Beck @ the Hammerstein Night 1

Beck played the Hammerstein Ballroom last night to a sold out crowd and absolutely destroyed the place. This show was far better than his performance at Across the Narrows. The set list was a mix of old and new material and few covers. What impresses me the most about this tour is how beck has integrated all of his styles and brought a higher level of performance to his live show. It is as if he has added even more theatric than previous tours. One of the best parts for me is the dinner table segment. During this time the band takes on a kind "Stomp" performance while Beck plays acoustic guitar. This part of show just continues to impress me. Specifically the songs he has chosen to perform acoustically. These songs include "lonesome Tears" on the theremin, Debra which won over the audience completely, Golden Age and Clap your hands which may be my favorite song of the show. It was great to hear old song like "Pay no Mind" and "he’s a mighty Good Leader". However the fact that no songs from "mutations" were played was kind of disappointing. I will have a longer review of tomorrow show on Saturday but for now here are some photos of Thursday’s performance.





See More photo of Beck here

Across the Narrows: Day 2

I didn’t expect much from the second day of "Across the Narrows". By this point I figured that there wasn’t going to be any "special guest" and that the possibility of an even smaller crowd existed. Also since I knew that I would be seeing Beck two more time this week I wasn’t even that excited for his set. But I headed out early anyway because the weather was perfect and unlike most hipsters and indie rock kids that loathe the sun, I enjoy spending time outside. Most hipster and indie rock kid tend to melt in the sun’s warming glow. The crowd was again very small when I reached Keyspan Park and hipster were already begin to wilt and melt but that didn’t stop me from getting to the music.
The first band I caught was Gang Gang Dance. They play sort dark syn pop that is better suited you dark smoky nightclubs or warehouse shows. So there set didn’t go over that well with the cross-armed I think too much about music crowd that was there. The sun continued to shine very bright on this beautiful day as sexy pop rock band the Dragonette took the stage. After their first song their very attractive lead singer announces, "Who do I have to fuck to get those people (people in the bleachers) to come down here". I yelled back "me". To which she seemed to ignore me and shrug me off by saying, "If you get them done here we will see". I wish this review were now going to go in a sort of "Dear Playboy" direction but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the people in the bleachers to join the rest of the crowd. Dragonette were mostly just kind of amusing their music was just o.k. Yes it music that would be very easy to dance to but it wasn’t very inspiring and the band's best assets are the lead singer looks and wit.
Listen to Dragonette MP3s:
I Get Around
Shock Box


The Raveonettes were the third band in a row to have a female lead singer and they were by far the best. I have seen them a few times before and I knew that they always put on a good show and again they didn’t disappoint. They paid a very short set of hardcore garage rock and roll. Even though their set was very short they managed to time slip in a cover the 50’s classic "My Boyfriends Back". For some unknown reason their set was cut short by one song. They even kind of taunted the audience by saying that they had planned to play a "really awesome song".



Is that Wayne Coyne dressed up like he is in some type of cult? No, it is just the lead singer of The Polyphonic Spree. The Polyphonic Spree is a sort weird mixture between the Flaming Lips, The Arcade Fire and some sort of weird cult. At any given time during their performance they have close 20 people on stage dressed in full body robes. Their lineup includes an entire chorus of singers, multiple guitar players and drummers, and very friendly lead singer. Polyphonic Spree definitely won over the audience with their happy go lucky songs. And as night drew closer that helped the audiences say good-bye to the sun. They also played some new material from the soundtrack to the movie "Thumb sucker".


When I mentioned to my girlfriend that Belle and Sebastian were playing "Across the Narrows" she flipped out. She proceed to tell me all about how she used to listen to them all the time and that they were one of the few bands left on her list of bands to see live. So I was excited that she showed so much interest. I think I kind of understand why. To back her up there must have been a couple thousand other girls there that had similar experiences with the band because very girl range in age from teenager to adult was singing along to such songs as "I am a Cuckoo", "If you find yourself caught in Love". At the beginning to show the lead singer mocked Yankees fans by wearing a Mets’ T-shirt. Also to recognize that they were in a baseball stadium they hit wiffle balls into the audience. They closed their set with "Judy and the dream of Horses"

