HERES ANOTHER

Pic that I took at Crystal Castles that I realized was kind of amazing. you can like see the shadow of where Alice was a second before. Its pretty bomb:



sweet right? Ok Im going to Bedfordshire now zzzzz. But before I go....guess what?

CHRISTIAN SIRIANO IS HOSTING CLUB NME AT ANNEX NEXT THURSDAY!!!!

omg I fucking flipped when I heard this. I heart that boy. And Im gonna be spinnin your tunez. so make sure to head out to annex for a super fun time!!!

And lastly I want to dedicate this blog post to my gorgeous and wonderful friend Lynne Rey who celebrated her birthday yesterday and is seriously one of the most beautiful souls I have had the pleasure to know. I love you!

HELPING ALICE PRACTICE: CRYSTAL CASTLES @ STUDIO B

I wasn't planning on going to see Crystal Castles last night. In my head I was telling myself that I had to work at 8 am, and I had school after that, and I had gotten 2 hours of sleep the night before. But being the NME slave that I am and being the NME darlings that they are, I just. couldn't. help it. I had only heard a few of their songs before, but their live show was supposed to be incredible, so I couldn't resist the urge to find out what the hype was all about.
They were playing at Studio B in Brooklyn so it was essential that I bring someone along to make sure I didn't get lost on the way home and end up sleeping in the subway. So when my lovely friend and music fiend Alex asked me if I wanted to go, I threw caution and responsibility to the wind and said yes. We didn't have tickets (natch) and advance tickets were sold out so we had to get there at 8 so we could be there when door tickets went on sale. When we got there the line was already super long. We were worried we might not get in, but we hunkered down anyways and waited. And waited. In the freezing cold. But after awhile the line started moving and we made it into the venue.
I would like to take this opportunity to tell the world just how much I love Studio B. True, its a little out of the way, and in an uninhabited area of buildings, but that kind of makes it more adventure like. The inside of this converted warehouse mixes just the right amount of comfort and industrial aesthetic. The floors are cement, and the accents are all chrome and metal, but if you go up the second floor candlelit lounge area, you can find the most comfortable couches known to man. Perfect for resting....or canoodling. Dual usage. Efficacy people, thats what Studio B is all about.
Anyways, we got in as the first band, Esque, was playing. They were kind of a Joy Division rip off. But with futuristic synth stuff added in. I thought they had the potential to be good, but they fell into a trap that I think a lot of bands without much experience fall into. They were all playing their separate instruments and there was no cohesion. But I think they have promise. They just need more practice.
While this band was playing my friend Alex and I met these two guys. One of them had one of those FREE PETE Pete Doherty t-shirts. And his name was Pete. Considering my near creepy obsession with P. Doh, we became fast friends. Before Health came on, the four of us went outside to smoke and talk about our love of Britpop, and we formed a little Studio B family.
We got back inside just as Health was starting their set. We were down on the floor but not quite into the dancing pit area. I don't know a single Health song. I only knew of them from their Crimewave collaboration with Crystal Castles. but I do know that they inspired a pretty crazy dance party with their insane beats and extreme energy onstage. It was a mix of noise rock and dance and they fit perfectly on the bill with Crystal Castles. They would start out with a shitstorm of random keys and drums and then it would sort of settle down and everyone thought the song was over. But then all of a sudden, it would start up again and catch you off guard, but in a good way.
As Crystal Castles took the stage, we were all standing together. But the minute they started playing, I was swept away in the sea of the sweltering crowd. I tried to put my arms up to dance, but I soon realized this was not a good idea. The second I did so I received several elbows on all parts of my torso, so I assumed a dancing position where I was sort of hugging myself and jumping around.
This band be crazy. This boy-girl duo operate with the guy in the back making all the out of this world noises that sound like they popped out of an 80s video game, and the girl in the front doing these whispery, growly type vocals. Their set was kind of like one long song. I'm sure they played Alice Practice, and I'm sure they played Air Wars, but the crowd was so chaotic that I could barely tell. Half of me was ecstatically enjoying the music, and the other half was fearing for my life. The crowd wasn't really violent per se, but it definitely felt dangerous. It was like this band was so amazing that everyone wanted to dance as fast and hard as they could, which resulted in a rather wild group of people. The lead singer girl was really something else. She was a maniac onstage. I seriously thought that her eyes were red at one point, and I had to go look up pictures of the show to make sure that they were, in fact, blue. Today I found out that she had just got into a car a
ccident and had broken ribs! Like what? Granted they have postponed most of their future dates so she can recoup, but she showed no signs of needing time off. Somehow, although I totally wasn't trying to, I got propelled to almost the very front. Despite what you'd think, it was a little safer in the front, because everyone is so squished against each other that there is no room to fall. Although I was without a camera (again) I got some kind of cool pics of the singer (who goes by Alice from what little info I can get on the duo) that I think captured the spirit of the night.





