November 7, 2009
The Stroke's first solo gigs were in Japan this summer, and Monday's Spaceland show was a last minute surprise, so while last night was JC's 4th ever solo show, it was most stateside fans' first shot to see his synth-pop makeover in person. With elaborate stage backdrops and light-up costumes for their encore, Julian and band played the 8-track Phrazes along with b-sides like "I'll Try Anything Once." (Sadly "Christmas" didn't come early.) Perhaps the real spectacle was Fabrizio Moretti and Albert Hammond, Jr being mobbed by fans upstairs. The pair posed for pics, signed autographs, and -- since they arrived separately -- fans cheered when they hugged. Andrew Youssef delivers these shots, where you'll also see openers Rainbow Arabia and Julian's drummer's oh-so-controversial Mets jacket. Maybe it's his only jacket, you guys! We've also got the tour itinerary after the jump; NYC shows haven't been announced yet, but we're told those'll happen in January.
Continue reading Julian Casablancas @ Downtown Palace Theatre, LA 11/6/09...
Posted at 7:04 AM by Scott in , ,
Tags: Albert Hammond Jr. | Fab Moretti | Julian Casablancas | Rainbow Arabia | The Strokes
latest by jjazznola
November 6, 2009
In conjunction with yesterday's 16th annual European Music Awards, MTV set up a special, free U2 concert at the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate the 20th anniversary of tearing down the Berlin Wall. And in order to secure the premises or whatever, MTV set up a special Berlin wall of their own, a metal barricade that ran the perimeter of the concert grounds and kept out people who hadn't registered online for a free ticket. A wall keeping people out from freedom? Yes, irony and outrage galore. But those that were lucky enough to be on the right side of the wall were treated to a six-song set of U2's classics, kicking off with Bono yelling "Berlin, Du bist wunderbar!" (Berlin, you are wonderful!)(better than calling yourself a jelly donut) and highlighting with Jay-Z joining the band on "Sunday Bloody Sunday." It's not the first time he's rapped over the song (that'd be at last year's Glasto), but now you can see it happen live, all the principals in place and filmed all nice and MTV-like:
Continue reading Jay-Z Joins U2 In Berlin...
Posted at 11:54 AM by amrit in ,
Tags: Jay-Z | U2
latest by Max
November 5, 2009
When Kim Deal's not singing through a distorted mic with sister Kelley in an elaborate Mayan World Series in Brooklyn, she's back in the fold with the reunited Pixies. The group hit the Palladium in Los Angeles (for the first of three nights) to launch their nine-city 20th Anniversary Doolittle tour. Speaking of distortion, No Age got things started. Our trusty photographer Andrew Youssef tells us there were microphone problems for the first couple of songs, but that Dean and Randy, who should be getting used to performing with punk legends, hit their stride toward the end of the set with "Eraser" and "Miner," etc. Throwing a bit of a curve ball, the Pixies opened with B-Sides before jumping into "Debaser" and the promised complete run through of Doolittle, which was followed by two encores. (Besides saying "Gracias" between a few songs, Deal jokingly asked if anyone was coming the following night because they were playing the same thing.) The set was up and down as might be expected on a first night, but the group received a huge ovation that brought them out to center stage for a deserved -- if not for last night, for all time, or whatever -- group bow. We have the setlist and tons of great photos from Andrew.
Continue reading Pixies/No Age @ Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles 11/4/09...
Posted at 4:02 PM by brandon in ,
Tags: Frank Black | Kim Deal | No Age | Pixies
latest by Kristina
At some point during the Very Best's set at Santos last night, Johan Hugo -- the half of production team Radioclit that made the trip overseas with the human manifestation of sunshine that is Esau Mwamwaya -- said something like "Yo I think all the journalists are up front, we need the fans to come up and get wild up here!" (I think he made it sound cooler, or at least more Swedish accented; probably both.) There were two ways to know he was right: the ring of photographers creating a flashbulb barricade up front, with a secondary line of lots of white haired dudes holding notebooks. Then again, this bill was built to spill ink: Between the visa issues that kept Esau out of the country during CMJ, and the lack of any real business/promotional infrastructure for opening Band To Watch Sleigh Bells -- making the Brooklyn duo's under-attended but modestly epic sets during that same week the ones people kicked themselves most for missing -- you could understand why more than one person described the vibe in the Santos basement as that of a "showcase."
Continue reading Sleigh Bells/The Very Best @ Santos Party House, NYC 11/4/09...
