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Helado Negro Makes It Look Easy at Webster Hall
Helado Negro – Webster Hall – April 24, 2024
At some point in nearly every song he played on Wednesday night before a packed Webster Hall, Roberto Carlos Lange — best known as Helado Negro — would dance. Sometimes it was a little shimmy in front of the microphone stand while still singing, other times, a full move to the front of the stage, and in all cases fully capturing the sultry groove of the music while still looking relaxed and cool. Easier said than done, but that was the energy in the club from the get-go, Helado Negro keeping the crowd both chill and moving and making it look easy all the while.
The set opened with “Colores Del Mar,” the first of many selections off his brand-new release, Phasor, the backing band of Jason Nazary on drums and Andy Stack on bass and guitar creating a lush soundscape with complex rhythms, setting the tone for an understated, joyful midweek dance party. After the syncopated groove of “I Just Want to Wake Up with You,” Lange mixed in some of his older material, much to the crowd’s delight. “Gemini and Leo,” was a fantasy of electro-groove under hot pink and purple lights, lush hypnotic vocals that urged the audience to sing along. It’s tough to get a crowded room to sing along and keep it hushed and soft, but, once more, he made it look easy.
Sonically, Nazary and Stack were as much of a focus as Lange’s soft-step melodies, dreamlike twinkles of guitar on “Hometown Dream,” intricate cowbell-driven drum patterns on “Echo Tricks Me,” wide undulating bass on “Out There.” It’s not easy to build momentum in a set while making the music softer and quieter, but again, they made it look easy, the set expertly drawing to a whisper from the flaky-layered musical pastry of “Best for You and Me” to the Bowie-esque croon of “Wish You Could Be Here,” and finally finishing with the on-tippy-toes dreamlike “Esa Una Fantasia.” And even as it ended at its quietest, the audience was at their energy peak, chanting wildly for an encore, Lange obliging with four more songs, going singer-songwriter with his own guitar on “Sabane de Luz” and “Pais Nublado,” the crowd singing along, light and lovely, in Spanish, before drawing things to a close with “We Don’t Have Time for That.” Easy does it. —A. Stein | @Neddyo
(Helado Negro plays The Sinclair in Cambridge, Mass., tomorrow.)
(Helado Negro plays Underground Arts in Philly on Sunday.)
Photos courtesy of Savannah Lauren | @savannahlaurenphoto
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Girl in Red – Radio City Music Hall – April 24, 2024
Norwegian singer-songwriter girl in red began posting music online when she was just a teen — and people quickly took notice. After putting out a pair of well-received EPs, her debut LP, the bedroom-pop-filled If I Could Make It Go Quiet, came out in 2021.
Last year she was one of the openers on Taylor Swift’s massive tour, and a couple weeks ago, girl in red dropped her second studio album, I’m Doing It Again Baby, again receiving glowing reviews.
On Wednesday, just three nights into the North American tour in support of the new album, girl in red was happily greeted by a packed Radio City Music Hall.
Photos courtesy of Ellen Qbertplaya | @qbertplaya
#Bowery Presents#Ellen Qbertplaya#Girl in Red#If I Could Make It Go Quiet#I’m Doing It Again Baby#Live Music#Midtown#Marie Ulven#Music#New York City#Photos#Radio City Music Hall#Taylor Swift
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Yola Brings New Music to Racket on Friday Night
Yola – Racket – April 19, 2024
With an EP, My Way, on the way, Yola — born in Bristol, England, based in Nashville, Tenn. — headed out on a short tour of smaller rooms to preview the new music in an intimate setting, which brought her to Racket on Friday. (Meanwhile, my show-going has drastically decreased since March 2020, and somewhere along the way I realized I’d become a pandemic centaur: half man, half couch. It’s not that I’m afraid to go out, it’s just that I’ve grown very comfortable (pronounced: lazy) seated at home. But since Friday was Yola’s second night at Racket and the last night of her tour, I got up and walked over to the Meatpacking District.)
