News

So I have news for both the Feelies and Speed the Plough today.

First of all, Should Be Gone is the Song of the Day today on my beloved NPR.

As I mentioned before, the Celebrate Brooklyn! show on July 23rd has been officially announced. It will be held in Prospect Park with Times New Viking and Real Estate opening. It's free, so if you're in the area, you should go.


Another show has also been announced for the day before Celebrate Brooklyn! at Daniel Street Club in Connecticut. I'm pretty excited for that one as well because Milford is a great little town. More information here.

An additional Maxwell's show has also been added on July 3rd. I will not be able to make this one because I'm celebrating the 4th of July with my boyfriend's family this year down the shore, but I'll definitely be there on the 1st and 2nd. You can get tickets for any of the Maxwell's shows here.

On to Speed the Plough news. So, as you may know from my previous entries, a new album will be released soon, and it's called Shine. I recently was able to listen in on a few songs from the new album and it sounds great! For more info on that you can check out the Speed the Plough Facebook and official website . You'll also see some picture I took of them last Sunday, like this one:


STP is also playing 2 shows in late July. The first is on July 29th, and Brenda's band Wild Carnation is playing as well. You can find out more about it here. The next day, another show is happening in Montclair at Tierney's too, details here.


So there's an awful lot to be excited about this summer.

Anyway, here's a picture of the Feelies with Tom Jones and author Jan McInerney. My dad was really excited. Hope to see you at the upcoming shows!

Culture Shock

So on April 16th I went to the "Last Great" Culture Shock festival at SUNY Purchase with a few of my girlfriends.

The campus of SUNY Purchase was pretty nice. Purchase is kind of in the middle of nowhere, so the campus was pretty green. A lot of the buildings were also designed awesomely, and overall the campus was lovely. Until we entered the Stood.

Since the weather was terribly nasty yesterday, the shows were relocated to the student center, which, as mentioned above, is widely known as the Stood. The Stood appears to be entirely student-run, and they did have a few very cool features such as old arcade games, two stages, murals painted by students, and a life-sized chess set. However, the Stood was pretty damn skeevy. It was not clean at all, the bathrooms were atrocious (not to mention the ceiling was leaking in the women's room), the murals and graffiti left nowhere for the eye to rest, and I kind of felt like I didn't want to touch anything there to be quite honest. Luckily, my dad said we could hang out in the green room and that provided us with someplace clean and quiet to sit down.

The first band I really paid attention to was Talk Normal. They were comprised of two ladies: one who sang while sitting up very straight on her drum set and one who played guitar and sang. They were a bit noisy (which I'm usually not a fan of), but I kind of really liked them anyway and plan on checking out their album(s?) soon.

Woods is actually a band that I've just started getting into, and I really enjoyed seeing them live. Although, they also could have done without the long jams in the middle of some of their songs. Otherwise, I really liked them. That was kind of predictable, though, because folky-indie-rock-ish music is usually right up my alley.

I've been listening to Real Estate for about a year and a half or so, so I was really looking forward to seeing them. They definitely didn't disappoint. They had a nice mellow energy, and I thought that their echoey and clean sound was surprisingly preserved in the Stood. The sound quality, though, also had to do with Andy, the Feelies' sound guy who handled Real Estate's sound as well that day. Anyway, Real Estate even dedicated a song to the Feelies "one of (their) favorite bands of all time." I was sooo excited about that. After Real Estate's set I even saw the bassist being a fanboy with Brenda, it was kind of adorable.

Next up was the curator himself, R. Steevie More. When I first saw him walking around, I thought he was just some eccentric old dude who liked to walk around with a globe on his head at music festivals. My friend Esha, though, pointed out that he had been announcing things, so we knew he must have been the curator. Anyways, my dad briefed me on who R. Steevie More actually was and what he's done musically before my friends and I watched his performance. It was hilarious, weird, and energetic. He sang songs about things like hamburgers, spinach, and not wanting to leave one's house. There were some points where he got really intense and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. Awesome.

Before I get to the Feelies' performance, I must say one thing: if you're at a show, don't sit on the stage while the bands are setting up. It's not cute. You not only get in the way, but you look obnoxious and disrespectful.

Anyways, I had expected the largest crowd for the Feelies because they were headlining that night, but what I didn't expect was for people to start moshing. I mean really, moshing to the Feelies? It happened, though. Not only that, people also stage-dived and crowd surfed. Bill actually told the audience to stop stage diving to no avail, but the real issue seemed to be people throwing stuff. Another word of advice on concert etiquette: don't throw shit, especially at the performers. Overall, though, I was able to dance with my friends while trying to maintain my footing in the crowd so it wound up being quite fun. The enthusiasm of the crowd was also really exciting to me (and my dad as well), even though more than one of the people that I had to fend off reeked of beer and/or rum, there seemed to be genuine fans in the crowd, as I found a lot of people singing along to the songs.

