Yes, that’s right — tonight is the opening of the concert photography group show that I’m proud to be a part of: 120 dB, curated by Maryanne Ventrice. Alongside some other totally amazing lady concert photogs and friends like Abbey Braden and Diana Wong, I’ll be exhibiting five of my favorite concert photos from the archives, from 2002-2011.

If you haven’t read any of the awesome buzz we’ve already gotten from Brooklyn Vegan, NYC Taper, Prefix Mag, or Bumpershine, here are the details:

Please join us at Fort Useless on January 27th from 6-10 pm for our opening reception — FREE

RSVP on our Facebook page

Fort Useless
36 Ditmars Street, Brooklyn

Map:

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Hope to see you there!

Who loves Ryan Adams? I do! I do!

As you may have already figured out from my tweets, just as I was lucky a few months ago when Coldplay was in town, I was again blessed enough to sit in on Ry Ry’s intimate performance at the Ed Sullivan Theater for Live on Letterman.

According to Ryan, for this tour he is doing all solo sets (yup, no Cardinals) because… he is. But he still has the classic crazy Ryan Adams between song banter — this time hypothesizing what would happen if you came to a Live on Letterman taping and KISS was performing, the “real” pyrotechnic show that is usually on display during “Lucky Now”, and an in-depth rant on the failings of the fourth season of “Moonlighting.”

Vocally, Ry Ry has never sounded better. Clear, crisp, and in control, I thought his voice was beautiful during the whole performance. He did an understated version of “New York, New York” on the piano — after which the guy a row in front of me shouted, “We still love you too, Ryan!” Another song of note was a cover of Bob Mould’s “Black Sheets of Rain.”

It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen Ryan perform (was at the last time the 2008 Cafe Select show????), so I was delighted when he played some older hits — especially “English Girls Approximately” — as soon as he hit the chorus of the song I was reminded how MUCH I love that song. (The playing of “Love Is Hell” will be occurring all day today.)

More classic Adams details included Ry dressed in a black tee with red design, jeans, brown workbooks — but most importantly, one impossibly expensive looking black leather jacket with an homage to Iron Maiden painted along the entire back. (Of course!!)

Can’t wait to see him tonight at the big Carnegie Hall show!

Setlist via the Ryan Adams Archive:

Oh My Sweet Carolina
Ashes & Fire
If I Am A Stranger
Dirty Rain
New York, New York (piano)
Do I Wait
Lucky Now
Jacksonville Skyline
Black Sheets of Rain (Bob Mould cover)
English Girls Approximately
16 Days

You can re-watch the stream of the performance right here:

Day 3 of CMJ was an all-day affair at the I Guess I’m Floating/ Tell All Your Friends PR showcase at Pianos.

The lineup

My personal music marathon started out with the Seattle-based upstarts, Beat Connection, who were fresh off the red-eye from the Left Coast. Their set started off with a bit of a bumpy start — with the laptop not cooperating just a couple songs in. While the band waited for the Mac to kick back in, they explained that they were super excited to be at CMJ, because it was their first time ever at the festival (as performers or attendees). Awww!

The next band I was excited to see was Guards, the brainchild of Richie Follin (brother of Cults singer Madeline Follin). Like Cults, Guards has the obligatory waifish, winsome girl with long dark hair paired with a tall skinny dude with equally long locks (Follin), but in Guards case, it’s the dude who does the lead vocals.

The band kind of sounds like the slightly more psychedelic-rock lovin’ brother of Cults mixed in with a bit of Beatles Revolver era and MGMT. They even did a pretty rockin’ cover of M.I.A.’s “Born Free.”

Recommended.

The other main act of interest at the showcase was Grimes, aka – Claire Boucher. The blonde Montrealer has an ethreal, child-like voice which is laid on top of sometimes “grimey,” beats and synths. Onstage Boucher mans all the machines and instruments, volleying back and forth between her keyboard and table set up with her effects consoles, cradling the microphone between her ear and shoulder.