I already knew that Yola is a fantastic songwriter and a powerhouse singer, but when it comes to her guitar playing, well, I’m like that Shaq apology meme. She can rip it. Backed by a gifted four-piece (guitar, bass, keys and drums), she took the stage armed with a guitar and launched into “Barely Alive.” “Starlight” followed, Yola crooning, “Wanna feel goooooood” resonating across the room. Without the guitar, she danced joyfully during “Dancing Away in Tears,” which seamlessly segued into “Now You’re Here,” the fourth song off her sophomore LP, Stand for Myself.
It turns out that Yola is also a great host, the kind who introduces you to the new friends you haven’t yet met at a party. “How you dooooooooing?” she greeted the enthusiastic crowd. “Every time I play you a new song, I’m gonna tell you about it.” And that’s exactly what she did for the next hour-plus: She sang, she danced, she vibed, she entertained, she was wildly funny.
Yola introduced new song “Temporary” by mentioning that “fuckboys are the genre of person who have a very specific use.” She offered, “This next one is about an epiphany I had when I was dating. You go and meet someone and sit down and one minute, two minutes, three minutes … and you realize you’ve met a future enemy, a sleeper-cell nemesis” before the aptly titled “Future Enemies.”
They went back-and-forth between old and new (in a departure from her first two LPs filled with R&B-fueled soulful Americana with bits of gospel and rock in the mix, the new leans more toward synth-pop and progressive R&B) and after a short encore break, Yola and Co. returned to play covers of Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love,” Yarbrough and Peoples’ “Don’t Stop the Music” and Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” — the dancing crowd handling the “Oh, no, let’s go” duties — before ending with one last new song, the joyous “Ready.”
“Goodnight, I’m Yola. Take care,” she said, blowing kisses to the crowd, leaving everyone smiling — and reminding us that life is best lived off the couch. —R. Zizmor | @hand_dog
Photos courtesy of Toby Tenenbaum | @tobytenenbaum
#Anita Baker#Bowery Presents#Highwomen#Live Music#Meatpacking District#Music#My Way#New York City#Photos#Prince#R. Zizmor#Review#Sister Rosetta Tharpe#Stand for Myself#Toby Tenenbaum#Walk Through the Fire#Yarbrough and Peoples#Yola
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Cypress Hill – Brooklyn Steel – April 19, 2024
On just the second night of their We Legalized It Tour, beloved Southern California hip-hop group Cypress Hill cut loose at a very enthusiastic, sold-out Brooklyn Steel on Saturday night.
Photos courtesy of Adela Loconte | www.adelaloconte.com
#Adela Loconte#B-Real#Bowery Presents#Brooklyn#Brooklyn Steel#Cypress Hill#DJ Muggs#Eric Bobo#Live Music#Music#New York City#Photos#Sen Dog#Williamsburg#4/20
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Real Estate Bring New Music Home to a Sold-Out Webster Hall
Real Estate – Webster Hall – April 18, 2024
New Jersey natives Martin Courtney and Alex Bleeker have been producing upbeat, jangly melodies as Real Estate for more than a decade. Known for their breezy lamentations on suburbia, the band contributed original songs for the 2019 rom-com Plus One starring Jack Quaid and Maya Erskine. Their latest release, Daniel, continues their canon of cheery tunes with a country tinge, as it was recorded at the famed RCA Studio A in Nashville, Tenn. The suburban ennui transfers to a perfect soundtrack for a cross-country road trip.
Longtime fans were delighted to have their local boys back as the quintet hit a sold-out Webster Hall on Thursday night for a homecoming show, playing largely from the recent record. They opened with its lead track, “Somebody New.” Real Estate played older favorites “Green Aisles” and “Saturday” early but newer songs from Daniel garnered equal applause. There’s a playfulness that adds to the band’s charm, like the life-size Danny Devito cutout manning the merch booth and their cheeky way of honoring famous Daniels. (Before putting out Daniel, they had been highlighting famous Daniels beginning in December with Daniel Radcliffe and this month with Anthony Daniels.)
