Photo Recap: Steve Wynn and The Miracle 3 at Littlefield (May 19, 2012)

May 20, 2012

Having crosses a river or two, Steve Wynn and The Miracle 3 set up shop in Brooklyn last night.  The band played at Littlefield, a club in a mostly industrial section of Gowanus right near that neighborhood’s border with Park Slope.  Dressy Bessy, a Colorado-based garage/punk band played a bracing opening set.

Steve and company took the stage a bit after 11pm and played a varied 12 song set which held a few surprises.  The arrangement of Merrittville played last night was one that hasn’t been played since the late 80s; you can hear it on the Dream Syndicate’s Live at Raji’s record.

When Steve and The Miracle 3 had finished Amphetamine, they left the stage and the house music came on.  But the band returned, the house music turned off and everyone came to the front of the stage for a version of 500 Girl Mornings played without the house sound system.

There are a lot of good things to say about Littlefield: the sound is excellent, the stage is big and it’s a comfortable place to watch a show. But the stage lighting is inconsistent: bright in the middle and dark away from the middle.  So taking pictures without a flash as I do is sometimes frustrating there.   But I still managed to get a few shots from the show.  They are below and are followed by last night’s set list.

More photos and a set list after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

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Review: Spanking Charlene – Where Are the Freaks?

May 7, 2012

As a result of the recent closing of The Lakeside Lounge, the monthly appearance by Spanking Charlene, a combination party and show, is now on hiatus until the band finds a new club to call home.  I’m sure that some club out there would want to book a great band with a large, loyal following.  There is a show booked for the end of June up on the Upper West Side, so we’ll see what develops.  But for now, we’ll have to be content with the Where Are the Freaks?, the album which Spanking Charlene released earlier this year.

Spanking Charlene is led by the husband and wife team of Charlene McPherson (vocals) and Mo Goldner (guitar), and the band is rounded out with Eric Seftel (drums) and Alison Jones (bass).  Eric “Roscoe” Ambel joins the band playing guitar and additional instruments on this record; he also frequently appears with Spanking Charlene when they play live.

The band’s stock in trade is a combination of rock and punk together with intelligent, often feminist lyrics.  On this record, lead singer Charlene’s pristine vocals are mixed up front and with clarity and presence.  Mo provides both a snarling punk guitar and trades off leads with Eric Ambel.

Where Are the Freaks? contains a generous helping of Spanking Charlene music, 14 tracks worth, clocking in at about 45 minutes.  Highlights include opening track Secrets, Rev It Up, The Other Girl, I Like You as a Friend (quite an audience participation number live) and Dismissed with a Kiss.  That last song was produced by Steve Van Zandt along with the album’s final song, Canarsie (the prize Spanking Charlene got as the winner of The Underground Garage’s Best Unsigned Band contest).  The rest of the album was well produced by Eric Ambel.

I’ve been playing this record since it released.  So far this year, I have not heard a better straight ahead rock album than Where Are the Freaks?

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Posted by Eliot

Photo Recap: The Last Call at The Lakeside Lounge

May 1, 2012

As of 4am this morning, The Lakeside Lounge is history.  But last night was The Last Call at The Lakeside Lounge and everyone who was there joined to close the place down with grit, humor, camaraderie and straight ahead, no frills, no foolin’ rock ‘n’ roll.

Update: Read Nate Schweber’s article in the New York Times Blog about the last night at The Lakeside here.

Here are some pictures.

Eric “Roscoe” Ambel

(L to R) Alison Jones, Chip Robinson, Phil Cimino, Eric Ambel

Many more photos and special guests after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Eliot

Review: Kathleen Edwards at Webster Hall

April 30, 2012

There was some foreshadowing of Saturday night’s show by Kathleen Edwards at Webster Hall earlier that afternoon in a post on Facebook by Kathleen and the response by me.  It was:

Kathleen: Just going to say it because I may never get to again: I’m playing Webster hall tonight. Butterflies!

Me: You’ve done nothing but play impressive shows in NYC since 2002 (I know, I’ve seen most of ‘em). Don’t worry, NY has your back!

Kathleen and her band hit the stage right around 9 o’clock, opening with Empty Threat and playing a mix of songs from Voyageur and Asking for Flowers (I’ve provided a full set list at the bottom of this post).  The band was strong, Kathleen’s singing and playing were fine, but Kathleen was quiet, perhaps unusually so for her.

