Laura Marling/Sleepy Doug Shaw @ Housing Works Bookstore 06.14.11

After three years of fandom and many a failed attempt to see Ms. Laura Marling live, we finally did it on Tuesday night at a benefit show at Housing Works.  Cheep made the early arrival to guarantee us the best seats, front and center. After work, I met her and we snacked on Pret-A-Manger goodies as we waited for doors to open. We've been to Housing Works enough times to be in love with the place. Everything you buy, from the strangest book to their delicious chai lattes and muffins goes to benefit the homeless living with AIDS. The venue was truly perfect for Laura who performed, not coincidentally, in front of the "Rare & Unusual" stand of books.

Before her set, a self-declared jet-lagged Sleepy Doug Shaw, gave us a few songs. We hadn't heard him before but all we could say at the end was, "these Brits and their silky voices." He performed a cheeky cover of a song by a Sierra Leone artist despite his guitar having "airplane fevah" and it was "awesome" as some girl in the crowd reassured him it would be, since he seemed a bit nervous when he took the stage.

Seamlessly, Laura transitioned to the stage after a glowing introduction by Alan Light that made her blush a bit. He accurately called her "one of the best singer-songwriters of her generation." She looked down and fiddled with her guitar looking humbled in skinny jeans, white tee and sneakers, her blond hair untied and a bit wild... glowing. The bookstore was immediately silenced as she opened her completely acoustic set with "Rambling Man" and "Alpha Shallows," a few of my favorites from I Speak Because I Can. In between songs, the lady felt rude for having to tune her guitar so much, so the filler banter was kept to a minimum. She did manage to squeeze in a book recommendation, because she's dying to talk to someone about it, and kind words to those who chose to be there instead of the big Spider Man premiere with Bono, also happening that night. We laughed at that.

A few beer bottles clanked in the background but mostly, everyone seemed to be holding their breath, it was a impossible not to be when sitting so close to this gorgeous human being. She joked about not thinking her setlist through, "I hope you were not already sad." But tried to cheer us up by playing the theme song to Cinema Paradiso, which she half-mastered "bored" at the studio whilst recording her upcoming new album A Creature I Don't Know. A highlight for us was definitely getting a lot of those new songs, and it was hard not to tear up during "Night After Night."

Her voice is absolute goosebump business. Laura has a super calm stage presence, but she is like a rock getting thrown in a river, going from a tiny splash then rippling out into infinity with her voice. She wrapped the night with the amazing "I Speak Because I Can" and on the way out everyone finally exhaled, uplifted for what we had just seen, and a bit bummed we had to leave.

Amazing photos by Norlan Cruz here.
More videos, including her cover of "Blues Run The Game" here.

Handsome Furs/The Cinnamon Band @ The Bell House 04.14.11

Our night with the Handsome Furs could be described simply as concert nirvana. Everything in its right place. Nothing gone wrong. A night of magnificent firsts.

Despite being fans of the Furs for a long time, we hadn't been able to catch them live. Maybe it was because we had to wait until the perfect things aligned to make it a truly memorable show. It was our first show ever at The Bell House in Brooklyn and everyone from the bouncer to the bartenders and merch people were the kindest. We even snatched some essentials from the Village Voice newsletter reps (chapstick, earplugs, a pen and a koozie!). In impromptu fashion we decided to knock back a few beers, to (maybe?) keep us under control in the presence of Dan and Alexei, the coolest couple since Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, according to Cheep.

The Cinnamon Band, who had to fill in for Grimes at the last minute, did a great job with their set and we swayed in the back until the Furs came out and we made our way forward. We quickly befriended with a girl in front of us and when Alexei popped out for a quick gear check we did something we're usually against. Yelling stuff. It was all so laid back, it seemed alright, they kept talking to us and laughing. She kept holding her heart, mad grateful.

Honestly, this band is pure fucking love. You are in their presence and feel just how happy they are to be doing this, and in turn all they get is love and good vibes from everyone around. Not since dancing with The Flaming Lips  or going insane at Buraka Som Sistema, were we surrounded by such cool peeps who were there for the music, booty shaking and managed to have a good time without losing their humanity. Everyone was in the moment, but it stemmed from them being in the moment. After an amazing set which included newbie "What About Us" and one badass encore, the show was over. Like all incredible things, way too fast.

