Category Archives: Pop and Rock

Hope Sandoval likes to keep us in the dark

Posted on October 11, 2009 | 1 comment
Hope Sandoval stays cloaked in darkness on the Music Hall of Williamsburg stage.

Hope Sandoval stays cloaked in darkness on the Music Hall of Williamsburg stage.

Last night was a busy one for Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? After the fantastic GraceMusic performance by Anonymous 4 in Nyack, there was just enough time to make it to Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg for Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions.

Because she had some technical difficulties, there was plenty of time to get into position for her set.

If you’ve never seen Hope perform before (I hadn’t), you need to know that the former Mazzy Star lead singer like to perform in darkness. The set started with an announcement that no photography was allowed, and one of the band’s roadies was pretty aggressive about pointing out suspected photo pirates in the audience, using a very bright flashlight beam. (As you can see, WYMMWIG got access to a photo. My apologies for the poor quality, but conditions were far less than ideal.)

Hope’s set was subdued but lovely. Her first song, “Blanchard,” was so low-key that her voice was almost inaudible in the sound mix. After that problem was repaired, her singing could be heard, but remained deliberately obscured.

Hope sang and played glockenspiel front and center onstage, with only the flickering light of projected silent films illuminating her face from time to time. She let her songs do her talking, pausing to speak a few words only in response to a cry of “We love you, Hope” from the audience. Her response: “If you love me, stop the people from talking!”

In the end, it was a strong set, but I didn’t feel compelled to applaud loudly for more. It was just enough,

Read more about the show at Yes, I Am That Important!, which also posted the set list:

Credit: Yes, I Am That Important!

Credit: Yes, I Am That Important!

Hope and her band are still in town, and will perform tonight at 9 a Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Manhattan. (212) 533-2111. $22 at the door.

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Posted in Classical, Concerts, Music, Pop and Rock

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Drawing the (bar) line

Posted on October 3, 2009 | Leave a comment

COVER_finalMy musical friend Kelly Flint, an extraordinary singer-songwriter, fantastic mom and all-around amazing person, posted this on facebook. I’m sharing it here, too, since it’s in keeping with the theme of Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?

Thanks, Kelly! (If you don’t know Kelly, you should. She was the voice and auburn-haired singer in NYC band Dave’s True Story,  which grabbed the national spotlight with “Crazy Eyes” and “Sequined Mermaid Dress,” which were on the soundtrack of the 2001 cult film Kissing Jessica Stein. With DTS on an open-ended hiatus, Kelly’s been pursuing a solo career as a folksinger. Be sure to check out her site or her MySpace!

Music Bar
Oct. 2 at 11:14am
C, E-Flat and G go into a bar. The bartender says, “Sorry,
but we don’t serve minors.” So E-Flat leaves, and C
and G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the
fifth is diminished and G is out flat. F comes in and tries to
augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. D comes in and
heads for the bathroom saying, “Excuse me, I’ll
just be a second.” Then A comes in, but the bartender is
not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.

Then the bartender notices B-Flat hiding at the end of the bar
and says, “Get out! You’re the seventh minor
I’ve found in this bar tonight.” E-Flat comes back
the next night in a 3 piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The
bartender says, “You’re looking sharp tonight. Come
on in, this could be a major development.”

Sure enough, E-Flat soon takes off his suit and everything else,
and is au naturel. Eventually, C sobers up and realizes in horror
that he’s under a rest. C is brought to trial, found
guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is
sentenced to 10 years of D.S. without Coda at an upscale
correctional facility.

Yesterday at 11:14am

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Posted in Folk, Music, Pop and Rock

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Pete Seeger, Tom Chapin perform at Nyack health-care reform rally

Posted on October 3, 2009 | Leave a comment
Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger

Legendary folk singer Pete Seeger and Piermont’s own Grammy Award-winning folksinger Tom Chapin will headline a Health Care for All Rally in Nyack’s Memorial Park tomorrow.

Tom_Chapin_CROPPED

Tom Chapin

Pete, 90, and Tom top a roster that also includes  New York City blues rocker Emory Joseph and The Roues Brothers from West Nyack.

The rally for universal health care was organized by Health Care for All Now and is co-sponsored by The Fellowship of Reconciliation, Rockland Progressive Dems, Spring Valley NAACP, Nyack NAACP, WESPAC Foundation, Organizing for America, and Rockland Women’s Political Caucus.

For further background, click here to read an article from  The Journal News about the rally.

Health Care For All Rally, Sunday, Oct. 4, 4:30-7:30 pm. Memorial Park, 53 Piermont Ave (at Depew Ave.) Nyack, NY. (845) 512-3261 http://healthcareforall.tripod.com.

