Hungry Fleet of New Yorkers Flock For Foxes
Event Date: May 18, 2011
Venue: United Palace Theater
Performer: Fleet Foxes
For almost every artist, band, or musician it is a dream to play the Big Apple when touring in support of an album. According to critics, Fleet Foxes’ current release, Helplessness Blues, seems to be anything but a sophomore slump. If a double sold-out New York affair is any indication of their growing popularity, then humble beginnings will turn these young kits into full-grown foxes in no time.
The choice of venue for Fleet Foxes was the meticulously restored “Cambodian neo-Classical” United Palace Theatre in Washington Heights. The performance space melded perfectly with the organic-sounding 19-song folk set. Appearing with no projections in the background, as if to perform for a high school recital, the timorous sextet walked onto the stage looking as if they just exited their rehearsal garage dressed not to impress, but to just jam for the electrified and intimidating New York audience.
Drummer, Joshua Tillman, was placed in the center of the stage while lead guitarist, Skyler Skjelset, and bassist, Christian Wargo, stood beside him at each side. To the left, and surrounded by multiple keyboards, was keyboardist Casey Wescott. Opposite Wescott and behind a cello was multi-instrumentalist Morgan Henderson, who is responsible for most of the band’s arrangements. The last to appear on the stage was lead vocalist and guitarist, Robin Pecknold, who wore a skullcap that displayed the band’s record label, Sub Pop.
The Oregon-based group opened with their acoustic song, “The Cascades”, which sounded oddly reminiscent of “Blackbird” by The Beatles. However, in every respect Pecknold’s tenor voice echoed of Graham Nash of folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
The audience remained calm and at times appeared hypnotized while lead singer Robin Pecknold sang with his eyes shut. However, once the band’s intertwined harmonies stopped and the entrancing spell was broken, the audience took it upon themselves to wholeheartedly shout anything from, “We love you” to, “Take off your pants!” They even went as far as giving the group a sustained robust standing ovation after the Helplessness Blues wistful opening number, “Montezuma”. Read more »
Pipers, Better Than Peppers
Event Date: September 7, 2010
Venue: B. B. Kings Blues Club
Bands: Red Hot Chilli Pipers (Main); GIRSA (Opener)
When telling people that I was off to see the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, I was first met with a flurry of jealous looks and then confusion, as the phonemes caught up with the temporal lobe. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, these are not peppers, they are Pipers, and they certainly earned the capital letter I just bequeathed upon them.
On September 7th, this band (used semantically to represent a great number of people come together for a single purpose, rather than a few guys who decided to play music together) graced the stage of B.B. King’s to bring to New York a spectacular set of Bagpipe Rock, and Folk, and what have you. Read more »
Brad Senne: Aerial Views
Four words come to mind when thinking of Brad Senne and his new album Aerial Views: Solo Acoustic Indie Folk. Resembling a mixture of Bon Iver and Iron and Wine, this singer and songwriter from Minneapolis has a melodic and hypnotizing voice. The former hardcore musician, who cites Bob Dylan, Elliott Smith, Iron and Wine, Wilco, and Muddy Waters as influences, has grown with the music scene by recently producing heartfelt but composed music.
Considered an urban folkster, Brad Senne plays almost entirely all the instruments on Aerial Views resulting in poppy folk songs like “Sing and Dance” and “So Easy”. However, Aerial Views isn’t completely folk. The harmonica in “Overgrown with Warmth” and “Sew the Scars” adds an element of blues to Brad’s music.
With the combination of his soothing voice and acoustic guitar, he’s creating a whole new genre of Blues Folk. Senne is defining his own style in an already established scene. His album Aerial Views is a must for Bon Iver, Iron and Wine, or other folk/acoustic rock fans.
You can learn more about Brad Senne and purchase Aerial Views at his MySpace Page
http://www.myspace.com/bradsenne
The Protomen–Act II: The Father of Death
In an age where CD’s and records have become obsolete in order to make way for the sale of individual songs, it is rare to see a band release a full album that tells an overarching story, rather just being a collection of songs about numerous unrelated subjects. The Protomen’s recent release entitled “Act II: The Father of Death,” does just this, creating a compelling story over twelve songs.
