Wednesday, March 26
New York, NY
The Knitting Factory

Last night's Anti-Flag concert at the Knitting Factory was my first ever "MySpace Secret Show." I'm still confused as to what a "MySpace Secret Show" entails? Besides a small banner hanging from the wall and some extra room in the mosh pit, you couldn't even tell the evening was being presented by MySpace.

Um, I think if you add "Secret Shows" to your MySpace friend-list, you get alerted to the concert a couple days before everyone else?? I don't know what the hell I'm talking about--let's just get to the performance.

Anti-Flag opened the show looking and sounding like a well-seasoned punk band. All the members of the band were dressed in black (nice), all of them had cool-looking haircuts (nice), Chris #2 clocked some major hang-time with his flying scissor-kicks (nice), and to add to the spectacle, Anti-Flag had flood-lights on their amplifiers that nearly blinded everyone in the bedroom-sized Knitting Factory (double nice!).

By Jim Shearer in LIVE | Link | Recommended (1)

Tags: Anti-Flag, Knitting Factory, Live

Thursday, March 20
New York, NY
The Music Hall of Williamsburg

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh! I've seen The Cribs many times these past few years but last night's show at The Music Hall of Williamsburg (i.e. North Six) was in a category all its own. Literally the crowd was moshing right after the first chord was played by the Jarman brothers and didn't stop 'til the lights came on. While I'm usually against said "moshing", it's a different type when it's at a Cribs show. Where it would normally be angry and dangerous, it was a mash-up of caring fans looking to dance around and have a good time with one another.

By Sarah Pesin in LIVE | Link | Recommended (7)

Tags: Alex Kapranos, Kate Nash, Lee Ronaldo, The Cribs

Armed with a mixer, two turntables, a CD-deck, and a laptop, MSTRKRFT closed out the night with a thick blend of dance grooves, or as Al-P likes to say, "maximal beats." Jesse Keeler is definitely the rockstar of the group, as well he should be--being a former member of the powerhouse thrash duo Death From Above 1979. I know purists claim electronic music is faceless, but when Keeler wipes back his bangs, or throws up his fist (dice-rolling style) during build-ups and break-downs, it only adds to the spectacle.

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (3)

Tags: Live, MSTRKRFT, SXSW

Classic rock on anabolic steroids--that's the best way I can describe the sound of Modey Lemon. By far, this was the loudest performance that I've taken in at this year's SXSW. When a drummer has two floor toms, that's a good indication that things are going to get noisy. Speaking of which, Paul Quattrone obliterated his drum-kit throughout the set and bassist/organist Jason Kirker isn't going to have a neck left in 5 years the way he thrashes it around on stage. Frontman, Phil Boyd also shouted out the band's hometown a couple times, proving once again that people from Pittsburgh love telling people they're from Pittsburgh (I've been guilty of this a few times myself).

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (4)

Tags: Live, Modey Lemon, SXSW

I think a lot of people were surprised by Jim Noir's new look. He's done away with his three-piece suit and bowler's hat and replaced it with a headband, a shaggy hairdo, and a pair of blue jeans. Noir sandwiched his set tonight with his two biggest hits to date--opening with "Eanie Meany" and closing with "My Patch." In the midst of a song, Noir's voice sounded sweet and confident. In between songs though, Noir seemed uncomfortable as a frontman, having a hard time connecting with the audience. Without a suit and tie to hide behind, Noir lost his Mr. Bean-charm and just seemed a bit awkward--that was--until he started singing again.

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (2)

Tags: Jim Noir, Live, SXSW

Nada Surf is the Seabiscuit of indie-rock music. They went from one-hit wonders, to not having their label release their sophomore album, to resurrecting their career and becoming one of the most consistently good bands in indie rock music today. It must have been "Hat Night" for the Nada Surf--Matt Caws was decked out in a top hat, while drummer Ira Elliot was wearing a cowboy hat. Daniel Lorca probably skipped out, cause there's no way he's going to fit a hat over his years of grown-out dreadlocks. Nada Surf showed the youngsters how to do it tonight. As a band, they're very tight, displaying their mastery of the sweet up-tempo rock ballad. It's also refreshing to see Caws, Elliot, and Lorca laugh with each other during stop downs in between songs. If you've been in a band as long as they have and can still share a laugh with each other, you must be doing something right. The only part of their set that distracted me was Caws constantly changing out his guitars following each song. At first I though he did it for tuning reasons, but after a while it seemed a bit obsessive (I'll have to get on the case and find out why he does this). Sadly, Nada Surf hit curfew at 2AM and weren't able to properly close out their set.