After the show it was already almost 1am, so I sprinted to the coat check and found Alex by miracle. Unfortunately we lost the other two guys we met, but such is life. We stumbled out onto the street and started our long trek back. As I woke up this morning at 8:23, feeling like I had fallen down a flight of stairs with three missed calls from my work wondering where I was, I thought to myself: that was SO worth it.

GO TO HANGER TONIGHT!

Its gonna be insane. bring yo friends and lets make this another one of those "ridiculous nights at hanger". deal? deal.

HEY SCENESTERS, DON'T YOU WANNA BE RELEVANT? THE CRIBS AT MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG

Here is my second review I wrote for the NYC live music blog Almack's Dance Hall

The Cribs hold a very special place in my heart. They were the first band I ever saw live way back when I was just a wee Catholic schoolgirl. They were opening for Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab For Cutie in May 2006. This was a period in my life when I had just recently started down the road to musical obsession and this concert was sort of like my induction to the British Indie Fan Club. To this day, they remain one of the only bands I have seen live and instantly fallen in love with without ever having heard any of their music. Last night when I saw them at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, it was like the experience I had two years ago, but like times a million.
I attended the concert with my friend Lauren who I met (non-creepily) on Facebook when we both realized that we lived close to each other and we were madly in love with the Libertines. So I knew that the concert was going to be a blast based solely on that factor. Sadly, our adventure was almost cut short when I rolled up to the box office window and asked for tickets, only to me met with a confused stare. “Uh, its sold out,” said the girl behind the glass. I calmly turned away from the window and contemplated how I was going to get myself out of this one. Luckily, good Samaritan #1 of the night came up to us and was like “Do you guys need tickets?” and we said, “UM YES PLZ” and he sold them to us for original price! Happy days.
When we made our way up to the venue area we found that we had already missed Drug Rug and the second act Jeffrey Lewis & The Jitters was already halfway through their set. At first I was kind of skeptical because it seemed as though they were trying to play punk music but with acoustic guitars and tambourines. But then Jeffrey Lewis sang an a cappella ode to ramen noodles and how they are essential to the culture of the poets and artists of the village. Then they sang a song while projecting a picture narration on the screen about how Jeffrey Lewis used to be a hippie, and now he’s just a regular looking guy. Then they did a ten minute spoken word/cover medley that followed the history of punk in NYC from 1954 through 1975 which included covers of The Velvet Underground and The Stooges. And then I wanted to explode with happiness. They had this air about them like they knew they were simultaneously effortlessly cool and trying really hard to please the crowd but secretly k
new the crowd was going to love them all along. After that lovely jam-fest, Lauren and I promptly began weaving our way through the crowd to get an optimal vantage point. As we got closer to the stage, we realized we had some rough competition. Apparently many girls want Ryan (or Gary, or Olly) in bed with them. These girls, who had clearly been waiting since like 7 and did not take kindly to us trying to nudge our way to the front. But seriously, its a concert people, and its every woman for herself so get over it. But being the fierce tranny messes that we are, we weren’t going to back down easily. Despite the extremely dirty looks we were getting, it didn’t seem like they were going to attack us with their claws (yet), so we settled into our spot about two feet from the stage and waited impatiently for what seemed an eternity. Then the boys came out in typical Cribs fashion, clothes on the verge of falling off and already slopping beer all over themselves. They started off
with “Don’t You Want To Be Relevant?”. This made me remember that I totally love the way Ryan Jarman does his vocals. I mean God knows I can’t decipher the words spewing out of his mouth, but he sings like a fan singing along with his favorite band, and that is something I just can’t get enough of. At the beginning of the next song “Our Bovine Public” someone threw a cup of beer from behind me and most of it landed on my head. That was the cue for things to take a turn for the crazier. First of all, the girl (who already had it in for me) had clearly never attended a real concert before. She seemed to think that there was an invisible force field around her that prevented her from having to bump shoulders with people. When the crowd heaved forward, which we all know is a common occurrence at concerts, she must have though it was me who was putting all of that force onto her back, which caused her repeatedly elbow me in the stomach. Which made me purposely ram into her from
behind, which resulted in her kicking me in the shins. Which made me feel like I was in fourth grade. But these trivial matters could not distract me from the epic figure of Ryan Jarman right in front of my eyes. He was wearing a tattered striped t-shirt and skinny jeans with no shoes on. Perhaps he didn’t wear shoes so the people in the front could see that his toenails were painted a lovely red hue. Reason #243 I love The Cribs. The show continued on at a manic pace, with Ryan and Gary slurring things that didn’t sound like English before launching into song after song. People were crowd surfing like crazy and one guy even made it up on stage. This might have been the craziest show crowd-wise that I’ve ever been to. Everyone was just screaming along to every wah-oh-oh like they were going to die tomorrow, and elbows and arms were flying with reckless abandon. They played my favorite song Mirror Kissers from their sophomore album The New Fellas which made my heart burst with
joy. I thought my vocal chords were going to rip I was screaming so loud. Near the end of the set, Ryan jumped into the crowd and his leg landed on my hand. Somehow the force of the crowd pulled me over onto the ground and I was certain I was going to die from be trampled by hipsters. Who are heavier than they look. But then good Samaritan #2 of the night threw his body over me and said that he was saving me. Which was a good thing. Because I didn’t want to die. After that fiasco, I resumed my fist pumping dance extravaganza. At the end of "Ancient History", Ryan started grating is guitar on the amp just like I remember him doing when I saw him two years ago. And something about seeing him do that again caused some kind of cosmic resonance that made my spirit tremble with epic-ness. As if this weren’t enough, fucking LEE RENALDO from Sonic Youth gets onstage to perform his featured part on “Be Safe” from The Cribs’ latest album. And just like that it was over. No encore, no
nothing. But that couldn’t damper our exhilarated spirits as we made our way over to the Annex for the after party where we proceeded to dance and DJ the night away. Sometimes I love my life. This was one of those nights.

