Lost! Coldplay.

Here are a couple of photos of Coldplay playing a free show at Rockafeller Center. I woke up at the crack of dawn for this. And promptly left right after their sound check.





It hit me as I was smothered between the diehard fans and tourists with their humongous signs, that Coldplay is… well, overrated. My mood might have been determined by the Coldplay zealot I was smushed against, who regularly reaffirmed her love for Chris Martin at seven minute intervals, ( “Did you know that he’s like, the cutest guy ever?”) or maybe the fact that she never set down her sign, even when the stage was empty, and made sure everyone felt the wrath of her enthusiasm. (You’re a fan. Great. I get it.) However, it was probably a combination of the company, and the realization that their music bored me to tears.

As I wiped the sleep from my eyes, and watched them tune up, I asked myself, “Why the hell am I here?” I mean, I loved the Violet Hill vid, but I suppose I was expecting the live act to live up to the hype. To be fair, it is a lot of hype, and it was a free show after all. As I see it, they don’t have very good luck with free shows. I wonder how many people who showed up at MSG were disappointed that their beloved rock god can’t remember the lyrics to his own songs. Their fans are loyal. Believe me, I was hit in the head with a sign by one. Hopefully the rest of their tour will go more smoothly.

As for me, Lovers in Japan is a great song. So is Violet Hill. I will always have Parachutes. But I won’t be shelling out money to see them any time soon.

No, Wow? -- The Kills @ Webster Hall

Here are a few shots of The Kills at Webster Hall on May 1st. Exciting night it was—about a quarter through their set, the fire department showed up on stage to investigate some kind of fire. (Unsure of what it was exactly, but their set was delayed for 10 minutes. I didn’t see any fire, but I suspect it was behind all the equipment I was in front of.)

The Kills looked confused after finishing No Wow-- Like what's with the all the firemen? But the firemen and security looked like they enjoyed the attention. Rock on FDNY.

And as you may already know, Kate Moss is accompanying Jamie on this tour. She was hanging out by the backstage door, singing along and looking like she was enjoying herself. Not sure Alison is so happy with her continual presence however…

THE KILLS, WEBSTER HALL, 5.1.08 SETLIST

URA FEVER
PULL A U
SOUR CHERRY
TAPE SONG
NO WOW
ALPHABET PONY
WAIT
LAST DAY OF MAGIC
KISSY KISSY
GOOD ONES
WHAT NEW YORK USED TO BE
CHEAP AND CHEERFUL
FRIED MY LITTLE BRAINS
GOOD NIGHT BAD MORNING

LOVE IS A DESERTER/ SEARCH FOR CHERRY RED
DROPOUT BOOGIE

The Stills, Bowery Ballroom, 3.8.08

The Stills played Bowery Ballroom March 8th and today is March 26th. So yes… this post is a just a tad overdue.

My favorite French Canadians played a lot of material from their upcoming album, which might be viewed as redemption for their last album. Without Feathers received mixed reviews with most fans scratching their heads confused about their musical direction. Me too... but it grows on you eventually. Tim Fletcher and Dave Hamlin write songs that bleed into each other-- that's probably what makes them so darn good, although most people seem to favor Tim’s dark romanticism, poetry slam-ness. It's what we fell in love with on Logic, and it sounds like it’s going to be all over this third album. Excited! Can't wait for it.

I recall Tim was sick but obliged the crowd by ripping through a soon to be crowd favorite- "Eastern Europe"- a song that's about "being sick and fucked up in Bulgaria."

The openers were pretty great too. I especially liked this one band called Wintersleep. They hail from Halifax. Their keyboardist worked it on their song "Oblivion." It was this very cute aerobic dance/jog/excercise infomercial thing. Wintersleep aerobics tape in the works? One can only hope.

Setlist, The Stills at Bowery Ballroom- 3.8.08

Shoplifter

Still In Love

Gender Bombs

Of Montreal

Destroyer

Eastern Europe*

Being Here*

Lola Stars and Stripes

Don't Talk Down*

Snake-Charming*

Killer Bees

Rooibus*

In The Beginning

Retour A Vega

Love & Death

*= new song

Wintersleep- Oblivion

Buy Welcome To The Night Sky

The Stills- Snake Charming

Watch the video here

Life drones on and we all go up in flames.

“23” + 1: Blonde Redhead, Raveonettes at Terminal 5

Nothing like getting back into the game with a little Blonde Redhead at Terminal 5.

Best part of the night was when a plaid-clad fellow showed up to jam with Kazu Makino and the boys on “23”.

“I don’t know who this is,” said Kazu, feigning recognition of one of the most recognizable guys in the scene.