It wound up being one of the craziest nights I had in a while.

P.S. Sorry I don't have any pictures, I forgot my memory card for my camera >.<.

I Know it's Been a While...

and the new album, Here Before, will be coming out this coming Tuesday, but I probably won't be making a full post until next weekend. I've got a term paper and a bunch of other crap to work on for school (cause I'm actually involved at school now hah). I also want to be able to post a bunch of pictures from the Culture Shock festival at SUNY Purchase next weekend (the Feelies are headlining Saturday). So what I will leave you with until then is this:

Upcoming Shows (besides the one at SUNY which is only open to SUNY students and their guests):
5/13: The Bell House, Brooklyn, NYC. More info here.
5/14: The Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge. More info here.
6/17: World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA. More info here.
6/18: 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C. More info here.
7/23: Celebrate Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NYC (details for this event have not yet been officially released)
The Maxwell's shows are on again as for this year's 4th of July weekend as well, but most likely not on the 4th itself this time.

Also, a new Speed the Plough album is in the works. This is what the official facebook had to say about it:
"The new album will include Sunburst-era songs "Madeleine" and "(Love is) The Best Revenge," along with a cover of Lee Hazelwood's "Pour Man" and a slew of brand new tunes. With contributions from former Ploughsters Brenda Sauter and Rich Barnes, and introducing our new guitar-slinger and vocalist Ed Seifert."

Lastly, here are some links to different pages that you might want to "Like"/add:
The official Feelies Facebook (run by my mom and Bob Torsello)
My dad's Facebook
The official Speed the Plough Facebook

Longtime friend of the band Massimo De Vecchi also has a Feelies page that is endorsed by the band.

You can get the new album from places such as the Bar/None site, Amazon.com, iTunes, etc.

Ok so, 'til next week!

Guess What?!

The Feelies are going into the studio this Saturday and Sunday to start recording their new album!
I will be there probably Saturday night and maybe Sunday too to take pictures and hang out.

And here's an old picture of the Feelies playing the Peanut Gallery in Haledon!

This Past Week...

I put my first listing up on my new etsy shop for vintage clothing that I started with two of my friends, my boyfriend turned 21, aaaaand the Feelies played at Maxwell's all weekend.

Hah, anyways, I didn't go to the first show because my boyfriend's roommate also turned 21 and had a huge party.

The next day, I had to go into work early, and then pick up my friend Melissa and take the train over to Hoboken. We watched the soundcheck, and Melissa, who as an avid metalhead, may not have liked the Feelies, but she did!

We ate dinner, and then went and sat on the ground by the Hudson River in beautiful weather with my family. Around 9:30, the show started.

Yes, there were two (I think?) new songs that will be on the new album. I know there were five total, including covers I hadn't seen them play before. They were, as I have described before, very much in the same vein as the new songs that have already been played live. And it was really great to hear them completed after hearing the very minimal demos. It was a fun show and there wound up being three encores. Also, there was this Australian guy, who was actually named Guy, who started talking to me and one of my cousins. He said he was on a business trip in New York and got a call from a friend in Australia telling him about the show on Saturday, and he stayed in America a bit longer to see the Feelies. Then he mentioned that they should play in Australia, and I said that almost all of them have day jobs, and so the band can't tour all that much. But he seemed nice.

The 4th of July was REALLY insane though. My cousin, Michael, picked me up to take the train to Penn Station at noon in order to shoot a video for Speed the Plough. We met up with his parents and Marc, Dan and Ian at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Why? Cause there was this exhibit of pianos scattered around the city that anyone could play and it was ending on the 4th and my uncle wanted to play it while everyone else played acoustic instruments. Plus, it's pretty at the cathedral. If you want you can see one of the videos here.

Other than it being 95 FREAKIN' DEGREES, it was a nice time. After the shoot, Michael and I caught a PATH to Hoboken and met up with my brother and my friend Tubbs. We headed back to Maxwell's for the soundcheck and my boyfriend met us shortly after.

The street fair on Frank Sinatra drive, I must admit, was pretty lame. It was a little too controlled, and there weren't that many stalls when I went there around 7ish.

The show, again, was great. There weren't as many people as the night before though, but it seemed that the more dedicated fans came out for this show, so there was no shortage of enthusiasm. There wound up being four encores.

So as for the future of the Feelies, if you didn't see them this past weekend, you may be out of luck for a while. They will be focusing on recording their new album (which my dad still says will be called Stanley), but at least that's something to look forward to!

Also, sorry, I don't have pictures of the shows this year. I did take a few, but on an analog camera, so if they come out well, I'll scan them and post them.

Speed the Plough Show and New Album

Speed the Plough released a new album called Swerve and it's pretty great. My dad even plays some percussion on it.
It's available on the iTunes store and CD Baby and I think a few other places in the internets. Check it out!



Also, as I said before, Speed the Plough is also playing a show at Maxwell's on May 26th and Brenda's band, Wild Carnation, will be there too. So come see my Uncle John, my Aunt Toni, my cousin Michael, and our friends Marc, Dan, and Ian Francia play!

Superyes!

My dad said this was taken at a rest stop at around 4 in the morning coming back from Boston. Andy Peters, the Feelies' sound man took it.

All Tomorrow's Parties & the Bearsville Theater

This weekend, I was able to go as a guest to the first day of All Tomorrow's Parties in Monticello, New York. Of course, it just had to rain that day. When we got there, it was quite cold and nasty and we had to wander around for a bit and be directed to several different places in order to check in as guests. After we got settled, we walked into the venue (Kutsher's) which is a "resort." It was old, weird, smelly, labyrinthine and extremely creepy. It basically looked like the hotel in The Shining, but not as nice. In other words, it was a dump. Also, there was royal blue carpet on the wall in some places.

I was able to see a bit of the Drones', Suicide's, and Panda Bear's sets, but I only watched the Feelies' and Iron & Wine's performances in full. The Stardust Ballroom in Kutshers made the sound very rumble-y. This made the bass shake the room in such a way that you felt it, and it wasn't pleasant. That's why I only watched one song by Suicide and a few by Panda Bear. I put my lens cap down on a ledge during Suicide's set, and it vibrated off the ledge and I lost it: that's how bad the rumbling was. I must admit though, I don't actually like Suicide's music, but I figured I'd never get a chance to see them again and I kind of like the idea of them. So I went in fo their first song, and they made me laugh. Think about it: two old guys: one with Bozo the Clown hair wearing iridescent goggles and playing a heavily distorted synthesizer, and the other an even older man (I believe he's 70 or 71) yelling into a microphone. They actually made my brother angry. He kept saying, "That's not music!" But I think that's kind of the idea. I guess it was worth my lens cap to be able to say that I saw Suicide.

As for the Drones, they were ok. Panda Bear was good, but could have put on a more visually interesting show, but I guess seeing Black Moth Super Rainbow live has made me a bit jaded on this subject, because their shows are so visually stimulated, you kinda feel like you're high.

The Feelies (and, I assume, most of the bands that played earlier) were not allowed a soundcheck either. However, they sounded as good as possible in that place and played well (as always). They played the newly re-issued Crazy Rhythms in it's entirety and were able to get two encores in, probably because Crazy Rhythms is so short. I really wished that they had played the also newly re-issued The Good Earth, because I like it better, but it was easier for them to ply Crazy Rhythms because Bill didn't have to do as many guitar changes.

After the Feelies' set, my mom, brother, and I ate. The food was actually pretty good. We all had wraps and sesame noodles. Unfortunately, since the food was outside, it was quite uncomfortable to eat there.

We pretty much waited around until Iron and Wine came on. In between, we caught a half hour or so of Gimme Shelter, which I'd never seen before and has re-awakened my love for the Rolling Stones. We had to leave at 10:15, though, in order to make it to the performances we wanted to see.

My mom and brother went to see Eugene Mirman, played the landlord on Flight of the Conchords, and David Cross, who was on Arrested Development. They said Mirman was hilarious, and Cross was good, but not as good as Mirman. I'm glad my brother was able to enjoy something other than the Feelies, though. He was pretty angry at having to be at what amounted to a hipster convention. He kept saying how he hated being amongst the hipsters. For the record though, they kinda smelled. Like musty-unwashed-clothes-greasy-hair-cigarette-and-booze-ish.

Iron and Wine was amazing. I've never been so moved by live music, and I was so close. I could not stop smiling. Apparently, the dude who was there taking pictures for brooklynvegan.com noticed that. Hence, my picture wound up on the site in this entry. There was another guy there with a Hitler-Youth-ish haircut standing right in front of me taking pictures of me also, but I can't seem to find those online. Anyway, so I've loved Iron and Wine's music for years now, and it was just so beautiful, not to mention a relief from the very... harsh music that I had heard earlier. It was just Sam Beam with his acoustic guitar. Someone blew balloons with song suggestions on them too. Sam Beam talked to the audience a lot too. He got us all singing along to everything, and we even clapped the beat to an entire song without stopping. I've never seen that happen at a show. That set was sooooo worth staying at that creepy place a few extra hours for.

