ATTENTION ALL KOOKS FANS!
The Kooks return to the US this fall in support of their brilliant new album Konk, and they are teaming up with imeem to give you the chance to design their tour poster! Send in your design and one lucky winner could have their poster produced and get a chance to meet the band!
Our favorite laddie, Mikey Skinner, is back with a new Streets album and a return to form. 2006's The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living proved to be one of those cliched, self-indulgent, mo' money/mo' problems messes about how since he hit it big he's always prangin' out, wearing expensive clothes and sleeping w/ popstars. Prior to this disappointment, what we always loved about Mike was that he talked about real people and every day issues. I think what contributed to his initial success among the indie crowd and people like me in the US (read:Anglophiles) had to do w/ the fact that he touched on universal themes but was always distinctly British.
We held out hope that he'd work through all this corrupted-by-fame nonsense and evidence that he finally has is in new album, Everything Is Borrowed, out September 15. As a preview, The Streets made album track, The Escapist, available for free (download below). The song's video (thnx Music Slut) sees Mike on an on-foot journey of Forrest Gump proportions and of course prominantly features Reebok sneakers, the brand for which Mike participated in the I Am What I Am ad campaign (pictured above).
A growing trend among bands this season is the Surprise/Secret Shows [see A Morning With Modest Mouse]. In keeping with the trend, The Killers announced an impromptu surprise NYC-area show last Friday to play Highline Ballroom this past Tuesday night.
Upon arrival 21+ concertgoers were given skull bracelets for the bar and checked off of the list as there were no physical tickets. This was the most diverse crowd I'd ever seen at a show: over-weight middle-aged men and women, old, young, bridge and tunnel, and then us. It was actually kind of refreshing to be out of the typical music scene crowd, but the squaking accents and Iphone flashing were almost unbearable during the wait.
I saw The Killers at Jones Beach a few years ago for the Hot Fuss album tour, but after the less than stellar follow-up, Sam's Town I opted to catch them for the next album.
The opening band, Halloween Town, was decent for it's genre and the band members, specifically the keyboardist and drummer were quite the characters. The keyboardist was either 1) VERY bored, 2) stoned, 3) in a trance, while the drummer made the funniest facial expressions imaginable. The Killers made a dramatic entry around 10PM, in typical Brandon Flowers fashion: cocky, dapper, energetic, hot and fully aware of this aka the ultimate front man. They played a few good tracks off their upcoming album and most of their previous hits. The show had one encore and wrapped up with "All These Things That I've Done." All in all, worth the $40.
More exciting fall concerts/presales to announce:
Beck w/ MGMT
October 9th: United Palace Theatre [Harlem]
$49, Available for Presale 8/1 @ 10:30AM
TV On The Radio
Oct 14th: Masonic Temple [Fort Greene, Brooklyn]
Oct 15th: Masonic Temple [Fort Greene, Brooklyn]
$25, Available for Presale 8/1 @ 12:00PM
MP3: Beck - Hell Yes
After their headlining gig at this summer's Coney Island Siren Music Festival, BSS are stopping by Brooklyn again along their fall tour. Tickets for the Brooklyn Masonic Temple show are available for presale now. You will also be entered to win an autographed silk-screened poster by purchasing your tickets through the presale.
10/24 - Brooklyn, NY @ Masonic Temple
TLC has been championing The Metros for quite some time now. We are happy to report that their debut album, More Money Less Grief, will be released in the UK on September 15!!! The album's preceded by single, Talk About It, out Sept. 8. The video premiered the other day and shows the boys giving chase throughout their native neighborhood of Peckham, South East London. Check out the vid for their usual good humored gobshite antics and heartwrenchingly cool (for me anyway) scenes of Peckham like Peckham Rye, Rye Lane, the SE overland train, the library and (OMG!!!) the P13 bus. Keepin' it locallll!
To make a long story short, the MGMT + The Ting Tings + Black Moth Super Rainbow concert at McCarren Park Pool on Sunday July 27th was utter, utter chaos. We had friends wait in line for the show an hour before the doors opened, and even so the line to get in stretched across three blocks!
In addition to the MASSIVE turn out, storm clouds quickly replaced the sun and the patience of countless fans were put to the test. Thunder and lightning lit up the sky and the rain did not let up, but still the line did not move. Yours truly stood on line outside of the venue discouraged as The Ting Tings took the stage (they were first in the lineup), but even more discouraged by their short set. We at least were able to catch the last song of their performance.
Black Moth Super Rainbow (glorified indie elevator music) was second to hit the stage before the crowd packed in for the headliner, MGMT. The band pleasantly buzzed through songs off their debut Oracular Spectacular, but still I wondered if it was worth the many unpleasantries.
