Tag: New York City

Joywave, The Kooks 6/24/15

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(i) lineup*

(1a) Joywave
(2b) The Kooks

*Atlas Genius played in between Joywave and The Kooks and they were alright – nothing good or bad to report either way. Just filler.

(1a) (Joywave’s) setlist

Setlist.fm doesn’t have the details, but I remember them playing maybe 5 or 6 songs. “Destruction,” “Tongues,” “Feels Like a Lie,” “Now,” and “Somebody New” were definitely ones I remember.

(1b) highlights

  • all the aforementioned songs
  • I love the Central Park Summerstage shows – cool environment, good food, generally a nice venue space

(1c) lowlights

  • the crowd didn’t move, as always; as if the entirety of New York is incapable of getting into a band or performance they didn’t immediately pay to see

(1d) overall thoughts

Joywave is best when they feel they need to earn the audience’s respect, I think. They work so hard to make even the most dead crowd move and get into the music. When the audience doesn’t respond, everything just becomes funny. I really remember Daniel calling out New York City crowds for being too cool to dance and my friends and I overcompensating by being super into it, which is always the best.

Bottom Line: Would definitely recommend not only seeing a band play in this Central Park venue, but everyone should absolutely see Joywave live if only for the small chance they play “Destruction” twice.

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(2a) (The Kooks’) setlist

    1. Around Town
    2. Ooh La
    3. She Moves in Her Own Way
    4. Seaside
    5. Always Where I Need to Be
    6. Sweet Emotion

Encore:

  1. Naive

(2b) highlights

  • again, the environment – the middle of Central Park is so beautiful at dusk
  • they didn’t play for long, but the whole crowd was super into it – again, my surprise as hugely popular The Kooks have become over the years
  • the sound and lights were on-point, which can be difficult in an outdoor venue – major props

(2c) lowlights

  • nothing really bad to say

(2d) overall thoughts

Much like their Firefly performance, The Kooks brought such a large sound to their Central Park stint. It’s funny – I remember thinking their set was so full-bodied and resonant with the crowd for just under an hour, but setlist.fm claims they played only seven songs. Isn’t it funny how having a good crowd with solid as hell songs can make me remember the experience differently? Hope The Kooks get even better and continue to put out even bigger sounding songs.

Bottom Line: The Kooks are cool and I swear I’m gonna find out how so many young people have embraced them nearly ten years after they debuted.

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Photo by Emily Tan

We Are Scientists 5/11/16

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(a) setlist

First set:

    1. Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt
    2. This Scene Is Dead
    3. Inaction
    4. Can’t Lose
    5. Callbacks
    6. Cash Cow
    7. It’s a Hit
    8. The Great Escape
    9. Textbook
    10. Lousy Reputation
    11. Worth The Wait
    12. What’s The Word

Second set:

  1. Rules Don’t Stop
  2. Buckle
  3. Chick Lit
  4. Classic Love
  5. I Don’t Bite
  6. Dumb Luck
  7. Impatience
  8. In My Head
  9. Make It Easy
  10. Nice Guys
  11. After Hours
  12. Too Late

(b) highlights

  • seeing the entirety of the CLASSIC album With Love and Squalor
  • Michael Tapper, the original drummer of WAS who played on the first album, came back to play the first set with Keith and Chris – this was the first time they all jammed since 2006/07ish; this made me strangely emotional because the first few times I saw WAS live, Michael was their drummer
  • that classic Keith and Chris between-song banter gives life to my soul
  • the entire second set was ON.POINT.
  • the crowd was shockingly good – seemed like everyone knew the new songs as well as the oldies
  • Keith Carne, the current WAS drummer, always freaking kills it
  • the phrase of the night: “it’s not a We Are Scientists show unless Keith breaks something and then we fear for his life”
  • “Too Late” is a brand new song, but somehow the perfect set closer, freaking loved it

(c) lowlights

  • wish they had played my current favorite song on the new album, “We Need a Word”

(d) overall thoughts

The first time I saw We Are Scientists, they opened for Arctic Monkeys (!) at the Henry Fonda in LA on March 15, 2006 (!). For 10 years, I’ve loved watching these dudes perform – anyone who’s seen them live would certainly agree. This show at Irving Plaza was a special 10-year anniversary celebration for the release of their debut album With Love and Squalor – the album that made a lot of people fall in love with them. Even better – the band still played a full set immediately following that With Love and Squalor performance. How sick is that?

