The good Andy Bean once again uses Facebook to inform us of the latest developments at the intersection of The Gentlemen and YouTube. In this case we have a cover of their presidential ode, William Howard Taft by “the Slurpy Time Jiggaboos, members of the Black Death All Stars.”
And the Two Man Gentleman Band original:
Categories: Music
Boo Reiners (just barely) Monica (Li’l Mo) Passin, Elena Skye, Amy Allison, and Laura Cantrell
Last Sunday, Monica (Li’l Mo) Passin hosted a Loretta Lynn birthday tribute at Banjo Jim’s featuring herself, Elena Skye, Amy Allison, and Laura Cantrell. All in all it was a wonderful evening. Amy Allison brought her wonderful, unique voice. Laura brought her pristine sound, individual take on some melodies, and the knowledge of a radio host. This was my first introduction to Elena Skye and she was quite the performer. Li’l Mo and was also excellent and made solid choices in her selection of Lynn’s songs. Boo Reiners provided solid accompaniment on guitar. Set list:
1) Blue Kentucky Girl – LC
2) Walked Away from the Wreck – AA
3) You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man – ES
4) Whistpering Sea – LM
5) When a Tingle Becomes a Chill – LC
6) Another Man Loved Me Last Night – AA
7) Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind) – ES
8) Fist City – LM
9) Rated X – LC
10) God Gave Me a Heart to Forgive – AA
11) If You’re Not Gone Too Long – ES
12) Wings Upon Your Horns – LM
13) Lead Me On – LC
14) If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again? – AA
15) You’re The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly – ES with BR
16) You Wanna Give Me a Lift – LM
17) Kitty Wells’ Dresses – LC original
18) Here I am Again – AA
19) Honky Tonk Girl – ES
20) This Haunted House – LM
21) Van Lear Rose – LC
22) Baby? – AA
23) One’s On the Way – ES
24) The Pill – LM
25) Coal Minor’s Daughter – All
As I wrote up the set list it reminded me of just how strong a performer Elana Skye was. Along with Laura’s version of Van Lear Rose and Amy Allison’s version of Walked Away from the Wreck I recall her songs most vividly.
Categories: Music
Crowd of Columbians
The 18th was Columbia’s Spring Fling equivalent — they call it Bachanal I think — and unlike past years where I there was just one performer (Ghostface Killah and Common for instance) this year had two: Columbia alums Vampire Weekend came with their Ivy League pop sound and Talib Kweli brought his solid rhymes and subtly impressive stage show. There were serious crowds out for the show–not doubt because of VW’s recent status as undergrads. Though the energy for their set wasn’t quite what I remembered from the show of theirs I saw at Terminal 5 it was still a good set. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that shows at Columbia aren’t quite like shows anywhere else as this book on the steps in front of the stage indicates.
Talib Kweli put on just as great a show as I remembered from when I saw him several years ago with Mos Def. He also informed us that his brother teaches at Columbia — at the law school as I was informed. One of the most enjoyable parts of the show was when he invited some undergrads onto the stage to dance. A couple of guys pulled some impressive moves and when it came to a girl’s turn she just ran over to Kweli and gave him a big hug and then ran back. It could have been annoying but it was pretty adorable. You might be able to make out some of the dancers in the shot below. All in all it was probably of the best showing I’ve seen at Columbia’s spring concert.
Categories: Music
(All photos from Brooklyn Vegan’s night 2 pictures)
After joining John and Katie (plus eighty?) at the UWS Shake Shack and a brief drop in to Dive 75 we all met up with Kelly and Telis at the corporate sponsorship fest which is the Nokia Theater (great cell phone reception though). We hung out in the lobby while Joan as Police Woman ran through her opening set which turned out to be quite good. We were inside for her last few songs and this was the first indication that we would be in one of the best audiences I’ve ever been a part of. I regret how often I’ve seen audience members unable to keep their mouths shut during ballads by a night’s featured performer and so I thought it was stage suicide for Joan as Police Woman to close with a solo ballad. You could hear a pin drop. Perhaps even more impressive than when Laura Cantrell and Amy Alison silenced a roomful of chatty hipsters at the Bell House to see Camera Obscura.