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (4)

Tags: Live, Nada Surf, SXSX

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I saw the members of Tapes 'N Tapes set up their own equipment. Despite being a case study in the successful "blog band" phenomenon, they all still work day jobs when they're not touring. Tapes 'N Tapes' set echoed the band's demeanor--nice, honest, not overly dynamic, and a bit unpredictable. They showcased a few new tunes, which I won't be able to explain, cause I've never been able to pinpoint Tapes 'N Tapes' sound. Tonight, whenever I predicted a high-hat hit or a certain chord progression on the new material, they always seemed to prove me wrong. Though drummer Jeremy Hanson is the resident "nerd" of the group (with his Coke bottle glasses and math geek tie) I couldn't keep my eyes off of him the whole set, especially during his handiwork on "Insistor". By golly, he may be the secret rockstar of this group.

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (5)

Tags: Live, SXSW, Tapes 'N Tapes

Denied. The picture to the left sums up my Vampire Weekend experience. This is the first time in all the years I've come to SXSW that I wasn't able to get into a show. I got to the venue a good 40 minutes before Vampire Weekend's set, and in those 40 minutes I probably moved up 10 feet. The irony in all of this, is that for all the people wrapped around the building to see Vampire Weekend, they didn't even notice when frontman Ezra Koeing popped out a side door, hung out for a couple minutes and brought some of his friends inside Antone's.

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (5)

Tags: Live, SXSW, Vampire Weekend

I always feel a bit guilty watching a high profile rock group at SXSW, since my conscience tells me I should be watching a struggling up-and-coming indie band. But every now and then I need a little sugar--a little pick me up if you well. It's not like the President's of The United States of America are smoking hundred bills in a hot tub filled with supermodels, but they've tasted the fruits of rock success. After poking my head into a bunch of SXSW day parties, seeing various younger indie-acts, I almost forgot how much fun a polished rock band can be. The Presidents don't seem like they've lost a step. Lead singer Chris Ballew sounds as good as ever--his scissor kicks haven't lost any air either, and newest member, Andrew McKeag, looks like he's having a good time out there (lots of bouncin' around). The Presidents broke out most of their hits including 90's staples, "Dune Buggy," "Lump" and "Peaches", and ended their set with a quick one-chorus cover of "Let the Good Times Roll." Amen to that!

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (2)

Tags: Live, SXSW, The Presidents of the United States of America

I have seen Money Mark perform 20-plus times with the Beastie Boys, but I have never caught one of his solo gigs. So tonight, I thought I owed it to myself and the Beastie-family tree to take in Money Mark's set. I'm also a fan of his work, so I was long overdue for a live show. Early in the set Mark was having technical difficulties. His echo-box (for his guitar) wouldn't work and a friend who came on stage to play theremin couldn't figure out how to position it in the microphone. After the glitches were ironed out, Mark leisurely went through his freeform set. His performance was so laid back, at one point he looked over to the side of the stage and said, "Just tap me on the shoulder when you want the next band to come on." Money Mark mostly played guitar, but slipped behind his bread-and-butter instrument, the keyboard, for a couple of tunes. One of the highlights of Mark's set was a song he did for the film Beautiful Losers that ended up not making the cut. Mark prefaced it by saying, "This song didn't make the soundtrack. It was very controversial. It's called, 'When Beautiful Losers Get Mad.'" Upon finishing his set, Mark looked out to the audience and said, "My echo went out, my shit failed, but I still kicked it old-school for y'all."

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (3)

Tags: Live, Money Mark, SXSW

Folky-country-hip-hopper, Tim Fite looks and acts like a big, little kid (think Pee Wee Herman with a rounder face). Tonight he was backed by only band member, and performed all of his songs to a backing track that synced up to a movie screen displaying various childlike, storybook images (damn, this is going to be a tough one to explain). On other songs, Fite would perform with three other versions of himself on the screen. Lost yet?

Fite's live show is his own unique vision of Pee Wee's Playhouse and Captain Kangaroo. Everything is broken down into childhood terms (tonight's set even included "story time" about one character wanting to "stab a motherfucker" after his friend finished eating a sandwich). The genius of Fite's show is when you start to pick out his various political and social commentaries. When Fite breaks things down, you soon realize that its certain high ranking members of society that are behaving like children.

