Upcoming Shows: Patti Smith, Company Flow + more!

Tonight!! Thursday, July 14

Patti Smith @ Castle Clinton * Financial District, Manhattan * Free!!
Patti Smith is a poetic lady who helped invent punk rock in the 70's. She's kind of weird. [video] ::details::

Superchunk, OFF!, Lemuria @ House of Vans * Greenpoint, Brooklyn * Free (with RSVP)
Over the last decade, pop punk has got a bad name. But these three bands are not to blame. Quite the opposite in fact. Lemuria, who are opening, are my personal favorites. [lemuria video] ::details & rsvp::

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts @ Seaside Concerts * Coney Island, Brooklyn * Free!!
This is another lady who invented punk. She was young and in L.A. and her band, the Runaways, were one of those bands with a Svengali sorta manager who liked to use teenagers like pop idol puppets. But Joan Jett had a mind of her own from the very beginning and regardless of her status as an icon, she's a true musician at heart. ::details::

Other Shows
Marly Marl @ Music Hall of Williamsburg [info]
Tune-Yards @ River Rocks - Pier 54 (Free!) [info]
Gary War, Pop 1280, K-Holes @ Union Hall ($8) [info]
Yvette, French Miami @ Death By Audio ($7) [info]


Tomorrow!! Friday, July 15

Radio Dept, Asobi Seksu @ South Street Seaport * Financial Distract, Manhattan * Free!!
These are two shoegaze bands with a dash of indie pop and a dash of post rock. Or, for the less nerdy, they make pop songs but have a lot of layer-y guitar and stuff. [radio video] [asobi video] ::details::

Other Shows
My Teenage Stride, Woven Bones, Easter Vomit, Teen Witch @ 285 Kent ($10) [info]
I'm Turning Into, Dinosaur Feathers, Shark? @ Monster Island Basement ($5) [info]
Heaven, Andy Rourke (of the Smiths) DJ Set @ Glasslands ($10)


Saturday, July 16

Company Flow, Juggaknots @ Santos Party House * Chinatown, Manhattan * $20
Company Flow are, without the slightly doubt, the greatest underground rap group of all time. They broke up over a decade ago but apparently, they're playing a show Saturday. It's hardcore East Coast 90's rap with extreme lyrical density. Co Flo's lyrics are smart and brutal and they deliver them with unparalleled polyrhythmic complexity. Put that in your pipe and smoke it! ::details::

Other Shows
4 Knots Festival: Titus Andronicus, Black Angels, Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces), Obits + more @ South Street Seaport (free!) [info]
Pygmy Shrews @ Union Pool
Oneida @ Monster Island Basement ($10) [info]
Unstoppable Death Machines @ Saint Vitus Bar (Greenpoint, BK)


Monday, July 18

K-Holes, Hunters, Zulus @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
These dark noise rock / punk / postpunk bands are three of the very best in New York. Hunters have one of the best live shows I've ever seen, too. [k-video] [hunters nonvideo] ::details::


Tuesday, July 19

Kool Moe Dee @ Queensbridge * LIC, Queens * Free!!
Kool Moe Dee is one of New York's longest standing, most respected MCs. His show promises to be among the best of the NYC Parks Department's absolutely massive, jaw-dropping (and free!) hip-hop series this summer. ::details::


Wednesday, July 20

Torche @ Music Hall of Williamsburg * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $15
I don't usually like "stoner metal" but Torche infuse their sludge with enough pop appeal and enough energy to make them absolutely delicious. Don't let the genre put you off - if you can scrape up $15, this show is totally worth it. [video] ::details::

Other Shows
Ema, Talk Normal @ Glasslands ($10)
Fiasco, Web Dating @ Shea Stadium
Conversations With Enemies @ Death By Audio ($7)


The long view...

July
21
Funkmaster Flex, Nore(aga) @ Queensbridge (free!)
Gang Gang Dance @ Rocks Off Cruises
The Vandelles @ Union Hall ($8)

22
Death From Above 1979 @ Williamsburg Waterfront ($43)

23
The Feelies, Real Estate, Times New Viking @ Prospect Park (free!)
Heartless Bastards (acoustic) @ Mercury Lounge (sold out!)

24
Heartless Bastards (acoustic) @ Mercury Lounge
Swirlies, Psychedelic Horseshit @ Beekman Beer Garden (free afternoon show!)
Black Francis (Pixies) @ Le Poisson Rouge
Vaz, Mattress @ Bruar Falls

28
Walt Mink (great 90's indie band that split up over 10 years ago) @ Bell House
Shilpa Ray @ Shea Stadium

29
West Memphis Three Benefit with Dez Cadena @ Southpaw
Black Lips @ Bowery Ballroom


August
2
Sugarhill Gang @ Tappan Park (free!)
Sufjan Stevens @ Prospect Park

6
Cold Cave @ Bowery Ballroom
Crystal Antlers @ Glasslands ($10)
Total Slacker, Darlings, Beets @ Shea Stadium

7
Friendly Fires, Cults @ Central Park (free!)

8
The Kills, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, A Place to Bury Strangers @ Terminal 5

9
The Kills, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, A Place to Bury Strangers @ Terminal 5

12
Sonic Youth, Wild Flag (ex-Sleater-Kinney), Kurt Vile @ Williamsburg Waterfront ($40)
*CANCELED* Streets, El-P @ Terminal 5