Again I was having camera problems. Namely, I didn’t have one. So I had to use my phone. Here is a bad picture of Ryan:



And a good picture of the setlist:

SASQUATCH MUSIC FESTIVAL!

omgzzz. OK. I have a very nasty confession to make. I have never been to a music festival. Not Coachella, not Bonnaroo, not SXSW, and certainly not Glastonbury or Carling Weekend. Why? well, they answer lies in the fact that 1. I didnt get into music till I was about 15. and 2. Because I'm never in close proximity to these places or have the funds to get there! Well this memorial day weekend is going to change all that.

I'm going to Sasquatch Music Festival in Valley Gorge Washington with my favorite groupie mate Caitlin from high school. Now I know it's not Coachella or Bonnaroo....ITS BETTER. No ridiculous headliners at this one. R.E.M., The Cure, Flaming Lips, M.I.A., Yeasayer, The Hives, FLIGHT OF THE FUCKING CONCHORDS (ommgzzzz i almost connipted when I heard that), and many more. And the best part is that it takes place in this beautiful gorge (aka not in the middle of a desert *cough coachella*). Looky!



SO ANYWAYS, I'm really stoked for this and if you are anywhere in the area I suggest buying your tix now bc this is when they are the cheapest! Check out all the info and the rest of the amazing lineup HERE

COME TO THE ANNEX TOMORROW!!!!

THIER DIABOLIC SCHEME: THE HIVES @ TERMINAL 5

So Sarah couldn't make it to the Hives concert she had to review for this new music blog Almack's Dance Hall , so she asked me if I could fill in for her. Of course I said yes! Go check out the site for more great gig reviews!

As I made my way through the soggy mess of rain to meet my friend and gig-mate Paul Adams I wondered if I had somehow wandered through some kind of time-space continuum and was transported back to 2002 when I was a mere middle schooler and The Hives and opening act The Donnas were one of the many hyped "The" bands of the beginning of the millennium. However as I made my way into the balcony area (having already missed The Donnas and with 5 minute to spare until The Hives took the stage) I saw a sea of excited audience member of all ages. Mostly teens and twenty-somethings, but there were quite a few giddy moms and dads in the audience as well.