Musically some of the songs can be a bit repetitive, but there is no doubt, there is something compelling about Boucher — She’s like a beautiful synth pop alty-ragamuffin, with a mismatched outfit of a skirt with a pullover, paired with some field hockey-style striped athletic socks and slightly gothic necklaces and rings. On top of all of that, girlfriend was wearing an elastic headband with her hair pulled into a bun by a black scrunchie. Yes, a scrunchie. (See aforementioned note about her being an alty-ragamuffin.)

There is something sexy, yet sweet about her. In the setups between songs, her stage banter is punctuated by girly giggling and smiles, clearly winning over the majority of the Dude Central-type crowd (which included members of the NYC music wunderkid band, Oberhofer). If this girl is able to produce a couple of hotly produced tracks, she will definitely be going places. Total star in the making.

Some other bands I managed to catch, below:

Caveman

Like the Tapes ‘n Tapes before them, Caveman is music for dudes who like music written by dudes for dudes but slightly more Tom Petty-ish. They informed the crowd that they were stoked to be playing at Pianos since the venue gave them a chance to play a lot of shows there, making it where they first really got started as a band, and then commenting that their up-coming three sets of shows there was also what was going to kill them.

Doldrums

Hands

The Rapture, but from LA.

Scenes from tonight:

Day 1 of CMJ was a great start. Caught NYC via Australia band Young Magic‘s killer set at Public Assembly in Williamsburg. Dreamy, and dead sexy songs.

Also managed to catch a few songs by Boston band Quilt at the Mexican Summer showcase in the back room at PA. Some solid sonic noodling.

Quickly, some recommendations for this year’s CMJ:

These shows are bound to be completely packed. Attend if you dare: Zola Jesus (Knitting Factory on Tues; LPR on Wed); Wild Flag (Bowery Ballroom on Tues)

My picks: Young Magic at Public Assembly at 10pm on Tuesday. If you can stay up late, check out Dent May. Last year I caught Class Actress, who is ending the night at 1am, when she showcased at Cameo Gallery, but sadly was unimpressed. Maybe her live show as gotten better since then?

Other bands I’m hot to check out: Guards, Grimes, Boy and Bear, Active Child, and my (and seemingly everyone else’s) new favorite band, Purity Ring

Would love to check out Bleached and King Krule, but the scheduling gods seem at conflict.. but you never know…

Hey y’all. Sorry I have basically fallen off the face of the planet in terms of updates. August was a great month — saw lots of good music. Here are some of the shows I witnessed:

The biggest blowout I attended last month was on August 11th for Celebrate Brooklyn‘s last concert of the summer, featuring Aussie dance party gods, Cut Copy, and California wunderkids, Foster the People. So much crazy dancing, so much fun! (And a damn near Lindsay Lohan sighting!)

Lead singer Mark Foster told a story about how when he was a teenager he approached Rivers Cuomo at a party and tried to get him to listen to his demo. Fast foward to 2011, and now Weezer has been known to cover “Pumped Up Kicks” in concert. As an homage, FTP did a cover version of “Say It Ain’t So”:

The only bummer was during the show I decided to head into the crowd to get my groove on and instead some dude burnt me with his cigarette. BAD CONCERT DUDE, BAD!

Oh and every time I went to Celebrate Brooklyn this summer I had a foodgasm because The Farm on Adderley was the fancy food purveyor. Delicious fried green beans, life has never been the same since you’ve touched my lips!

The next night (Aug 12), after Sir Jeisenhair brain explosion, I headed to Rockwood Music Hall to catch Platinum Hit reality TV cutie Johnny Marnell do his thang.

Of course the venue was packed with chock full o’ lady admirers, dreamily looking up at Mr. Marnell. Adorable! Oh and apparently the New York Times was there — explains why that less than thrilled camera dude was at the show.

The next week I had the absolute JOY of hanging out with my friend from Iceland and his friend Karl, who is the brains behind the Icelandic band, Kalli. Managed to catch his act twice — once during a stripped down solo gig at Pianos, and then another with an accompanying percussionist at Fontana’s. It was like Iceland Airwaves 2006, all over again!

