Youth Lagoon at Barclays Center last night (6/5) (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Youth Lagoon, whose continued success has enabled him to sell out much larger venues than The Bell House and Maxwell's, has held back on doing that in NYC, perhaps because of his opening slot at The National's huge Barclays Center show last night (6/5). But now that that show is in the past, Youth Lagoon has announced his largest headlining date in NYC yet, which will happen on July 29 at Webster Hall (and even that seems a bit modest). Tickets for the Webster Hall show go on sale Friday (6/7) at noon.

Updated dates are listed, along with the video for "Mute" from YL's new LP, below...

Continue reading "Youth Lagoon adds Webster Hall show to tour (updated dates)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin; words by Bill Pearis

The National @ Barclays Center, 6/5/2013

"We've played probably 35 different venues in New York over the years. Tonight we just wanted to go back to our roots, where it all began," joked Matt Berninger from the stage last night (6/5) of the still brand-new and massive Barclays Center arena. Having played a handful of surprise shows at tiny NYC venues on the day of their new album's release, The National were here for their their big league moment, playing their largest hometown show to date. While it wasn't sold-out, it was pretty full. The band definitely have the scope for an arena show like this, making the sort of anthemic, widescreen rock that fills a huge, boomy room.

While I didn't have the worst seats in the house, I was pretty far away from the stage so I can't comment so much on performances, but I thought it sounded pretty good, even from the nosebleeds. They definitely had an impressive light show, with a giant LCD screen behind them that combined pre-made films with the band's live performance. Really well-done.

Including the four-song encore, The National, with a string and brass section in tow, played 24 songs. Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), fresh off the plane, apparently, came out to sing on "This is the Last Time" from the new Trouble Will Find Me. The band also did "Sorrow," which Berninger said was "probably the most rehearsed song on the tour."

The National's tour rolls on, playing Merriweather Post Pavillion in Baltimore tonight (6/6). The setlist and more pictures from Barclays -- including openers Youth Lagoon (who I missed) -- below...

Continue reading "The National played Barclays Center w/ Youth Lagoon (pics)"

Portland festival MusicFestNW is returning this year to multiple Portland venues from September 3-8 with a ton of bands including Animal Collective, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Superchunk, Deerhunter, Charles Bradley, Shuggie Otis, Joey Bada$$, Bonnie Prince Billy, Chromatics, Glass Candy, Flume, Youth Lagoon, Washed Out, The Thermals, TItus Andronicus, Bob Mould, Baroness, Austra, Ty Segall, The Bronx, The Men, Mount Eerie, White Lung, and many more. Ticket info is coming soon.

Initial lineup below...

Continue reading "MusicFestNW 2013 lineup announced (Animal Collective, Godspeed, Deerhunter, Shuggie Otis, Ty Segall & more)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Youth Lagoon / Magical Cloudz

Youth Lagoon brought his tour with Majical Cloudz through the NYC-area for shows at Maxwell's on Monday (5/6) and a BrooklynVegan-presented Brooklyn show at The Bell House last night (5/9). Pictures from the latter are in this post.

Youth Lagoon's been keeping his setlists heavy on the Wondrous Bughouse material but still found time to include some favorites from his debut like "17." Meanwhile, the magical Majical Cloudz continue to preview material from their upcoming Matador debut, Impersonator (which they were selling vinyl copies of the show) and were great as always.

Youth Lagoon will be back in NYC to open for The National at their Barclays Center show (6/5). Tickets for that show are still available, and we're also giving away a pair.

Majical Cloudz will be back in NYC even sooner for the previously discussed album release party at Glasslands on May 21 with Gobby and a "SPECIAL GUEST!" Any guesses on who it could be? Tickets for the release party are still on sale.

Majical Cloudz will get to NYC a day before that to do a free in-store at Other Music on May 20 at 8 PM. Other Music will have copies of their new album available that day too.

More pictures from the Bell House show below...

Continue reading "Youth Lagoon played The Bell House w/ Majical Cloudz, who play an Other Music in-store before LP release party (pics)"

The National at Beacon Theatre in 2011 (more by David Andrako)

As mentioned, The National are releasing a new album, Trouble Will Find Me, and going on an extensive tour in support of it this year which includes their big hometown show on June 5 at the Barclays Center with Youth Lagoon. Tickets for that show are still available and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to enter to win are below.

