Death Vessel | Jose Gonzalez @ Brooklyn Lyceum

An intimate night of acoustic guitar and talented singers at a small venue in Brooklyn. I was more eager to see Death Vessel tonight since his last performance left me quite moved. This time he was not unaccompanied by a band and the focus rested on his gorgeous yet freakish high-pitched voice. He played a good set but near the end it got a bit tiresome and lacked energy.

The venue filled up quickly to see Jose Gonzalez who took the stage and quietly filled the room with his wonderful songs. I’ve seen this incredible singer many times so I won’t repeat myself on his beautiful combination of song structure and poetic lyrics. My only complaint is that he didn’t play any new songs and no new releases. Although he broke his speaking silence when he strummed a chord on his guitar and called it his “power chord”.

Links:
http://www.deathvessel.com/
http://www.jose-gonzalez.com/

Happy Birthday

I had a super great birthday. As the clock hit midnight to take me to 30, the radio played Nada Surf’s “Blankest Year” which I felt was a fitting song to start my new decade. I was still on my high from the Apes & Androids show and it marked the 1st night of a week long schedule of concerts I had planned for my celebration. As a treat, I’ve made a birthday mix to help with the festivities. 30 songs for 30 years. Check out the playlist if you want. Make your ipod happy and download the .zip file here. It’s a big file so be patient.

Apes & Androids @ Sin-e

With a bellyful of whiskey, I started out my week of concert celebration with Apes & Androids. I was very excited to see them again live as they put on such a fun live show. Word has spread about this band since the last time I saw them as the very small Sin-e was extremely packed.
This time they didn’t have their large skeleton on stage and had less of their theatrics and rather focused on their music. Despite having a cheesy appearance, their music truly does hold up and it is quite addictive. Although they didn’t have all the “extras” in their stage performance, several audience members took it upon themselves to add flavor to the show by jumping into sleeping bags to dance and attack the crowd. This was a nod to their brilliant music video made for their song “Radio”.

Halfway through the set the lights were shut off and glow sticks were handed out to create a surreal and beautiful ambience for one of their slower songs. This night they couldn’t refuse the crowd’s applause and screams and they gave us an encore and handed out kazoos and proceeded to play the most unique cover of a song I can’t remember the name of. It was hilarious. Mabe it was the whiskey but I’m sure I danced with sleeping bags, got pegged with packets of sour patch kids, and dreamed of colored flourescent lights. Another downright fun show by these New Yorkers. Din na na na HEY! da na na na

Picture & Videos from the show.

Links:

video from their last show.

http://www.apesandandroids.com/

Christine Fellows | The Mountain Goats @ Bowery Ballroom

I was glad to show up in time to see Christine Fellows open up. She really surprised me with the range of songs and her strong voice. She seemed very comfortable on stage and had a good crowd. Eager to see her again live.

The Mountain Goats is a band I have been following for quite some time now and have seen John Darnielle perform live many times these past few years. He always puts on a strong performance, but tonight was truly special. Perfect sound, perfect crowd. With 2 sold out shows at Bowery, he commanded the audience with his simple and poetic songs. You could hear a pin drop during the performance and I have never heard the Bowery crowd so quiet. He played a selection of songs from most of his albums and several where the crowd sang along to. The silence was broken when the entire place stomped and screamed for an encore where John came out to play a few more solo and then gave us another encore. Probably the best show he’s ever put on.
Links:

http://www.christinefellows.com/ – nicely designed
Mountain Goats – 4AD