Even though I was pretty far away from the front of the stage, I knew exactly who that was. I pretty much jumped on my friend, shaking him silly, shouting. “Oh my god! That's Paul Banks!!!” I was surprised when not a few more people in the crowd went a little crazy. Yes, guilty as charged, I am the screaming Interpol fan. And how jealous am I? I wish I had this guy’s view.

Because in all honesty can you tell that this blur right here is Paul Banks?



Well this one is a little better...


Everyone was pretty into BR. Does anyone know the name of the last song they played? Ah, I wish there was a setlist floating around somewhere.

The Raveonettes had their share of fans too. Lust Lust Lust, which received mixed reviews still has a few gems like "Lust" and "Aly, Walk With Me." I’ve never heard “Here Comes Mary” live either, so that was a real treat. They'll be back in the city in March at Bowery Ballroom, which they've called their "favorite venue."




The Raveonettes- My Tornado (expired)
(Buy Whip It On)

Blonde Redhead- 23 (expired)
(Buy 23)

Here Comes The Wave: Richard Hawley at Bowery Ballroom

The crowd chants for Richard Hawley as his stagehand switches on the singer’s little portable reading light and tapes spare guitar picks to his microphone. Hawley and his band take the stage and they open with “Valentine.” The set rolls on and eventually he gets to “Darlin’ Wait”, which he had this to say: “Me and Shez [Sheffield—his guitarist] wrote this song for our wives. We’re as soft as a bag of shit.”

Oh, love is in the air.

The live Richard Hawley experience is a thing to admire. There was never a more down to earth guy who says what he thinks and sticks to his guns. Even after he chided a fan for a flippant remark, there was still nothing but good humor.

Let me tell you, I haven’t gone to that many gigs in my lifetime, but still, this was a first, when Hawley and crew came back for the encore, a hush fell over the crowd. All was quiet except for the sea of soft shushes in the audience. The mirrorball began to spin a blur of light. Husbands and wives, lovers, singles stood and swayed. It was kind of magical.

Really, I need to go to more shows where the band utilizes the power of the mirrorball.

Catch Richard Hawley on tour in your town:

December 2nd- Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live
December 3rd- New York, NY @ Other Music (in-store live show)
December 4th- Cambridge, MA @ TT the Bear’s
December 5th- Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
December 6th- Chicago, IL @ The Abbey
December 7th- Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar
December 10th- Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Café
December 12th- San Francisco, CA @ Café du Nord
December 13th- Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour

Richard Hawley @ Bowery Ballroom 12.1.07 Setlist

Valentine
Roll River Roll
Just like the Rain
Dark Road
Coles Corner
Tonight the Streets are ours
Lady's Bridge
Hotel Room
Serious
Darlin' Wait
Our Darkness
The Sea Calls
Born Under a Bad Sign

Something is
I'm Lookin' for Someone

Encore
Tonight
The Ocean

Richard Hawley- Valentine
(Buy Lady’s Bridge)

Richard Hawley- The Ocean
(Buy Cole’s Corner)

Malajube//Die Romantik//The Epochs at Bowery Ballroom, 11.15.07

Thursday evening was spent at the Malajube show. You all know I love my Canadian bands. Love 'em. This sounds weird, but the fact that there was a coat check made me a little sad. If you have a coat to check, then it must be cold outside. :( Autumn nearly over.

I feel for opening bands, because you have the hard core fans and then the people who need to be won over, and I tend to be on the edge most of the time. I'm harder to win over nowadays since I started wearing earplugs. Although I fully endorse not going prematurely deaf, earplugs are a nuisance... I mean, I wear them, but I just don't get the same sensory experience.
Still, they're quite smart if you go to a lot of shows, and find yourself yelling at your friends and family a lot. "WHAT?? NO, THIS IS MY NORMAL VOICE!!" Time to get earplugs, my friends.

The Epochs



I was particularly interested in hearing Die Romantik for the first time because there's a song on their myspace page I love called "One Thought is Flickering". They have a dark charm, like a group of marionettes climbing out of a toybox to play. But you know, less creepy, and way more entertaining. The elaborate lighting was a plus too. Kudos to their stagehands for working the lights.

Sorry for the poor angle. You can't tell from this photo, but the keyboardist is sitting on his amp. See, I don't know if this is a normal keyboardisty thing to do, but I thought it was cool.



I always get a kick out of seeing what Malajube's Julien Mineau will wear on the stage. While setting up he was wearing a sailor outfit, and then he changed into a "Where's Waldo?" hat and glasses. The fans looked like they were having a blast. Malajube brought the house down, even though the guys were a bit under the weather. Feel better!