Before that tour begins, The National will do some other hometown events, including performing their song "Sorrow" repeatedly for six hours straight at MoMA PS1 on Sunday (5/5), and a live from the Artists Den taping on Tuesday (5/7). That same day, National member Bryce Dessner will have works he commissioned performed by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus at Roulette in Brooklyn. Members of the National will also be performing at Ecstatic Summer 2013 which takes place at Brookfield Place Plaza on June 29-30.

Meanwhile, Youth Lagoon will also be on his own tour with Majical Cloudz which hits the NYC-area for sold out shows on Monday (5/6) at Maxwell's and Thursday (5/9) at The Bell House (BV presents). After those shows, Majical Cloudz play their own show at Glasslands (5/21) with Gobby (tickets).

Updated National dates are listed, along with contest details and streams of two songs from their new LP, below...

Continue reading "win tix to The National's Barclays Center show w/ Youth Lagoon +++ updated dates"

Youth Lagoon is on a tour now in support of their new album, Wondrous Bughouse, which just hit Coachella twice and will be making its way over to the NYC area a few times this spring. There's that opening slot for The National at their big Barclays Center show (6/5), which is still on sale. And before that, Trevor Powers and co. are heading on a string of dates with Majical Cloudz. Previously announced dates on that run include the NYC-area show on May 6 at Maxwell's, which has since sold out, but we at BrooklynVegan are excited to announce that we're presenting a show with both of those bands in Brooklyn on May 9 at The Bell House. Tickets for that show go on sale Wednesday (4/24) at noon. Admission is $16 for advance tickets and $18 at the door, and the show is 21+.

Updated dates are listed, along with a few song streams, below...

Continue reading "Youth Lagoon and Majical Cloudz add Bell House show to tour (BV Presents)"

photos by Wei Shi

Passion Pit / Alt-J / Purity Ring & Danny Brown / crowd

Coachella 2013 is currently going down in Indio, CA for its second weekend after kicking off this past Friday (4/19). We've already posted pics of day 1 (HERE and HERE), day 2 (HERE) and day 3 (HERE) from weekend 1, and now we've got pictures of day 1 from weekend 2 in this post. This time around we caught sets by Passion Pit, Earl Sweatshirt, Polica, Youth Lagoon, Purity Ring, (who were joined by Danny Brown, whose new album they appear on), Foals, Modest Mouse, Alt-J and more.

Check out more pictures from 4/19, along with a "Coachellavated" video of the festival filmed from the top of director Chris Crutchfield's head and a video of Passion Pit's full set from weekend 1, below...

Continue reading "Coachella Day 1 Weekend 2 in pics (Passion Pit, Polica, Earl Sweatshirt, Youth Lagoon, Purity Ring, Modest Mouse & more)"

Outside Lands Fest 2012 (more byAmoreena Lucero)

The 2013 edition of San Francisco's Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival with happen at Golden Gate Park on August 9 - 11. This year's line-up includes Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, D'Angelo, Willie Nelson, Grizzly Bear, Band of Horses, Hall & Oates, Foals, A-Track, Jurassic 5, Kurt Vile and many more. Tickets go on sale Thursday (4/18) at noon PDT.

This is the sixth edition of Outside Lands, and the full announced line-up is below.

Continue reading "Outside Lands Fest 2013 line-up: Paul McCartney, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs ++ more)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Majical Cloudz @ Von

Montreal's Majical Cloudz, who were recently in Austin for SXSW, are kicking off a tour later this month, but last night (4/8) they stopped in NYC for a private show at Von. They began the set by saying it was their one year anniversary as a band to which the crowd responded by singing happy birthday to them which put the evening on a festive course. As for their actual set, one thing that's apparent is frontman Devon Welsh is a commanding presence with a powerful set of pipes. The bass was powerful too, which at one point actually shattered a wine glass sitting near the speaker. The night finished with an impromptu a cappella version of "What That Was." Pictures from that show are in this post.

As mentioned, Majical Cloudz signed to Matador, and it's since been announced that the label will release their debut album, Impersonator, on May 21. You can watch the video for its single, "Childhood's End," below.

Majical Cloudz's tour includes a number of dates as a support act on the previously announced Youth Lagoon tour. They won't WILL be at his Maxwell's show (5/6) (sold out), and at his show in Hamden, CT at Spaceland Ballroom on May 8. Tickets for the CT show are still available.

All dates are listed, along with the video and more pictures from Von, below...

Continue reading "Majical Cloudz played a private NYC show at Von (pics), touring w/ Youth Lagoon, have a new video from their debut"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Youth Lagoon at Stubb's

Youth Lagoon is on a tour now which recently hit NYC for a Bowery Ballroom show and will return for a show at Barclays Center on June 5 opening for The National (tickets). Before that huge show with The National, Youth Lagoon will return to the NYC-area for another show here which happens on May 6 at Maxwell's. Tickets for that show go on sale Wednesday (4/3) at noon.