Adding a wonderful flourish, Keith Murray and Chris Cain played With Love and Squalor with their original drummer Michael Tapper, who left the band before their second album was released in 2007. It felt like a strange blast from the past seeing him, and – in a bizarre way – made me realize how much We Are Scientists have stayed the same over the years. Yeah – they’ve grown as performers, musicians, and songwriters, but they’re still the same lanky dudes singing the same songs and making the same jokes. And that’s why they’re so awesome. It’s all fun in a familiar way, like hanging out with old friends.

The second set featured four new songs off their most recent album, which only came out last week, Helter Seltzer. The crowd was loving every minute of it and I was elated to finally feel like everyone was dancing just as much as I was. I got a good feeling about this album; its reception is gonna be stellar. Ultimately, I’m so proud of these dudes and I’ll continue to support them as long as they keep making awesome tunes and making me laugh – which I imagine will keep happening until death.

Bottom Line: I’ve been a WAS fan for a decade and there’s no sign of stopping. Also, if you claim to be a WAS fan and you don’t sing “if you’re the night sky, then act like the night sky” during “Nice Guys,” then you’re lying.

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.

 

Kaiser Chiefs 5/13/15

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(a) setlist

    1. The Angry Mob
    2. Ruffians on Parade
    3. Everything is Average Nowadays
    4. Everyday I Love You Less and Less
    5. Falling Awake
    6. Modern Way
    7. Na Na Na Na Naa
    8. Never Miss a Beat
    9. My Life
    10. Take My Temperature
    11. Ruby
    12. I Predict a Riot
    13. Pinball Wizard (The Who cover)
    14. Coming Home

Encore:

  1. Misery Company
  2. Oh My God

(b) highlights

  • being front row center in the super small and intimate Irving Plaza = gold
  • hearing “Falling Awake” for the first time!!
  • basically the whole damn setlist, let’s be real
  • Ricky Wilson being his most Ricky Wilson self
  • going to the show with my friend who’s been a fan as long as me, but who had never seen KC; it was amazing to be there with her experiencing it all
  • Simon Rix personally handing me his (bass) guitar pick before the encore, such a freaking cool dude

(c) lowlights

  • it was the end of their tour for Education, Education, Education & War and you could tell the band was a little tired
  • would’ve loved to hear my favorite song off the newest album, “Bows & Arrows”

(d) overall thoughts

God, I will always love Kaiser Chiefs. I loved them pretty much the moment I heard their first song “I Predict a Riot” back in 2005 and became enamored with them and their buddy-buddy relationship with The Killers during the NME Tour in 2005. To me, they will always be the babes of my 14-year-old summer and I love that they’re still making music now – and freaking great music at that.

This show at Irving Plaza shines so brightly in my mind because this show – like all Kaiser Chief experiences – was full of so much joy. The energy is always so high when Ricky Wilson is involved, and the songs over the years have made it so easy for everyone else to give their energy to the performance too. That’s what’s so great about seeing a band like this; the audience becomes part of the performance too. Everyone’s jumping and losing themselves in all those Employment oooooooooohhhhhh!‘s, working just as hard as Ricky and all the guys are. At least, that’s how I feel most of the time. They show up to perform, so I better step up and start dancing too.

As I said, this was the end of the tour for their fifth album, Education, Education, Education & War, which I freaking loved. It’s truly a pleasure as a fan to seriously love a band so much at such an important age – like when you’re in high school – and have them continually put out outstanding music. I watched as critics and naysayers worried that the band’s work would plummet after the original drummer and one of the band’s main writers, Nick Hodgson, announced he was leaving the band in late 2012. But I knew things would be fine. And they were. How could I not love a band that both repeatedly releases bombass songs and always puts on such a fun and energetic live show? It also means so much to me that Ricky, Simon, and Whitey in particular have noticed the fans – like myself – who come out to all their shows and have a good time. Man, that means so much and always keeps me coming back for more.

