Tag Archives: Brooklyn

Marah and The Madison Square Gardeners rock The Bowery Electric

Posted on August 21, 2010 | Leave a comment

Marah at The Bowery Electric on Aug. 20, 2010. (Photos copyright 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

Marah’s personnel may change, but the sound remains solid

Dave Bielanko of Marah.

Dave Bielanko is the only original member left in roots-rock band Marah. The Philadelphia-area native has always had trouble keeping a stable lineup, though until the 2008 release of Angels of Destruction!, his older brother and co-songwriter Serge Bielanko (click here for his blog) was a constant.

Dave Bielanko and Christine Smith.

Nowadays the core of the band, based in Brooklyn, naturally, is Dave and South Ozone Park, Queens, native Christine Smith, who’s been with the band for a few years now. It’s pretty clear that Dave is the driving force, because Marah has kept its artistic core through almost every change in rhythm section (except for that brief Britpop detour on 2002’s Float Away With The Friday Night Gods, which was really just an unfortunate product of Dave choosing the wrong producer).

More on Marah and The Madison Square Gardeners after the jump

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BREAKING NEWS: Phosphorescent’s stolen van recovered, complete with gear!

Posted on July 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent.

In a matter of days, Matthew Houck and his band Phosphorescent have had their lives turned upside down and now, suddenly, uprighted again!

The band publicist announced Tuesday morning that the Brooklyn-by-way-of-Athens, Ga., band’s rental van, stolen from a Greenpoint, Brooklyn, street last Thursday night, hast turned up, complete and unharmed.

Phosphorescent’s publicists at 7-10 Music just blasted this note from the band:

this is insane!
the police have recovered the van
and
all of our gear is in there
and appears to be un-damaged

speechless right now,
more soon, love phos

note from label/management: we will of course return everyone’s generous donations. thanks so much for your love and support!

If you missed the backstory to this amazing turnaround, click through to the jump. Continue reading →

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Liars, Fucked Up, High Places play the Northside Festival in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Posted on June 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

Liars closed out Saturday night's Northside Festival show. (Photos copyright 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

The Northside Festival in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, seemed an odd affair. The music was presented on a small, chain-link-fence-enclosed patch of blacktop on the waterfront at the apex of Commercial and Dupont streets. It was a very unlikely looking place for a music venue.

Little Liars: Liars singer Angus Andrew's niece and nephew grooved vigorously to the noise rock.

But looks are often deceiving, and this festival, sponsored by L Magazine, proved no exception to that notion. The Saturday night show, only the second rock show ever hosted at the Newtown Barge Terminal Playground, as the site is officially named, featured Liars as headliners with Fucked Up and High Places as openers. It was fantastic.  The only shame was that so few people came out for it. The venue appeared to be at half capacity at best, even if you counted the freeloaders who took in a virtually unobstructed view from just outside the venue’s fence.

The music was great. Although I went to hear Fucked Up, a Toronto band that is one of the most energetic punk units active today, I was pretty impressed by the other acts as well.

Liars kept the crowd entranced for a long set of noise rock with the vocal stylings of Angus Andrew.

Freeloaders: It was easy to see and hear the whole show without paying a dime.

But Fucked Up really blew the place up, with singer Damian Abraham’s crowd-hugging and can-smashing antics in addition to mind-blowingly fast and loud songs.

They say a picture’s worth 1,000 words. With Fucked Up, a picture’s worth twice that. So take in these visuals:

Fucked Up arrives onstage with Damian chewing up and spitting out pages of he Northside Festival program booklet.

Fucked Up on stage.

Damian crushes his first can of the night.

Damian tries a 40.

Click through to the jump for many more amazing photos of Fucked Up and the other opener, High Places.
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Posted in Concerts, Music, Pop and Rock, Punk

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WOOM charms New York with DIY rock

Posted on May 26, 2010 | Leave a comment

Sara Magenheimer and Eben Portnoy make charmingly DIY music together as WOOM onstage at Death By Audio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on May 19, 2010. (Photos coypright 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

WOOM, a charming, Oakland, Calif., -based DIY duo, played two shows in New York City before heading to Europe to tour as an opener for Xiu Xiu well into June.

Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? was fortunate to catch their set at Death By Audio in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, last Wednesday (May 19, 2010), the night before they headed to Newark Liberty International Airport to head out on tour. The pair — Eben Portnoy on guitar and vocals and Sara Magenheimer on vocals and electronics — played a fuzzy, beat-driven set that was an absolute joy to hear.

WOOM at Death By Audio.

An Intimate Exchange of Ideas

The pair played their hearts out, bouncing ideas back and forth between them casually but with obvious skill.