Youth Lagoon was also recently in Austin for SXSW, where he played a number of shows, including NPR's showcase at Stubb's with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Waxahatchee, and Alt-J. Pictures of his set from that show are in this post.

Updated dates are listed, along with some streams from the new YL album, Wondrous Bughouse, and more pictures, below...

Continue reading "Youth Lagoon adds Maxwell's show to tour (updated dates ++ pics from SXSW)"

photos by Jonathon Bernstein

Youth Lagoon at Bowery Ballroom - 3/6/13

Youth Lagoon returned this year with Wondrous Bughouse, the explorative psychedelic pop followup to his 2011 debut, The Year of Hibernation. To support the expansive album, he's brought out his new band and a pastel-colored light show for a tour, which hit NYC on Wednesday (3/6) at Bowery Ballroom. Support at the show came from Eddi Front, and pictures of both artists are in this post.

Youth Lagoon will continue his tour with a trek down to Austin for SXSW and he'll be back in NYC to open for The National on June 5 at Barclays Center (tickets).

More pictures from Bowery Ballroom below...

Continue reading "Youth Lagoon played Bowery Ballroom w/ Eddi Front (pics)"

A still from 'Mistaken for Strangers'

The National, who'll headline the Barclays Center in June, are the subject of a new tour documentary, Mistaken for Strangers, which will make its premiere at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival (April 17 - 28). The film was directed by Tom Berninger, whose brother Matt is lead singer of The National. Here's the synopsis:

Adrift in life and fuelled by the desire to create, Tom Berninger accepts his brother's offer to come on The National tour as a roadie and decides to chronicle his experiences with the band. Although Tom starts off with dreams of making a rock documentary (you can watch the portaits he made on each of the band members), a different story emerges as tensions among the band members lead to unforeseen drama. Following the band from Berlin to Paris to Los Angeles to a 2010 Obama rally in Madison, Wisconsin, Mistaken for Strangers is not your typical road documentary.

Festival packages go on sale to AmEx cardholders on Monday (3/4), which is one day before the entire slate of films for Tribeca will be announced. Festival passes go on sale to the general public following Monday (3/11). Individual tickets will go on sale 4/9 for AmEx cardholders, 4/14 for downtown residents and 4/15 to the general public.

In related news, The National are co-headlining (with fun.) the Boston Calling Music Festival which goes down in Beantown on May 25 and 26. The fest also includes appearances by The Shins, Of Monsters & Men, Dirty Projectors, Andrew Bird and more. Tickets to Boston Calling go sale Friday, March 8 and the whole line-up is below.

Continue reading "The National (band & documentary) playing Tribeca Film Fest, headlining Boston Calling Music Festival"

by Andrew Sacher

Youth Lagoon at Beacon Theater in 2012 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

It's rare that you get an album like Youth Lagoon's damaged debut, The Year of Hibernation -- an album so deeply affected by the songwriter hitting rock bottom, and made perfect by its imperfections, many of which were due to endearingly low recoding quality. It's the type of album that causes both fear and excitement when a followup is announced. For one, fans of the album are itching to hear more, but there's a hesitance to accept the possibility that the songwriter in question (in this case, YL main man Trevor Powers) can follow up on that rare case of accidental genius. And while it remains to be seen if Youth Lagoon's sophomore album, Wondrous Bughouse, will leave the same impact as its predecessor, early listens prove that Trevor is only moving forward.

It's a little ironic that on the followup to an album whose most overly synthetic instrument was its drums, the loudest and clearest instrument in the mix on this one is YL's new live drummer. But maybe it's a way to say "we're a band now" and a bit of a fuck you to anyone who criticized Trevor for not having one at his live shows. In general, it's a much fuller album than his debut, and his songs are now filled with the sort of noises and sounds that Animal Collective fetishizes, without falling into the mess of post-AnCo bands. Trevor's soft-sung voice is still there, and still pleasantly buried in the mix (though in new ways), but sonically the songs are coming from a much different place. Trevor's very open about the fact that he was listening to a lot of Cocteau Twins when he was writing the claustrophobic dream pop of The Year of Hibernation, but on Wondrous Bughouse, it sounds like he's been spinning stuff like The Zombies and The Kinks. If the name, Wondrous Bughouse, doesn't sound enough like British Invasion psychedelia, the quirky peppiness and baroque pop arrangements of the tunes certainly will.