Malajube: Casse-cou
(Buy Trompe-l'oeil)

Stop You In Your Tracks- Music of New York

There's no surprise why Susan Cagle was popular in underground music scene. Literally underground, she was a fixture in some of the major New York subway stations, playing tracks from her Subway Recordings and genuionely stopping people in their tracks with her beautiful acoustic sound. Last night she played a show at Rockwood Music Hall to a packed house, one of several shows in accordance with her residency at the venue. She brought along her sister Caroline to support her on bass.



Afterwards, my friend and I came across the Stumblebum Brass Band, playing outside in the late autumn chill. They were pretty amazing as well. I would have loved to stick around and see them wow passerbys with their Louis Armstrong inspired power brass sounds, but the cold did not agree with us.

They are available for bachelorette parties and bar mitzvahs :)

Wallflowers Are For Lovers

*And we're back!*

The Wallflowers sprung into town Monday night, playing a show at Highline Ballroom, which, funny enough, is situated next to the Western Beef supermarket. Why? Who knows? If you're into rock music and two for one specials on toilet paper, I suppose it's good to know where you can get all your errands done.



I attempted to outmanouever a double whammy at the show: standing behind a tall man, with extremely poofy hair (his hair, is in a great many of my photos sadly, like a poodle on its hind legs looking for a photo op), BUT, I fulfilled one of my goals in life-- to see The Wallflowers, so I can't complain too much.





Jakob Dylan fans showed up in throngs, drawn to the center stage by the man's signature raspy vocals. After Rami Jafee left the group indefinitely, the band shuffled the line up with Stuart Mathis on lead guitar. He played extensively with The Wallflowers on their Rebel Sweetheart tour, so he might be familar to people. Because this is my first Wallflowers show, it was all new to me, but Mathis was especially good on How Far You've Come- the the fingering, the pull offs and bending-- t'was quite cool. It's probably my favorite song off the last album, and it was a treat to hear it live. Jakob Dylan is such a brilliant songwriter too-- finding middle ground between sadness, and silver-linings. I find myself listening to this track any time I'm ready to leave the pity party.

Sometimes a high wall, is just a wall
Sometimes it's only there to make sure you feel small
Or maybe there to save you, from the depths, of a much deeper fall

The Wallflowers will be in town for a few more days, as they are booked for a birthday party. It's a sweet reminder of the shows musicians played in their early days, but in this particular case, it's not just any ice cream cake balloon-animals affair. The festivities are for Hillary Clinton. She's turning the big 6-0. If you can shell out the $100+ for a ticket, the show is at Beacon Theatre on October 25th.

Closer To You is one of the songs they played for the encore. It's a goosebump inducing lullaby, which Jakob Dylan acknowedged, "is for the ladies." Judging by the number of wooed women (and men) in the crowd wanting to get "closer to you," Jakob, we'll say your music is for lovers.

Set List for The Wallflowers at Highline Ball Room, 10.22.07

Shy of the Moon
I Am a Building
Here He Comes
6th Avenue Heartache
The Passenger
Up From Under
Empire of My Mind
When You're On Top
How Far You've Come
God Says Nothing Back
Letters from the Wasteland
If You Never Got Sick
3 Marlenas
God Don't Make Lonely Girls
Nearly Beloved
Everybody Out of The Water

Encore

I've Been Delivered
Babybird
Closer To You
Everything I Need


The Wallflowers- How Far You've Come
(Buy Rebel Sweetheart)

The Wallflowers- Closer To You
(Buy Red Letter Days)

The Brunettes @ Soundfix 10.19.07

The rumors about The Brunettes are true.

They are, in fact, brunette! Great, now that the debate on hair color is settled, the band played a short set at Soundfix last Friday and the music was thoroughly adorable, just like these Kiwis. The stage was too small to fit the band and their equipment, so singer Jonathan Bree had to stand on the floor. They brought hip back to the Village people when they sang and spelled B-A-B-Y on the track “Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth”.

I planned to return to Soundfix for The Rosebuds yesterday, but never quite made it. I woke up and felt interminably lazy so it turned into a Weeds and No Reservations/A Cook’s Tour day in my pajamas. (If you haven’t seen the No Reservations Leftovers episode on youtube, it’s so funny—a must see for Anthony Bourdain fans).

Speaking of food, off to brunch….

The Brunettes- Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth (B-A-B-Y)

(Buy Structure & Cosmetics)

Rave On! Part Deux...

I had such a great time at The Raveonettes show last night at Bowery Ballroom. This is the second time I've seen them perform this week. After looking at the pictures I took at Southpaw, I realized that I always veer for the left of the stage (usually in front of a bassist). Perhaps it’s some subconscious attraction to the bass. But it was nice to see the view from the right.

