2006, Jan-Mar

Yeah Yeah Yeahs; Oakley Hall
@ Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY – February 25, 2006

When the indie rock scene was smoking hot at the turn of the century, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were considered the cream of the crop without really doing much. Along with the Strokes and the Mooney Suzuki, they represented New York’s presence in the scene, standing out with an art-rock edge, taking chances (rather than sticking to a repeated formula), and led by an ambitious, talented young woman who recalled the aura of New York’s great rock n roll dames before her. And all this happened before YYY put out their first full-length album. Once that full-length album dropped, the band faced the inevitable backlash from the picky critics but managed to pick up an unexpected surprise mainstream radio hit with “Maps”. Fast forward a couple years, and YYY is finally back, taking more chances, defying the odds, and doing it all in more ways than one. First, Karen O, Nick Zinner, Brian Chase, and a new keyboardist/guitarist decide to take the band’s sound in a new direction: a darker but smoother form of pop music one can move to, without sounding Goth or industrial. For the sake of comparison, I’ll throw Roxy Music out there, but I expect to be properly chastised for such a size-up. The next step: playing live with almost exclusive concentration on the new material. With the exception of “Art Star”, “Y Control”, the aforementioned “Maps”, the hidden track on Fever to Tell, and “Tick”, YYY played nearly 2 full hours of brand new music that sounded different from the work that made them a success, both critical and commercial (Well, “Maps” is sort of dark pop, but it’s not very danceable). But is this new stuff any good? The studio results remain to be seen but live wise, it’s fantastic. The band is entirely in synch, Karen O’s voice was perfect on this night, and the songs, both old and new, resonate with syncopated clarity. In a word…outstanding. Openers Oakley Hall looked like the entire set-up for Lynyrd Skynyrd, and tried to sound more like Whiskeytown and My Morning Jacket and it just didn’t work. Snooze factor on 10.

The Dirtbombs; Be Your Own Pet; Les Sans Culottes
@ Southpaw
Brooklyn, NY – February 18, 2006

The first time the Dirtbombs played Southpaw, they opened up for the Raveonettes and made a hell of an impression on an audience that clearly had a bunch of hipsters who had never heard them before. 10 months later, the Dirtbombs returned to headline their own show, a Saturday night show no less, and they packed ‘em in like Dino used to do in Vegas. Maybe it was the sound set-up, maybe it was the venue and the night, maybe it was the booze, I don’t know…but this Dirtbombs performance seemed like the best yet. Of course, there is some bias here…I handed Troy a list of songs for them to play and it got the whole band laughing. I didn’t mean to make it seem like it was a demand for all those songs, just one or two…I got sick of shouting out for “Encrypted” all the time. Mick tried to play “Kiss Kiss Kiss” as requested (maybe in honor of Yoko Ono’s birthday), then he did indeed bust out “Encrypted”. (FYI, the Dirtbombs take single requests for free, 2 songs for 20 bucks, and a package deal for 50 but you must submit it in a writing…this is a joke, do not harass the band like I did). The other highlight of the night was, in place of the “Granny’s Little Chicken” jam, a rock-out on “I Can’t Stop Thinking About It”.

Be Your Own Pet seemed improved from the night before, but again, maybe they didn’t change a beat, and it was everything else around them. Though they were subjected to some jerkoff ridicule from the crowd, so maybe they fed off it.

Les Sans Culottes (“The Without Pants”) really turned out to be the best kind of opening act for the Dirtbombs. A pop garage rock octet from New York but faking it as Frenchies, and whose lead male singer looks EXACTLY John Lennon (there’s the Yoko Birthday thing again), there is something quite fun about French garage rock. The cover of “These Boots Are Made For Walking” was icing on the cake.


The Dirtbombs; Be Your Own Pet, The Size Queens
@ Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ – February 17, 2006

Their first gig since the big show with Blanche in Cleveland for Thanksgiving, and with Mick suffering from the flu, this was not setting up to be the best of Dirtbombs gigs. But all hesitations went out the window with the opening chords. Another furiously fun night with a decent crowd, and ending again with the “Granny’s Little Chicken” jam.

