Foals wrapped up their 2022 ‘Life Is Yours’ Tour this past weekend with a handful of shows in the Northeast. The band passed through NYC’s Terminal 5 on Friday, December 16th for a raucous, capacity show, celebrating their return to the city after nearly four years. Foals have consistently been on of the best live rock bands over the last decade, and successfully harness that live energy into their studio records. No exception to rule was their seventh LP, Life Is Yours, released this past June.
Foals thrive on the live stage, and draw out a crowd eager to dance and sing along as they cruise through a tight 90 minute, career-spanning set. Even though the band leaned heavily into Life Is Yours, the older tracks fit in seamlessly because they have always stayed true to their blend of indie and alternate rock. Intricate layers of guitar arpeggios and vocal melodies soar over the crowd all backed by groovy rhythms perfect for a dance floor. The show opened with Life Is Yours single “Wake Me Up,” which saw it’s debut just over a year ago in 2021. The main set ended with an epic performance of “Mountain at My Gates” off 2015s What Went Down, followed by an encore of “Inhaler” and one of the band’s oldest and most beloved songs, “Two Steps, Twice”.
The current tour concluded this weekend with a final show in Portland, Maine. Foals takes a few months off before making a few stops in the UK ahead of a big run of shows opening Paramore’s upcoming tour. Head over to the band’s website for a full list of shows, and check out the photo gallery from the show this weekend at Terminal 5 below.
The 2023 Scarsdale Music Festival will take place on June 3, 2023, at the Scarsdale Village. This is the third annual event, and they are excited to announce another edition of the beloved festival.
The Scarsdale Music Festival is a family-friendly event that brings together people of all ages to celebrate their love of music, food, and community. Bands from Scarsdale as well as from the greater Westchester County and New York metropolitan areas will perform throughout the day on one of two main stages. They are also beginning an expanded regional talent search to welcome new sounds and new followers to the downtown area. Bands who are interested in performing at the festival can fill out this form to be considered.
Restaurants in the downtown area will open their doors, and a variety of food trucks and other food vendors will line the streets. For those 21 and over, there will be a ZACHYS wine-tasting experience in addition to craft beer and spirits tastings. There will be an expanded family fun zone, with balloon artists, face painters, arts and crafts, games, musical demonstrations, family activities, and much more!
A portion of the Scarsdale Music Festival ticket proceeds will go to the Center for Cancer Care at White Plains Hospital, which will assist the center with funding third-party transportation for better access to appointments and provide specialized staff as “patient navigators” to assist in understanding the cancer treatment process. For more information about the festival, go here.
Doeke (Jorn Swart), a New York-based neo-classical pianist delivers a great deal on his new album Herinner – he is at times poignant, elegant, delicate, intricate, and vulnerable in this continued exploration of his signature dreamy and gentle piano playing style.
With these sonic reflection of stories from the past, present, and future, the album is all about nostalgia, home, and the strange details remembered from childhood, the music transporting the listener to another time and place.
Doeke was my grandfather’s first name. He played the accordion, which inspired me to pick up that instrument as a kid, and later led me to the piano. All the song titles are in Dutch, and many of the compositions are inspired by memories from the Netherlands.
Doeke (Jorn Swart)
Doeke is shaped by a desire to return to simplicity, with Swart’s piano compositions inviting listeners from all over the world to feel a nostalgia that is both melancholic and comforting. Swart moved to the USA in 2010 as a Fulbright Scholar to pursue a master’s degree in jazz piano in New York City, where he’s been living and performing ever since.
Throughout his career, Swart has been busy not only as a composer and a piano soloist, but also as a bandleader, musical director, and recording artist for other musicians. As he built his name, touring throughout the USA and in Europe and garnering international acclaim, audiences told him that his work sounded like it was telling a story. With Doeke, he leans into this quality, with music that has a narrative and the emotional attributes of a film score.
