The Swedish born Petter Ericson Stakee (vocals, guitar) and Englishman Terry Wolfers (bass) met in a London bar and bonded over their shared appreciation of blues- and country-tinged rock. They formed a band, Alberta Cross, which expertly specializes in that very type of music, and with Stakee’s upper-register voice and the group’s guitar-heavy licks, they somehow make what is old, ’70s guitar rock (think Neil Young and Crazy Horse), sound completely new. Alberta Cross (above, playing “ATX” for Rolling Stone) burst onto the scene with their 2007 EP, The Thief & the Heartbreaker. A follow-up LP, Broken Side of Time, came out to much acclaim last year. And after just completing a tour with Them Crooked Vultures, the band, now based in Brooklyn, is playing a hometown gig at Music Hall of Williamsburg tomorrow night. Welcome them home because if you like good music, you’d be crazy to miss this.
Posts Tagged ‘Music Hall of Williamsburg’
Don’t Miss Alberta Cross Tomorrow Night—Seriously
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 Three Chances to Spend the Night with Josh Ritter
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Growing up in Idaho, Josh Ritter heard the Bob Dylan/Johnny Cash version of “Girl from the North Country” on his parents’ copy of Nashville Skyline and knew he wanted to become a songwriter. Some dreams do come true, because years later, Ritter was named one of the 100 Greatest Living Songwriters by Paste magazine. The folk-leaning singer-songwriter has earned favorable comparisons to Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen and Gillian Welch (or as Mary-Louise Parker says, he “is usually compared to the legends, the ones you have been listening to since you were 15, the ones you love most”), and he’s put out a considerable amount of material on EPs and full-length albums. And, backed by the Royal City Band, Ritter (above, playing “The Curse” for Studio 360) is currently touring in support of his most recent disc, So Runs the World Away, which brings him to Town Hall tomorrow and Thursday and to Music Hall of Williamsburg (with Dawes opening!) on Saturday.
A Double Shot of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra has seen a lot of changes over the years since forming in Montreal back in 1999. Efrim Menuck, a guitarist in Godspeed You! Black Emperor, wanted to make music that didn’t really fit the sound of his first band. So he sought out bassist Thierry Amar and violinist Sophie Trudeau, also involved with Menuck’s musical collective, to see what they could create. What they came up with was their predominantly instrumental debut album, He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner or Our Rooms….
Since then, the band, now a quintet, has seen name changes (each fairly similar to the current moniker, although SMZ has always remained the shorthand name), roster changes (members have come and gone) and even sound changes (what was once mainly instrumentals is now vocals heavy, although still rooted in punk), on their way to releasing an EP and five more studio albums. The most recent of which, Kollaps Tradixionales, came out in February and brings Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (above, performing “God Bless Our Dead Marines”) to Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday and The Bowery Ballroom on Sunday.
Shepard Fairey’s Mural at Music Hall of Williamsburg
Thursday, May 6th, 2010Check out the making of Shepard Fairey’s mural at Music Hall of Williamsburg set to Metallica’s “Blackened.”
OK Go - Music Hall of Williamsburg - April 30, 2010
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Photos courtesy of Kirsten Housel
Grow a Pair: Win Free Tickets to See OK Go on 4/30
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
OK Go closes out the workweek with sold-out shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday and Friday. Want to go on Friday but don’t have tickets? Then try to Grow a Pair from The House List. Just fill out the form below, listing your name, e-mail address, which show you’re trying to win tickets to (OK Go, 4/30) and a brief message explaining the geological implications of Eyjafjallajökull’s continued eruptions and its cloud of ash. Just kidding: Tell us what you like most about OK Go’s video for “This Too Shall Place.” Eddie Bruiser, who’s gearing up for some NOLA love, will notify the winner by Thursday. Good luck.
The Hold Steady Does It All Night Long
Monday, April 19th, 2010The Hold Steady - The Bowery Ballroom/Music Hall of Williamsburg - April 17, 2010
Taking a cursory glance at audience members’ wrists at Music Hall of Williamsburg sometime after 1 a.m. on Sunday morning, it was obvious that the Hold Steady weren’t the only ones pulling double duty. The indelible, florescent twin wristbands marked for some fans an evening spanning two boroughs and nearly seven hours. It was two sold-out shows, starting at The Bowery Ballroom, where the doors opened at 6:30, and followed by a late-night 12:15 a.m. set at Music Hall of Williamsburg. The Hold Steady was perhaps the perfect band to do it.
