British indie rock sensation Wet Leg played to a sold out audience at Brooklyn Steel on Thursday (March 10, 2022) with support from Lowertown. Originally scheduled for Music Hall of Williamsburg, the band was forced to change to a larger venue when the show sold out almost immediately. Their meteoric rise in popularity came through their viral hit “Chaise Lounge” released in 2021, which garnered millions of views (and sparked endless memes).
The Atlanta based alternative duo Lowertown opened the evening with an animated and hard hitting set. They whipped the crowd into a frenzy leading up to Wet Leg’s set, and despite this being Lowertown’s first time on tour, they were a highlight in an action packed evening.
With their debut album still on the way, Wet Leg played several unreleased tracks during their nonstop set, as well as crowd favorites “On No,” “Wet Dream,” “Angelica,” and their breakout hit “Chaise Longue.” Throughout the set frontwomen Rhian and Hester interacted with the crowd and each other with genuine charisma and charm. The band played straight through with no encore, ending on their viral hit, “Chaise Longue.” This sold out show of 1800 people marks their biggest North American show to date.
BUKU Music and Art Project returns to New Orleans for the 10th edition on the banks of the Mississippi River later this month. Taking place in the shadow of a 100 year old power plant, the festival boasts industrial art installations mixed with traditional New Orleans subculture to create a “playground with an edge.”
NYS Music will be covering the 2-day festival which takes place on March 25th and 26th. Headliners include Tame Impala (Friday) and Tyler, the Creator (Saturday) but the lineup also features a deep mix of underground and experimental bass, techno, rap, and hip-hop artists. Head over to the festival’s website for the full lineup and ticket information.
With a 2-day general admission ticket coming in at $120 before fees and a lineup full of up and coming artists, BUKU created a modern music festival focused on growing the underground music culture. Of course there are headliners and big names on the bill to grow the festival to a certain size, but even these artists fit the vibe of BUKU. A founding member of the underground rap group Odd Future, Tyler, the Creator has been on the cutting edge of rap with every bit of new music he releases, including his incredibly successful two album run of Igor and Call Me If You Get Lost. Tame Impala’s fresh take on classic 1960’s psychedelia inspired a massive new scene of Australian bands that are creating the best psych-rock in a generation. Every aspect of the 2022 BUKU lineup stays true to the mission of the festival.
BUKU has now released the daily schedules, creating some tough conflicts. Porter Robinson or Dom Dolla? Tame Impala or Liquid Stranger? Glass Animals or Maxo Kream? There are odd standouts on every festival lineup, and for BUKU 2022 it has to be Taking Back Sunday. We will certainly be front and center for their set, but the classic emo rock band from the early aughts certainly is the black sheep of the festival. In our experience however, these legacy bands with mid-day sets can sometimes draw the largest crowd and loudest sing-alongs of the weekend.
BUKU has also just announced the BUKU Late series of after parties taking place at various New Orleans venues. The night before the festival there is a kickoff party featuring GG Magree B2B Mija taking place at Republic NOLA. Friday night parties include Troyboi and Tokimonsta at Republic NOLA as well as a BUKU x Wakaan show headlined by Liquid Stranger at The Orpheum Theater. Saturday night has three options with Alison Wonderland (house set) at Republic NOLA, BUKU x BASSIK featuring Svdden Death B2B Sullivan King at Joy Theater, and a BUKU x Lab Group party featuring a “special closing Lab Group family B2B” at The Orpheum Theater. Tickets for all of the BUKU Late parties range from $25-$35 and are currently on presale for festival ticket holders.
NYS Music photographer Joseph Buscarello will be down in New Orleans covering the festival. Stay tuned for our daily recap and artist photo galleries from BUKU.
Venice Beach rock duo, Movie Club, will be honoring Frank Zappa’s legendary residency with a three-day residency of their own in Brooklyn. The tribute to Zappa will run from March 23rd to March 25th.
PC : Nick Cuneo
Frank Zappa’s month-long residency came about following an unsuccessful stint within the West Coast music scene. After getting in contact with Garrick Theatre in NYC, Zappa set up a month-long residency, starting March 23rd, 1967 which would eventually turn into a piece of musical history. His residency featured spontaneous performance from his band, The Mothers of Invention, as well as visits from other musicians including Jimi Hendrix.
Zappa’s residency lives on in memory due to its purely creative and bizarre nature. During performances, the band would improvise their acts and pull people from the crowd to come on stage. These one-of-a-kind nights are exactly what Movie Club aim to bring to life within their own performances at the all inclusive, queer owned venue, C’mon Everybody in Crown Heights.
PC : Nick Cuneo
The duo, consisting of guitarist Vince Cuneo and drummer Jessamyn Violet, will be performing for three nights, with musical guests ranging from rappers, to drag queens. Guitarist Vince Cuneo says that “The goal of these shows is collaboration and to make each night a one-of-a-kind experience for both the audience and the artists on stage”
Tickets, as well as more information, are available here.
The infamous Phoebe Bridgers has announced her Reunion Tour for 2022, making a stop at the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival at Prospect Park Bandshell. Known for her folk-adjacent and edgy music, her aesthetics, and her female strength, Bridgers is one of the most exciting new talents to have emerged within recent years.
Photo by Mike Miller
Bridgers has bad a busy2021, with 4 GRAMMY nominations, multiple late night TV performances including a smashing debut on Saturday Night Live. Additionally, she had a sold out Fall tour, two songs for charity (“That Funny Feeling” and “Day After Tomorrow”) and collaborations with Taylor Swift, The Killers, Paul McCartney, Metallica and more.
Most recently, Bridgers revealed plans for her own monthly radio show titled Saddest Factory Radio on Sirius XMU. Currently, she is getting ready to go back on the road taking her newest album, Punisher, to her fans across the United States and Canada, as well as to the UK and Europe.
Additionally, the Phoebe Bridgers North American run of the Reunion Tour includes a slew of dates April to August – and makes stops in Atlanta, Washington D.C., Brooklyn, Seattle.
photo by David Michael Reichmann
Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan Registration is open now here and closes Tuesday, March 8 at 12 pm EST. Similarly, verified Fan Presale begins Thursday, March 10th at 12 pm. $1 of every headline show ticket sold will be donated to The Mariposa Fund, fiscally sponsored by The West Fund.
Tour dates:
4/13: Arizona Federal Theatre – Phoenix, AZ
4/15: Coachella – Indio, CA
4/22: Coachella – Indio, CA
5/13: The Amp at Craig Ranch – Las Vegas, NV
5/14: Kilby Block Party – Salt Lake City, UT
5/17: Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
5/19: The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory – Dallas, TX
5/20: Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park – Austin, TX
5/21: The Lawn at White Oak Music Hall – Houston, TX
5/22: Hangout Fest – Gulf Shores, AL
5/24: The Cuban Club – Tampa, FL
5/25: St Augustine Amphitheatre – St Augustine, FL
5/27: Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park – Atlanta, GA
5/28: Forecastle Festival – Louisville, KY
5/31: Starlight Theatre – Kansas City, MO
6/1: The Waiting Room Outdoors – Omaha, NE
6/3: BMO Harris Pavilion – Milwaukee, WI
6/4: Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island – Chicago, IL
6/7: RBC Echo Beach – Toronto, ON
6/8: MTelus – Montreal, QC
6/9: Thompson’s Point – Portland, ME
6/11: The Anthem – Washington, DC
6/12: The Anthem – Washington, DC
6/13: Stone Pony Summer Stage – Asbury Park, NJ
6/14: BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival at Prospect Park Bandshell – Brooklyn, NY
6/15: BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival at Prospect Park Bandshell – Brooklyn, NY
6/20: Fairview Park – Dublin, Ireland
6/22: Barrowland – Glasgow, UK
6/24-25: Glastonbury – Somerset, UK
6/26: O2 Academy – Birmingham, UK
6/30: Roskilde Festival – Roskilde, Denmark
7/2: Rock Werchter Festival – Werchter, Belgium
7/3: Down The Rabbit Hole Festival – Ewijk, Netherlands
7/5: Carroponte – Milan, Italy
7/7: Bilbao BBK Festival – Bilbao, Spain
7/8: Mad Cool Festival – Madrid, Spain
7/9: NOS Alive Festival – Lisbon, Portugal
7/14: Colours of Ostrava – Ostrava, Czech Republic
A variety of performances from artists such as Adi Myerson Trio, Michael Mayo, Dana Lyn, Charlie Burnham, and Marika Hughes, Alea, Val-Ince aka Val Jeanty, and Raquel Acevedo Klein and Friends.
The Uncharted concert series started back in 2014 and has given the opportunity for many New York-based musicians to develop their original material, create new collaborations and perform in an intimate concert setting while giving an inside look into their projects.
“Even during the darkest days of the pandemic, GHMS never wavered in its support for local performers. By continuing with our in-person concert performances and on-site residencies, we are thrilled to be moving forward with our commitment to artists and to audiences to showcase and support some of the greatest musicians that New York City has to offer.”
Rachel Black -Uncharted co-founder
The artists being showcased in the 2022 Uncharted lineup will be joined by various multi-genre artists who have contribute to the past eight years of the Uncharted series like jazz pianists Aaron Diehl and Dan Tepfer; guitarist Binky Griptite of The Dap-Kings; the founding member of Grammy-award winning Flor de Toloache and many more found on https://www.greenwichhouse.org/music-school/concerts/uncharted/
Uncharted Residency and Concert Series 2022 Show Dates:
Pearl Jam, who were the first major artist to pull the plug and postpone their Spring 2020 tour dates due to COVID-19 concerns, has announced they are back on the road with 2020 North American tour dates officially rescheduled for May and September 2022. Pearl Jam will perform at Madison Square Garden (MSG) on Sunday, September 11, 2022
Josh Klinghoffer, former guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers, will bring his solo project, Pluralone, will open for Pearl Jam on this tour. Klinghoffer will also join Pearl Jam as a touring member on these dates.
A special ticket pre-sale for all tour dates begins today, March 14 for current eligible Pearl Jam Ten Club members. There will be no general public sale and all public tickets will be available through Ticketmaster Verified Fan Registration. Verified Fan ticket registration is open now through Sunday, March 27 at 10 pm PT and the Verified Fan Onsale begins Tuesday, March 29 at 10 am local time. Register here.
Pearl Jam’s 2020 European Tour dates are rescheduled for June and July of 2022. See pearljam.com for full tour routing and any updates.
In continuing their ongoing commitment to acknowledge and address the band’s carbon footprint, Pearl Jam will be paying $200 per ton for carbon dioxide mitigation from the Gigaton tour, a ten-fold increase from prior years. This pricing allows the band to pursue a multi-layered strategy of offsets and investments that combined, will allow for a more comprehensive mitigation plan.
We are proud of our prior efforts to mitigate our inevitable carbon footprint from touring over the past 20 years but the time to multiply that effort is clearly right now. By committing to this aggressive pricing, we hope to equally amplify our efforts and gather partners who share our urgency to make the investments and innovations required to move our world to a more conscious, carbon balanced economy.
Stone Gossard
Pearl Jam 2022 North American Tour
May 3 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena Postponed Date
May 6 Los Angeles, CA The Forum Postponed Date
May 7 Los Angeles, CA The Forum Postponed Date
May 9 Glendale, AZ Gila River Arena Postponed Date
May 12 Oakland, CA Oakland Arena Postponed Date
May 13 Oakland, CA Oakland Arena Postponed Date
May 16 Fresno, CA Save Mart Arena New Date
May 18 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center New Date
May 20 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena New Date
September 1 Quebec City, QC Videotron Centre Postponed Date
September 3 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre Postponed Date
September 6 Hamilton, ON FirstOntario Centre Postponed Date
September 8 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena Postponed Date
September 11 New York, NY Madison Square Garden Postponed Date
September 14 Camden, NJ Waterfront Music Pavilion New Date
September 16 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena Postponed Date
September 18 St. Louis, MO Enterprise Center Postponed Date
September 20 Oklahoma City, OK Paycom Center Postponed Date
Indie legends The Microphones played a late night set last Tuesday (March 8, 2022) at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church. The venue is known for having hosted other indie favorites such as Nick Cave and Sonic Youth throughout the years.
