July 17, 2010

Along with The Wetlands, the 712 Club, the Nightingale Bar and the Fore-N-Aft, New York City’s Irving Plaza holds a special place in God Street Wine lore as one of the “home” venues for the band. Unlike the Gramercy, IP was the site of many special GSW shows during the group’s hey day.

[All photos by Joe Madonna]

Let’s compare the group’s four reunion shows to a typical high school reunion. If last weekend’s concerts at Gramercy were the more formal part of the reunion at a hotel ballroom, last night’s GSW show at Irving felt like the after party in the basement we all used to hang out at back in the day.

Set 1: Epilog, Wendy, Big Papa, Lighthouse, Crazy Head -> Goodnight Gretchen -> Hammer and Spike -> Stupid Hat, Bring Back the News

Set 2: Stranger, Mile By Mile, Epiphany, I Still Like You -> Water -> Feel The Pressure -> Morning Cigarettes -> Waiting for the Tide, Get on the Train (with Love Light Tease)

Encore: Any Major Dude, Brick House

Encore2: Thirsty

Opening with Epilog – a tune drummer Tom Osander picked as his favorite God Street Wine original in our interview with him – the quintet seemed more comfortable on stage and were a bit looser than at the Gramercy shows. That’s not to say that musically they didn’t nail it again, because they did, the members of the band just seemed less intent on not messing something up and more intent on enjoying the experience.

• GSW Reunion: Night One, Night Two
• Audio: Scott Brown’s Audience Recording
• Video: Crazy Head, Epilog, Morning Cig

Over the course of two lengthy sets God Street Wine mixed originals that weren’t performed last week with some of their best material that had already been played at the Gramercy. I liken the repeats to getting to spend some bonus time with a long lost friend after finally reconnecting last weekend. The band’s comfort level came through in the repeats and songs like Gretchen, Epiphany and Waiting For The Tide were even better the second time around.

READ ON for more on God Street Wine @ IP…

Words and Images: Benji Feldheim

Pitchfork Music Festival 2010

Day One:

Leave it to a Swedish pop singer to save the first day of the 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival from a numbing heat haze.

Wait, really? Yes. Her name is Robyn, and she can sing and dance globe-wide circles around most other dance-beat laden pop singers. Take some tips here Gaga.

With a scorching sun beating down on about 18,000 folks out of the estimated 54,000 expected to attend Pitchfork this weekend, Robyn put on a powerhouse set of electro dance, high register harmonies and a fiendish sexual energy that woke the crowd up.

“Is it always this hot Chicago?” Robyn said between songs.

With a live band tweaking synth knobs and playing both electric and no-plug drums, Robyn showed the difference between a pop singer who actually writes and enjoys her own music, as opposed to those on a record label leash. Straight ahead beats that suddenly shifted into faster paces, backed by a rolling array of clean synth bleeps and bloops and topped by Robyn’s crystal clear singing and energy made the set a gem.

READ ON for more from Benji on Day One of the P4K Festival…