 

Bottom Line: Yeah, Ricky Wilson was on the UK version of The Voice, who freaking cares when the songs are still solid as all hell and the band continually puts on awesome, high-energy shows? This girl doesn’t care and no one else in that happy crowd did either.

Muse 5/8/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Psycho
    2. Dead Inside
    3. Supermassive Black Hole
    4. The Groove
    5. Madness
    6. Apocalypse Please
    7. Interlude
    8. Hysteria
    9. Stockholm Syndrome
    10. Animals
    11. New Born
    12. Uprising
    13. Time Is Running Out
    14. Reapers

Encore:

  1. Bliss
  2. Starlight
  3. Knights of Cydonia

(b) highlights

  • seeing Muse in the smallest venue I’ve EVER seen them in = amazingggg
  • straight up being at that show; it had sold out in about 0.0343 seconds and s o m e h o w I got tickets – to this day, I never know how that happened
  • “Apocalypse Please”!!! “Bliss”!!! “Stockholm Syndrome”!! “The Groove”!! “New Born”!!! “HYSTERIA” whaaaaaat
  • Starting out in the 10th row at the beginning of the show and ending up in the 2nd row by the 3rd song just by pure crowd energy and movement = magic
  • knowing that a band that uses production so, so heavily can still shine in a tiny, stripped-down venue without any production whatsoever, my god
  • got Matt Bellamy’s guitar pick…from the literal sky out of nowhere

(c) lowlights

  • I have never sweat so much in my entire life, I swear to God – Webster Hall had never been so damn hot and there were so many people, I looked like I had jumped into a pool

(d) overall thoughts

This show was magic. I couldn’t even believe I was there. It was one of those shows that felt like everyone on Earth was trying to going to, and Webster Hall is so small and it was just crazy. Tickets were will call only, so all our names were on a list and it was honestly unbelievable to see my name on that piece of paper. God, what a feeling.

As I mentioned previously, Muse is one of my all-time favorite bands and I’ve seem them many times over the years. But I’d never seen them like this. A band so strongly associated with huge lights, sounds, screens, smoke, cameras, and all that jazz totally taken away just to have three dudes on stage playing massive songs – the only thing that remained massive in that small venue. The new songs were amazing to me, the older songs were such a treat  – each moment felt like a string of gifts connecting to the next melody. What a time.

To put a total cap on the whole event, as I’m standing there after the show has ended, still trying to process everything that happened, a flash of yellow falls from the sky in Webster hall and lands a foot away from me. I divebomb on it in my prototypical ungraceful way, and my God – it’s Matt Bellamy’s used guitar pick. Where did it come from? How did it end up 20 feet from the stage in an open arena where I’m looking like a mess? Don’t know, don’t care. That’s magic.

 

Bottom Line: There’s something so strangely emotional about the impact this show had on me, and there’s so much more I could say about it, but all that really matters is that it was incredible to me.

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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Joywave 4/9/15

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(a) setlist

    1. Destruction
    2. Destruction
    3. Now
    4. Parade
    5. Feels Like a Lie
    6. Somebody New
    7. Tongues

(b) highlights

  • those dudes actually played “Destruction” twice, hahahaha
  • going to a show only for the opening band has its perks – you leave when they’re done!
  • seeing Joywave totally command a room of people who weren’t even there to see them
  • no, really, they played “Destruction” twice

(c) lowlights

  • having to be in such close proximity to Bleachers’ fans, who turned out to be the worst

(d) overall thoughts

I don’t often go to shows only to see the opening band, but I do that when the opening band is Joywave. They opened for Bleachers at Terminal 5, and even though I had absolutely no interest in seeing Bleachers, I knew I couldn’t miss Joywave. I first discovered them when they opened for The Killers in August 2014 and it’s been really cool to watch them rise since then. They hadn’t even put out a full album at this point, but did have one of the best damn EP’s I’ve ever heard: How Do You Feel? Most of the songs they played were featured on that EP, and eventually comprised half the album they released later that year, How Do You Feel Now?

The most important thing to know about Joywave is that they really don’t give a fuck. It’s less than a little known secret that the band is obsessed with themselves and their song “Destruction,” in particular. The whole thing is sort of obnoxious and ridiculous and stupid, but 100% hysterical. Singer Daniel Armbruster not only demands that the audience jump, touch the floor, and scream for this song, but agree with him that is so-called “the greatest song ever written.” So the band opened with “Destruction.” But because not every member of the audience (who did not pay to see Joywave – with the exception of me, my friend, and maybe 3 other people) danced and moved and followed directions during the song, they played it again. God, I was laughing so hard. What a band.

