Franz Ferdinand played to a sold-out house last night at Warsaw (261 Driggs Ave) on their first tour since 2014 supporting Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. The band’s new lineup is comprised of Alex Kapranos (lead vocals and guitar), Bob Hardy (bass guitar), Paul Thomson (drums, percussion and backing vocals) and Dino Bardot (guitar) and Julian Corrie (synth, guitar) replaced founding member Nick McCarthy, who left the band last summer.
After playing Governor’s Ball over the weekend, the band extended their stay in New York City playing the show as part of Governor’s Ball After Dark.The crowd was as electrified as the band, especially when they played dance-beat heavy songs such as “No You Girls”, “The Dark of the Matinee” and “Take Me Out”, dancing, jumping and waving their arms to the music. Franz Ferdinand returned to the stage for an encore performance and ended their show with energy surging, “This Fire” and hand-in-hand the band took a bow.Continue reading →
Dance music DJ, Roosevelt beings his four-piece band to Brooklyn Bazaar for a totally new live experience. (Photo credit: Brian Vu)
Catch the German-based dance music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and dreamy vocalist, Roosevelt, for a late night party at the Brooklyn Bazaar (150 Greenpoint Ave) this Friday, June 2nd following his performance at Governors Ball on Randall’s Island.
For those of you familiar with Roosevelt, it might come to you as a surprise to see the DJ with a four-piece band this time around. He’s amping up his live shows, and just added a new keyboardist to complete their summer tour (Brooklyn is just one of the three stops in the US—Governors Ball NYC, Philly and DC—are also on the list, before trekking back to Europe).
“This is the first time for people to see it as a four piece. A lot of things came from the laptop before, but now everything is live… So that’s exciting for me right now because so many things can go wrong because there’s actually a band. That’s quite a special thing because it’s the first time we’re playing together.”
We sat down with Roosevelt before he dipped into a 5-hour-long rehearsal session in Brooklyn to discuss his new Remixed EP, touring with a girl, and what he means by “the European way.” Continue reading →
The Hum, in its 5th year, is a magical project put together by Rachael Pazdan. Pazdan, music director at the Le Possion Rouge, unites female artists who have never worked together to create new music for an all-female performance series for five nights. In past years it was held at Manhattan Inn (RIP), but this year Good Room (98 Meserole Ave) is hosting all the events except one which will be held at Le Poisson Rouge. This past Monday’s session was serene, synth-ful and sinful, and full of dance-like beauty. Each group was seamless and fluid in their collaboration, making it appear that they must have worked together before. These groups that played involved several powerhouses, including Kissey as well as Sadie Dupuis (Speedy Ortiz). Continue reading →
The past week has been musically great, with reformed acts playing sold out shows around town. Texas-based punk rockers The Marked Men bashed their way through back-to-back gigs, first Thursday at St. Vitus (1120 Manhattan Ave.) then onto their initially announced Brooklyn Bazaar (150 Greenpoint Ave.) show on Friday. The band’s old-school punk riffing and ear for hooks has endeared them a strong following even if they haven’t released an album since 09’s Ghosts. The venue was packed with a sea of black leather and safety pinned battle jackets, with the crowd singing or shouting in response to the band throughout their set.
A previous show at San Damiano Mission. Photo via The Lot Radio
If you’ve grabbed a coffee at The Lot Radio (17 Nassau Avenue), or have ever wandered the streets behind the High School next to McCarren Park, you may have seen the Franciscan church San Damiano Mission (85 N 15th Street). If you didn’t, then you should take note. The church and local independent streaming DJ radio station The Lot Radio have been teaming up to put on benefit shows inside the church, with viewers in the pews and musicians at the pulpit. Praise. All performances are free with a suggested donation (usually $10), and always feature an interesting musical artist or three; a few months back, I attended a show with an experimental French electronic DJ who played objects as instruments.
