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[NIGHT OUT] OMG CMJ 2015: Kibbe's Picks For This Week

It's that time of year again! You know, the one where I bounce back and forth between lower Manhattan and Brooklyn to see how many new bands I can fall in love with. I HAVE SO MANY NEW BAND CRUSHES YOU GUYS AND I HAVEN'T EVEN STEPPED FOOT INSIDE A VENUE YET!! *PRAISE HANDS EMOJI*

If you're out and about in NYC for CMJ, you can catch me attempting to attend all of the following events. If you can't be in NYC but want to follow along, you can add me over on Snapchat: heylookitskibbe (original amirite?).

If you see my smiling/exhausted face grab me and say hi!

TUESDAY OCTOBER 13TH

THURSDAY OCTOBER 14TH

THURSDAY OCTOBER 15TH

FRIDAY OCTOBER 16TH

**my brother is going to be in town Friday & Saturday so unless he wants to come out to stuff I'll only be out after dark :/ **

SATURDAY OCTOBER 18TH

Please enjoy a sampling of the bands I'm going to go check out via the playlist below!

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[Night Out] Mansionair @ Pianos & Jesse Ruben @ Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1 (10/02/2015)

When last we met I had decided that Australian band Manisonair was worth seeing twice in a week. This was of course before Hurricane Joaquin was threatening to get all Sandy all over NYC, which brought a nice chunk of rain to the city that never sleeps. For those that don't live in NYC and have the luxury of automobiles to drive around in when it's raining, most NYers rage quit on any plans they make whenever they are faced with a potential downpour. I was literally moments away from this point in my evening plan making until my favorite local troubadour, Jesse Ruben, tagged me in a tweet that he'd be doing a set later in the evening at Rockwood Music Hall stage 1. After verifying that I had enough time to get down to the Lower East Side but also show hop, I grabbed my biggest umbrella and trudged out in the mini-monsoon for what I affectionately referred to all evening as "CMJ practice".

Just like their set at Baby's All Right, Mansionair killed it yet again. They proved in that performance that it didn't matter the size of the stage or audience, they were always going to give it their all. The audience responded accordingly to their energy. In fact, it sounded like I wasn't the only one at Piano's that was a repeat customer for the band. I heard several references to Summerstage and Baby's All Right. That spoke volumes of their stay power, imo. They finally got around to the song that I had waited all evening for, "Shadows", which prompted the one and only note that I took for the entire evening, which reads (and this is a direct quote):  "SHADOWS IS THE PIANO SONG THAT BROKE YOUR HEART". There is currently no recording of this song yet so you are going to have to take my word for it for now. 

When I got to Rockwood stage 1 I was pleasantly surprised at how full the room was considering Jesse was filling in last minute. As soon as he started playing though, it was pretty apparent that most of the people there were just happy to be in a warm/dry room and drinking alcohol. It didn't take too long for Jesse to win the majority of the room over. He's good for that. He even managed to get the room completely quiet for the entiretyof one of his softer tunes. Gotta give the guy props. There's never a doubt in your mind that music is his one true passion once you've sat through one of sets.

I've thought a lot about what it would take for him to see more national/mainstream-esque success. I've yet to put my finger on what the answer is. I know a few songs are seeing air time on some MTV shows and his charity project based on his song, "We Can" continues to gain traction in schools nationwide, so maybe good things are just around the corner for my favorite sandwich-loving singer-songwriter.

Listen to Mansionair's latest EP, Pick Me Up.

And obvi check out the homey Jesse Ruben. My favorite songs of his are on his EP, Thoughts
I've Never Had Pt.1, which you can check out below.

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[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!

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[Night Out] Ghost @ Terminal 5 (09/27/2015)

On a chilly Sunday night, which also happened to be the night that there was a "super blood moon" looming over New York City, I don't think that Sprout and I could have picked a better place to be than at Terminal 5 for the "ritual" that was Sweden ghoul-rock band Ghost's performance. Surrounded by a sea of men with long locks that Sprout would describe as, "a Pantene commercial for Satan" frontman Papa Emeritus III and his faceless ghouls would direct us all through the evening's ritual.