We hung around grinning like fools, ready to talk with Alexei who smelled like a magical ball of sweat, perfume and cigarettes. We hugged repeatedly. She broke into her Spanish like it was no thing with us after recognizing our Latinoness. Mi padre es cubano, she said. She agreed that her and Dan are like -- if not better than -- Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. She kissed and hugged us again, real hugs and real kisses the kind you lean into all the way. Yes, gushing love is all this recap is getting and a big thank you to the universe for the best night out at a show in forever. Fuck. Yes.

Queens of the Stone Age @ Terminal 5 3.25.11

Queen of the Stone Age by Andres Cortes

Spending weeks meditating on shaking booty to wicked guitar riffs, the potential awesomeness of hearing one of the best rock albums ever recorded and the million different kinds of hot Josh Homme was going to be, it all came down to one great night at Terminal 5 hosted by Queens of the Stone Age celebrating the re-release of their classic self-titled debut.

In hopes of getting a choice spot near the stage and nowhere near the ultra-violence of the pit, I braved the cold for 2 hours prior to doors in the line. While waiting for Snail a nice mutton-chopped young man named Joe engaged in conversation to fight the anxiety brought on by time's slow toll and the bitter freeze. In our short time together I learned he had never heard Queens of the Stone Age with the exception of "Mexicola" and came hoping to discover the rest of the album was as great. By door time, unfortunately we lost him to the masses and never saw him again, bummer.

Instead of hanging with a cool dude all night, we were by a few jerks meaning the stretch of time between coming inside and Queens of the Stone Age was going to feel like an eternity if we weren't into the opening band. And so we suffered. Not in the mood for the croak of the Dough Rollers' 50s blues rock revival, we stood there trying not to stare at the piercing red glow of the digital clock on the stage but failed miserably.

The clock crawled its way to 9pm, the band hit the stage donned in signature black to crank out the whole of Queens of the Stone Age. Watching these guys play you can't help but think requirements for being in QOTSA include the ability to make Joshua Homme and the audience horny as shit and light the stage on fire when you play because that's exactly what they did they were so tight.

Beautiful bastard Homme hammered through the set powered by his favorite endurance cocktail: vodka and cigarettes. When he wasn't killing us playing sweet riffs and gyrating that Elvis pelvis, he served some drunken comic relief at random intervals of the set: poking a bit of fun at the QOTSA newbs, telling dick jokes, heckling assholes, hitting on everyone and giving sage advice on the essence of cool. The always sharp Troy Van Leeuwen's fancy footwork overheated us, that man is way too classy. We geeked out for the win, happy our air-guitar skills matched -- however vaguely -- the way Homme and Troy played.

To our wonderful surprise, the guys didn't quit after the 45-minute or so length of their debut we got not one but two encore sets. The first included "Turnin' on the Screw," "Long Slow Goodbye," and "Little Sister." The second "Burn the Witch," "Make It Wit Chu," and "No One Knows." I've never been a huge fan of "No One Knows" but it made me really nostalgic for ever-shirtless low-end wonder Nick Oliveri :( All in all, however, the set was of epic epicness.

The only thing that matched it's greatness was Josh's gray guitar pick landing on Snail's cowl neck sweater. One sly move into her bra later, it was saved from the clueless, salivating front-row fanboys who looked down at the floor with sheer desperation wondering where it had gone. It's now safely stored until we open up our dream office. Pow!

Needless to say, our souls were rocked and p-control littered the floor. We danced and scared the jerks behind us with our hypersexual movements, as usual. In our rock show afterglow, we ran into a cast of characters -- some cool dudes who cracked us up mock-singing Justin Bieber's "Baby" and many a drunk person, including one man literally so bent out of shape we thought he had a disability and one poor dude who couldn't get a break almost losing his mandal and later narrowly escaping a slip on a banana peel -- and reveled in the hotness and happy accident that made our night.

The Radio Dept./Braids @ Bowery Ballroom 12.01.10

Our three-day concert rendezvous began on Wednesday night with The Radio Dept. at Bowery Ballroom. Cheep and I had been away from each other due to Thanksgiving business so our excitement to reunite was over the top! We got to Bowery five minutes after The Radio Dept. started their set --it seems like we either get to shows too early or mid first song a lá Ratatat. Oh, well...