Then, six songs into the show, Kathleen told us she had to pee.  She explained that she would start the next song and in the middle, during the solos, she would run off stage and take care of it.  And that’s exactly what happened.  Kathleen and the band started 12 Bellvue.  When they got to the bridge, Kathleen put down her guitar, ran off stage while the band continued playing and probably set a land speed record in getting back on stage to finish the song.

That seemed to be a turning point of sorts, because after that Kathleen was back to her chatty self.  She then again spoke to the audience, saying that she had to address the elephant in the room, and that “your team was better than my team…this year” (the New York Rangers had beaten the Ottawa Senators in the Stanley Cup Playoffs).  And she played Hockey Skates.

Kathleen also spoke to us about her voice and body giving out while on tour recently, how lately she’s been a bundle of nerves, and how New York is always the largest audience she plays for.  She thanked us for being there.  It was real and touching.

But at another point, Kathleen also walked over to Jim Bryson and kissed him on the lips.  “Sideman makes out with singer” was how Jim summed it up later.  And when Kathleen and Jim were tuning up for the last song of the night, Mercury, Kathleen responded to the guy shouting “turn it up” by replying “this is a quiet song, asshole” and then blowing him a kiss.

It was a fine show.  And as I told Kathleen earlier that afternoon, New York City did have her back.  And she acknowledged that.

See the set list after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Eliot

Review: Norah Jones at The Tarrytown Music Hall

April 16, 2012

On April 11th, Norah Jones and her 2012 band played what they described as a warm up show in Tarrytown, a suburb about an hour’s drive north of New York City.  It was announced through norahjones.com and on the Facebook Norah Jones band page.   I was lucky enough to get tickets to this one.

On the basis of this show, I’d say that the band is warmed up and ready to go.  I did not write down the names of the band memebers, but they seem to be a completely different crew from the folks who recorded LBH.  Norah plays the same electric piano and keyboard which she played during The Fall tour as well as electric and acoustic guitar.  There’s also another guitarist, a bass player, a drummer and another keys player.

Just like the show in Austin at SXSW last month, we heard the entire Little Broken Hearts played in the same order as the album (Good Morning, Say Goodye, Little Broken Hearts, She’s 22, Take It Back, After The fall, 4 Broken Hearts, Travelin’ On, Out on The Road, Happy Pills, Miriam, All A Dream).  These songs detail a particularly messy break up (including dueling affairs).  Even though the story told through these songs is pretty much a downer, the music is never morose and pretty much in line with the already heard via the Internet Say Goodbye and Happy Pills.

After the end of the LBH segment, the band left the stage, Norah sat down at the electric piano and played The Nearness of You (chosen I suspect because it’s an unambiguous love song which contrasted with the unhappy lyrics of LBH) and I Don’t Know Why.  The band then came back and joined Norah on Sinkin’ Soon, It’s Gonna Be, Bessie Smith (a cover of the song by The Band), Stuck, Come Away With Me, and Black.  For the encore, Norah and the band came up to the front of the stage around a single mike with only accoustic instruments and played Sunrise and How Many Times Have You Broken My Heart.

This show ran about 90 minutes. Although Norah’s new songs have some new sounds for her, this is a show that will leave her fans pleased.

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Photo Recap: The Baseball Project at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

April 14, 2012

Last night’s performance by The Baseball Project at The Metropolitan Museum of Art was unique for several reasons.  The band played as a quintet, with Mike Mills (who in the past has at times substituted for Peter Buck) playing organ, piano and bass. There was a new song in the set with  Scott McCaughey singing lead (and therefore probably written by him) about the man who donated his baseball card collection to the Met, probably titled Jefferson Burdick.  There was a new Mike Mills verse in Fair Weather Fans, sung by Mike, of course, which replaced the Peter Buck verse, and which allowed Mike to state his opinion about the Hrbek and Gant play in 1991 World Series (and counter Craig Finn‘s take on that matter in Don’t Call Them Twinkies, which did not appear last night).  In deference to The Met, Ted Fucking Williams became Ted Freaking Williams.  And the vocals were incredibly clean and pushed up front.

Here are some photos plus the set list from the show:

Scott McCaughey

Mike Mills (seated left) and Steve Wynn

Peter Buck

Linda Pitmon

More photos after the jump

Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Eliot

Photo Recap: Dayna Kurtz at Joe’s Pub and The Rodeo Bar

April 11, 2012

Here are some photos from Dayna Kurtz‘s two record release shows shows yesterday.  The first was at Joe’s Pub for Secret Canon, Vol. 1, and the other was at The Rodeo Bar for American Standard.  Dayna had a different band at each show, and she played all of both albums and then some.  The shows were fun and the bus that Dayna hired to take those attending both shows from Joe’s Pub to the Rodeo Bar was wild.  It was a party bus complete was butler and a bar!

