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Jose Gonzaléz @ Joe’s Pub

I’ve had this date circled in my calendar several months now. After only catching a glimpse of him at the Living Room last year, I would finally get to see Jose live. In a matter of months this 27 year old Swedish-Argentine folk singer has emerged into the forefront. I was very anxious to see him at a perfect venue for him, so I arrived first on line to get a table in the front row. Jose captivated the crowd with his hushed vocals over gentle melodies. His intricate guitar picking skills are incredible and he quickly set the mood for the night after the first song. Armed with only a Spanish guitar he creates beautiful, simple songs that are intimate and mysterious. A wonderful and unforgettable night.

Pictures and Videos from the show. (thanks for the camera Jen!)
Crank up the volume on the videos.

Links:
Jose Gonzaléz
His space on my space.

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Youth Group / Matt Pond PA @ Northsix

I saw Youth Group back at CMJ and they were good back then, even better now. I was eager to see them again after some extensive touring in the states. This time around they were solid, playing a great set of songs. They seemes very relaxed on stage, probably because it was their last stop on their tour.

It was a bummer not being able to get into the sold out Matt Pond PA show at the Merc last year. Considering that would have been the first time I’d get to hear their new album live, which is simply a great. Tonight’s show was musically on target despite some technical problems. They played through all their “hits” and the new ones were perfect live. Tonight’s show was one of the best sounding ones I’ve been to. It was also the most times I’ve heard the band talk on stage, which I would advise they stop doing. Less talking, more playing. Despite having their van stolen, they finally arrived home to play a great show.

So this is the part where I may put a link to any pictures. But my camera broke at the show. 🙁 sad indeed.
Cheers old friend, we’ve had some good times.

Links:
Youth Group
Matt Pond PA

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The Big Sleep / Film School / Cloud Room @ Mercury Lounge

I’m sure you are tired of hearing me blabbing about The Big Sleep and Film School, so this concert’s review was provided by my special guest Elizabeth Ferris:

I must preface this review with two qualifications: 1) I haven’t been to a show since last April, and 2) I am not Pablo. But you probably figured that from number 1. So when Pablo said he had an extra ticket to The Big Sleep, a group he’s been raving about, with Film School and The Cloud Room, I figured the show would be just what I needed to end my absurd live-music hiatus.

I got to The Mercury Lounge just in time to catch the end of Carina Round, a UK trio with an impressive leading lady. In my humble opinion, she did a superb job on her slow-song-as-last-song delivery, and looked great doing it – very crucial keys to success.

And then came The Big Sleep. All I really knew about them is that they’d be loud, but more than loud, they literally envelope you in the best way. It helped that we were standing front-row center, because there was nothing to distract from the intensely personal experience of watching this unpretentious threesome dish out a walloping smack of sound. You are missing out if you don’t see them – soon!

Two vodka tonics later, Film School was up. You gotta give these guys credit for playing their first show since all their equipment was recently stolen. And while I was in no means disappointed by their set, but I did spend most of the time trying to figure out why they need five guys on stage.

Another vodka tonic later, I was asking the same question again of The Cloud Room. They were very entertaining as well. I didn’t know any of their songs, of course, but you could gauge the crowd pleasers based on the many bobbing heads – especially to their “Hey, now, now!” song.

Best money spent on a show all year. The first, true, but not the last!

Pictures from the show

Links:
Carina Round
The Big Sleep
Film School
The Cloud Room

please make a donation at the Film School website to help them from their Van theft in Philly. This sort of thing has been happening a lot lately ;(

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Ted Leo & The Pharamacists @ The Hook

It was my first time at this out of the way venue The Hook located in Red hook. Although it took forever to get there as no cabs or livery drivers know how to get there, we finally arived just in time. Openers Duke Spirit cancelled because of Visa problems but I’ll catch them when they open up for Nine Black Alps later in the month. The venue was actually quite nice. Spacious, good acoustics, and cheap beer. If only it was easier to get to.

I’ve seen this band over a dozen of times and they may be coming close to my John Vanderslice outings. Ted Leo is just great, greater live, and each new album is getting better and better. They quickly started their set with all the “big hits” and were non-stop playing every great song they have. They even treated us to a few new songs, which I must say two of them were really good. Excited ot hear the new album (whenever that comes out). The show went on forever making work the next day rough but well worth it.

