Plan-It-X Fest @ The Stay Gold Gallery 06/24/05

Ive had the time of my life and ive never felt this way before. $10, 13 bands, and an endless amount of fun. Honestly best festival ive ever attended. So many super nice people all there to have a great time. I want to know why punk in the mainstream today is so shitty, and labels like plan-it-x continue to put out great music that so few people hear. Well that didnt matter last night because it was all the faithful, and i dont know if the foundation wouldve been still standing had any one else showed up. It was a hot summer day outside and it was a sweaty humid day inside. The school bus pulled up at 230 and the party didnt stop til some one called the cops but even then we started again and just pretended nothing ever happened.

They posted the line up early but of course they didnt stick to it in the least.


Not even 72 hours after the last time the good good took the stage to play a very similar set to the one i saw on tuesday. Every one on the tour was so excited because it was a treat for them to see this band, thats the best part about all those kids they are so excited when their own bands play but they flip when they get to see a special guest. They were not disappointed, in fact, ginger from, one reason, who played close to the end, couldnt say enough about how much she enjoyed the good good.



I had never heard Rosa before, but i couldntve been happier to finally experience thier sound live. These four kids play some great anti-folk, and at some points its with home made instruments, the kid even had a wash tub bass he made, thats punk rock if ive ever seen it. i picked up their cd (because every cd in the place was only $5) and its really great, get the cd and learn the songs so that next time they play through you can scream along because they dont use any amps or mics so they could use the help getting it to the people in the back.



The Max Levine Ensemble was another band i had never seen. They play really good, simple 3 chord punk rock. Something about it is special though, i still cant put my finger on it, but i picked up thier cd as well, so i can give it further listening and try to figure it out. Thier front man was all over the venue the whole time due to his distributing his comic books for free to any one that wanted them.



This bike is a pipe bomb is a band i have wanted to see for a long time, but sadly before tour started the guitarist and bassist stayed home due to pnuemonia, but
Ted the drummer decided that he couldnt let the kids down so he came on tour by himself and all the kids in all the other bands did thier part to help out on the songs they know how to play, i cant think of anything more awesome one person from most of the bands played something on at least one song, and they sounded great, as ginger remarked when she was playing drums "This Bike Is A Super Band!"
(thats ted on the left)


The Door-Keys were really fun girl-fronted punk rock. Straight up no frills no bullshit. i dont mean to sell them short i just dont know what else to say about them.


Madeline was a very pretty solo lady who played her folkeu little heart out. Singer/songwriter stuff, delivered softly and sweetly to and eager crowd of sweaty punk kids, i actually talked to some friends who came for her and they werent disappointed, neither was i, its nice to take a break sometimes. and on some tracks she was joined by some more friends from the tour to fill out her sound.



Hotdog is my hero was a local act i had never seen before that was added to the show just about right before they went on. They play sntimental acoustic folk songs about living in new york with plenty of references to places we know and love, and that always adds to a hometown show.


Matt & Kim are beautiful and amazing. They are another local act who actually only live 2 blocks away from the gallery. They are a drums and syth duo. kims got the chops and matts got the chopsticks. Another band i cant say enough about, maybe if atom and his package and reggie and the full effect merged and got more talent and were able to be widdled down to two people they would sound like matt and kim. And on top of it all they had such a good time at the show they gave out thier cd for free. Hooray for Matt and Kim.




Erin Tobey was another solo girl act. She was just as good as Madeline, with her sweet melodies that calmed the crowd after matt and kim made every one go crazy, she just released a cd that can sooth your soul when it needs it.


One Reason brought every one right back to rocking speed. Another band i had never seen befor, but immediatly became a fan of. Really quality punk rock from the mississippi delta, that makes you say, wow mississippi huh? yes mississippi, between them and Hot New Mexicans you cant mess with the sippi.(i didnt want to write out mississippi a fourth time, damn there it was) Listened to thier cd on the way to work and i think i scared the ladies on the subway with my rocking.