An unexpected tackled-to-the-ground incident at the Delancey subway stop left our hearts racing and minds confused, so it took us a little while to calm our innards and grasp that we were at the show. Regardless, soon enough, we were swaying to the dreamy guitar work of the Swedish dudes, who we believe perfectly illustrate that some bands are a product of their environment (like Tame Impala).  The Radio Dept. sound like a marshmallow floating on your hot chocolate as a snowflake falls on the ground on a perfect winter evening.

Our only complaint is how quickly the set swooshed by, just like listening to their albums, you are left wanting more.  At home we can loop the records but live we didn't even get an encore. What up with that, boys?

- It was a sadness to be heading home before midnight without listening to "It's Personal." But a joy to get "The Worst Taste in Music."

- Two heartbreaks: Not to get their sweatshirt calling our names from the merch table. Mourning the loss of Cheep's favorite little black cardigan which was snatched away at some point.

- A surprise? We found a couple's PDA cute, instead of gross, this music is perfectly appropriate for make-out sessions.

Here's hoping that tomorrow Williamsburg treats us a lot better than Manhattan did tonight. Dear Universe, no more Liz-Lemon-gets-spit-in-her-mouth-by-a-homeless-moments, please.

Epic Moments: Accidental Stare Contest With Spencer Krug

Spencer Krug by Davoud D

When we went to see our first Wolf Parade show at Warsaw in Brooklyn on a beautiful-but-humid summer day back in 2007, our fangirling over this band was recent and we were incredibly psyched to see them live just months after discovering them. In true Cheep and Snail fashion we got to the venue way too early, early enough to see Spencer sitting at the bar being interviewed by 'some chick.' At Warsaw there's a little lobby/restaurant at the entrance with tables and chairs, and that is where Cheep and myself were hanging, ogling at the interview, 'he looks uncomfortable,' 'he doesn't like doing these things' blah, blah, blah we went on.

After the interview was over, he sat there enjoying a drink by himself, but of course our eyes must have been piercing his neck with our lazer-cat vision because he turned around and stared at ME in the eyes. In a matter of seconds I fell back on my chair, really really hard... if the chair hadn't been there I would have probably injured myself against the wall that held me when falling with my mouth in a gasp. Cheep took control and while still standing stared back at him and he looked away.

"Well you lost that stare contest," Cheep said as I hyperventilated out of his sight. We then proceeded to have a laugh attack like 16-year-olds.

Our unrecognizable little heads are going wild in the front row in this video for "I'll Believe In Anything". Our fangirldom for Wolf Parade still raging on 'til this day and we'll be catching them again this November at The Wellmont Theather. Woo!

Special note: We'd like to thank Mr. Davoud D. who let us use this photo for our anecdote. It would not have been the same without it! You can see this one and more of his awesome photography on his Flickr page.

The Flaming Lips/Oneida @ Central Park Summerstage 7.26.10

We spent the most perfect day of this summer on high watching the Flaming Lips, for the second time ever and this year, at Central Park.

The happenings:

-Watched our favorite film of the year Inception for the second time IMAX estyle  and ate Maoz for the first time prior to show.
-Got some primo spots where the sun and a big girl with too much make-up on killed our sight from one direction and Cooter and Thundercrotch's trailer trash sexual conduct killed it from another. Our ears also took a hit with annoying guy scratching a balloon for what felt like an hour.
-Oneida was cool but got monotonous after a while. The drummer was hot and had amazing energy.
-The smokers around us made Mozzy nauseous causing us to move back for the Lips. Moz felt bad for making us lose our good spots but really it was no biggie. We had our glory at our first FL show and now we could experience the show from yet another perspective.

We ended up standing in decent enough spots further back with decent enough people including older yuppie stoners and next to a sweet dude who was so super pumped to be there and his cute girlfriend. Overall, It was one of the best crowds we've experienced this year so far, just very happy people singing along to their favorite music.