Emily Sprague at St. Ann’s and the Holy Trinity Church by David Reichmann
Emily Sprague opened the show with a warm acoustic set consisting of five songs. Her songs’ themes of death and darkness contrasted with the bright personality that came through when she briefly thanked the audience in the middle and end of her set.
The Microphones at St. Ann’s and the Holy Trinity Church by David Reichmann
Microphones’ Phil Elverum and Jay Blackinton took the stage to applause from the crowded pews, the dim lighting and quiet atmosphere lulling the audience into a quiet state. You could hear shifting seats and the creak of the historic church flooring before they began their set. They laughed and thanked the crowd before beginning their set, commenting on the awkwardness of standing on stage before the songs begin playing.
The Microphones at St. Ann’s and the Holy Trinity Church by David Reichmann
They played just one song, their 45 minute track “Microphones in 2020,” a semi-biographical two-chord meditation on their career which released in 2020 after a near 17 year absence for the band. By the time their set finished, the crowd almost looked dazed. It took a minute for the audience to realize the show had ended, and they gave a standing ovation and hearty cheers as Phil and Jay exited the stage.
You can listen to The Microphone’s catalog here. And you can find Emily Sprague’s music here.
On the March 13 episode of Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver broke down a myriad of issues with concert tickets, namely, Ticketmaster and its near monopoly on ticket sales for major artists and bands.
While some information presented in the episode is public knowledge, the writers at Last Week Tonight deftly threaded the details together, offering a clear path from fan frustration when faced with exorbitant prices and a lack of tickets (not to mention insanely long wait times to acquire tickets), to the root causes, namely Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster, while disliked by the public, serves as the main platform for ticket sales around the country, accounting for 80% of ticket sales prior to their merger with Live Nation in 2010. Since the merger, there have been complaints, as noted in the New York Times regarding Live Nation pressuring venues into contracting with its subsidiary, Ticketmaster.
Following the merger, Ticketmaster acquired Front Gate Tickets, which handles ticket sales for music festivals including Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, and that same year, acquired a DIY ticketing platform, Universe. TicketWeb, the self-service ticketing platform owned by Ticketmaster, acquired the marketing platform Strobe Labs, building a social media network in the process. Most recently, Ticketmaster has looked to convert physical tickets into digital ones using blockchain technology, and did so by acquiring UPGRADED in 2018.
John Oliver pointed out that Ticketmaster absorbs much of the hatred for ticket sales, while artists, promoters, and venues all have a hand in raising ticket sales. This is where drawbacks to boycotting Ticketmaster begin, despite being popularized by Pearl Jam in the 1990s. Oliver noted that when Pearl Jam sought to perform at non-Ticketmaster venues, their manager at the time said the band would need “to play at weird places like a ski resort in Lake Tahoe and a fairground in San Diego.” If Pearl Jam can’t walk away from Ticketmaster, how can other bands, especially smaller artists with no leverage and limited options for venues, expect to avoid Ticketmaster?
The answer is – they can’t, and now it is even more difficult to do so.
Where do the tickets go?
You’ve likely been there – logging in early, watching the clock for the on-sale time, then waiting in the virtual Ticketmaster queue (with 2000 other people in front of you) waiting for your turn to purchase tickets. Then you get to the end of the line, and if the show isn’t sold out already, the seats left available are typically not the best – behind the stage, upper levels, if any at all.
Using the example of a pair of 2012 Justin Bieber concerts at Madison Square Garden, both of which sold out in 30 seconds, John Oliver points out the details of where the 20,000 tickets for that show went. Noting a NY Attorney General report, fewer that 2,000 tickets (10%) to each show were on sale.
Where are the rest of the tickets sold? Some are given to credit card companies who partner with Ticketmaster for pre-sale on-sales and private passes that exclusive to credit card holders.