This is the point where the cops came and after hasseling the owners for about 20 minutes they went to go get some pastries and let us go on with the show, so Ghost Mice took the stage, i hhave been a fan of thier acoustic folk rock singalongs for quite a while now and was eager to see them perform for the first time. I wasnt disappointed in the least, another band with no mics or amps that you just had to listen to, unless you knew the words, then you could yell it out lound, even though every one shouldve kept it down when they sang "murdering racists cops" but what the hay right.



Kimya D. Awesome did her job after GM she blew through about five or six of her funnest singalongiest happiest songs, instead of her norm set where she gets a little emotional with you, but tonight was about fun, so she gave us some more. She even ended her set with, we wont stop until somebody calls the cops and even then well start again and just pretend that nothing ever happened... she was right about that one. (and for the first time i noticed at the bottom of her guitar it says "made in vagina"


Defiance, Ohio closed off the night the way they always do, with the loudest sweatiest sing along they can possibly accomplish. A really awesome set from the kids, they needed to get it out i guess due to the show from the night before getting shut down 2 songs into thier set. but nothing gets a lounder response then when geoff sings "fuck this city and fuck this filthy air" especially when they play in the city, good luck on the rest of the tour kids, not like you need it, you got enough good times to keep you going for ever.




check out the website for a date near you!

Growing & Comets on Fire @ Bowery Ballroom 06/23/05

A sparks, a one-hitter and 8 blocks later i arrived at bowery ballroom towards the beginning of Growing's set. These guys played a really deafening wall of sound made from two guitars with various effect pedals, it kind of had a cycling sound quality to it, it came in waves it undulated out of the amps. Definatley worth checking out live, i dunno how it would translate to cd though, hopefully well.



Comets on Fire was amazing. Seriously, this has to be the best noise rock band i have ever seen it is so all over the place and so tight at the same time. i really cant express the live feeling it was so rock awesome. it was like if CCR took tons acid, bought some distortion pedals and just jammed forever. Thier drummer is a fucking killer, he kept the whole thing going, playing really intricate crazy beats and noodling his way back and forth to line up with the rest of the band, breathtaking, truly. If you have not yet picked up blue cathedral and have ever had any interest in noise rock, get it now, because in my experience you arent going to find much better, they played for more than an hour, but when it was over it wasnt enough, oh well ill just have to see them again sometime. Hold the phone, they are playing mighty robot tonight for $9, wow a loft party with comets on fire, i wonder if that will be any fun, hmmm.

Junior Senior @ Mercury Lounge 6/23/05

The gods have smiled upon me once again. I showed up at the merc about 10 minutes before junior senior played and i asked the bouncer if they were releasing any more tickets, he said no so i begged him to ask the door lady and sho'nuff they let me and the gf in. I nealry shit right there at the bar, but was afraid of getting the boot, so after ten mins of waiting those crazy swedish dance poppers took the stage by storm complete with a full band (rhythm guitarist, drummer, 2 back up singers and a super hot lady on the bass) The two backup singers started the show with a whisper quiet "go junior, go senior" that just built until they busted out the full song "do the kids dig what we do?" i can safely say YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH. If youve never hear j/s first album then you dont care about dancing at all. They played to a really enthusiastic crowd which was super cool because i finally went to a show where most every one was dancing and the band really appreciated it. They blasted through most of thier old stuff and they played a lot of new stuff, they saved shake your cocoanuts for the end before they did an encore of some more new stuff. its not super different but it is super fun and there is even some hip hop influence in there, some rap stylings. during the encore senior told the crowd that we were way better than LA and thats fuckin right we are. Look out for the new single "Itch you cant scratch" its gonna be a a song of the summer if they can get it out in the us fast enough.

