday (8/3) and can be streamed via TRI Studios website or Yahoo Music. Bob Weir talks a little (very little) about the tribute in a video which you can watch below.

In other Dead news, on September 1 the band will release Spring 1990, an 18-CD box set featuring six complete shows from the tour of the set's title. If you don't want to plunk down $200 for that, Rhino will release a double-CD compilation culled from those recordings. You can watch a video of Bob Weir talking about that time period in the band's career below as well.

Continue reading "Happy Birthday Jerry Garcia: indie musicians participating in online streaming tribute concert +++ other music celebrations "

Fruit Bats at MHOW in 2009 (more by Ramond Haddad)

Fruit Bats are currently on a tour which brings them to NYC next week for a show at Knitting Factory on July 2 with Yellowbirds. Tickets for that show are available.

A list of all dates and the video for "You're Too Weird" off 2011's Tripper below...

Continue reading "Fruit Bats on tour, playing Knitting Factory next week (dates)"

Levon Helm lost his long battle with cancer on April 19, and his life and legacy will be celebrated at a couple of upcoming events, starting with a show by The Band tribute band The The Band Band at BB King's tonight (5/8). A portion of ticket sales will go to The American Cancer Society in honor of Levon Helm.

Brooklyn Bowl is hosting "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down": A Celebration of the Life and Music of Levon Helm on June 4. Marco Benevento, Dave Dreiwitz, Scott Metzger and Joe Russo (of Zeppelin tribute band Bustle in Your Hedgerow and other projects) form the core of the tribute, with special guests including Craig Finn & Tad Kubler (The Hold Steady), members of Guster, members of The Felice Brothers, Nicole Atkins, Phosphorescent, Family Band, Diamond Doves, Kelli Scarr, Yellowbirds, and Tom Hamilton of American Babies. Tickets are $20 and on sale now, and proceeds will go to benefit Helm's "The Barn" studio.

Dave Dreiwitz meanwhile can be found tonight (5/8) at City Winery backing... Michael Moore, and Wednesday (5/9) backing Aaorn Freeman aka Gene Ween at 92YTribeca.

The flyer for the Brooklyn Bowl event is below, as is video of Bruce Springsteen's recent live performance of The Band's classic "The Weight."

Continue reading "upcoming Levon Helm tributes w/ Benevento, Russo, Dreiwitz, members of the Hold Steady & many more"

photos by Winnie Cheung

DOWNLOAD: Vetiver - Wonder Why (MP3)

Vetiver welcomed their new album The Errant Charm into the word via Sub Pop yesterday (6/14). They played a NYC show with Luke Rathborne at Mercury Lounge the same night. You can download an MP3 from the LP above, stream the album in full at Spinner, and check out pictures from the show in this post.

Vetiver are now headed to Europe where the album came out on Bella Union. After a tour there they'll be back to play the Bell House with Yellowbirds and Meg Baird. Tickets are still on sale.

Updated tour dates and more pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "Vetiver released 'The Errant Charm', played Mercury Lounge w/ Luke Rathborne (pics)"

photos by Jessica Amaya

The Submarines

The ongoing Submarines/Pepper Rabbit tour hit NYC on 4/26 at Music Hall of Williamsburg with support from Yellowbirds. Pictures from that show are in this post, and there's more of them with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "The Submarines & Pepper Rabbit are on tour, played MHOW w/ Yellowbirds (pics & tour dates)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Sea of Bees @ SXSW 2011

The Loom are back from a trip down to SXSW and will play a Brooklyn show tonight (April 9th) at Southpaw with My Cousin The Emperor (their CD release party for The Subway EPs), Sgt Dunbar, The Hobo Banned, and Yellowbirds. The show is one of two local dates on tap for the folkies, as the band will also join Sea of Bees at Sycamore on 4/23. That's two weeks before The Loom head out for a week-long tour with Christopher Paul Stelling that gets as far west as Madison, Wisconsin. All dates are listed below.

Also back from SXSW, Sea of Bees (the musical project of Julie Ann Bee) will be SUPER busy towards the end of April! The Sycamore show is one of eleven shows in eleven days, all at various NYC venues. The NYC tour kicks off at The Living Room on 4/21 followed by appearances at Spike Hill, Sycamore, The Rock Shop (with Smoosh), Pianos, Cake Shop, Mercury Lounge, Joe's Pub, Rockwood Music Hall, Glasslands (with Takka Takka), and Sycamore before a final show back at The Living Room on 5/1. In May and June Sea of Bees will be out on tour with Stornoway (one more NYC venue included). All dates are below.

One of the SXSW shows that the Loom played was the Muzzle of Bees Backyard Barbecue. We posted a set of pictures from that. A video is below. One of the SXSW shows that Sea of Bees played, in addition to an NPR "tiny concert" taping, was the "Tree House Diddly" on 3/17 on the roof of Cheers Shot Bar while the sun set. Those pictures are in this post and continue with the NPR video and the other stuff, below...

Continue reading "The Loom are playing shows, one w/ Sea of Bees who are playing 11 NYC shows in 11 days, played SXSW (pics & dates) "

today in NYC
* Mark Helias @ The Stone
* Lauryn Hill @ the Blue Note
* 50 First Jokes @ 92YTribeca
* Marc Ribot @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Jon Irabagon & Mike Pride @ Barbes
* Mandingo Ambassadors @ Barbes
* The Daily Show & friends @ Comix
* John Hebert's Rambling Confessions @ The Stone
* Gloria Cheng, Calder Quartet @ Le Poisson Rouge
* We Are Country Mice, IYEZ, Revival Times @ Glasslands
* Pat DiNizio of the Smithereens (The Beatles Unbottled) @ City Winery
* Yellowbirds, Dill Dotson & The Chupacabra Kings, Darlingside, Caitlin Canty @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Happy Jawbone Family Band, Great Valley, Ghost Animal, V Ultra Lounge @ SilentBarn
* USVS, Apollo Run, Hawks and Doves, Stacie Rose, The Assembly Line @ Mercury Lounge

Yellowbirds "is the moniker for the latest musical exploits of Sam Cohen (guitarist / songwriter / vocalist in the psychedelic collective Apollo Sunshine)." Yellowbirds play Rockwood Music Hall tonight, The Studio at Webster Hall on January 20th, and Cake Shop on February 12th. Check out the songs streaming at MySpace.

Apollo Sunshine are not to be confused with Apollo Run who play Mercury Lounge tonight.

Lots of comedians will be telling their first joke of 2011 at 92YTribeca.

What else?