The Protomen are a band that took the plot of the original Mega Man games for the NES, changed it into a 1984-esque world and turned the whole thing into a rock opera. Some details are changed from the original source material, the biggest being that Wily is actually successful in his attempts to take control of the world, and he oversees everything from a tower while his robots create a dystopia where Big Brother is always watching. Read more »
‘Orphaned’ No Longer
Event Date: March 8, 2010
Venue: B. B. Kings Blues Club
Bands: Orphaned Land, Suidakra, Gwynbleidd
I’ve seen a lot of bands over the course of my metal reporting years (as brief a time as it has been), and very few of them I would classify as “must-see”. I must say that Orphaned Land has turned out to be one of those must-see bands.
Rooney Make the “Heart” Grow Fonder
Event Date: December 11, 2009
Venue: Webster Hall
Band: Rooney
More Rooney, please
“Deliver the goods.” It’s an expression I’ve heard a lot lately and, when I think about the band Rooney, that’s exactly what comes to mind. This band always delivers the goods. If you go to concerts for glitz and glamour, a Rooney show is not for you. If you’re like me, and prize a rocking good time that cuts straight to the point, well…you probably had your tickets before I did.
This proudly Californian-based quintet gets on that stage, brings the house down with an old-school “jam” session, and promises that they’ll do the exact same thing every time. Such a clean-cut approach is part of what makes Rooney concerts so unique and why I’ve looked forward to seeing them, every chance I get, since discovering them during a 2004 episode of “The O.C.”. Read more »
Get Your Sexy On: A Night at the NYBF
Warning: This is not a work-friendly article.
Event Date: October 3, 2009
Venue: B.B. King’s Bar and Grille
Performers Reviewed: Angie Pontani, Indigo Blue and Co., Gravity Plays Favorites, Ms. Tickle, Melody Sweets, Hot Toddy.
Burlesque.
Bur-lesque.
The word invokes all sorts of thoughts. Mostly, they’re thoughts of half-naked women clad in tassels, garters, and feather boas. Not to say that these elements are no longer relevant or present in modern burlesque but, well, the “art” has grown far beyond that simple description in recent years.
Wikipedia defines burlesque as, “a humorous theatrical entertainment involving parody and sometimes grotesque exaggeration.” But that’s still not hitting the nail on the head. While I put the word in quotation marks before, burlesque has truly become an art and nowhere was this more evident than at the Seventh Annual New York Burlesque Festival.
Anna Fur Laxis pretends to be scandalized!
Enter the Asylum: Long-Awaited Emilie Autumn, in NYC
(Editor: I screwed up the passes so our awesome photographer, Frenchie, with her DSLR camera, couldn’t take pics. These are shots with a regular handheld courtesy of Thomas. Thanks man.)
A long line stood outside the Highline Ballroom on the night of October 13th, 2009. They weren’t waiting for a concert, however…they were waiting to enter the asylum. Emilie Autumn fell upon New York City with all of the grace and costumed pageantry that one would expect of a young woman from the Victorian Era.
The stage was adorned with everything one would need for a tea party at the asylum. Cakes, cookies, tea pots, dolls, skulls, and rats, all lit by candle light, created the perfect atmosphere for the macabre performance still to come. As the lights dimmed the enthusiastic screams of dozens of wayward girls filled the Highline. Their long wait to see Emilie Autumn on her first ever North American tour was finally was over (this after a cancellation months ago).
A spot of tea and cookies with The Bloody Crumpets
VNV Nation at Nokia Theatre
Ronan Harris of VNV Nation
I have a very definite opinion about music. Mainly, that it should make you feel something, anything. This is clearly an opinion shared by the members of VNV Nation; the duo being the Irish born Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson of Great Britian. Together they’ve become the most popular creators of a music genre called “futurepop”. For them, it’s not about the money, the fame, or even the art of creating the music itself; it’s about how that art can make people feel and that’s exactly why they’ve been so successful. It also doesn’t hurt that they make music almost certain to get you moving; losing yourself you feel inspired by the hope that Ronan’s voice and lyrics bring. Read more »
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