Written by Patrick McNamara

This week starts in November and ends in December. That’s messed up. When you really think about it. Go ahead. Think about it. I’ll wait.

There you go. There’s that light bulb. November becomes December. Summer’s nostalgic memory becomes its mortal enemy. And it all happens again. Because we’re held captive on the carousel of time. And the painted ponies just go up….and down….up...and down. Yup. Messed up.

The Best Shows This Week come in like a lion. And leave like a polar bear. That doesn’t have anywhere to go. Because human beings destroyed her ice home. And eventually....the entire earth. On that note! Who’s rrrrrready! to talk about a highly niche llllllllllive mmmmmusic scene! Let me hear ya say “maybe!” MAYBEEEEE! Let me hear ya say, “I’ll give you a few more seconds of my time and if it doesn’t get any better or more dynamic than this I’m going to move on with the rest of my day!”

You don’t have to say that last part. You can just think it. And all these shouted commands remind me. Hey, bands? Stop telling us what to do all the time from the stage. “Move up!” “Dance!” “Stop tweeting!” “Let me hear the ladies on this side of the room take the second half of the first part of the third chorus!” “And the fellas on the other side of the room do the opposite!” “And then anyone who doesn’t a part sing the middle sections!” “And I’ll handle the rest, OK?” “Sing loudly for all to hear now!” Please stop the shouted band commands like that.

OK. NOW really is the time to talk about The Best Shows This Week. I don’t really know what all that meandering up above was. But hey, it’s not my fault we’re all on the carousel of time, man.

Monday - November 25th, 2013 A.D.

Sky Ferreira plays the first ever show at Rough Trade NYC tonight. This new store is in Williamsburg - an up-and-coming area of North Brooklyn. The NY Times told me about the nabe in a Sunday spread recently. I was intrigued and I’d love to learn more. It sounds like a really neat and quirky place.

Rough Trade have a lot of good shows coming up, actually. And I love linking to stuff. I also really love this Sky Ferriera song which I will post for you……… sourcing……. still sourcing……. NOW.

(PS: I think I led off last week’s Best Shows This Week with Sky Ferriera and this same video. You see? Carousel of time, man.)



David Byrne is doing “Here Lies Love: The Concert for the Philippines” at Terminal 5 tonight. Proceeds will go towards the relief effort after the devastation left by Super Typhoon Haiyan. I’m not a fan of Haiyan. I hate Haiyan. But I am a fan of love. I love love. And David Byrne. Consider going/giving to this. The entire cast of “Here Lies Love” will be performing (a musical based on David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s concept album about the life for former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos.)



Van Morrison plays the Theater at Madison Square Garden tonight (and tomorrow at the Beacon Theater). I’m going to now post my favorite Van Morrison song…. wait, let me find it….. sourcing…… sourcing…… OK, got it. Man. When I hear this song I just want to curl up in a ball and weep because everything is so beautiful and so sad, and so right… so true. Maybe I’ll do that right now. It’ll be a nice 9 minute break from writing this, anyway. And perhaps when it’s over and I’m ready to write about the good shows on Tuesday I’ll feel cleansed and that will make this original editorial feature all that much more dynamic. I weep. You win.



SEE ALL OF OUR MONDAY SHOW PICKS.

Tuesday - November 26th, 2013 A.D.

Whew. What an emotional rollercoaster those last 9 minutes were. About halfway into that beautiful Van Morrison song, my roommate came in - saw me curled in a ball on the floor weeping - and then just walked around me like I wasn’t even there.

I really like this new-ish (what does new even MEAN anymore, mannnn) band from Toronto called Alvvays - who play Glasslands tonight. I wrote complimentary words about them just the other day. Linking to stuff rules. And does this band. Alvvays play fuzzy indiepop with some of that sweet oh-so-sweet guitar jingle-jangle. I’m streaming their song as I type this sentence and my fingers are bouncing over the keys in merry delight. They just want to go, “dah dah dah dah dah bah bah bah bop bop bop.” So that’s what they just did. My fingers, that is. Because they’re happy. Because they’re currently listening to Alvvays. (i don’t know, guys - i’ll try harder.)



