photos by Diana Wong

you can see the rain in the light

Considering the band split apart in 1999 and most everybody in attendance bought tickets to the show a full year ago, there wasn't going to be anything keeping hardcore Pavement fans from Wednesday night's (September 22) concert at Rumsey Playfield in New York's Central Park. The weather certainly tried though, as a thick fog of humidity gave way to steady rain and a spectacular display of lightning (so spectacular, in fact, that the producers actually pulled the band off stage for 15 minutes half way through the set, for fear of lightning strikes).

With the weather threatening to derail the entire evening, Pavement found a completely new gear. Eschewing the sharp between-song banter that colored earlier shows on this reunion tour, the band tore through their set mostly in an effort to cram in all their songs but also because they remain clearly thrilled by the aspect of playing these tunes together again. ...Something clearly lit a fire under the asses of Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich, Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg, Steve West and Mark Ibold, as they were feisty, firey and tight (despite a few false starts)...

"Thanks for sticking with us," Malkmus said at the end of the set. He was probably talking about the rain, but he could have been talking about the 10 years in between appearances that gave his quirky songs a new energy that he clearly enjoyed. Will Pavement make another album? It seems doubtful. But they sure do seem to like being in Pavement again. -[MTV]

The band played most, if not all, of their setlist last night (in the rain).

Pavement round four kicks off tonight (9/23) at the also-sold-out Summerstage (but you can get a ticket for cheap outside) with Endless Boogie (who was one of the openers at the first show at Williamsburg Waterfront).

Times New Viking opened last night, and will be playing another show at the Meat Locker in Montclair, NJ TONIGHT (9/23). Times New Viking's other upcoming shows include a stint with the reunited Guided By Voices.

More pictures from last night's Summerstage show (including another of the setlist), below...

Continue reading "Pavement played Rumsey Playfield again (pics), with Times New Viking (who play the Meat Locker tonight) "

...due to lightning

FF photos by Joseph Xu

DOWNLOAD: Mountain Goats - Genesis 3:23 (new MP3)

Final Fantasy @ P4K

Final Fantasy played the Pitchfork Festival on July 18th, which is where the photos in this post are from (check out his Mayhem t-shirt). About a week later he played the Hillside Festival at Guelph Lake in Canada during a storm (probably not a good idea)...

A few songs into his bravura one-man baroque-pop set, the skies filled with thunder and lightning as rain began to drench Pallett, who continued shredding his bow fiercely across his violin.

As stagehands covered equipment with plastic, and organizers frantically tried to cut him off, Pallett kept playing the appropriately dramatic 'Lewis Takes His Shirt Off.' "One more minute," he yelled, as sheets of water hit him full force.

The stunned (and soaked) crowd broke into wild cheers as one minute turned into two and Pallett sped toward the song's big finish like a man possessed -- until the stage crew finally pulled the plug. Still, his heroics had already created Hillside's most memorable moment. [Spinner]

Video from that moment below.

This November he (Owen Pallett) heads out on tour to open up for The Mountain Goats (John Darnielle), who will be playing as a full band (though there is a much shorter string of Darnielle solo dates too). The trip ends with a pair of NYC gigs on December 1st and 2nd, when they respectively visit Webster Hall and the Bell House. Tickets for Webster Hall go on AmEx presale today at noon; general sale starts Friday, August 7th at noon. Bell House tickets are on sale today at noon.

The occasion for this tour is a new record from The Mountain Goats, enigmatically titled The Life of the World to Come, which comes out October 6th on 4AD. All song titles on the new album are Bible verses. John says,

The album was recorded between April and June: first at Electrical Audio with Brandon Eggleston; then at Sonic Ranch with John Congleton; and finally at Baucom Road with Scott Solter. Scott also mixed the entire album at Baucom Road. The band is still Jon Wurster, Peter Hughes, and me; Owen Pallett did string arrangements & played on the Electrical session.

I guess the obvious question is going to be: "John, have you had some sort of religious awakening?" and while I guess lots of people might want to be coy about answering that, that's never really been my style, so: no. It's not like that. It's not some heavy-narrative-distance deal either, though, and it's not a screed. It's twelve new songs: twelve hard lessons the Bible taught me, kind of. More than that I'd want to wait to say until some people have heard it, which won't be long.

One track "Genesis 3:23" is posted above. The verse in question there, "Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken," may aid in your listening. Album art & tracklist, with tour dates, the FF Hillside video, and FF@P4K pics, below...

Continue reading "Mountain Goats - new Bible album, MP3, 2009 tour dates w/ Final Fantasy (who played Pitchfork & Hillside in a storm) "

the Waterfront - emptied out due to lightning - July 26, 2009 (by Kurt Christensen)

Trail of Dead never got a chance to play the Pool Party at the Williamsburg Waterfront on Sunday. Grupo Fantasma, HEALTH, and Black Lips did get to perform before they called it for lightning though. More pictures soon. In the meantime, I posted seven other sets of photos on Sunday (still not caught up either), and then there's the pretty pics from the sunny South Street Seaport show on Friday, and Thursday's Ted Leo show where bands were also cut due to the weather.

If you were looking forward to Trail of Dead, don't worry, they play the NYC-area three more times between now and September 19th (though not for free). The first chance to see them again is this very Saturday at All Points West. They go on at 1:50 PM.

This coming Sunday's Pool Party at Williamsburg Waterfront is the one with Dan Deacon, Deerhunter, and No Age (playing in the round). It's unfortunate that it conflicts with All Points West.

The current weather report lists isolated and scattered thunderstorms on Friday (30% chance of rain) and Sunday (40% chance of rain). Saturday is partly cloudy (20% chance of rain). The chances of no-rain are thankfully much higher.

What did you do this weekend?

Nardwuar posted a video interview with Little Boots. Below...

Continue reading "lightning ended the Pool Party before Trail of Dead could play"