21
Rakim, EPMD @ Central Park (free!)
Jeff the Brotherhood (not headlining) @ Le Poisson Rouge ($18)

22
Deerhunter, Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces) @ Webster Hall

23
Deerhunter, Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces) @ Webster Hall

25
Wavves @ East River Park (free!)


September
8
TV on the Radio @ Williamsburg Waterfront ($48)

23
The Descendents @ Roseland Ballroom

27
Swans @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

30
X @ Irving Plaza


October
1
X @ Irving Plaza

4
The Horrors @ Webster Hall

15
Wild Flag (ex-Sleater-Kinney) @ Bell House

18
Wild Flag (ex-Sleater-Kinney) @ Bowery Ballroom

22
The Damned @ Irving Plaza

29
Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) @ Town Hall (sold out!)

Upcoming Shows: The Fugs, Screens + more

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]

TONIGHT! Wednesday, January 20

BENEFIT FOR HAITI: Patti Smith, Yo La Tengo, the Antlers @ City Winery Soho, Manhattan $75 SOLD OUT!
OK, this concert is too expensive, but then again, it's for Haiti, and it's Patti Fucking Smith, the punk rock poet without whom music as we know it today would not exist. And Yo La Tengo who invented American noise pop in the 80's and are still the coolest kids in school. And the Antlers, who topped my Best of 2009 list with their heartbreaking ambient/noise/pop album Hospice. But anyway, it's sold out, so that probably ain't happening.

Big Troubles, My Teenage Stride, the Sundelles @ Le Poisson Rouge Greenwich Village, Manhattan $8
This line-up is sick, y'all. Big Troubles played the last Radio Flyer Review showcase where they plastered their audience against the walls with the sheer volume of their loud, catchy pop. Influences must certainly include the Jesus & Mary Chain, Smashing Pumpkins and Dinosaur Jr - awesome melodies and walls of sound blasted as loud as humanly possible. My Teenage Stride is one of the best indie pop bands around, with great songwriting and tight execution. They will make you smile. And the Sundelles also played my last showcase, cranking out spirited garage rock with enough frenzy to break a bass string. FUCK YES. [bt myspace] [mts myspace] [sundelles myspace]


TOMORROW! Thursday, January 21

Darlings, Motel Motel, Gunfight! @ Union Pool Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Darlings make music by insane people for insane people. I find them charming, accessible but unpredictable and quite raucous when it's called for (which is most of the time). Motel Motel are one of those alt-country bands in the indie rock circuit and they aren't earth shattering or anything, but they are definitely a great listen, even for people who aren't usually into that stuff. Their songwriting is just solid. Gunfight! play cow punk and put on a rivetingly fun live show. [darlings myspace] [mm myspace] [gunfight myspace]


Friday, January 22

Screens, Pygmy Shrews, Fiasco, PRSMS @ Death By Audio Williamsburg, Brooklyn $8
@*^$ #*^%# *&@^$!!! << I normally go ahead and write out the words I think, but here it went a little too far. As in "@!*&# &^$%* *@^%! !*#%, THIS LINE-UP IS BLOWING MY #&%&@# MIND!!!!!!" OK, where to even start. Well, Screens are one of my "Bands to Watch in 2010." They are the cutting edge of indie music. Pygmy Shrews show no mercy as they shred your ears with nasty, DISTORRRTED electric guitar. Fiasco I've written about recently - they are a young band that plays HEAVY post-hardcore with intense complexity and fierce noise. And PRSMS I haven't heard, but I've been meaning to. I'm 85% sure they are awesome, but we'll have to find out together. [screens myspace] [pygmy myspace] [fiasco myspace] [prsms myspace]

Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers @ Knitting Factory Williamsburg, Brooklyn $12?
Shilpa Ray is that badass lady of rock and roll who plays a handpowered harmonium while belting out soulful and blues tunes with punk rock 'tude while giving you the finger. Her backing band is one of the most solid groups in Brooklyn. Yep. [myspace]

BENEFIT FOR TULI KUPFERBERG: Lou Reed, the Fugs, Sonic Youth + more @ St. Ann's Warehouse DUMBO, Brooklyn $75-125
This show is another expensive benefit show, this one to aid Tuli Kupferberg with medical expenses after he suffered two strokes last year. Kupferberg was a founding member of the Fugs, a highly experimental, art-rock/folk band whose influence in the 1960's helped pave the for punk and every other experimental and artistic movement New York has since seen. Despite their influence, The Fugs didn't exactly strike it rich, so Kupferberg's bandmates and friends are pitching in to raise some money. These friends include his bandmates, the Velvet Underground's Lou Reed and Sonic Youth, among others. It's a once-in-a-lifetime line-up and for a good cause. But a lot of us just don't have that kind of money lying around.


