Cold War Kids – Mine is Yours
Cold War Kids are back with their latest album Mine is Yours. Cold War Kids songs always have some great lyrics that stick in my head after I’ve listened to the songs (“two weeks paid vacation, won’t heal the damage done / I need another one”). I can’t say that anything has jumped out at me yet, but it’s still early. The band plays NYC on March 24 at Radio City Hall. You can listen to the whole album on their MySpace page, but here’s a little sample here.
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Tags: cold war kids, radio city music hall
Tiny Apartment Concert 12-11-10
Photo by Ashley Corbin-Teich
There has been a great deal written about creative and resourceful people who, when faced with very little space, have made the most of their living situations in NYC. A closet becomes an office, a foot stool is also a storage cube, the coffee table can be raised to become a desk, and a bike doubles as wall art. I have not however read much about those daring New Yorkers who attempt (and succeed!) at entertaining in their small space. See, that’s why the bars and restaurants of NYC can all exist and thrive even though there are so many of them. Everyone just meets there instead of in friends’ homes. When people do have living rooms (that is, the living room is not being used as a bedroom), they are usually small and not really capable of seating too many people.
This is why the Tiny Apartment Concert experience is such a rare treat. While others would see a NYC apartment as merely a place to sleep after a fun night out, these hostesses/music lovers/chefs saw the possibility in their apartment. They decided to open up their living room (well, quite frankly their whole apartment) to bands and their own music-loving friends in NYC looking for good food, good music and good company. And I must say they have accomplished quite a feat. I mean, have you ever had a 7-piece band play in your living room?
After a successful music and potluck dinner event in August, the concert planners arranged for a December show featuring Spirit Family Reunion and The Defibulators. As promised, both bands played foot-stomping music throughout the night. The Defibulators played first and offered up some banjo and fiddle playing. I later learned that one of the band members is called Metalbelly, and let’s just say that it is a very appropriate name. So, not only was this 7-person band can playing in the living room, but there was also room for some dancing. And let me tell you that people did not hesitate to jump up and start the hoedown.
Next up was Spirit Family Reunion. A band of four, they opted not to use any amps, so it was all lungs. Soon after they started there was an instrument malfunction. Apparently the bridge part of the very large upright bass broke. Now, this would be a major problem in any other situation, but luckily there was an upright bass player in The Defibulators who graciously offered his bass to his fellow musician. So, as one bass was rolled into one bedroom, another one was rolled out of the other bedroom. Only at a Tiny Apartment Concert, right?? And the band played on.
It was a night of fun, folky music with plenty of banjo and harmonica to go around. Thanks to the hostesses for another great party. Well done. Check out the Tiny Apartment Concert site to see photos and video from the evening.
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Tags: spritit family reunion, the defibulators, tiny apartment concert
The New Pornographers stopped in NYC earlier this week before heading to England for a few shows. I missed the opener—Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, but The New Pornographers put on a solid 2-hour show. I don’t have their most recent album Together, but having listened to their older albums quite a lot, it was easy to figure out which songs were the new ones. They played some great ones like “Bleeding Heart Show,” “Sing Me Spanish Techno,” and “Use It”. They also played “Hey, Snow White” from the Dark was the Night compilation album. The whole gang was there (which mainly means that none of the members’ solo projects conflicted with the show). This is a rare treat, and I’ve learned that it’s just not the same when the whole band isn’t there. They did have a flashy sign as a backdrop, in case you forgot what concert you were at.
I’m a little sad because all of the bands I like to see live have graduated from venues like Bowery Ballroom, Music Hall of Williamsburg and The Bell House. Bands like The New Pornographers now appear at larger places like Terminal 5 and even Radio City Music Hall. Next time it will be Madison Square Garden! This is all good for the bands, but I miss those days of being up close and personal. It makes for a better concert experience, for sure. And the lack of crowds is a huge plus. Though, I must say that this weekend I’ll being attending a show in a living room, so I guess it all balances out.
