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Any concerts?
Any concerts you guys plan on going to/went to within the last/next few months? Last Friday there was a Kendrick Lamar concert I went to, it was pretty fun, although there were a lot of "odd" people there. This Friday I'm going to attend a Journey/Def Leppard concert. I also plan on seeing Pouya this summer, he's an underground rapper that I like, I also want to go to an Iron Maiden concert in Germany with a close friend but I'm not sure if I should spend the money at the moment.
Here in NYC it's nearly endless choices for live music. So I catch at least a couple of sets every month, but I usually avoid the biggest venues and go to theaters, bars and jazz clubs instead. I posted in another thread about a great trio at a jazz club last night (Joey DeFrancesco, Mark Whitfield and Lenny White - lord have mercy!). The most well known artists I have seen in the last year were Roger Waters, King Crimson, John McLaughlin, Television, Meshell Ndegeocello, and a holiday concert with Jeff Tweedy, Randy Newman and Aimee Mann. Coming up soon: Tony Allen and Neko Case.
Nice, I caught that McLaughlin tour up in Port Chester -- that was a good night. Envious of the Tony Allen show, why do all the good jazz shows happen on weekday nights in NYC? -.-
At The Cap? This is my favorite venue in the tri-state area:
Yes. The Cap is the best, bar none. Well, actually, I'd love it if they upgraded the beer selection at the bar :P. I've seen more great shows there than I can count
What were some recent or favorite shows you've seen there? It's possible I was at the same ones :P
I saw Lotus there in April, and they blew me away with an energetic, non-stop show. Same with STS9 the last time they played there. Another memorable show was The Complete Last Waltz the night before Thanksgiving a year or two ago — it was a really moving tribute show to The Band with a stellar lineup of artists.
So my favorite recent-ish show there was PL&F on 05/26/17, he had an awesome band that night, and it showed:
and was joined by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for a few songs. All time gets a bit tough (though, they're mostly still Phil shows) -- one of the very first shows I saw there (11.17.2012) was a heater from Phil. One of his birthday shows (03.18.16) stands out as well, I remember being absolutely convinced they would open the second set with Cumberland (they teased it hard at the end of S1), and lo and behold it thundered out of the gate.
I also saw the Funky Meters there a year or two ago, and that was a blast. Even UMBowl from 2014 (I'm not a huge Umphreys guy) was awesome, definitely the best I've ever seen them.
Do you have any suggestions for great theaters/bars/jazz clubs in the city? I've been looking around for low-key places with great atmosphere and great music. It's been difficult to find places that don't feel overdone¹ or too crowded.
The only place I know that has a vibe that's at all close to what I'm looking for is Red Room at KGB Bar. But, it's sort of mediocre, uncomfortable, and the vibe isn't warm enough.
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¹ Though, I did see Billy Cobham at Sony Hall with Fareed Haque, Scott Tibbs, and Paul Hanson in April. While Sony Hall is a venue that does feel a bit "overdone", they played an incredible show, made even better by the outstanding acoustics at Sony Hall. Seriously, some of the most crisp audio I've ever heard at a live performance.
Sure. I haven't been to Red Room so I don't know if my recs will capture the same vibe, but these are some of my go-to spots:
Smalls is my all time favorite. All killin' bop-based jazz, starting at 7pm and usually going till 2 or 3am. They open it up for a jam session at 1am on most nights. Ari Hoenig plays on most Mondays, and sometimes Frank Lacy leads a band on Tuesdays. Smalls holds a special place in my heart because it's the first jazz club I ever went to in the city, back in the '90s when it was still BYOB. Smalls live streams every set so you can check it out online before you go down there.
Mezzrow is across 7th Ave. from Smalls, under the same ownership. Super high quality jazz here as well, but usually smaller and quieter groups. Solo piano, duets, piano trios, etc.
The 55 Bar is in the same area, Christopher St. by 7th Ave., next to the Stonewall Inn. The music here is a little broader, with some fusion, funk, blues and latin jazz mixed in with the straight-ahead stuff. Nice low key environment though. Check out Wayne Krantz on Thursday nights.
There's Fat Cat also, which is super low key - a giant room with a bunch of pool tables and foosball and things like that, which just happens to have killer jazz musicians jamming away in a corner of the room. Only a $3 cover! I think most of the clientele is NYU students.
Rockwood Music Hall on the lower east side has three stages and a ton of bands every night. I have seen jazz, rock, hip hop, folk, reggae and everything else here.
I have had some good times at the Zync Bar on W. 3rd across from Washington Square Park. Small groups and big bands. Very mellow but somewhat classy vibe on the nights I have been there.
I play at the Rum House twice a month, a piano bar on W. 47th Street off of 7th Ave. It's in a hotel and right by Broadway and Times Square so there's always a lot of tourists in there. But it's a pretty fun time on the nights I'm there, and I know a bunch of other really good musicians who play there. It can get a little schmaltzy but it's still fun. No cover too.