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Posted in Blues, Folk, Music, News, Pop and Rock

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Free screening of The Mountain Goats movie — plus Q&A with John Darnielle

Posted on September 29, 2009 | Leave a comment
Jon Wurster, John Darnielle and Peter Hughes of The Mountain Goats. (Photo by Chrissy Piper)

Jon Wurster, John Darnielle and Peter Hughes of The Mountain Goats. (Photo by Chrissy Piper)

As an 8-year-old child, quirky Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle performed Bach minuets in a piano recital at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif.

phpThumbA little while back, after his band finished recording their new album, The Life of the World to Come (out Oct. 6), the adult John returned to the piano in that very same Pomona College hall to play stripped-down versions of a few of the new songs and have them captured on film by Rian Johnson.

One thing led to another, and Rian kept the camera running while John played the entire album, start-to-finish. The resulting film, The Life of the World to Come: A Film by Rian Johnson, has its premiere this Sunday at NYC’s Housing Works, an organization committed to fighting AIDS and homelessness.HousingWorkslogo

Doors open at 5:45 pm on Sunday, Oct. 4, for the screening at 6, which is followed by a Q&A with John and Rian and a cocktail reception. Housing Works is at 126 Crosby St. in Manhattan. Admission is free; first-come, first-served.

If you want to check out full-band versions of the songs before you go, the entire album is streaming now on the Colbert Nation web site.

You can also catch the full band on tour later this year. The Mountain Goats, with opener Final Fantasy, are playing Manhattan’s Webster Hall on Dec. 1 and The Bell House in Brooklyn on Dec. 2.  The Bell House show is sold out, but tickets are still available for the Webster Hall show.

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Avett Brothers in NYC today for I and Love and You release

Posted on September 29, 2009 | Leave a comment

ILY-Album-Cover_300dpi-(2)The Avett Brothers are celebrating the release of their new album I and Love and You with a gallery event in NYC today!

Envoy Enterprises gallery is open all day, and the Avetts will be there in the evening to meet fans. Here are the details, from the Avett Brothers web site:

Come by to have a look at our Avett’s original art pieces. And be sure to stick around for our Album Release Event, from 6-9 PM, where you will be able to purchase I and Love and You (including the deluxe package). We will be there to sign your copy of our new album starting at 7:45 PM, so come over and say “hi”!

Here are all your event details:
Envoy Enterprises
131 Chrystie Street
New York, NY 10022
Gallery open to the public all day
Album release event from 6-9pm (21+)

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Ben and Ione welcome their baby!

Posted on September 26, 2009 | Leave a comment
Ben Lee and new daughter Goldie Priya.

Ben Lee and new daughter Goldie Priya in a photo he posted on his blog along with the birth announcement this morning.

Australian singer Ben Lee announced today that he and his wife, Say Anything actress Ione Skye, welcomed daughter Goldie Priya into their new family on Thursday.

Ben and Ione married in a traditional Hindu ceremony officiated by Sakthi Narayani Amma at the Narayani Peedam in Vellore, India, last December. Life & Style was first with a photo of their colorful wedding.

Here’s the announcement Ben posted to his blog earlier today:

Saturday, September 26, 2009
WELCOME TO THE WORLD

Goldie Priya Lee

born September 24 2009

8am

over the moon

xoxo

Ben

noise addict2834836685-1Ben is likely to be a very busy new daddy, as he’s just reactivated his first band, Noise Addict after a 13-year hiatus. The band has an an all-new lineup, with Dinosaur Jr./Sebadoh/Folk Implosion’s Lou Barlow and singer-multinstrumentalist Lara Meyerratken of El May joining Ben. Noise Addict also has a new album,  it was never about the audience, available for free download from its web site. So with new bandmates and a new album, can a tour be far behind? Nothing’s been announced yet, and the title of the new album could be read as disregard for live performance. But I’d be surprised if Noise Addict didn’t hit the stage at some point soon.

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Posted in Movies, Music, News, Pop and Rock

Finally! Passing Strange the movie gets Bay Area screenings

Posted on September 26, 2009 | Leave a comment

Passing Strange movie banner

It’s about time!

Spike Lee‘s fantastic cinematic version of the rock musical Passing Strange is hitting the big screens of two Landmark movie theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area this Friday. Since the musical was developed in part at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, it’s only fitting that the movie (which is available everywhere on cable TV video-on-demand services) gets a theatrical run there.

The one-week run starts Friday, Oct. 2, at the Embarcadero in San Francisco and the Shattuck in Berkeley. If you’re in the area, please do yourself a favor and check it out. You won’t be disappointed. It’s been getting rave reviews but is dependent on word of mouth to attract an audience. Please do your part!

Here’s Passing Strange creator Stew‘s thoughts:

PS MOVIE – BAY AREA – STARTING FRIDAY OCT. 2ND – ONE WEEK ONLY

THE THEATERS ARE: SHATTUCK (BERKELEY)
&
EMBARCADERO (SF)

both for one week only.

