The Most Blogged About Shows This Week
Sharon Van Etten
It was the last day of the school year; third grade, I believe. I sat at my desk chewing the eraser off of my No. 2 pencil in anticipation of the two months of freedom, which lay ahead. I obsessively cleaned my over-sized tortoise shell glasses with the bottom of my t-shirt. The clock ticked… slowly. Finally, the bell rang, and FLASH, I was off. I sprinted down the hallway exuberantly. The strobe LED lights from my LA Gears reflected off the waxed linoleum floor, until they hit the black tar pavement of my elementary school’s playground.
Before I could go home for a summer of splashing around in the town pool and watching marathons of The Adventures of Pete and Pete, all day, on Nickelodeon; I would hang around the playground for the school carnival. It was an annual tradition on the final day of the year. I would eat cotton candy. I would ride the scrambler until I threw up. I would play tilted carnival games, with dreams of shoving a giant stuffed neon animal into my mom’s station wagon in my head.
Instead, I would always end up with one of those little army men dudes with a parachute (remember those?), or a kazoo that barely worked. Whatever. It didn’t matter much, because my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE thing to do at the carnival was spin-art. Because, really; what could be better than grabbing a bunch of different colored tubes of paint and squirting them at a spinning piece of paper to create a clusterfuck of color and glitter?
That’s what this week’s “Most Blogged About Shows” is all about. Summer is still a few months away, but we’re throwing a totally random genre mashup of colors at you this week. We’re talking everything from the gloomy dark purple of School of Seven Bells to the eccentric orange of Craig Finn of the Holdsteady. We even have some somber blue for you from Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids (yes… THE GET UP KIDS) and a whole goddamn rainbow of color from Islands.
This week’s “giant neon stuffed animal” at the Most Blogged About Carnival™ is singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday. And how appropriate, she’s as unattainable as the stuffed animal. Why? Because this one is SOLD OUT. Regardless, I encourage you to check out her latest LP, “Tramp,” which was just released a couple weeks ago, if you haven’t already.
Never fear… we’ve still got another great option for you on Saturday night, and it’s way better than a crappy kazoo (still think the parachute guy is pretty chill.) Islands are playing (le) Poisson Rouge. Doors are at 7:30, so get there early, or be damned. Now, they’re not my favorite Nick Thorburn project (BRING BACK THE UNICORNS PLEASE), but they’ve just dropped an excellent LP, “A Sleep & A Forgetting” which is absolutely worth a listen.
Indie bar-band hero Craig Finn kicked off his 2012 with his first solo effort, “Clear Heart Full Eyes,” a more subdued take on the literary-name dropping, post-Springsteen slapdash we’ve all come to know and love from his main project, The Holdsteady. He’s across the Hudson at Maxwell’s on Thursday, March 1.
Cacao right there! This Sunday is your last chance to see Fred Armisen at Union Pool. His mini-residency concludes on the 26th. Fred has been playing covers from some from his favorite bands (Devo and Kraftwerk, to name a few) and usually invites a special guest or two, so don’t miss out.
We’re just getting started, because there’s plenty of other great options this week. New York cornerstones Philip Glass and Patti Smith will play the Park Avenue Amory and garage rockers Heartless Bastards are at Webster Hall; both on Friday. Fans of The Cure won’t want to miss post-punkers School of Seven Bells at Mercury Lounge on Tuesday. Exitmusic opens. If you’re looking for something to do now… Zeus, Eight and a Half, Gold & Youth and Radical Dads will be at Mercury Lounge at 8 PM tonight.
I saved THE BEST for last, at least given the scope of this nostalgia-laden edition of the “Most Blogged About Shows This Week.” Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids is playing an intimate set at the Studio at Webster Hall on Monday night for just $12. It’s 16+, which sounds about right. I need to dig up an old Saves The Day shirt and buy a pack of cloves first, but yeah, join this heartbroken blogger as he cries about his girlfriend of a week who dumped him yesterday. Catch my post-show review of this one on Livejournal.
