It's Time To Finish What We Started And #SaveOurStages

To date, over 1.5 million live music lovers nationally have written letters to their elected officials via SaveOurStages.com, but it’s not enough. Without an influx of federal funding 90% of independent music venues across the nation will collapse before congress reconvenes in the fall.

Within the next week, both the Save Our Stages Act and Restart Act, two bills that have been introduced and can ensure the survival of independent venues across the nation, will be up for vote in Congress. It’s time to make sure that these pieces of legislation get passed. Keep in mind that the Save Our Stages Act also impacts Broadway, so this isn’t just us fighting for our sacred music spaces. It’s up to the people to fight for the communal art spaces where we gather to connect over art.

We need to step up and finish what we started, y’all.

Today the New York Independent Venue Association (NYIVA) alongside with the newly formed National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) are calling for a day of action. If you were one of the 1.5 million angels who already submitted a letter with ease via the SaveOurStages site, there’s a new letter for you to fire off to your representatives urging them to pass these bills.

The list of NIVA members/venues speaks volumes in terms of both how hard our industry was hit and how many locally owned businesses have been impacted due to COVID. I think of how many times I have felt my heart sink walking past Knitting Factory, Baby’s All Right, or Music Hall of Williamsburg since the pandemic shut down NYC, unsure of how long it’s going to be until it’s safe to be sweating profusely in sold out show, grinning from ear to ear as the bass from the band I’m seeing shakes my entire body. These spaces are sacred and precious. We need to do everything we can to protect them right now against all of this uncertainty.

I know in NYC alone there are more than 1.5 million people appreciating music or Broadway at any given moment. If show going is your moment of sanctuary against the insanity of this thing we called life, I encourage you to take time out of your day today to first (obviously) send the latest letter to your representatives and then identify at least 5 friends you love being at shows with and directly put this in front of them. You can put this in your Instagram stories or post it on Facebook all you want, too, but take a moment to check in and make sure that the people you’re eager to share space with again are doing their part, too.

Please take the time to reach out to your representatives RIGHT NOW.

[Night Out] Kate Boy @ Baby's All Right (11/14/2015)

One Friday night 2 years ago during CMJ I took a chance on a band with an interesting press photo and would forget how exhausted I was the day after because what I had experienced had completely blown me away. Last Saturday at Baby's All Right I was fortunate enough to relive an updated version of that night with Stockholm synth-[now] duo Kate Boy. I'm not sure what it is with NYC promoters and Kate Boy that they have the band go on at ungodly hours. I'm guessing it's to make damn sure that everyone present is there get their #posiparty on? Anyway, this 2nd time around had an additional hurdle that we all had to get past which can only be described as the guy who was next to me ever so eloquently put it: it was hot as BALLS in Baby's that night. I'm talking, like, the first 2 minutes of me snapping pictures I couldn't figure out why everything was coming out looking like garbage until I realized that the lens had fogged up from the rapid change in temperature. It was hottttt.

The equation of sold out show + apparent possibly malfunctioning air conditioner normally = showgoers to rage quit a performance early. Not this crowd.

Since the fateful day that the band upped the first song that they ever wrote together, "Northern Lights," and the internet fell in love with their uniquely vibrant and energetic sound, fans have been hankering for more music, which the band attempted to churn out as quickly as they were able to. With their debut full-length, One, only being out in the universe for a week when we all congregated at Baby's, you could tell that the high of hearing songs like, "Human Engine" or "Lion For Real" for the first time hadn't worn off. If anything, it had people practically vibrating with excitement to see them (myself included). I should also add that as I hinted at earlier, recently the band went from a trio to a duo, so the anticipation to see what the change in lineup would be like added another layer of suspense for the evening.

I'm actually starting to think that the heat source was actually Kate Boy. If you thought they were fire when they were a three-piece, they are a force to be reckoned with as a two-piece. Kate and Marcus clearly took on the extra duties that came when the group went from 3 to 2 head on. The energy they threw into their set was addictive. It was almost as if the warmer the room got the harder everyone would dance. Everyone did the best they could to lose as many layers in an effort to not dance until they quite literally dropped. That said, the second the room realized that the band was over everyone poured out onto the street to cool off. If you looked hard enough you could even see steam rising off a handful of people.