Friars manning the bar at San Damiano Mission. Photo via The Lot Radio
So, it’s a church—but there’s beer, wine and a full liquor bar for donation—and the super cool friars Nick and Raphael are serving up the drinks. Seriously, they’re the most awesome bartenders you’ll ever meet, and will gladly give you a hug if you smile and even just slightly befriend them. Hugs are great! And the venue is truly beautiful. All of the money raised benefits the church and the repair of their massive pipe organ (we will cover that in a future feature story), which was originally installed in 1912. Continue reading →
Smog (aka Bill Callahan) rolls in to Brooklyn town late June for a residency at unflinchingly popular Baby’s All Right on Broadway.
Bill recently played New York in April, supporting the famous Iggy Pop on tour, with a drop-down at the United Palace Theater, uptown.
A prolific singer and songwriter, Callahan, active in the lo-fi New York scene for well over 20 years and only in the last few recording under his new name, has, perhaps, as Pitchfork has pointed out, maintained a kind of mystical aura, thanks not only to the minimalism of his music, writing, and interview repartee, but also because-up until recently-not many people had heard his own recordings. Callahan’s songs have been taken up by noted artists such as Gil Scott-Heron, Flaming Lips and Cat Power.
In a recent profile, The Washington Post described Callahan alongside three other major singer-songwriters as, “asserting their gravity in the North American mystery zone where cosmopolitan sophistication and folk mysticism overlap”.
Come see for yourself when Callahan plays Baby’s All Right this month.
Bill Callahan June 26 through June 28
Shows at 6PM and 9PM each night.
Baby’s All Right, Williamsburg Tickets
Frankie Cosmos is playing Sat (6/11) at Rough Trade
A festival that harkens to Austin’s over-saturated SXSW festival without the tasteless inundation of branding in the name of culture (yet), Northside Festival returns to North Brooklyn from June 6 – 12 and is still a great opportunity to catch bands you know alongside local groups you may have only heard mention of. As you skip around venues old and new, these are some of the acts that would be a shame to miss. Continue reading →
The middle of February can be a pretty slow time, but you wouldn’t know it going by the concert calendar. Plenty of interesting shows are happening all week long. Here are a few you should check out.
Tonight (2/18) – Libel takes the stage at Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Ave). This band draws on melodic-yet-jagged 90s post-hardcore and should be cool live. Also on the bill is Grand Resort, who seem to have perfected a mixture of shoegaze, jangle, and new wave that takes you back to the 80s effortlessly. Of course, both bands are still very now, too. Check them out with Kins. Doors at 8:00, show at 8:30, $10 entry. Tickets here.
Tonight, neighborhood band Shy Hunterstake the stage at Baby’s All Right. Doors are at 8:00, also on the bill is People Get Ready, and the show costs $10. Get tickets here.
I asked singer/guitarist Indigo Street some questions about the band, their song “Echoes,” what she thinks of our awesome neighborhood, and more.
UPDATE: We have a winner for tonight’s concert at Brooklyn Bowl. Greenpointers reader, Brady Welch, guessed the correct answer “Love Shack” and was randomly selected to receive the prize. Stay tuned for another post from Brooklyn Bowl for another great concert giveaway!!
Greenpointers.com & Brooklyn Bowl have joined forces to get you into some awesome concerts for free! Our first in a series of concert ticket giveaways this Fall begins with a band also known as the World’s Greatest Party Band: The B-52s!
After 30 years of rocking out and selling over 20 million of their albums, these Athens, Georgia natives are back in Brooklyn to rock your lobster.
Now it’s time to brush up on your knowledge of this legendary rock band for your chance to win two tickets worth over $120!!
Answer the following question in the comments below:
What was the name of the B-52s first top-40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100? *
Hint: It ultimately reached No. 3 in November 1989
Deadline to comment: Tonight, 11/6/13, 11:59pm
One winner will be chosen randomly to receive two tickets. Winner will be announced tomorrow morning and emailed. Good luck!
