Review: Los Campesinos! @ LPR

Los Campesinos! @ (le) poisson rouge - June 22, 2012

Photo/Review: John Dabrowski

“That circle pit is lame,” Los Campesinos! frontman Gareth Campesinos! cooed to the fiery crowd at (le) poisson rouge. Earlier in the set, he tried to simmer the audience’s physicality, “Bear in mind there are a lot of delicate, attractive girls in the front.” However, those messages were largely ignored. Arms outstretched, bodies pulsing, voices galloping, the crowd could not handle itself. 

The addictive, bratty music of Los Campesinos! activates one’s body to dance and sweat and toil. One cannot merely stop. The Welsh seven piece performed tracks off their underrated 2011 effort Hello Sadness as well as favorites like “There Are Listed Buildings.” This caused an onslaught of crowdsurfers, attempting to swelter over those delicate, attractive girls. Those poor girls never had a chance. The final act of the night was beautiful. Gareth parted the crowd, dug himself through the mass, and submerged into the energy of the room for “Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks.” Los Campesinos! executed a dazzling display of rowdy pop. Get wild with them next time they are in the area.

Alex Schaaf of Yellow Ostrich desired his latest release Strange Land to escape the bedroom sound that The Mistress held. With rousing numbers like “Marathon Runner” and “Elephant King,” Strange Land does succeeding in being richer, louder. Yellow Ostrich’s live performance is just as boisterous as their latest release. While Schaaf is a wiry fellow, his voice stands tall. On “Slow Paddle,” as Schaaf belted “Come out from where you are,” I felt him metamorphosing onstage, growing more confident with each song. Together, Yellow Ostrich and Los Campesinos! gave an audience access into their worlds by exposing themselves unabashedly.

Both bands will continue their tour together through the end of June. All tour dates are below. While you're down there, listen to Los Campesinos!' Hello Sadness and Yellow Ostrich's recently released Strange Land via Spotify below...

Los Campesinos! 2012 Tour Dates
June 26 OTTOBAR, BALTIMORE MD (ALL AGES)§
June 27 CAT’S CRADLE, CARRBORO NC (ALL AGES)§
June 28 MASQUERADE, ATLANTA GA (ALL AGES)§
June 29 BEACHMAN THEATRE, ORLANDO FL (ALL AGES)§
June 30 BARDOT, MIAMI FL (21+)§
July 14 LATITUDE FESTIVAL, LAKE STAGE (HEADLINE SLOT)
July 21 DEER SHED FESTIVAL, NORTH YORKSHIRE
August 3 ARENAL SOUND FESTIVAL, CASTELLON, SPAIN
August 25 READING FESTIVAL, MAIN STAGE
August 26 LEEDS FESTIVAL, MAIN STAGE
September 4 MUSIC HALL, BARCELONA *
September 6 COPERNICO, MADRID *
September 8 KUTXA KULTUR FESTIBALA, SAN SEBASTIAN
October 12-14 AUSTIN CITY LIMITS FESTIVAL

§ with Yellow Ostrich
* with Dry The River

Yellow Ostrich 2012 Tour Dates

Jul 31 Drake Hotel (w/ GIVERS) Toronto, Canada
Aug 02 Turner Hall Ballroom (w/ Sharon Van Etten + Tennis) Milwaukee, WI
Aug 03 Lollapalooza Chicago, IL
Aug 04 House of Blues (w/ Of Monsters and Men) Chicago, IL
Aug 06 Triple Rock Social Club (w/ GIVERS) Minneapolis, MN
Aug 07 The Riot Room (w/ Givers) Kansas City, MO
Aug 09 The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV
Aug 10 Outside Lands San Francisco, CA
Aug 11 Outside Lands San Francisco, CA
Aug 12 Outside Lands San Francisco, CA

Los Campesinos! released new track (download), playing NYC on 6/22 and 6/23

by John Dabrowski

Who doesn’t get excited for a band with an exclamation point in their name? It is practically a given. On June 22nd, Wichita Recordings’ Los Campesinos! will find themselves in the warm embrace of NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge (tickets), and then on June 23 at Brooklyn Bowl (tickets). The seven piece band made “Tiptoe Through The True Bits” available as a free download last week. The track was recorded during the construction of 2011’s Hello Sadness and could have easily been woven into the album’s fabric. Download the track here.

