Bon Iver @Radio City Music Hall, Sept. 21st

I had made up my mind a long time ago that I probably would never bother seeing Bon Iver again after the first time I caught him four years ago at the Bowery Ballroom.  Not because I dislike the band -- far from it.  That concert was so intimate, so perfect, that I knew catching Justin Vernon again in a larger venue would never recapture the magic we felt that night.  But when I randomly checked Ticketmaster a week before his four show run at one of the city's largest venues, Radio City Music Hall, I managed to pull up a front row pit ticket that was impossible to refuse.  So I bought myself an early birthday present and prepared myself to see him on night 3.

(More words, pics and a setlist after the jump.)

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Bahamas @The Bell House, Sept. 19th

Last night, hunkered down to The Bell House in Gowanus for some good tunes courtesy of Canadian sensation, Bahamas, the band of Afie Jurvanen.  I have to credit my turntable.fm friend Dave#4 for turning me onto this guy, whose sweetly languorous voice and clear guitar picking brings musicians like M. Ward and Bill Callahan (Smog) to my mind.

(More pics, words, and a setlist after the jump.)

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Bob Mould @Williamsburg Park, Sept. 7th

A week ago, I remembered that Bob Mould was playing a free show at Williamburg Park that evening, and despite having to work the next morning at 5am, I made sure I was there because he was playing all of Sugar's Copper Blue, an album that was released twenty (!) years ago.  To give you some context, that album came out just as I was starting freshman year of college, and was probably one of the first 50 cds I had ever purchased.  Yeah, I'm that old.

(More pics and words after the jump.  Click photos to enlarge.)

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Beirut @Central Park Summerstage, Aug. 29th

I finally bit the bullet and bought tix to see Beirut.  Okay, well, I bought them back in January for a show that wasn't happening until the end of the summer, which seemed a bit ridiculous to me at the time, especially because I tend to dislike outdoor shows.  One might assume that such advance planning indicates a strong affinity for the band. Truth be told, I had dodged seeing this band for ages because I found their music a bit too twee for my tastes, but had gotten into their tunes a bit more last summer because of turntable.fm, so I figured I'd give them a roll.

(More pics including setlist, and words after the jump.  Click to enlarge.)

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