- Peter Rittweger of My Social List
TOP 10 FOR THE NEXT 7 DAYS
10 – The Spits, TV Ghost, Night Birds, Livids @ Cake Shop – Thursday March 1, 8 PM
9 – Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids, The Front Bottoms @ The Studio at Webster Hall – Monday Feb 27, 8 PM’
8 – Zeus, Eight and a Half, Gold & Youth, Radical dads @ Mercury Lounge – Thursday Feb 23, 8 PM
7 – Heartless Bastards, Hacienda, Devin @ Webster Hall – Friday Feb 24, 7 PM (doors at 6)
6 – Fred Armisen @ Union Pool – Sunday Feb 26, 8 PM
5 – Philip Glass, Patti Smith & Her Band @ Park Avenue Armory – Friday Feb 24, 7:30 PM
4 – School of Seven Bells, Exitmusic @ Mercury Lounge – Tuesday Feb 28, 6:30 PM
3 – Islands @ (le) poisson rouge – Saturday Feb 25, 7:30 PM
2 – Craig Finn @ Maxwells – Thursday March 1, 9 PM (doors 8 PM)
1 – Sharon Van Etten, Shearwater @ Bowery Ballroom – Saturday Feb 25, 9 PM (doors 8 PM)
SHOWS GOING ON SALE THIS WEEK:
Friday, February 24th at 7:00am
Alcoholic Faith Mission @ Glasslands Gallery on 04/27 – $10 – $12
Friday, February 24th at 10:00am
Squeeze @ Roseland Ballroom on 04/28 – $55
Lights @ Irving Plaza on 04/20 – $18
Mac Miller @ Roseland Ballroom on 04/25 – $32
Rob Zombie @ PNC Bank Arts Center on 05/11 – $69.5 – $99.5
Friday, February 24th at 12:00pm
The Avett Brothers @ Terminal 5 on 05/09 – $40 – $45
Marilyn Manson @ The Wellmont Theatre on 05/02 – $51.5 – $55
Alabama Shakes @ Bowery Ballroom on 04/11 – $20
Alabama Shakes @ Music Hall of Williamsburg on 04/12 – $20
The Rapture @ Bowery Ballroom on 04/06 – $20
The Rapture @ Music Hall of Williamsburg on 04/07 – $20
Com Truise @ Music Hall of Williamsburg on 04/19 – $20
Bob Schneider @ Bowery Ballroom on 05/01 – $23
Ani DiFranco @ Bowery Ballroom on 06/19 – $48
Lower Dens @ The Mercury Lounge on 05/01 – $12
The Broadcast @ The Mercury Lounge on 04/21 – $12
Rob Delaney @ Music Hall of Williamsburg on 05/12 – $18
Robbers on High Street @ The Mercury Lounge on 04/21 – $10
Abby Travis @ The Mercury Lounge on 04/08 – $10
Fiona Apple @ Bowery Ballroom on 03/26 – $40
Tokyo Police Club @ Bowery Ballroom on 06/10 – $25
ALO @ Brooklyn Bowl on 05/09 – $15
Pulp @ Radio City Music Hall on 04/10 – $35 – $75
Mark Lanegan Band @ Webster Hall on 05/10 – $25
Crocodiles @ The Mercury Lounge on 04/12 – $15
Codeine @ The Bell House on 06/29 – $15 – $20
Electric Guest @ Bowery Ballroom on 05/02 – $13 – $15
Grouplove @ Webster Hall on 06/12 – $20
The Dough Rollers @ The Mercury Lounge on 03/25 – $10
Codeine @ (le) poisson rouge on 07/15 – $15 – $20
Frankie Rose @ The Mercury Lounge on 05/05 – $13
Mr. Dream @ The Mercury Lounge on 03/22 – $10
Saturday, February 25th at 10:00am
Star Slinger @ Irving Plaza on 05/09 – $16
Mac Miller @ Roseland Ballroom on 04/25 – $32
My Social List is happy to partner with Freewilliamsburg to bring you the best of music in the New York area. My Social List tracks nine of the most popular music blogs and aggregates mentions of bands to create weekly Top 10 Lists of the city’s most exciting and highly-anticipated shows.
The Clean and Times New Viking at LPR went on sale today as well. http://www.lprnyc.com