First, a line change: As per his request, our resident mixologist Dan Alford will bring his tunes to those gloomy Mondays. Dan will take up residence in a new department yet to
Neither of us can successively operate a camera. We take out-of-focus pictures and shaky amateur videos, but we can’t get it right. Thankfully some of our friends have at least a modicum of talent, and occasionally they pass along some photos for Show & Tell. Our man Danfun from Who’s Driving the Bus? caught the Flaming Lips this weekend, and he was kind enough to share. Take’r away…
Perfect weather, frozen lemonade, confetti and balloons — oh, just another day with The Flaming Lips, this time at Brown University.
The Flaming Lips have always been one of my go to bands, having seen them countless times over the past 11 years. Their albums are amazing and transcendent, but their live shows are even bigger, greater, always a huge extravagant production to absorb. The band also happens to feature some the nicest and most endearing musicians in all of rock and/or roll.
Although their live concert has essentially been the same show for the past five or six years, it’s one that I personally can never pass up. It’s a lot like watching your favorite movie over and over again: You know how it’s going to end and you don’t care, because it just means that much to you. I have taken dozens of people to see the Flaming Lips for their first time, and almost every single one of them has left knowing they were just at the best party going on in that particular time zone.
So Saturday morning I decided to head up to Brown University’s Spring Fling Weekend to catch Stardeath and Whitedwarfs, Missions to Burma, Yo La Tengo, and, of course, the Flaming Lips. And boy I’m glad I did. Read on for more photos and more thoughts about the show…
We don’t know all that much about Chris Cornell, other than the fact that he looks kinda like that Dominant Male Monkey Motherfucker Clint character from Dazed & Confused. But while we were rockin’ out at Rodrigo Y Gabriela on Monday night, our friend Jon Hochstat was partyin’ like it’s 1992. Here’s his take:
Some of us count ourselves among the large fan base surrounding the entire grunge scene in Seattle back in the early 1990s. But many of us have not had the chance in a long time to hear in a live setting the Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog song catalogs we knew well…until Monday night.
On the fifth stop of his short pre-album release tour, Chris Cornell and his band strolled out onto the stage at the Venue Formally Known as Irving Plaza around 9:20. And from the second Chris & Co. hit the stage, it was obvious the Manhattan crowd planned to show Cornell that the true center of the concert universe is 2,900 miles from his home. Read on for more from this under-reported show…
Our friend Danfun wants to school you on some cool shit…I’d let him.
You’ll usually catch nothing but blank stares if you mention Roky Erickson‘s name. But the Texan’s story, his music and his behavior are the stuff that legends, and they’ve transformed him into a rock ‘n roll cult icon with an outlaw persona.
So I wasn’t going to miss the chance to see Roky’s first ever New York City appearance, and especially not one on a Friday the 13th. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Roky’s show, since I had heard rumors that he still suffered from mental health issues (read on for more about that).
But the concert delivered way more than I ever could have expected. Roky and his band, The Explosives, just flat-out destroyed Southpaw. The band was tight, Roky’s vocals were awesome and the crowd loved every minute…
Read on for more of Roky Erickson’s story and Danfun‘s photos from the show
Our friend Frances Greene had a unique experience this week. Now, show ‘n tell…
I had the honor of joining my friend as one of the privileged hundred (give or take a few hipsters) on Monday night to see Andrew Bird in an intimate venue, Union Hall in Park Slope. I’m not sure of the exact details, but after failing to procure a ticket the normal way, there was a charity auction, and my friend, from what I’ve been told, grew really competitive, and he won said charity auction.
Somehow, and I’m still not exactly sure about this part either, but maybe cause I know him for more than 20 years (oh no, am I old enough to know people that aren’t my relatives for two decades?), I became the recipient of my friend’s charitable-yet-selfish competitiveness. Either way, we both won.
For those of you who don’t know Andrew Bird, allmusic.com describes him thusly: “Chicago singer/songwriter/violinist Andrew Bird updates the traditions of small-group swing, German lieder, and New Orleans jazz, mixing gypsy, folk, and rock elements into his distinctive style.” But, as is often the case with small blurbs, that doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of this prolific and original musician.
Read on for more of Frances’ review of Monday’s incredible performance…
Neither of us can successively operate a camera. We take out-of-focus pictures and shaky amateur videos, but we can’t get it right. Thankfully some of our friends have at least a modicum of talent, and occasionally they pass along some photos for Show & Tell. Our man Danfun from Who’s Driving the Bus? caught the Dr. Dog show at Bowery Ballroom on Thursday, and he was kind enough to share. Take’r away…
During the past three years I’ve been lucky enough to see Dr. Dog open for some of my favorite bands, like My Morning Jacket and the Raconteurs. But if last night’s Bowery Ballroom show was any indication of where this band is headed, these guys will probably be headlining bigger venues instead of opening for bigger acts.
Read on for the rest of Danfun’s top-notch photos from the show…
House Mixologist Dan Alford is away this week, so we’ve turned to our ol’ pal Neddy for some downloadin’ love. Neddy’s offering for us features a “little roots music focusing
**Click here to download this show (thanks to PT’s PhishyPhishPhan)**
It just felt right. No place we’d rather be on a random Wednesday night in April than the 499-capacity Gramercy Theater to watch the former keyboardist for the popular rock band Phish sit down at his rightful place behind a new set-up, Chris Kuroda bathing him in the familiar tones of the light rig.
So you can imagine that even before the music began in earnest, we’d been sold our bill of goods. Thankfully, though, the same genuine enthusiasm for Page’s new band and material left with us on the way out of the theater.
Our Page Permagrins emerged the minute the concert started, with McConnell busting out a solid instrumental called Back in the Basement. From there he played the entire album, and we loved nearly every minute of it. Songs that were five minutes on the debut solo disc became 15-minute jam sessions. And save a few exceptions on either side, the jamming of this band is infinitely more palatable than the improvisations of a certain red-haired guitar player’s recent bands.
Read on for more thoughts on the show and amazing pictures from Coach…
It’s almost official: Concert-promoting heady overlord Live Nation is one step closer to pulling off the…completely unnecessary. The good people at Idolator ran a clever post today with the following
HT Contributor Eliot Glazer has tremendously terrible taste in music. But he’s an adroit wordsmith, and he’s gonna try to convince us that the bad is really good. Most of the
