Posted by The G on November 3, 2011 under G Reviews | 
Photos by G.
Jonny Pierce of The Drums
November 2, 2011 was a great day! In the same night, I got to go to my two favorite venues in New York City: Mercury Lounge (for the early show to see VV Brown) and Bowery Ballroom to see The Drums (who went on around 11 PM, for those seeing them later this week). I saw The Drums a year ago as part of CMJ and I loved their show a lot. There have been some personnel changes within the band and whoever said “change is good” sure knows what they are talking about. The Drums added a new bass player, switched drummer Connor Hanwick to guitar and added a new drummer. I think The Drums sound better than ever and in fact, the live versions of the songs they played from their albums “the Drums” and “Portamento” sounded better to me than the studio versions. It was as if the band grew into these songs and each track was stronger, punchier and more dance-oriented than the album versions (read: please release a live album!)
The Drums
Lead singer Jonny Pierce’s stage presence last night was reminiscent of the glory days of Morrissey as he swayed to the beat and delivered his moody, but brilliant lyrics about breaking up, money and death. Pierce told the crowd that the band is winding down from their North American tour before playing the non-album track “I Felt Stupid.” Other highlights included great versions of their “Portamento” songs “Money,” “I Need a Doctor” and “If He Likes It Let Him Do It.” The crowd of course lost their minds during songs such as “it Will All End In Tears,” “The Future” and “Best Friend,” which Jonny Pierce dedicated to his dead best friend. The Drums are playing a few shows this week, but they are all sold out so do what you need to do and see them!
See the set list after the jump.
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Tags: 2011, Bowery Ballroom, Jonny Pierce, Lead Singer, New York, November 2, Photos, Portamento, Review, Set List, The Drums, Tour, What Time Do They Go On
Posted by The G on October 26, 2011 under G Reviews |
Photos by G.
From left: John Taylor, Nick Rhodes, Simon LeBon of Duran Duran
Duran Duran! The fab four (formerly five, but Andy Taylor is no longer with the band) made their long awaited return to New York with a show at Madison Square Garden on October 25, 2011. After an enthusiastic set from Neon Trees, Duran Duran took the stage at 8:30 PM. For nearly two solid hours, Duran Duran played so many songs that cemented their place in music history such as “Planet Earth,” “Hungry Like The Wolf,” “Rio,” “The Reflex,” “Is there Something I Should Know,” “Ordinary World,” “Come Undone,” and “Notorious.” As you can imagine, an arena full of people singing and dancing along to all of those songs is a guaranteed great time. But it was not all hits, many songs from Duran Duran’s latest album “All You Need Is Now,” their best album in years, made their New York live debut tonight.
Simon LeBon
The title track from the album as well as my favorite “The Man Who Stole A Leopard” were played as well as their new single “Leave a Light On.” Ana Matronic of Scissor Sisters guested on stage to sing on “Safe” as she does on the album and the album’s producer, Mark Ronson played guitar on their new classic “Girl Panic.” There were some visuals projected on the screens behind the band, but who needs theatrics when you’ve got such a great catalog of songs? During one of the encores, “Wild Boys,” the band broke into another 1980s classic, Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Relax,” which was a nice, if odd, surprise. Aside from “Careless Memories” and the instrumental “Tiger Tiger,” Duran Duran didn’t get into obscure songs and instead stuck mostly with big hits and new songs.
Nick Rhodes, John Taylor of Duran Duran
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen Duran Duran and I did not leave without a smile on my face. If you haven’t heard their latest album “All You Need is Now,” you should check it out because producer Mark Ronson got Duran Duran to return to their classic sound that made them so popular nearly 30 years ago! 30 years ago?! Wow. Where does the time go? It was interesting (and slightly depressing) to see that the crowd have traded in their 80s fashions for khakis, but what can you do? Because I love Mark Ronson and Ana Matronic, I’ll be posting videos of “Girl Panic,” and “Safe” soon, so stick around for that.
See the setlist and a couple more pix (including Roger Taylor) after the jump.
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Tags: "All You Need Is Now", 2011, Ana Matronic, Duran Duran, Images, John Tayor, Live, Madison Square Garden, Mark Ronson, New York, Nick Rhodes, October 25, Photo, Photos, Review, Roger Taylor, Set List, Simon LeBon, What Time Do They Go On
Posted by The G on September 23, 2011 under G Reviews |
Photos by G.