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Tags: terminal 5, the new pornographers
Last night Mumford & Sons played the first of two sold out shows at Terminal 5 in NYC. The band is wrapping up a year-long tour and clearly they’ve been having a good time together. Though they mentioned they are ready to take a break (and do laundry and sleep in their own beds), they played with so much energy that you could have told me it was the first night of the tour. The band played for about an hour and a half and invited show openers, Cadillac Sky and King Charles, onto the stage at the end.
The band has released just one album, Sigh No More, so having seen them at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in May, last night’s concert was a bit of déjà vu. It didn’t really matter though, I would listen to them play their album live every night if I could. The band did play a few new songs which mixed things up a bit. I have to say the crowd was much larger at Terminal 5. They packed them in subway style last night. And the whole crowd seemed to move together in an excited, hand-clapping, foot-stomping group. All of the songs are so good, that each one is bound to be somebody’s favorite, but “Little Lion Man” and “Awake My Soul” were the big crowd pleasers.
The good news about the tour ending is that Mumford & Sons will get back in the studio to record another album featuring some of the new songs they played last night. I should mention that Cadillac Sky was a very respectable opening act. I can’t say much about King Charles since I got there too late, but he and his hair made an appearance at the end of the show. The concert started surprisingly early. I think Terminal 5 has to get everybody out at 11pm, so Mumford came on at 9:30.
Here are some pictures:
Mumford & Sons and Cadillac Sky
The crowd
Fans on the second level
Mumford & Sons and King Charles and Cadillac Sky
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Tags: cadillac sky, mumford & sons, mumford and sons, mumford and sons review, mumford and sons terminal 5, terminal 5
The 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival this past weekend was a wonderful flashback to summer. It was three days of music, food, and 85-degree weather in Texas. I had to keep reminding myself it was October. I was really impressed with the festival, it ran very smoothly and the people there were great. I’d say the highlights were performances by The Strokes, Band of Horses, Monsters of Folk and Muse, Amy’s Ice cream (not a band, just good ice cream), and the free shuttle buses to the park.
After making our way through a few lines (for wristbands and a shuttle bus ride) on Friday, we made it to Zilker Park, which is about 10 minutes from downtown. First band on the agenda was The Black Keys. When we arrived there was already a huge crowd in front of The Black Keys’ stage. They were on one of the two main stages, which had jumbo screens set up on each side of the stage. I quickly learned that it was not likely that I was going to be within view of the main stage performers. I’m sure that superfans of The Strokes had set up shop right in front of the stage at noon that day, when the gates opened.
The smaller stages offered more of a view of the performers. There were 8 stages in all, including a “kiddie” stage for the very underage music fans. The layout of the stages was quite a challenge in acoustics. The stages were set up such that you would only hear the sound of the concert happening in front of you. With some staggered times in terms of performances, ACL did a good job of preventing any overlapping sound. Here’s the layout:
And here’s the list of bands we wanted to see:
Day 1: Band of Heathens, Spoon, The Strokes
Day 2: Lucero, Local Natives, Monsters of Folk, Muse
Day 3: Gayngs (attempted), Robert Earl Keen, Band of Horses, The National
Since The Black Keys area was pretty packed, we made our way to Band of Heathens:
And then headed back to the big stage for Spoon.
We had to pass on Vampire Weekend (at the other end of the park) in order to secure a good spot at The Strokes show at 8pm. Their show was really fun, with some video game effects as their backdrop. Julian Casablancas was full of random mutterings, mentioning the Thundercats television cartoon and pointing out that he wears sunglasses at night. The band played a bunch of songs, including some of their “oldies” that they were asked to rehearse and perform. Overall, it was a really fun show and made getting up at 4 am completely worth it. Can you spot Tetris in the picture below??
Saturday – Day 2
We started the day with Local Natives. I had been curious about them and it was a great show. They clearly had a following, as there was a big crowd assembled who seemed to know the lyrics.
Then Monsters of Folk appeared in their fancy suits and sunglasses and played a two-hour set.
“Supergroups” such as Monsters of Folk require many guitars…
The singers alternated, and here’s Conor Oberst taking a turn at the microphone.
And then it was M. Ward (my favorite). Though I miss his solo songs. He’s been spending too much time with She & Him and the Monsters of Folk.