You know how a certain smell can suddenly evoke something that happened a long time ago, something you thought you’d forgotten, and you become instantly overcome with the same feeling you had back then? Music can also send you on these fleeting time travels and the songs on this album capture such transient visceral experiences. Though these recollections are deeply personal for me, music can transcend this and transform the particular into the universal.
Music allows us to collectively experience the most powerful human states of being — nostalgia, joy, melancholy, reflection, excitement — and take comfort in knowing we all feel this way sometimes. Herinner is about these little moments that can seem insignificant, but still endure. It invites the listeners to join and embrace the nostalgic.
Doeke (Jorn Swart)
Herinner is available for streaming on various platforms here.
The 19 annual Hank-O-Rama festival, celebrating the musical life of Hank Williams, will be held at Bowery Electric on New Year’s Day.
Hank Williams will be celebrated 70 years after his death at the Hank-O-Rama show. Williams is regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century. He recorded 55 singles that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 12 that reached No. 1.
Hank Williams was just 29 when he was found dead in the back seat of his Cadillac on the morning of Jan. 1, 1953, in Oak Hill, WV, en route to a New Year’s Day gig in Canton, Ohio. The Hank-O-Rama celebration is a symbolic rain date for the last show Williams would ever miss.
The show features more than 30 of Williams’s hits and rarities, including “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Hey, Good Lookin’,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” and many others, performed live by recording artists The Lonesome Prairie Dogs. The show features Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith) on pedal steel guitar, with an opening set by New York Country luminary Alex Battles, and host, country favorite Linda “Lindy Loo” Hill.
Other special guests are stars of the NYC & Brooklyn country scene, including Tammy Faye Starlite, Jack Grace, Sean Kershaw, Cliff Westfall, The Lonesome Horns featuring Jordan McLean & Billy Aukstik, and more. Everyone will be gathered together to celebrate the extraordinary life of Hank Williams, who died tragically young.
The 19 annual Hank-O-Rama celebration will be happening at Bowery Electric on Jan. 1, and tickets are on sale now.
The network of original artists on Long Island have brought me from dive bars to aspiring stars. Sam Woolf is a young man with the courage of his convictions. When faced with the pressure to be reinvented to suit the market, Sam chose to stay true to his art.
Intrigued by two recent guests on The Long Island Sound podcast , brothers Como, Andrew and Matt, I was introduced to Sam Woolf. The Como Brothers collaborated with Sam Woolf, and I was impressed both with the original songs and vocal accompaniment. A particular jem is “Give a Little Love”
Sam Woolf & Como Brothers, Andrew and Matt
American Idol Competition
At the age of seventeen Sam Woolf, through the encouragement of his mother, took a chance at an audition for American Idol back in 2014. As an uneasy teen with little to no live performance experience, Sam Woolf got the golden ticket to Hollywood to perform on American Idol. He made all the way to the number five spot in the contest. When I asked Sam about the scrutiny on national television, he has this to say:
… I had really no experience performing live,… no real experience performing in front of an audience. So that that part was like, I just kind of had to muster up the courage and just be like, I gotta do this
Sam Woolf
2014 Sam Woolf on American Idol
American Idol judge Keith Urban was impressed with Sam’s perfect pitch as he performed Ed Sheeran’s Lego House during auditions. Woolf climbed to the number five spot before elimination. What intrigued me was his determination to retain his identity as an independent singer/songwriter. When the American Idol team wanted to transform Sam into some sort of a teen idol, this is how he responded:
Yeah, I certainly was going against it. Because that was the bubble they put me in. The heartthrob, which is how they labeled it… I don’t want to be the heartthrob. Come on, I’m just trying to be that indie singer songwriter
Sam Woolf
A Decade Later
It’s been a decade since Sam competed on National Television, and he has recently moved to New York City to continue with his music career. He’s opened for Jefferson Starship, War and the Doobie Brothers. He stays in touch with Alex Preston and Caleb Johnson who were contestants with him on American Idol. In January he’ll be releasing a new song called, “Worst Thing” and this is what he said about the new release:
It’s called “Worst Thing “, to me, it’s my favorite song, I think, the most honest song I’ve ever written. And I hope people can relate with it in some way, or they could connect with it.