You can listen to Wondrous Bughouse, which is streaming in full at NPR, and two of its tracks, "Dropla" and "Mute," are embedded below.

You can also catch Youth Lagoon on tour, which includes NYC shows on March 6 at Bowery Ballroom, which Eddi Front has been added to (sold out), and June 5 at Barclays Center opening for The National (tickets). Check out a list of all dates and those song streams, below.

Continue reading "Youth Lagoon streaming 'Wondrous Bughouse' (listen)"

Youth Lagoon at Beacon Theater in 2012 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

We just mentioned that Youth Lagoon loosed a second cut off of his upcoming album, Wondrous Bughouse (due out 3/5 via Fat Possum), and he also just announced an extensive tour. It's already been revealed that YL will open for The National in Brooklyn at Barclays Center on June 5 (tickets), but you'll be able to catch the band at their own, much smaller NYC show even sooner than that when they play Bowery Ballroom on March 6. Tickets are not on sale yet but check Ticketmaster for updates.

A list of all dates and streams of "Mute" and "Dropla" from Wondrous Bughouse below...

Continue reading "Youth Lagoon announces 2013 tour (dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

Youth Lagoon at Beacon Theater in 2012 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

As mentioned, Youth Lagoon is releasing his sophomore album, Wondrous Bughouse, this year. You've already heard the first single, "Dropla," and now he's revealed a second cut, "Mute," which like its predecessor, finds YL working in more widespread realms than his introverted debut. You can stream the new track below.

As mentioned, Youth Lagoon will be in NYC to open for The National at Barclays Center on June 5. Tickets for that show are still available.

Continue reading "listen to another new Youth Lagoon song, "Mute""

Phoenix at MSG in 2010 (more by Andrew St. Clair)

First, Phoenix announced that their long awaited followup to 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix would be out this April, then they revealed that it's called Bankrupt! and made their first North American show announcement of 2013: New Orleans Jazz Festival. They've since been revealed as a Coachella headliner and now they've got even more North American dates scheduled, including one that's not too far from NYC: Columbia, MD's Sweetlife Festival, which goes down at Merriweather Post Pavillion on May 11 (about a 3 and a half hour drive from NYC). Their schedule currently has a week or so free on either side of of the Sweetlife fest...hmm.

And the rest of Sweetlife lineup ain't too shabby either. Joining Phoenix will be Passion Pit, Kendrick Lamar, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Solange, Youth Lagoon, Holy Ghost!, Gary Clark Jr, MS MR, and more. Tickets for the festival go on sale Friday (2/8) at 10 AM with a presale beginning on Wednesday (2/6).

The full lineup and announcement video for Sweetlife, and a list of all Phoenix dates below...

Continue reading "Maryland's Sweetlife Music & Food fest announces 2013 lineup; Phoenix playing there and other dates"

Says the PR

On the heels of a highly successful, critically acclaimed sold-out 2012 festival, the Sasquatch! Music Festival unveils its 2013 lineup, which once again features 4 days of music. The festival, hailed as "a model of well-paced programming...in a four-day schedule as efficient and natural feeling as an expertly built algorithm" by NPR Music while Wired notes, "leave the landscape out of it and Sasquatch! has a lineup to kill for," runs May 24-27 (Memorial Day Weekend) at The
Gorge, the internationally acclaimed concert venue carved in the basalt cliffs high above the Columbia River Gorge in Quincy, WA.

Continue reading "Sasquatch! Music Festival 2013 lineup is here"

Click it for the bigger poster.

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Youth Lagoon - "Dropla" (MP3)

Youth Lagoon at Beacon Theater in 2012 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

As mentioned, Youth Lagoon is releasing his second album, Wondrous Bughouse, on March 5 via Fat Possum and he just revealed the album's first single, "Dropla." It's cleaner and more fleshed out than his lo-fi, inward-looking debut, The Year of Hibernation, which makes a lot of sense for an artist who has spent the last year or so doing anything but hibernating, and who finally got a drummer. You can download the song above or stream it below.

Youth Lagoon has some upcoming dates this winter, and as discussed he/they will open for The National in Brooklyn at the huge Barclays Center on June 5. Tickets

That song stream and a list of all dates below...

Continue reading "Youth Lagoon reveals new single, playing shows (including opening for The National at Barclays Center) (dates, MP3)"

The National @ Austin Music Hall, Dec. 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

The National, who are plotting the follow-up to 2010's High Violet, will play a really big hometown show this summer when they headline Barclays Center on June 5. Youth Lagoon (who definitely have a new album soon) will open and tickets go on sale Friday (1/18) at 11 AM.