The band is due back in New York City at the end of June for the Northside Festival, which runs from June 24-28 in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Festival badges are $50 and available here.

WOOM’s first full-length album is scheduled to drop on June 28 on Ba Da Bing Records. In the meantime, check out WOOM’s music on MySpace.

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M Shanghai drives the Jalopy

Posted on November 2, 2009 | Leave a comment
M Shanghai String Band at the Jalopy Theater in Red Hook, Brooklyn, on Oct. 30, 2009

M Shanghai String Band at the Jalopy Theatre. (Copyright 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

M Shanghai String Band is easily one of the most creative and entertaining old-timey bands in New York City. And there was no shortage of creativity when the big band (counting as many as 12 players at full strength) to the stage of the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighorhood last Friday night.

Dressed in homemade skeleton costumes, the band played to a packed house, opening for the CD release party of Kelli Rae Powell, a ukulele player. Each player has a distinct personality and all are extremely accomplished, but no one of them seems to hog the spotlight or pretends to be is irreplaceable. I’ve seen them play in various configurations, with smaller forces or at full force through the grace of guest performers, and the band personality always shines through. This is a bunch of players who really enjoy what they’re doing. The result is some of the most infectious original music you could hope to hear.(You may recognize its member from other NYC bands. MSSB has links to The Ukuladies, Babe the Blue Ox, Gloria Deluxe and even the Bang on a Can contemporary music organization.)

Guitarist-vocalists Austin Hughes and Matt Schickele (son of Peter “PDQ Bach” Schickele) and fiddle-saw-washboard player Philippa Thompson took many of the leads on Friday night. Philippa’s rendition of the Austin-penned “Bus Called Cemetery” was particularly effective for the beginning of the Halloween weekend.

MSSB has made three albums, all excellent. But the band needs to be seen live to get the full effect.

M Shanghai String Band’s next performance is at 9 pm on Nov.14, for the latest installment in its monthly Saturday-night revel in the basement of a Williamsburg Chinese restaurant from which the band took its name:   M Shanghai Den, 129 Havemeyer St. (between Grand & S.1st St.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Free admission.

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Mikel Rouse unveils Gravity Radio at Galapagos

Posted on November 1, 2009 | Leave a comment

Mikel full ensemble

Mikel Rouse, the Saint Louis-born composer who lives and works in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen,  probably is best-known for his multi-media operas, particularly his trilogy of Failing Kansas (1995), Dennis Cleveland (1996) and The End of Cinematics (2005). So it was a bit of a surprise to get a first peek at the songs for his latest show Gravity Radio, in a stripped-down concert format at Galapagos Art Space in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn on Oct. 23. (Sorry it took so long to post this!) It was a special CD release party that turned into a well-mannered, deeply affecting chamber-rock concert.

Mikel Rouse

Mikel Rouse

The CD is officially released this Tuesday, while the full-blown Gravity Radio show will go on tour starting in January, hitting New York at a yet-undetermined date.

The songs that make up Gravity Radio are interspersed with dialogue (read at Galapagos and on the CD by TONY nominated/OBIE Award winning actress Veanne Cox) ripped from the news of the day, touching on topics like Afghanistan, the tanking economy and such. (When the full-blown show hits the road, these news dispatches will be altered and updated with the news of the day).

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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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NYC’s pop-punk princesses play The Bell House

Posted on September 4, 2009 | Leave a comment
Care Bears on Fire: Izzy, Jena and Sophie at Cake Shop on the Lower East Side last month. (Copyright 2009 Steven P. Marsh)

Care Bears on Fire: Izzy, Jena and Sophie at Cake Shop on the Lower East Side last month. (Copyright 2009 Steven P. Marsh)

Don’t miss Care Bears on Fire next Saturday (9/12) when they play one of their favorite venues, The Bell House in the ever-so-cutting-edge Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn. Singer-guitarist Sophie, drummer Izzy and bass player Jena may only be in their mid-teens — and dependent on their parents to drive them to shows and lug their gear — but their performance style and playing and writing chops belie their young age and relative inexperience. These girls can really rock.

Expect an audience for this early show (doors open at 5 pm)  like you’ve never seen at an NYC rock club for this set: everything from 5-year-olds to their grandparents. And don’t be surprised to find a music celeb or two in the audience. Last month, Fountains of Wayne‘s Adam Schlesinger (who worked with the girls on their new album Get Over It!) and his little girl were at CBoF’s show at Cake Shop on the Lower East Side.

BYS and Blame the Patient open.

DETAILS: 5-9 pm, Saturday, Sept. 12, at The Bell House, 149 7th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215.  (718) 643-6510 or info@thebellhouseny.com. $10. Tickets available here.

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