Click image for Spindrift photo gallery
Click image for A Place to Bury Strangers photo gallery
Click image for The Black Angels photo gallery
This has to be one of the best shows I've seen in many years. I was feeling a little down before the show. I have breakfast most mornings with a bunch of friends at a little bakery in Park Slope, where I live. Our waitress is the sweetest young woman...we all absolutely adore her, and look forward to seeing her every morning. She even draws little hearts around our our total on the check (awwww). At first I thought she only did it for us...but it turns out she does it for everyone who comes in (I think?) I was heartbroken when I found that out!
Somehow (as shy as I am, I sometimes surprise even myself) I had invited her to come to see this show with me (totally innocuously I might add, although she is quite adorable!). She actually said yes. So I got tickets...the day before the show I told her I'd call to figure out how we were going to meet up. Anyway, the day of the show I called...3 times...no answer, just voicemail. She finally called me five minutes before the show...told me she'd totally lost track of time (yeah right), and that she owed me big time! I knew that wasn't going to stop me from enjoying the show...and this was certainly not the first time I'd gotten stood up (even though you never get used to it!) Well, I definitely enjoyed the show, although I would have loved to have had company...and when it comes down to it, it was her loss. I was a little miffed...but this girl is just so sweet I couldn't help but buy her an "A Place to Bury Strangers" t-shirt. Hmmm...she owes me? Call me sucker (she called me a dork...but she really likes dorks). Yeah...I am definitely a dork (but in a good way...I hope)
I did come up with a suitable way for her to make it up to me...a portrait session with her and her Jack Russell puppy Cider. When I told her, I think she was relieved (or maybe she really wants me to take photographs of her?) Anyway...I think we both win on that one. She just better not blow me off on this one ;-)
Anyway...about the show.
Spindrift sounds like a psychedelic version of of Ennio Morricone (throw in some surf guitars while you are at it). Watch Sergio Leone's film, "A Fist Full of Dynamite", drop some acid (no, I'm not advocating drug use here), and turn up the lights and heat (put the dehumidifier on "parch" setting). I almost expected Clint Eastwood (the young one) to step out from behind the stage. I think I might have even seen James Coburn and Rod Steiger sitting at the bar before the show. Better yet, track down a copy of Spindrift's "The Legend of God's Gun" available from CD Baby.
Spindrift are:
Kirpatrick Thomas - Guitar and Vocals
Jason "Plucky" Anchando - Drums
Henry Evans - Bass and Baritone Guitar
Dave Koenig - Rhythm Guitar and Harmonica
Dan Allaire - Percussion
Julie Patterson - Keyboards
Frankie Emerson - Keyboards, Guitar
Marcos Diablero - Harmonium, Autoharp, and Slide Guitar
A Place to Bury Strangers
The loudest band in New York City? The loudest band in the United States? Probably. I knew I was going to actually go and buy earplugs for this one...and it was a good investment. These guys are great...just because they are loud doesn't mean they aren't good. And the light show was intense...too bad these guys weren't around when I was a teenager (when I actually did drop acid...probably a few too many times!) because I would have been their biggest fan. I've got to go see if I can find lyrics to their songs...the music was so incredible...now I want to know what their songs are actually about. Their CD "A Place to Bury Strangers" was already on heavy rotation on my iPod for months before I saw them...so between listening to that, and what I had heard from others who had seen them live, I had an idea of what to expect. But there is nothing to compare to seeing them live.
A Place to Bury Strangers are:
JSpace - Drums
Jono MOFO - Bass
I'd love to say The Black Angels sound like Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd meets the Velvet Underground, but that really doesn't do justice to them. The Black Angels have their own sound. The music is dark and droning and powerful. This is also music that could only have been made in America in the 21st century. There is also a level of musicianship (imho) that Pink Floyd or the Velvet Underground didn't have. Everyone seemed to swap instruments on different songs. Their album "Passover" is definitely at the top of my shortlist of CDs to buy.
The Black Angels are:
Alex Maas
Stephanie Bailey
Jennifer Raines
Nate Ryan
Kyle Hunt
Monday, November 26, 2007
Spindrift, A Place to Bury Strangers, & The Black Angels at Bowery Ballroom - November 7, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Dean & Britta at Bowery Ballroom - October 16, 2007
Click image to open Dean & Britta gallery
Dean & Britta at Bowery Ballroom was the one show I really knew I had to attend at this year's CMJ. I had loved Galaxie 500 and Luna (and never understood why either band weren't the huge success I felt they should be).
