Laura Cantrell @ Hill Country BBQ

Laura Cantrell 02.02.12
@ Hill Country BBQ NYC
 
Truthfully, the absolute LAST thing I would want to do on a frigid as compared to this mild winter's night was trudge above 14th all the way to 26th in fact to a BBQ joint (I don't like to eat after 6pm - Gremlin rule - which was even more tortuous.  {see the rest...}

Lindbergh Palace @ The Mercury Lounge

Lindbergh Palace 06.30.11
@ Mercury Lounge NYC
I have to admit that any band that names itself with a Wes Anderson reference is going to have me in the front row taking pictures at some point in their existence.  BUT when said band has as its lead chanteuse the world's greatest and my favorite singing comic book artist, Leah Hayes, well then you don't have to ask me twice.  {see the rest...}

Archers of Loaf @ Webster Hall

Archers of Loaf 06.26.11
@ Webster Hall NYC
The reason 90's college radio bands enjoy such success in their second acts is that they bring to life again the songs that have been played countless times on the cassette car radios and walkmen of losers like me.  {see the rest...}

Tiff Randol @ Fontana's

Dean and Britta play Galaxie 500 @ The Bell House

Dean and Britta play Galaxie 500 06.17.11
@ The Bell House Brooklyn
Certain bands - Mazzy Star, Slayer, Digable Planets, The Raveonettes - are so essentially epitomizing of their genres that hearing just the first notes of their songs can transcend whatever mood you're in and take you back to when and where you fell in love with them  {see the rest...}

The Canon Logic @ Maxwell's

The Canon Logic 04.28.11
@ Maxwell's NJ
Opening for a legend like Evan Dando would either fill me with joy or dread - especially at $20 a pop for ticket  {see the rest...}

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Pianos Upstairs

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 01.23.05
@ Pianos NYC
Being around and afoot during a band's meteoric developmental stage is one of my late in my twenties discovered raison d'êtres  {see the rest...}

The Head Set @ Fontana's

The Head Set 05.13.11
@ Fontana's NYC
As I mused when I saw them in March, The Head Set have been one of the more underrated and underheralded NYC bands of the aughts.  {see the rest...}

Elliot and The Ghost @ Fontana's

Elliot and the Ghost 05.10.11
@ Fontana's NYC
Elliot and the Ghost is the new project of William Thompson formerly of Austin's The Steps.  {see the rest...}

Brenn @ Fontana's

Brenn 05.10.11
@ Fontana's NYC
So many excellent bands have been coming out of Nashville the past decade that it can be hard to keep track, but out of the dozens that have come through NYC lately, Brenn is one that definitely deserves your and your friends' attention.  {see the rest...}

New Moods @ Knitting Factory

New Moods 05.09.11
@ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
I've known Billy and Sean of New Moods for years in numerous capacities...  {see the rest...}

Daniel Wayne @ Mercury Lounge

Daniel Wayne 05.05.11
@ Mercury Lounge NYC
As a photographer, there are certain artists that when I study them on stage before a show, I know despite a seemingly placid and pure appearance, some sort of musical fury is seething beneath the surface about to be unleashed.   {see the rest...}

Men and Whales @ Fontana's

Men and Whales 05.05.11
@ Fontana's NYC
Kicking off their 3 week May residency, Men and Whales played it the only way they know how - with snap, crackle, and a lot of pop.  {see the rest...}

The Revere @ Fontana's

The Revere 05.05.11
@ Fontana's NYC
Philly's The Revere play rock loud, fast, and with an abandon that borders on sanctified and holy.  {see the rest...}

Seaflux @ Fontana's

Seaflux 04.29.11
@ Fontana's NYC
If there was ever a H.O.R.D.E. Festival for the Dungeons and Dragons crowd, Seaflux would no doubt be the house band.  {see the rest...}

The mOrgans @ Fontana's

The mOrgans 04.29.11
@ Fontana's NYC
At first glance, any statement that begins "a priest, a baby and a uni/centaur/dildo walk into a bar" would have to be considered the beginning of an Aristocrats routine at best or the tease for the most vile misbegotten porno of all time at worst.  {see the rest...}

Switchblade @ Fontana's

Switchblade 04.29.11
@ Fontana's NYC
With all of the lights, colors, fog, and hair the only thing that could go through my mind watching Switchblade shred their brand of heavily-sharpened metal had to be Metalocalypse, although this was definitely more prog than death.   {see the rest...}

Annekei @ Rockwood Music Hall

Annekei 03.07.11
@ Rockwood Music Hall NYC
So, this is pretty amazing stuff - back in 2003, Annekei practically fresh off the boat from Denmark made it to the finals of Amateur Night at The Apollo  {see the rest...}

Unknown Mortal Orchestra @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Unknown Mortal Orchestra 04.25.11
@ Bowery Ballroom NYC
The thing that Unknown Mortal Orchestra shares in similarity with other recent Kiwi exports  {see the rest...}

The Lemonheads @ Maxwell's

The Lemonheads 04.28.11
@ Maxwells Hoboken
No intro, no banter, no encore, no nonsense.  It's as if Evan telepathically plucked out the perfect set list out of my head and proceeded to blitz through it hard and fast (yes, that's what she said).  {see the rest...}

Young Prisms @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Young Prisms 04.23.11
@ Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn
Before this show, I had joked about doing E for Young Prisms set 'cuz that's how listening to their excellent album Friends for Now   {see the rest...}

Smith Westerns @ Bowery Ballroom

Smith Westerns 04.25.11
@ Bowery Ballroom NYC
Bearing the burden of being the Next Big Thing must be a helluva pressurized way to go through one's last days of being underage.  {see the rest...}