this week in music

FUCK BUTTONS

Hung and Power ride into Union Hall on November 27

Market Hotel
1142 Myrtle Ave. at Broadway
Friday, November 27, 8:00
www.myspace.com/fuckbuttons
www.myspace.com/markethotelnyc

Benjamin John Power and Andrew Hung are touring behind their latest album, TAROT SPORT (ATP, October 2009) . Better known as Fuck Buttons, they will be playing with Growing and Eric Copeland of Black Dice at Union Hall on November 27. Although we still can’t get the lovely, ultrasweet “Sweet Love for Planet Earth,” from last year’s STREET HORRRSING, out of our head, we’re looking forward to seeing the British experimental duo take on their unique electro-techno from the new disc, from the ten-and-a-half-minute opener, the space-age “Surf Solar,” to the nine-and-a-half-minute closer, the fully airborne “Flight of the Feathered Serpent.” Along the way, Fuck Buttons makes interstellar stops at the heavy “Rough Steez,” the hypnotic “Lisbon Maru,” and the lilting, percussive “Space Mountain.” Get ready for a long, strange trip.

JOHN FOGERTY

John Fogerty and the Blue Ridge Rangers will ride into the Beacon on November 24 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Beacon Theatre
2124 Broadway between 74th & 75th Sts.
Tickets: $39.50 – $99.50
212-465-6500
www.johnfogerty.com
www.beacontheatre.com

Okay, back in August we alerted you to a rare free gig by John Fogerty, who played Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport on September 2. This time around, it will cost you a little more to see the classic rock-and-roller at the Beacon, where he brings his Blue Ridge Rangers on November 24. At the pier, Fogerty and his crack band filled the beautiful night with beautiful music, concluding the summer-long free Seaport Music Festival in a majestic way. Fogerty, touring behind his latest disc, the grammatically challenged THE BLUE RIDGE RANGERS RIDES AGAIN, played a heart-tugging mix of CCR oldies, bluegrass and country classics, and solo gems over the course of ninety exuberant minutes as a gorgeous moon rose over the rolling river behind the stage. Wearing a black cowboy hat, Fogerty kicked things off with the Everly Brothers’ “When Will I Be Loved,” followed by a swampy “Born on the Bayou,” the first of many songs on which he showed off his guitar virtuosity. (Later he shredded through a ten-minute “Keep on Chooglin’.”) Other covers from the new disc included John Denver’s “Back Home Again,” Buck Owens’s “I Don’t Care (Just as Long as You Love Me),” Delaney and Bonnie’s “Never Ending Love,” and John Prine’s “Paradise,” played with a fine eleven-piece backup band that featured Billy Burnette, Hunter Perrin, and Buddy Miller on guitars, Jason Mowery on fiddle, and Kenny Aronoff on drums

Fogerty pulled out a baseball-bat-shaped guitar for a sharp rendition of “Centerfield,” which he performed solo at the Yankees’ home opener back in April. Among the Creedence hits that got the mostly older crowd hopping were “Green River,” “Looking Out My Back Door,” and the killer three-song finale: “Bad Moon Rising” (including the oft-misheard line “There’s a bathroom on the right”), “Fortunate Son” sounding like the angry punk anthem that it is, and the sing-along “Proud Mary.” Fogerty was in good spirits throughout the night, often commenting on how much he loves his wife — and even adding, “Heck, I love your wife!” One curious decision was not to have spotlights on Fogerty when he solo’d at the front of the stage, instead casting him as a dark, shadowy figure. Artists usually request that when they don’t want the audience to see what they really look like as they age, but from our up-close angle, the sixty-three-year-old Fogerty looked and sounded great.

ELLIOTT BROOD

Superior gothic country trio won't be bringing anyone down at Union Hall

Union Hall
702 Union St.
Tuesday, November 24, $10, 7:30
718-638-4400
www.elliottbrood.ca
www.unionhallny.com

Once again, we find ourselves featuring an up-and-coming band that has recently experienced problems on the road; this time, it’s Toronto’s Elliott Brood, whose van was broken into in Montreal. But the Gothic country trio has soldiered on, scheduled to pull into Brooklyn tonight for a gig at Union Hall, headlining a bill with Bryan Scary & the Shredding Tears and the Black Hollies. Recently nominated for a Bucky award for best live band in Canada, Elliott Brood features Casey Laforet on bass and guitar, Stephen Pitkin on suitcases and percussion, and lead singer Mark Sasso on various stringed instruments, including banjo, guitar, and ukulele. The group is at the tail end of its North American tour, celebrating the U.S. release of MOUNTAIN MEADOWS (Six Shooter, October 2009), a terrific album containing thirteen songs that display the threesome’s bright, jangly feel-good alt country Americana roots rock, from the majestic, epic “Fingers and Tongues” to the sweet “Miss You Now.” In between is such fine tunage as “Without Again,” “Garden River,” and “The Valley Town.”

