#Live Review

LIVE REVIEWCold War Kids and Overcoats @ The Novo

At The Novo in Downtown LA on Friday, February 21, indie rock band Cold War Kids performed their last show in a six-week tour with electronic duo Overcoats. From a cappella harmonies and classical string instruments to electric guitars and keyboards, the two acts brought together diverse styles of...

Annie White

INTERVIEWHow Team Dresch is Living the Dream

Team Dresch pulls a fan on stage to sing "Hate The Christian Right" at Union Transfer. All photos by Amanda Silberling. Before Team Dresch performs their 1995 anthem “Hate the Christian Right” at Philadelphia’s Union Transfer last week, singer and guitarist Jody Bleyle pulls a longtime fan from the...

Amanda Silberling

LIVE REVIEWLandlady @ Nublu 151

Nublu 151 looks like the inside of Satan’s jewel box. Kaleidoscopic projections swirl on the walls and a dangling disco ball takes the place of a wind-up ballerina. But it’s the pervasive red and blue lighting that really lends a sinister tint to the venue. The colors radiate over the main floor,...

Madison Bloom

LIVE REVIEWXiu Xiu @ The Chapel

Xiu Xiu, touring with members of Swans' live ensemble, played SF's The Chapel on 5/28. Photo by Shomei Tomatsu “Loner,” Thor Harris murmurs matter-of-factly, temporarily seizing the mic from Xiu Xiu frontman, Jamie Stewart. “Lonerrrrrr.” It’s a fitting accusation to thrust into this particular sea...

Lydia Sviatoslavsky

LIVE REVIEWSophie Meiers @ Baby's All Right

In the bar prior to the start of the show, I notice a girl behind me by her soft laugh that contrasted the sad clown makeup dripping down her eyes. Heavy BDSM-inspired leather jewelry, fishnet fingerless gloves, and torn-up knee-high socks weigh down her 5'3" stature. Commanding attention in the...

Ysabella Monton

LIVE REVIEWYoung Jesus, IAN SWEET @Park Church Co-Op

“There were certain things about my Christian upbringing that I liked. Others, not so much.” The irony that John Rossiter’s band is playing in a Lutheran church has not been lost on the Young Jesus frontman. Surely the crucifix presiding over the stage at Park Church Co-Op did not go unnoticed by...

Madison Bloom

LIVE REVIEWPublic Memory @ Mercury Lounge

I’ve never felt more old or useful than at last night’s Public Memory show. After getting startled by the opening clang of a crash cymbal (who could ever anticipate drums at a rock concert?) and bolting away from the monitors to the back of the room, it dawned on me that I’d forgotten to bring...

Madison Bloom

LIVE REVIEWTold Slant, Lily Konigsberg @ Park Church Co-op

As someone who’s spent little time in them, it is strange how familiar old churches smell. They smell like warm dust, wood, and maple syrup—like a childhood home you’ve never stepped foot in before. It’s a combination of aromas rarely found in the glass and concrete structures of New York City, but...

Madison Bloom

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LIVE REVIEWDeVotchKa @ Rough Trade

Four-piece ensemble DeVotchKa returned to a packed house to premiere a handful of new songs at their album release show at Rough Trade. I found myself surrounded by fans of all ages in the dimly lit venue, though not too dark to notice a few people around me clad in the band’s tees. Chatter of the...

Ysabella Monton

LIVE REVIEWLydia Lunch Retrovirus @ Rickshaw Stop

The No Wave scene of 1970’s New York City was altogether bowel borne, the sickened spasm of a nihilist made nervous by the violent void of the Lower East Side. It was a pocket of time and space that knew no law nor order. Rather, it was poverty-ridden and putrid, little more than a decaying plane...

Lydia Sviatoslavsky

LIVE REVIEWChelsea Wolfe @ Irving Plaza

If in the past Chelsea Wolfe has been called a “siren” and a “goddess,” atop the stage at Irving Plaza on Tuesday she was a towering banshee. Swathed in lengths of white cotton – with matching, armpit-high gauntlets, might I add – Wolfe commanded the sold-out crowd with pointed intensity. Wolfe's...

Madison Bloom

LIVE REVIEWSean Nicholas Savage and Dinner @ Baby's All Right

The disco balls were in full force at Baby’s All Right last Saturday, where the night’s festivities could have easily marched under one banner: Night of the Weirdos. That is of course, the highest order of compliments coming from my fingers, and while I knew from firsthand experience what a bizarro...

Madison Bloom