Opening act Be Your Own Pet can’t have a collective age of more than…10. These teens play punk reminiscent of old LA hardcore bands with not one iota of similarity to contemporary teens playing “punk” (AKA whiny emo boys in make up). However, I thought they were a little hardcore for my tastes.

The first band of the night was the Size Queens, doing their first ever performance. The best way to describe them would be the Dave Matthews Band meets the Woggles with a hint of Soul Coughing. Take that for what you will but I liked it. Though it is worth noting that the lead singer said this would be the only show of the Size Queens as they’ve been contacted by someone saying they can’t use that name.

There was a solo act when we got to the venue, some young kid doing the BBQ/Biram thing but with total metal screaming voice. Great guitar but the voice is overdone.


Flogging Molly; Scotch Greens, The Rolling Blackouts
@ Nokia Theater Times Square
New York, NY – February 16, 2006

While still a professional and thrilling Celtic-based punk band, Flogging Molly has expanded their live sound, ushering in an era as a major rock band. The gig now runs nearly 2 full hours, and though they have 3 full albums of material to choose from, the band explores new territory with a cover of “Folsom Prison Blues” and return to an old favorite of theirs from their starting days at Molly Malone’s in Los Angeles: “Delila”. Another highlight: Fiddler and flutist Bridget Regan showing off vocal talents on “Factory Girls”. Front man Dave King is as charming and Irish as ever, waxing poetic on everything from Dick Cheney’s itchy trigger finger to a discourse on who in Ireland was a bigger hero than God…The Devil. He’s also looking more and more like Elvis Costello every time I see him.

I didn’t give the opening acts a fair listen but they seemed a little too harsh for my tastes.

A note on the venue: This was my first time at this brand new major New York City venue and it was an odd one. Very sleek and very clean, almost to the point of being sterile (save for the roach traps visible on the ground), the Nokia Theater in Times Square relies on electronic visuals on the outside and in the halls (making for cool marquis) and a weird set-up for the audience: 3 levels. The lowest level by the stage is a typical floor but with wide swaths on the side. The middle level is also standing room only but it holds the two-sided entrance/exits. The top, highest level is for seats! Basically, the Nokia Theater looks like it was built out of someone’s dream. It isn’t exactly ideal, but the set-up, awash in blue and green crystals, is something for the eyes.

Electric Six; She Wants Revenge; Rock Kills Kid
@ Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY – February 11, 2006

The Six have become something of a regular fixture at the Bowery Ballroom and there isn’t a more fitting time to see them than on a Saturday night. Traveling at the beginning of what turned out to be a blizzard packing 25 inches of snow may not be the most encouraging thing, but with the train station exit right outside the door, what’s to worry about? It was a packed house (including the usual idiots who need to mosh or at the very least touch everyone around them). Though they didn’t play “Electric Demons In Love” or “Radio GaGa” or “Rock Show”, E-6 still delivered the goods. Lead singer Dick Valentine even gave a brief lament for the now cancelled CBS show Love Monkey (Good riddance I say).

Two California bands opened the show. She Wants Revenge is a band that sounds just like Interpol but looks nothing like them (they look like one of those downchord post-grunge bands like Staind). Rock Kills Kid sound just like the Killers and look just like them too. She Wants Revenge have a striking sound live while the latter offer good dance rock hits but god awful emo ballads. Also, message to the lead singer of Rock Kills Kid: Saying “Fucking” in the middle of “Put Your Hands Together” does not make you tough.

Holly Golightly; Billy Filo & The Ringers
@ Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ – February 4, 2006

My fifth time seeing Miss Golightly proved to be the best yet, maybe because she had her full regular backing band from England with her for the first time. Featuring an excellent blues guitarist who looked like a little George Harrison, the Golightly outfit was as solid and tight as ever. Opening act Filo & the Ringers were excellent power pop rockers inspired by the Jam, Clash, and Buzzcocks.