LAURA CORTESE / FOREST FIRES

Laura Cortese will team up with the Forest Fires at Pete’s Candy Store

Pete’s Candy Store
709 Lorimer St.
Sunday, November 22, suggested donation $10, 10:30
718-302-3770
www.petescandystore.com
www.lauracortese.com
www.myspace.com/theforestfires

Boston-based singer-songwriter and fiddler Laura Cortese will team up with the Forest Fires for a different kind of show at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg on November 22. Cortese, from such groups as Uncle Earl and the Anarchist Orchestra, and Pappas, of the Everyday Visuals, will perform separately and together throughout the evening, featuring songs from their respective albums as well as other tunes. Their month-long tour has taken them to Massachusetts, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois, with the Brooklyn gig being their last, so expect something special.

CONTEST OF THE WEEK: BROADWAY BOUND

Tell us the first Broadway show you saw to win a copy of new book

LIGHTS ON BROADWAY: A THEATRICAL TOUR FROM A TO Z by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Elliot Kreloff, with an introduction by Brian Stokes Mitchell (Blue Apple, October 2009, $19.99)
Friday, November 20, 5:00, Barnes & Noble, 1972 Broadway at 66^th St., 212-595-6859
Sunday, November 22, 2:00, Books of Wonder, 18 West 18^th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves., 212-989-3270
Admission: free
www.blueapplebooks.com
www.booksofwonder.com

“Welcome to my house, my home, my Broadway!” Tony-winning actor and singer Brian Stokes Mitchell writes in the introduction to the new picture book LIGHTS ON BROADWAY: A THEATRICAL TOUR FROM A TO Z. “As you take this very special tour, perhaps you too will be ignited by the incredible collaborative magic that gives life and light to the theater.” Written by Harriet Ziefert, playfully illustrated by Elliot Kreloff, and with an accompanying CD, LIGHTS ON BROADWAY has its own collaborative magic, taking children and adults on a colorful alphabetical journey through the Great White Way, from audition and actor to encore and improvisation, from orchestra and overture to rehearsal and roadshow. Along the way, there are classic quotes from such Broadway luminaries as Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, Patti LuPone, Stephen Sondheim, and Harvey Fierstein as well as definitions of such theatrical terms as proscenium, curtain, wings, and fly space.

Mitchell, who also contributed an afterword and poetic postscript and sings “I Was Here” from THE GLORIOUS ONES on the CD, will be celebrating the release of the book with two local appearances with the TADA! Youth Theater, which has been entertaining children and families for twenty-five years. He’ll be reading from and signing copies of the book at the Lincoln Triangle B&N on November 20 at 5:00, followed by a party at Books of Wonder on November 22 at 2:00.

Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell will be on hand for two local events celebrating release of book

WIN A COPY OF THE BOOK

What was the first Broadway show you saw? Send your answer to contest@twi-ny.com by Monday, November 23, at 12 noon for your chance to win a free copy of LIGHTS ON BROADWAY, courtesy of Blue Apple Books. Two lucky respondents will be chosen at random.

Break a leg!

MAGNETIC CABARET

magneticcabaret

Bubble Lounge
228 West Broadway
Sunday, November 22, $15 (includes one free drink), 7:00 pm – 1:00 am
212-431-3433
www.bubblelounge.com

Burlesque cabaret is as hot as ever right now, and so the Magnetic Laboratorium, under the direction of Marisela La Grave, will present multimedia cabaret for the twenty-first century at the Bubble Lounge every two weeks through January 24. Curated by La Grave, Matthew Mohr, and Glen Rumsey and hosted by Shasta, the first event, being held on November 22, features such acts as Dirty Martini, Cou-Cou Bijoux, Lavinia Coop, Les Femmes de Danse, and Vagabond Ballroom.

SHERLOCK’S DAUGHTER

Sherlock's Daughter brings its mysterious sound to Piano's for two shows

Piano’s
158 Ludlow St.
Thursday, November 19, $10, 8:00
Wednesday, November 25, $8, 10:00
212-505-3733
www.myspace.com/sherlocksdaughter
www.pianosnyc.com

Australia’s Sherlock’s Daughter has been having quite a time in New York City, playing Goodbye Blue Monday and Bowery Electric last week and now taking up residency at Piano’s for two shows. Based in Sydney, the five-piece band, led by New Zealand vocalist Tanya Horo, is touring behind its self-titled five-song EP, which features beautiful harmonies, soothing melodies, and alluring rhythms. Guitarist Tim Maybury, bassist Liam Flanagan, electronics specialist Jonti Animal, and drummer William Russell create mysterious sounds that wrap around you with just the right amount of uneasiness to keep you slightly off balance but always wanting more on such welcoming tunes as “Sons and Daughters,” “Song for Old People,” and “Kids.” And they also have a way of making relatively mundane lyrics float wonderfully in the ether; on “In the End,” Horo sings, “In the end we will hold on to all that’s in our hearts / Don’t be sad or be frightened / We don’t need to part / Love can’t hurt us now,” and you believe every word of it. On November 19 at Piano’s , SD, who refer to themselves as the “love child of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler (a character in the Holmes story “A Scandal in Bohemia” as well as the real name of X-Men villain Destiny), will go on at 8:00, followed by English Kills, the Black Fortys, and Goldspot, while on November 25 they will go on at 10:00, following Swedish popster Marit Bergman.