Then there are the ticket brokers (a rebranded name) who buy them in advance. Even the ‘Are you a robot tests’ are still circumvented by bots via the ticket broker. These brokers/resellers include SeatGeek, StubHub and Ticketmaster itself (Platinum seating) who represent a majority or overwhelming majority of ticket sales, per a 2018 GAO study. They then mark up tickets by 49% on average, and sometimes as high as 1000%.
The average music fan can login to one account at a time, per device, with a phone number attached to the account to prevent multiple accounts vying for the same tickets. While this seems to present itself as leveling the playing field, John Oliver notes that some brokers have 200 accounts, and Ticketmaster does not make any effort to restrict these ticket brokers.
Showing video from the Ticket Summit conference in Las Vegas in 2018, undercover reporters discovered via a Ticketmaster representative that ‘damn near every one of them’ is using multiple accounts.
The system of ticket brokers/resellers is designed to be opaque, providing brokers with anonymity. Resell sites have additional fees built in too, with John Oliver citing a ticket for a January 21, 2022 Adele performing in Las Vegas, resold on SeatGeek, at a cost of $1690 for the tickets, with $538 in SeatGeek fees (a 32% markup), for a total of $2,228. For a single ticket to see Adele.
Blame is shared among Ticketmaster and ticket brokers – some artists are to blame as well. Justin Bieber’s tour resold tickets on resale sites, with an entire row that had gone to the tour, resold on the secondary market instead of direct to fans at on sale. Metallica did this as well, along with many other artists as well. Restricted resale has been experimented by Pearl Jam without extra fees or profit, but this effort was postponed in 2020 by COVID-19.
What can live music fans do?
Typically, Last Week Tonight offers a call to action for the audience, something that has made the Peabody Award winning show stand head and shoulders above their competition (with 23 Emmy Awards, including 8 consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Variety Talk Show, beating out The Daily Show, where Oliver got his start). In past episodes, Oliver has encouraged the use of the FCC public comments website during a Net Neutrality episode, to motivating viewers in taking to the streets to protest the killing of unarmed African-Americans by police.
This week, however, there was no call to action, simply because beyond a trust-buster in the vein of Teddy Roosevelt taking Ticketmaster and other ticket brokers to task, there is not much that can be done by fans.
There is one alternative for live music fans in the short term – avoid resale sites by using CashorTrade. Since 2009, CashorTrade has been the only website dedicated to helping face value tickets get into the hands of fans, devoid of the ticket brokers and scammers, and offering protection on purchases. This healthy alternative to Ticketmaster continues to build a base of users that allows a great deal of tickets to be resold at face value, or traded amongst fanbases. If there is one solution fans seek after watching this week’s episode of Last Week Tonight, CashorTrade is that solution, providing anti-reseller technology allowing real fans with a profile and trusted reviews to trade with one another.
The long running concert series Saturday Night at the Waterhole returns to Saranac Lake this month. Starting March 19 and running until May 14, the Upstairs Music Lounge in Saranac Lake will hold special performances every Saturday night (except on 4/16).
photo by Neil Sedlak
Several notable acts will be making their Saturday Night at the Waterhole performances.
Toubab Krewe w/s/g The Pickle Mafia – March 26th
Toubab Krewe, a band from North Carolina that mixes jam band rock and international folk music, will perform on March 26. They are joined by The Pickle Mafia, featuring Charlie Lindner (Keys), Ben Chilbert (Bass), and Marco Cirigliano (Drums) performing original, cutting edge, high energy jazz music, with influences from modern and latin jazz as well. To truly experience the Mafia, you MUST attend a live show, where they will create a unique, interactive show, and leave you with a one of a kind Pickle Mafia experience! Get tickets here.
The Asheville, NC based group Toubab Krewe is known for fusing rock and world music.
Blue Star Radiation – April 2
Later on in the series, newly formed group Blue Star Radiation will perform. The group consists of Vinnie Amico on drums (Moe.), Rob Derhak (Moe.) on bass, Tim Palmieri on guitar (Lotus, Kung Fu) and Nate Wilson (Assembly of Dust) on B3 Hammond keys and flute. Blue Star Radiation’s show will feature both original compositions and covers.
