Showing posts with label The Duke Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Duke Spirit. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
New EP from The Duke Spirit
Friday, April 18, 2008
Record Store Day and more
Tomorrow is Record Store Day around the country, where artists will be performing (for FREE)/DJing/selling stuff to support smaller, independent record stores. I'm hitting up SoundFix Records in Williamsburg to see Regina Spektor. And if there's anyone in Lexington, KY reading this, go out to CD Central to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Duke Spirit. I'm a little bit jealous of that one since the closes BRMC seems to be getting to New York during their tour is rural Pennsylvania and they have spent very little time on the Eastern side of the country in general. Check out the website for the full list of participating artists and stores so go show your support for your local record store (although I have to say their website is really crappily put together - it's not that easy to figure out who's playing where).On a rather unrelated note, Matt Pond PA is performing a free concert in Central Park tomorrow at 3pm. I'm going to try to get there too after things die down at SoundFix.
One Minnesota band - Tapes 'N' Tapes - that is participating in Record Store day here in New York (at Other Music) is also performing a show tonight at Irving Plaza and a show tomorrow night at Music Hall of Williamsburg with White Denim (from Texas) and Vampire Hands (also from Minneapolis).Apparently there's a silent rave in Union Square tonight? Bring your headphones and get your groove thing on to the music of your choice. It starts at 6:17pm (not sure why they chose that time). It's on my way home from work so I think I will at least stop by and check it out. I read a (fictional) book where one of the characters tried to do this as an "art installation." In the book it failed miserably. But 6000 some people have RSVPed on facebook, so this event may actually turn out.
One last little side note - I'm sorry I've been rather neglectful in updating as of late. I had to play catch up when I got back from London, and work is getting busier and busier. I'm thinking of adding another writer or two to this blog though, so that I don't have the sole responsibility of updating. More on that later.
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Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Kooks are out
Last night I saw The Kooks at Music Hall of Williamsburg and let me tell you, the kooks were definitely out. I suppose you had to be crazy to go out in the cold sleet/rain/snow last night though. But I saw numerous fights almost break out - even in the coat check line - and I almost ended up in one myself. Imagine it! Shy little non-confrontational me! Something in the rain water maybe? I don't know.
Anyway, it was a night full of Brits. Half the audience seemed to be British - coming out to support bands from the motherland I assume (my ears were delighted by all the charming accents around me). When I arrived, Nat Jenkins was playing. I didn't catch his whole set. He looked kind of like a country bumpkin in his plaid shirt, but that was fitting because his music actually had a folky/country feel to it, along with a hint of 60s pop (there was a certain bounce to it). It was an interesting combination but it worked.
Next up was The Duke Spirit, with sassy lead singer Liela Moss, who totally stole the show. She was stylish, fun and full of drama and energy. She also had a very sexy voice. Their music was in the same vein as The Kooks - high energy dance rock, with the occasional slower, more dramatic number. I really enjoyed their performance and I think Liela Moss is the coolest. The one unfortunate thing was that the lighting guy decided from here on in it would be a good idea to light the audience instead of the band, so we were blinded and the band was backlit for pretty much the entire rest of the show.
After The Duke Spirit departed from the stage, that is when the crowd started getting rowdy. A lot of people seemed to decide all at the same time that it would be a good idea to make their way up to the front (which those of us who had been there since the beginning weren't too happy about, as you can imagine). Some people got away with it without making everyone hate them, but then these two tall drunk bitches were shoving their way through the crowd and for some reason decided they had to be where I was standing and literally aggressively pushed me out of the way. I actually said out loud "are you serious?" (which is bold for me) and the slightly-less-drunk bitch was like "yeah, kinda." WTF?! Now, it turned out for the best because I instantly made friends with everyone around me who saw it. They were all equally outraged and totally on my side. It's a good thing I hadn't been drinking or I might've actually started a fight with them. If I had a drink in my hand at the time, I most definitely would've "spilled" it on them. Luckily, one of my new outraged friends, Carter, stepped in on my behalf (and on behalf of everyone around me who was now having trouble seeing over their stupid tall heads) and got up in their faces. I really thought a fight was going to break out, but it ended with Carter giving them a little taste of their own medicine and shoving them aside and eventually they gave up on pushing back. So by the time The Kooks went on, I got my spot back and could actually see. Yay! Thanks Carter - you're my hero!
