Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros – Roseland Ballroom, May 8th 2012
The first thing you will notice about the Magnetic Zeros is that there are absolutely loads of them, and by god do they know how to make a lot of noise. They are a real quirky outfit, who in many ways produce a quirky sound and show to match. At times they are like a Rockabilly family performing on stage, they seem to genuinely have a good time playing their stuff together. Their sound is obviously influenced by country music, but they carry a much a much wider appeal by mixing it up with other musical styles. I would almost equate them to a country influenced Arcade Fire, with huge epic songs like ‘Carries On’ and ‘Home’ in their locker, both of which were performed superbly on the night. They blooded a lot of new songs throughout the show, some of which had a very country sound, a couple of epic huge sounding tracks and even a few with an almost Hawaiian hula sound. Signs are positive for their upcoming new album. They were supported by the band Fools Gold who offered quirky surfer style rock, and were obviously not influenced (as I had hoped) by the English band who created the song with which they share their name.. Overall this was a great performance and an excellent gig from a band who are worth watching regardless of your musical taste.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Spiritualized – Terminal 5, May 7th 2012
Although Spiritualized have been around for years, my only previous experience of seeing them live came at a festival in Canada in 2009. This show got off to a pretty low key start, nothing too raucous at all, with a sound I would categorise as epic chill out. The entire gig was a pretty mellow affair, at times they threaten to break out into heavier rock but it never really happens. Their vast array of musical variation was on full display with them going through their repertoire of space age rock, gospel, soulful rock and even a little poppy indie from the new album. They played a long set, and while you could never say they are a massively entertaining band to watch there can be no argument about the quality of the sound produced. I would summarise Spiritualized for the neutral as a great band to see at a festival, a great sound when you are not particularly paying attention, ideally lying on the grass with a pear cider in hand.
The Vaccines – Webster Hall, April 23rd 2012
The Vaccines rose to
prominence last year with the superb debut ‘What Did You Expect From The
Vaccines?’, which was hugely popular in England and pretty well regarded on
this side of the Atlantic, and expectations were high heading in to this show.
This really was a short, sharp, rocking gig, lasting no more than an hour in
total, including encore. At the start of the set the band really gave the
impression of going through the motions, and not really putting in too much
effort, with the lead singer in particularly jovial spirit.. However after a
superb delivery of the epic ‘Wetsuit’ the bands performance really kicked up a
notch and the crowd were noticeably more into it. With their debut album only
lasting 37 minutes a short show was to be expected, and the band mixed it up by
going through a number of new tracks which were all rocking with a distinct
punky, ramones-esque feel. There wasn’t a lot of banter with the crowd, just
delivery of their excellent rocking stuff. This band are undoubtedly talented, produce
a great sound, and are excellent live when putting the effort in. They really
could be big, if they want to..
RECOMMENDED
White Denim – Bowery Ballroom, April 13th 2012
The first of a Friday night doubleheader, I didn’t know a lot about White Denim before this gig. They are basically a rocking jam band; a little country at times and a little 70s, with some bluesy stuff reminiscent of The Black Keys. This was an impressive performance, they are a tight unit and the singer has a deceptively powerful voice when he gets going. I fundamentally do not understand the popularity of Jam bands and long jamming sessions at the end of songs however, my assumption is the substances taken by the audiences for those types of gigs make you see things in a different light (watching Phish for 3 days solid??).. Id swap for a guitar solo anyday, but I digress..
White Denim are definitely a good time, with a big sound. They are worth watching and would be a great band to see at a festival.
RECOMMENDED
The Cribs – Music Hall Of Williamsburg, April 13th 2012
The return of the Wakefield Ramones! The Cribs are a proper rocking punk band, and you are always guaranteed an energetic performance at their shows. They went through a mixture of old hits and newer songs, though the performance was notably less disciplined without Johnny Marr. In truth this was probably the smallest crowd I’ve seen the band play to in New York, which I’m assuming is down to Marr no longer being there. Vocals are not really the Cribs strong point, particularly from the secondary vocalists, but the music isn’t really about their voices. The band refuse to do an encore, which I personally think is fantastic but because of this the show was pretty short. This was a decent performance, but for me the removal of Marr from the lineup has definitely had a negative impact.
RECOMMENDED
Pulp – Radio City Music Hall, April 11th 2012
Growing up in England in the mid 90s means it is almost impossible not to appreciate Pulp, and Jarvis Cocker. Pulp are generally categorised as quintessential britpop, though to me their style was somewhat different to the likes of Blur, Cast, Menswear, Echobelly etc, a little edgier and darker. Regardless, this show really was a blast from the past. The band played for almost 2 hours, and could have got through many more songs than they actually did were it not for Cockers banter and stories between songs. He has fantastic rapport with the audience, and to be honest I would gladly pay just to hear him talk and tell his stories, regardless of music. They opened up with the brilliant ‘Do you remember the fist time?’, and basically played all the greatest hits from their biggest albums ‘His N Hers’ and ‘Different Class’, and a couple of songs from ‘This is Hardcore’. Cocker has certainly not lost any of his signature dance moves and swagger, and the performance was thoroughly energetic and hugely entertaining. Regardless of what you paid for a ticket here, you certainly got your moneys worth. A fantastic show and a real trip down memory lane for a lot of people.
MUST SEE
The Naked And Famous – Terminal 5, April 4th 2012
Having produced one of the best albums of 2011 in ‘Passive Me, Aggressive You’, The Naked And Famous have very much sharpened up their live act to go with their increasing popularity. This gig sold out well before the night, and tickets were being bought way over face value on various exchanges. They have added an impressive light show to the live performance which complements the electronic side of their music perfectly, and seemed to make it easier for the crowd to get into things.
The support from the Vacationers was solid, they played good softer indie stuff, and its always refreshing to see a band use a full size xylophone on stage.. As well as going through all the major songs from last years album The Naked And Famous played a couple of new songs, which sounded excellent, and some older stuff which was pretty decent and almost comedic. My only slight knock on the band is that perhaps their current sound would not be big enough for venues larger than this, but they are certainly moving in the right direction and this show was a marked improvement on the gigs of 6-8 months ago, which were pretty good to start with.. Impressive stuff.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Kasabian – Terminal 5, March 22nd 2012
I’m almost embarrassed to admit that after all the excellent reviews you’ve heard about this band over the years, and the countless gigs and festivals I’ve attended since they emerged on the scene, this was my first ever time seeing Kasabian live. I had missed them by a matter of months when I first arrived in NYC, and unlike most big English bands they hadn’t been back in 6 years. I thought it was never meant to be, and I was 100% certain they'd cancel this gig the day before, but as luck would have it, they didn't.
Kasabian create a huge sound playing live, and I cant help but think they would have been better suited by a bigger venue than Terminal 5. They put on a good mix of the better tracks from their most recent album (Velociraptor) and their older stuff, and even the songs that don’t stand out on the album were excellent when put through their paces live (Switchboard smile springs to mind here). The majority of the songs they played were upbeat entertainers, and although they did slow it down a touch with Thick As Thieves and Man Of Simple Pleasures, this was probably the most animated I’ve ever seen a terminal 5 crowd, including several attempts at crowd surfing which is generally unheard of on these shores. I suppose with 90% of the audience seemingly being British and mostly intoxicated these things are likely to happen.. Serge played up to the crowd well with decent banter, and it was obvious the band appreciated being in New York City (lost count of the number of times Tom said ‘New York City’ in his between song patter). They appreciated the crowd, and the crowd loved them right back. The finale was ‘Fire’, which is an explosively fitting way to end any gig. This was a fantastic show, and the Black Keys playing the same night at that big venue down the road (Madison Square Garden) would have been hard pushed to put on a better show than this.
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