The newly formed super group is comprised of Vinnie Amico on drums (Moe.), Rob Derhak (Moe.) on bass, Tim Palmieri on guitar (Lotus, Kung Fu, The Breakfast) and Nate Wilson (Assembly of Dust, Percy Hill, Ghosts of Jupiter) on B3 Hammond keys and flute.
The show will feature songs from all of the members’ primary projects in addition to original compositions and select covers.
When renowned keyboardist Nate Wilson came to Rob Derhak with the idea to form a band on those principles, the band Blue Star took its first breath. Enlisting the drumming prowess of Vinnie Amico, and legendary guitarist/vocalist Tim Palmieri, the genesis of Blue Star came to be.
A band of improvisational, jam band musicians that all share an affinity for the classic rock we all love and know. The ditties, the anthems, and the deep cuts that remind us of a different time. They simply write the songs and play the covers that give the audience goosebumps.
Pretend Collective – April 9
One of the more admirable newcomers is Pretend Collective. The band recently released a self-titled LP with indie label The Giving Groove, which donates half of all album proceeds to Nuci’s Space, an organization that helps musicians struggling with mental health.
Tickets for each show can be found at the Waterhole’s website.
Series Schedule
March 19 – Raisinhead
March 26 – Toubab Krewe and Pickle Mafia
April 2 – Blue Star Radiation featuring members of Moe, Lotus, Kung Fu and Assembly of Dust
April 9 – Pretend Collective and Sean Hoots
April 23 – Bella’s Bartok and Organ Transplant featuring Bella’s Horns
Jon Middleton and Sierra Lundy took a trip from their home in Victoria, British Columbia to Rochester New York. Their first time to the US as a married couple, or at least their first as the couple making up the band Ocie Eliot, 2022 Juno Award nominees for Breakthrough Group of the Year. It was also their first show of 2022.
The sparse but beautiful space in the Arbor Loft was the perfect environment to take in Ocie Eliot’s likewise sparse and beautiful music. Middleton led the way with a captivating picked guitar melody, or rhythmic strums. Lundy coaxed gently shifting organ tones or at times short melodic piano lines out of her small Mellotron keyboard. Occasionally dual harmonicas or amplified foot stomps added depth and texture. But throughout, their voices, particularly in harmony, highlighted each song, punctuated with poignant and familiar lyrics.
When you haven’t played much in two years time, even old songs can seem new. Ocie Eliot spent much of the pandemic writing and recording, releasing four EP’s in that time. Songs like “Take Me Home” felt fresh to introduce, but as noted by Lundy, it isn’t really all that new anymore. And songs written in the before-times, like “Alive and All,” though released during the pandemic, felt more like a reaction to it: “And I want to yell from a hill, I’m alive / and I want to cry out until, I am fine.”
Interspersed with their originals, they worked in some more familiar material, to this American audience at least. Covers of some of the best songwriters around in Gillian Welch’s “Miss Ohio” and Simon and Garfunkel‘s “The Boxer”, provided a bit of grounding. A more obscure cover of Youth Lagoon’s “17” provided some late show sparks however, as they took a more ownership with their own spin.
Still, the highlights came in their own songwriting. Their strengths all collided gloriously in “Coming Home,” complete with a dual harmonica interlude, and again midway through the second set on “Run To You,” with its syncopated piano and guitar elevated the vocal harmonies. Long walks on an abandoned rail line inspired “Tracks,” which worked repetitive lyrics into a near round, building to a familiar train-themed harmonica finish. An emotional Lundy explained how she sang “Forest Floor,” her father’s favorite song, to him recently on his death bed. A slow-grooving rocker that again, felt more like it would have been inspired by his passing: “Through the light softly the colours storm / And we both come to falling / Let me down easy, baby /Lay me down on the forest floor.”
A portion of proceeds from all Honest Folk shows benefit the Center for Youth in Rochester, but for this show, 100% was donated. There’s a promoter in it for all the right reasons. And they continue to bring in great folk shows to town, next up being Dead Tongues at Good Luck on on May 15. Get your tickets!