Between bands (or on our way to another stage), there was time for snacks. I have to say that the food at ACL was really good. There were local vendors there, and lots of options. It was a nice alternative to the fried and boring stadium food you sometimes encounter at concerts. This place had tacos, ice cream, iced tea, fancy sandwiches, and BBQ.
To end the night, Muse put on a headliner-worthy performance. I’m talking lasers, light shows, glowing instruments, and a fully sequined suit for lead singer Matthew Bellamy. The jumbo-tron screens were a huge help. The camera work was so good that it didn’t matter if you were far from the stage. The editing and various camera angles provided good quality, fast-paced visuals of the happenings on stage.
Sunday – Day 3
On Day 3 I was excited for Band of Horses, and I was looking forward to checking out Gayngs and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Though I had not seen Gayngs perform before, as I got to the stage I knew that the people on stage were not from Gayngs. It was weird though, I didn’t think that bands just skipped festival performances. Sometimes tour buses break down, but they had played the night before in town at a festival after-party. So where were they? I found out after the fact that they had a little bus rental snafu.
Next, we headed over to see Robert Earl Keen and get our country music fix.
Then we saw a little bit of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, but it was a huge crowd, so we decided to head back to get a good spot for Band of Horses. This meant walking through what I called “chair village.” This was the large area, about 50 yards from the stage, where people were allowed to set up folding chairs.
People seemed to be camped out there, in their chair community, in order to have a nice, comfortable spot for The Eagles that night. We resorted to sitting right on the grass, which was a good move since (a) I didn’t really want to buy a chair and (b) we walked back to the hotel two of the nights, and adding a chair to that walk would not have been pretty.
Anayway, once we got in front of chair village we found a large open space and got a good seat for Band of Horses. They played a great show, and there was no talk of Andrew or any other boisterous fan.
Then we checked out The National. I’ve seen them more times than I should admit, but I got to hear a few songs, like one of my favorites “Afraid of Everyone”.
And then we said goodbye to ACL. The National’s “Apartment Story” played in the background as we walked to the shuttle bus, which was a nice ending to the three day festival.
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Tags: acl, austin city limits, band of horses, m ward, monsters of folk, muse, the strokes
Billy McCarthy of Augustines
Here is my not-so-live blog of my concert experience…
8/29: I hear that Augustines (or musicians formerly known as members of Pela) will be playing in Boston at The Middle East on 9/22. Check calendar. It’s a Wednesday. Think, can I change my work schedule to get to the show? No. Wonder why none of the shows I ever want to see are on the weekend. Mention to my brother in Boston that he should go check out the show.
9/21: Find out Augustines will be opening for The Boxer Rebellion on Thursday at Bowery Ballroom. Nice! No travel necessary.
9/22 (8:45 pm) My brother sends a picture text to my phone. He’s at the show and I see a picture of Billy McCarthy tuning his guitar.
9/23 (9:25 am) I get the report from last night from my brother. Augustines were good, Amusement Parks on Fire not good. He recommends I stay for the headliner The Boxer Rebellion.
(10:34 am) I hear from Elayna. She wasn’t going to come to the show tonight, but she just watched 20 minutes of Pela videos online. She changed her mind.
(8:50 pm) At Bowery Ballroom. We’re early and there aren’t tons of people there, but that is the benefit of going to a show just to see the opening act.
(9:05 pm) Eric Sanderson and Billy McCarthy (1/2 of Pela) start to play. Both have guitars, both are sitting down. I never thought I would see Billy McCarthy sitting down. This is the man who has been known to break bones during a concert. Ok, maybe the sitting is good. It’s just the two of them. Are they looking for a drummer? Or will this just be a two-man band forever? I miss the drums. They used a drum machine, but that is not the same. Not at all. But Billy’s singing well. Eric’s at the keyboard. They start with “Rise Ye Sunken Ships.” I start to wonder if their new album will be new stuff or the previously recorded Pela songs, which were never released.
(9:20 pm) Billy announces that they are Augustines. That was weird. They look like Pela, they sound like Pela, they’re singing Pela songs. And you’re telling me this is not Pela? I guess they wanted a fresh start after their disappointing break up last September. But I have to say it’s a little weird to hear it come out of Billy’s mouth. And he looked a little uncomfortable when he said it. Maybe I am reading too much into it. He and Eric looked like they were having a good time and happy to be performing again. But I missed the rockin’ out, human water fountain, guitar-playing on-the-floor antics of Pela. They are not meant to be someone’s opening act.