Bent Outta Shape, Dirty Dirty, Shitstorm & The Good Good 06/21/05 @ jane doe books

The show started at 730 and i didnt get there until 830 so i only caught the last two songs of Bent Outta Shape's set, but you can check out my review of them @ the glasshouse. The guitarist, jaime, said they played pretty much the same set list.

Dirty Dirty was a nifty little punk rock quintet from SF out here on tour, they play some fast stuff, some slow stuff, some in between, they stand out due to thier two singers, one male, the other a screamy lady. i picked up thier cd of demos and its a lot cleaner recorded, some songs have a very fugazi feel to them, live they really rock it out so you can jump up and down, and really nice people, thier bass player had to lean up against the wall cause he screwed his leg up real bad skateboarding.




Shitstorm was anything but, they play tom waits/firewater style sea chantys, but with a lady on vox, and she is a good singer, this girl is dominated by the ladies, the only boy is the guitarist/back up siner whos very cool (between sets he played this little cut and paste animation he shot on 8mm and he played a song that went with it on a yucalaylee(is that how you spell that) it was super cute) the chantys go from light to heavy and back again really good sing along, swing along songs if you knew the lyrics to sing along, they were from SF too, out here to play any place they could, and they were very thankful to play because they were very well recieved by the brooklyn kids. i picked up thier cd and it is really good punk rock in the vein of old sleater-kinney and then about halfway through they switch gears to that sea chanty stuff i mentioned earlier, nice clean recording too, they spray paint thier own cds and the sleeves are made from brown paper bags.



The Good Good have became ny staples. I saw them for the first time over 2 years ago and they have just gotten better since, they did a mini tour with dirty dirty and shitstorm and have come back to play for us again. Thier music is kind of ethereal noodling music that is very full and lush and then sometimes stripped down to the basics and sometimes just to one instrument, they have this casio keyboard that the girl who plays guitar uses to do some live sampling and looping, they also have a tape machine that plays odd loops sometimes, very tribal sing song at times, definately worth seeing if you havent already, and guess what, you can see them this friday @ 451 grand st for plan-it-x fest, 12pm workshops start at 12 or 1 and the music starts around five, this show is not to be missed i promise.

no junior no senior

-i blew it once again and didnt get a jr/sr ticket before they sold out, i am officially the asshole, but there are still plenty of tix for the comets on fire show @ bowery that night, i thought that was the one to sell out, stupid me.

-in good news the white stripes will play keyspan park in coney island on september 24th with the shins and brendan benson, tix on sale saturday @ 9am. and i am very scared i will miss out on tix for that, if anyone is going to order tix get me one and ill pay you back. i will not miss this show i promise (productshop reports that the show will also be on the 25th and 26th, there is hope yet)

-dfa 1979 covered block party on thier myspace page, its actually pretty awesome, in other dfa news they are going to tour with nin and queens of the stone age this summer, rock show!

-pink floyd is gonna reform for live 8

-thunderbirds are now! will be back in late august to support les savy fav

-siren added 2 more bands: nine balck alps and be your own pet (dunno them either)

-smashing pumpkins to reform, adding billy corgans ego as fifth member

-as for the rest of this week it is shaping up nicely: as i write @ 93 montrose there is a $5 punk show going on w/ shitstorm, the good good, & bent outta shape.
Wed: Oranges Band @ north6
Thurs: jr/sr @ merc/ comets on fire @ bowery
Fri: Plan it x fest @ the stay gold gallery/ comets on fire @ mighty robot
Sat: Grizzly Bear @ east river park/ the sadies, stars, the new pornographers @ prospect park bandshell/ bunnybrains & green milk from the planet orange @ the glass house
Sun: behold the archtopus @knitting factory downstairs/ sountrack of our lives @ knitting factory upstairs.