Though the set lists were slightly altered and lead singer Craig Finn changed his blue oxford shirt for plaid, the two sets were twins in their theatrics. At The Bowery, people in the audience shouted lyrics at Finn and high-fived one another after each song. At Music Hall, the crowd barked some of the same lyrics at the band, turning the middle of the floor into a carbonated, bouncing mess. Bowery was the scene of the hugs and arms around, as people celebrated being in the room with the band. And the Hold Steady’s everyman anthems easily broke the wall between band and audience, like all these people were complicit in the making of these songs. They certainly knew the words and as Finn spun away from his microphone, like a nerdy top, sweating and ebullient, he seemed fine letting all these strangers into his process. In fact, it was the point.
The band walked off the stage after their main set at Bowery to the dulcet outro of “How a Resurrection Really Feels.” For a band with two new members and a brand new record, Heaven Is Whenever, Finn’s final insistence—“and that’s how a resurrection really feels”—felt new and righteous. At Music Hall, four hours later, Finn left the stage with a thank you and the crowd continued to sing backing vocals, like a sea shanty or a European football chant in the dark. The band returned with the crushing “Citrus” before closing with “Stay Positive.” Finn, ever direct and charming, screamed, “Stay positive, Brooklyn!” before ending the double sell out with a wave and a disappearance backstage. —Geoff Nelson
Win Tickets to See Kaki King Tomorrow Night
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
Katherine Elizabeth King, who performs under the name Kaki King, learned to play the guitar at a young age, but she basically abandoned it after discovering the drums, which she played in high school bands. But while at NYU, King rediscovered the guitar, occasionally playing shows and sometimes even busking on subway platforms. She cut a demo in 2002, which gained her some attention, and released her debut, Everybody Loves You, the following year. But things really took off in 2007: King appeared on albums by Foo Fighters and Tegan and Sara, plus she contributed music to Sean Penn’s Into the Wild and appeared in the flick August Rush. Her most recent album, Junior, came out yesterday, and to celebrate Kaki King (above, performing “Playing with Pink Noise” on Late Show with David Letterman) is playing Music Hall of Williamsburg tomorrow and The Bowery Ballroom on Friday. And The House List is giving away tickets to tomorrow’s Music Hall show. Want to go? Just fill out the form below, including your name, e-mail address, which show you’re trying to win tickets to (Kaki King, 4/15) and a brief message explaining why you deserve to go. The winner will be notified tomorrow. Good luck.
Grow a Pair: Win Free Tickets to See the Hold Steady Twice on 4/17
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
Their newest album, Heaven Is Whenever, doesn’t come out until next month, but that won’t stop the Hold Steady from rocking not once, but twice this Saturday. That’s not a misprint. The Hold Steady will play The Bowery Ballroom first and then finish the night at Music Hall of Williamsburg. These shows will sell out very quickly (tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 10), but don’t despair because The House List will give one lucky winner two tickets for each show. Want to Grow a Pair (twice)? Then fill out the form below, including your name, e-mail address, which show you’re trying to win tickets to (the Hold Steady, 4/17 x 2) and a brief message explaining your favorite part of this time of year—the start of the baseball season, the NHL playoffs or the sudden appearance of skimpier clothing. Eddie Bruiser, who loves all three, will notify the winner on Friday. Good luck!
LCD Soundsystem’s Triumphant Return
Friday, April 9th, 2010LCD Soundsystem - Music Hall of Williamsburg - April 8, 2010
(Photo: Jared Levy)
News traveled quickly that LCD Soundsystem planned to play a surprise gig at Music Hall of Williamsburg. And as soon as the tickets went on sale early Wednesday morning, the greater Internet community swarmed, swiftly selling out the impromptu show. Such is the demand for the music of James Murphy—the DFA Records’ pioneer with a reputation for creating, managing and producing internationally renowned dance music. With a third and potentially final LP, This Is Happening, slated for release next month, Murphy and the rest of LCD Soundsystem, chose to warm up before a long summer of touring begins.