The Violets; Dayglow
@ CBGB’s Lounge
New York, NY – February 3, 2006

For one night only, the Violets replaced their drummer and bassist with a synthesized keyboard and made smooth pop music. Dayglow is a little too dark and dreary for a rock n roll band.

Ryan Keberle's Double Quartet
@ Knitting Factory Tap Bar
New York, NY – January 29, 2006

Two trombones, piano, bass, drums, trumpet, French horn, and tuba make for good, decent, and eclectic Jazz. Muzak-style Beatles covers aside, this project has potential in the local Jazz scene.

Billy Joel
@ Madison Square Garden
New York, NY – January 26, 2006

This may seem a surprising show considering the concert reviews of the last half a decade but make no mistake – Mr. Joel is what radio-friendly pop music should have always been about. His hooks have almost always been solid without being saccharine. And live wise, he remains the embodiment of New York in popular music. He inherited the mantle of Tin Pan Alley serenader in the guise of the Beatles. He’s Springsteen without the musical bombardment. He’s Elton John without the flamboyancy. Most importantly, he’s Billy. He’s his own musical marker on American pop culture. He still has guts. Rather than play a slue of radio hits, he mixes his live show with album tracks like “Vienna”, “Zanzibar”, “Laura”, and “Sometimes A Fantasy”. And I dare anyone who hears 25,000 people sing “Piano Man” in perfect unison without a single error or mistake to not feel a chill, even if you’ve heard the song 100 times too many. Don’t take shit from anybody.

Hunchback
@Cake Shop
New York, NY – January 21, 2006

What could be typical punk hardcore/thrash metal band is made uniquely different and appealing by an organ, giving off a garage band vibe.

Bona Roba; The Patchwork Family (The Mooney Suzuki); Treasures of the Sea; Jonny Lives
@Sin-é
New York, NY - January 10, 2006
*Treasures of the Sea seems to have vanished. No record of them before or after this night. They exist now as some kind of dream.

The Mooney Suzuki, a band that I have never had the pleasure of seeing live in their proper name, played a not-so-secret show (hence how I was there) at Sin-é to showcase brand new songs for the next Suzuki album. Playing under the name of the Patchwork Family (but not really), the band (really just the lead singer/guitarist Sammy and guitarist Graham, reunited with their original drummer) took a light hearted approach to the night. The songs are definitely in the vein of previous work, and done live, they sound solid. The Suzuki are continually moving towards pop but it is still based in rock-n-roll. The question will be whether the album will be raw like Electric Sweat or slickly produced like Alive & Amplified. Either way, this promo-gig was done smartly and received generally enthusiastic support from the crowd, give or take 1 or 2 critics.

The rest of the night featured excellent bands. Opener Jonny Lives is a power pop master. Sharp and tight, the band delivers the hooks how they have to be. Closers Bona Roba are a fine, hard rocking garage band, who already sport a song so catchy I remember the name: “Cunningham Park”. But the real treat of the night was Treasures of the Sea. Sporting a clarinet, a small drum kit, a National Dobro Resonator guitar, and a female voice out of the 1920’s, Treasures of the Sea offers America’s darling original pop music: Ragtime, Dixieland Jazz and its course through the 1920’s and 30’s. Firing off covers as random as “You Are My Sunshine” and “Putting On The Ritz”, this exceptional little outfit takes a road less traveled, to a music world far away from most contemporary music. Sensational!

Miss Alex White & The Red Orchestra; SSM; DC Snipers
@ Magnetic Field
Brooklyn, NY - January 6, 2006

2006 kicked off with Chicago’s little darling, 20 year old school-skipping Alex White, whose marvelous voice was undercut by a mediocre sound set-up but nevertheless kicked rock n roll butt (with help from her Detroit-based backing band). Meanwhile, the Motor City’s latest supergroup creation, SSM (Szymanski, Shettler, & Morris) are an electro-pop garage thing and more than satisfy. Openers DC Snipers continue to leave a bad taste in my mouth with their name, and the songs, while essential garage rock fun, are a little too sloppy, and are played a little too sloppy. The band also suffered from broken instruments and frequent delays.