Yellow Ostrich are the openers for Los Campesinos!. Having recently released the triumphant Strange Land (Barsuk), they look to command the stage with their arsenal of tight, raw tracks. Their sophomore effort demonstrates the group’s fuller sound developed since 2010’s The Mistress (Afternoon Records). 

Find yourself in bliss with Los Campesinos! and Yellow Ostrich on their summer tour. Dates listed below, along with both band's most recent albums on Spotify...

FN News Roundup: April 18, 2012

Hey everyone! Rushing off to a sexy trivia party tonight (not kidding, you should come!), so here's your news blast for the day.

• Dean Wareham has a particularly awesome habit of playing live sets centered on material from his celebrated band Galaxie 500 with his wife Britta Phillips. They're continuing this tradition at one of FN's favorite venues, Le Poisson Rouge, on July 20, so you should buy a ticket right now. We'll wait. (Le Poisson Rouge)


• Took care of that? Cool. Now then, in honor of all the Coachella love going around since last week, the Pixies put their storied Coachella 2004 set up for free on their website to kick off their live concert download series (Slicing Up Eyeballs)


• It's officially on: Ty Segall has confirmed that a new Ty Segall Band album, Slaughterhouse, is coming out on June 24 via In The Red (Consequence of Sound)


• It's been a great week for fans of The Walkmen: in addition to the title track from their upcoming album Heaven, you can now check out another album cut called "Heartbreaker" (Stereogum)


• And finally, check in with our friends at BrooklynVegan for details on how you can get into The Hives' (no longer) secret NYC show at The Studio At Webster on April 26! (BrooklynVegan)

Codeine announces US tour dates (playing LPR and The Bell House this Summer)

We've previously reported on the reunion of Codeine for a performance at ATP I'll Be Your Mirror London in May, and now we have US dates to look forward to as well. For New Yorkers, the band will be performing on June 29 at The Bell House and July 15 at Le Poisson Rouge. Tickets for both shows go on general sale this Friday (2/24).

Below, check out Codeine's current tour schedule, as well as some videos of the legendary slowcore band live in their heyday (including a lengthy performance at Boston venue TT The Bear's)...

Watch: Ceremony -- "World Blue" (Official Video)

Ceremony @ Le Poisson Rouge, 2/4/2012

Well THAT was fast! Chris had his mind blown by hardcore rockers Ceremony just twelve days ago at Le Poisson Rouge, and now Clash reports that the band has released a video for "World Blue," the new single from their upcoming album Zoo (due out March 5 on Matador). 

Interestingly enough, the video consists of edited footage of said LPR show and may or may not feature Chris literally getting his head kicked. Check it out below!

Photos: Pissed Jeans / Ceremony @ Le Poison Rouge

Ross Ferrar of Ceremony

Ceremony (w/ Pissed Jeans) @ Le Poisson Rouge - February 4, 2012
Photos: Chris

Saturday night at Le Poisson Rouge was packed to the brim with an all-ages crowd witnessing a lineup of some of the best hardcore bands on the scene today. Amongst them were Pissed Jeans, who I’ve twice seen open for Mudhoney, and Ceremony who recently signed to Matador Records. It was my first time seeing Ceremony, and I was pretty blown away. There’s a reason Matador signed the group despite being primarily an indie rock-centric label. Their songs are amazing, and their live performance stirred up memories of my nights spent at places like Coney Island High, CBGB’s and Wetlands as a teenager. In other words: utter chaos–and loads of fun. Photos of both bands can be seen below the jump.

Ceremony’s debut Matador release Zoo comes out March 6th. The band just announced a US spring tour this morning, which includes several dates in the UK. If you’re a fan of classic hardcore punk bands, then do yourself a favor and see them. All tour dates and photos below…

Contest: Win a pair of tickets to David Bowie + Elvis Presley's Birthday Bash @ LPR!

Ever wonder what it would be like to celebrate the birthdays of two iconic musicians in a Vegas-style three ring circus setting? If you answered yes, then you probably live a much more lavish life than I. But that also means you'll be thrilled to attend Le Poisson Rouge's party this Sunday (1/15) in honor of David Bowie and Elvis Presley's birthdays!