Cults + Sacco + Mood Rings play Webster Hall tonight. What’s your favorite cult? Mine would probably have to be The Millerites of the 1840s. The long and short of The Millerites is this - a gentleman named William Miller said he knew when the world was going to end and a bunch of peeps believed him. So they followed him around upstate New York holding tent revivals and, you know, waiting for the day. So the day comes and SPOILER ALERT nothing happened. The world was fine. But here’s what makes The Millerites interesting. William Miller was all like, “oh, did I say March 18th?” (i don’t know the actual day and I’m certainly not going to research - this is supposed to be about good upcoming shows after all.) And then Miller was like, “what I MEANT was June 12th.” (same thing about the date here). And not only did William NOT lose followers after taking a mulligan with that first date - he actually GAINED a ton more! Isn’t that interesting? Even after they were fooled once already? I tell you what. Human beings can be complicated peeps. (And then, of course, the second date came and went and nothing happened and no one cared about William Miller anymore.) Anyway, that’s my favorite cult. What’s yours?



The rest of tonight is a little light. Which is why I was able spend a few sentences talking about The Millerites. I wouldn’t do it if we had a ton to talk about tonight. With great power (he says to the 13 people who read this thing) - comes great responsibility.

SEE ALL OF OUR TUESDAY SHOW PICKS.

Wednesday - November 27th, 2013 A.D.

Ms. Lauryn Hill is out of prison and trying to pay back Mr. Tax Man. She’s playing two shows at Bowery Ballroom tonight and tickets are $100 each. Hey, if she can get ‘em in for that price, I say good for her. But man oh man she better play the hits. (a complimentary cut of prime steak - or a nice wild salmon for our pescatarian friends - for anyone who buys a $100 ticket to this might be a nice gesture too)



Joey Bada$$ and a bunch of his pals and acquaintances play Best Buy Theater tonight. And I’ll post one of his songs that’s an “oldie” (what was 2012 even LIKE?!) but still a goody. By the way, anyone remember Sam Goody record store? No? Sam Goody was the FYE before there was a FYE. And I don’t know why there was ever either a Sam Goody or a FYE. But they both are/were run by Trans World Entertainment. And so were all these defunct record stores: Record Land! Record Town! Disc Jockey! Coconuts! Camelot! CD World! Tape World! Strawberries!

Man. I can’t believe a record store named Strawberries didn’t make it. You know who probably had a hand in putting all of those stores out of business? Best Buy! As in the Theater Joey Bada$$ is playing tonight! You see. It all comes full circle…. on the carousel…. of time.



SEE ALL OF OUR WEDNESDAY SHOW PICKS.

Thursday - November 28th, 2013 A.D.

This is so bizarre. But I just did some intensive research on our site before writing this portion of this dynamic article (“A Muzik Blobber Prepares”) and would you believe that NOTHING is going on tonight? Zilch. Zip. Zero. Nada. What, did the great-great-great-great grandson of William Miller predict this night to be the end of the world or something? Is everyone at home cinchin’ up and hunkerin’ down and waiting for this end of the world thing to play out? Is there something someone isn’t telling me? WHY IS THURSDAY NOVEMBER 28TH 2013 SO QUIET OUT THERE?!?!?!?!?!



SEE ALL OF OUR THURSDAY SHOW PICKS.

Friday - November 29th, 2013 A.D.

I may not know what was up with yesterday. But I sure as hell know what’s up with today. It’s BLACK FRIDAY!!!!! And guess what?!?!?! I’m going to wake up at 3am on this day and save 100% by turning over and going back to sleep!!!!!!!!!

Stop stampeding peeps over Playstations and plasma televisions, friends. They’re all just a bunch of wires and knobs and tubes on the inside. Stay home. And spend today hugging yourself instead.

Jangle punk legends, Television, play Rough Trade tonight (and tomorrow too). I already mentioned Rough Trade. But get used to me talking about Rough Trade. Because, as previously mentioned, they have a lot of good shows coming up. And this reiteration was just an excuse to link to something again. I love linking. Seriously. Linking is the best. Here’s an old audio recording of Television when Richard Hell was still in the band. Hmmm. I wonder why he and Tom Verlaine couldn’t get along. They both seem like such chill laid-back easy-going “let’s just roll with it” type of guys.



I just wrote about Modern Baseball. Am I going to link to that profile I wrote on them? You betcha! They play good warbled pop punk. You should get into them. And I should mind my own business. But oh yeah, what I really meant to tell you is that Modern Baseball play Bowery Ballroom tonight with the similarly pop punk-y, The Menzingers. Here’s a fun activity for this show. Do a shot every time a waitress is mentioned in a Menzingers song. Just don’t do so if you’ve driven to the show.