If you have not listened to One yet I worry about your ability to make good decisions. You can also be cool like me and grab it on vinyl.

[Night Out] OMG CMJ 2015 Day Two: Car Seat Headrest, Luna Aura, Pinact, BLXPTN, Weaves, Hooton Tennis Club, Magic Sword

Car Seat Headrest @ Pianos

I thought Tuesday was supposed to be my craziest day of CMJ, but apparently it's just a slow build. I'm terrified but obviously still excited to see how Thursday goes. After trying to get photos edited in a timely manner for yesterday's post I had to haul ass to Pianos to make it in time for Car Seat Headrest. They played some cuts from their new record, Teens of Style, which I'm really excited for everyone else to hear once it drops on October 30.

Then came the comical portion of the day where I proceeded to run back and forth from Pianos to other venues in the area that the door guy at Pianos kept greeting me with, "welcome back!", "back so soon?", and " hello again". First I darted over to Rockwood stage 2 to catch the little fireball of energy that is Luna Aura. My first coffee hadn't quite kicked in yet so it took me a moment to be able to harness the explosion of energy that she exuded in photographs, but we got there. In addition to a solid cover of Destiny's Child - "Say My Name" which she got some extra special audience participation from, she gave the crowd a sampling of her latest EP Supernova.

Luna Aura getting a little help from a friend at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2

I shot back over to Pianos to catch Pinact. I can feel myself pulling back towards more rock/punk rock this fall after a long stint mostly focusing my attention on electronic-esque bands as of late. I can't put my finger on it, but I found their bassist to be the most amusing person on the planet. I think it's mostly because he looks like he will never give any fucks about what anyone thinks about him. I think I may secretly want to be him when I grow up? Jury is still out on that one.

Pinact @ Pianos

I ducked out from Pianos the second Pinact finished to go be blown away by Austin duo BLXPLTN. They were another one of those bands that I hadn't gotten to spend a ton of time listening to prior to catching their performance so I'll admit I sort of forgot what I was getting myself into. Their set was as powerful as much as it was inspiring. It's been awhile since I came across a band that had something to say and said it in an approachable enough way that once you're lured in by their badass genre-bending sound that they're doing what they can to inspire change. Once they finished their set I forced myself to not be intimidated by their badassery and beg them for an interview, which you'll be able to hear in full (albeit I need to air it in two parts because it's longer than the standard #skoaradio segments). I also apparently fulfilled a dream of Jonathan from BLXPLTN's by interviewing him while he ate cauliflower? I hope that's not the biggest dream he's ever dreamt, because I see much bigger things for them.

BLXPLTN slaying my face @ Arlene's Grocery

I was so overwhelmed by how awesome the interview with BLXPLTN was that I decided to sit out any other bands I had intended to see and wrap up my Day One recap and use Weaves' set as a reward for pushing out #content even though I wanted to keep running around. By the time I finally wrapped up and got to Pianos they were about halfway through their set. Thankfully, Jasymn is such an performer that I didn't have any trouble getting some fun shots of her. As she would later confirm after their set, they played a couple of new cuts from a record that is in the works in addition to selects from their debut self-titled EP. Jasymn also was kind enough to give me a button after their set, so I'm taking that as a cue that we're going to be best friends any day now. *FINGERS CROSSED*

Jasymn Burke, my future BFF of Weaves at their Pianos set

Upon fueling up on margaritas and a little food I scurried over to Santos Party Haus to see Hooton Tennis Club, who I missed at the Music Is Great Showcase the night prior.

Fun vibes + crap lighting + had to duck out early to make sure I got to Brooklyn in time to interview Magic Swords = not much visual proof of their awesomeness. Oh yeah, speaking of that interview with Magic Sword, that was a fun thing to arrange, especially when you exchange texts like these:

Actual convo with a band I interviewed earlier. Never a dull moment at #cmj2015

A photo posted by [stephanie] kibbe (@heylookitskibbe) on Oct 14, 2015 at 7:05pm PDT

I booked it back to Cake Shop as fast as my taxi could get me there to make it in time for Slum Sociable, who I can say with confidence was my most anticipated show of the week. Two things: #1 - I think I'm going to buy Cake Shop more lights for Christmas so everyone isn't always doused in only red light #2 - if singer Miller Upchurch could bottle the energy he releases for every performance I would buy it immediately and not be complaining on Twitter about how tired I am this week.

