"felt like i was gonna die from both heat stroke and excitement many times during @pictureplane at 285 kent last night" - Emmi Lichtenberg

"pictureplane 285 kent the hottest show of my 40 years earthly existence..
the good hot" - Steven Read

"Best out to Todd P, 285 Kent, Teengirl Fantasy & Pictureplane for helping me sweat out all those toxins, I had a good time" - Brandon Ynocencio

Pictureplane at 285 Kent (via Steven Read)

Pictureplane played 285 Kent on Saturday (7/23) as part of his tour with Teengirl Fantasy. The show was the album release party for Thee Physical, which was available as a cassette. Despite Todd P's valiant efforts to provide A/C at 285 Kent, they weren't able to cool down the extremely hot venue. Todd P retweeted Mookie Singerman of Lovepump Records (home of Pictureplane) who said, "AC IS ON AT 285 KENT!!! WATERSHED MOMENT IN DIY TODD P HISTORY." with the added, "Somebody spoke too soon!" And they did. Pictureplane said the show "was a high point in my 'career' as a performer. I didn't know my body could sweat like that." Those in attendance (tweets above) suffered the heat too, but feedback was still positive as ever.

I wonder what the A/C situation will be at 285 Kent tonight (7/26) for the Silent Barn Benefit. with Bomb the Music Industry and secret guests.

There are a few more dates on the Pictureplane/Teengirl Fantasy tour which culminates at the end of the month in Buffalo, NY. Each artist will also play their own Warm Up show at PS1 in August. Pictureplane's is on August 20, after he finishes a tour with Javelin. The PS1 bill also includes Juan Maclean, Blood Orange, Solange, Grimes, and Ford & Lopatin (DJ). After that, Pictureplane will play two more NYC shows. The first is on September 1 at Cameo Gallery. Lineup and ticket info coming soon. He'll then play a Jelly RockBeach show on September 3 with Wise Blood and others.

Pictureplane's tour with Javelin doesn't hit the east coast at all, but Javelin play their own NYC show at 285 Kent on September 17.

Updated dates below...

Continue reading "Pictureplane played a HOT show @ 285 Kent, announces more dates (Cameo, RockBeach, etc)"

Laurel Halo

As if it wasn't warm enough, the lineup of today's OUTDOOR PS1 Warm Up party is:

Gang Gang Dance (DJ set) / 4AD / New York, NY
Lunice / Lucky Me / Montreal, Canada
Syd tha Kyd / OFWGKTA / Los Angeles, CA
Miracles Club / Ecstacy Records / Portland, OR
Laurel Halo / Hippos in Tanks / New York, NY

Warm Up runs from 2 PM to 9 PM at PS1 in Long Island City. Admission is $15 and includes access to all exhibitions in addition to the dance party

How was Lunice at Bowery Hotel last night. he played with Pictureplane and Teengirl Fantasy who both DJ'd. They both play live at 285 Kent tonight where the DIY venue will [hopefully] be sporting 64000 btu-worth of new air conditioners.

UPDATE: Todd P says he isn't guaranteeing the A/C will work in time for tonight's show, or that even once installed it will work as planned. Hope for the best, but be prepared to sweat!

More details on the nighttime Brooklyn show below...

Continue reading "'Warm Up' today, air conditioning at 285 Kent tonight (maybe)"

"titus andronicus last night at glasslands was pretty special. and sweaty. a pretty sweaty special." - Ward

"For starters, [Titus Andronicus] looked like drowned rats by the time they hit "Arms Against Atrophy," just four songs in. At previous shows I was never sure whether or not Glasslands had air conditioning, but Glasslands definitely does not have air conditioning. Between Titus' cult following forming their requisite mosh pit up front and being in such a small venue for a band playing Webster Hall next month, the heat in that place was inescapable last night. Suffocating, almost. Everyone was very, very wet. The show, partly because of the heat I imagine, and partly because the cause, took on "an intimate show among friends with songs that haven't been played in a while" feel. They had to slow things down every so often, or they probably would have died. And so the calmer moments on songs like "No Future, Pt. 1" were even quieter; the silent pause before "No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future" turns noisy was even more dramatic; the outro to "Four Score and Seven" extended into an ethereal ambiance, and "And Ever" was like a modern-day "Piano Man." To make up for it, the louder material was more urgent, more epic." [L Magazine]

Check out the you'll-wish-you-were-there-hot-or-not video from the show below.

Check out Titus Andronicus again tonight at Maxwell's (if you have a ticket because it's sold out) where they kick off their tour with Free Energy. If you don't have a ticket, you can still get one for the September 25th show at Webster Hall where Free Energy is also opening (they kept that part a secret at first).