Sam Woolf
Now that Sam has settled in New York, I’m excited to see where he pops up next. I’m sure there will be more collaborations and great music in this guy’s future. If you’d like to hear the rest of the conversation with Sam, check out his episode on The Long Island Sound Podcast.
The Paramount, a club located in Huntington, Long Island, has been named the number-one club venue worldwide by Pollstar Magazine.
The Paramount, photo by Amy Vivinetto.
Pollstar Magazine is one of the leading concert and live music industry magazines, and announced that The Paramount raked in the majority of ticket sales compared to other clubs worldwide in 2022, making over $10.5 million this year in tickets. The venue has been steadily climbing the charts at Pollstar, cracking the Top 15 in 2014, and the Top 5 in 2017.
The Paramount opened in late 2011, led by the vision of owners Dominick Catoggio, Jim Condron, Brian Doyle, and Stephen Ubertini. They designed the building from a restored 1927 vaudeville theater and transformed it into what it is today, a brick and steel space that fits comfortably in downtown NYC. In a joint statement, the owners said they were “humbled… and proud,” and that “our success is all in part to our amazing fans who continue to support our vision.”
There have been many iconic artists who have graced the stage at The Paramount, with its initial success coming from a performance by Billy Joel followed by a surprise show with Ed Sheeran, who said that The Paramount was his favorite venue. Over the decade since its opening, artists like Twenty One Pilots, Blondie, Camila Cabello, Halsey, BB King, Jane’s Addiction, Pitbull, Judas Priest, Limp Bizkit, and Mac Miller have performed there.
The Paramount hosts over 200 events each year, from comedy to music to even family shows. There is a little bit of something for everyone at the venue, which is why it fits with the title of the number one club in the world. To see what shows are coming up, and to keep up to date with new shows in 2023, go here.
The Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden, originally scheduled for Monday, December 19, has been postponed until June 2, 2023.
In a statement from Billy Joel’s spokesperson, a viral infection that affected his vocals was the cause of the postponement.
Billy Joel is under strict doctor’s orders for vocal rest due to a viral infection and as a result, his concert scheduled for Monday, December 19th at Madison Square Garden is postponed to Friday, June 2nd. We understand the inconvenience this causes everyone who purchased tickets, and we apologize for this unexpected circumstance.
On Facebook, Billy said to fans, “I’m disappointed to share that I’m under doctor’s orders for vocal rest due to a viral infection so unfortunately, I must postpone my Monday, December 19th concert at Madison Square Garden to June. I’m so sorry to let you know so close to show day, but I was hoping to be closer to a full recovery by now. Sadly, that hasn’t happened. I look forward to seeing you in the New Year.”
All tickets purchased for the December 19, 2022 concert will be honored on Friday, June 2, 2023 and will not need to be exchanged. However, the June 2nd performance is subject to change if it conflicts with a Knicks playoff game. For more information, please visit msg.com.
Billy Joel will next perform at Madison Square Garden on January 13, 2023, making this Friday the 13th Joel’s 86th consecutive monthly show, and 132nd lifetime at The World’s Most Famous Arena.
In December 2013, Billy Joel was named Madison Square Garden’s first-ever music franchise, joining the ranks of the storied venue’s other original franchises – the New York Knicks and New York Rangers. The record-breaking residency began in January 2014 with Joel playing one show every month at The Garden, “as long as the demand continues,” says Joel.
Billy Joel is one of the biggest concert draws in the world, selling out arenas and stadiums across the globe. Having sold 150 million records over the past quarter century and scoring 33 consecutive Top 40 hits, Joel ranks as one of the most popular recording artists and respected entertainers in history. The singer/songwriter/composer is the sixth best-selling recording artist of all time and the third best-selling solo artist. In 2016, the Library of Congress selected “Piano Man” for preservation in the National Recording Registry for its “cultural, historic, and artistic significance.”