Dave Richards

Peter Vitalone

Dayna with Randy Crafton on drums

More photos from Joe’s Pub and The Rodeo Bar after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Eliot

Photo Recap: Steve Wynn and The Miracle 3 at The Bowery Electric

February 25, 2012

For nearly 90 minutes last night, Steve Wynn and The Miracle 3 (Jason Victor on guitar, Dave DeCastro on bass and Linda Pitmon on drums) delivered the no frills straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll that has been their trademark for all of the 21st Century.  The packed house at The Bowery Electric got a show that featured some songs that the band hasn’t played for a while (see the set list at the end of this post).  And when Jason broke a string about a third of the way in of That’s What You Always Say, he changed it during the song, which Steve stretched out a bit to make sure that Jason was ready for the solo.  Of course, Jason was and he blistered it, as always.

Here are some photos from the show:

Steve

Jason

Dave

More pictures after the jump

Linda

Jason changes a string

Set List

Resolution

Here Come the Miracles

Wired

Ribbons and Chains

Out of This World

Freak Star

Then She Remembers

Younger

Lester Young

Colored Lights

Good and Bad

Death Valley Rain

That’s What You Always Say

Amphetamine

Encore:

Boston

Why

John Coltrane Stereo Blues

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Posted by Eliot

Photo Recap: The Puss N Boots Christmas Spectacular at The Bell House

December 20, 2011

The Christmas Spectacular presented last night at The Bell House by Puss N Boots (Norah Jones, Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper) lived up to its name.  Comics, strippers (both male and female) and a dancing Santa all made an appearance.  So did music, lots of it.  Decked out in a combination of red, green, elf ears, antlers and black leather, Puss N Boots played their usual set of covers (mostly country, but also Wilco’s Jesus, Etc.) and two originals (what seems to be a new one from Sasha and Norah’s Tell Yer Mama).

Later in the evening, guests So Brown, Kaki King, Daria Grace, Harper Blynn (who channeled The Chipmunks right down to their teeth), Jeff Hill and Teddy Thompson, and Michelle Casillas (of Ursa Minor) took their turns on a holiday song each with Puss N Boots acting as the house band.

There was a lot going on, so I concentrated on taking pictures of the musicians.  There are a dozen of them below.

Before they left the stage last night, Puss N Boots said that they are trying to do this again on Valentines Day.

Puss N Boots

Sasha Dobson

Catherine Popper

Norah Jones

Many more photos of the Puss N Boots Christmas Spectacular after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Eliot

The Best Songs of 2011 – Part 2

December 16, 2011

Here are the final five songs (listed in alphabetical order by artist) in Now I’ve Heard Everything’s Best Songs of 2011: you’ll find the first part here.
Madison Square Gardeners – Little Bit of Heart: The description of this song is simple: straight ahead Tom Petty inspired rock with an impassioned lead vocal by Aaron Lee Tasjan.  The Madison Square Gardeners released this in the early part of 2011, but in mid-year decided to go on hiatus.  They still haven’t gotten back together, although all the members are playing in a number of bands.

Melody Kills – Nowhere Slow: Melody Kills is the latest project from Leslie Mendelson and Steve McEwan.  On this track, which has been released via the Internet, and on the rest of the not yet officially released self-titled Melody Kills album, Leslie and Steve are joined by a band.  This poppy upbeat track features a great hook and a top notch vocal performance from Leslie.

Caitlin Rose – Shanghai Cigarettes: I found this song in a bunch of mp3s from musicians who were going to be performing at SXSW this past year.  This bouncy country rocker compares an old pack of cigarettes to a failed relationship and Caitlin gets to show off her vocal range.   Yes, I did get to see Caitlin live and she’s an engaging performer who in spite of living in Nashville plays New York City more frequently than you might expect.

Amy Speace – Land Like A Bird: In the past two years Amy has gone through a divorce, a move from the New York area to Nashville and a change in management and record labels.  No wonder that this song, the title track to her last album deals with surviving and moving on.  It is beautifully and hauntingly sung by Amy with an atmospheric arrangement that makes it a compelling piece of music.

Bess Rogers – I’ll Be Gone: A perfect piece of power pop.  Bess takes the vocal on this one from matter of fact to impassioned pleading.  Repeated listenings of I’ll Be Gone are required, because hearing it once is just not enough.

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Posted by Eliot

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