Photos/Review: CBGB Festival Day Three (Cloud Nothings, The War on Drugs, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Guided By Voices)

Guided By Voices

CBGB Festival (Day Three) - July 7, 2012
Photos: Nadia Chaudhury / Review: Chris

Day three of CBGB Festival had two pretty huge options, both seemingly aimed at the same audience. How does one choose between Superchunk in Times Square and Guided By Voices at SummerStage? Theoretically, one could have attended both, as Superchunk took the Times Square stage at 1:20pm, but I didn't want to take any chances getting shut out of Guided By Voices, who weren't on until 6pm. I'm not entirely sure if I made the right decision, but we'll get to that in a bit.

Photos/Review: CBGB Festival Day Two (MxPx, Radio 4, Reggie Watts)

Reggie Watts @ The Bell House

CBGB Festival (Day Two) - July 6, 2012

Photos/Review: Geanna B. & Chris

Day Two of CBGB Festival had a lot of great options, but unfortunately our day jobs and inability to be in two places at once greatly limited what we were able to cover. Luckily, Geanna was game to check out pop-punk purveyors MxPx at Best Buy Theater, while I took a trip to The Bell House to catch one of comedian Reggie Watts' viciously unique sets. I'm happy to report that neither of us were stabbed throughout our excursions. Here's Geanna's account of the MxPx show:

Well, my ears are still ringing from Friday's MxPx show at Best Buy Theater for two reasons: 1. They totally rocked out, and 2. Because I might be getting old. Celebrating their 20th Anniversary as part of the CBGB Festival, this was one of the fest's shows that I absolutely had to see. Oh, Memory Lane, how often I visit thee. Who needs a DeLorean when nostalgia is just a subway ride away?

Harley Flanagan, founding member of Cro-Mags, reportedly stabbed Cro-Mags bassist Mike Couls at Webster Hall last night

Harley Flanagan (left) at Thursday's screening of American Hardcore

Sad, strange, and alarming news is being reported about last night's Sick Of It All / Cro-Mags show, which was part of CBGB Festival. The entire show was cancelled after Harley Flanagan, founding member of Cro-Mags reportedly stumbled into the VIP lounge of Webster Hall (inches from where I was photographing Thursday night's show) and stabbed Cro-Mags bassist Mike "The Gook" Couls. 

According to Bowery Boogie:

"Security mobilized in a hot minute and beat the shit out of him. It took no less than six beefy dudes to control the madness. Blood was everywhere, and bone protruded from his shin. Cops quickly appeared and took [Flanagan] away in cuffs. Not before he had already stabbed some dude in the chest (said victim left the scene with a bandage over the wound). Because of the violence the rest of the show was canceled. The remaining bands promised to reschedule the show. To be fair, Webster Hall security contained the situation professionally. Lots of drunken, pissed off hardcore fans were on edge after the cops shut down the show, but the scene was cleared without further incident."

Particularly strange about the whole incident is that Flanagan showed up to American Hardcore's screening on Thursday with who appeared to be his two young sons (both were sporting mohawks). Flanagan seemed his usual slightly intimidating self, but I never would have expected him to stab someone the following night. 

CBGB issued the following statement early this morning:

"We are saddened to learn about the events that occurred last night at Webster Hall. Our primary concern is always the safety and experience of New Yorkers, music fans and the general public. Naturally we will fully cooperate with law enforcement while hoping for the speedy recovery of those injured.

Live music can be incredibly uplifting, empowering and positive. We don’t feel the actions of one person should overshadow four amazing days and nights of events that include today’s historic and unprecedented free concerts in Times Square and Central Park."

CBGB Festival rolls on today, with the aforementioned two huge free shows: Superchunk / The Hold Steady / Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Times Square, and Cloud Nothings / The War on Drugs / The Pains of Being Pure At Heart / Guided By Voices at Central Park SummerStage. More coverage of CBGB Festival is on the way.