(9:30 pm) Billy gives a shout out to B61. Good local bar in Carroll Gardens.
The do a cover of headlining band’s song “Evacuate.” Then it’s on to good songs off of their soon to be released album. They play “Juarez” and “Chapel Song”. Sounds very similar to the KEXP studio session. Then they play “Tenement Teeth” (a Pela song from Anytown Graffiti). Did I mention I miss Pela?
(9:40 pm) They’re done. That was it. It was definitely good to see them, but it was like “Pela Lite”. I hope they get a drummer. They are not meant to play sitting down.
Elayna leaves. I decide to stay to see what The Boxer Rebellion has to offer.
(10:00- 10:45 pm) Amusement Parks on Fire take the stage. Their name reminds me of the band Care Bears on Fire. Though I think this is a band started by a few 10 year old girls in Brooklyn. So, very different. Not too excited about this music.
(11:00 pm) The Boxer Rebellion starts to play. Lots of lights and echoing high vocals. I can see them playing Madison Square Garden. It’s only a matter of time.
Here’s a live audio sample of the music from Bowery Ballroom last night.
Augustines’ “Chapel Song”
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Tags: augustines, bowery ballroom, pela, the boxer rebellion
Name that Tune
I knew I recognized this voice…how about you? Can you name this tune?
It’s M. Ward’s “Here Comes the Sun Again” from his album Transistor Radio.
Next, I was happy to hear that English band Mumford & Sons made their way into premiere week on FOX. Their songs were featured in the pilot episode of Lone Star. The show also features songs by Rogue Wave and Jose Gonzalez. View the trailer for the show below, and you’ll be treated to Mumford & Sons’ “Awake My Soul” off of Sigh No More.
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Tags: lone star, m ward, mumford & sons
Besides Daniel @ Eels Lounge
Last night I was on the exclusive guest list of about 20 people who who were invited to assemble in Greenpoint to hear the music of Atlanta-based Besides Daniel. Doors opened at 8, the music was to start at 9. There was an opening band (Tim Walker), professional video cameras and a merch table. This was an official concert, but it also happened to be in my friend’s apartment.
After an email correspondence that somehow got to the point of “Sure, we’ll come play a show in your living room” and a good deal of driving, the three members of Besides Daniel found their way to an apartment in Greenpoint yesterday. It was the second small concert they had done in the area, having just played a show on Long Island. I have to say that I could really get used to this type of thing. A personal concert with good friends, good food, and couches may just be the future of live music (at least in my dreamworld). Seriously, can you imagine it: no wristbands, no lines, byob, and you even get a nice bathroom. There’s also the added feature of getting to chat with the band. Before the music started last night the band members mingled with guests in the kitchen and were very friendly and gracious.
Before the music began, guests made their way into the room and planted themselves in chairs, couches, and a few chose the floor. The space was small, but worked out very well. Eels Lounge (which I have decided to call it, using the first initials of the three resident hostesses) is just the type of place that’s calling out for a concert. Framed concert posters line the walls and banjos and guitars are prominently displayed—though I think the record player was sad that its services were no longer needed for the night.
Tim Walker took to the stage first, and he was joined by Besides Daniel’s drummer, Aaron Schorch. Apparently the two just met a couple weeks ago, so I don’t know how Tim ended up touring with the band. But I think they made a good decision to bring him along. He has a great voice and I really enjoyed his songs. After a quick break, Besides Daniel took over. This included lead singer Danny Brewer, bassist Ryan Robertson, and Schorch back on drums. I can’t say I knew any of the songs, but I enjoyed hearing them for the first time. On the band’s MySpace page it’s noted that “Brewer’s influences are songwriters like Bob Dylan, A.A. Bondy, Ray LaMontagne, Sufjan Stevens, Nick Drake, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Elliott Smith, Conor Oberst, and Samuel Beam (Iron & Wine), as well as bands like Sigur Ros, Radiohead, MeWithoutYou, and Arcade Fire.” So I’m not surprised that I liked their sound. Though I should really thank the music booker at Eels Lounge. She’s the one with the good taste. I look forward to hearing about the headlining band for September.