Joel received The Kennedy Center Honors, one of the United States’ top cultural awards, in December 2013. He is also the recipient of six GRAMMY® Awards, including the prestigious Grammy Legend Award. Joel has been inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has received numerous industry awards including a TONY AWARD for “Movin’ Out,” a Broadway musical based on Joel’s music. For his accomplishments as a musician and as a humanitarian, Joel was honored as the 2002 MusiCares Person Of The Year by the MusiCares Foundation and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.
The Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live brought together Elvis (Austin Butler) and Lizzo for a remarkable show that saw long-time cast member Cecily Strong bidding the late-night institution farewell. Lizzo filled in for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who were originally scheduled to perform, but had to back out due to illness.
The cold open was a send up of an NFT scam put forth by the 45th president this past week, played much more comically than Alec Baldwin by James Austin Johnson.
Butler’s monologue recalled that the 2021 Christmas episode was mostly cast-free due to surging COVID infection rates. Butler spoke about growing up in Anaheim, CA, being home schooled by his mom, alongside his sister (who he wished a happy birthday to in the balcony). Talking about how his mother helped him break out of his shell of shyness, and how they watched Saturday Night Live together, Butler teared up in paying tribute to her memory and credited his acting career to her. Austin Butler made his Broadway debut in the 2018 revival of The Iceman Cometh and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Elvis.
Sketches including a rip-off of Wheel of Fortune “The Phrase That Pays” was a deeply weird SNL game show concept, as was the the It’s a Wonderful Life spoof “A Christmas Epiphany,” where the viewpoint of an ideal family inside a house being observed by a voyeur was a fresh twist on the holiday classic.
On the rise featured player Sarah Sherman made a stand out appearance as Jewish Elvis, with Austin Butler in the front row in drag as one of the old women who get overly-stimulated by the Semetic singer.
Lizzo, who hosted in April, performed her first song “Break Up Twice” with a setting paying homage to artist Annie Lee’s Blue Monday. Lizzo, in white negligee, is seen sitting on the edge of the bed, having just woken up, exhausted but ready to press ahead with the day. Then, belting out the seventh track on her 2022 release Special, Lizzo stepped forward to reveal the full band, singing about a man who left her in tears but whom she does not want to leave, referencing her relationship with Myke Wright.
“Break Up Twice” had Lizzo singing direct to the camera and lit in white while the band was lit in blue, with notable samples of “Doo Wop (That Thing)” by Lauryn Hill and Judy Clay and William Bell’s “Private Number” found throughout.
Weekend Update saw the final appearance for Cecily Strong’s desheveled Cathy Anne, who joked about having to go to prison. Making slightly-cringe conversation with Michael Che, Cathy Anne switched back to Cecily Strong, breaking character to say, “I had a lot of fun here and I feel really lucky that I got to have so many of the best moments of my life in this place with these people that I love so much.”
Lizzo’s second performance found her covering Stevie Wonder’s 1967 holiday classic “Someday at Christmas,” dressed in a half silver, half gold angel dress, wrapped up like a shiny gift. The track is among those featured on Amazon Music, with musicians offering classic covers of Christmas songs. Lizzo said of the song “I chose to cover ‘Someday At Christmas’ not just because it’s a classic, but because it’s a reminder to us that almost 60 years later, we are still fighting for peace, compassion, and equality, a friendly reminder to spread love and kindness this holiday season.”
For the finale, Kenan Thompson (as Frank Lasagna) introduced Cecily on her last day working at Radio Shack, noting her 11 year run and giving a heartfelt ode to her longevity on the show, fitting, coming from the show’s longest running cast member.