The Ear Inn on Spring Street has jazz on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday nights. Another really low key spot, in a building that dates back to the Revolutionary War. They don't allow cell phone usage inside, a plus in my book.
Mona's in the East Village (Avenue B) has a bluegrass jam on Mondays and a "hot jazz" jam on Tuesdays.
If you're willing to venture way out into Brooklyn, check out Sunny's in Red Hook. They have Smokey's Roundup on Wednesdays (western swing) and a bluegrass jam every Saturday, among other things. And Barbes in Park Slope has a lot of cool things happening - jazz, world music, fusion, and so on.
Thanks for the detailed suggestions, @boredop! Now I've got a list that will occupy me for several weeks this summer. The Ear Inn sounds especially unconventional!
Wanted to go see King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard next Sunday (10th) in Chicago, but Ticketfly got hacked, and up until a few days ago it said that you could walk in and buy tickets at the door. I guess it works out since I'm supposed to attend a graduation party for my friend.
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are great live. Hopefully going to see them again tomorrow in Seattle. Ditch your friend's party, go to the concert! 😛
I’m going to see Dead & Co this Friday in Atlanta. I’m a huge Dead Head and I’ve been waiting a long time for this.
Nice, I'm going to the Hartford show in a few weeks.
Actually went to three shows last week! Mastodon & Primus at the same show, The Glitch Mob, and Lane 8 played a 3 hour boat cruise DJ set. Awesome shows all around, but definitely took some energy out of me.
Wow that's great! I'll have to check them out. I like being a fan of smaller artists, it's easy to get their attention, and concert tickets are cheaper, but it's still fun!
The Decemberists had a concert in April in my town. It was great! We went to a pre-show and got to do a Q&A and a private performance. The show itself was amazing as usual, and they brought out a giant balloon/small blimp of an angry whale during "The Mariner's Revenge Song," and walked it through the crowd!
There were a couple of guys on the floor who were really feeling each other. Both emotionally and grope-ily. It would have been funny to watch had they not been 9 feet tall and directly in front of me. ;-)
Also, I love Journey. Reminds me of working (playing) in the garage with my dad.
I've never heard of them, I'll have to check them out.
That guy situation kind of reminds me of the Kendrick concert, it was weird, there were just groups of people sitting around, some were just standing into thin air (probably high).
Journey reminds me of my father too, mostly because he called his taste in music "Dad Rock" (my s/o does the same) and he would play Journey during road trips.
Last month I saw Fever Ray put on a great show. I had tickets to Carpenter Brut, but missed the show on account of work and was super pissed off about it. I also had tickets to Tricky, but the show was cancelled because he had issues at the CDN/US border from what I heard.
This month I'm really excited to see A Place to Bury Strangers, and there's no way that work will screw me out of this show.
Yeah, it's a good name for sure. :-)
Great band too, if you're into what they do.
missing Carpenter Brut, sorry for you :(
Oh man. Thanks. Yeah, I was super bummed out about it, especially after I talked to the people that I gave the tickets to and they told me how awesome it was.
Going to see an awesome Mathrock lineup of CHON, Polyphia, TTNG, and Tricot in Detroit next week. I've heard from others that the TTNG and Tricot sets, are really short, which is a shame since those two groups are the main reason I'm going, but I've heard it's an amazing concert none the less.
I love TTNG! The rename is meh-ish, but musically they're still so strong.
Sadly this is my year of no concerts or shows due to a few unexpected financials. :(
So far I've missed Ivardensphere and Strvngers. I'm also going to miss out on Terminus: Shockwave, a three-night industrial music festival. I'm heartbroken about it because I've never seen Mesh or Android Lust in concert before.
I went to the best concert of my life on Saturday, but I'm biased because it's my favorite band: Midland. They're amazing and I highly recommend checking them out. Their sound and harmonies are so smooth and pleasing.
Eric Prydz is playing his HOLO set with Belsonic, CamelPhat, Cristoph, and Dusky in a few weeks in Belfast.
This is the first house show I'll have been to, but its looking to be insane. Usually you can find me at Trap and hiphop sets, but one of my friends that loves house talked me into this one. The set starts at 6pm and ends at 3am and has some absolutely ridiculous holograms.
I'll be seeing Panic at the Disco with Daughter #1 and Guster with friends both in July. Johnnyswim with daughter #2 in September.
Have fun! I love P!ATD.
I'm very excited because my partner and I are going to see Radiohead in Toronto this summer. It has been far too long since I went to a big show and I really love A Moon Shaped Pool, so I suspect it will be a great experience. The last time I saw them was in Vancouver during their Paranoid Android tour. That was an incredible experience in my much younger life.
I'm going to see Kesha and Macklemore soon. Definitely not my normal music taste, but I bet they put on a fun show.