Here are some videos and photos of the concert. The videos are meant to just be a sampling of the music. The picture quality is terrible (due to a little setting error on my camera, but the music makes up for the image). First is Tim Walker, then Besides Daniel.
Besides Daniel
Tim Walker
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Tags: besides daniel, tim walker
The Life is good Festival
Whoa.. did I just read this correctly?? A music festival in Canton, MA???? I can’t believe I just came across this. And Dr. Dog will be there? And Ben Harper? And Grace Potter & the Nocturnals? And The Sippy Cups? Ok, I admit I do not know The Sippy Cups, but I imagine they are huge with the under five crowd. In any case, there must be a typo. Either that or my little hometown has just become host to a large music festival. Wow, I am very impressed. Usually Canton, Ohio or Canton, China gets all the glory, but now it’s little Canton, Massachusetts making its way into the spotlight.
See, Canton, MA is a lovely suburb of Boston. With a population of around 25,000 and a commuter train running through the town it was a lovely place to grow up. When I lived there, there was a library, a high school, pizza joints, a homemade ice cream place (with cows and all), and a championship winning math team. I admit that there are some unique things about Canton—it’s the home of the Dunkin’ Donuts headquarters, a world famous viaduct, and two reality show contestants. But a music festival? I mean there used to be free summer shows by local musicians on the lawn in front of the high school, but those were primarily attended by the lawn chair set and a few fearless dancing children. That was it. Now there appears to be a music festival with multiple nationally recognized, even world famous, performers. Looks like it will be a family-friendly day, and the money raised is for a good cause. Nice work, Canton!
If you are going to be in the Canton area on the weekend of Sept 11 and 12, find out more about the 2010 Life is good Festival.
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Tags: ben harper, canton, grace potter and the nocturnals, jason mraz
I knew Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings were popular, but I had no idea they would bring out such a huge crowd to the Prospect Park bandshell Saturday night. They mentioned that there were around 20,000 people there, but I’m guessing there were actually more than that. When we arrived at 6 p.m. (when the gates were supposed to open) we found a line that wrapped all around the back of the fenced in seating area…and beyond. I never actually got to the end of the line. We walked a bit, but when we saw how far the line stretched we decided to just set up shop the the grass/dirt area outside of the fence. This meant that we wouldn’t really be able to see anything on the stage, but it also mean that we didn’t have to wait in line for two hours. I imagine people were there all day waiting in line. I have never seen a line so long at a Celebrate Brooklyn concert.
Luckily I did have a sneak peek of the show earlier in the afternoon. I happened to be riding my bike in the park during sound check, so I heard some of the music beforehand. I have to say that all the families who were grilling or enjoying picnics in the park had some very good background music.
So this was my view before the sun set:
These were my concertgoing neighbors. The one with the pacifier had some pretty good moves.
This photo was taken to prove that I was actually at a concert. If you look closely enough you will see a musician playing a trumpet.
So this is what I can say: the music was really good, but even though Sharon Jones has a huge voice, it was a little hard to hear it because there were lots of chatter in the nosebleed section. When I stretched my neck I could see a glittering mirror ball-like object coming in and out of view. I assumed that was Sharon Jones. And having seen her in concert before, I could imagine her moves during her dance tutorial. I looked at pictures from the concert and was surprised to see she was wearing a green dress. From my seat, she was in silver sequins. I was also surprised to see that this happened:
Who knew????
Anyway, it was a lovely night for a free concert. Unfortunately too many people thought so. It was also the second to last concert in the Celebrate Brooklyn summer series, so maybe that was a factor as well. Many thanks to the bathroom attendant who kept the ladies moving along, and provided some comic relief for those of us who couldn’t believe we had to stand in such a long line. Luckily it was the only one I chose to wait in that night.
Update 8/11/10: Hi, Dan…in response to your comment here is the pic of the crazy Sharon Jones superfan from the Monolith Music Festival.
Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings + fan
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Tags: celebrate brooklyn, prospect park, sharon jones and the dap kings
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