this week in music

TRAMPS LIKE US: MARATHON SHOW

Springsteen tribute band will re-create legendary 1978 show on February 11 in Times Square

A TRIBUTE TO THE BOSS
B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
237 West 42nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Thursday, February 11, $26-$37.50, 7:30
212-997-4144
www.bbkingblues.com
www.trampslikeus.com

On September 19, 1978, we very clearly remember sitting up in our room, taping a live concert being broadcast over WNEW, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band playing the Capitol Theater in Passaic in what would become one of their most legendary shows. We also recall heading into the Village shortly thereafter and buying the bootleg boxed set, called PIECE DE RESISTANCE. Last year, for the first time ever, Springsteen began playing some of his albums in their entirety, and now tribute band Tramps Like Us will be playing the famed 1978 concert in its entirety at B.B. King’s on February 11. Generally, we are not big fans of tribute/cover bands — like the one that played our high school prom — but Bruce’s 9/19/78 performance was extraordinary, featuring memorable versions of such unreleased songs as “Independence Day,” “Fire,” “Because the Night,” and “Point Blank,” a spate of tunes from his latest album, DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN, including a “Prove It All Night” that nearly blew the roof off with its blistering guitar solo, and a killer finale of “The Detroit Medley” and “Raise Your Hand.” But the highlight of the show was the triple shot of “Not Fade Away” into “She’s the One” followed by an unforgettable “Backstreets” with a majestic, emotionally powerful “Sad Eyes” near the end (later to be adapted into “Drive All Night” on THE RIVER). We’ve been waiting, hoping, and praying for Bruce to go into “Sad Eyes” every time we’ve heard “Backstreets” since then, to no avail, so this is the closest any of us are likely to get.

NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE

Meredyth Sparks, “Roxy” (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Former Tower Records Building
14 East Fourth St. at Broadway
Through February 13, Wednesday – Sunday 12 noon – 7:00 pm
Admission: free
www.nolongerempty.com
www.flickr.com/slideshow

In 1983, Tower Records took over the ground floor of the Silk Building on Broadway, selling music and hosting live performances for more than twenty years. It was one of the East Village’s places to see and be seen, a gathering spot for lovers of all kinds of music, with a heavy emphasis on indies and imports But the digital age ultimately forced the chain into bankruptcy, and the space has remained vacant since 2006. The storefront has now been taken over by No Longer Empty, an arts organization that puts together exhibitions in empty locations around New York City. Paying tribute to the legacy of Tower Records, “Never Can Say Goodbye” features music-related multimedia installations by more than a dozen artists, set up very similarly to the old store, even including bins with fake LPs that visitors can look through. Meredyth Sparks turns up the glam quotient with “Roxy” and “Space Oddity.” Paul Villinksi adds wings to melted and twisted LPs he actually purchased at Tower. Invader re-creates such album covers as the Clash’s LONDON CALLING using Rubik’s Cube pieces. Ryan Brennan blasts hip-hop from a bunch of boom boxes arranged where the store’s in-house magazine, Pulse , used to be distributed. Joe Diebes’s “Scherzo” video will get your motor running. And Ted Riederer invents a new label, “Never Records,” with contributions from a host of musicians and a wicked-cool bong people are encouraged to smoke from. But longtime East Village singer-songwriter Paul Clements, a fixture Wednesday nights at the Bitter End from 1979 through 2004, puts it all into perspective with “The Song That Will Never Be Heard.” Clements explained to twi-ny at the opening that he wrote and recorded a song by himself, then destroyed everything but one CD copy, which he encased in a nearly indestructible Lucite box, asking future owners of the piece to respect the tune’s privacy. Thus, the only person who will ever “hear” the song is Clements himself when he played it that one time; ultimately, it will fade into memory, much like Tower Records itself and many of the artists who were unable to ever get their albums sold there.

