Tag: Brooklyn

Joywave 6/20/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Destruction
    2. In Clover
    3. Feels Like a Lie
    4. Parade
    5. Now
    6. Alice
    7. Nice House
    8. True Grit
    9. Traveling at the Speed of Light
    10. Golden State
    11. Bad Dreams
    12. Somebody New
    13. Life in a Bubble I Blew

Encore:

  1. Tongues
  2. Destruction

(b) highlights

  • I really just love how Joywave doesn’t give a shit about 90% of anything ever going on
  • “Golden State”!!! one of my favs from the band’s first EP Koda Vista
  • I’ve noticed in the recent past that, as a band, Joywave has developed a bit of a chip on their shoulder since the release of their last album How Do You Feel Now?, which I mentioned in previous reviews, but I didn’t feel that too much at this show; in fact, the band felt pretty genuine and happy to be performing – that was great
  • this setlist was ace – loved it from beginning to end

(c) lowlights

  • playing “Destruction” twice is still hilarious after about two years of this schtick going on, but…I like “Tongues” and I want to hear the whole thing; for the second time live, Joywave has cut “Tongues” in half to interject “Destruction” a second time and I’m hoping this will be the last time
  • the median age of the average concert-goer at this event was roughly 16 and I don’t know why
  • the Music Hall of Williamsburg is such a garbage venue – how does a MUSIC hall continually have SOUND issues??? like, every show???

(d) overall thoughts

Joywave have grown quite a bit in the past year or so. I feel privileged to have seen Joywave a little less than a dozen times now over the last three years, so I’m pretty confident in thinking that their best days are ahead of them. They’re fun, solid performers who know how to take control of the audience and set the mood quickly and assertively.

Because they’ve opened for and toured with so many different bands – Bleachers, Betty Who, Silversun Pickups, Foals, Brandon Flowers, Kopps – their audiences at every show seem to be wildly different. This Music Hall of Williamsburg show in particular had a very, very young audience with only about half having seen the band before. Marketing can do a lot, right?

Essentially, the energy was high, the setlist was great, and baring a few sound issues, Joywave was fantastic. They mentioned they were recording for their next album, which can only mean good things, and I definitely will go out of my way to catch them again.

 

Bottom line: If you like solid tunes, sassy frontmen with bad facial hair, and a good time, check out Joywave. Or The Killers circa the 2006 Sam’s Town era – both aptly apply.

Ra Ra Riot 11/3/15

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(a) setlist

  1. St. Peter’s Day Festival
  2. Too Dramatic
  3. Binary Mind
  4. Bad Times
  5. Can You Tell
  6. Oh, La
  7. Dance With Me
  8. Run My Mouth
  9. Angel, Please
  10. Water
  11. Run Away With Me (Carly Rae Jepsen cover)
  12. I Shut Off
  13. Ghost Under Rocks
  14. Beta Love

Encore:

  1. Foreign Lovers
  2. Boy

(b) highlights

  • this was my first time seeing Ra Ra Riot since 2007ish – total throwback seeing them again
  • the band was just as energetic as I remember, tons of fun and dancey
  • I freaking love Baby’s All Right, it was the perfect venue for this type of band
  • I’ve always had a strange connection to “Ghost Under Rocks” so it was great to hear that for the first time live in many, many years
  • it made me excited to see them again in the future – I hope they put out new great music soon

(c) lowlights

  • none at all

(d) overall thoughts

I first saw Ra Ra Riot open for The Cribs in LA back in 2007. I had never heard of them then, but I instantly fell in love. Their shows are always energetic, high-energy, and I always love seeing women on-stage in rock bands. I’ve loved how the combination of sweet vocals, exquisite strings, and catchy guitar hooks makes for all-around cool tunes.

Baby’s All Right is a cool, small venue in Brooklyn that really let Ra Ra Riot shine – the sound was great, the lights were perfectly complimentary, and the crowd was having a great time. It made me feel strangely warm inside to hear classics like “St. Peter’s Day Festival” and “Ghost Under Rocks” after all these years and realize that simultaneously the band has grown so much without changing much at all. Which is the highest compliment I could give. I would love to see Ra Ra Riot play on a big stage or at a festival and really let their fun, dancey vibe spread out and breathe a bit, but I’m definitely glad I could catch them in such a small, intimate place.

