Tagged: dpa4021

John Vanderslice performs "I'll Never Live Up To You" w/ Melodie Knight at The Rock Shop, Brooklyn from BlearyEyedBrooklyn.com on Vimeo . A John Vanderslice concert is always an authentic communal experience. John often spends time to talk directly and candidly to the audience and performs his very personal songs in a manner to which his fans can relate. That is to say that he's a performer without an ounce of pretense. On Friday night at packed Rock Shop , John added another dimension to the fan-friendly atmosphere [...]

[photo by nyctaper] Last Tuesday at Bell House was not just the first "wheel spin" Yo La Tengo show ever in NYC , it was also the CD release show from YLT friends and collaborators Antietam . In fact, Antietam was the headlining band at Yo La Tengo's first-ever show at Maxwell's in 1984. The latest Antietam release Tenth Life is their eighth studio album and first since 2008's Opus Mixtum . At the Bell House, Antietam performed the entire album Tenth Life from start to finish, [...]

[photos by John Ruscher for Eardrum NYC ] Cass McCombs has created and performed superb music for nearly a decade. As he has recorded in locations from Baltimore to Southern California to Michigan to Chicago absorbing all of the musical influences that inform his songcraft, Cass remains an enigmatic and solitary performer whose music is as compelling as it is dark. The release of the brilliant Wit's End ( Domino Records ) last month has gathered the standard critical praise for McCombs' work. But Wit's End is [...]

[Photo courtesy of The Wild Honey Pie ] Things seem to be going well for Philly’s Jukebox the Ghost - not long after they booked this show at the intimate Rock Shop as the support act for tourmates Wakey Wakey! , they found themselves at the top of the bill at Bowery Ballroom the following night.  It isn’t terribly surprising: Since their founding in their present incarnation in 2005, the band has toured extensively behind big name, accessible pop-rock acts like Ben Folds and Barenaked Ladies and released two strong [...]

[Photos by acidjack] The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are one of the latter half of the last decade's local success stories.  They're a band that has a hard-won and devoted following that hangs on every word, and rightly so.  Their well-crafted and well-written songs of love, yearning and loss may stylistically reference an earlier era, but they make a timeless point.  Lyrically, of course, these subjects never grow old, but musically, a tightly written, approachable indiepop song never does, either.  Pains are the kind of band you root for - obviously nice people, [...]

[Wakey Wakey! at SXSW 2011. Photos courtesy of James Buchan - check out his Flickr stream [ HERE ]] A lot can be learned about Brooklyn's Wakey Wakey! by considering the following anecdote from last Wednesday's show at Rock Shop . It was the third song in their headlining set, following an outstanding set from tourmates Jukebox the Ghost . Keyboardist/vocalist/frontman Mike Grubbs dismisses the band from the stage and launches into a quiet solo number. As he sings the first line, peals of laughter erupt - he is covering [...]

[photos by Amanda Hatfield ] On Friday night, The Antlers played a surprise midnight show at Knitting Factory . The show was a brooklynvegan -presented impromptu CD release show for Burst Apart ( Frenchkiss ), which will be released on Tuesday. The Antlers treated their fans who missed SXSW to a encore of the show they presented in March - Burst Apart from start to finish. The Brooklyn crowd also got a very special bonus in superb renditions of two Hospice [...]

[photo courtesy of Oscar Anjewierden ] The conventional wisdom about Buffalo Tom is that they are a quintessential "90s sound" band forever interwoven with the cultural milieu of that period - specifically, their connection to the short-lived but iconic tv show "My So Called Life" . The problem with boxing in the Tom with a sound or with a decade is that those relationships are almost entirely anecedotal. Buffalo Tom is a trio with a universal guitar/bass/drums/earnest-voca ls "roots rock" sound with influences from any of the last five decades, and which retains [...]

[photo courtesy of blir] On the final night of their US tour British Sea Power let loose the likes we have not seen before. Three years ago, their final night show at Maxwell's was a hoot, but what went down at Bowery Ballroom on Thursday night was a grade above. The show began with unbridled energy as the band ripped through a series of Yan songs normally reserved for the end of the set. And it was that end of the set where things pretty much became anarchy. [...]

[photo by Amanda Hatfield - courtesy of Matt at A Heart Is A Spade ] When we last saw Wye Oak in January, they were wowing as the openers for The Decemberists and then playing an intimate surprise show at Rock Shop in anticipation of the release of their new album. As acidjack predicted based upon the Rock Shop performance, Civilian ( Merge Records ) has been the well-deserved breakout release for Wye Oak. At Bowery Ballroom on Thursday, the band seemed propelled [...]