Adding to the whimsy, Bleeker requested the disco ball be activated for “Haunted World,” and despite a delayed start, it cast a glitter across the room. Admittedly a New Jersey band, Courtney confirmed that “Talking Backwards” was their only song recorded in Manhattan and hoped to record more in the future. The set sped along quickly as everyone was having a great time and soon “Darling” was declared the last song. But it wasn’t a surprise when Real Estate returned for an encore with Bleeker’s throbbing basslines on “Friday” and his lead vocals on “Victoria.” They capped off the show with fan-favorite “It's Real,” ushering folks into the late night with an extra bounce in their step. —Sharlene Chiu | @Shar0ck
Photos courtesy of Savannah Lauren | @savannahlaurenphoto
#Alex Bleeker#Anthony Daniels#Daniel Radcliffe#East Village#Jack Quaid#Julian Lynch#Live Music#Martin Courtney#Matt Kallman#Maya Erskine#Music#New York City#Photos#Plus One#RCA Studio One#Real Estate#Review#Sammi Niss#Savannah Lauren#Sharlene Chiu#Webster Hall
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Allah-Las Leave Them Wanting More at Webster Hall on Wednesday Night
Alla-Las – Webster Hall – April 17, 2024
In this age of lasers, massive LED screens, backing tracks and effect-laden synthesizers, a no-frills concert can feel like the bolder statement. Playing a packed Webster Hall on a rainy Wednesday night, Los Angeles rockers Allah-Las were decidedly no frills, lo-fi and all the better for it. The band lead off with “The Stuff,” the opening track off last year’s Zuma 85 release, almost purely rhythm with a steady drumbeat, the jangliest of guitars and understated monotone vocals. A pair of small screens bracketed the stage with analog slide projectors displaying simple abstract shapes, few frills, plenty of rock with a short surf-guitar solo to end the first tune.
From there, they bounced around their catalog, short-but-sweet garage rock evoking a bygone era when a pair of guitars, drums, bass and keys — and a headlong spirit — would suffice to get a club moving. “Tell Me (What’s on Your Mind)” opened with an extended noodling instrumental before dropping into a straight-heat love song. As the set went on, the projections took on more colors and shapes matching an evolving sound: Warm orange for the vocal harmonies, crisp blue for the tight changes, abstract squiggles of guitar and splotches of bass and drums.
Lead vocals were passed around from guitarists Miles Michaud and Matthew Correia to drummer Pedrum Siadatianon the dreamy psychedelia of “Prazer em Te Conhecer” off 2019’s LAHS release. Like any good rock band playing Webster Hall, Allah-Las made excellent use of the disco ball, adding an otherworldly feel to the surfy desert blues of “Sacred Sands” and a sun-dappled effect to the layered, lazy melodies of “Catalina.” The set closed with a cover of Mazzy Star’s “Blue Flower,” the lyrics “Superstar in your own private movie / I just wanted a minor part” perfectly nestling between the band’s irresistible low-key vibe and the large, cheering crowd calling for more. —A. Stein | @Neddyo
(Allah-Las play Underground Arts in Philadelphia tomorrow.)
Photos courtesy of Adela Loconte | www.adelaloconte.com
#Aaron Stein#Adela Loconte#Allah-Las#East Village#Mazzy Star#LAHS#Live Music#Matthew Correia#Miles Michaud#Music#New York City#Pedrum Siadatian#Philadelphia#Photos#Review#Spencer Dunham#Underground Arts#Zuma 85
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Sir Chloe – Music Hall of Williamsburg – April 13, 2024
After putting out a host of singles, Sir Chloe’s highly anticipated debut full-length, I Am the Dog, arrived last May, earning plaudits from fans and critics alike: “Along with a twangy, soft-loud art-punk sound that evokes the influence of ’90s icons like the Pixies and Hole,” raves AllMusic, “Sir Chloe have a knack for crafting sharp-tongued anthems that are often built around the struggle between the ego and the id, or more specifically, the human and the animal.” On Saturday at a sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg, the Vermont five-piece kicked off a two-night run.
