Author: Jennifer

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Postcards from the Pit: Johnny Hallyday, Beacon Theater, 10/7/12

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The last time Johnny Hallyday played a show in New York was in 1962. He was on a cruise ship (!) and Jackie Kennedy (!!) was in the audience.

This time around he was on dry land and I don’t know if there were any luminaries lurking in the Beacon or not. Probably, I guess; New York is that kind of town.

I was there because I’ve been conducting some extremely idle and non-scientific research on the subject French rock and roll, from which I learned that Hallyday is France’s equivalent / answer to to Elvis Presley, and I wanted to see what he was all about.

The show began with some dramatic images, such as this one:

 

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Not long after I took that picture the wall in the middle crumbled dramatically and unleashed flames and flying skulls.

Then Johnny Hallyday walked out on stage:

 

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His band and back-up singers also appeared:
 
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I (still) don’t speak all that much French, so his song introductions and stage banter went completely over my head, but in rock concerts as with Mass, some things are universal and you can get by pretty well taking cues from your neighbors.

Most of my neighbors wanted to get up and boogie, which is kind of difficult in the Beacon. But we shook a tailfeather or two anyway.

About half-way through the show Hallyday switched gears, going from rock to rockabilly:
 

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In addition to his own tunes Hallyday also did some classic rock covers. I definitely recognized Fortunate Son – which lost a crucial bit of snarl in the translation from English to French – and also Great Balls of Fire.

It was, overall, a fantastic show.

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Postcards from the Pit: Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls / Larry and his Flask / Jenny Owen Youngs, Webster Hall, 9/29/12

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Once again I went to a show having not heard a note of anyone’s music beforehand. What can I say, sometimes I like to live dangerously. Plus the show was part of my friend’s birthday party, and since she has generally excellent taste in music I was willing to bet it would be a good night. Spoiler alert: I was right!

Jenny Owen Youngs was up first, by herself with her guitar. She was at the opposite end of the stage from me, so the pictures are kind of awkward. But here’s one anyway:
 

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Larry and his Flask were up next. When they came out with a banjo, electric mandolin and an upright bass, but yet also a drum set, I expected they’d continue the mellow tone of the evening and play up-tempo but still sedate bluegrass-inflected folk-rock.

Instead they unleashed a whirlwind of bluegrass-inflected punk rock that was one of the finest musical experiences I’ve ever had. Here they are in action:
 

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And then the gentlemen we had all been waiting for, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls. Mr. Turner and his merry crew are not quite as frenetic as Larry and his Flask; more folk rock than folk punk, though Turner’s hardcore roots are definitely tangible in their sound.

The crowd started jumping and singing with him as soon as he started to play, and while I did enjoy the music, it was also a pleasure to be around people that were that happy.

Other highlights:

1) The moment in the middle of the set the room went silent, or as silent as Webster Hall can be when it is full to bursting, while he sang Tell Tale Signs.

It’s new(ish), the third song in a trilogy, and its about love, and also about scars. It is raw and beautiful and left me a little bit breathless and almost kind of alarmed, like I had read something intensely personal that had accidentally been made public.

2) The end, when he closed down the main set with Photosynthesis. That one is a song about getting old and tired and the ways in which the world can pull you down, but also about resisting that drag.

The chorus is I will not sit down and I will not shut up / and most of all I will not grow up, and hearing a packed house sing those words at the top of their lungs was a kick in the pants that I very much needed.

And now, some pictures from the set:
 

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Video: World’s End, Army Navy

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Today in the category of Songs I Have Been Listening To Somewhat Obsessively, I present World’s End, by Army Navy.

It is the first single from their third record, which is scheduled to released into the wild early next year. I am hoping that by “early next year” they mean “January 1” (it is a Tuesday!) because I am pants-afire to hear the rest of the songs.

The video below is directed by Mark Schoenecker, and stars Martin Starr (Freaks and Geeks, Party Down) as the creeptastic Chester Felt and Camille Cregan (The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks) as the object of his affections:
 


 

And for the b-side, they did a cover of Yaz’s Only You, which is pretty great too:
 
Only You (Yaz Cover) by Army Navy
 

Finally, their fall tour starts tonight (9/26) in Los Angeles, at the Troubador. Check their listings and get out to see them if you can!

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Emma: Perfect Blue

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I’ve been kind of hibernating this month – getting used to the idea of having free time in the evenings is apparently a bit of a challenge for me – so my musical choices have been mellow.

Today I’d like to share Perfect Blue by Emma, which is the aural equivalent of a hot bubblebath and a big glass of wine:
 
Perfect Blue by Emma music
 
Emma is: Neil E Curtis, Luke Gregory, Will Moseley and Charlie Rusbridger; they are from North London; and you can listen to more of their tunes at their Soundcloud page.

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Video: Silicon Ballet, Sunglasses

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Silicon Ballet, I thought. Hmm. Perhaps there will be dancing robots! In tutus!

So I clicked on the link.

There were no dancing robots or tutus on the other end. Instead I was rewarded with some charming dreamy pop, plus adorable children in sunglasses and multiple varieties of super-hero costumes. Check it:

 

 

Silicon Ballet is Anne-Claude Dejasse (Violin), Aurélie Potty (Cello), Katia Raffay (Violin), Didier Soufnenguel (Electronics), Christophe Danthinne (Lead vocals), Antoni Severino (Bass guitar, vocals), David Diederen (Guitars, vocals) and Didier Dauvrin (Drums), they are from Belgium, and Sunglasses is from their debut EP Utopia, released in February 2012.

There is new music on the way; their second EP, to be called Slowly Slowly, is expected in early November.

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Seamus O’Muineachain, Away With The Fairies

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This is Away With the Fairies, the first song from Seamus O’Muineachain‘s new self-titled record.

O’Muineachain’s tunes are music for the life’s liminal spaces, like the glimmer of tiny lights on trees brightening the place where the grey buildings meet the grey skies or moments spent walking slowly through swirls already-falling copper leaves while enjoying the rising wind of an oncoming late summer storm.

And if there were sidhe wandering the streets of Manhattan, this is what they would listen to as they walked between worlds.
 

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August Video Challenge: Dan Keyes, Untitled

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While we’re on the subject of unGoogleable songs, here’s one more. The video doesn’t give a title, but I’d name it Find You Lost, Leave You Found essentially to distinguish it from all of the other songs that are called Who’s Going to Walk You Home?

The person singing is Dan Keyes, formerly of Young Love (dance-pop) and Recover (post-hardcore), now a songwriter/producer, and the performance is part 2 of a two part interview he did with Alexi Wasser from I’m Boy Crazy. I have watched both parts and all I’m going to say he is both extraordinarily patient and a very good sport about approximately everything.

I picked this video because I initially watched it out of morbid curiosity and then spent the half second between him hitting the last note and Wasser’s final comment feeling kind of stunned and lost. I don’t know what I was expecting but this song – this bright beautiful stiletto of a tune – was not it.

So I watched it again. And again. Every time I watch the video I have to watch it four times in a row. I am hoping someday it is actually released properly, just as it is, acoustic-style, because I think adding anything to it would ruin it.

I want to be able to take it to all of my favorite quiet, lonely places and spaces and times, like Coney Island when the air is cold and the beach is empty and the High Line in the snow.
 

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August Video Challenge: Oh Ginger, And So It Goes

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Oh Ginger is Lindsay Holler (Charleston SC) and Michael Hanf (New York NY), and together they sing sweet delicate beautiful songs. They have two EPs out so far, Oh! Ginger and [oh ginger] and a third one coming soon.

Here they are with And So It Goes, from Oh! Ginger: