A few weeks ago I was able to catch Chamberlin performing an early show over at the Mercury Lounge right after work. These guys put out one of my favorite albums last year and played mostly songs off their first release but mixed in some new tunes also. You'll find some pictures and videos I took below.....
Last night my buddy JayT and I took another trip to the Mercury Lounge to see Typhoon, a band from Portland, Oregon. Like I’ve said in previous entries, I’ve been trying to see these guys (& gals) for about seven months now. They just haven’t played a lot of local dates so I haven’t been able to catch them until last night. I thought I’d finally get my chance this past weekend in Newport but unfortunately it took us over two hours to get into the festival on Saturday and I just missed their set (they were one of the early acts going on Saturday). Fortunately I had this show in my back pocket so I was pretty pumped to finally see them last night.
Typhoon is a pretty unique band, if my math is decent I counted THIRTEEN people playing on stage. If you’re familiar with Mercury Lounge, this was an interesting dynamic seeing as it’s a pretty small stage. The group was pretty much broken up into groups of three: lead singer w/guitar, lead guitarist and bass guitarist; three piece horn section; three piece string section; two drummers and one guy playing percussion. Pretty sure there was also a girl playing keyboard in the back but it was difficult for me to see from my spot on the floor. For such a big band they’re extremely tight, you can tell they’ve played and rehearsed quite a bit together. Typhoon’s music has a lot of tempo and volume changes so this is an impressive quality for such a large band.
The band played about a 45 minute set consisting mostly of material off their albums but they also played a brand new song that I thought was excellent. Really entertaining set, it was almost overwhelming how much was going on and what you wanted to fix your eyes to. Highlights for me were “The Honest Truth” (my favorite song by Typhoon), “Kitchen Tile” and “CPR/Claws Pt 2” which I filmed and you can watch below.
About half way through the show, lead singer Kyle Morton remarked that this was their first show in NYC but I was really impressed and would expect that their next trip they’ll be playing a larger venue like Bowery Ballroom or Music Hall of Williamsburg. Typhoon has some more dates lined up listed below including another NYC show tonight in Brooklyn at Littlefield. Also, they'll be the muscial guest on Letterman Thursday night. I definitely recommend checking them out if you get the opportunity.
One other random note, I recognized the lead singer of Freelance Whales (Judah Dadone) in the crowd between sets and spoke with him for a bit. They’re back in town working on a second album after touring relentlessly over the last couple years off of their album “Weathervanes”. Really nice guy, enjoyed speaking with him after seeing them perform a couple times this year. Another very good band you should check out if you’re not familiar with their stuff.
TYPHOON TOUR DATES:
August 3rd Littlefield Brooklyn, NY
August 4th Sixth & Synagogue Washington, DC
August 6th Lollapalooza Chicago, IL
August 8th The Old Rock House St. Louis, MO
August 9th The Riot Room Kansas City, MO
August 10th Hi-Dive Denver, CO
August 12th Visual Arts Collective Garden City, OH
September 10th Musicfest NW @ Pioneer Courthouse Square Portland, OR
On Tuesday night, my buddy John and I went down to check out Christopher Paul Stelling & William Elliott Whitmore at the Mercury Lounge. For those that haven't been there, Mercury is a great little venue, probably holds a couple hundred people (packed in tight) in an intimate general admission setting.
As I had written about earlier in the week, I knew William's music well as I've followed him for a couple years now but I've only heard Christopher in the last year and this was my first time seeing him perform (and only my second seeing William). We got there just a few minutes before Christopher came on and the room already had a big crowd which I thought was pretty impressive.
He came out solo and kicked right into his set and I'll tell you that the guy immediately had the room captivated. It was evident that Christopher is a talented musician along with having a powerful voice. After the first song, he remarked, "Well, I've already deviated from the setlist" which had the crowd cracking up. Speaking of the crowd, thought it was great and really respectful. I don't think anyone was talking during the songs and this allowed Christopher to even step away from the mic at points of the show and just sing to the crowd like we were hanging out in a friend's basement.
Chris spoke how he's heading to Kentucky soon to record his album and that he doesn't have much to sell at this point but did point for people to check out his Daytrotter session. He also stated that he's going to be performing on the Daytrotter Barnstormer tour with White Rabbits & Deer Tick (more info on that HERE.) That will be a great tour and I'd highly recommend making one of those shows if you can pull it off.
All in all, I was really impressed in Christopher's performance and would definitely check him out again. I'm sure he'll have some dates once he releases his album and I look forward to hearing it. If you're in the NYC area, he'll be playing tonight at Rockwood Music Hall Stage Two (9pm). In the meantime, take a listen to this video clip of "Flawless Executioner" I recorded below.
"FLAWLESS EXECUTIONER"
William Elliott Whitmore took the stage to a packed room shortly after Christopher finished. It was extremely tight and led William to do something I have never seen an artist pull off at the Mercury Lounge, he invited some of the crowd to sit on stage. I'd say about thirty people went up and sat around William on stage, kind of reminded me of an MTV:Unplugged setting but it definitely helped clear up the floor a bit.
Since the first time I saw William in person back in 2009, I loved his sound. A little banjo, some guitar and a raspy voice that just commands a crowd. He was the opener when I saw him last and without question won over the crowd, but this was different vibe with everyone showing up to see his set. The crowd was enthusiastic and requesting songs (one girl even requested a song right after he played it but William laughed it off and said something like, "cheers, have another drink"). William seemed in a great mood and interacted with the crowd all night between songs.
William mixed a great set of old songs and new ones off of his latest album "Field Songs". Highlights for me included "Dry", "Hell or High Water" and "Johnny Law". It was a great environment seeing him in such a small venue with the crowd really into the show, definitely a unique experience but another great night out in the city. He'll be in Philly tonight and playing across the country through September, definitely check out the show if you get a chance (tour dates HERE).
When I first heard this track, I felt like I already knew this band even though I didn't recognize the name. Turns out I did.... kind of. Brooklyn-based We Are Augustines includes ex-Pela members Billy McCarthy and Eric Sanderson. I loved Pela and was disappointed to hear they were breaking up last year. HERE'S a review with a clip from one of their shows I caught at Mercury Lounge in 2009.
Anyways, happy these guys are back working on new material. They will release their debut album, "Rise Ye Sunken Ships", this summer. In the meantime, check out this great new tune, "Chapel Song".
Look who's back..... Urge Overkill with their first song in 15 years! If you like this song, you can stream/download it HERE. Also, if you're in the NY area and interested in seeing these guys in a tiny venue, they'll be playing Mercury Lounge on Monday October 4th, tickets available HERE.
I was back in NYC this weekend speaking to my buddy JayO when he told me about this band he's excited to see in a couple of weeks at the Mercury Lounge, "Freelance Whales". I looked them up when I got home and really like what I heard. They sound a bit like Death Cab For Cutie, here's a good tune called "Starring".
On Monday night, a friend invited me and my buddy Dan to the Mercury Lounge for "The Alternate Side" launch party featuring two bands, The Postelles and Pela. Mercury Lounge is such a great venue, it's tiny and only holds a couple hundred people (at the most) so there's really not a bad seat in the house.
The Postelles played first and even though I hadn't heard them before, I definitely dug their sound. They seem pretty young and kind of remind me of a poppier version of the Strokes, a little bit like the Kooks also. They rolled through 7 or 8 songs and their lead singer thanked the crowd and WFUV numerous times for letting them play, they were definitely gracious. After a little research, it looks like they've got an EP on Itunes and they're working on a new album. I took a video (below) that you can check out, not sure if "I Wanna Love You" is even the name of this song but it'll work until I find out. Check out their site HERE for more information, they're going to play the All Points West Festival in NJ this summer.
"I WANNA LOVE YOU"
Pela (rhymes with Layla) followed the Postelles and I was really excited to see these guys. My buddy Chris sent me one of their songs a couple weeks back and I've been listening to them quite a bit. I don't know who I'd compare them to currently but they kind of remind me of some of the bands I used to listen to in the 90s (that's a good thing to me). I had read some positive things about their live show, so I was looking forward to see if they delivered. They kicked off their set with the song "Waiting On The Stairs", a really good high-energy tune (video below). This was a great choice to come out firing, immediately got the crowd into them whether people knew their music or not. They followed that with "Lost To The Lonesome", another upbeat song that I featured as the SOTD a little while back. Pela absolutely ripped through another 5 or 6 songs and frontman Billy McCarthy left it all on stage and was covered in sweat at the end of their show.
I came away really impressed with these guys, definitely a band I'd recommend seeing. They just finished a tour with Gaslight Anthem and looks like they're heading to Seattle, you can check out their site HERE for more information.
"WAITING ON THE STAIRS"
All in all a fun night of music at a great club. Special thanks to Lindsay for hooking up the tix, much appreciated!
