Last week, Peelander-Z played in Brooklyn again at the always fun Brooklyn Bowl (for those not from NY, it’s a bowling alley that doubles as a concert venue. You can bowl and watch the bands at the same time!). I hope by now you’re all familiar with this band, as I wrote about them the first time I ever saw them (which was ridiculous fun!), and when I saw them at SXSW last year. I brought my friend Krystalynne with me and it was the first time she’d seen them, or even heard of them, but I knew after the show she’d become a fan. I strongly urge everyone to see this band if they tour near you, because you don’t need to know any of their music to have a good time. Plus, they’re from Japan, so how can they not be fun? I also ended up playing bass onstage with them, again!
This week has been lots of craziness as the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon has descended upon New York City! This year seems to be mostly about finding new bands and talent, since I haven’t heard of a majority of the bands that are playing this year. While it makes enthusiasm ahead of time a little low because you never know what you’re going to get with any new band, it makes new discoveries that much better when you see an act that put on a good show and has some good tunes that make you dance around!
Let’s start with Tuesday. I had to cover a showcase at the Cake Shop, and while I wrote down little snippets about each band I saw, the only band that really impressed me was the Hospital Bombers, who were much poppier than the other bands that played after. They are definitely a soundtrack to a breezy summer day laying out in a field somewhere, and I like the occasional female vocals and the violin is a cute touch as well.
I can finally think about SXSW last week without feeling exhausted! Below is just a fraction of the bands I saw. The week is such a blur that I’m already forgetting all the bands that I saw, both good AND bad! But I tried to provide links, pictures and video of all the bands I saw so it’s almost like you were there with me (except you were probably much less drunk ;)! This is a long one, so beware!
I actually arrived in Austin the Monday before the the music part of SXSW started. That was cool because I was able to go out and see my friend Marko DJ for a little bit, and also where I met a couple people I’d hang out with for the rest of the week! We danced to his set and then made our way to a few other places throughout the night to get our groove on which was a lot of fun and we ended up being out until 4am (note: bars in Austin close at 2am, I forgot that seems to be the norm outside of NYC) drinking free beers at the PureVolume House! And there was a group of guys dancing who were basically having a dance-off and they were AMAZING to watch. I wish I had half of their skills!
It’s the last day of SXSW! Obviously I have much to update on but definitely no time for that right now. So I will give you a preview of two videos that I did not take of Monotonix from Tel Aviv, Israel, who I saw Thursday night (or should I say Friday morning) starting at 2:45am. The show was at Ballet Austin and inside it was the sweatiest thing you can imagine, you can even see the windows all fogged up. The show eventually got shut down by the cops, but it was still a great time while it lasted. These videos can explain way more than I can in words, but still doesn’t capture the essence of being there::
As I’m writing this, I’m on a flight down to Austin, Texas for the annual South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival! I went for the first time last year through my college’s radio station and it was so much fun, and I’m excited to be going again this year!
Last week I saw the Japanese band Peelander-Z for the first time at a private party. I’ve had multiple opportunities to have seen them live before, but last week was the first time I actually did. Now I am KICKING myself for not having seen them every chance I’ve had. They were SO much fun. I didn’t know any of their music going into it, all I knew was that it was punk, which it was. But their songs are super fun as well, and easy to yell along to. Songs like Mad Tiger, S.T.E.A.K. and Karaoke Party have easy repeating choruses that they encourage you to chant along with. And if you aren’t sure what you’re supposed to be saying, they have signs to go along with some of their songs!
Over the past four days I have gone to five shows in a row! Keeping in mind that they would all be a good time, I made an effort to try and give you some visual aids to help you feel like you were there. Let me know if you dig ‘em, and if so I will continue to try and take some A/V samples for y’all. Let me tell you about the good music times!
First on Friday was Tim Fite. I first saw them at SXSW last year playing with Man Man on the recommendation from my friend. I was very impressed with his live show, both entertaining, and a little weird (at first), but very fun! Since March last year I’ve seen him 8 or 9 times, including booking him to play at my school. His shows are always a good time, and even though I know what to expect by now, it’s always fun to see how other people react. Along from watching him and “Sexy Leroy” onstage, he has some video shorts in between songs, and cloned backup singers that show on a projector that add to the visual stimuli. Plus the songs have a great musical range, from acoustic to hip hop to rock. Check out a video from when he played at my school in September (audio NSFW):
My favorite line from this song: “Even though we both sound exactly alike, is that Jadakiss or is that Tim Fite?!”
This is my space to write about my antics & adventures in New York, along with updates about my other interests such as photography, travel, karaoke, dodgeball, & more!