As per LPR's website:

Oh! You Pretty Things is proud to present a birthday bacchanalia for rock's two greatest capricorns Elvis Presley and David Bowie, This Ambitious Orchestra along with Michael T and the Vanities perform larger-than-life arrangements of hit songs from their catalogue with Formika and Queen V as your emcees for this Vegas- style three ring circus.

The spectacular stage show also features a tribute to the King by Eddie Clendening and the Blue Ribbon Boys from the Broadway hit "Million Dollar Quartet", plus an exciting cast of guest singers including Lady Circus, Hickry Hawkins, Corey Tut, Rob Roth, Saphin and many more, along with burlesque by The Flying Fox and Brewster while DJs Twig the Wonderkid, Rockin' Daddy-O, and James David spin rock n roll, rockabilly, and glam-rock all night.

Tickets are still available for $15 in advance and $20 day of. However, you can easily win a pair of tickets from Fucking Nostalgic! All you have to do is send an email to chris@fuckingnostalgic.com with "contest" in the subject and your first and last name in the body. Don't worry, your email will not be used for anything other than for entering this contest. A winner will be selected at random and notified by 1pm tomorrow.  Good luck!

Photos: Thee Oh Sees @ Le Poisson Rouge

Thee Oh Sees @ Le Poisson Rouge - November 18, 2011
Photos: Nadia Chaudhury / Words: Josh Kurp

Last week was a loud one for (le) poisson rouge. Only four days after Titus Andronicus and Fucked Up shook the floors of the performance art-cum-concert venue, the mosh-pit crowd came back to LPR for Thee Oh Sees, the extremely prolific, much beloved garage rock band from San Francisco. John Dwyer and Co. put on one of the more raucous live shows out there, and photographer Nadia Chaudhury was there to shoot the madness. Paul Cary and the Small Scaries and Total Control opened.

Thee Oh Sees will be on tour with Total Control until the beginning of December (all tour dates below). Total Control have been tapped to play the Les Savy Fav-curated All Tomorrow's Parties' Nightmare Before Christmas festival which goes down in Minehead from December 9-11. Check out a full set of photos of all bands below...

Paul Cary & The Small Scaries

Total Control

Thee Oh Sees

Thee Oh Sees 2011 US Tour Dates
11/21 The Bug Jar Rochester w/ Total Control +Paul Cary
11/22 Lager House Detroit MI w/ Total Control +Paul Cary
11/23 Empty Bottle Chicago (early show) w/ Total Control
11/23 Empty Bottle Chicago (late show) w/ Total Control +Paul Cary
11/25 Granada Theater Lawrence KS w/ Total Control
11/26 Moe’s Denver CO w/ Total Control
11/28 Flying M Boise ID w/Total Control
11/29 Crocodile Cafe Seattle w/ Total Control + Grave Babies
11/30 Doug Fir Portland )AA) w/Total Control +Grave Babies
12/1 Doug Fir Portland (21+) w/Total Control
12/04 Verdi Club San Francisco CA w/ Total Control + Bronze

Photos/Review: Meat Puppets @ Le Poisson Rouge

Meat Puppets @ Le Poisson Rouge - November 4, 2011

Photos: Chris / Review: Colin Fitzgerald

I missed "Backwater."

Aside from the original tunes so lovingly associated with Nirvana's Unplugged cover performances, it's the only real "hit" in their career. The song came at the perfect time, however, with Unplugged literally making the Meat Puppets a household name. I know that I personally bought Too High to Die as soon as it came out, despite my tender age at the time. I was really looking forward to covering them, having never seen them live, but always wanting to. After a long and mind-blowing 60 or so minutes of music I really needed a cigarette, ran outside for a couple of puffs, and returned to have found they just played "Backwater," their huge mega-hit. It was probably just as well, from the perspective of music journalism. At least I could concentrate my review on other stuff besides their biggest hit.

Future Nostalgia News: Fucked Up To Perform "David Comes To Life" At LPR On 11/14

Future Nostalgia shines a spotlight on newer bands who, in our eyes, are on the cusp of achieving legendary status. These are acts we normally wouldn't feature, but feel so strongly about we just couldn't resist.

