The Best Shows in NYC This Weekend: Joanna Gruesome + Single Mothers + Crocodiles + Teengirl Fantasy + MoMA PS1 Warm Up + Big Ups + Widowspeak + lots more goodness.
Written by Patrick McNamara
Well. I hope you all are real proud of yourselves. Because here it is the last week of August. Damn. How did we get here? Where did it go? Where is that large automobile? This is not my beautiful house! This is not my beautiful wife!*
Oh well. Mono No Aware. Sic Transit Gloria. Let the water flow.
Yes. September* must come again. But at least we still have this officially unofficial final week of summer, dear Rockness reader. There are still plenty of summer shows yet to see that flow with the goodness. And it only takes one to change your life.
(*September has its charms 2)
Thursday - August 28th, 2014 A.D.
The lovely and sublime Widowspeak play this hot new club called The Museum of Modern Art for the last installment of the “MoMA Nights” outdoor concert series. It’s free. Sort of. You have to pay museum admission. Which, when I last checked, was $152 for adults and $98 for students. Non-profit museum my ASS.
(the admission rates are high - but they aren’t that high - please don’t sue me, MoMA - it’s satire, not slander! it’s satire!)
Reigning Sound has been rocking the solid Southern garage rock for over a decade. They used to be based in Memphis but moved to Asheville. If I hear one more thing about how alt Asheville is, I’m going to lose it. Yeah. They’ve got great craft brews there now. Got it. Anyway, Reigning Sound play Bowery Ballroom tonight. Just thought all you alt garage rockers would want to know.
Euphoric punk popsters Wild Yaks play Palisades. This band always puts on a solid live show. Well. I guess I’m not qualified to say “always” since I haven’t been in attendance for every single show they have ever done. But they have always been good the few times I’ve seen them. And I think a few is a good enough control group, don’t you?
Other notable shows = Kings of Leon (who?) at PNC Bank Arts Center + DJ Gibby Haynes of Butthole Surfers at The Bowery Electric + DJ Talib Kweli at Brooklyn Bowl + Heaven’s Jail at Baby’s All Right
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Friday - August 29th, 2014 A.D.
Might as well start Friday off with something free, right? You’ll have the rest of the weekend to piss your money away. London, Ontario’s heavy fun punker rockers Single Mothers* lead a good lineup at Brooklyn Night Bazaar. Bonus. Baltimore noise lads Dope Body + loud, sweaty, meaty men Vulture Shit + Brooklyn lo-fi eccentro-popsters Ed Schrader’s Music Beat also play. That’s a pretty good deal if you ask me, especially since you’re paying nothing.
(*Single Mothers also play tomorrow at Cake Shop but we'll let tomorrow worry about itself)
Joanna Gruesome (talked about them on Tuesday - scroll up if you don’t believe me - I’ll wait) + the always on-point punks Big Ups play South Street Seaport. This show is free too. After-party at this hot new club called Pizzeria Uno immediately following. First tourist-priced pie is on you!
(*fuck that chain - it’s giving the original Pizzeria Uno in Chicago a bad name - and that place is GOOD)
Peanut Butter Wolf (I hear his vinyl weighs a TON) celebrates Michael Jackson’s 54th birthday (you know, if he wasn't dead) with a festive DJ set at Brooklyn Bowl. There will be visuals and stuff too. Everything would have to go just right, but this could be an extremely fun one. Leave your egos at the door and enter knowing there was a King of Pop and it wasn’t you.
Chicago’s Handsome Family (led by husband/wife team* Brett and Rennie Sparks) have been quietly creating solid alt-Americana since 1993. See them show you the ways of the world like only road weary troubadours can at Rough Trade (and tomorrow at Mercury Lounge).
(*we’re big fans of husband/wife teams here at Whoa My Blobness)
Such Hounds + Dead Stars are two good bands I’ve recently written about (because I like them - not because I got a press release about them - wow! mint! rare!). Go ahead and click their name to read more of my dynamic blob thoughts about them. There’s no need to cover the same ground here. But I will tell you that both Such Hounds + Dead Stars play The Grand Victory tonight. Swirlers and stoners welcome.
Other notable shows = Midnight Magic at Cameo Gallery + Potty Mouth and Perfect Pussy at Asbury Lanes + Love as Laughter at Baby’s All Right + Las Rosas at Baby’s All Right (late)
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Saturday - August 30th, 2014 A.D.
Free. FREE. FREE! Providence noise goth throbbers Black Pus (Brian Chippendale, drummer/vocalist of Lightning Bolt - god, they were a good band) + Philly jingle-janglers Cousin Brian + Brooklyn punk chemists Flagland (click that) + LA swirl-gazers No Joy (click that if you enjoy reading 4 year old band profiles) play Brooklyn Night Bazaar. It should be an eclectically electric eccentric delight.
Do you like to dance? If so, let’s go see dance pop duo Teengirl Fantasy do their thing at Baby’s All Right and you can teach me how. I’ll just do whatever moves you do, OK? I probably won’t even watch the band so much. I’ll just be studying you. And whatever movement you make, my mirror movement will be approximately half a second behind. Cool? Sounds like a fun evening? Terrific!
Warm it up, Kris! I’m about to. Warm it up, Kriss! ‘Cuz that’s what I was born to do!* It’s MoMA PS1’s Warm Up outdoor dance party today. Some electrically danceable alts are playing. There’s no real reason to tell you the full lineup or get into their sound or be informative in any way, so I’ll just let you peep the lineup yourself.
(*RIP Mac Daddy... or Daddy Mac... whichever was the tragic one)
Mighty fine lo-fi popster Andrew Cedermark (click that if, once again, you like reading 4-year-old band profiles) + sublime upstate punks LVL UP (that one is a little more recent - I stand behind that one) play Shea Stadium tonight. I’m going to this one. How about you? If so, look for me near the punch table. I’ll be the one in the teal silk shirt and pleated khaki pants holding your matching corsage.
Other notable shows = Single Mothers at Cake Shop + Modern Life is War at Bowery Ballroom + Garfunkel and Oates at Irving Plaza + Mount Kimbie at The Wick + Pat Benatar at The Paramount + I could listen to a Pat Benatar song right now + Why not, let’s do it!
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Sunday - August 31st, 2014 A.D.
Sweetly swirling San Diego noise popsters Crocodiles play Baby’s All Right* tonight. Recommended if you like good songs, solid folks, and chill times.
(*Google still refuses to accept that All Right is an acceptable spelling of Alright - it’s a search engine that rules the world’s word vs. a hot alt music venue - I just don’t know who to believe anymore.)
Good news. Underrated ‘80s NJ rocker roller band, The Smithereens, and Detroit power popsters, The Romantics, are one of several ‘80s bands to play “Rock of the Eighties” (god, that’s a great title) at NYCB Theatre at Westbury. Bad News. Google Maps tells me Wesbury is 43 minutes from NYC (1 hour 46 minutes in current traffic). So yeah. Never say never, but…..
Speaking of Smithereens, this movie is a good time capsule of NYC. You should see it sometime. And I should mind my own business.
And finally. Funnyman Hannibal Buress does a free show at Knitting Factory. Because of course he does. Do you know how many Hannibal Buress shows I’ve listed BY HAND on Whoa My Blobness over the last year and half? A LOT. Let’s just rename the site Oh My Hannibalness and call it a day. I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE.
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That’s it! Thanks for sticking around and reading all the way to the end. I love all 13 of you with all of my #art.
Enjoy this unofficially official last week of the finest season. Get out there and embrace the goodness. Don’t let summer swallow you whole.