Most importantly, Joywave is hysterical, yeah, but their songs kick ass. Every song sounds different, but every song sounds like them – a quality I find so, so uncommon in modern rock and indie music these days. These guys got heart and they’re still rising. Can’t wait to keep watching that.

 

Bottom line: Joywave have great freaking songs, but they will bully you into dancing along to them, which I am 100% okay with.

Brandon Flowers 3/24/15

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(a) setlist

    1. The Way It’s Always Been (acoustic)
    2. Dreams Come True
    3. Crossfire
    4. Magdalena
    5. Hard Enough
    6. Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts
    7. Jenny Was a Friend of Mine (The Killers cover)
    8. Read My Mind (The Killers cover)
    9. Human (The Killers cover)
    10. Simply Irresistible (Robert Palmer cover)
    11. Swallow It
    12. Diggin’ Up The Heart
    13. Can’t Deny My Love

Encore:

  1. Right Behind You
  2. Only The Young
  3. Mr. Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)

(b) highlights

  • Brandon coming out before the “actual” start of the show to play “The Way It’s Always Been” for the fans that spent the whole day in the cold 🙂
  • getting to watch the whole crowd from the balcony – I rarely see shows from anywhere but the pit, so it was nice to look down on everyone and see the energy throughout
  • taking nice pictures for once; I took my old Canon Rebel XS to snatch good shots for friends
  • seeing Brandon’s solo material for the first time right alongside classic Killers’ material
  • “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” really changes when Brandon sings it alone – it nearly transforms into an acoustic love ballad…which is crazy considering the song’s content

(c) lowlights

  • goofy ass “Swallow It”
  • never getting to hear my favorite track off Flamingo, “Playing With Fire”
  • 90% of the backup band

(d) overall thoughts

Due to God, fate, and the worst food poisoning of all time, I managed to miss every live Brandon Flowers show during the tour for his 2010 debut album Flamingo, so I was elated that he was coming back around my town for his 2015 album The Desired Effect. At the time of this show, we still hadn’t heard most of the album and didn’t know what to expect, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear a mix of his older material, a few new ones, and several Killers’ gems that had mostly been reworked for the new context.

I chose to watch the show from the Webster Hall balcony to avoid the crowd and have my own little concert upstairs. My friends stayed down in the pit and it was a cool way to watch Brandon literally in a new light. It felt a bit like watching the concert from the outside looking in – a unique experience for someone who’s definitely a die-hard fan when it comes to that music. The most memorable moment for me happened before the show even began; Brandon walked onstage with just one backing band member and performed an acoustic rendition of “The Way It’s Always Been” as a thank-you to fans for waiting outside all day in the frigid New York March weather. I’ve never seen him make such a gesture like this towards fans, and it felt very special. The rest of the night, Brandon was quite comfortable onstage and the crowd was so high energy, especially during The Killers’ songs, that I couldn’t help but feel a warm glow inside.

Bottom line: If seeing The Killers is a bit like eating a bombass sundae with chocolate fudge, whipped cream, and nuts on top, then seeing Brandon Flowers without The Killers is like eating a single scoop of vanilla ice cream: not as great as a sundae, but still something I’ll never turn down.

Cold War Kids 3/20/15

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(a) setlist

    1. All This Could Be Yours
    2. Miracle Mile
    3. Loner Phase
    4. We Used to Vacation
    5. Red Wine, Success!
    6. Audience
    7. First
    8. Louder Than Ever
    9. Hot Coals
    10. Hang Me Up to Dry
    11. Harold Bloom
    12. Tuxedos
    13. Drive Desperate
    14. Something Is Not Right With Me
    15. Hospital Beds

Encore:

  1. Bottled Affection
  2. Well Well Well (John Lennon cover)
  3. Hold My Home
  4. Saint John

(b) highlights

  • phenomenal setlist – singles, deep cuts, whatever – these dudes get song placement
  • just the show’s atmosphere, such intimacy and a garage-band jam feel about it
  • really dig the stage production – the lighting guy needs a raise or gold star
  • watching bassist Matt Maust pluck those bass strings is an other-worldly experience
  • “Harold Bloom” is hauntingly good, that John Lennon cover, basically everything