The Kooks were fabulous. I had never really bothered looking at pictures of them, so I was surprised at how young they are (they're all around age 22 from what I can gather via Wikipedia and some of them look even younger). They had a great energy and lead singer Luke Pritchard liked to get up close to the audience, as you can see from the picture (right), which is always fun. The audience went crazy every single time. Much to my delight, they played my two favorites - Matchbox, She Moves in Her Own Way and You Don't Love Me. It got steaming hot from everyone dancing and jumping around, but it was a blast.
One thing about Music Hall of Williamsburg - don't check your coat. There was only one poor coat check guy, and there didn't really seem to be a line. People were just kind of going whereever they could (this caused some tension amongst some, and hence more fights almost broke out. It was intense, especially just for coats).
Anyway, it was a night full of Brits. Half the audience seemed to be British - coming out to support bands from the motherland I assume (my ears were delighted by all the charming accents around me). When I arrived, Nat Jenkins was playing. I didn't catch his whole set. He looked kind of like a country bumpkin in his plaid shirt, but that was fitting because his music actually had a folky/country feel to it, along with a hint of 60s pop (there was a certain bounce to it). It was an interesting combination but it worked.Next up was The Duke Spirit, with sassy lead singer Liela Moss, who totally stole the show. She was stylish, fun and full of drama and energy. She also had a very sexy voice. Their music was in the same vein as The Kooks - high energy dance rock, with the occasional slower, more dramatic number. I really enjoyed their performance and I think Liela Moss is the coolest. The one unfortunate thing was that the lighting guy decided from here on in it would be a good idea to light the audience instead of the band, so we were blinded and the band was backlit for pretty much the entire rest of the show.After The Duke Spirit departed from the stage, that is when the crowd started getting rowdy. A lot of people seemed to decide all at the same time that it would be a good idea to make their way up to the front (which those of us who had been there since the beginning weren't too happy about, as you can imagine). Some people got away with it without making everyone hate them, but then these two tall drunk bitches were shoving their way through the crowd and for some reason decided they had to be where I was standing and literally aggressively pushed me out of the way. I actually said out loud "are you serious?" (which is bold for me) and the slightly-less-drunk bitch was like "yeah, kinda." WTF?! Now, it turned out for the best because I instantly made friends with everyone around me who saw it. They were all equally outraged and totally on my side. It's a good thing I hadn't been drinking or I might've actually started a fight with them. If I had a drink in my hand at the time, I most definitely would've "spilled" it on them. Luckily, one of my new outraged friends, Carter, stepped in on my behalf (and on behalf of everyone around me who was now having trouble seeing over their stupid tall heads) and got up in their faces. I really thought a fight was going to break out, but it ended with Carter giving them a little taste of their own medicine and shoving them aside and eventually they gave up on pushing back. So by the time The Kooks went on, I got my spot back and could actually see. Yay! Thanks Carter - you're my hero!
The Kooks were fabulous. I had never really bothered looking at pictures of them, so I was surprised at how young they are (they're all around age 22 from what I can gather via Wikipedia and some of them look even younger). They had a great energy and lead singer Luke Pritchard liked to get up close to the audience, as you can see from the picture (right), which is always fun. The audience went crazy every single time. Much to my delight, they played my two favorites - Matchbox, She Moves in Her Own Way and You Don't Love Me. It got steaming hot from everyone dancing and jumping around, but it was a blast.One thing about Music Hall of Williamsburg - don't check your coat. There was only one poor coat check guy, and there didn't really seem to be a line. People were just kind of going whereever they could (this caused some tension amongst some, and hence more fights almost broke out. It was intense, especially just for coats).
To see the rest of my photos, click here. Or watch the slideshow below:
And some mp3s:
Thinking This Over [mp3] - Nat Jenkins (iTunes unavailable)
Lassoo [mp3] - The Duke Spirit - "Neptune" (iTunes)
Matchbox [mp3] - The Kooks - "Inside In / Inside Out" (iTunes)
Lassoo [mp3] - The Duke Spirit - "Neptune" (iTunes)
Matchbox [mp3] - The Kooks - "Inside In / Inside Out" (iTunes)
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