(Sir Chloe play The Sinclair in Cambridge, Mass., on Wednesday.)
(Sir Chloe play Fête Music Hall’s Ballroom in Providence, R.I., on 5/29.)
(Sir Chloe play Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park, N.J., on 6/2.)
Photos courtesy of Adela Loconte | www.adelaloconte.com
#Adela Loconte#Asbury Park#Austin Holmes#Bowery Presents#Dana Foote#Emma Welch#Fête Music Hall#Hole#I Am the Dog#Live Music#Music#Music Hall of Williamsburg#New Jersey#New York City#Palmer Foote#Photos#Pixies#Providence#Rhode Island#Sir Chloe#Teddy O’Mara#Williamsburg
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INIKO – Webster Hall – April 13, 2024
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist INIKO was back in NYC on Saturday night for a hometown headlining show at Webster Hall.
Photos courtesy of DeShaun Craddock | dac.photography
#Bowery Presents#DeShaun Craddock#East Village#INIKO#Live Music#Music#New York City#Photos#Webster Hall
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Mariah the Scientist – Terminal 5 – April 13, 2024
More than halfway into the North American tour in support of her third long-player, last fall’s To Be Eaten Alive, rising R&B star Mariah the Scientist had everyone at a sold-out Terminal 5 eating out of her hand on Saturday night.
(Mariah the Scientist plays Rams Head Live! in Baltimore tonight.)
(Mariah the Scientist plays The National in Richmond, Va., tomorrow.)
(Mariah the Scientist plays The NorVa in Norfolk, Va., on Wednesday.)
Photos courtesy of Toby Tenenbaum | @TobyTenenbaum
#Baltimore#Bowery Presents#Live Music#Mariah the Scientist#Music#National#New York City#NorVa#Photos#Rams Head Live!#Terminal 5#To Be Eaten Alive#Toby Tenenbaum#Virginia#Webster Hall
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Connor Price – Webster Hall – April 11, 2024
He got his start in the entertainment world as a child actor, appearing in a slew of movies and TV shows, but Toronto native Connor Price — inspired by Donald Glover — has been doing his own thing as a rapper for more than five years now, especially finding time to devote to it during the pandemic.
Making his way across North America, out on his first-ever headlining tour, he sold out Webster Hall on Thursday night.
Photos courtesy of Ken Grand-Pierre | www.kenamiphoto.com
#Bowery Presents#Connor Price#Donald Glover#East Village#Ken Grand-Pierre#Live Music#Music#New York City#Photos#Webster Hall
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CMAT – Music Hall of Williamsburg – April 9, 2024
Influenced by the likes of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and Katy Perry, Dublin singer-songwriter CMAT crafts cheerful pop earworms.
On her second studio full-length, last October’s Crazymad, for Me, “The imaginative complexities required for a concept album often take a while to gestate, usually coming further down the line in an artist’s career. Not for CMAT,” raves The Line of Best Fit. “She’s an artist who has hit a creative purple patch on album number two; imagining, and delivering, a story worthy of its creator’s prowess.”
With just a pair of dates remaining on her current tour, CMAT headlined a sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg on Tuesday night.
Photos courtesy of Katie Dadarria | @dadarria
#Bowery Presents#Brooklyn#Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson#CMAT#Crazymad for Me#Dolly Parton#Katie Dadarria#Katy Perry#Johnny Cash#Live Music#Music#Music Hall of Williamsburg#New York City#Photos#Williamsburg
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Ahead of Album Release L’Impératrice Bring New Music to Sold-Out Racket
L’Impératrice – Racket – April 9, 2024
L’Impératrice are one of those bands that feel like a secret. I imagine there were some people looking around the very sold-out Racket on a Tuesday night wondering how everyone else was also in on it, but once the music started, there was clearly no way to contain the word on the French indie-disco band. In fact, this was the first of two sold-out shows in NYC this week, with two more dates at the much bigger Terminal 5 in September, one of which is already sold out.