When I first heard "Guero" I thought immediately that this was going to be a great album for Beck to tour behind. It was his return to party music but it was maintained his newer vocal style. But when an East Coast tour never developed I became a little disappointed. Beck has always been on of my favorite live acts. Over the past 11 years I have seen him 25 times and loved every show, and even though I will be seeing him two more time this week my expectations for yesterday’s show were very high. Beck's very short "secret" show at the Hiro Ballroom earlier this year only left me wanting more. So by the time Belle and Sebastian had ended I was ready for some of Beck's classic postmodern hip-hop rock.
The "Sea Changes" tour with The Flaimg Lips had been a monumental tour for Beck. He had broken up the classic lineup of his backing band and brought in the Lips to help turn his album about loss and broken hearts into a celebration. The music preformed on this tour was never better but for many reasons this tour didn’t go as well as planned. And Beck was again left without a back band for the second half of the "Sea Changes" tour. This new band lacked the celebration element of the Flaming Lips so it was no surprise to see an entirely different band on this tour. Beck’s new band is amazing each member brings so much to the party that Beck is having on stage. They all compliment the face melt licks that Beck has been laying down on lead guitar. Beck also brought along a few surprises for the audience but since many New Yorkers haven’t seen this show yet I will wait until after the Hammerstien show to fully review these shows. In my opinion Beck’s upcoming shows at the Hammerstien are not to be missed.

Across the Narrows: Day 1

Beautiful weather, great music, and small crowds equal a great festival. I was kind of nervous about how "Across the Narrows" would do but to my surprise it seemed to be a big success with the fans that attended. In the weeks leading up to this event I had heard that small ticket sales were threatening this event. I had a lot of fears, and thought of a repeat of the botched Field Day Festival from a couple of years ago or that they would combine the two locations. The idea that there were two separate locations for this festival seemed to be what most people complained about. It probably did spread the audience a little thin. Also most of the bands on this bill have played NYC at least once in the past year. For many Beck was the big draw but when he added to smaller shows later in the week it seemed to hurt ticket sales even more.
The first day saw great performances from two bands that have all ridden the wave of a reunion tour. But both were great. The bands I speak of are Gang of Four, and of course the most success reunion band The Pixies.
I decide to walk around Coney Island for a little while before I entered the venue another problem with this festival was that there was no reentry so a lot of people did not come early. I skipped Death From Above 1979 and Mando Diao to take one final walk around the famous Coney Island boardwalk. The boardwalk is set to be begin renovation this winter. I walked by the famed "Shoot the Freak" where a kid I had gone to high school with had worked while he was an out of work actor. He eventually used the job to get on NPR and in the NY times. I ate hot dogs at the original Nathan’s and then decided it was time to go into the venue.
I didn’t know much about Rilo Kiley except that my girlfriend always mentioned that their lead singer was in the movie "The Wizard". A movie I had won pre-screening tickets to when I was a child. Rilo Kiley’s music is a blend of modern garage, pop, and rock. It however heavily influenced by 1990’s alternative girl rock. I was a big fan of 90’s girl bands such as Veruca Salt, Hole, Matter Rose and I saw all of these bands in the 90’s so Rilo Kiley wasn’t anything new for me. However I did enjoy their music for nostalgic reasons. Some of their songs were quite good but I wasn’t able to totally get into vibe.

I hadn’t heard great things about Built to Spill’slive show but I enjoyed it a lot. They perform their song pretty much like the way they are on their albums but I felt like in concert they had more energy. For those that do no know Built to Spill, they have sort dark mysterious sound, not unlike the band Slint. Since I am not overly familiar with their songs the highlight for me came when they preformed the Beatles "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".


Gang of Four’s performance at Irving Plaza early this year was nothing short of amazing. They were by fart he band I was most interested in seeing on the first day. The group tore through an absolutely killer set of their pot funk punk songs. Andy Gill and Jon King as powerful a combo as Jagger and Richards. Andy’s guitar playing in so unique he will at time just throw his guitar on the ground and instead of in making some horrific sound the noise produced is amazing. Jon King continues to scare the audience with his wild dance moves and in unique sort performance art movement. Many people were both frighten and amazed when he started smacking a microwave with an aluminum baseball bat. Gangs of Four manage to squeeze as much energy into a set as possible. They were the perfect band to play before the Pixies.


I completely freaked out when the Pixies first announced their reunion tour. But know more than a year later and having seen them twice already I wasn’t nearly as excited as I had once been. The first time I saw them they were spot on. The band was great and the audience loved it. But then earlier this summer their show at Jones beach was very disappointing. It felt like the band was bored and had already lost interest in the idea of a reunion tour. I had even commented to one of my friends that I thought this would be the last time I would probably go see The Pixies unless the wrote some new songs. All I can say is I spoke too soon. The Pixies set on Saturday night was the best I have seen them play. They absolutely destroyed the crowed. Form the minute they started their hits filled set the crowd was rocking out. The Pixies didn’t let up all night. Frank’s voice has remained as perfect as it ever was and Kim still plays the catchiest baselines around. This set reminded me why I had waited so long for them to do a reunion tour why I had been so excite when I first got to see them a year ago.


See more pictures of all of the bands at Across the Narrows here .