Once again we were filled with overwhelming happiness. It was only natural for Wayne and Co. are pros at making people endlessly happy. Once again I couldn't sing "Do You Realize?!" because I was choked up so bad. Once again we felt grateful to be alive and as privileged to live near such a beautiful city and see amazing bands play live like it ain't no thing.

Massive Attack @ Terminal 5 05.11.10

Massive Attack by Ryan Muir

It happened. Cheep bought Massive Attack tickets on a whim and we went to see them at their first date in NYC at the awful Terminal 5. It certainly makes me feel like a jerky, bitter old lady to complain about venues but we must get out of the way that T5 doesn’t always sound the best in comparison to getting spoiled by the sound engulfment that are little venues like Bowery Ballroom and MHOW. Regardless, we danced, we endured the little annoyances of being semi-close and we loved it!

It was my first time seeing them and Cheep’s second. Our bestie Mr. Amaral also joined the drool party over Robert del Naja and Daddy G and the slew of awesome happening on that stage. Their light show and quote overload really guaranteed elation. I was seriously hoping for Tunde Adebimpe to show up and sing one of my favorites from Heligoland, ‘Pray for Rain’ but it didn’t happen… maybe next time.

The Flaming Lips/Stardeath & White Dwarfs @ The Wellmont Theater 4.19.10

Cheep is here! Pic stolen can't remember from where (sorry!)

On this chilly April afternoon we arrived at the Wellmont to see super freak Lips fans, some dressed up in costumes others not, gearing up for the most enchanting rock show known to man.

On our way to a store to buy snacks before hitting the line, we got to hear a bit of soundcheck and that got us pretty pee-in-our pants pumped about the whole deal. When we got in line officially, Steven Drozd came out and chatted up with the super freaks. My nerves got the best of me, though, I mustered up the courage too late and never got to talk/hug to the love of my life. Already the day had been tainted with regret. Everyone from the band came out to the line next to which their tour bus was conveniently parked and chatted up with anyone who wanted to talk to them.

After 2-3 hours of waiting, we got in FIRST ROW faces lit up like Christmas as we saw the stage setup, particularly Wayne Coyne's giant hands. WE WERE FINALLY HERE! I was very antsy and thinking a lot. I wanted the show to start, hoped Stardeath and White Dwarfs were awesome (they were).

Snail and I talked about I hope they didn’t pick people at random to dance on stage with the Flaming Lips because I hated being up there. Then the band's awesome roadie offered us passes to dance on stage. Neither of us are the kind of ladies who would ask for a pass to dance up there. Not that there is anything wrong with those who do, but it is not our personality. We like to be on the sidelines, going insane, inward but never on the center of all the attention. In the spirit of letting it out in oh-ten and no regret, we caved, took the passes and dancers we were to become after Stardeath's set.

Soon enough we joined the other lucky fans backstage put orange costumes on over our clothes, had a small pow-wow about the do's and don'ts of dancing with the Lips onstage. While I was waiting to use the toilet saw their dressing room, heard Wayne exclaim "Son of a bitch!" and saw Michael Ivins coming in and out. After Wayne gave us a pep talk everyone was pumped and we marched to stage left with other ladies, some of which were seasoned dancers already and other newbies and besties like us, and danced our buns off all night!

Although at first we were nervous, all that melted into overwhelming inexplicable happiness. Being onstage was exhilarating. Seeing the crowd's reaction to the band was surreal. There is no explanation. The experience is very different than being in the crowd. You don't hear everything as awesome but you get to see people's faces including our Morrissey's permasmile, and just feel collective joy in a whole other way.

The evening was completely ridiculous. Wayne rolling out in his bubble, giant balloons, ashit ton of confetti! All I thought was "This is really happening!" Me and Snail were on stage with the Flaming Lips the first time we're seeing them, WHAAAAT?! The baby-so-happy-it-looks-like-its-going-to-explode kind of excitement we were feeling was so that we hugged during mid-set.

We were on the verge of tearing from happiness the whole show. My time came during "Do You Realize?" I couldn't even sing the song I was so choked up. Snail almost cried when Wayne made everyone hold up their peace signs. Now that we know that a "mudra" or hand gesture has incredible power, it was easy to look past the cheesy connotation it’s been given. It felt as if we were all accomplices sending love out into the world!