Photos/Review: CBGB Festival Day One (Krist Novoselic, American Hardcore, Agnostic Front)

Agnostic Front @ Webster Hall

CBGB Festival (Day One) – July 5, 2012
Photos/Review: Chris

CBGB Festival is in full swing here in NYC, which means thirty venues throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn are hosting music showcases, and the entire Landmark Sunshine Theater is holding numerous panels and film screenings. To kick things off, legendary bassist Krist Novoselic gave a keynote speech at Sunshine yesterday at noon, which was hosted and moderated by walking music encyclopedia Matt Pinfield.

This Week's Nostalgia (7/3-7/9)

by Trista Hou (Bingshu Hou)

The last time we heard from The Virgins was around 4 years ago when they released their self-titled album. Donald Cumming has an extremely similar voice to Julian Casablancas, and they've opened for Iggy Pop, The Stooges, Lou Reed, Sonic Youth, Patti Smith, etc... which strongly proves that their show is a must see for you to check it out net week. They will be playing in Bowery Electric on July 6.

I don't have to introduce our NYC-based jazz sweetheart Norah Jones. But this time she will come take us to a murkier and darker mood, since her newly released album contains scenes of jealousy and heartbreak. At Central Park SummerStage on July 3 she will use her melting voice but with new expression to satisfy your curiosity of how a jazz sweetheart could sound like if she sings sorrow songs.

CBGB Festival begins this Thursday. We've listed a bunch of those shows below, but stay tuned for an extensive preview of the festival in the next day or two. We're running a little slower than usual lately, but things are about to pick up. Without further ado...

CBGB Festival is almost here - WIN TWO PASSES FROM FUCKING NOSTALGIC!!!

With a lineup that includes Guided By Voices, Superchunk, Red Kross, Agnostic Front, Fishbone, David Johansen, D Generation, and tons of other great artists new and old, you could probably guess that we're pretty excited for the inaugural CBGB Festival that takes over New York City next week from July 5-8. The ambitious multi-venue festival's goal is to "help new artists grow, gain visibility and be seen by the music industry." Considering a majority of the 300 bands on the lineup are relatively obscure, it seems that the organizers have done a good job staying true to that goal.

Badges for CBGB Festival are still available over at CBGB's website for very affordable prices. We'll be running an extensive preview to highlight the best of what's going down throughout the four-day festival. In the meantime, you have the chance to WIN TWO PASSES TO CBGB FESTIVAL RIGHT HERE. Details are below...

To win two passes to CBGB Festival: Send an email to chris@fuckingnostalgic.com with "CBGB" in the subject line and your full name in the body by Monday, July 2 at 9am. A winner will be selected at random with instructions on where/how to pick up your two passes. Your email won't be used for anything other than entering the contest. Please make sure you will be in New York City for the festival! GOOD LUCK!!!

Fucking Nostalgic's Guide to Summer in NYC (Part One)

Overwhelmed by the insane amount of summer shows taking place this summer in New York City? You're not alone. Over the past few months, dozens of festivals, concert series and one-off shows have been announced, and it's pretty impossible to keep up with all of them. So over the next couple of weeks, we'll be taking a look at everything NYC has to offer (both paid & free) with our FN Summer Concert Guide. We'll be outlining the major inclusive festivals in this post and then in part two we'll take a look at ongoing summer concert series that will be taking place throughout the season. Without further ado...

CBGB Festival Is Happening!

After a few months of raising eyebrows, small, independent news outlet The New York Times reports that plans for this year's CBGB Festival are well underway. The four-day fest will begin on July 5th and plans to feature over 300(!!!) bands across 30 venues in the city. In addition to all the awesome music, there will be film screenings, workshops and conferences galore.

Already scheduled is a free concert in Central Park with Guided by Voices, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Cloud Nothings. At Webster Hall, a you can get your mosh-pit on with the Cro-Mags, Vision of Disorder and Sick of It All. Read more about the festival and purchase tickets and combo passes ova here.

Post-fest, the organizers are hoping to find a new home for the infamous club "somewhere downtown". In the meantime, we shall continue to hold our collective breaths and fantacize about the demise of John Varvatos and his precious, luxury goods.

Stay tuned!