Slum Sociable bathed in red at Cake Shop

After Slum I quickly realized that it would have made sense for me to just stay in Brooklyn but you know, the heart what the heart wants. Either way, I made it back to Cameo Gallery with more than enough time to catch Magic Sword. In fact, they were running fairly late so I had a chance to try to practice the ultra low lighting there on Street Fever. I came in on the tail end of his set so I'm not sure if this is a normal occurrence, but within minutes he picked up a synth, threw it on the ground, and proceeded to beat the shit out of it with a mic stand a la the Office Space printer scene....like a foot away from me. It all happened so fast that I only managed to get this one shot, but even sorta blurry it speaks for itself.

This was moments before he threw it on the ground in front of me and tore it apart.

At that point I was feeling the darkness creeping into Cameo in a big way, but it wasn't too long before The Keeper of the Sword and The Seeker aka Magic Sword took the stage and put darkness in its place. I loved that there were a few fans that had their own light up swords to cheer the band along.

When their set ended it was a little after 1:30am. I remember thinking to myself that Slum Sociable's publicist told me that they were playing another show at 2:15am at Baby's All Right. At that point I was sleep deprived enough that I managed to convince myself that if I walked slowly enough from Cameo Gallery that by the time I got to Baby's that I'd be right on time to see them and then I could go home to bed.

The Keeper of The Sword!!!!!!

Upon arrival I was a few minutes early,which gave me just enough time to somehow accidentally trick some Australians who were apparently friends of friends of Slum Sociable that I bought them the free Tiger Beer that was being given away that late. They thought I worked for CMJ? I don't even know. At any rate, as you could guess the turnout for a band that's organically growing into their own didn't pack out Baby's at almost 3am. My new Aussie friends took advantage of the minimal audience to capitalize on the number of selfies they could get while the band was playing. They even demanded a few times that I stop trying to enjoy the slightly better lighting vs Cake Shop to take photos of them.

Slum Sociable being lit the way they were meant to at Baby's All Right

Gotta point out though, even with the turnout being less than ideal those guys played they were headlining a sold out show at Bowery Ballroom. Much respect to bands who aren't easily affected by turnout (or in this case lack there of). I crawled into a cab as soon as I could get away from my new Aussie friends when Slum ended. That was about 3:30am. So much for sticking to my healthy schedule to keep me sane!!

You can listen to all the bands I talked about in this recap in the CMJ 2015 playlist below in addition to having a look at all the photos I painstakingly edited today. Be sure to check this week's #skoaradio for an extra special CMJ edition of the show!

[Night Out] LA Priest & Mansionair @ Baby's All Right (09/30/2015)

It's always exciting to hear that bands that you were thought were gone forever aren't, even if means that a member or two continues to trudge on. That's why when I discovered that Sam Dust, former frontman of one of my favorite bands in 2008, Late of the Pier, was now making music under the moniker LA Priest, you bet your sweet ass I jumped at the opportunity to be in the presence of greatness once again. And great it was. I felt like I was at the best pajama dance party of all time.

Thinking back to the LotP show at Irving Plaza, I remember the energy being a bit on the intense side (which fit with their debut album, Fantasy Black Channel). My evening at Baby's All Right, on the other hand, was playful and inclusive, with Dust sampling the crowd to loop during a song before going out to dance amongst the audience at the end of his set. As much as a part of me is still bummed that LotP isn't still a band, it seems that Dust is much better suited in this easygoing setting.

The surprise of the night was Mansionair, who I admittedly hadn't really planned on getting to the venue in time to see. Riding the high of opening for CHVRCHES at Central Park Summer Stage earlier in the week, the three-piece delivered a powerful set featuring tracks off of their recently released EP, Pick Me Up. While I immediately took to them, there was one song in particular that singer Jack Froggatt nearly broke my heart with his performance to the point that when they announced from stage they'd be playing Piano's later in the week (more on that later) I made sure to clear my schedule that evening.

Listen to LA Priest's debut album, Inji below.

And when you're done with that, have a listen to Mansionair's EP, Pick Me Up, too!