On a side note, I also realized that I probably hated Terminal 5 more than any other venue I can possibly imagine. This redheaded stepchild of the Bowery Presents venues is just awful in every respect. The sound up in the balcony blows and there is basically only room for like 20 people to see while the rest of us poor sods either stand on our tip-toes and crane our necks or feel like total tools staring at the little flat screen TVs. And when I had FINALLY strategically positioned myself between these two mens' shoulders, some chick looking like she owned the place comes right in front of me and starts talking to them! The men I mean, not the shoulders. I gave her my meanest ice queen "oh no you di-int" look, but to no avail. She looked back at me a couple times but never moved. I later found out that this girl was the lead singer of The Donnas. I don't regret giving her bad looks.

ANYWAYS. Ok, so now I've moved positions to where I have a decent view of the stage and can actually start listening properly to the songs. Its the end of the second song, "Try It Again" and with that Howlin' Pelle Almqvist begins his antics with the audience. Simultaneously acting like your older sister's cool boyfriend who you are secretly in love with and a slightly insane ringleader of a monochrome circus, he toys with the audiences emotions until he has them totally mesmerized. One minute he strokes their ego telling them, in his ever so adorably lilting Swedish accent how much he "loooooves playing in New York City" and the next he is yelling at them "Shut up, shut up! No request". Regardless of the words spouting from his god-like visage, the audience hungrily takes in every word. By the opening chords of the third song, "Main Offender", the crowd would clearly jump off a cliff if Pelle told them to.

At or around this point I somehow was handed a backstage pass by Rachel, the assistant to the Hives booking agent and the person who got us on the guest list, and was led to this other balcony area which was much more spacious located right above the stage . This was a perfect vantage point because I could see the bands interaction with each other and the reaction of the crowd at the same time. The look on people's faces, especially near the front, were just rapturous. By the time The Hives broke out hit "Tick Tick Boom" the audience was just heaving towards the stage. Kids were crowd surfing like maniacs, and the security was constantly pulling kids over the barriers. Pelle and Cruel-Intentions-era Ryan Phillipe lookalike guitarist Nicholaus Arson couldn't help but join in the fun as well, entering the crowd several times and getting touched in every place possible, as though fans hoped a little Hives charisma would rub off on them. During "Diabolic Scheme" I started to wonder for a moment if The Hives had some kind of ulterior motive for world domination or something. I settled on the fact that it was probably just crowd domination when Pelle crowed out "From greatness to greatness is where I span, you have me for a moment, grab on while you can". And grab on they did.

After the last note rang out after the encore that included super-hit "Hate to Say I Told You So" and ended with "Return the Favour", I was a converted fan. The showmanship of the whole band but especially Pelle was just impeccable. They could not have said or done anything better. If the venue hadn't been so horrendous and if I had been down in the pit instead of up in the balcony I probably would have considered it one of my top gigs ever.

We (Rachel, Paul, and I) decided it would be faster if we just left through the back, which included the dressing room area. As we were trying to find a way out, we found Mr. Arson peeling off his sweaty garments and refusing to accept our praise of his especially energetic performance saying he "thought the gig was going to be terrible at first, but then it turned out pretty good". We couldn't tell from where we were standing. Then we continued down the corridor where we saw Pelle talking to someone about something he did to his leg onstage. And let me tell you ladies, up close that boy is rather dashing. After walking outside for about two seconds and deciding that the cab situation would take awhile to die down, we returned to the dressing room area, where there was a shirtless Pelle (ooer) and shirtless guitarist Vigilante Carlstroem (not so much ooer....). We waited around for awhile, until we thought it was safe to run out into the rain. When we finally collapsed into our hard earned cab, Rachel sighed and said, "You know, these are the nights when I realize my job really doesn't suck at all". Smiling to myself, I thought I couldn't agree more.

Here are some pics. Sorry my camera is total crap. I stole it from my little sister while I was at home for Christmas.

JOY DIVISION + MELISSA ETHERIDGE = ME NO LIKEY

Ok, so I'm sitting in Gizzi's coffee shop, blasting Joy Division's Atmosphere aka the song I want to be played at my funeral aka one of the most beautiful songs ever. You know, "Don't walk awaaaaaay, in siiiiilence".

Anyways, so I'm surfing the net and I don't remember what site I was on, but suddenly, I hear this horrible abrasive screeching noise. And I take my headphones off thinking some wench has had a mental breakdown or something inside the coffee shop. But sadly no. I realize its coming from dumb AD for Melissa Etheridge's new album.

I guess its supposed to be some kind of advertising tactic to get people to buy this sad excuse for a song. But when it obtrusively interrupts my listening to the gospel of Ian Curtis, I can do nothing but wish horrible sales upon it, no matter what the repercussions are on the music industry.

Somehow this was a relevant statement.