Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Apologies!

I've been way backlogged in updating this blog.  Life has gotten in the way, including a wicked addiction to turntable.fm, which has been a great source of music discovery.  I'll slowly put up all my pics and link them in this entry.  Thanks for your patience!

Of Montreal, Jens Lekman, The Thermals & Beach Fossils, June 15th
Laura Marling, Michael Kiwanuka & Willy Mason June 14th
Graffiti6 & Yuna, June 7th
Radiohead & Caribou, June 1st
- Yellow Ostrich, April 12th
Ben Kweller, March 24th

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Of Montreal @McCarren Park, June 15th

After winning some free tix from My Free Concert, Bestest Boy and I headed to Williamsburg to check out a groovy foursome of bands playing together as part of the Northside Festival.  We got there in time to catch some of Beach Fossils, who seemed green but had good energy.  Then came The Thermals, who played a typically solid and tight set.  Third was the Swedish troubadour, Jens Lekman, whose band had visa problems, so he did a mostly solo acoustic set comprised of older songs.  He was charming and a good storyteller, though I find his music a bit lackadaisical at times for my taste.  Headlining the whole shebang was Of Montreal, who I found a hot, crazy, fun mess.  Thank god for free tickets.

PS -- Met the amazing Alex K. from turntable.fm.  So psyched!

(More pics after the jump.)

Laura Marling / Michael Kiwanuka, @Prospect Park Bandshell, June 14th


Bestest Boy and I went to Prospect Park to catch our first Celebrate Brooklyn! concert of the summer.  Tonight featured the lovely Laura Marling and soulful Michael Kiwanuka, both from the UK.  I have enjoyed their tunes on turntable.fm so I thought a free concert on a crisp night would be a perfect way to check them out.  Both played gorgeous sets, but I was not completely entranced, as their low key performances seemed better fit for a smaller venue, and I wasn't up front as usual.  I will say, however, that their music is perfect to listen to on a rainy Sunday afternoon while trapped indoors.

Graffiti6 @Highline Ballroom, June 7th


Met up with emmyjane and vin for this show.  We all had gotten hooked on Graffiti6's excellent album, Colours, and played many a track on TTFM over the last few months.  I even bought it on special edition vinyl on Record Store Day!  I looked forward to hearing these guys live and wondered whether they'd be able to reproduce the gorgeous sounds of dance and soul that resonated throughout.

(More words and the setlist after the jump.)

Radiohead @Prudential Center, June 1st


What more is to be said about Radiohead?  I knew I would love the show even before I saw it.

For this show, I made sure to get to the venue on the early side (around 2:30pm) to beat the majority of people coming from the City.  Sure, getting to Newark was more of a pain than going to MSG, but all in all, it wasn't bad.  I managed to get home in about an hour after the show let out.  The sound was superior.  I think I shall have to consider future shows at the Prudential Center.

(More pics and words after the jump.)