One last thought on that day, I'm VERY glad we didn't see the Jesus Lizard, it would've been exhausting and apparently they kept saying "Happy 9/11!" which I find to be... quite unpleasant.

The next day, we had a completely different experience. My mom, my brother, and I wandered around Woodstock for the day, which was really cool. We got to the Bearsville Theater in late afternoon. Let me tell you, this place is BEAUTIFUL. The interior is all hard wood and it smelled nice. There was a sizeable green room, with nice couches and a table, these crazy spiral staircases, and it was in the middle of this clearing with a fountain and stone benches. Albert Grossman's even buried there. Anyway, I pretty much hung out with my family and Cala, Glenn's daughter most of the time. We ate at this cute and nice Chinese restaurant called the Little Bear. Also, it was just so chill there. I wish all the places they played at were like the Bearsville Theater.

One highlight of the day was listening to Dave tell stories and stuff right before the show. He told us that where he works, he's supposed to greet customers, and sometimes he does it in a Cockney accent. He demonstrated and we were all laughing.

The show was also a lot better than the night before. They played their usual lineup, and had four encores. The crowd was good too, and there weren't really any skeevy people either.

Anyway, it was a great vacation. There should be a few more Feelies shows coming up in November too.

Pictures from ATP & Bearsville:

The Drones
The movie lineup for the day
The crowd for Suicide
The Feelies



I couldn't take a picture of Dave, cause he was blocked by an amp, but I got a picture of his and my dad's shadows.Iron and Wine
Where we ate dinner in Bearsville
Woodstock


Pretty lanterns at the Bearsville Theater

The stairs
Souncheck

The doorsAlbert Grossman's Grave

Yes.

Again, it's been a while.
Anyway, I'm gonna skip all the stuff that I did when I was not updating and move onto an actual blog entry.
So I have a fairly new obsession: Andrew W.K. Why? Because he's so happy about everything and his music and the other things he does reflect that. My best friend, Tubbs, commented that he's like the Meatloaf of our generation. Which seems very true as far as his attitude goes.
If you need further evidence of why Andrew W.K. is amazing, this should do it:


Feelieswise, they're playing at the Whitney this Friday. It's an "acoustic" set, which means it will be as acoustic as the Feelies can get, which isn't that feasible considering the importance of percussion in the music. Then next week, it's July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at Maxwell's. Also, they will be playing in Chicago at Millenium Park. Aaannnnddd, although it's in September, the Feelies will be playing at All Tomorrow's Parties in Monticello, New York. I'm also super excited because I get to see Iron and Wine as well!

The Feelies Reunion Shows and Other Things

Ok so I haven't posted in a while cause my life has been crazy. These are the main reasons:
1) Boyfriend of 6 months broke up with me the week before prom: heartbreak ensues.
2) Prom then Black Moth Super Rainbow show. The latter was amazing and waaaayyyy better than the former.
3) Awards ceremonies, senior things, graduation & project graduation.
4) Work: headaches ensue.
5) Finding time to chill with all my friends.
6) College things.

Anyway, all the school stuff is done with and I don't have to see/ talk to said ex anymore.

I've changed a bit though. I'm more reserved now I believe and I think much less of people in general.

Sigh.

However, something's coming up. Something BIG.
You see once upon a time, seventeen years ago, my dad was a drummer in a band. A band called the Feelies. Said Feelies are getting back together for reunion shows next week, including an opening slot for the Sonic Youth on the Fourth of July in Battery Park (or as my dad likes to say "The Fourcha").

:D

I'm soooo happy about next week. I cannot wait cause I never saw my dad play with the Feelies cause I was about 1 year old when they broke up. I have seen my dad play in another band called Luna and I have fond memories of being 6 and standing on the side of the stage with my mom and my brother and watching "daddy" play in Central Park. I also got myself locked in the bathroom backstage that day and some bald guy from another band had to let me out.

So yeah, the first show is in five days at Maxwell's in Hoboken and it's invitation-only. The next two shows are gonna be packed cause they sold out in 1 day. The last is the Fourcha show. I was pretty upset though cause I couldn't get tickets for my friends for the Fourcha or even the shows at Maxwell's. They only allowed my dad a very limited number of tickets (I think it was about 5 tickets per band member) and only two backstage passes. This means that my brother will have to go as a drum tech in order to get a backstage pass.

So up there ^^ is a picture I took of the first time the Feelies actually played together in 17 years. My dad's the happy-looking one.