Tag: bowery ballroom

Joywave 10/20/15

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(a) setlist

  1. Destruction
  2. Carry Me
  3. In Clover
  4. Feels Like a Lie
  5. True Grit
  6. Now
  7. Don’t Let It Bring You Down (Neil Young cover)
  8. Nice House
  9. Golden State
  10. Ridge
  11. Parade
  12. Traveling at the Speed of Light
  13. Bad Dreams (w/ Mikaela Davis on harp lead-in instrumental)
  14. Somebody New
  15. Life in a Bubble I Blew
  16. Tongues
  17. Destruction

(b) highlights

  • this felt like perhaps the first Joywave headlining show where they really got to dictate the show; they weren’t opening for anyone, they were fully independent and self-sufficiently awesome
  • they played “Golden State”!! it’s my favorite deep cut from their first EP Koda Vista and I was beyond psyched to see that live
  • the crowd was surprisingly into it the entire time, regardless of being overwhelmingly male – a fact true only for this particular Joywave show, I’ve found
  • loved that the band mentioned having extra money in their budget from the label, which led to them purchasing like a 10-foot tall blow-up replica of their keyboardist Ben Bailey – classiccccc
  • the band did the classic Joywave move of playing only half of “Tongues” before jumping into a second performance of “Destruction” – alright, alright you got me

(c) lowlights

  • could we have at least finished “Tongues” before going into “Destruction” twice? yes, yes we could have

(d) overall thoughts

Undeniably, this show was fun from beginning to end. It truly felt like Joywave was throwing a party and invited all their best friends to hang out. Their CultCo labelmates Kopps opened and they, like Joywave, are fun but in a strangely unique way. My friends and I were in the front row and the night was very much an intimate celebration of Joywave’s success.

The high-energy set kept the room consistently alive as the band relentlessly drove through both the newer hits and the older deep cuts. The band’s self-aware banter and aggressive dancing felt refreshing and exciting, like we were all apart of the band’s growing history. They’re very much a band that understands the notion of performance; every show feels like you’re watching them at a very timely and important moment in their career. It feels like they’re honestly on the verge of blowing up in the music world in a real way. I hope that happens – not only to feel like I was part of a band’s rise but really because they deserve it. Joywave works hard to win audience’s over and I’ll always appreciate that.

As previously mentioned, in classic Joywave manner, the band stopped probably their biggest hit to date, “Tongues” and ended the set with a second performance of “Destruction.” It was funny, I appreciated the sentiment, and it was additionally super cool that that performance ended being heavily featured in their tour music video for “Destruction” (which my friends and I are in!), but…I really wanted to hear all of “Tongues,” guys! Ah, well.

Bottom line: Joywave are fun and talented, and damn, do they know it. They screw around with the crowd at the crowd’s expense quite a bit, but I appreciate that they take risks and never, never bore me.

Other Lives 5/30/15

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(a) setlist

    1. Reconfiguration
    2. Easy Way Out
    3. As I Lay My Head Down
    4. Land Forms
    5. Desert
    6. 2 Pyramids
    7. Pattern
    8. For 12
    9. Tamer Animals
    10. English Summer
    11. Dark Horse
    12. Weather
    13. For The Last

Encore:

  1. Black Tables
  2. Something In The Way (Nirvana cover)
  3. Great Sky
  4. Dust Bowl III

(b) highlights

  • seeing Other Lives for the first time and not being disappointed!
  • the wonderful use of horns on several tracks – never over-powering, always just the right amount
  • loved the band’s use of strings
  • Jesse Tabish is an interesting frontman, an understated performer who still leads
  • how their “middle plains dust bowl”-vibe was actually authentic and not annoyingly put-on like Mumford & Sons or nonsense like that

(c) lowlights

  • a random drunk chick in the audience who was annoying and needed to go home

(d) overall thoughts

I had only ever heard a song or two by Other Lives before this show. My roommate is a big fan and considers the band local hometown heroes, seeing as she – like the band – hails from Oklahoma. It can be strange going into a show with no real idea how things will turn out, but I thoroughly enjoyed Other Lives. They walk this unique line of being a rock band with an alternative dust-bowl, not-quite-country edge and add a brass and strings section. And it totally works.

Their live show is a bit ethereal and intimate, personal and large-sounding at the same time. The Bowery Ballroom is a small venue, but I felt like the music could’ve beautifully filled a place like Carnegie Hall, or even bigger. The lights were coordinated to the sound in a perfect way; it felt like we had journeyed together through something real and emotional by the end of it.

