"NEW YORK LOVES AND WILL NEVER FORGET MCA." - El-P

Madison Square Garden pays tribute to Adam (pic via)

Like Coldplay, BADBADNOTGOOD & Bomb The Music Industry!, and Thom Yorke, many, many artists and institutions have been paying tribute to Adam Yauch in their own way, More videos from last night below....

Continue reading "Red Hot Chili Peppers, Deer Tick, MSG, The Mets & more paid tribute to MCA (more videos & pics)"

In honor of the Jefferson R. Burdick Collection of more than thirty thousand baseball cards--dating from 1887 to 1959--Spectrum has organized an exciting Friday night event. Starting at 6:00 p.m. in the Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall in the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education, early-comers can meet William C. Rhoden and be treated to a pre-show signing of his book Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete.

At 7:30 p.m., enjoy a lively panel discussion about our card collection and its relationship to baseball. Panelists include:

Sean Kirst, columnist at the Syracuse Post-Standard and author of The Ashes of Lou Gehrig and Other Baseball Essays
Dale Murphy, retired Major League Baseball player
William C. Rhoden, sports columnist at the New York Times
Sharon Robinson, educational consultant, author, and daughter of the great Jackie Robinson

After the panel discussion, the supergroup The Baseball Project (Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn, and Linda Pitmon, with a special guest appearance by Mike Mills) will perform a very special set, with songs inspired by the Museum's baseball card collection.

The Red Krayola also play a NYC museum tonight (and tomorrow) (the Whitney).

Julianna Barwick and Grouper play one tonight too! Their show is at the Guggenheim where Cold Cave and Zola Jesus (with help from JG Thirwell) also have shows coming up. Tix are still available for tonight's show and for Cold Cave's too. Zola Jesus goes on sale on 4/18.

The Baseball Project also played Maxwell's the other night, but have no other upcoming dates at the moment. Check out the new video for 2010 song "All Future and No Past" below...

Continue reading "The Baseball Project playing a baseball (card) event @ the Met tonight; Cold Cave tix on sale; Grouper tonight too"

On one of the sunniest day of the year so far, Hobokenites came out in droves to eat, see local art and hear live music at the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival on Sunday afternoon...

The Baseball Project... proceeded to rip a hole through the afternoon with the sheer power of their rocking and songwriting prowess. Highlights (and there were many) included Wynn's ode to Detroit Tiger's pitcher Mark Fidrych entitled '1976', McCaughey's wordtastic 'Panda and The Freak,' and the ridiculously talented rhythm section of Buck and Pitmon.

Craig Finn (of the Hold Steady) made a truly electric guest appearance on a tune for which he penned the lyrics called, 'Please Don't Call Them Twinkies.'" He was entirely captivating and having never heard/seen him sing live before, I think I fully understand now why his band is so popular. -[Patch]

And with those triumphant dates in their rearview, The Baseball Project has announced their return to NYC with a date at City Winery on June 5th. Tickets are on sale. The NYC date is part of a larger string of mostly Northeastern dates that will also include a stop in Baseball Hall of Fame home Cooperstown on June 3rd (they play a brewery there).

All of this touring is in support of their second album, Volume Two: High and Inside, which was released March 1 on Yep Roc and includes guest appearances from Craig Finn, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan, and Chris Funk and John Moen of The Decemberists.

All tour dates, a video of the band on "Extra" (where they play "Fair Weather Fan" and talk about being accepted by the baseball community), and the above-mentioned videos, below....

Continue reading "The Baseball Project played Hoboken & Brooklyn w/ Craig Finn (and Drew's House too), announce more dates (City Winery)"

photos by Tim Griffin

Win and Will Butler are currently visiting their birth state for a few shows. Last night (5/3), Arcade Fire and Texas band Explosions In The Sky played to a roughly-5000 capacity crowd at The Backyard at Bee Cave in Austin. Arcade Fire, who co-headlined Coachella just a few weeks ago, also played the other night with Okkervil River in Dallas, and they do it again with EITS in The Woodlands tonight, near Houston where Win grew up, a fact that has not gotten past the locals....

"Yes, we're all excited that Arcade Fire is playing the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Wednesday night. And, yes, it's exciting that lead singer Win Butler spent his "formative years" growing up in that community which makes this -- to borrow a title from a beloved U2 anthem -- A Sort of Homecoming.

But it's time all of the greater Houston area suck on the bitter pill of reality for a moment and come to grips with a very real truth: Arcade Fire is not a band from The Woodlands.