The band took the stage promptly at 9: six members on guitar, bass, drums, a pair of keyboards, all fronted by lead singer Flore Benguigui, all wearing light-up medallions flashing to the music as they dropped into “Cosmogonie.” It would be one of several songs featured on their upcoming LP, Pulsar, due out in June, the first of many crowd-quaking beat drops almost immediate, Benguigui’s French vocals echoing as she did an old-school robot dance to the pulsing rhythms and throwback synthesizers from bandleader Charles de Boisseguin.
Other tracks off the new album included singles “Me Da Igual,” with its dreamlike groove, and the just-released “Danza Marilù,” featuring some melodic twists and a grandiose bridge. “Peur des filles” (translation: afraid of girls), off their 2021 album, Tako Tsubo, was a cross between Funkadelic and Madonna with threatening pink strobes and a dark funk.
“Heartquake,” a standalone single from 2023, showed the range of their sound with nifty tempo changes leading to a driving rhythmic close. In the crowd it was just a continuous dance party, most songs flowing one into another, in particular, a slick exchange from “Voodoo?” — with Benguigui repeating the English lyric “Can I resist this?” — into “Submarine” without missing a beat. Before they knew it, it was the last dance, the set closing with another new song, “Sweet & Sublime,” complete with some low-end synth bombs that rattled the walls of the club and maybe beyond, the felt-by-all call of the worst kept secret in town. —A. Stein | @Neddyo
(L’Impérartrice play Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight.)
(L’Impérartrice play Union Transfer in Philadelphia on 9/6.)
(L’Impérartrice play Terminal 5 on 9/7.)
(L’Impérartrice play Terminal 5 on 9/8.)
Photos courtesy of Toby Tenenbaum | @TobyTenenbaum
#Aaron Stein#Achille Trocellier#Bowery Presents#Charles de Boisseguin#David Gaugué#Flore Benguigui#Funkdadlic#Hagni Gwon#L’Impératrice#Live Music#Madonna#Music#New York City#Photos#Pulsar#Tako Tsubo#Terminal 5#Tom Daveau#Union Transfer#Webster Hall
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Listen to our playlist as the soundtrack to your solar eclipse.
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The Magnetic Fields – The Town Hall – April 6, 2024
Twenty-five years ago, Stephin Merritt’s the Magnetic Fields put out the highly acclaimed triple album 69 Love Songs. The A.V. Club labeled it “impossibly daring, breathtakingly gorgeous.” In a rave review, Pitchfork wondered, “Is it a brilliant masterpiece or merely very, very good?”
AllMusic declared the LP, “Stephin Merritt’s most ambitious as well as most fully realized work to date, a three-disc epic of classically chiseled pop songs that explore both the promise and pitfalls of modern romance through the jaundiced eye of an irredeemable misanthrope.”
Celebrating the album’s silver anniversary, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Merritt has hit the road along with the band’s current lineup and some of the musicians who originally appeared on 69 Love Songs, performing it live — for the first time in nearly two decades — in full over the course of two nights, featuring singers and orchestral-pop arrangements.
(The Magnetic Fields play Town Hall again on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.)
Photos courtesy of Ellen Qbertplaya | @Qbertplaya
#69 Love Songs#Anthony Kaczynski#Bowery Presents#Chris Ewen#Claudia Gonson#Ellen Qbertplaya#John Woo#Live Music#Magnetic Fields#Music#New York City#Photos#Sam Davol#Shirley Simms#Stephin Merritt#Times Square#Town Hall
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San Fermin Bring New Album to Sold-Out Hometown Show at Racket
San Fermin – Racket – April 5, 2024
San Fermin is the summer festival celebrated in Pamplona, Spain, where the famed running of the bulls occurs. To name a band after such an event reveals much about their evolution, and for founder Ellis Ludwig-Leon, it was a catalyst to release what was thought to be a standalone project back in 2012. Allen Tate and Claire Wellin take turns sharing vocals, while trumpeter John Brandon, saxophonist Stephen Chen, drummer Griffin Brown and guitarist Tyler McDiarmid add to the collective sound that blends indie rock with chamber pop. On Friday night, the Brooklyn band trampled into a sold-out Racket with their new album, Arms.