Paul Clements, “The Song That Will Never Be Heard” (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

In addition to the free art exhibit, there will be several concerts (suggested donation $10) held in the space, including Dirty Mirrors on January 21, V Count Macula on January 22, Il Collettivo on January 24 and February 7, Nehedar and Jon Taub on January 31, Disco Monkeys and Oxygen Ensemble on February 4, and Steve Conte & the Crazy Truth on February 12. And on January 26 at 7:00, NLE will hold a panel discussion in the space, “Discs to Downloads: New Directions in the Music Industry,” with attorney Elliot Groffman, manager Kevin Patrick, editor David Weiss, artist Ted Riederer, and executive David Goodman, moderated by Brad LeBeau.

PARSONS DANCE

Parsons Dance will update REMEMBER ME with the East Village Opera Company at the Joyce

REMEMBER ME AND MORE
Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
February 2-21, $10-$49
212-242-0800
www.joyce.org

Choreographer David Parsons and the East Village Opera Company bring an updated version of their collaboration, REMEMBER ME, back to New York City with a two-week stay at the Joyce. The multimedia show about a love triangle includes fourteen songs by the rock opera band, which rocks out to opera classics, with Tyler Ross and AnnMarie Milazzo performing live onstage; costumes are by PROJECT RUNWAY’s Austin Scarlett and lighting by Tony winner Howell Binkley. The stroboscopic solo CAUGHT, set to music by Robert Fripp, will be part of all programs. In addition, the season features family –friendly matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 consisting of WOLFGANG, EBBEN, NASCIMENTO NOVO, HAND DANCE, CAUGHT, and SCRUTINY as well as a third program, on February 17-18, comprising WOLFGANG, BROTHERS, SWING SHIFT, KIND OF BLUE, CAUGHT, and IN THE END.

PONTIAK / WHITE HILLS

Pontiak teams up with labelmates White Hills for trippy show at Cake Shop

Cake Shop
152 Ludlow St. between Stanton & Rivington Sts.
Monday, February 1, $7, 8:00
212-253-0036
www.cake-shop.com
www.thrilljockey.com

Thrill Jockey is hosting an awesome evening at Cake Shop on February 1 with two of its best artists, Pontiak and White Hills. Pontiak has been one busy band, having released three outstanding discs in the last year and a half, 2008’s SUN ON SUN, last spring’s bigger, more explosive MAKER, and this fall’s limited-edition SEA VOIDS (in addition to a shared record with labelmates Arbouretum in the summer of 2008). The Virginia-based brothers Carney — Jennings on bass, Van on guitar, and Lain on drums — once again deliver a sonic blast of experimental, very loud psychedelic thrashing on such songs as “Suzerain” and “Shot in the Alarm” along with the poetic, folk acoustic “Life and Coral” and “It’s the Life.” The LP concludes with the heavy, trippy title track, which segues neatly into fellow Thrill Jockey artist White Hills. Based in New York City but apparently from another galaxy, White Hills play psychedelic space rock that goes off in all kinds of heavy, far-out directions. Their recordings are often hard to track down, either self-released or released on small labels in very limited editions on vinyl and CD, although Thrill Jockey has been spreading the good word on such freak-outs as 2009’s HEADS ON FIRE and DEAD and a brand-new eponymous record, which comes out February 23. White Hills founder and guitarist Dave W., bassist Ego Sensation, and drummer Bob Bellomo take listeners on fantastical musical journeys; to get a taste of what they’re all about, visit the Thrill Jockey site and check out the streaming “Visions of the Past, Present and Future” from HEADS ON FIRE, ten minutes of furious jams, electronic meanderings, space-age blasts, and slowed-down, ethereal breaks (followed by the atmospheric twenty-six-and-a-half-minute epic “Don’t Be Afraid,” which is like a soundtrack to a creepy thriller set aboard a ghost ship). New York City psychedelic rockers Eidetic Seeing open what should be a tremendous night of live music.

