Recent Articles in Live Reviews
Bloody Social at Pianos, NYC 7.03.08
By chance, I found myself walking behind Jamie Burke, singer of Bloody Social, while I was en route to his gig, so I followed him along 2nd St. and then down to Pianos. Before the show, he walks off, fast. Girls are heard murmuring, “He’s the lead singer of…,” before we turn off down Ludlow St. Back at the venue, Burke is wearing a leather hoodie. Clothing as props, gimmicks of expression. Nice. Boxer stance. Symbolism is important in performance delivery. Freedom and branding fight for the same human bandwidth.
The Fratellis at Webster Hall, NYC, 6.13.08
The Fratellis came on like Scottish bats out of hell with the Les Paul guitar and power drums fury of new hit “My Friend John” rousing the crowd to near insanity. Though a few songs in, frontman Jon Fratelli apologizes for his supposed fatigue, saying he “felt like shite for the first five songs,” I […]
The Futureheads at Pianos, NYC, 6.18.08
The Futureheads played an “intimate” gig to a packed and sweaty Piano’s crowd the night after their one-off Bowery Ballroom show. Instead of what would have been a private and possibly emptier gig a few years ago, this was quite the must-see event: the room was overflowing and proved that no gigs are secret […]
The Kooks at Terminal 5, NYC with The Morning Benders 6.11.08
We all loved “Ooh La” off of Inside In/Inside Out last summer, but the Kooks’ sophomore album, Konk, is filled with even more classic Britpop and vibrant, danceable hooks. Despite the oppressive heat wave currently blanketing the Naked City, fans of the Brighton rockers made it all the way up to Terminal 5 to see […]
The Wombats at the Blender Gramercy Theater, NYC, June 3, 2008
The Wombats are even more “on” than usual tonight, playing a ferocious pop set which opens with their usual a cappella “Tales of Girls, Boys & Marsupials” for the raucous teen crowd (and a few of us non-teens) inside the bulging Blender Theater. A few songs in, singer/guitarist Matthew “Murph” Murphy announces the band has […]
Adam Green at Town Hall, NYC, May 10, 2008, with Laura Marling and Tim Fite
Adam Green showed Times Square how to rock and proceeded to rule the roost at the venerable Town Hall tonight. Midway through his 90-minute set, Green says, “People say you can’t play Town Hall…,” and he’s proven them wrong. As seen from the beautiful array of fans in the house, from gaggles of […]
Clinic at Music Hall of Williamsburg, May 8, 2008, with Violens
Few can compare to the enigmatic Clinic, a band I’ve followed since first hunting down their EPs like “Come Into Our Room” (2002) during weekends in London years back. It seems I’ve seen Clinic live more times than most bands, but their shows (and songs), which verge on strange, menacing hilarity, continue to draw […]
The Acorn at Union Hall, Brooklyn, May 3, 2008
The Acorn just played a stint of shows in NYC, including the sweet Slope venue, Union Hall, on Saturday, May 3rd. Perhaps its the band’s woodsy name or the fact that they’re from Ottawa, Canada, (which to some New Yorkers seems less like a major city and more the unknown, majestic North), but the […]
Camden Crawl, London UK, April 18 to 19th, 2008
On a mid-April weekend, London’s Camden Town hosted one of the city’s biggest music events for discovering new music. Red Stripe’s Camden Crawl was in effect for its seventh year, and with way too many bands to check out, fans were destined to be disappointed at not getting to catch every act they wanted […]
Elbow at Webster Hall, NYC April 26, 2008
Elbow takes the stage with “Starlings”, the bold and heraldic song opener from their new album, complete with dueling trumpets blaring.
Early into the set, singer/guitarist Guy Garvey responds to a fan’s remark, “You never usually hear that…Elbow rocks,” but it’s true, the band indeed knows how to put on an unforgettable show and get an […]
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