-get out there and be lean

Sam Champion, The Helio Sequence & The Rogue Wave @ Bowery Ballroom 06/17/05

I noticed two new things about bowery ballroom last night, one being that if you are outside and you look up at the tippy-top of the building there is an engraving about the place being a shoe factory. The other was that lots of bands put up thier stickers in the bathroom on the panels that seperate the urinals, and i realized you cant look at the stickers without the guy next to you thinking your looking at his pud. It was just another night that proved bowery is the best place to play in nyc.

I met this kid noah like 2 years ago and he tells me i should go check out his band, and i tried a few times but to no avail, until last night. Sam Champion is a great band, they are really tight. They play songs like they are pavement, but sometimes they are way heavier than that and sometimes they have more of a strokes-style sound. they opened the show and i turned around towards the end of thier set and the venue was already pretty full. They deserved it they had a really great stage presence, lots of rocking out and the lead guitarist has a hollow body with a picture of don cheadle on it and to plug it in you have to put the cable into his neckhole, thats style right there, and thier drummer looks like eric foreman. These guys play nyc all the time and dont make the mistake i did, and go see them now.





I have been listening to The Helio Sequence's love and distance pretty steadily for 9 months or so it is a really great record and i still could never grasp how they were drums and guitar duo with so much going on in thier songs, but they proved how last night, and boy did they prove it. They are the best live duo i have seen since dfa1979, they could be better. The drummer is fucking amazing and the guitarist singer has a lot of stage presence, all kinds of effects on those drums, a lab top for all the background sequencing and even some harmonica action for that first track off the record, i cant say enough about this act live, they are just a heavy rock sound with all kinds of spacy sound effects to add this like ethereal texture to the songs, fred armisen was there to tape thier set, what up with that. This was the main event of the night as far as i was concerned.






The Rogue Wave is quality music, it is shinsy at times more death cab-esque at other times, sometimes it get so heavy it blows those two off the map. It took me a while to come around to thier live show last night, due to the opening bands being so rockin. They started off very light with a more singer songwriter with a band feel, but it creeped its way to rocking slowly but surely and by the end it wouldve made a noise rock band prowd. They played most of the first record and this excellent new song where they all switched instruments, it was good stuff, im glad the set got better, and near the end they brought the helio sequence up with them to play that song about the wrecking ball, that was excellent, it turned into a !!! style jam, and thier encore swelled to perfection.





i actually got a lot of awesome photos that night, check em all out

The Sadies & Heavy Trash @ The Pussycat Lounge 06/16/05

My first time at the pussycat lounge had me puzzled because i walked in and there are all these girls shaking titties in my face before i can close the door, and im like hello nasty. so i go back out the door and see a staircase so i go up it and am still not sure if im in the right place until john spencer shoves me out of his way to get by, im here. This space is nice and out of the way, to bad out of the way means in the financial district, door was $12 and then i went to the bar and got a can of pbr and it was $4!!! I couldnt fucking believe it, regoddamndiculous.

The Sadies were great from start to finish, they went back and forth from surf rock, man in black style country, rock-a-billy, blues and doowop rock. Really energetic four piece from canada, its pronounced say-deez. The lead guitarist was really good at that surf-guitar sound and he even wipped out a fiddle for a couple of songs and it really complimented the stand up bass well, and i think the two lead guys may be brothers.



Heavy Trash finds John Spencer doing his dirtiest elvis impression. Along with his friend Matt Verta-Ray (of speedball baby) they bring a sound thats straight up rock-a-billy, and to round out thier live show they invited every one from the Sadies to be there backing band, and the pleasure ensued from there. Spencer has truoble doing the elvis lip thing so he just rests it on the mic most times. They play songs that sound like they could be classics, "yeah baby" "Take my hand" & "under the waves" couldve been written ages ago, but they are pretty brand new, other songs like "gatorade", his ballad to eating pussy, probably wouldnt have been written back in the hayday. They ripped through 15 songs and then played a three song encore, and it was amazing, its still true about john spencer having a really captivating stage presence and it was cool to see it in such a small place away from the blues explosion.