SOUNDS LIKE BROOKLYN

Vivian Girls kicked off Sounds Like Brooklyn festival at BAM, followed by insane set by Les Savy Fav (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Brooklyn Academy of Music and other venues
Howard Gilman Opera House
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
January 29-30, February 4-6
BAM tickets: $20-$25
718-636-4100
www.bam.org

The Sounds Like Brooklyn Music Festival, first held in 2007, has featured such local acts as the National, Chairlift , Citizen Cope, Mos Def, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Gordon Chambers, and Beirut at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the festival’s home base. Not only do the annual two weekends of shows promote the World’s Greatest Borough, but it does so in style, with bands playing the elegant Howard Gilman Opera House. This year’s lineup includes indie punksters Les Savy Fav and shoegazing surfpoppers the Vivian Girls on January 29, Rain Machine and Anti-Pop Consortium on January 30, and Ra Ra Riot and the Antlers on February 5, three inspired pairings that should rock the house, even if the audience has to remain in their seats. (And don’t you dare think of taking any photos or video!) We can’t wait to see what LSF lead singer Tim Harrington has in store; the last time we checked out the band, the hairy vocalist tore off most of his clothes, hopped up on a monitor, and posed like Christ on the cross. The group tours relentlessly but is much more shy about recording; their last album, LET’S STAY FRIENDS, came out in 2007. Don’t be surprised if a nearly naked Harrington puts a garbage can over his head while singing the mellow pop of “What Would Wolves Do,” the angry punk of “The Equestrian” and “The Sweat Descends,” or the playful harmonies of “Patty Lee.” Meanwhile, the Vivian Girls — guitarist Cassie Ramone, bassist Kickball Katy, and drummer Ali Koehler — are touring behind their delightful 2009 disc, EVERYTHING GOES WRONG, which features such hopeful tunes as “Before I Start to Cry,” “Never See Me Again,” “Death,” “I Believe in Nothing,” and “The End.” An offbeat mix of 1950s girl groups and 1990s grunge, the Vivian Girls, named after bizarre characters created by lunatic outsider artist Henry Darger, should bring a different kind of note to the festivities. “At 3 AM I sleep again / Watch the tides rise right between my eyes / It’s in my head / Well, I’ll be dead before the sun will rise again,” they sing in “Lake House.”

Ra Ra Riot brings its captivating live show to BAM as part of Brooklyn festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Also on tap are the Dred Scott Trio and the Sweet Divines at BAMcafé, tuneyards, takka takka, and Rose Parade at the Bell House, Falling Short of Luxury and Fill the Hunter at Frank’s Lounge, Small Black at Brooklyn Bowl, Dance for Brooklyn with Maya Azucena at Galagos, Saxon Shore and American Dollar at the Knitting Factory, the Vandelles, Dinowalrus, and the Naked Hearts at littlefield, and other shows at Zebulon, Station 171, Sputnik, Southpaw, Pete’s Candy Store, le Grand Dakar, and Goodbye Blue Monday, offering a chance to see some up-and-coming bands at venues many people aren’t necessarily that familiar with.

Tim Harrington began special BAM performance with hysterical site-specific dance piece (pohto by twi-ny/mdr)

Update: Following a strong, steady set by Vivian Girls, Les Savy Fav tore apart the Howard Gilman Opera House at BAM on January 29, beginning with Tim Harrington, clothespins clipped to his beard, performing a site-specific dance piece, eventually going into the crowd and picking people in the front up out of their chairs one by one, then explaining that he would continue with his performance art until everyone got up out of their seats, which resulted in a stampede to the stage, security guards running for cover, and all hell breaking loose for the rest of the night, which included Harrington running up and down the aisles of the ornate theater, scuttling by on his butt, entering a plastic phallic object, taking the shirt right off a fan’s back, giving himself a giant wedgie, and eventually donning a bizarre monkey suit and howling. BAM will never be the same.