Normally any show at Terminal 5 not tucked away up in VIP is a total nightmare, but I forget that for the most park that the hard rock/metal scene hasn't been infiltrated by swarms of hipsters waiting to gobble up the next fad genre that comes their way, so everyone was polite and ultra pleasant. We even saw a few very well behaved children! YES, CHILDREN WERE PRESENT AT THIS RITUAL. I meant to keep an eye on them to make sure they weren't sacrificed backstage after the show, but #bffl and I wanted to make sure we got to make some face time with the super blood moon and shout our wishes at it (don't ask me about this, ask Sprout tbh).

Have a listen to Ghost's latest release, Meliora below. The band is currently touring like crazy in North America so be sure to have a look at their tour dates to see if they're coming to a city near you.

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[Night Out] FIDLAR @ Webster Hall (09/26/2015)

Ah, to be a #teen again. I knew that the crowd at LA band FIDLAR's show would be full of some rambunctious younger characters, but I was not adequately prepared for the intensity level of said crowd. I'm trying to recall the last time that I was at a show where the floor wavered underneath me to the point where I thought it was going to give way. I think it was Pearl Jam at MSG back in 2010? At any rate, between the ground quaking and ducking many a crowdsurfer during their opening number, I was at peak stress levels after their 3-song limit in the photo pit was over.

Upon reuniting with my guest for the evening, Brittney, I was quickly equally saddened and enraged to hear that a fellow showgoer had taken the liberty of reaching under her skirt and feeling her up in the short period of time that we were apart. It's hard to watch the generation behind me lose sight of how important the community aspect of show-going. More importantly, it never ceases to infuriate me that although women are statistically financially more supportive of music than men that we continue to be subjected to a lack of common courtesy. It was hard to shake the vibe that brought to the evening, what with the smell of puberty lingering in the air, so we bowed out before the bandfinished up their energy-packed set.

Check out Fidlar's latest album Too which is out now courtesy of Mom + Pop Music.

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[Night Out] A Love Like Pi @ The Cutting Room (09/18/2015)

It's always fun to watch a band grow up right before your eyes and I couldn't have been happier to be a proud rock mama at The Cutting Room on the night of Brooklyn band A Love Like Pi's album release party for their latest offering, III. Although the band has been at this for several years now, I only fell in like with the trio courtesy of last year's Jack and the Giant EP. As with a literal dramatic growth spurt in a child, the energy level of both the new album and their performance that night was a clear example of how far the band is come in less than a year. This is best seen in their latest single, "Wide Awake", which showcases the dark energy that brainchild and vocalist/violinist/synth wrangler Lief Liebmann has harnessed after his travels to Southeast Asia where he even pulled a few sounds from for the song.

It's more than fitting that the progression that III follows the three stages of life: boy, man, and death, because from my vantage-point we're witnessing the group's transition from bright-eyed garage band to the early stages of an artist truly realizing the amount of talent trapped inside of him that's dying to get out.

Buy III on iTunes now. If you're into try before you buy you can stream the album via Spotify below.

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[Night Out] Until The Ribbon Breaks @ The Studio at Webster Hall (09/16/2015)

I'd like to believe that Until The Ribbon Breaks was the reason why NYC weather finally got the memo and chilled out. Either way I doubt that Sprout and I could have asked for a nicer evening, aside from maybe witnessing a drunk girl stumble to the green room the second the band finished, which just made us stressed out on behalf of the band. When last we met the band at Mercury Lounge back in June it was admittedly a little clear that they were still getting their footing performing live as a full band. This time around, however, the four-piece was more confident in their abilities and it reflected in their delivery.

I was admittedly disappointed that the room wasn't sold out but that had more to do with the priorities of my fellow NYers than anything the band had control over. That said, those who were in attendance were definite devotees of the group. It was a bold move for them to open with, "2025", an earlier track of theirs that didn't end up on their debut full-length, A Lesson Unlearnt, but fans didn't even flinch and were supportive from the first beat to singer Pete Lawrie-Winfield's final belt in their closing song, "Goldfish". 