Rebecca Jones, who is in American Idiot currently @ BerkRep,
will be the Queen of Berkeley that week, as she’ll be starring
down the street from herself.

I could give the big speech right now about why you have to tell
all your friends to see it and see it soon since its only there for one
week, but its 3:14am here in Berlin and I need to sleep.

basically, there ain’t no advert money going into this thing and the killer
review
in the Chronicle already happened AND our kick-ass trailer CANNOT be shown
in these 2 theaters cuz they don’t do digital trailers. I guess IFC never
thought
we’d need a non-digital trailer. What-ev.

This is known in the bizz as a COLD OPENING.
Sounds like a date I once had in Helsinki…
anyway…

The only cure for a cold opening is word of mouth
or what people today call email blasts. We’re going
to need all the help we can get. Frankly, IFC should have
opened this thing in the Bay while the press love was flowing.
But don’t get me started.

See it on the big screen while you can, Bay Area peeps.
See it before we digitally edit in a french shower scene.
See it right after American Idiot.

peace,
/s

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Posted in Movies, Music, Pop and Rock, Theater

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The Bongos dates and ticket information announced

Posted on September 22, 2009 | Leave a comment
The Bongos

The Bongos

The Bongos’ frontman Richard Barone has announced the dates of the band’s two shows next month: Thursday, Oct. 22, at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, N.J., and Friday, Oct. 23, at Hiro Ballroom in Manhattan.

Although Barone piqued fans’ interest by announcing on Twitter and facebook that the two shows were coming up next month, he slyly announced the dates by replying to a comment in his facebook thread rather than make a separate announcement:

Maxwell’s on Thursday, OCT. 22nd… Hiro Ballroom on Friday, OCT. 23… Hope to see you there!
Yesterday at 5:13pm
Tickets for the 8:30 pm show at Maxwell’s on Oct. 22 are $15 and available on TicketWeb. Tickets for the Hiro Ballroom show the following night are not on sale as of this posting, but should be available soon through TicketWeb as well.

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The Decemberists’ Lottery Show setlist

Posted on September 21, 2009 | Leave a comment
Colin Twittered this photo of the spin bin that determined The Decemberists' musical fate last night.

Colin Twittered this photo of "The Balls of Diabolos," which determined The Decemberists' musical fate at NYC's Terminal 5 on Saturday night.

Here’s the setlist, drawn at random from the “The Balls of Diabolos” by Wesley Stace (aka John Wesley Harding) at Saturday night’s fantastic NYC lottery show by The Decemberists:

Yankee Bayonet (with Laura Veirs)
July July
Raincoat Song
Bridges and Balloons
From My Own True Love
The Bachelor and the Bride
Rake’s Song
Culling of the Fold
(Marcel and Rich crowd-surf to a waltz)
I Was Meant for the Stage
The Crane Wife 3
The Island
Annan Water

ENCORE SET:
(Nate and John make out)
Colin writes a song on the spot
The Tain
The Perfect Crime #2

SECOND ENCORE:
ELO’s Mr. Blue Sky

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Posted in Music, Pop and Rock

UPDATED: Everybody wins in The Decemberists’ lottery (Now with link to live recording)

Posted on September 20, 2009 | 3 comments
The Decemberists getting ready for their lottery challenge at NYC's Terminal 5 last night. (Copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

The Decemberists getting ready for their lottery challenge at NYC's Terminal 5 last night. (Copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

UPDATE: Did you miss this show? Check out nyctaper’s recording here.

When the spotlight glared down on the tinsel-bedecked stage-left podium at Terminal 5 last night, the crowd got very excited. It could only mean that The Decemberists were about to hit the stage and get their first set of randomly selected songs to perform in an unusual lottery concert.

For those in the audience who know Wesley Stace (better known to many by his stage name of John Wesley Harding), we recognized that we were in for a rare treat — a collision of sharp wits. And although Wes said he got the call to play MC for last night’s show just hours before he went on, giving him no time to put any material together, he managed to wing it just fine.

John Wesley Harding says he got a call asking him to be MC for last night's concert just hours before showtime.

John Wesley Harding says he got a call asking him to be MC for last night's concert just hours before showtime.

To be honest, I was a little iffy about this show. The Decemberists have a tried-and-true formula for most showss — play the latest album for half the evening and older material for the other half. It’s great for superfans, but it can be a bit predictable at times. But when I realized that last night’s show would break that mold — song titles were pulled from a basket, bingo-style and the band had to play them right away, with no cheating — I decided to take the plunge. I sure am glad I did. It was a unique evening, featuring 15 of the band’s songs and capped off by Mr. Blue Sky, an Electric Light Orchestra cover.

Click through to the jump for lots more photos. Continue reading →

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