As the Cranberries’ “Dreams” played over the house speakers, the collective began the set with the lead single, “Weird Environment.” Ludwig-Leon cheerfully remarked, “It’s great to be home,” before Tate crooned crowd-favorite “Emily.” Although Wellin played fiddle on the previous song, her vocals took center stage on the melancholic “My Love Is a Loneliness.” The juxtaposition of Tate's rich baritone and Wellin’s lilting delivery anchored the show through sonic lows and highs, bringing delight to hometown fans, many of them shouting from the balconies. Prior to performing the title track, “Arms,” Ludwig-Leon shared that he’d gone through a difficult time making the album and that Tate was instrumental in guiding the process with sage advice — even on his honeymoon, a testament to their decades-long partnership.
Trumpeter Brandon and saxophonist Chen parted the floor as they descended into the crowd, blowing solos on oldie “Sonsick,” one of the night’s exuberant highlights. To preempt the thought of an encore, Tate mentioned learning on tour that “encores are like peekaboos for adults,” announced that they’d have a few more songs. Wellin sang, “You Owe Me,” the new LP’s last track, which delved into an unraveling relationship, like much of the material on Arms. Finally, the freewheeling “Jackrabbit” had everyone in the room on their feet jumping. It was a satisfying homecoming and the perfect end to the first leg of their tour. —Sharlene Chiu | @Shar0ck
Photo courtesy of Sharlene Chiu
#Allen Tate#Arms#Bowery Presents#Claire Wellin#Cranberries#Ellis Ludwig-Leon#Griffin Brown#John Brandon#Live Music#Meatpacking District#Music#New York City#Racket#San Fermin#Sharlene Chiu#Stephen Chen#Tyler McDiarmid
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Caroline Rose – Brooklyn Steel – April 5, 2024
Less than a week into the new tour for last year’s terrific The Art of Forgetting, smart, funny singer-songwriter (and New York native) Caroline Rose was back in Kings County on Friday night, getting the weekend started at Brooklyn Steel.
(Caroline Rose plays Union Transfer in Philadelphia on Friday.)
Photos courtesy of Ken Grand-Pierre | www.kenamiphoto.com
#Bowery Presents#Brooklyn#Brooklyn Steel#Caroline Rose#East Williamsburg#Greenpoint#Ken Grand-Pierre#Music#New York City#Philadelphia#Photos#The Art of Forgetting#Union Transfer#Williamsburg
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Destroyer – Music Hall of Williamsburg – April 5, 2024
He’s been a member of the beloved Canadian rock collective the New Pornographers, but singer-songwriter Dan Bejar launched what was initially a solo project, Destroyer, nearly 30 years ago, quickly earning comparisons to David Bowie in the process.
He’s since experimented with a variety of sounds, and on the 13th Destroyer album, Labyrinthitis, “a career peek,” per Pop Matters, which arrived about two years ago. It’s a record “that finds Bejar continuing to transition from being merely an admirable artist into one that’s approachable on a deeper level. As an entry into Destroyer, Labyrinthitis succeeds in a plethora of ways, but where it works the most is in transforming a notoriously prickly artist into one with the unforeseen capacity to retract his spikes. Hard to stand out as a destroyer, it appears, if everything’s already on the cusp of destruction.”
Halfway into a solo North American tour, accompanied by producer and guitarist and frequent collaborator David Carswell, Bejar headlined a sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday night.
Photos courtesy of Ellen Qbertplaya | @Qbertplaya
#Bowery Presents#Brooklyn#Dan Bejar#David Bowie#David Carswell#Destroyer#Ellen Qbertplaya#Labyrinthitis#Live Music#Music#Music Hall of Williamsburg#New Pornographers#New York City#Photos#Williamsburg
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