We like to keep things fresh at 52 Shows. Concert reviews normally go up within a week of the show. But it’s taken my brain a few weeks to process the events that I witnessed at a stop of Cake’s Unlimited Sunshine Tour music festival in New Jersey last month.
The night involved:
a high school auditorium
a tuba fueled sexy asshole
a little person dancing hand-in-hand on stage with an elderly man
I didn’t do too much CMJing this year. The throngs of drunken college music directors and super, super late showtimes- (yes Blender, I’m talking to you) are wearing thin. I love Spoon and Band of Horses, but it’s hard to keep me out for a 2:30 a.m. start during the week.
I did however, make it down to The Tank on Thursday evening for some free peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the Pretty Activity showcase. PA is a local label with some talented young folks on their roster. The Subjects hail from Brooklyn and the band is comprised of two former teachers, and two of their former students. The guys have a new record out called with the ease grace precision and cleverness of human beingsand they’ve just scored an opening slot with the Walkmen on the west coast next month. Check out The Subjects in a recent Daytrotter Session right here.
Also on the bill was a band called The End of the World. The name’s a little dramatic, but I was intrigued…there was pedal steel and a cute bass player. This is one of those bands where the singer is also the drummer. Typically, if you’re not Phil Collins, this is not my bag. But, they pulled it off. So check them out. They’ve got a record out called You’re Making It Come Alive and they got a some local NYC dates coming up as well.
This comes from The Tripwire and, unfortunately, their video doesn’t have complete songs. But, at the very least, you get a sense of what it was like to be at the Austin City Limits.
Someday I’ll make it down there. Either that or SXSW. Maybe I should quit my job.
Check out more videos from the festival here that include The Arcade Fire, Bjork, The National, MIA, Spoon, Wilco, Bloc Party, Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, the Decemberists, Ghostland Observatory, and LCD Soundsystem.
Farm Aid today announced the details of the lineup for its first concert event in New York. Artists representing a variety of genres are slated to join Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews on Sunday, September 9 at Randall’s Island in New York City for the day-long festival. The show will promote food from family farmers and raise funds for Farm Aid’s work throughout the year to strengthen family farm agriculture.
Among the artists who will perform at Farm Aid 2007: A HOMEGROWN Festival are Tim Reynolds, who will join Dave Matthews, The Allman Brothers Band, Counting Crows, Matisyahu, Guster, The Derek Trucks Band, Warren Haynes, Supersuckers, The Ditty Bops and Montgomery Gentry. Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, and The Allman Brothers Band are scheduled to play full sets.
“Thanks to a warm welcome from Mayor Bloomberg and New Yorkers, Farm Aid is bringing the annual concert to New York for the first time in 22 years,” said Carolyn Mugar, Farm Aid’s executive director. “With inspiring music from generous artists and a menu of family farm food, Randall’s Island will be transformed into a music festival to be remembered.”
Everyone and their mom went to Lollapalooza. They were treated to 3 days of music and some pretty intense heat. This year’s festival included performances by Pearl Jam, Daft Punk, Ben Harper, Muse, Iggy & The Stooges, Modest Mouse, Interpol, My Morning Jacket, Satellite Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Snow Patrol,The Roots, Patti Smith, Kings Of Leon, The Black Keys, Regina Spektor, Spoon, Lupe Fiasco, TV On The Radio, Pete Yorn, G. Love, Paolo Nutini, Amy Winehouse, LCD Soundsystem, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Silverchair, Femi Kuti, Yo La Tengo, Hold Steady, to name a few.
If you didn’t make it out to Chicago- here’s some of the coverage from around the blogs:
If you weren’t able to make it across the pond for this year’s Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts- fear not- you can watch video of performances from Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, The Chemical Brothers and many more by visiting the BBC’s website. It’s like being there, sans mud.
The BBC also has an excellent selection of photos (like this one of Amy Winehouse) from this year’s festival which you can check out here.
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