 

Bottom line: Ra Ra Riot is a ton of fun and a band I’m proud to say had grown quite a bit over the years; I wish them nothing but the best.

We Are Scientists 10/31/15

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(a) setlist

Setlist.fm isn’t acknowledging that this was a real show, which is SO unfortunate because it was Halloween and I was dressed as Han Solo and wore a badass blaster holster – do you think I remember most of the setlist???

(b) highlights

  • despite neither me nor setlist.fm remembering what WAS played that night, I can say for sure that they played a 12-minute rendition of “Don’t Fear The Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult that was only about 3 minutes of actual music and 9 minutes of banter
  • it was Halloween, so everyone was dressed up – Keith, Chris, and drummer Keith all wore lady bug costumes (I know), but each with a little twist; Keith wore a crown, so was a lady bug king, Chris wore a sheriff star, so was a lady bug sheriff, and drummer Keith wore tie-dye and groovy glasses, so was a lady bug hippie – need I say more
  • they brought a dude wearing a business suit and unicorn head on-stage for a song, no really, need I say more
  • I live, literally LIVE for We Are Scientists on-stage banter, give Keith and Chris their own TV show I swear to God
  • the band was projecting a “scary” movie behind them the whole show, which was actually about zombies, sharks, and a topless deep sea diver – no, I’m not kidding, it was incredible

(c) lowlights

  • I think everyone in the entire venue, band included, was totally wasted

(d) overall thoughts

Halloween is always fun. We Are Scientists are always fun. This night was fun squared, trust me. Tickets were $6.66 and Rough Trade in Brooklyn is a fun venue with a built-in record store to boot. Whenever costumes, movie projections, and stopping mid-song about 15 times to instruct a dude dressed as the reaper to be “more scary” and “reap” members of the audience, are involved…you know it was a good show.

Shout out to the dude in the business suit wearing the unicorn mask and the woman by the bar playing the kazoo loud enough to bother Chris all night…you guys are the real heroes for prompting some of the best random stand-up comedy performed by a Brooklyn band I’ve ever seen. To quote Frankie Valli – oh what a night.

Bottom line: I remember more of this night than probably anyone else at the show because I’m pretty sure everyone was drunk, but more so than anything…We Are Scientists are the best.

Note: For some reason, this is the only photo I have of the whole night, which further suggests that this entire event was a bit of a fever dream.

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Joywave 10/13/15

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(a) setlist

  1. Destruction
  2. Carry Me
  3. In Clover
  4. Feels Like a Lie
  5. Now
  6. Nice House
  7. Parade
  8. Traveling at the Speed of Light
  9. Bad Dreams

Encore:

  1. Somebody New
  2. Tongues

(b) highlights

  • this was a CMJ Festival show and the lineup was pretty good – I love going to this fest every fall in New York; it’s really not something to be missed
  • loved the setlist – at this point, the band felt the most full-bodied they’d ever been
  • really solid crowd interaction throughout
  • nabbed the setlist at the end of the show, which was cool – it still hangs in my bedroom today
  • I know some acts would disagree with me, I genuinely like Brooklyn Bowl as a concert venue – yeah so people are bowling like 20 feet away, but isn’t that sort of DIY awesome? (yeah, it’s not DIY at all and very ‘Brooklyn’ but whatever)

(c) lowlights

  • nothing comes to mind

(d) overall thoughts

The CMJ Festival is a cool, week-long shindig that takes places in and around various venues across NYC and Brooklyn in October. Super small and local bands will play, but bigger acts as well. I was super happy to hear Joywave would be headlining that night – their agency was putting on a last-minute event with them at the top of the bill and I was so into it.

I had seen Joywave many times before this, but this was the most present and confident they had felt to me. It was right around this time that “Somebody New” and its accompanying music video came out, and they were gaining more and more traction following the heels of “Tongues” and its success. Their growing popularity made them better performers, yes, but it also brought a bit of self-importance. They’re strangely self-aware of that self-importance, which makes the whole meta-awareness of their band more interesting, but also more complicated. Anyone who has experienced their social media or live show would probably confirm having a similar experience of the band.