It is not even a Texas band. It is not even an American band and anyone saying anything to the contrary must also accept the equally preposterous notion that country icon Willie Nelson hails from Vancouver, Wash., or that Madonna is British."
[says CultureMap Houston]

Continue reading "Arcade Fire & Explosions in the Sky played 'The Backyard' in Austin, Texas (Win's home state, sort of) -- pics & setlist"

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie sang the National Anthem at the San Francisco Giants v. Philadelphia Phillies playoff game in San Francisco that is happening right now (go Yanks!). Video below...

Continue reading "Ben Gibbard sang the National Anthem at a playoff game"

words & photos by Lori Baily

The Baseball Proiject headlined a show at Maxwell's on Thursday night. It was before their set over the weekend at Wilco's Solid Sound Festival in North Adams, MA...

Wilco headlined, and Mavis Staples was their lead-in, but there was six hours of music before them Saturday at Solid Sound Festival at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Mass.

The warm, sunny afternoon made for perfect festival conditions for a series of sets by Wilco-curated bands which alternated between a pair of stages set up in outdoor courtyards on the Mass MoCA grounds.

Alt-rock supergroup the Baseball Project brought together Mike Mills of R.E.M., Steve Wynn of the Miracle 3 (and formerly of the Dream Syndicate), Scott McCaughey of the Minus 5 and journeywoman drummer Linda Pitmon to perform songs that were, in fact, mostly about baseball. Call it good, clean, nerdy fun.

With a rollicking rock 'n' roll sensibility, the foursome sang a tune written after a night out drinking with now-retired pitcher Jack McDowell, advocated for the inclusion of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Harvey Haddix on the list of starters who have thrown perfect games (Haddix kept one going for 12 innings in 1959 before losing in the 13th) and threw in a couple of Minus 5 tunes, including "Lies of the Living Dead" and "Aw Shit Man." [Hartford Courant]

I know nothing about baseball or I would've been entertained even more. Scott McCaughey joined opener Dennis Diken for a couple of songs at the end of their set. The guys (and gal) in both bands are all really sweet and down to earth, Mike Mills even requested that he not be "lit like a lead singer, cause I'm not a lead singer."

More pictures of the NJ show, below...

Continue reading "The Baseball Project played Wilco's Solid Sound Festival & Maxwell's w/ Dennis Diken with Bell Sound (pics)"

photos by V. Marc Fort (American-Statesman critic & Norushi Minx bassist)

When Jay-Z wasn't showing the Texans how his crew does it in Brooklyn, he spoke from the heart during his between song banter. "I know it sounds cliche, but don't let any haters block your dream," Hova said earnestly during one of the final breaks. Another one of the show's more intimate moments came when he brought up vocalist Bridget Kelly for two songs. After her inspired assist on "Empire State of Mind," Jigga Man smiled his biggest smile of the evening and said, "Damn...she put something extra on it for Texas...she put some extra bar-b-que sauce on it for Texas!" - V. Marc Fort

Jay-Z returns to Austin for another show on November 22nd (November 22nd was moved to November 10th). It's one of four more shows he has this month. Then in February of 2010 he'll get on the road again with a NYC-area show announced for March 6th at the Izod Center in NJ. Tickets for that show go on Citi Cardmember Presale on Tuesday, 11/17 @ 10am. That's followed by an "Internet Presale" two days later which is followed by general sale two days after that (Sat, 11/21 @ 10am). All dates, with the other stuff, below...

Continue reading "Jay-Z - 2010 Tour Dates (Izod Center) ++ pics & the setlist from the Austin show @ the Frank Erwin Center"

rainy Yankees Stadium (Kevin H.)

The lyrics to Jay'z "Empire State of Mind" are sometimes as raw as New York, but it looks like the rapper will clean up that language when he performs his city anthem at the World Series.

A source close to the rapper who requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on the matter says Jay-Z won't utter curses or other raw language included in his hit, which has been blasted by the New York Yankees during their playoff run.

Jay-Z and fellow New Yorker Alicia Keys were due to perform "Empire" before Game 1 between the Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. But because of rainy weather, their performance will now be on Thursday. It's not clear if Game 1 will be postponed. [AP]

FLUSHING, N.Y., June 3, 2009 - Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Paul McCartney will perform the historic first concerts at Citi Field - the new home of the Mets - Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18.

Tickets go on sale Monday, June 15 at 10:00 A.M. ET online exclusively at www.507tixx.com and by phone at 718-507-TIXX. These concerts are rain or shine.

These inaugural concert events at Citi Field mark the latest in a series of landmark performances that link the beloved Beatle with New York City and the home of the Mets. Beginning with The Beatles' legendary musical christening of Shea Stadium in 1965, and continuing with McCartney's special appearance at Billy Joel's "Last Play at Shea" show that closed the stadium last year, McCartney's summer shows at Citi Field will once again mark a momentous occasion in the history of New York - and rock n' roll itself.

