The Best Shows This Weekend! - Oh My Rockness

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The Best Shows This Weekend!

May 13, 2013

Written by Patrick McNamara

Welcome back to the Best Shows This Week! Before we get started, I want to apologize that these subjective show selections are never in slideshow form. I’m afraid that’s just a little too 2.0 for us. And that’s a shame. We know how much everyone likes to slide through things. Sliding is pretty much the most super smooth thing you can do. And it can also be a thrilling experience. Something super buzzy could be behind that next arrow! You. Just. Never. Know.

Also, working on another personal theory - sliding through things may even subconsciously remind us all of the fleeting innocence of our childhood. Exhibit A: Rosebud was a sled.* And what do sleds do? You betcha. Exhibit B: coming soon!

(*sorry for the spoiler alert - but that movie came out in 1939 - so that’s really on you at this point.)

Thursday - May 16th, 2013 A.D.

The Flaming Lips play The Wellmont Theatre tonight. And just like Sam Beam, when Wayne Coyne is on - he is ON. Now, I know this song below is “old” (omg what was 1999 even LIKE??? - like, did they even say things, like, omg back then???) but I also know this is one of the best written songs of the last, well, 14 years, it seems. “He hasn’t dropped them. Forgot them. Or anything. It’s just too heavy for Superman to lift.” Perfect.



Kurt Vile plays Bowery Ballroom tonight. You know something? With that chill dude, every day is a pretty daze. Even when that pretty daze is at night, man. Let’s hang at this show together. First White Russian is on me. And the first of anything is all you’ll ever need. Remember that, man.



SEE ALL OF OUR THURSDAY SHOW PICKS.

Friday - May 17th, 2013 A.D.

Anamanaguchi (that name feels so natural to spell - it’s like my fingers just know where to go on the keys - try it - you’ll see what I mean - assuming you learned how to type properly - two finger typers need not participate) and Pictureplane lead a fun one at Irving Plaza tonight. It’ll be an 8-bit sock hop for the kind and colorfully inclined.



Yeah Yeah Yeahs play the Googa Mooga kick-off show in Prospect Park (before anyone did anything Fredrick Law Olmsted did everyhing). Never heard of them them them.



By the way, you can find the complete three-day Googa Mooga line-up here (my personal passion is linking things).

!!! is pretty much the best three punctuation mark band of all time (;;; were just a little ahead of their time - but you know what they say - the pioneers always get PWND). See !!! play Bowery Ballroom tonight with Sinkane. He’s super smooth too. Anyway, here’s another “oldie” (omg what was 2003 even like and who the hell is Guiliani???) but a goodie.



SEE ALL OF OUR FRIDAY SHOW PICKS.

Saturday - May 18th, 2013 A.D.

This is happening at Bowery Ballroom tonight. I’m not joking. And anyway, I would never, ever, ever use this space to joke around about something as serious as live music.



Now I’m all worked up. But gotta stay focused for the home stretch here. The Feelies play The Bell House. A band since 1976 and still going strong. Now THAT is something wild.



Liars play at a place called the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And while I’m not familiar with this venue, if the Liars vouch for it, it must be OK. One thing about Liars - they’re straight-shooters all the way. Keeping it honest since 2000. (Liars are also playing tomorrow night at (le) poisson rouge which I think is some club in France or something - hope they make it in time!)



SEE ALL OF OUR SATURDAY SHOW PICKS.

Sunday - May 19th, 2013 A.D.

Legendary composers Philip Glass and Van Dyke Parks play Music Hall of Williamsburg. And Real Estate will open with a short acoustic set. So that’s....random. Play the video below and immediately morph into an Errol Morris film. Just a second ago I thought I was at my wobbly, broken-down desk staring into the abyss of the blank page. But now suddenly I find myself on the outside of the cosmos looking in. And everything is so pretty. And so small. And so....connected. Whoa.



I think things are getting too trippy here. Too, too trippy. Maybe we should end this week with something that’ll bring us all back down to earth. Where it’s safe. And we can all firmly plant our sneakers in the soil and know exactly where we stand.

Hey, how about Broken Water at Death by Audio tonight? All that Olympia crew does is play extended and swirling slow psych freak outs that go trip...trip...trippy. Uh oh. Here come the clouds again, man! And there goes Mars! Oh well. We tried to stay grounded. But when you gotta fly, you gotta fly.



SEE ALL OF OUR SUNDAY SHOW PICKS.

That's it. That's the rundown. That's the rub. Thanks for reading. And again, sorry about the lack of the slideshow. As you were scrolling through this article squealing with delight, we had an honest sit-down with our site. We both got real and we both left the meeting feeling that a slideshow was just a few key benchmarks away.

But first....listicles. We must get into the listicles scene.

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