Youth Lagoon (the project of Trevor Powers), who released his great debut, The Year of Hibernation, in 2011 (which was one of our favorite albums of that year) has announced that he'll release its followup, Wondrous Bughouse, on March 5 through Fat Possum (via Pitchfork).

That's presumably the cover art above and the tracklist is below...

Continue reading "Youth Lagoon announces new album"

The Treasure Island Music Festival returns to San Francisco on October 13 and 14, featuring an impressive line-up including The xx, M83, Joanna Newsom, Grimes, Public Enemy, SBTRKT, Divine Fits (who just played their first-ever show last night), Ty Segall, The War on Drugs, Youth Lagoon Toro y Moi, Best Coast and more. Tickets are on sale now in both individual day or 2-day packages.

The full Treasure Island Fest line-up is below.

Continue reading "Treasure Island Music Festival 2012 line-up (M83, The xx, Joanna Newsom, SBTRKT, Divine Fits, Public Enemy & more)"

photos by Fred Pessaro // BBG & Chase Turner

Grimes / Godspeed You! Black Emperor

The 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival continued on Saturday (7/14), and like day 1, Chicago's Union Park was plagued by some rain, but everything moved along as planned and the weather cleared up by mid-afternoon. Day 2 began with sets by The Psychic Paramount and The Atlas Moth (both of who we unfortunately missed) and then continued with Cloud Nothings, Flying Lotus, Schoolboy Q, Chromatics, Hot Chip, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Grimes and much more.

If you weren't at the festival, did you stream it live?

More pics from day 2 are below (all by Fred Pessaro/BBG except Grimes by Chase Turner) and day 1 pics are HERE.

Continue reading "Pitchfork Fest 2012 day 2 in pics (Godspeed, Hot Chip, Grimes, Wild Flag, Chromatics, Flying Lotus, Cloud Nothings & more)"

photos by Joe McCabe

Ben Gibbard @ Beacon Theater - 4/29/12

NYC showed Ben Gibbard and his band Death Cab For Cutie much love during a recent three night run at Beacon Theater. Ben did not return that love in a recent article about baseball stadiums in Rolling Stone. Ben said:

PNC Park is by far the most beautiful park in all of baseball. The place feels so intimate and old-fashioned in all the best ways. I love the design of their out-of-town scoreboard. The views of downtown Pittsburgh and the bridges across the Allegheny River at night are spectacular. You can also buy a gigantic bucket of hot wings there that will stop your heart. The new Yankee stadium is by far the worst I've been to. It might look like the old one from the outside, but inside it's more like a gaudy, Long Island shopping mall than a ballpark. A classic example of what happens when people have too much money and very little taste. Plus, it tends to be full of Yankees fans.

We already posted timely pictures of nights one and two of Death Cab's three-night run (along with news of their continued tour that hits NJ next time). Here is a set of pictures we've been saving, from the third and final night at Beacon with Youth Lagoon. More of them below...

Continue reading "Ben Gibbard disses Yankee Stadium, played 3 nights @ Beacon Theater with Youth Lagoon (here's the last set of pics)"

by BBG

Total Control at Fun Fun Fun Fest (more by BBG)

Total Control's Henge Beat was a favorite around these parts, and now the band recently released a split 12" with Thee Oh Sees. Check out a video for Total Control's "For Lease" from that split below and order your copy via Castle Face.

Total Control currently have no US dates scheduled. Thee Oh Sees, on the other hand, will spend their summer abroad and have a handful of appearances in the US. The band, who recently played Austin Psych Fest, will play a gang of festival dates including the previously discussed Pitchfork, Outside Lands, Hopscotch, ATP I'll Be Your Mirror and the sold-out Woodsist Festival in Big Sur.

In addition, the band just signed on to be a part of the Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle WA, joining names like Neko Case, Major Lazer, Fitz And The Tantrums, Phantogram, The Lumineers, Grimes, Aesop Rock w/ Rob Sonic & DJ Big Wiz, Youth Lagoon, Diplo, Cloud Nothings, The Psychic Paramount, Twin Shadow, Dam-Funk and so many more across six-stages and as many city blocks during three days in July (7/20-7/22). Current lineup is below and tickets are on sale.

All tour dates, the Capitol Hill Block Party lineup and that "For Lease" video is below.

Continue reading "Total Control release video from split with Thee Oh Sees; Seattle's Capitol Hill Block Party announces lineup"