Although this greater New York ethereal trio had to cancel their first February show at Brooklyn’s Rock Shop due to Blizzard Nemo, the band “stormed” back with these two superb follow-up gigs later in the month.
Sure enough, the set was an excellent mix of both Lps, not favoring one or the other, and the band was in sync.
A small room, Park Slope, friendly people, and free pop music provided by Charles Ramsey and band – a great combination.
The bottom line is that if you ever have a chance to see The Night Marchers, don’t miss them!
On the first show of their tour, bassist Jason Narducy’s and drummer Jon Wurster’s hefty yet fluid rhythms constantly sent Mould’s propulsive, buzzing guitar to Shuttle launch intensities.
Decent shows are slim pickings when your days off are Tuesday and Wednesday.
What a show, what a night and what a testament to Mould and his band that they still kick so much butt after all these years!
Each of Stringfellow’s previous shows I’ve seen were all analogous in how he strove to achieve an intimate, one-on-one connection with the audience. This early Saturday evening show was no different.
This show marked the 15th time I’ve seen Mission of Burma since their NYC comeback at Irving Plaza in January 2002, and their performance was as pulverizing, unrelenting, and physically exhausting as any of those previous gigs.
The last time this Hungarian group played in New York I had to miss them because of a Buzzcocks show on the same night. So I was glad to have this second chance to see them, even if I had to wait over two years for it.
Cornell howls, Thayil slays, Camerons slams, Shepherd sways – grunge lives in 2013.
It’s rare that two artists of such quality share a Free at Noon bill.
For this go-round and perhaps to stick to theme of the documentary, Stabb and company were intent on replicating a 1982 style set.
Starting with the instrumental “Mango” and playing a set that mostly comprised material from their earliest days, Dag Nasty was just on for the entirety of their short but incredible set.
The first time I accidentally ended up in a mosh pit was also the first time I was mistaken for a drug dealer. I say accidentally for I suppose there is no other way to first end up in one other than by blindly stumbling forthright into it.
The musicianship is just off the charts and I love the 3-4 part harmonies in some of the songs as well.
This Brooklyn trio built up such vigorous, colossal crescendos, I thought Union Hall’s upstairs bocce courts might collapse on top of us.
After headlining Manhattan’s spacious Terminal 5 in front of 3,000 punters last March, here they were eight short months later, playing this much smaller, 400-capacity Gowanus art/performance space.
Even 33 years after the original lineup split, an Avengers show is still, remarkably, a carefree and liberating experience.
For this tour, Sloan trotted out their 1994 second LP Twice Removed, the occasion being its recent box set reissue. Like the previous six times I’ve seen them, this was another smashing performance!
That he performed his ode to cunnilingus while wearing a black cotton sack dress made it all the more a shining example of unselfconscious sexual expression.
Tame Impala find the locus of The Beatles, Pink Floyd and hacky sack.
Lotion were one of the best bands in NYC back in the 1990’s, and they still sound better than most current local outfits. Here’s hoping they continue to play once (or more) per year, to keep reminding us of that.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed for that Slowdive reunion, but as these shows proved, Halstead on his own is equally worth making the trek from New Jersey to NYC on two successive nights to see.
In person their music engulfs and entrances you, even moreso than on record. It makes for a distinctive double-whammy of muscle and beauty that keeps getting better with each show.
Imagine a mild-mannered, 70-year old singer-songwriter in dark black sunglasses and a leather vest saying this stuff and you’ll get an idea of the weird, but cozy vibe of the show.
I took out my earplugs so I could hear their set in all of its glory and turned to a friend afterwards and said “wow”.
Newman was in fine spirits, joking with the crowd on numerous occasions between songs and even giving detailed (and very personal) explanations for the lyrics on songs like “Come Crash” and the aforementioned “The Heartbreak Rides”.
Australian imports with enough tremolo to shatter windows
Canada’s longest running trio tours on their newest record, Clockwork Angels.
A hometown show that wasn’t really a hometown show.
Deftly played songs about nature, love, and the sea.
The blues are back!
Keith Morris was in fine form, hounding the stage like a screaming banshee and living up to his verbose and confrontational reputation.
When Reverend Gira pulls in your town and sets up the revival tent, it’s a call to all pilgrims. Heed the call, join in the triumph.
I think the speakers are still smoking from the heat generated by the version of “Aly Walk with Me” that was played and it’s over a week later!
The weren’t the Ramones but I didn’t hear any complaints.
A zealous crowd of diehards ensured that two-thirds of the main floor was full, so this was far from a bust. Despite the thinner turnout, this was a welcome return from a band that deserves a bigger following here.
Maximo Park played a fantastic set spanning their four albums, wisely focusing heavily on just-released new album The National Health (perhaps their career best) and their debut A Certain Trigger, by some measure their best records.
As the encore ended with the classic “Makes No Sense At All”, we left exhausted but utterly blown away by the absolutely great show we had just seen.
Mould seemed so rejuvenated, and his band so on fire, that this was more dynamic and passionate than any prior Mould full-band show I’d seen.
The old dogs don’t have any new tricks, but why mess with a successful formula?
Clichés and buzzwords were bandied about, like “transparency and clarity”, “game plan”, “best possible team”, and “be aware”.
The quiet setting allowed Matt Harmon and Kali Giaritta to take advantage of the intimate room’s natural acoustics, making their attractive trade-off vocals and harmonies resonate.
They opened up with “She May Call You Up Tonight” and followed it with “I’ve Got Something on My Mind” and “Pretty Ballerina”.
Oh well. I’ll stick to their records and hope for a better, tighter show next time.
You could tell that everyone in attendance, especially the many seeing the band for the first time, were electrified – the thunderous applause at the end of the main set was louder than at any past show I can recall.
At least in Jane’s Addiction case, it wasn’t better to burn out than to fade away.
This free quadruple bill in Central Park, part of CBGB’s inaugural four-day, 300+ band festival, was well worth enduring a few sweaty hours for in the oppressive heat.
The set culminated with what I think is their greatest song to date, the stunning “Up All Night”, the closing track on The Only Place.