Neko came on not too long after and quickly reminded me why I had such fond memories of her 2007 Summer Stage show in Central Park. She really puts it all out there from the start and comes across as totally genuine–a regular woman on stage with a great voice. It wasn’t just the cold beer and warm sun that colored my memory. She has a genuine affection for her audience.
Jon Rauhouse
I was also glad that like Passover, Neko made two nights special. She was there with her usually band which included a seriously bearded Jon Rauhouse and a typically hysterical Kelly Hogan. In fact I think I’d pay $30 just to go have beers with Kelly. She was the biggest part of why this concert got an A+ for stage banter. Neko also had a trip of special guests I was very excited to see: Rachel Flotard of Visqueen, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Norah O’Connor. It was like a Bloodshot compilation live on stage. Very nice.
Below the actual set list and mine which differ (she went of plan slightly during the encore) with some notes:
1) Maybe Sparrow
2) People Got a Lotta Nerve
3) Fever
4) Hold On, Hold On
5) The Pharoahs
6) Middle Cyclone
7) Deep Red Bells
8) I Wish I Was the Moon – What an audience. Hung on every line and justly so.
9) I’m an Animal
10) Prison Girls
11) Tigers Have Spoken
12) Margaret vs. Pauline
13) Red Tide
14) Don’t Forget Me – Harry Nilsson
15) Teenage Feeling – Do songs get any better than this? You get swelled up in the emotion instantly. Amazing.
16) This Tornado Loves You
Encore
17) Vengeance is Sleeping
18) Star Witness – Not Polar Nettles
19) Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth – This song has stayed in my head for the two weeks since the show.
20) Magpie to the Morning
- I don’t think she did Next Time You Say forever.
21) Knock Loud
We concluded the night at a cool little underground yakatori place on 50th and called it a night. It was a solid one.
Categories: Music
Tonight is Jeffrey Foucault at Joe’s Pub. Here’s a taste of what I hope the night to be:
Categories: Music
[voss HT: Brooklyn Vegan]
With Rattle My Cage’s faux french pop band, Nous Non Plus, only announcing show dates on the West Coast this summer, the possibility of a strong French musical showing (authentic or otherwise) was looking less promising than an Nutella-less crepe. Fortunately, Brooklyn Vegan alerts us to Nouvelle Vague’s June 17th show at Irving Plaza. French women doing “Bossa Nova cover versions of 1980s New Wave tracks.” Umm . . . . Yes, please.
Categories: Music
Well, it looks like Anthony Da Costa could be performing at the Postcrypt on quite the regular basis starting next year. Bwog has the scoop that Anthony plans on coming to Columbia next year and may live in John Jay. I wonder if he’ll pen Downstate Living next.
Categories: Music
Through Facebook, the good Mr. Bean informs us of the Two Man Gentleman Band’s national mainstream radio and TV debut where they play their hit “When Your Lips Are Playing My Kazoo” – conveniently available here on YouTube:
Categories: Music
I did some reading of New York Magazine’s coverage of the first New York experiences of some now notable New Yorkers and I had two favorite music bits. The first was Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. noting that back when he came in the 90’s you needed connections to work at Kim’s Video. The second was this paragraph from Chuck Close:
We’d go to the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, Andy Warhol’s nightclub extravaganza that he ran on St. Marks Place. But the main thing was the watering holes, chief among them Mickey Ruskin’s Max’s Kansas City. Andy and his entourage would be in the back room with Rauschenberg and his entourage, and we younger artists like Robert Smithson and Dorothea Rockburne and Mel Bochner would tend to be in booths up front. There would be huge fights. Usually someone would come in and say, “I just saw so-and-so’s show and it’s great,” and then everyone would put him on the spot to explain why it was great, and they’d become more and more aggressive, and sometimes they would freak out, throw a drink, and walk out. There was music upstairs—Janis Joplin would be leaning up against the jukebox with a bottle of Southern Comfort, singing along with Edith Piaf with tears streaming down her cheeks. Mickey would trade artists’ work for a tab, so there was a big John Chamberlain sculpture in the front—a huge galvanized piece that was the coat rack for the whole place. Along one wall was a really beautiful Donald Judd, and in the corner in the back room was a red Dan Flavin that put a particularly eerie hue on top of all the pale Warhol Superstars.
The image is just incredible. It’s stereotypical of Joplin’s image, but still powerful I think.
Categories: Music