Saturday, January 23

Pterodactyl, Kid Millions @ Issue Project Room Gowanus, Brooklyn $15
Pterodactyl has been on this blog so much over the last year, you're probably like "shut up already." Well, screw you. Pterodactyl is one of the most interesting bands around. Their math-punk is jumpy, fast and pounding, with soaring, ecstatic melodies drifting over the flurry of guitar and drums. Kid Millions is from Oneida, who make experimental drone/punk/metal/electro music that will put you in a trance, but a HARDCORE trance. And no, I don't even know what that means, but it's true. [ptero myspace]


Sunday, January 24

BENEFIT FOR HAITI: Rosanne Cash, Nada Surf + more TBA @ City Winery Soho, Manhattan $50
Another show for Haiti, slightly less expensive (but with a slightly inferior line-up) to tonight's show. You should be able to spare $50 for relief efforts in Haiti if you aren't in dire circumstances yourself. You could just give that money to an organization, but if you like music, why not check out some music while pitching in?


Monday, January 25

Cheap Trick @ The Fillmore at Irving Plaza Union Sq.-ish, Manhattan $49.50 adv. / $55 dos.
Don't hate, y'all! Cheap Trick were the definitive power pop band of the 70's. Their catchy rock albums may be arena-focused, but power pop built a foundation for much of indie music, taking harder and edgier elements and putting them with pop structures, not to lose edginess but to gain it. Cheap Trick are ROCK and ROLL.


[Upcoming Shows Playlist]
The long view...

January 2010
27
BENEFIT FOR HAITI: Walkmen, Cold War Kids, Ted Leo, Wrens, AC Newman, Here We Go Magic + more @ Bell House

29
Asobi Seksu @ Le Poissson Rouge
Here We Go Magic @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Mission of Burma @ Bowery Ballroom
Oneida @ Market Hotel
Sounds Like Brooklyn: Les Savy Fav, Vivian Girls (yick) @ Brooklyn Academy of Music

30
Mission of Burma @ Bowery Ballroom
Sisters, Fluffy Lumbers, Total Slacker @ Shea Stadium

February
3
Atlas Sound @ Bell House

4
Atlas Sound, Neon Indian, Sisters @ NYU Kimmel
Cold Cave @ Mercury Lounge

5
Sounds Like Brooklyn: Ra Ra Riot, the Antlers @ Brooklyn Academy of Music

6
Don Giovanni showcase: Shellshag, Screaming Females, Jeff the Brotherhood + more @ Bowery Ballroom

9
The Residents @ Webster Hall

10
Harlem @ Mercury Lounge

12
Jonathan Richman @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

13
Jonathan Richman @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
The Magnetic Fields @ Brooklyn Academy of Music

14
Jonathan Richman @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

19
Fucked Up, Kurt Vile, Frankie Rose & the Outs @ Europa
Andrew W-K @ Santos Party House

20
Crystal Stilts, Beets, Beach Fossils, German Measles @ Music Hall of Williamsubrg

21
Dum Dum Girls, Frankie Rose & the Outs @ Mercury Lounge

26
Wild Beasts @ Bowery Ballroom

27
Glenn Branca (record release) @ Le Poisson Rouge

28
Wild Beasts @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

March
5
Muse, the Silversun Pickups @ Madison Square Garden

6
Titus Andronicus, Parts & Labor, Babies @ Bowery Ballroom

10-11
The Magnetic Fields @ Town Hall

12-13
Henry Rollins @ The Fillmore

18-19
Killswitch Engage @ The Fillmore

23
Black Lips @ Brooklyn Bowl

25
Nada Surf play Let Go + surprise guest @ Bowery Ballroom

26
Nada Surf play The Weight Is a Gift + surprise guest @ Bell House
Spoon, Deerhunter @ Radio City Music Hall

27
Nada Surf play Lucky + surprise guest @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

30
Big Pink, A Place to Bury Strangers @ Webster Hall

April
15
Liars @ Bowery Ballroom

18
Liars @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]

Upcoming Shows: TONIGHT!

What better way to celebrate the New Year (and more importantly, a day off work tomorrow) than going to see some music? There are a few good shows but one stands out:

Screaming Females + Talk Normal, Frankie and the Outs @ Cake Shop | LES, Manhattan | $15
Screaming Fucking Females, y'all, the best guitar rock band on the planet right now. Talk Normal is experimental in a very cool way and Frankie is Frankie Rose of Crystal Stilts, Mayfair Sect and once upon a time, the Vivian Girls. And Screaming Fucking Females. [SF MySpace] [TN MySpace] [Frankie MySpace]

If Cake Shop isn't doing it for you for some reason, here are some other goings on:

Titus Andronicus, So So Glos @ Mercury Lounge | LES, Manhattan | $15
Titus Andronicus is one of the best hardcore punk bands to emerge in the last couple years. They put on an amazing live show. The So So Glos are another great hardcore band. This show is late, so you could probably go after the Cake Shop show if you aren't wiped out by 2 AM. [TA MySpace] [MySpace]

Patti Smith and Her Band @ Bowery Ballroom | LES, Manhattan | Sold Out!
This show sold out months ago, but if you can find a way to go you should go. Patti Smith is the universally admired poet laureate of original NYC punk. Bowery is a great venue and probably the most intimate place you'll have a chance to see Smith play.