Butler then appeared as “Casual Elvis” to serenade Strong with Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas” as Strong smiled and choked up, with Thompson’s final lyrics altered to “You’ll be doing alright, every saturday night” for the finale, as the cast joined in on stage for the end of the tribute.
Mad Meg is most likely the smallest international band you’ve never heard of. Their new album “Who Deserves Balloons and Medals?” released Nov. 3 and has since been featured as album of the week on radio stations ranging from Mexico to Germany.
They’ve also toured Eastern Europe, even playing and recording an album in a Lithuanian prison for women. (They got a standing ovation from the prisoners.) The band will have a residency at New Nublu 151 in NYC starting early 2023 as well.
The band members of Mad Meg, posing for a photo shoot. From left to right: Jason Laney, Dan Veksler, Ilya Popenko, Ruslan Baimurzin, Igor Reznik
A self-described “punk crooner noir band, the group is composed of lead vocalist Ilya Popenko, bassist Igor Reznik, keyboardist Jason Laney, guitarist Dan Veksler and drummer Ruslan Baimurzin. If the names didn’t give it away, four of the five members come from countries that were a part of the former Soviet Union, except for outlier Laney, who grew up in Texas.
Through a mixture of fate, all five musicians found themselves working and gigging in NYC and through one way or another joined Mad Meg. While members have rotated over the band’s ten year tenure, Popenko has been the continual face of the band. Under his guiding hand, the current group – which has been together since 2016 – has developed their signature sound, a mix of rock, jazz, cabaret and dark comedy.
Ryan Bieber, contributing writer for NYS Music sat down with all five members of the band to discuss Mad Meg’s recent album and creative process.
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Ryan Bieber: You have a very unique style, which you’ve described as “punk crooner noir.” How would you describe that and the sounds that your band creates?
Dan Veksler: Punk is a sort of the general name for a kind of attitude toward life: this kind of simplistic and very rough, you know, stupid, uncouth way of going about tackling enormous issues.
Igor Reznik: And I think noir is a reference to the kind of film that I think can be imagined when listening to the stuff.
Ilya Popenko: We keep changing our style and the name of the style, because it keeps evolving.
Bieber: And what draws all of you to combine genres in such a way, what do you find interesting about that aspect?
Jason Laney: “We all come from very different places, musically. I think everyone here has an artist that they love that somebody else in this band hates with a fiery passion. It’s taking all of those different strains and getting to a place where all of us can be happy. If we can please the six people in this room, hopefully somebody else will like it.
Ruslan Baimurzin: This is the beauty of it, you know, because each of us represents the genre we like. It’s Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits … Each of us was inspired by different bands. When we started making music, we tried to satisfy each of us at the same time.
Veksler: You know we don’t set out saying “Let’s make the song in this style or let’s mix these things.” We just play and this happens.
Mad Meg’s second studio album “Who Deserves Balloons and Medals?” released Nov. 3
Bieber: And so when it comes to the actual songwriting process and creating songs on the album, what does it usually look like? Is Ilya coming up with vocals first? Or is someone coming up with a melody on one of the instruments? And how does it go from there?
Popenko: Well, I usually write a song on a guitar and record that demo, either with just a guitar or some rudimentary arrangements. Then the guys, they take it apart, and each one comes up with their own lines.
Reznik: And then I scream somewhere in the song usually. There’s like a cherry on top.
Popenko: And just playing it live, that’s what kind of solidified it, because we don’t go immediately into the studio. It takes us a couple of years of running the songs in front of large live audiences to get it to the place that we want to record.
Reznik: We usually record most of our tracks live. That has been the tendency of the core of the band. And then maybe we put finishing touches, maybe add some tracks on the end.
Bieber: And when it came to making this album, when did you start to realize you had an album on your hands? Was there a particular moment where you were like, ‘Okay, let’s go with this,” or was it just from touring live a bunch that you came up with a solid set of songs?
Laney: This was our pandemic record. So we actually didn’t tour at least some of the material. I don’t think beforehand.