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (2)

Tags: Live, SXSW, Tim Fite

There was a huge line to get into The Black Keys performance at Emo's. After about 40 minutes, I finally managed to make my way in. I think I only missed a song or two. There was a lot of buzz over this particular performance, because everyone was excited to hear some new material from The Black Keys (they have a new album coming out April 1). The Black Keys played four new songs, but Dan Auerbach only introduced one of them, saying, "This is a new one, we could mess it up." The new stuff didn't stray too far from The Black Keys playbook, but just enough to notice a small smidgen of change. I also noticed Key's drummer Patrick Kearney had an effects pad on his kit. Don't know if he ever had one before--maybe he did, but I just didn't notice? I only have one suggestion for the Black Keys as they hit the road in support of their new album--give Patrick a microphone. He is one of the funniest people I have ever interviewed, and his banter could only add to the stage show.

Following the performance I quickly met up with The Black Keys. Dan admitted he was very nervous to play the new stuff tonight (you wouldn't have been able to tell from the show), and Patrick greeted me with an apology. It goes back to one of my last episodes of Subterranean where I was joined by The Black Keys. We were in a really dingy basement and Patrick made a joke that the show was going to get cancelled. He accidentally jinxed me, but I have since forgiven him :)

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (1)

Tags: Live, SXSW, The Black Keys

The Kills played right after Sons and Daughters at the Domino Records showcase. A lot of people saw them at a day party (Fader Fort), but c'mon, you can't watch The Kills during the day, that's like eating breakfast with a vampire. The Kills play best at night (I'm actually not trying to be clever here, VV and Hotel once told me this themselves).

The Kills set-up was very sparse--two guitars and a drum machine. It doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun, but trust me, it was. VV and Hotel somehow make it work--they believe in what they're selling, and they make you believe it too. Sort of a nerdy observation, but because I was so close to the stage I noticed that Hotel doesn't play his guitar with a pick, he strums with his fingers. It's pretty neat watching him play.

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (1)

Tags: Live, SXSW, The Kills

Talk about a line to get into Domino Records SXSW Showcase tonight --sheese! I thought the line wouldn't be that long considering the showcase was taking place at Antone's, a venue that's a good 10-15 minute walk from the main drag on 6th Street. Apparently, this was the place to be. Even Vampire Weekend made sure to stop by the V.I.P. box to catch the Sons & Daughters performance.

The band started off with a bang, opening up with their new single, "Gilt Complex." Their chuggy rock anthems sounded tight, thanks in part to Adele Bethel's spot-on vocals and Scott Patterson's tight guitar playing. Though, Bethel was dressed in a sparkling gold top, it easy to see that Patterson is the rock star of the group. Bethel's not exactly there yet, in between every couple of songs she would kindly ask the soundman to turn up her vocals up in the monitor, almost as if she was asking him to borrow some money for lunch. C'mon, there's a line stretched around the building for you, don't ask, demand. Sons & Daughters were impressive tonight, but only played a 30-minute set. Short--but sweet.

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (1)

Tags: Live, Sons and Daughters, SXSW

A partial resemblance to Sam Kinison, a good dose of Meat Loaf's rock opera tendencies, the falsetto of a well-seasoned arena rocker, and the whimsicality of Dr. Demento--add all of these together and you're just beginning to scratch the surface of the man known as Corn Mo. Besides being well-known in New York City for doing a one-man accordion show (where he also wedges a drum stick in his shoe and wallops a crash symbol), he's been featured in Rolling Stone and has toured with the Polyphonic Spree.

When not performing solo, Corn Mo teams with his band .357 Lover to add a rock twist to his quirky, yet passionate songs. I was actually going into the night a little tired, but after hearing a couple .357 Lover songs, I was filled to the brim with some much needed joy and energy. Corn Mo rotated between keys and rockstar frontman duties tonight, but I have to admit, I'm a little partial to rockstar Corn Mo. It gets no better, when he grabs the mic stand, leans back, closes his eyes, and lets his falsetto roar.

As always, Corn Mo provided an entertaining set. .357 Lover did add a lot of heft to Corn Mo's existing catalog of songs, especially on "Shine On, Golden Warrior" (a song about wrestling legend Kevin Von Erich). My only complaint is that his band never cracked a smile once. If I was playing alongside Corn Mo I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face all night long.

By Jim Shearer in LIVE, SXSW 2008 | Link | Recommended (4)

Tags: .357 Lover, Corn Mo, Live, SXSW

Tuesday, March 4
New York, NY
Terminal 5

Moby was billed as the host of last night's Institute for Music and Neurologic Function benefit concert. I didn't know what that exactly entailed--was he going to perform? Spin some records? Or just introduce the Beastie Boys? If you chose option number three, you're correct. You'd also be right if you chose option number one (kind of).

By Jim Shearer in LIVE | Link | Recommended (3)

Tags: Beastie Boys, Live