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[Night Out] Big Data @ Bowery Ballroom (3/24/2015)

The irony was not lost on me last Tuesday night as I stood inside the Bowery Ballroom grinning ear to ear as the sweet sounds of Big Data washed over me and cheered amongst enthusiastic newcomers to the brilliance that is the work of my "broadband bud" Alan Wilkis.

(As longtime readers know, when the SKOA family chooses to champion an artist, we are in it for the long haul with them. We shout your name from the rooftops to anyone who will hear us, we celebrate every success no matter the size, and we patiently wait for the day when everyone else finally sees what we see in them: that they are some kind of awesome. A reminder: as nice as it may seem to have the bragging rights of knowing them before anyone else did, at the end of the day their success is our greatest pleasure and the most important thing to us.)

A little back story here: In early 2010, Rocko discovered this really great remix of RJD2 - "The Shining Path" which was done by none other than Mr. Alan Wilkis. After some digging we learned that he had also been working with The Kickdrums, which essentially sealed the deal for us in terms of giving him our full support. Alan proved to be a really chill dude who was even up for grabbing drinks with strangers from the internet the first time Rocko ever came to hang in NYC with the family.

I call him my "broadband bud" because other than bumping into Alan a few times at shows or the occasional bar, the extent to our friendship has been strictly digital. This is not a complaint, it's just how life is now. These days you make a brief physical connection to someone once and thanks to the power of the internet it's possible to never really shake certain people. Mind you, this isn't all THAT uncommon in the music business, but it still doesn't make the concept any less silly. In addition to the ongoing support for his many remixes and projects on the site, myself and the rest of the SKOA family have mostly exchanged a few tweets, likes, and emails over the course of our 5 year friendship. That all said, as I stood in front of him last night snapping photos feeling prouder of him than I have of my own accomplishments in the past 5 years, I couldn't help but laugh at myself and what our society has become with help from our good ol' friend technology.

As you will soon learn from hearing his debut album, 2.0, or experiencing his thought provoking live show, my broadband bud Alan shares the same conflicted feelings that I do about where we are in this new age of technology. We all want to feel connected, but there are so many complicated icky things that come with being a citizen of the internet, especially now more than ever. The Siri-esque AI that MCs Big Data's show last night was certainly not one to shy away from bringing up topics such as the data mining that is used by websites to sell products to us, claiming that they "know us" as if they were our "friends". You're probably being delivered one of those fun ads on this very page that you're reading, in fact. (Sorry.)

After the band closed out the evening with their breakout hit, "Dangerous", I queued the coat check line, enduring the incessant gushing of a new fan with unfortunately bad breath. I pondered whether to seek out Alan and congratulate him based on the newfound invalidity my relationship suddenly felt that was brought on in part by the very experience that he had been responsible for delivering that evening. I was very uneasy because I have always taken the approach to celebrate and embrace the majority of what the internet has to offer, but I worried that maybe my approach was, if I may attempt to make a pun here, dangerous, because it has slowly made so many aspects of my life such enormous gray areas, relationships included. Then I considered that whatever way I have been internetting brought me to this moment of self-reflection by means of someone who I considered an albeit casual friend, so maybe the internet couldn't be all that bad.

I ushered some girls who had been attempting to talk to me throughout the opening bands back upstairs so they could meet Alan. One actually gushed to him that she thought he was going to be the next LCD Soundsystem. It was a pretty adorable moment. After I had a brief rock mama moment with Alan, my new friends wanted wanted to make sure they could tag me in their Instagram photos so presumably we would be tied together to this one moment indefinitely on the internet (btw - I'm the one snapping photos in that photo, obvi). 

It's weird how I never even thought twice about this kind of interaction until this show, but I guess that just means that 2.0 really does sink in when you're not caught up in all of the uncontrollable hip shaking that occurs when listening to it.

If it's not clear by now, you really need to give 2.0 a spin if you haven't already over on Spotify or via the Rdio player below. You can also be amazing and pick it up on iTunes. 

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