Updated dates below...

Continue reading "Titus Andronicus played a very hot show at Glasslands, kick off tour w/ Free Energy (including Webster Hall)"

photos by Rachel Carr

After ten years collecting sweat, The Smell's fundraiser for an A/C unit, last Wednesday night (11/11), brought out excited supporters, but also protestors who enjoy asphyxiating. Neither party could resist Health, Abe Vigoda, Man's Assassination, Man, and Tearist on one Smelly lineup.

The venue traps B.O. night after night, spiritually nourishing reckless bands and raucous audiences. "In the middle of summer when the place is super hot and packed, we always say we're getting A/C, then we end up putting it off one day when it's not so bad. But this time we're really going to do it. Right away," says co-owner Jim Smith. But will the Smell be as sweet if it doesn't reek?

"I like the Smell," a feminine voice complained from the packed crowd. "It's like doing someone--until you shower you smell them all over!" True; stench always follows when primal instincts are involved.

Notice that Health's guitar straps are reinforced with gaff tape? It's all they can do to keep from rapturously flinging their instruments. Jake Duzsik sighs and chants, holding the monster effect mic to his mouth like a grenade. John Famiglietti and Jupiter Keyes whip between amps, hypnotized and rabid, as BJ Miller pounds his drums. The audience pushed, craned, and grabbed each other responsively. [LA Weekly]

The LA benefit show was three days after HEALTH played an intense set at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. They were last in NYC in September. Abe Vigoda played Death By Audio on 11/6. More pictures from The Smell, below...

Continue reading "HEALTH, Abe Vigoda & friends helped The Smell raise money for an AC - pics "

DOWNLOAD: Tyvek - Air Conditioner (MP3)

2NITE's shows @ MARKET HOTEL will definitely feature a huge, awesome, new soundsystem & probably (presuming the installation today goes as scheduled...) AIR CONDITIONING!!!! waiting on some variables for the a/c to happen, but cross your fingers! -Todd P

The shows (plural) Todd is referring to are Oneida (early) and Extreme Animals (late). Tyvek is not playing Market Hotel, but they should because they sing about an air conditioner and also happen to be in town (with Coconut Coolouts and Personal and the Pizzas). Full Market Hotel lineups below...

Continue reading "Market Hotel got a soundsystem & air conditioning (maybe)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Jonathan Richman and Vic Chesnutt played Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday, June 17th. It was the second night of their two-show run (those stops are part of a nearly month-long tour). Signs posted throughout the venue warned that it'd be a hot night -- the night before Richman had requested the Bowery's air conditioner to be turned off mid-set for being too noisy.

Richman took the stage with drummer Tommy (Larkins), who kept the beat throughout with mallets and brushes. The accompaniment came in handy when Richman either sidled out in front of the microphones to address the crowd (the guitar was still audible upfront, but wasn't plugged in) or abandoned the axe entirely to dance alone on stage.

New song "My Affected Accent" was hilarious and gave the singer a chance to joke about youthful pretensions (and whip out a semi-faux Boston accent). Nearly all the tunes, including those off his newest record, 2008's Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild, were delivered on a totally un-ironic gut level. Some artists claim that their personal life doesn't inform their work (Woody Allen, for one). With Jonathan Richman, the opposite seems to be true. And it's similarly refreshing that his latter-day obsessions are a lot like his older ones -- albeit with more directness.

Both Modern Lovers song "Girl Friend" and Because Her Beauty track "No One Was Like Vermeer" could have been written on the same notebook. Both reference one of Richman's favorite topics -- art history -- and what one could only imagine is a favorite place, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.

A mid-set discussion of the air conditioning situation provided a lighthearted segue into "When We Refuse to Suffer" (he also used that opportunity to ask for the AC to be turned back on). Through songs like "I Was Dancing in a Lesbian Bar," "Take Me to the Plaza," and "Let Her Go Into the Darkness," the Bowery was near silent in attention, minus some hand claps and joyful cheers. Jonathan left after set closer "My Baby Love Love Loves Me", but returned for another verse, then came back to play songs that included "Es Como El Pan" and "Springtime In New York." That last one especially harped on Richman's painterly drive to reframe everyday life as artistic and beautiful.

I missed Vic Chesnutt, but did see him talking to fans after the show. Those that did see his set said it was great. You can check out Vic as one of several guest singers on the new David Lynch/Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse (Mark Linkous) collaboration Dark Night of the Soul. That album, because of legal complications, is for sale only as a photo book and a blank CD-R. The music itself is streaming in full on NPR.

Does anyone have the setlists? More pictures of the headliner below...

Continue reading "Jonathan Richman & Vic Chesnutt @ Bowery Ballroom - pics "