Posted at 12:48 PM by amrit in ,
Tags: Radioclit | Sleigh Bells | The Very Best
latest by Filth
November 4, 2009
After kicking things off with the "Secret Agent Man" video, the men of DEVO launched into their debut LP Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, 3-D glasses in place. They didn't stop until the album was done -- tonight it's Freedom Of Choice, as both LPs are getting a re-release -- over a short but incredibly energetic set that drew the likes of Zack De La Rocha and Tony Kanal, cited by photographer Andrew Youssef as a testament to the new wave icons' far-reaching influence. Opening the night was the soulful singing and human beatboxing, performance artist/socially satirical stand-up mindbender Reggie Watts (you're welcome to describe him in less clauses), a suitable fit for a crowd with a bent toward unclassifiably whimsical artists.
Other DEVO bits: Next year the band will release the unofficially titled Fresh, their first album in 20 years. And on Halloween, Pearl Jam donned the red energy domes and covered "Whip It." It looked like this:
Continue reading DEVO/Reggie Watts @ The Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles 11/3/09...
Posted at 4:51 PM by amrit in , ,
Tags: DEVO | Pearl Jam | Reggie Watts
latest by Spudboy
November 3, 2009
Vampire Weekend's sold out show at the Art Theater of Long Beach followed a couple of secret-ish L.A. outings -- at the former site of Madame Wong's on Halloween (Ezra was dressed as Jon Gosselin, or a douchebag, or both) and at Hollenbeck Rec Center the following day -- but Koenig called last night the first "official" show of their California itinerary (and first "movie theater" gig). Local buzz band and recent Sub Pop signees Avi Buffalo (grab an MP3 below) were there to open things up, while Ice Cream Man stuck around afterward to make sure people went home with frozen treats. Between those bookmarks, VW dedicated "Horchata" to Lola's, the Mexican restaurant across the street, and stated a number of times that they dig California. Of course, the setlist included "California English," but the song was not performed. (UPDATE: Ezra was apparently too hoarse.) As far as new ones, they also did Contra's "White Sky," "Holiday," "Run," and "Cousins." Along with Andrew Youssef's terrific photos, check out the setlist and newly expanded tour itinerary.
Continue reading Vampire Weekend/Avi Buffalo @ Art Theater, Long Beach 11/2/09...
Posted at 5:27 PM by brandon in , , ,
Tags: Avi Buffalo | Vampire Weekend
latest by Nate
November 2, 2009
The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame celebrated a quarter century as the self-appointed, oft-suspect gatekeeper for canonical artists in the rock world (no Replacements, no Sonic Youth, no etcs. -- no vote of confidence, RRHOF dudes) with a pair of concerts at Madison Square Garden this past Thursday and Friday. Never mind that the Hall is technically 26 according to its articles of incorporation; 25 is a prettier number for a party, and also for packaging the concert's highlights for the pared down HBO telecast, airing 11/29. We linked you to footage from night one last week, with performances and collabs coming from John Fogerty, Crosby Stills & Nash, and the like. Now we have some bits from Night Two for you, with Mick Jagger joining U2 on "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of," and similar stage-sharing from Black Eyed Peas, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, and on. Pair them with the pics and you almost don't even need a subscription to HBO.
Continue reading U2 Jam With Black Eyed Peas, Jagger, Springsteen At Rock Hall 25th Anniversary Show...
Posted at 5:36 PM by amrit in , ,
Tags: Annie Lennox | Aretha Franklin | Fergie | Jeff Beck | Jerry Lee Lewis | Lou Reed | Metallica | Mick Jagger | Ozzy Osbourne | Patti Smith | Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame | Stevie Wonder | Sting | Tom Hanks | will.i.am
latest by amrit
While you were out drinking as vampire Sarah Palins and slutty John McCains (research for this post conducted in 2008), musicians were celebrating Halloween in myriad ways their own: Phish covered Exile In Main Street in Indio; Titus Andronicus did an all-Weezer set while fending off security at the Vice 15 party in Williamsburg; Monsters Of Folk morphed into KISS; Pearl Jam dressed as Devo and covered "Whip It"; and doubtlessly countless more. Brooklyn's Dirty Projectors celebrated pumpkin day in Los Angeles with some silly headgear -- Longstreth in 10 gallon hat, Nat Baldwin in bozo wig, Angel in some cloth chainmail type thing -- but the DPs costume honors go to Amber Coffman who showed them up in Stevie Nicks regalia. The band played the Jensen RecCenter with openers Little Wings, and just today announced a return to Los Angeles to co-headline the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who will play selections chosen by Dave before the DPs do a set of their own. That isn't until February 27th (although tix are on sale 11/14/09); until then, have a pass through Andrew Youssef's shots.
Posted at 2:51 PM by amrit in ,
Tags: Dirty Projectors
latest by steven