A Place to Bury Strangers play a FREE (if I don’t caps lock it - you won’t take me seriously) show at Brooklyn Night Bazaar tonight. Which is funny. Because they’re really loud. And I imagine the scene being something like a frustrated potential buyer probably wearing a wacky cap of some sort going, “I SAID HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT FOR THE R2D2 BANK!!!!!” And the demurring cashier just points to his/her ears as if to say, “I’m sorry. I really want this sale. But I just can’t hear a word you’re saying.” And A Place to Bury Strangers see this all go down from the stage and they just laugh and laugh….. all the way to that R2D2 bank. That’s how I see this situation going down. How about you?



SEE ALL OF OUR FRIDAY SHOW PICKS.

Saturday - November 30th, 2013 A.D.

Hunters and Big Ups just played our CMJ show (“just, oh my suckness? just? that was a month and a half ago!! will you please shut-up about your stupid CMJ show?!?”). And it was a really great show. If you missed it, let me break down the whole evening for you. Don’t worry. I’ll start at the beginning. Chapter 1: Load-In. Wait. No. That’s moving too fast. Preface: Sourcing the Venue. But no again. Even before that. Dedication: this book about the Oh My Rockness CMJ show is warmly dedicated to Hunters and Big Ups and PUP and Greys and Ovlov and Kirin J Callinan and everyone out there who ever wanted to follow their dreams and link to anything and everything whenever forever.

By the way, Hunters and Big Ups play Glasslands tonight. With Audacity. Who had the audacity to not play our CMJ show.





Speaking of Rough Trade. Of which perhaps I’ve already said too much. But I can’t help it. They’re going all-in today (which in poker is either a really strong move or a move of total desperation, so saying “I’m all-in” isn’t always necessarily a positive statement - in this case it is though). Rough Trade has three (3) shows today/tonight. And two are FREE (whee). Marissa Nadler at 1pm. Phosphorescent at 3pm. And then I already told you about Television - they play at 8pm. Anyway, this has been a really good talk guys. I feel good about what we’ve accomplished informationally during this dynamic portion of this dynamic original editorial article.

Four good up-and-comers punks (well punk-ish - i guess i just mean they all play guitars at some point during their set) play Death by Audio tonight. Who are these four? Glad you asked! Now that’s what I call engagement! They are Netherlands + Wild Yaks + Low Fat Getting High + Grandfather. Here’s a trippy Wild Yaks beach video. And man, will summer ever even come again? It certainly doesn’t feel that way. Tomorrow is the start of December, after all. But summer will come back. I know it will. Because… for better or worse…. we’re all riding along on the carousel of……… that’s right you guessed it - i saw that light bulb…… on the carousel of time, man.



SEE ALL OF OUR SATURDAY SHOW PICKS.

Sunday - December 1st, 2013 A.D.

December 1st. Messed. Up.

Nicholas Nicholas play Silent Barn. I just wrote about Nicholas Nicholas. And yes, I will link to the band profile I wrote on Nicholas Nicholas for you. Because I will link to anything that moves out there. You’re going to like Nicholas Nicholas. Like Van Morrison (mentioned above - you can scroll on back if you want to get the ensuing reference - go ahead - I’ll wait) this music makes me want to ball up and weep tears of sadness and joy and beauty and general confusion. Unlike Van Morrison, this song isn’t 9 minutes long. So it won’t be as exhausting. But it IS called “You’re Too Pretty to be Sad.” So…. time to assume fetal position. Let the emotional cleansing begin.



Whew. That was a good cleanse. But wouldn’t you know it! My roommate came out just as I was getting to the euphoric climax of my cry - and my roommate just looked at me - turned around - went back into their room - and shut the door. We don’t really get each other.

SEE ALL OF OUR SUNDAY SHOW PICKS.

Those were The Best Shows This Week. Another week done. And like November. Poof. Gone. Like dust in the wind, dude. Messed up, indeed.

I’ll leave you in the hands of Joni. Which is basically what this whole thing was based on. And uh-oh, I just starting streaming her video down there and I feel another emotional cleanse coming on. Sigh. What I wouldn’t give to just be chill.

(If you listen to this song below - and you WILL listen - she does command the crowd what to do - something careful readers will notice I was ranting about before. But in this case, it’s OK. Because she’s Joni Mitchell. Joni Mitchell gets a pass. Johnny Blog Buzz playing a show in a basement does not.)