Gliss, as usual, was amazing. Martin was a bit chattier with the crowd yesterday evening, but unlike Southpaw, there wasn’t a crop circle of empty space in front of the band. They played this one song that I really liked that isn’t on their album, so I asked Victoria about it after the set. It’s called “Kick In Your Heart” and I recommend it because David is a total badass on that guitar riff. You can download it from their website. Just sign up for their mailing list. One other interesting note- in addition to swapping gear with each other between songs, the band makes up the set list as they play. Three cheers for spontaneity.


(Martin and David, each taking their turn at the guitar)



So Nicole Atkins has my vote for coolest wardrobe. It would be fun to raid her closet. She was wearing this vest that her friend made for her out of old bicycle tires. I love recycling, don’t you? (Al Gore would be proud) She said she smelled like a giant condom. This girl can sing, and she's got a sense of humor to boot.



When the crowd was applauding, Nicole mentioned that it was funny “watching people clap for me when I sing about my pathetic life.” Aww… you’re not pathetic, Nicole! Would a pathetic person wear these darling gold cowboy boots? No way. I couldn't get a really good shot, but those boots were so cute.



Her band is great also! They have wonderful chemistry when they play together. Watch for them when they perform live on the Late Show with David Letterman on October 30th.



The Raveonettes played a razor sharp set of mostly new songs and appreciated the love coming from the crowd. It was a sold out show :)





I love this photo below of Sharin and their drummer. I really like the contrast. What an unexpected shot-- Sharin just popping up like that!



The Raveonettes Set List 10.12.07 @ Bowery Ballroom

Remember
Noisy Summer
That Great Love Sound
Let’s Rave On
Hallucinations
Blush
Attack of the Ghost Riders
My Tornado
Expelled from Love
Lust
Red Tan
Love In a Trash Can
Dead Sound
French Disko (*They love Stereolab!)
Aly, Walk With Me

The Raveonettes- Lust (demo)
(Listen to more demos at their myspace)

The Raveonettes + Nicole Atkins + Gliss @ Southpaw

Sab and I went to see The Ravonettes on Wednesday and caught two other great shows. We were early in a major way. I get overly excited so I am never fashionably late, but always ridiculously early. Anyway, we were there when Gliss did their sound check. They played what I think was, “Make Believe” or “Kissing The Blvd.” (It was probably the latter). From what we heard, we knew this band was going to be really good, and they did not disappoint.

Martin, Victoria and David, the three members of Gliss, play bass, guitar, and drums like a game of musical chairs, switching gear with each other after the completion of each song. When the instruments are passed around, each bandmate puts a different kind of energy and personality into the performance. There’s also something about this that makes the music exceptionally intimate, not just for the audience, but between the threesome as well. It’s something like a musical make out session and they’re swapping saliva. Or, some other less gross analogy. Straight out of L.A. these guys are rocking sexy bass lines and slick riffs that slink at the beck and call of Martin’s lush lyrics. The album, Love The Virgins, is good, but I feel like the record should support the live show and not the other way around. They really are a fantastic live band.

Gliss- Kissing The Blvd

(Buy Love The Virgins on iTunes)


(Nicole Atkins)

Next up was Nicole Atkins. I don’t know much about her, but she has a lovely voice, and her lyrics resonate well with the lovelorn. I really enjoyed “The Way It Is,” “Love’s Surreal,” and “War Torn.” Plus, she was kickin’ it in these red hot shoes. Hot shoes are cool.

Nicole Atkins- The Way It Is

(Buy Neptune City)

The Raveonettes played many new songs from their upcoming album, which hits Europe in November, but doesn’t swing state-side till January. Lust is my absolute favorite new song, and Sune says that they really enjoy playing it as well. It’s worth singling out—this track is downright hypnotic. Throughout the night, The Raveonettes just wanted everyone to have a good time. Rave On. They also played a cover of Stereolab’s French Disko. FD seems pretty popular (The Editors did a cover of this song as well).

The Raveonettes’ 10.9.07 Setlist @ Southpaw

Remember
Noisy Summer
Let’s Rave On
Hallucinations
Blush
With My Eyes Closed
Black Satin
Attack of the Ghost Riders
My Tornado
Expelled From Love
Lust
Red Tan
Love in a Trash Can
Dead Sound
French Disko (Stereolab cover)
Aly, Walk With Me

Encore

Twilight
That Great Love Sound

The Raveonettes- Love in A Trashcan

(Buy Pretty in Black)

Doing it all again on Friday at Bowery Ballroom!