Regardless of any of that, the band killed, the crowd was into it, and I didn’t mind too much that they seem to simultaneously actively dislike their own audience while also wanting our approval. I think Joywave makes solid, interesting, and memorable music and I’m eager to hear anything new they come out with soon.

 

Bottom line: Joywave is fun, CMJ shows are always a neat look into where the music scene might be heading in the future, and there’s nothing wrong with playing a rock show next to people bowling, okay.

Other Lives 10/10/15

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(a) setlist

Act 1: Desert

  1. New Fog
  2. Tamer Animals
  3. Desert
  4. No Trouble
  5. As I Lay My Head Down
  6. Dark Horse
  7. Easy Way Out

Act 2: Dustbowl

  1. Dustbowl III
  2. Weather
  3. Landforms
  4. For 12
  5. For the Last
  6. Need a Line

Act 3: Space

  1. 2 Pyramids
  2. Pattern
  3. Untitled
  4. Black Tables
  5. Reconfiguration
  6. Ritual

(b) highlights

  • the whole conception of the show was freaking cool – BAM is a bomb ass venue and I wish more bands did exactly what Other Lives did with this performance
  • cannot underscore enough how awesome the visuals were
  • the acoustics of the venue were out of control great
  • Other Lives’ material was perfectly intertwined with the stage production; such a beautiful experience

(c) lowlights

  • none – it was amazing

(d) overall thoughts

Other Lives are a freaking cool band and, somehow, they put on a full-stage production of their entire discography at BAM, aka the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which is a gorgeous seated theatre. I’m not sure how the band decided to put together this performance, but thematically, it allowed them to pay tribute to their vast collection of music and tell a visual narrative that was equal parts moving and entertaining.

The show began with a desert theme – an idea I’ve always connected to, being from the west coast – and the stage production depicted this so well. With sandy dunes and setting suns, the stage had physical moving parts that really brought the music alive. I’ve always greatly appreciated Other Lives’ use of strings and horns, but their display here really brought their quintessential sound to the next level. I didn’t even mind that we were all sitting for it. It still worked.

The Dustbowl act was really cool too, because I know the band is from Oklahoma, so it felt like getting a unique insight into their home in a Steinbeck-by-way-of-Brooklyn sort of way. The final act devoted to other worldly space was exceptionally beautiful and really wrapped up the narrative nicely. The whole show was so beautiful and difficult to explain, but I think the best experiences are sometimes.

Bottom line: Other Lives put on one of the most unique and beautiful performances I’d ever seen; it desperately made me wish more bands combined their music with traditional theatre and stage productions. It was quite unforgettable.

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Photo by David Guame

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Photo by the New York Times

otherlivesvillagevoice
Photo by Village Voice

 

The Cribs 9/22/15

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(a) setlist

    1. Mirror Kissers
    2. Different Angle
    3. Come On, Be a No-One
    4. An Ivory Hand
    5. You Were Always The One
    6. Another Number
    7. Our Bovine Public
    8. Moving Pictures
    9. Back to the Bolthole
    10. Hey Scenesters!
    11. Anna
    12. Burning For No-One
    13. Be Safe
    14. Summer of Chances
    15. I’m a Realist
    16. Men’s Needs
    17. Pink Snow

(b) highlights

  • dude, they played “Be Safe”!!! how cool is that?? such a unique and different type of track, I never thought I’d see them play that one
  • I don’t remember if it was Gary or Ryan, but one of them had just broken a part of his hand that required him to be on painkillers all night which made for EXCELLENT stage banter
  • It was Ross’ birthday, so the whole crowd sang for him, which was cute

(c) lowlights

  • Brooklyn crowds are the WORSTTTTTT
  • this dumb as nails 17-year-old boy ran on-stage only to jump off into the crowd except he didn’t fall into the crowd, he just fell on ME and knocked my glasses off and the entire affair ended with me yelling at an underage boy, “I WILL MURDER YOU”
  • the Music Hall of Williamsburg has pretty garbage sound despite its name, and there were a couple of pockets of dead sound where I couldn’t hear Gary or couldn’t hear Ryan – it was annoying

(d) overall thoughts

Even though this wasn’t my favorite Cribs show ever, there were definite highlights. They were towards the end of their tour and noticeably more tired than usual, but they still put on a killer set. They played all my favorite songs and unexpectedly featured “Be Safe” right after we all sang Happy Birthday to drummer baby brother Ross. They used a drop-down projection screen to accompany the spoken-word background of the song, which was super cool and something I never thought I’d see. It’s nice when a band you love can still surprise you.

