Neon Trees are back, baby! The Utah rockers celebrated the release of their new album “Picture Show” with a pair of intimate shows at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on April 16 and 17, 2012. I caught the second show and it was electric! Lead singer Tyler Glenn is a total rock star. He dresses the part (including multiple outfit changes), has incredible stage presence and is filled with energy that just won’t quit! He makes sure the crowd has a great night as he dances all over the stage and gets the audience engaged with crowd sing-a-longs.
Fame is Dead!
During their hour and a half set, Neon Trees’ set was packed with hits from their debut album “Habits” (including “Animal,” “Never Surrender,” and “1983″), as well as stadium-worthy lighting! Before launching into tracks from “Picture Show,” Tyler Glenn told the crowd that it is great but also scary to play new material because you never know how the audience will react. I can safely say, the crowd was digging the new stuff. When introducing the new song “Everybody Talks,” Tyler Glenn dedicated it to all the people that talk shit and he said a betrayal at age 6 prepared him for a life filled with people talkin’ smack.
Neon Trees
Glenn said that he wanted to bring the fun back into rock and roll and Neon Trees succeeded in their mission. I think even if you don’t care for their music, you cannot say that you won’t be entertained by a live performance by Neon Trees. That’s what rock and roll is all about! Thanks for a great night Neon Trees!
Pulp. Radio City Music Hall. April 11, 2012. Epic! Wow! I haven’t had this much fun at a show in a long time. It’s been 14 years since British rockers Pulp have played in New York and it’s been worth the wait. Playing their second of 2 sold out shows at Radio City Music Hall, the 2 hour set was a non-stop party of great songs, lights, rock and roll, hilarious anecdotes from lead singer Jarvis Cocker, crowd sing-a-longs and fun times!
Pulp!
The show began just before 9 PM with laser projected statements not unlike those found in the liner notes of Pulp albums. Questions like “Are you ready?” “Are you sure?” and “Do You Remember The First Time?” flashed across Radio City Music Hall and then the band launched into “Do You Remember The First Time?” What a great way to open the show! Between every single song, lead singer Jarvis Cocker told funny anecdotes about songs (including a chat about astrology – he’s a fellow Virgo as well), and called our crowd “the hardcore fans” as this was initially the first Pulp show in New York, but a second night was added due to ticket demand. That show ended up becoming the first night due to scheduling issues with the venue.
Pulp
During tracks like the ode-to -taking-drugs-at-a-festival song “Sorted For E’s and Wizz,” a very trippy laser light show was being projected throughout Radio City Music Hall and I think the laser lights could have been seen from the bathrooms at Radio City! The band utilized great lighting throughout the show from neon letters that spelled out “P-U-L-P” (see photo above), had screens behind the band that showed all kinds of cool and colorful visuals and during the song “I Spy,” Jarvis Cocker had some sort of device that he shined at the audience and it projected his camera onto the overhead screens.
Penguin Prison rules! Every song they have is danceable, catchy and will make you want to play it over and over again. I didn’t think there could be any more ways to tell you how much I love Penguin Prison, but I was wrong. Here it is in a bunch of different languages!
Afrikaans: ek is lief vir die pikkewyn die tronk
Arabic: أحب البطريق السجن
Chinese: 我爱企鹅监狱
Czech: Miluju tučňáka vězení
Danish: Jeg elsker pingvin fængsel
Dutch: ik hou van pinguïn gevangenis
French: i love prison pingouin
German: ich liebe Pinguin Gefängnis
Greek: Λατρεύω πιγκουίνος φυλακή
Hebrew: אני אוהב את הכלא פינגווין
Icelandic: ég elska Penguin fangelsi
Italian: amo carcere pinguino
Japanese: 私はペンギンの刑務所を愛して
Korean: 난 펭귄 감옥을 사랑
Latin: i amor Imperio carcere
Portuguese: eu amo prisão pinguim
Russian: Я люблю пингвинов тюрьмы
Spanish: me encanta la cárcel de pingüinos
Thai: ฉันรักคุกเพนกวิน
Vietnamese: i yêu chim cánh cụt tù
If you’re still with me, check out the amazing Penguin Prison performing “Something I’m Not” live at Bowery Ballroom on March 28, 2012.
If you missed Bjork’s residency at the New York Science Museum, there is good news. NYCTaper has recorded the audio of one of the shows (and it was the one I went to!) and you might recognize some groovy photos in their review!
Head over to NYCTaper (link will open in a new window) and grab your copy of Bjork live on February 12, 2012.
I’d like to add this disclaimer directly from NYCTaper: Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.
On February 6, 2012, Britain’s Little Barrie performed a very intimate VIP only gig at Rose Bar in New York City. The hour long set was performed for the likes of music industry royalty such as Andy Roarke from The Smiths (and of course myself!) Taking place at the swanky Rose Bar, the venue was a nice lounge with a great sound system and an upscale hipster vibe. If you don’t know the music of Little Barrie, you’re in for a treat. Their songs ROCK! It’s so refreshing when you think of the bands of today and the limited musical vocabulary of the public to see a band that just gets up there and reminds you of the good old days of Rock and Roll where the band looks like rockers and delivers the goods when they are on stage.
Barrie Cadogan of Little Barrie
Lead singer Barrie Cadogan has a raspy rocker voice and plays the hell out of his guitar. On drums is Virgil Howe (Steve Howe from the band Yes’ son) and on bass and vocals is Lewis Wharton. Little Barrie played songs such as “Surf Hell” from their 2011 record “King of the Waves.” They will be releasing new music very soon, so stay tuned to Little Barrie’s official website for more details. Thanks for rockin’ guys!
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