BOB MOULD: SOLO

Bob Mould goes solo at City Winery for two shows (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

City Winery
155 Varick St.
January 22-23, $30-$45, 9:00
212-608-0555
http://www.citywinery.com
http://www.bobmould.com

Twenty years ago, Bob Mould left seminal postpunk band Hüsker Dü and recorded his first solo record, the intimate, acoustic-based WORKBOOK followed by the gruffer BLACK SHEETS OF RAIN. Mould then formed the power trio Sugar, which released such impressive discs as COPPER BLUE and BEASTER, before continuing his solo work. Currently working on his memoirs – which will detail, among other things, his drug abuse and homosexuality – Mould also turned back the clock on his most recent album, the unflinchingly honest and personal LIFE AND TIMES (Anti-, April 2009). “What the fuck, what kicked up all this dust / taking me back to the places I left behind / the old life and times,” he sings on the title track, preparing the listener for both a trip down memory lane as well as a peek into the future. “I rewind the interstate in my distant memory,” he sings to his signature guitar sound on “City Lights (Days Go By),” adding, “I hope you understand I need to find my city lights.”

Recalling the sound of WORKBOOK, Mould, who recorded LIFE AND TIMES in his current hometown, Washington, DC, with just a drummer and himself, opens up about anonymous, casual sex (the hard-driving “Argos,” the smooth, melodic “Bad Blood Better”) and the end of love (“I’m Sorry, Baby, But You Can’t Stand in My Light Any More”) while also bringing up memory and the past on “Wasted World” and “MM 17.” At forty-eight, perhaps Mould is a little young to be looking back so much, but as he says on the album’s final track, “What a lifetime we have.” He’ll be celebrating that life at City Winery with two special acoustic shows at City Winery, playing songs from throughout his career. We’ve seen him several times over the years, and he always sweats out everything he can, whether blasting away with an unbelievably loud band or just by himself with an acoustic guitar. Trust us: This will be no mild folk concert; you can expect Mould to still slash across the stage to such possible songs as “See a Little Light,” “Poison Years,” and “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” as well as several Hüsker Dü classics (look for “I Apologize,” “Celebrated Summer,” and the simply amazing “Hardly Getting Over It,” among others). Jon Auer of Big Star and the Posies opens the show.

An amiable Bob Mould had a great time at City Winery gig (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Update: Just prior to Auer’s taking the stage on January 23, we had a chance to speak with Mould for a few minutes as he sat in the back of City Winery by himself, discussing, among other things, the difference between playing as a three-piece at Irving Plaza and doing a solo gig here. Mould showed that he is equally adept at both when later that evening he performed a wicked set that was one of the loudest solo shows we’ve ever seen. Starting off on the acoustic guitar, an amiable Mould offered up a mix of favorites and lesser-known gems, from “Wishing Well,” “Hoover Dam,” and “Needle Hits E” to the Hüsker Dü treasure “Hardly Getting Over It.” He chatted about Conan O’Brien, the new Highline Park, being gay and fifty and living in San Francisco, and even Peter Criss’s “Beth” as he turned up the volume. Things really took off when he switched to the electric guitar, filling the intimate space with a barrage of sound, highlighted by his absolutely shredding an extended version of “Brasilia Crossed with Trenton” before finishing up with such sonic blasts as “I Apologize,” “Something I Learned Today,” “Celebrated Summer,” and the finale, “Makes No Sense at All.” (For a slideshow and the setlist, go here.)

THE SHELLS

Bombshell trio brings cosmo-country to the Mercury Lounge

Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston St.
Saturday, February 6, $10, 8:00
212-941-8100
www.theshellsonline.com
www.mercuryloungenyc.com

Not to be confused with the Austin-based indie band of the same name, the Shells are that rarest of breeds, a New York City all-woman country trio. Actually, their sound has been labeled cosmo-country, mixing in folk and pop elements and beautiful harmonies. Originally an a cappella group, Carrie Welling, Melanie Klaja, and Jessica Rae Waltz have been augmented with a touring band as they support their debut album, WRITTEN ROADS (October 2009, WeThreeRecords). The Shells, whose name came from “bombshell,” will be playing an early show Saturday night at the Mercury Lounge, so come on down and see what all the fuss is about.