And as much as I loved Galaxie 500, Luna, and now Dean & Britta's music (and this show totally lived up to my musical expectaions), the main reason I wanted to go was so I could photograph Britta Phillips. Okay, I'll admit it...I have a hopeless crush on Britta Phillips. It started when I saw the video for Luna's "Lovedust". I hadn't really been paying attention to the band lineup...but I knew right away Justin Harwood had left the band...and had been replaced by one of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Seeing Dean & Britta's "Night Nurse" video some time later just cemented that crush. I'd had many crushes on pop stars over the years (the first was one Veronica Bennet...better known as Ronnie Spector, who I had seen on the Ed Sullivan Show at far too tender an age to be having crushes on women 15 years my senior. Sandie Shaw? Still going strong. Amelia Fletcher of Talullah Gosh? I would still be her Beatnik Boy. But I have no delusion that I'm going to meet either of them and run off into the sunset, happily ever after (although after over 20 years I haven't given up hope of at least meeting Amelia!) One of my crushes over the years was even consummated (no, I won't say who...but needless to say it ended in disaster...This Mortal Coil's "It'll End in Tears" comes to mind).
On crushes: I was speaking with a friend of mine (who I also happen to have a crush on...the first one I've really had after a particularly painful breakup 4 years ago) about that very subject the other day, and we both agreed about how difficult it is for us to enjoy our crushes in the real world...I know I for one tend obsess, second guess myself, and can very easily make myself miserable when those crushes don't turn out the way I'd like them to. Right after our conversation, I realized that I could stop taking myself so seriously and see it for what it is...a simple crush on a very nice woman, who is actually becoming a real friend. And I know...good friends are hard to find. All I know is that after a number of years of having no real crushes whatsoever (of the non pop star kind) I'm glad I can feel this way again...hopefully I'll never be too old or jaded to continue to have crushes (in real life and on stage). I'm sure that Britta and my friend won't be the last crushes I have.
Getting to see Dean & Britta made me realize, I actually have been able to enjoy crushes over the years...my pop star crushes. The crushes that have no chance of turning into anything else (well, except in one case). Maybe I can learn to enjoy my real life crushes too. So for now, I'm enjoying my little crush on Britta. I'm also enjoying the crush on my new friend. And this might sound incredibly shallow, but I will say I have damn good taste in women I have crushes on.
Not to leave Dean out of this...I met a woman at the show who feels the same way about Dean as I do about Britta...so I know I'm not alone in this (I'm envious...he actually spoke to you!!!) The photographs in my gallery of Dean Wareham are dedicated to her, I hope she enjoys them. I won't mention her name in order to not embarrass her, but she does have impeccable taste in music.
Dean & Britta, thanks for a wonderful show. I do hope you like these photographs.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The Most Serene Republic at Bowery Ballroom - October 16, 2007
Click image to open The Most Serene Republic gallery
Milton, Ontario's The Most Serene Republic put on one hell of a show, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for them next time they come to NYC. Their music reminded me a bit of They Might be Giants...sort of nerdy, poppy, and experimental at the same time. I couldn't help but think of the guy from "That 70s Show" when lead singer and trombonist Adrian Jewett skipped with glee all over the stage...and guitarist/vocalist Emma Ditchburn (what a sweet, melodic voice) was just so cute I was cursing myself that I couldn't have been on her side of the stage! Check out their recent album Population if you want to hear some intelligent, slightly nerdy, very melodious indy pop.
The Most Serene Republic are: Adrian Jewett, Ryan Lenssen, Nick Greaves, Emma Ditchburn, Sean Woolven, Simon Lukasewich, Tony Nesbitt-Larking
The Shaky Hands at Bowery Ballroom - October 16, 2007
Click image for The Shaky Hands gallery
I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I saw both Conga drums and pedal steel guitar being set up on stage prior to Portland, Oregon's The Shaky Hands set. This band obviously is having a great time performing, and from looking at their touring schedule, they work hard (and seem to love what they do). I thoroughly enjoyed their set.
The Shaky Hands are Nicholas Delffs, Nathan Delffs, Colin Anderson, Mayhaw Hoons, and Jeff Lehman.
Bon Iver - Bowery Ballroom - October 16, 2007
Click image for Bon Iver gallery
Bon Iver are a trio from Wisconsin. They played nice, sort of melancholy indie folk with beautifully sad, poetic lyrics. I love the slide guitar on For Emma.
Bon Iver are Justin Vernon. Matt McCaughn (Rosebuds, Portastatic). Mark Paulson (Bowerbirds, Ticonderoga)