Christopher Owens of Girls
If you want to take bets on an album that is sure to wind up on a lot of year end best lists, I think it’s safe to say you’ll be seeing “Father, Son, Holy Ghost” by Girls making these lists. The San Francisco based band played their first of two sold out shows at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on September 22, 2011. The show began at 9 pm with great sets from Papa (of which the lead singer – who is also the drummer - and guitarist are also in Girls) and punk band Nobunny at 10 pm. Girls hit the stage just around 11 pm. If you haven’t heard Girls before, their music has elements of surf rock, folk and pop. Their songs are extremely catchy even though they have titles like “Vomit” and “Die.” Lead singer Christopher Owens looks like a cross between Macauley Culkin and Kurt Cobain. His voice is mellow and his lyrics are great.
Girls
The audience loved every second of the nearly 2 hour show and it’s clear when the band comes back through town, they’ll be playing at much larger venues. I spoke with lead singer Christopher Owens backstage after the show and he was extremely cool. He was pretty shy, as one would expect from the gorgeous yet sad lyrics he writes. Before the night was over, I was at the merch table getting both of their albums and Girls’ EP. I am looking forward to getting to know their music better and I think if you give them a shot, you will too.
See the set list as well as a photo of Christopher Owens and myself after the jump.
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Tags: Band, Bowery Ballroom, Christopher Owens, Father Son Holy Ghost, Girls, Lead Singer, New York, Photos, Review, Set List, What Time Do They Go On
Posted by The G on May 9, 2011 under G Reviews |
Photos by G.
Paul Banks of Interpol
I have a massive band crush on Interpol. I love their music, they are great in concert, I’ve had 3 really positive experiences meeting the band and tonight, they rocked and raised money for a great cause. Dubbed the “Sickday Fuzzy Sock Hop,” to raise money for the Sickday Safety Net organization, Interpol and Blonde Redhead played a sold out show at New York’s Terminal 5 on May 8, 2011. Before you read on about the show, please have a look at the Sickday Safety Net site – especially if you are one of the many New Yorkers without health insurance. And now, on with the show. Interpol hit the stage at 9:30 and played for a little over an hour and a half. This was the last night of their nearly year long tour and they announced many times how happy they were to be home. The only two songs I can think of that were surprise omissions were “Stella Was A Diver and She’s Always Down” and “Barricade,” but in place of those songs, we heard “Mammoth,” “Rest My Chemistry,” “The Lighthouse” and B-side “Specialist” from the very early days of the band. Some of the highlights for me were “Not Even Jail,” “Obstacle 1,” “Evil” and “Narc.” “Say Hello To The Angels,” was another crowd favorite and a video will be coming soon so stay tuned.
Paul Banks of Interpol
See the set list as well as the Fuzzy Sock Hop poster after the jump.
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Tags: 2011, Band, Benefit, Final Show of the Tour, Fuzzy Sock Hop, Images, Interpol, Lead Singer, May 8, Mother's Day, New York, Paul Banks, Photos, Poster, Review, Set List, Sickday, Terminal 5, What Time Do They Go On
Posted by The G on November 19, 2010 under G Reviews |
Photos by G.
Tame Impala
I love Tame Impala! I’ve been wanting to see the Australian psychedelic rockers perform live for a while. I’ve been listening to their album “Innerspeaker” all summer and I love it. If you haven’t heard their music, I highly encourage it. It’s definitely got a Beatles meets MGMT sound, and according2g, that’s wonderful. Speaking of MGMT, lead singer Andrew VanWyngarden was checking out Tame Impala’s sold out show, the first of 2 nights, at Bowery Ballroom on November 18, 2010. (see a picture of Andrew after the jump). The show began at 9 pm with sets by Kuroma and Stardeath and White Dwarfs (more on both bands coming soon) and Tame Impala took the stage just after 11 pm.
Kevin Parker of Tame Impala
Lead singer Kevin Parker apologized to the crowd for feeling a bit under the weather, but you couldn’t tell from the powerful 70 minute performance that Tame Impala delivered to the adoring crowd. In addition to sounding great, Tame Impala had a really cool projection screen behind them and even if you weren’t feeling the music (but everyone was), you could get lost in the trippy visuals. Speaking of tripping, lots of people were smoking copious amounts of pot during the show and I saw at least 5 people get kicked out of the venue. I read that Tame Impala often covers “Angel” by Massive Attack in their live set, but they didn’t do it tonight. I can imagine it sounding really cool as their live performance is extremely psychedelic. Their show at Bowery Ballroom on November 19, is sold out, which is a pity if you don’t have tickets because I think the next time they come around, they are going to be playing a much larger venue. A video of “Solitude is Bliss” will be coming soon as well as a photo with of my encounter with Kevin Parker. Please be patient. I am merely one person with tons of experiences.
See a few more pictures (including one of Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT) and the set list after the jump.
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Tags: 2010, Andrew VanWyngarden, Bowery Ballroom, Images, Kevin Parker, Lead Singer, MGMT, New York, November 18, Photos, Review, Set List, Tame Impala, What Time Do They Go On
