Day 3 of Sasquatch! 2018 brought many surprises, including a widely celebrated mid-day set from Charly Bliss at the Yeti stage. We are smitten, and have some fun live shots to prove it.
Keep up with Charly Bliss here.
As though Perfume Genius hadn’t already been phenomenal at, um, every show they’ve ever played, at Sasquatch! they had to have a gorge as a backdrop. Hello, amazing.
Keep up with Perfume Genius here.
Even though we tend to see White Reaper every time they’re in town, we also have a love affair of seeing them while we’re out of town as well. Take SXSW 2017, for example, when some of our staff hosted a showcase that featured these charming young men. Now, we’ve seen them in the bright sunshine at Sasquatch! Music Festival 2018, perhaps the best performance we’ve ever witnessed from the quintet.
Keep up with White Reaper here.
Seasoned blues rock outfit The Steepwater Band played the Winter Blues Fest in Des Moines on February 10. The Chicago band will open for Bon Jovi on two dates later this month.
On April 10th, Missio made a colorful and enigmatic appearance at recordBar, with support from the phenomenal Morgan Saint. Here are a few photos from the evening.
On March 8th, Nada Surf made an spectacular appearance at Brooklyn Steel on the right coast. Photographer Christie McMenamin was on hand to nab some gorgeous shots for us.
Mt. Joy made its Kansas City debut last night at The Riot Room. The LA/Philadelphia alternative band filled up the Westport venue bar on the beginning of its spring tour. Opening acts included local singer Chloe Jacobson and rocker Olivia Jean.
Concert goers travelled from all over, including a few members of lead singer Matt Quinn’s family who trekked from their hometown three hours away. Now, less than two weeks after debuting its self-titled album, Mt. Joy is no stranger to drawing and playing for the masses with a solid setlist consisting of now 15 songs, thanks to the new album. Songs like “Astrovan” and “Silver Lining” mix the setlist with new and old tracks.
Fresh off playing 10 shows at SXSW in just a few days, it won’t take long before the rest of the Spring 2018 tour sells out clubs and theatres all over the United States.
This band is hungry and excited to see what comes next the tour continues through the end of May. “Mt. Joy” features 13 songs with deep lyrics and meanings. Find it on your favorite streaming service.
**Photos and writeup by Ashleigh Lee
When Phoebe Bridgers announced a tour date at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, it sold out. So she added another. And that sold out, too.
At just 23 years old, Bridgers released her first record, Stranger in the Alps, in September of 2017 to critical acclaim. Musicians such as Ryan Adams, Conor Oberst, and Julien Baker have sung her praises; Adams produced Bridgers’ EP, Killer, which preceded Stranger. Oberst has brought her out on tour with him, as has Baker. Oberst also sings on “Would You Rather,” a track on Stranger that Bridgers wrote about her brother.
Despite such preeminent musical relationships and accolades, Bridgers stands on her own. Her soft, expressive voice can hush a crowded room. Her lyrics, revealing an introspection well beyond her years, can bring listeners to tears. There’s an innate intimacy to Bridgers’ work, a seemingly effortless evocation of raw human emotion. She has an inexplicable ability to connect with others in a way that most artists don’t, one that seamlessly translated from Stranger into her live performance.
The stage was dimly lit save for a string of yellow lights wrapped around Bridgers’ mic stand, often giving her face the appearance of a soft glow, a sharp contrast to the dark of the room. As she began her set with “Smoke Signals,” the audience burst into thunderous applause, welcoming her to Brooklyn before immediately quieting, a note they would hold for the rest of the evening.
The show was momentous: during “Would You Rather,” surprise guest Conor Oberst delighted the crowd by joining Bridgers. It was also drummer Marshall Vore’s birthday, and he was given a cupcake with a single lit candle and a joint chorus of “Happy Birthday.” The end of the night, however, was undoubtedly the best: at the end of “Motion Sickness,” Bridgers’ most musically upbeat song, massive black balloons filled with confetti were thrown into the audience to cheers. The penultimate song prior to the encore, “Scott Street,” immediately followed, and Bridgers was joined once again by Oberst, as well as openers Soccer Mommy.
In-between sharing a mic with Bridgers, Oberst set himself to work lobbing balloons off the stage and into the expectant crowd, who eagerly batted them around. As the balloons often managed to make their way back to the stage, Oberst continued to promptly pick them up and hurl them back, playing a reciprocal game of catch-and-release that went on throughout the majority of the song.
After everyone exited the stage, Bridgers and Vore then sang “You Missed My Heart,” by Mark Kozelek, a heartrending cover that appears on Stranger. Bridgers sank onto the floor of the stage holding a microphone as her vocals and Vore’s harmonies soared in their own still way. All the chaos and noise of the prior song was suddenly forgotten and the audience found themselves suddenly muted and rapt.
For the encore, Bridgers covered Sheryl Crow’s “If It Makes You Happy” as the entire audience sang along. Making their reappearance was Oberst and Soccer Mommy, providing a triumphant end to an incredible night.
Last night in New York City on a balmy 70 degree February evening Storytown played a stripped down acoustic set at Manhattan venue The Bowery Electric. The group who usually plays with a full four piece set up reduced the size without reducing the sound, performing an intimate set with only an acoustic guitar and acoustic bass. The set felt honest and personal. Guy Story – the guitarist and vocalist – led us into the songs with a memory, anecdote, or a frame of reference about how the music came to be.
The band have a unique sound in the modern Indie Rock climate. Picture David Byrne and Michael Stipe recording an album together with modern day world issues and modern production technology. If you can mentally piece that together you might have a good idea where Storytown’s sound begins. Storytown will be releasing an album later this year.
Keep an eye out via Facebook and Soundcloud.