Ambling upon the stage as the band set up their instruments, Murphy fumbled with his microphone before patiently explaining, “I have good news and band news.” The crowd, audibly distraught at the prospect of some limiting factor ruining the performance, braced for the worst. “The good news is we’re here,” he stated. “But the bad news is I’m wasted.” If this insight was intended to disappoint the eager crowd, it utterly failed. For the next 80 minutes, a rapturous audience hung on every slurred lyric.
Repeatedly, Murphy informed those in attendance that this performance was the first since the group’s longest break. This fact hardly affected a tremendous set, consisting of a couple of new songs and established staples. “Drunk Girls” and “Change,” both debated for the upcoming album’s first single, seemed to elicit as impassioned of a response as choice selections from the last album, Sound of Silver. However, during the masterful piano anthem “All My Friends,” a mosh pit formed in the front of the crowd, which made the song necessarily stand out. Further, for an encore, the band closed with “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down.” Regardless of whether LCD Soundsystem considered themselves prepared, the crowd would not dare remember it as less than a triumphant return. —Jared Levy
(LCD Soundsystem plays Webster Hall on Monday.)
The Soft Pack Isn’t Holding Anything Back
Monday, April 5th, 2010The Soft Pack - Music Hall of Williamsburg - April 3, 2010
It’s somewhat of a curse that the more successful a first album is, the worse the second one will be received. Conventional wisdom suggests that the debut record is so great because a band has had years to work through ripping off heroes, refining their voice and experimenting in every style to finally come out on the other side with something groundbreaking. So it’s in that second album that what a band is really made of once all eyes are on them becomes clear. The Soft Pack emerged from a band-name change and pitch-perfect assertive debut EP to deliver an impressive follow-up album, which also happens to be self-titled.
That full-length disc is filled with that familiar stripped-down rock and roll, signature basslines and sing-along choruses. And the Soft Pack played almost everything from it on Saturday night at Music Hall of Williamsburg. They innovate in a crowded field of drums, guitar and bass and turn out an energetically consistent live show. It’s hard to pick a favorite because they don’t have the one obvious hit—they’re all A-sides. But something that has changed is that the group is now obviously at home onstage, messing with the audience and one another, like when guitarist Matty McLoughlin made fun of singer-guitarist Matt Lamkin’s new gold Fender Squier guitar: “Yeah, that’s got a classic vibe…a nerdy vibe.”
The Soft Pack is definitely an L.A. band. Its members, dressed in similar plaid button-down shirts, are comfortable enough to inspire a moshing audience and still have the nerve to call themselves squares. This self-deprecating attitude is converting new fans at every show, because they don’t have the same kind of ego as bands like the Strokes do. Maybe they’ve been sabotaging themselves just enough to keep it interesting, forced to reinvent the band every year, never resting on that last performance. Whatever it is, don’t take it for indifference, because the Soft Pack isn’t holding anything back. —Jason Dean
Double Your Pleasure with Two Nights of Bonobo
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
The British musician and producer Simon Green began DJing under the name Bonobo in the late ’90s. His debut album, the acclaimed Animal Magic, came out in 2000. The disc earned him the reputation of someone who makes chill, downtempo music. But not wanting to be pigeonholed, Bonobo began to employ a wider range of samples, adding funk, hip-hop, jazz and Latin beats—plus a little bit of rock and some serious basslines—to the mix. Since then, he’s released several EPs, a live DVD and three more LPs, the most recent of which, Black Sands, came out last week. You’ll be able to check out some of that new music in person when Bonobo (above, performing “Noctuary”) comes to Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday and The Bowery Ballroom on Monday. But don’t just expect a DJ, because Simon Green doesn’t go it alone: He mainly plays guitar and leads his full band (strings included) from the center of the stage.
Coheed and Cambria Bring It to Brooklyn
Thursday, April 1st, 2010Coheed and Cambria - Music Hall of Williamsburg - March 31, 2010
Last night, Coheed and Cambria played a sold-out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg as part of an eight-date club tour leading up to the release of their fifth studio album, Year of the Black Rainbow (out April 13th). The band quickly got the crowd pumped by playing “A Favor House Atlantic” and “Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow)”—off 2003’s In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3—back-to-back early on in the just-over-an-hour-long set.
Despite the fact that the band’s discs are concept albums that tell the science-fiction story of The Armory Wars (with the newest disc serving as the prologue to the existing four-album storyline), Coheed and Cambria mostly played songs from its earlier releases. Standout older tracks included the epic and soaring “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3” (which they played longer than the eight-minute recorded version), “No World for Tomorrow” and the slow number “The Light & the Glass,” which had fans holding lighters in the air. Of the new material, “Here We Are Juggernaut” and “Far” impressed. Then the band closed the show with the heavy and dramatic “2113.” —Kirsten Housel
Photos courtesy of Kirsten Housel
A Rowdy Night at Music Hall
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010Lucero - Music Hall of Williamsburg - March 30, 2010
Perhaps the best thing about going to a Lucero show is knowing exactly what you’re going to get—a rambunctious set of everyman tunes that makes you want to throw your arm around your best buddy and buy another round. Last night’s Music Hall of Williamsburg show was no different. The Memphis-based, whiskey-logged Southern soul-punkers played a set in support of their current release, last year’s 1372 Overton Park, an album that impressively adds horns to the band’s trademark sound. Played live, songs like album-opener “Smoke” and “What Are You Willing to Lose?” and “The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo” all benefited from the brass section, making them much more rock and less country, leading to lots of dancing in the crowd. However, it was singer Ben Nichols’ voice that provided some of the best moments, as was the case when Lucero played album-closer “Mom” (a heartfelt reassurance that though they may mistakes, they were raised right) and the always highly anticipated cover of Jawbreaker’s “Kiss the Bottle.” —Kirsten Housel
Photos courtesy of Kirsten Housel
Two Nights of Two Great Bands
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010Parker Gispert (guitar, keys and vocals), Julian Dorio (drums) and Hank Sullivan (bass) formed the Whigs in the music hotbed of Athens, Ga., while attending the University of Georgia. They played live shows for about three years before finally recording their frenetic garage-rock sound on their first album, Give ’Em All a Big Fat Lip, in 2005. A year later, Rolling Stone suggested that they “may well be the best unsigned band in America.” Since then, the Whigs have released two more albums, including In the Dark, which came out just two weeks ago.
Emma Richardson (bass and vocals), Matt Hayward (drums) and Russell Marsden (guitar and vocals) also met in college, in Southampton, England. They soon formed a band, Fleeing New York, and played as many London nightclubs as possible. They later changed the group’s name to Band of Skulls and put out an attention-grabbing demo in 2008. The following year, they released their bluesy debut album, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, and toured the world. And now they’re back in our corner of it because the Whigs (above, playing “Already Young” and “Like a Vibration” on Jimmy Kimmel Live!) and Band of Skulls (below, playing “I Know What I Am” also on Jimmy Kimmel Live!) will take turns headlining tomorrow at The Bowery Ballroom, which is sold out, and on Thursday at Music Hall of Williamsburg.
See Lucero Next Tuesday at Music Hall of Williamsburg
Friday, March 26th, 2010
The Memphis rock quintet Lucero’s sound converges at the badass intersection of country, punk and rock. They’ve been putting out quality music since 2000, and their sixth studio album, 1372 Overton Park, was released last October. Led by singer-guitarist Ben Nichols’ gravely, Jameson-soaked voice, Lucero is a tour de force live band—playing close to 200 shows a year—that shouldn’t be missed. So don’t. Come see Lucero (above, performing “Johnny Davis” on Fuel TV) next Tuesday at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Get yourself some brown liquor, say hello to Eddie Bruiser and see if you recognize Nichols from MTV.com’s $5 Cover.
See VNV Nation Tonight at Music Hall of Williamsburg
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson, performing as the electronic project VNV (Victory Not Vengeance) Nation, have been successfully combining industrial music, synthpop and trance since 1990. They put out their first album, Advance and Follow, in 1995. And keeping with their motto—“One should strive to achieve, not sit in bitter regret”—the duo has steadily released studio albums, singles and EPs ever since. You can get a taste of their sound in person when VNV Nation (above, playing “The Great Divide”) comes to Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight.
© 2010