(c) lowlights

  • the crowd was shockingly young; seeing so many under 21’s at a show like this is always off-putting to me
  • Terminal 5’s Terminal 5-ness

(d) overall thoughts

Cold War Kids are one of the few bands that I instantly loved the moment I heard them. Their debut Robbers & Cowards is one of the best albums out there and I’ll always stand by that. I was supposed to first see them open for the White Stripes (!!) back in 2007, but that tour was cancelled because of Meg White-related troubles. That resulted in me having to wait eight years to see these guys, and this show is a long, on-going case in rectifying that.

I always say that seeing Cold War Kids live is like walking in a private garage-band jam session. It feels so stupidly intimate and personal and wonderful. The guys are crawling all over the stage, never standing still and idle, frequently hitting and bumping into one another in a way that makes every performance feel so special and unique. I’ve seen them quite a few times at this point and every show has felt different. This experience in particular was one of warm camaraderie – a brotherly love connection between band and audience.

This was one of the first shows in NYC for their fifth album Hold My Home, which has since given the band well-deserved mainstream praise in the most unexpected way. Their single “First” was actually the first time they had a number one hit, which, as a fan since 2005, makes me incredibly proud and totally baffled. How had it taken everyone so long to realize their greatness? I’ll always remember how wonderful Nathan sounded, how cool Matt looked, and how chillingly special each and every song made us all feel. When you see Cold War Kids, you feel them more than anything. And that’s the best part.

 

Bottom line: Every Cold War Kids show is an emotional experience more than a performance, and being in the audience feels more like a privilege than anything.

 

The Cribs 3/11/15

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(a) setlist

    1. Mirror Kissers
    2. An Ivory Hand
    3. Come On, Be a No-One
    4. Different Angle
    5. You Were Always The One
    6. Another Number
    7. Finally Free
    8. Our Bovine Public
    9. Martell
    10. Burning for No-One
    11. Glitters Like Gold
    12. We Share the Same Skies
    13. Pink Snow
    14. I’m a Realist
    15. Hey Scenesters!
    16. Men’s Needs
    17. City of Bugs

(b) highlights

  • the Mecury Lounge is super super tiny and super super cool; the Strokes got their start there in the early 2000’s and damn, does it look like it
  • the trifecta of “I’m a Realist,” “Hey Scenesters!,” and “Men’s Needs” = true perfection
  • Jarman Bros. banter, always
  • the dirty rock ‘n’ roll, lower east side punk-vibe of the entire show (aka getting kicked and punched but all in good fun, and never too much)
  • knowing a band I’d loved for 10 years still had all the flavor and spice I remember

(c) lowlights

  • the sound could’ve been better, but I’m pretty sure the “gritty exposed brick” of the venue was never intended for great acoustics
  • the crowd was half “their first album is the only good one” and half “I’m going to push everyone and everything regardless if I care about the song” but I totally still had a great time despite them all

(d) overall thoughts

The Cribs are freaking great. The Jarman Brothers are Yorkshire punk-y dudes who made mid-2000’s indie exciting and every album they’ve put out has been more interesting than the last, including the one they put out with Johnny Freaking Marr of The Smiths. (Some people act like that’s a casual, normal thing – for young bands to be great enough to work with Johnny Freaking Marr and that is not normal, that is next-level amazing.)

The energy was stupid high all night, the quips between Ryan, Gary, and (occasionally) Ross were as great as brothers’ quips can be, and the newer material still felt as fresh and fun as the older gems. Seeing The Cribs always feels like stepping into a time machine in a way – not in a sickly nostalgic way exactly – but enough to make you feel transported for an hour or so. There’s something intensely English about their sense of rock music and I’ve always loved that about them. Their shows are loud, wild, and always a riot. This one was no different. It was my second time seeing them live, but my first time seeing them in over eight years, and man, it was a total treat.

 

Bottom line: The Cribs always bring a good time and I have no shame in admitting I totally cried when “I’m A Realist” started because I’m a sap.