Other highlights included: Snail squealing "OMG I love you" to Steven and Wayne as we exited the stage plus a "Thank You" from Steven and my nose getting skimmed by Steven every time he walked backstage, le sigh! haha.

At the end we got some trippy shirts and got to meet and hug Wayne super tight. He was as kind and as beautiful a person as always. Facts is facts: Wayne Coyne is the purest being in rock n' roll. He talks to his fans like he has known them his whole life and THANKS them for being freaks along with him. FUCK YEAH FOREVER!

The bliss felt during Flaming Lips shows needs to be experienced for there is nothing like it in music. At their show, you feel like you can do anything! You're just surrounded by the truth: love, positivity and that childhood wonder that's sanded away by conditioning. No fear, no judgment, no violence NO EGO just a bunch of happy hippie-hearted people rocking out like nuts. I was pretty stoked to be part of it all with some of my best friends.

Setlist + quality pics at BrooklynVegan

Liars/Fol Chen @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 4.18.10

Liars via The Owl Mag

For a Sunday night, Williamsburg was suspiciously happening. People already drunk and wandering by 6pm, ah life in the big city.

After arriving early from a nice dinner at Bite with some good friends, the Terrible Three walked through the hipster-filled Bedford Ave. to kill time before the show. The cold night made us call it quits so we headed to the venue and were one of the first ones there, as usual.  Our early-bird syndrome resulted in us snagging primo mosh-safe area by the rails. Liars' shows are usually fucking crazy, being on the floor may have equaled us getting squished...potentially losing shoes or limbs so we were stoked on these spots.

LA band Fol Chen opened. They're the kind of band that sounds better live than on record. Unfortunately, their singer ruins the band like that one guy from Silversun Pickups ruins them.
When Liars came out, as predicted, people got pumped and became progressively moshy. We admired the madness comfortably rocking out from the sidelines. That is, when we weren’t swooning over the band on stage.

Singer Angus Andrew was endearingly tall and awkward, dancing and contorting and pumping the crazies up. Multi-instrumentalist Aaron Hemphill so unassuming, who knew such pawnk rockness would exude from such pleated khakis? haha. My love for drummer Julian Gross blossomed just watching that man work...so fast!

The set, though badass, was less than two hours and left us hungry for more. They played mostly tracks from Sisterworld, including favorites "Scissor" and "No Barrier Fun." I was bummed they didn't sneak "Mr. You're On Fire, Mr." in but it's understandable since it sounds like nothing they've released since.
Since we don’t listen to the band on the regular, we were worried about not having as much fun at this gig. I don’t necessary know all the lyrics and Snail thought she never assimilated anything any of the times she listened to them (she had). All that worrying was for nothing because it ruled hard all the same. Like Snail said, anyone who loves music as hard as we do could have loved that show even if it was their first time listening to them. Yes, it ruled that hard. It ruled so hard we want to do it again, and again and again.

The band recorded this show for a live album you can purchase here.
Watch more videos from the show here

Depeche Mode @ Madison Square Garden 08.04.09

Photo by w!L

Still not quite believing Depeche Mode happened in my life. Seems like something out of my imagination, maybe because we just waltzed inside Madison Square Garden without having to strategically plan our spots, breakfast and such antics as to when one is attending an outdoor festival. Their first show in the city was packed and Cheep and yours truly got to be there with two other great friends. We had a lateral view but managed to get closer due to empty seats (and weak security).

The whole thing was amazing, Dave Gahan’s moves made us feel wrong inside, and I kept thinking about how he must feel… just one person feeding off so much energy from such a huge crowd all thinking about him. However, other than the obvious thrill of hearing some of my favorite songs live I was mostly floored by the following poem by Persian poet Hafiz, which was displayed in the huge screens during “Precious,” I particularly find the line breaks brilliant. A few days after the show, I had the urge to go investigate more about Hafiz and found “The Gift” at a Barnes & Noble near work. As corny as it may sound, this book is the biggest gift from attending Depeche, the following poem is just one of the many gems inside that book translated by Daniel Ladinsky after Hafiz appeared to him in a dream and told him to do so, you just can’t ignore such an order now, can you?

If you wish, read the full poem here.