Pictures from the show.
Cat was there too.

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And Nick Zimmer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs writes…

Seems like Nick Zimmer shares his viewpoint (rant) of the recent Yeah Yeah Yeahs shows in a blog entry over at Jane Magazine.
http://www.janemag.com/yournews/blogs/guest/nick_zinner/index.html

An excerpt from the blog:

MAXWELL’S: “Showtime. We’re escorted through the crowd, and of course, when we hit the stage, everything is fine. duh. why do i do this to myself? Its a rough, sloppy, and aggressive show, and people are screaming, jumping, dancing, sweating. We try playing an acoustic version of “maps,” which we haven’t practiced, and i butcher it trying to remember my parts on the spot, but the sentiment is there for us on stage, and seemingly strong in the crowd too. We close with “tick”, run downstairs and collapse in a giddy exhaustion. Being a rock band, we spend the rest of the evening doing mountains of drugs and passing groupies around. ”

BOWERY BALLROOM: “At Bowery, its a little tense in the crowd and in the air, but we’re not nearly as nervous as last night, because we are already sore and bruised. We rock onstage, but unfortunately the crowd is stiff as nails, with heavy-duty lead in their shoes. The Bloggers in the front row keep their arms crossed for the whole show even though we are playing our bleeding hearts out, and sweating gallons. We’re trying out mostly new material for the very first time which could explain the collective reservation, but both the Maxwells Show and a few older songs disprove this theory.”

And yea, being a New Yorker I must admit New York crowds can be tough to play to, but when the show rocks or sucks, the crowd will let the band know it. I’ve seen huge crowds fall silent to bands like Explosions in the Sky, cry to Ryuichi Sakamoto, and go completely apeshit for Wolf Parade. But the audience reaction to a show like this is truly bewildering.
And reading some of the comments flying around, I must agree that I get annoyed by all the increased cameras and “bloggers,” me being one of them. But I make it a point to not interfere with the people behind me, just take a few shots during the middle of the show and I’m done. Moreover, my pics from this particular show came out so crappy ‘cuz I was too busy jumping up and down and flailing my arms in total excitment.

The ModernAge has a good insight on this as well.

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Maxwell’s

So I was super lucky to get tickets to this show at the very small club Maxwell’s. This was their first show of their pre-tour trying out their new songs. Tickets were in high demand being sold for around 100 bux. The band actually bought back the tickets that were being sold on Ebay and gave the money back to the buyers.

The last time I had butterflies in my stomach before a show was when Skinny Puppy and Whitehouse played after a multi-year hiatus. I got to the venue 2 hours early to secure a spot near the front. I was not going to miss an opportunity to see a band like this again AND in such an intimate setting.

Blood on the Wall opened and I kinda dug them. A trio that has fast metal punk songs. The drummer was wearing a Napalm Death shirt so kudos to him. Yeah Yeah Yeahs took the stage and Karen O was dressed in a Flinstones type smock over a Kamp Krusty” Simpsons t-shirt. They also had Imaad Wasif play a few songs who is also in alaska!. They announced the show by stating that they were playing 90% new material which I was very excited for. Those of you complaining about not hearing your favorites should shut the fuck up. The whole purpose of this tour is to test out the new tunes which I must say are killer.

The band was great, the audio was pretty much right on, and the crowd was perfect. Karen O’s stage presence is what makes the live perfromance all the better. As the night went on she became more and more possessed by the music, throwing punches in the air, swinging her mic wildly around and taking a bite out of the mic stand. Towards the end of the show she just started pounding the walls with her hands and for gave us a treat by dedicating an acoustic version of “Maps” to all the “awesome mother fuckers here tonight in Hoboken” and the other bands members exes. For the final number she repeated “tick” for about almost 10 minutes as she walked wildly across the Maxwell’s stage. The best quote of the night was when she said that “It’s so hard being in a rock band”. I honestly don’t know how she has this much energy for every show day in and day out.

The venue was steaming. The walls were dripping wet and for such a cold night outside, I’ve never been so hot inside a club before. After the show I was in awe and looked around and saw similar reactions from the crowd. I stumbled through the streets of Hoboken walking on cloud 9. This is what it’s all about. And yea, last night may have been one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen thusfar. yup. ain’t kiddin’.
An unforgettable night.

My Pictures and Videos of the show.

other reviews:
Music Snobbery.
The Modern Age.