Popenko: It wasn’t like a moment but at some point, it just felt like the right time to kind of put them together because they felt like they were part of one bigger product. This album as opposed to some of our other records is the most conceptually solid one. Like some of the other ones that feels like a pile up of different songs and this feels like a finished product.
Bieber: While your songs can be dark, your lyrics are often tinged with comedy and irony. For instance, one of the tracks “Beyond Repair” tells the story of a broken robot begging its owner to be thrown away
Popenko: Definitely. In fact if something is written without using any type of humor and is supposed to be a serious song, I don’t perceive it as such. I’m suspicious of something overly serious. If a serious subject has some humor in it, it becomes approachable and believable to me.
“Who Deserves Balloons and Medals?” is Mad Meg’s second studio album
Bieber: The album also features a cover of the song “Jolene,” originally by Dolly Parton. How was that decided to be the song that you would all cover?
Laney: It was contentious. There was talk as to whether or not it would even be on the album.
Veksler: It does have a chord progression that is sort of reminiscent of an Eastern European kind of thing, which is not an intuitive thing to think of that song, but it’s true. And I think that probably has something to do with Ilya’s desire to do that one.
Reznik: I think we played Jolene for a while and went through a lot of different versions.
Popenko: Yeah and you can just jam on it forever. And that’s what we did. I think for several of us, the clincher finally to keep it on the record was when Alex [Dreyshner] added throat singing vocals. For me, that’s what put the song in a category where it was really original, even though it’s a song that has been covered many times by many people.
Bieber: What is the meaning behind the album’s name, “Who Deserves Balloons and Medals?”
Popenko: It comes from a song by the band, the Blind Boys of Alabama. “Who Deserves Balloons and Medals” is about you wanting credit for something you’re doing but no one’s going to give it to you but yourself.
Bieber: And even though the question appears largely rhetorical, does your band deserve balloons and medals in your opinion?
The hit Latin band, Bacilos, featuring Jorge Villamizar and André Lopes, have announced their first tour in the United States since 2004. Produced by Live Nation, the nine-city — Back in the USA ‘23 — tour kicks-off on April 27, 2023 at North Beach Bandshell in Miami, FL, and will make stops in Orlando, Atlanta, Houston, Boston and New York‘s own Irving Plaza on May 12, before wrapping up in Chicago, IL at House of Blues on May 14.
Bacilos’ first tour in the U.S. in 19 years will make a stop at Irving Plaza in New York City on Friday, May 12, 2023.
When curating their set the duo decided to give an exciting spin to their classic records while bringing sensational new material into their performance. In addition to Villamizar and Lopes, Bacilos will be accompanied by their high-caliber band. Moreover, having performed across Latin America to huge crowds with immense success, Bacilos’ show is representative of their vibrancy and impact-fulness as critical trendsetters in modern Latin Pop music.
This past year, Bacilos released new classic songs and collaborations with Latin America’s most outstanding young artists. Their music has reached around 22 million people around the globe, reaching up to 180 countries. In addition, with more than 1 million creations, Caraluna — the tittle of their Latin Grammy winning album and single — became a Worldwide trend when the community accomplished a very successful TikTok movement with new choreography.
BACILOS BACK IN THE USA ‘23 TOUR DATES:
Thursday, April 27, 2023 – Miami – Miami Beach Bandshell
Friday, April 28, 2023 – Orlando — House of Blues
Sunday, April 30, 2023 – Atlanta – Buckhead Theatre
Thursday, May 4, 2023 – Houston – House of Blues
Saturday, May 6, 2023 – Austin – Emo’s
Sunday, May 7, 2023 – Dallas – The Echo Lounge & Music Hall
Wednesday, May 10, 2023 – Boston – Paradise Rock Club
Friday, May 12, 2023 – New York – Irving Plaza
Sunday, May 14, 2023 – Chicago – House of Blues
Tickets for Bacilos go on sale starting on Friday, December 9 at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster.