"I am really excited about playing Citi Field - The Beatles were the first to play at Shea Stadium and along with Billy Joel, I was the last to sing at the old Shea," said Paul McCartney. "So to be the first to play this stadium is incredible. I am really looking forward to a buzzing show."

Continue reading "Paul McCartney confirms Shea Stadium (Citi Field) shows "

Yo La Tengo

"You have to give it up for Wilco for making things so simple. The group's seventh album -- due out in late June -- will be titled Wilco (The Album). Even cooler: there's a cut on the disc titled "Wilco The Song," which Glenn Kotche describes to Rock Daily as "a great, upbeat song professing our love for our fans."

There's a little something for everyone on the group's new disc, which they recorded in their loft space in Chicago. "One Wing" and "Sunny Feeling" are breezy, pop-friendly tunes; "Deeper Down" is a mellow ballad spiked with atmospherics and chamber strings; the nearly-six-minute jam "Bull Black Nova" starts with rollicking drums, stacatto keys and guitars before exploding into a killer solo from guitarist Nels Cline. Think of the it as a sonic follow-up to the kraut-rockin' "Spiders (Kidsmoke)." "That one's a really intense, powerful song," says Kotche of "Nova." "It's got a static groove that's really insistent. There's a lot of great guitar moments on that song."

This June, Wilco will hit the road for a summer tour of festivals (Bonnaroo, 10,000 Lakes), minor league ball parks (Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, NY) and intimate theaters and the crew will be unleashing most of the 11 tracks from the new record..."
[Rolling Stone]

All Yo La Tengo dates below...

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo opening for Wilco whose new album is called Wilco (The Album)"

Bob Dylan has just announced an ambitious line-up for this year's summer concert tour. Along with fellow troubadour Willie Nelson, this summer The Bob Dylan Show will also feature John Mellencamp, marking just the second time in the past 24 years that these three performers have shared the concert stage.

The NJ show's venue, like most others on the tour, is a minor league baseball stadium (home to the Lakewood BlueClaws, Single-A affiliate of the Phillies). It's currently the closest stop to NYC. Bob and Willie did something similar in 2005. That year they hit Yogi Berra Stadium in Montclair.

Willie Nelson's current (non-Bob) tour is hitting more traditional music venues like The State Theater in New Brunswick where he played on Saturday (4/18). Among those in attendance at that show was Matthew Houck aka Phoshphoresent who recently released a Willie Nelson album of his own. Phosphorescent's next NYC show will be in Prospect Park.

Bob Dylan's new record, Together Through Life, comes out April 28th on Columbia Records. "I Feel a Change Comin On," off that record, is streaming now on Dylan's webpage. Bob is "on Twitter" too.

Also online is a sub-site for new song "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" (which includes that track streaming)..

Mash your own message and lyrics along with Bob's to create a unique lyrical portrait video. You can then upload your video message to the community gallery and share it with others. This is the first time the lyrics from a Bob Dylan song have been released prior to the record, so make sure to check out and see them in action along with the music, only at www.beyondhereliesnothin.com.

Flanagan: "Life Is Hard" comes from a tradition that got pretty much wiped out by the popularity of swing and blues and rock n roll. I remember Leon Redbone said once that the big break in 20th century music was not in the 50's when rock came in; it was when swing and jazz knocked off parlor piano ballads in the late 20's and early 30's. Do you ever wish that old style had stuck around a little longer?

Dylan: Today, the mad rush of the world would trample over delicate music like that. Even if it had survived swing and jazz it would never make it past Dr. Dre. Things changed economically and socially. Two world wars, the stock market crash, the depression, the sexual revolution, huge sound systems, techno-pop. How could anything survive that?...

Continue reading "Bob Dylan & Willie Nelson - 2009 Baseball Stadium Tour Dates w/ John Mellencamp (includes Lakewood, NJ)"

Tickets are on presale (update: sold out) for the Wilco show at Keyspan Park in Coney Island (thx anon). Tickets go on regular sale Friday at noon.

Tickets for the Cyclones baseball games that happen in the same ballpark go on sale Sunday.

And speaking of Wilco and baseball, Jeff Tweedy threw the first pitch at at Milwaukee's Miller Park for the Brewers the other night.

Wilco @ Lollapalooza 2008 (more by Zach Dilgard)

Jeff admits to being a Cardinals fan while wearing a Cubs uniform...

Continue reading "Wilco perform 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' & an interview @ Wrigley Field in Chicago (video)"

"MAYOR BLOOMBERG & MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ANNOUNCE THE CONCERT EVENT OF THE YEAR"

Continue reading "Bon Jovi playing free (ticketed) show in Central Park"