The crowd, like many Brooklyn shows I’ve been to, was weak as hell and had a bit of an attitude. Gary even mentioned that people were “allowed to dance” and, as a transplant New Yorker himself, said that he too “will go out and dance at shows.” Like, how guilty do you feel when a punkish British dude is giving you shit for not moving at his show? People loved the classics like “Mirror Kissers” and “Hey Scenesters!” but it would’ve been cool if they moved more in general. I particularly adored the final three in the set, especially “I’m a Realist” and “Men’s Needs,” which always takes me back to 2007 when I first saw them in LA. It’s pretty freaking cool to love a band that long when they’re still touring altogether and consistently putting out great music. That really isn’t as common anymore.

Bottom line: Brooklyn crowds freaking suck, but the Jarman Bros. definitely don’t.

Luxley 8/21/15

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(a) setlist

(Don’t know! Setlist.fm doesn’t have any details and I’m not familiar with their discography. Had fun, though!)

(b) highlights

  • the lead singer came into the crowd and got people dancing – bold move for the first opener in a three-act show!
  • catchy songs, easy to dance to
  • Baby’s All Right is just such a great venue, will always see bands there, lighting is always top-notch, and the food is sweet

(c) lowlights

  • none!

(d) overall thoughts

Ended up at the show by accident – always a great beginning to a story. Luxley was the first act for a super long night of events and I caught them because a friend of mine was shooting them for an online feature. I didn’t know much about them when I got there, but I left feeling like those dudes knew how to dance.

Their set was short but memorable. The lead singer had a palpable stage presence and reminded me of a good combination of Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco and Tyler Glenn of Neon Trees. Luxley has an electro-pop sensibility that doesn’t feel trite or forgettable. I read that they opened for Bombay Bicycle Club a few years ago and hope they tour again with a few big bands so others can catch on. I’d be interested in catching them again sometime soon if only to watch everyone in that band dance.

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Bottom line: Luxley seem like they have room to grow, but I’m excited to watch them rise up; at the end of the day, successful dancey electro pop songs will get any room dancing and these dudes were definitely successful.

Bonus! I found this track, “Dance Baby” quite memorable:

Conor Oberst 6/6/15

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(a) setlist

    1. Time Forgot
    2. Hundreds of Ways
    3. Zigzagging Towards the Light
    4. Classic Cars (Bright Eyes cover)
    5. We Are Nowhere and It’s Now (Bright Eyes cover)
    6. Enola Gay
    7. Double Life
    8. Danny Callahan
    9. No One Would Riot For Less (Bright Eyes cover)
    10. Governor’s Ball
    11. If The Brakeman Turns My Way (Bright Eyes cover)
    12. Shell Games (Bright Eyes cover)
    13. Another Travelin’ Song (Bright Eyes cover)
    14. Laura Laurent (Bright Eyes cover)
    15. Ladder Song (Bright Eyes cover)

Encore:

  1. Lover I Don’t Have to Love (Bright Eyes cover)
  2. Lua (Bright Eyes cover)
  3. I Don’t Want to Die (In the Hospital)

(b) highlights

  • seeing Conor for the first time after being a Bright Eyes fan since high school!
  • “Classic Cars”!! Omg!!
  • “Lover I Don’t Have to Love” = the O.G. angst ballad, so good
  • the entire performance being much more positive, less sad, and more energetic than I always imagined a Bright Eyes/Conor show being
  • realizing that Conor is kinda dorky and down-to-earth and not the tortured soul everyone thinks he is – that makes me happy