[photo courtesy of Ben at I Have 19 Voices ] The Black Angels take their psychedelia very seriously. As the hosts of Austin Psych Fest and one time backing band for Psych legend Roky Erickson (13th Floor Elevators), the band certainly has the pedigree. But as we saw on Friday night at Bowery Ballroom , Black Angels also have the songs, the stage show, and the sound. From the opening intro music of "Good Vibrations" that warped into a reverbed and looped mutation of the song before the [...]

[photo by Greg Cristman ] The second night of Godspeed You! Black Emperor at The Church of St. Paul the Apostle was much like the first night - that is to say incredibly moving and powerful suites of music performed flawlessly to the backdrop of constantly changing film images. The difference with the second night was that after some noise complaints in the neighborhood, the volume of the concert was about half as loud as the previous evening. Fortunately, the church-pew-seated crowd was both attentive and not distracted - Godspeed mesmerized even at [...]

[photo by Greg Cristman ] In our reviews of the first two Godspeed You! Black Emperor shows at Brooklyn's Masonic Temple , acidjack truly captured the impact of a GYBE show. When the scene of the band's NYC residency moved to The Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Lincoln Center on Thursday, the setting more closely matched the experience both visually and aurally. St. Paul's is a huge classic old Catholic cathedral, and its hundred-foot high ceiling and intricate glasswork offered a challenge, but ultimately a fruitful reward for those listening [...]

[ photos by nyctaper ] Akron/Family shows tend to be celebratory affairs, so the end-of-tour sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday night was quite likely the ultimate A/F affair. As the band is touring throughout the year behind the superb new album S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT , the setlists have been geared primarily towards the new material, but on this night the band took their time and opened smoothly into a sweet version of the older "We All Will", before launching to an extended "River". [...]

[photo courtesy of John Ruscher at Eardrum NYC ] Delicate Steve began as the solo recording project of Steve Marion, but with the release and subsequent success of Wondervisions ( Luaka Bop Records ), Steve has now become a full touring band. On Thursday at Knitting Factory in an opening set for Akron/Family, Delicate Steve played a short but sweet set of his multi-influenced melodic guitar instrumentals. While Steve cites Ponytail and Dirty Projectors as influences (both of whom are contributors), the influences could also reach back [...]

[photos courtesy of John Ruscher at Eardrum NYC ] Akron/Family live shows are always tribal full participation events. The band encourages others to become involved with the show, but at Thursday night's show at Knitting Factory it became part of the performance. After an absolutely raging sixty-minute main set, the forty-minute encore/second set began with artist Aki Sasamote decorating the stage and when the band returned, she rapped them in tape and painted on Seth Olinsky's back. While the art was performed, the band played an alternatively quiet and [...]

[photo by Bill Antonucci from Duke Street Blog ] Tonight the Moondoggies/Quiet Life tour comes to a close with a show in Portland, the home base of Quiet Life . The two bands crossed the nation in unison, both as friends and as bands with musically similar identities. Two weeks ago, we caught the tour at Rock Shop and posted the Moondoggies recording last week. The opening set that night at Rock Shop was a revelation. Quiet Life write compelling songs with a strong dose of Americana. The vocalist [...]

[photo courtesy of Chris from Music Snobbery ] Redemption is sweet, especially when it follows several years of intense struggle. On Tuesday, the New York Times published an article and interview with Nicole Atkins called " Musical Survivor Hustles for a Second Chance ", which describes her travails since she separated from Columbia Records. But the title is misleading. Nicole is not seeking a "second chance", but rather with the release of Mondo Amore ( Razor & Tie ) this week, the ability to make the albums she [...]

[photo by Kevin Kaim from Duke Street Blog ] While the critically easy way to approach The Moondoggies is to describe them as another in the line of Northwest "beardo" bands (i.e. Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses), their high-energy show at The Rock Shop on Sunday demonstrated their versatility and unwillingness to be pigeonholed. As the band opened with one of their oldest songs "Keep Her On The Line", the folk rock strumming was forefront, but as the set progressed, the variety of styles and influences were diverse. "Its A Shame" [...]

[photo by Chris Gersbeck - courtesy of brooklynvegan ] We've followed Mission of Burma , version 2.0, for almost twice as long as the original run of the band in the early 80s. The most consistent element of their live show has always been the ferocity of the performance. The band plays live with the kind of kinetic energy that defines their sound, and provides earth shattering volume to prove the point. The other aspect MOB's live show is that the setlists are always quite divergent. The Bell House [...]