Tag Archives: Damien Jurado

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Foxygen Close Out NYC Road Trip at Mercury Lounge

May 16th, 2013

Foxygen – Mercury Lounge – May 15, 2013


Bicoastal buds Sam France (Olympia, Wash.) and Jonathan Rado (New York City) comprise the duo known as Foxygen. And after hearing their song “San Francisco,” this City by the Bay native couldn’t help but get hooked on the sounds reminiscent of late-’60s Haight Ashbury. After a close call at SXSW, the boys have rested and recovered to play a trio of New York City shows this week, culminating in a sold-out Mercury Lounge gig last night. Appropriately, the venue served as the breakthrough for the band since they passed along their Take the Kids Off to Broadway EP to eventual We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic producer Richard Swift (the Shins, Damien Jurado) at a Mynabirds show at the Merc in early 2011.

Amongst a largely male crowd, France greeted the crowd with an ecstatic “Wassup?” followed by a scream that opened into “Jesusss.” Clad in black, France pranced around stage singing “On Blue Mountain” and emphatically thrusting his fist into the air. His usual stage antics had him confessing, “I don’t care if I’m in trouble at all. I’m an idiot. I don’t care. I don’t blame you. I suck.” Fans soaked up his banter and rocked along to “In the Darkness” and “Make It Known.”

As bassist Justin Nijssen sipped from his bottle of wine, France took a moment to introduce his onstage cast of characters before getting into fan favorite “Shuggie,” to a sea of bobbing heads, and then Foxygen’s recent single, “No Destruction.” The remainder of the evening was set to a cacophony of France’s screeching vocals, organ chimes and heavy basslines. The frontman climbed atop amps and the drum kit for their recent LP’s title track, “We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic.” No encore was played: “Our shit’s broken,” announced France. But that didn’t seem to bother exiting concertgoers. One even playfully concluded, “I want what they are on.” —Sharlene Chiu

Photos courtesy of Mike Benigno | mikebenigno.wordpress.com

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The Bowery Presents Live Features JBM

May 3rd, 2012


Jesse B. Marchant is a talented singer-songwriter with a classical training in guitar, but what you’ll probably first notice about the guy who makes and performs music by his initials, JBM, is his voice, which has earned him comparisons to Jim James and Justin Vernon. Marchant has a sold-out show with Damien Jurado at Mercury Lounge on 5/19, and the following week his second album, Stray Ashes, comes out. But today JBM is featured on The Bowery Presents Live. Watch him, above, playing “Ferry” at a metal shop in Brooklyn and then check him out playing the piano and talking about why he sometimes goes through long periods when he doesn’t want to listen to music. And, of course, make sure you subscribe to The Bowery Presents Live for plenty of performances, interviews and live-streamed shows.

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A Veteran Totally at Ease

May 13th, 2011

John Vanderslice – Mercury Lounge – May 12, 2011

(Photo: johnvanderslice.com)

(Photo: johnvanderslice.com)


It takes a little bit extra to put on a successful show as just a duo. You need to have great songs or great chops and a superb drummer or there should be lots of guests or witty banter between songs or good use of multiple instruments and samples. Luckily for last night’s Mercury Lounge audience, John Vanderslice (and Jason Slota) had all of those things going for them. The Merc is so often the venue where you see the bands before they become the bands, but watching Vanderslice was observing a veteran totally at ease playing an intimate club filled with dedicated fans without worry about where his career is going or where it’s been. Looking like Dana Carvey playing the part of an indie rocker, he was often just as hilarious, plumbing the depths of his repertoire and barely attempting too many stripped-down versions of songs from his orchestral new album, White Wilderness.

The show had a looking-in-on-a-rehearsal vibe to it, with Vanderslice stopping once or twice to make sure samples were synched correctly or that a guest knew the chord changes. And guests there were, no less than six, making it feel even more like an informal jam session during what Vanderslice called “Audience Participation Month” (some audience members accepted the invitation to sit onstage during the entire 80-minute set). A guest vocalist and rhythm-guitar player added layers to “Trance Manual.” Mitch Marcus added saxophone in between a drum solo, dented guitar solo and sample bits on “Exodus Damage.” Ian Bjornstad joined in for “Underneath the Leaves,” and opener Damien Jurado came out for the encore.

Affable as ever, Vanderslice impressively dropped both a Simpsons and Nabokov reference into his introduction for old friend Bjornstad. Pushing the limits of what he felt the duo could do, Vanderslice and Slota perfectly playing the prog-pop composition of “Kookaburra” as a no-guest highlight. A show during Audience Participation Month had to end with the duo and friends in the middle of the floor of Mercury Lounge, with those in the audience shining their flashlight apps at the makeshift band so they could see while singing along. Jurado promptly proclaimed it the “best show of the tour” and the audience knew very well, they were appreciated. —A. Stein

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