Bottom Line: More people should know about Other Lives – they’ve got a huge, unique sound while still remaining intimately close with the audience, and that’s cool.

 

We Are Scientists (Surfer Blood Benefit) 5/12/15

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(a) setlist

    1. After Hours

(b) highlights

  • seeing a looooot of bands I otherwise wouldn’t have
  • helping raise money for a good cause
  • literally watching a two and a half hour show just to see We Are Scientists play “After Hours” = worth it

(c) lowlights

  • cancer sucks

(d) overall thoughts

Even though I’ve never really known much about the band Surfer Blood, I remember when I first read that their guitarist Thomas Fekete was battling cancer. The whole story was pretty devastating, and this show was put together as a benefit for both him and the band to come together to help pay some of his medical bills. What a world we live in where that happens.

Surfer Blood and We Are Scientists weren’t the only bands to play, so we also got to see peeps like Julianna Barwick, Cults, Marnie Stern, Kip Berman of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Andy Boay, and others. It was a small taste of all these people who knew Surfer Blood and Tommy well, so it was a bittersweet experience.

We Are Scientists were their usual selves, seemingly stumbling onstage in ripped up t-shirts probably purchased at K-Mart and just roaring into one of their instant classics, “After Hours.” Does anyone not love that song? If anyone says they don’t, they’re lying. Fact.

Bottom Line: Cancer sucks, but it’s cool when people get together to jam and raise money.

WASbowerymay122015

Weezer 3/30/16

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(a) setlist

    1. California Kids
    2. My Name is Jonas
    3. Hash Pipe
    4. Back to the Shack
    5. L.A. Girlz
    6. El Scorcho
    7. The British Are Coming
    8. Pork & Beans
    9. Do You Wanna Get High?
    10. Cleopatra
    11. The Waste Land
    12. Thank God For Girls
    13. Say It Ain’t So
    14. The Good Life
    15. You Gave Your Love to Me Softly
    16. King of the World
    17. Island in the Sun
    18. Undone (The Sweater Song)

Encore:

  1. Beverly Hills
  2. Buddy Holly

(b) highlights

  • most. incredible. setlist. ever.
  • Weezer fans are the coolest, nicest, chillest people
  •  no, really, that setlist, wow
  • most fun, energetic crowd I’ve seen in a while

(c) lowlights

  • none; seriously – none

(d) overall thoughts

Weezer was probably the first real “band” I ever listened to. I think I was 6 or so the first time I heard “Buddy Holly” and “The Sweater Song,” and things were pretty much never the same. My older brother introduced me to the band, and even though his interest in the band waned over the years (in a similar trajectory to the general public [i.e. a lot of “original fans” falling off after Make Believe and even more after The Red Album and Raditude]), I’ve always loved Weezer for just being themselves – whatever form that may take.

Their 2014 album Everything Will Be Alright In The End felt like a comeback album in a lot of ways – and I thoroughly appreciated the work it featured – but everything about this year’s The White Album feels like a comeback in an even bigger way. Weezer is sounding more like their late 90’s and early 2000’s selves than ever before: catchy choruses, memorable melodies, and simply Rivers Cuomo-esque lyrics. Everything from “L.A. Girlz” and “California Kids” and my personal favorite, “King of World” felt solid enough to stand beside those early classics.

I’d only seen Weezer once before – at the Bowery Ballroom in October 2014 – so I was excited for this deeply intimate show at the tiny Warsaw in Brooklyn. From the moment the lights went down to the final notes of “Buddy Holly,” Weezer totally killed it. It’s almost startling these days to go to a show and hear hit after hit after hit after hit without the crowd or band losing energy once. It’s a testament to both Weezer’s discography and diehard fans when songs from completely different Weezer eras – “Hash Pipe,” “The Waste Land,” and “L.A. Girlz” receive nearly equal amounts of cheer upon first play.

Rivers Cuomo will always be Rivers Cuomo – in the best way possible. Brian Bell was in top form taking up the vocals on the classic fan favorite “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly” while Scott Shriner remained his usual classy bass-playing self, even picking up a double-neck bass on “The Waste Land.” Pat Wilson, a multi-instrumentalist, gave a classic performance on drums, sitting in the best seat in the house.

 

Bottom line: It was impossible to not have fun during the wild ride that was the phenomenal setlist, equally nostalgic and timeless performance, and exuberant crowd.