(c) lowlights

  • the crowd was legit the W.O.R.S.T. – so rude, so obnoxious, so Brooklyn
  • I try to avoid the Music Hall of Williamsburg when I can – always a bad crowd and, ironically, the venue feels so unsuited for live music; there’s so much dead space and acoustic holes

(d) overall thoughts

I first discovered Bright Eyes in high school, which is like saying “I learned to walk when I was a toddler.” I had a bit of a Bright Eyes phase and I stand by it – my favorite album of theirs to this day is probably 2007’s Cassadaga, which honestly has such lively and beautiful songs on it that feel both unlike the moody Bright Eyes everyone knows but still very reminiscent of all Conor Oberst’s work. I was beyond thrilled when he played not only so many Bright Eyes songs, but tracks specifically from that album. “Classic Cars” is my favorite from Cassadaga and I remember screaming when he started playing it – god, what an incredible feeling it is to hear that one song you’ve always loved but never thought you’d hear.

This show was a Governor’s Ball After Hours special, so the set was definitely geared to a New York crowd and people didn’t get a chance to make the festival. Unfortunately, because it was so late, more than half the crowd was super drunk, so obnoxious, and Conor was not having it. After a douchebag legitimately in 2015 yelled out “Freebird!” when Conor was talking, I thought he might walk off stage. Instead, he chewed the guy out, spit in the crowd, and kept going. More power to Conor, I say.

I think people have this preconception that Conor Oberst is the cry-baby, indie-emo singer to Bright Eyes just in the same way that Ben Gibbard is the cry-baby, indie-emo singer to Death Cab For Cutie. I kinda think that whole idea is bullshit, but whatever – to each his own. I can pretty definitively say, however, that Conor was gregarious, smiling, and a showman; there wasn’t a dark, dingy stool in sight. I was pleasantly surprised at the overwhelming feeling of joy in the songs and undeniable lightness to all that heart in them as well.

Bottom Line: I would definitely recommend people give Conor a chance; if you’ve ever even thought that one Bright Eyes or Conor Oberst song was good, you’ll dig his live show.

PILE 4/28/16

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(a) setlist

    1. The World Is Your Hotel
    2. Mr. Fish
    3. Baby Boy
    4. The Browns
    5. Special Snowflakes
    6. Grunt Like a Pig
    7. Pets
    8. Appendicitis
    9. #2 Hit Single

(b) highlights

  • love the hell out of Baby’s All Right – cute, intimate, solid venue
  • this hilarious moment of my friend spending the whole night falling in love with a dude who was dramatically leaning up against the prototypical Brooklyn exposed-brick wall…who turned out to be the lead singer of PILE
  • going to a show and seeing a band I literally know nothing about and having a great time

(c) lowlights

  • 15-year-olds wearing backpacks and unnecessarily moshing…actually, that was funny

(d) overall thoughts

I ended up at this show by accident, which is always kind of great. A friend of mine was BFF’s with the opening act – a solid dude named Yaz who’s into the whole 70’s psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll shindig and he was cool. Turned out, he had been playing guitar in PILE for a tour or two, so we stuck around for them. They’re Boston-based, which sort of comes through in their performance, but I’m pretty sure that’s 70% based on their beards, outfits, and one of them vaguely saying, “So…we’re from New England.” They were post-hardcore punkish – whatever that means – but, in a strange way, they reminded me of a bunch of pseudo-emo kids who were really into the slower, smarter Blink 182 songs (whichever ones those are) and maybe the sadder Offspring songs (again, do those exist?? somehow, I feel like they do).

The show felt small and intimate in a way that you consciously think, “I’m seeing something special that no one else really knows about right now…and that’s nice.” There’s passion and real emotion behind the occasionally erratic guitar and always erratic drums, and I would definitely aim to catch these guys again. Yeah, you can jump around and connect with the punk-ish roots, or you can directly connect to the emotion behind those songs – there’s a bit for everyone when it comes to PILE.

 

Bottom line: They’re not the second coming of Nirvana or anything, but PILE’s got the guitar chops, rock ‘n’ roll attitude, and sad grunge-y undertone of real heart to reel you in.

Note: I actually took many more pictures than this – I vividly remember most of them, but I think my computer ate them. This is somehow most fitting for this show. Even more of a secret now.

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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.