Kalli at Pianos

Sure I had back sweat, front sweat, side sweat, and butt sweat, but today’s FREE Friendly Fires + Naked and Famous + Cults show for Summerstage at Central Park was SO FUN.

I was dancing up a storm, making a fool of myself. If you were in the crowd, you may remember me from such things as screaming really loudly and terrifying The Music Slut at the start of “Hurting,” or doing a whirlwind dance past you on the way to the front of the crowd during the performance of “Hawaiian Air” during the encore.

Never ever before have I seen this, but guitarist Edd Gibson actually had REVERSE sweat stains on his denim shirt — as in, the entire shirt was drenched with sweat except for this 2-by-3-inch space under his armpit. SWEATMASTING! Ed Macfarlane was of course wearing a hideous printed shirt and dancing like a possessed samba instructor. There was a sax player and a trumpet player. I SAID, I SAID, I SAID THERE WAS A SAX PLAYER. Sax at a show = Brilliant. <3

I'd like to buy a "F" for $200...

Openers Cults were perfectly dreamy as per usual, and New Zealand’s own Naked and Famous were no where near naked, but good times nonetheless.

"So hey, I'm going to this show, do you want to come?" "Sure!" "OK, well just MAKE SURE you wear all denim. It's kinda a thing."

SETLIST: Lovesick, Jump In Pool, Blue Cassette, True Love, On Board, Chimes, Skeleton Boy, Show Me Lights, Live Those Days Tonight, Hurting, Pull Me Back to Earth, Paris ENCORE: Hawaiian Air, Kiss of Life

Last Sunday I had a pretty radtastical casual day at the Beekman Beer Garden at South Street Seaport watching those oldies, but goodies, The Raveonettes do a free show by the Manhattan waterfront.

I can’t tell you the last time I saw the Raveonettes in concert — probably the mid-2000s time frame — but I’m happy to report that they still rock out. Admittedly, you’ve heard one Raveonettes song, you probably have heard them all (heavy guitar sound, pretty light vocals and harmonizing), but they are enjoyable nonetheless.

On a normal night the Beekman Beer Garden crowd is basically B&T and tourists, but the concerts crowd was a mix of enthusiastic youngsters (free! during the day!) and old timers who crawled out of the woodwork to relive the adventures of their younger selves. Lots of little rocker kids as well, adorable!

Are all Danish people this attractive? Jeez

The kids just wanna rock

You can always count on Sharin Foo to add some glam

Behind the music

Gosh, the summer is just flying by! Here are a couple of things that have put a smile on my face so far:

The Radio Dept. and Asobi Seksu @ River to River, South Street Seaport – July 15, 2011

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of re-living the mid-2000s with a performance by Swedish shoegazers The Radio Dept. and NYC’s own Asobi Seksu.

A beautiful night with beautiful music.

Recording the show via iPad

Since the weather was so lovely, after the show J. took me to a place I’d never been before — Stone Street in the Financial District. Said to have been the first paved street in New York City, the narrow cobblestone street is fully flanked with restaurants and bars with chairs and tables set up. It has an old-world charm — magical and cute!

West Side Story sing-a-long at Prospect Park – July 21, 2011

Even 95+ degree whether cannot keep me away from anything musical theater-related. I had an awesome night a couple weeks ago at a Celebrate Brooklyn event at the Prospect Park bandshell to participate in an outdoor sing-a-long of West Side Story. With delicious food from The Farm On Adderley, classic songs, and a lovely setting.

Not satisfied with just one sing-a-long, I headed to another one on Friday night at Bell House, this one to the bestest Disney live action movie musical ever, Newsies. OH YES!

I remember falling in love with this musical when I saw it in the theater while in elementary school. I had the HUGEST crush on the boy who played Spot Conlon, the bada** leader of the Brooklyn newsies.

YOU GO SPOT CONLON!

Before the actual showing of the film, there was a screening of some horrible horror movie the kids of the movie made with the adults. Truly horrible! There was also a high-kick off, a singing challenge, and trivia questions. By the time the actual film started I’d already lost my voice from all the cheering and shouting I was doing! Folks were dressed up in their best newsboy gear, and there were interactive elements to the sing-a-long, complete with props like STRIKE signs, newspapers to rip up, celebratory streamers for the arrival of Teddy Roosevelt, and coins to throw to the newsies.

STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!

So much cheering, laughing, singing along, making “woooooo” sounds when Jack looks at Sarah, and general awesomeness.

SO MUCH FUN! Secret Formula is the group that throws all these awesome throwback and sing-a-long events. The rumored next sing-a-long is Beauty and the Beast (aka one of my favorite Disney animated musicals) so I’m kinda thinking I might just have to go?

On Saturday I was lucky enough to be in town for the first ever 4Knots Festival presented by the Village Voice. The 4 Knots fest is the replacement for the now defunct Siren Festival — the VV’s free music event on Coney Island. If memory serves me correct, I had attended each and every Siren Fest during it’s 10 year run. So it was only fitting that I attend the son of Siren.

Trading the tip of Brooklyn for the tip of Manhattan, the 4 Knots fest took place at Pier 17 at the famed South Street Seaport. It was a bit of a relief to find out that 4Knots only had one stage — Siren Fest always had a “Main” stage and a second “Stillwell” stage, which was kind of annoying because you’d find yourself running up and down the boardwalk all day long trying to catch all the different sets — never being able to fully watch all of them.

Butt pirates...hehehe (sorry)

On top of that, the VIP tents were situated behind the stages — which basically made for the most ginormous clusterf*ck toward the end of the night. By the headlining sets you knew that if you dared leave the pit, you might never get back in — and if you never left, you’d probably be surrounded by a bunch of folks who seemed exceedingly more interested in the free Bud Light than they were in the actual music.

4Knots was far more pleasant — VIP folks were sanctioned off on the Peking ship — off to the side of the stage, leaving the pit for people who actually needed to be there.

I suppose there was a “second stage” of sorts — the 4Knots indoor lounge on Front Street — brilliant because it was indoors with air conditioning, as well as the fact that it was open to the public. Fans of acts like Brahms, Yeasayer, and Dan Deacon could come listen to the celeb DJs spin their favorite tunes while taking photos at the Pop Chips booth, or singing karaoke.

But it wasn’t that bad to be outside — the sun was shining, it was pretty damn hot, but not actually that humid. Couldn’t ask for a better day.

Ok, but enough commentary on the setup — let me just give you the low down on the actual event:

Hands down my favorite act of the day was Titus Andronicus. I had seen Titus Andronicus play a couple times before (in the oxygen-deprived basement of Lit, at MHOW for ATJF ), but never have I seen them truly shine in the way I did this weekend.

The energy, enthusiasm, and love that radiated through the band and the crowd during their set absolutely blew me away. I was genuinely excited by their raucous, explosive set filled with their raw, yet poetic tunes. You could see in the faces of the fans that this band truly MEANS something to them. The devotion I saw in these kids was the kind that can produce involuntary body convolutions. The crowd felt like one giant organism, breathing, singing, cheering, and watching in unison. So many of the kids up front had clear eyes that were fixed on the every move of lead singer Patrick Stickles.

Titus Andronicus has definitely won me over as a fan. Any group that can produce genuine disciples such as the ones I saw is pretty damn impressive in my book.

Patrick Stickles jumps into the pit and reaches out to the crowd.

But simply reaching out to the fans is not enough, he climbs onto the barriers and falls backwards...

...the kids go mad, propping up their hero.

Lean mean Jersey machine

Another favorite were headliners The Black Angels. Their deep, dark, looming sound could underscore your most ultra-stylized, sinister nightmares … or a William Rast for Target commercial… whatevs.

Regardless, a super-cool set by this hard rocking, sexy sounding band.

Their tunes make me want to wear a black fringe crop top, trashy jean shorts, and motorcycle boots. Think Thelma and Louise — after going over the cliff, falling and not giving a f*ck.

More 4Knots coverage at Stereogum, NY Times, Prefix, Brooklyn Vegan, Music Snobbery, Village Voice