I was introduced to Foxy Shazam’s music by a friend a few months ago. So when I heard they were coming to the Bowery Ballroom I figured I would go check out the live show.
I’ll let the photos do the talking.
And in case there’s any confusion, yes, that is Eric Nally eating a bundle of cigarettes…
Last Thursday, Lee Fields and his sharp-as-a-tack backing band, The Expressions came back to the city to perform at the Bowery Ballroom in celebration of the release of their new record, Emma Jean.
Fields’ set included mostly songs from the new record—and let me tell you it sounds incredible. The “Little JB” is surely coming on strong this summer.
Last Wednesday, Built to Spill performed at the Bowery Ballroom, their last of 3 New York City shows.
Though static in stage presence, the Idaho five piece’s set was exciting as ever and especially filled with their guitar based jams for each song. For the encore, the band called the crowd up to join them for an on-stage dance party.
Each member slowly and secretly exited the stage, handing their instruments over to someone else, and only to be revealed when the show was over and the crowd on the stage cleared.
TVD NYC’s Caitlin McCann, director of the above named vid, has your backstory. And a need for some tarps. LOTS of tarps. —Ed.
“There’s some sort of energy that comes from lying down on the floor. An energy that realigns my body and leaves a clear path for inspiration to swim up and down my spine and leak into my brain…”
“The basic concept for this video was literally conceived from lying flat on the floor of my bedroom after listening to Pine Barons’ record on repeat twenty million times and deciding I really wanted to make a video for this song.
I met them a few days earlier and I knew I wanted to work with them. They put on an amazing live show, they didn’t trash my apartment when I let them crash there, and they were nice to my dad when he came over at 9am the next morning. And they’re a bunch of hunks so…duh.
According to their Bandcamp, Pine Barons are “Children of the Forest; Conceived by the roots.”
I believe it. I saw it. I heard it with my own ears at Kung Fu Necktie last Sunday. The New Jersey born quartet was reeling out much more than just their roots though. A mix of every genre I’m not even going to bother naming couldn’t even describe the sticky magic that drips out of their instruments and coats the inside of your ears.
It’s songs like “Telescope” that will catch your immediate attention with its eerie groove and heavy breathing, and “Carnival” that will hold it with its rainbow filled lyrics and remind you there’s more to this band than writing a catchy melody.
The so-called Children of the Forest closed out their set with the last song from their self-titled debut, “Don’t Believe What They Told You,” taking listeners through a series of beautiful piano chords that have you feeling like you’re moving in slow motion. Only to end with a heart pounding chorus of “JESUS CHRIST’s” that will leave you curious as to what the fuck just happened and compulsively longing for more.
This Friday, December 13, MGMT will be playing at Barclay’s Center in New York City, featuring Dinosaur Jr. as the opener.
Back in September, MGMT released their self-titled third studio album and have been busy touring ever since, including a month-long tour in the UK in October. In order to hype up fans for this Friday’s show, the band has been hiding one-of-a-kind autographed posters of images from the “Your Life Is A Lie” video in the New York tri-state area.
For “the artsy types out there,” MGMT is running a poster contest for the show via Instagram and Tumblr. The winner “will receive a one of a kind signed & framed print of their poster design hand decorated/enhanced by the band.” Designs are to be submitted with the hashtags #MGMT and #MGMTBrooklyn so that the band can find them, and the deadline is tonight at 11 PM EST. Multiple entries are allowed, and the winner will be notified via Instagram on December 14.
“There should be a couple here making out and dancing in front of us right now…and crying,” mused Nicole Atkins, before kicking into “The Way It Is” at Moscot Music last Thursday.
Among many other humorous insights throughout the set, Atkins embraced Moscot’s small size and kept the music strong, loud, and intimate, even playing to the fans who had to watch the show from outside the store windows.
Her new band (supposedly going under the name Groove Police) made sure the energy never died and kept the show tight and rocking all the way through.
Atkins’ new record, Slow Phaser comes out on February 4th, 2014 and fans—and yet-to-be fans—have plenty to look forward to.
Every time J. Roddy Walston came down on his piano at Union Transfer last week, I thought he was going to split his head open. I’m extremely glad he didn’t because Walston and The Business is a show that I recommend any rock and roll lover go see.
With a thunderous piano, a sharp lead guitar, a bouncing rhythm section, and a whole lot of hair, J. Roddy Walston and The Business is everything that’s missing in rock and roll today. The Tennessee-based quartet delivered an epic set in Philadelphia that kept the crowd jumping up and down with the beat for the entire show. New or old songs, the crowd didn’t seem to care, they just wanted everything out of the performance they could get.
I can honestly say that J. Roddy did not let anyone down except for those who wanted to see and hear less than the loud and ragged rock and roll consistently blowing through the speakers.
Halloween came early this year in the world of Foxygen.
On Monday, they took over the stage at the Bowery Ballroom and decked it out with cob webs, skulls, tombstones, and their own costumes. In addition to Halloween theatrics, their performance was full of so much energy, you couldn’t resist dancing if you tried.
Jonathan Rado lead the songs on keys and guitar, while frontman Sam France took over the stage with his Jim Morrison-esque antics and Mick-Jagger-trying-to-sound-like-Bob-Dylan vocals. When Foxygen released their second record, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic, they certainly set the bar high for themselves.
What do a woman in a bunny mask, a coat rack, two guitars, a giant iPhone, and a bottle of wine have in common with each other? Absolutely nothing, except that they were all a part of Father John Misty‘s performance at Music Hall of Williamsburg last Saturday.
Currently touring as a solo act, former Fleet Foxes drummer Father John Misty (whose real name is J., for Joshua, Tillman) gave the crowd more than just his music, but his tongue-in-cheek shamanistic wisdom as well. Tillman kept the crowd laughing while emphasizing the humor and wit in his singles “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” and “Nancy From Now On.”
Taking breaks to do a little performance art featuring both the bunny-woman and the coat rack, Tillman then introduced a giant iPhone frame on stage that was placed in front of him less than half way through the set (an obvious gesture towards fans who spend more time watching the show through their iPhones than their eyes). He also took the time to pour out an entire bottle of wine into a wine glass, which overflowed and streamed down the table that was placed center stage. Acting as if nothing had happened, Tillman resumed playing the rest of the set, which included almost every song off his debut record, Fear Fun, along with new songs such as “I Love You, Honeybear.”
ZZ Ward walked onto the stage at Irving Plaza to a packed crowd chanting and screaming her name. Tearing through a set full of blues jives and funk grooves, Ward didn’t let down those in attendance.
Her soulful voice and charisma filled up the stage. With songs and lyrics deeply rooted in the blues, the crowd sang every word back to her for nearly the whole set, not missing a single line.
The blues is back baby, and ZZ Ward is giving it to you…