More photos from Fucked Up @ Webster Hall over here. Sorry Mariel, this is still just too damn funny.

So yeah, as we've made clear pretty recently, we're big fans of gentle giant Damian Abraham and Toronto post-punkers Fucked Up. Which is why we're psyched to share the news from Matador Records that they'll be back in NYC on November 14 to perform their outstanding album David Comes To Life in its entirety (AND in the round) at one of our favorite venues, Le Poisson Rouge.

This will be the first time they've ever done this live, and it's guaranteed to be both amazing and a giant chaotic shitshow. And to throw some icing on that giant sweaty cake (ahhh terrible imagery), the always-excellent Titus Andronicus will be opening. Tickets are on sale now for a measly $16, do NOT miss out.

Photos/Review: The Olivia Tremor Control @ Le Poisson Rouge

Bill Doss of The Olivia Tremor Control

The Olivia Tremor Control / The Music Tapes @ Le Poisson Rouge
Photos: Chris / Review: Mike Koene

In the mid 90’s, as the guitars of grunge disintegrated angstily overhead, The Elephant 6 Collective began to not so quietly make a name for themselves on the burdgeoning underground neo-psych scene. Actually, they pretty much created the scene. Merging the sounds of '60s psychedelia with elements of musique concrète, jazz, and eastern european music (and with more than a dash of the aforementioned grunge), the bands of the Elephant 6 Collective succeeded in building a colorful body of music based on melody, experimentalism and a commitment to weirdness. Of the three original E6 bands (the other two being The Apples In Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel) The Olivia Tremor Control are perhaps the best example of the E6 aesthetic in all its floral glory.

The band took the stage at Le Poisson Rouge, joined by Neutral Milk Hotel alumni Scott Spillane and Julian Koster (who’s excellent band The Music Tapes opened the show), and started into “A Peculiar Noise Called “Train Director”” from 1999’s Black Foliage: Animation Music Volume One. From then on, it was all California harmonies, tambourines and fuzz guitar (plus banjo, trumpet, a handful of organs, noisemakers, etc.). The band launched into a fan-friendly set, that while heavy on tunes from Black Foliage and their first album Dusk at Cubist Castle, also drew songs from their early singles to paint a picture that was at once almost unrelentingly sunny, but with an ominous underbelly. Highlights included “I’m Not Feeling Human”, the beatific “Define A Transparent Dream” (a personal favorite) and the nostalgic “California Demise” (their first release on E6). 

True to their free-wheeling form, bizarre tape loops sporadically sprouted unannounced and untethered from song-to-song. As the room suddenly became a little less solid, the assembled were treated to a medleyesque procession of tunes punctuated by a time-warp guitar meltdown courtesy of founding fathers and chief songwriters, Will Cullen Hart and Bill Doss. The psychedelic revival was again in full flower at Le Poisson Rouge, and as The Olivia Tremor Control took the stage for an encore, the feeling of communion and mutual gratitude between the audience and performers was undeniable. The band closed the show with a rousing version of “The Opera House," the first song off their first record, and graciously left the stage.

Be sure to stream the entire show over at NPR. Below, check out a full set of photos from last night's show including a photo of the setlist (that differs slightly from what they actually played)...

Photos/Review: Black Francis @ Le Poisson Rouge

Black Francis @ Le Poisson Rouge – July 24th, 2011
Photos: Dana (distortion) Yavin / Review: Colin Fitzgerald

My first assignment for this super cool blog was to cover the incomparable newly re-christened Black Francis (aka Charles Thompson, aka Frank Black), at Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan. (To avoid confusion I will refer to him as Chuck T. for the remainder of the review) The night turned out to be nothing like I expected. I, being a fan of Chuck T's solo career in its entirety, had no trouble picturing the set he would play. I knew he wrote "Another Velvet Nightmare" with the show’s opener, Reid Paley, and I figured most of the material would fall into the category of country-western Frank Black that was prevalent in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. That expectation was definitely shattered but I’ll get to that later.

LPR was laid out like the kind of place Tony Clifton would be right at home at. Dim lighting, tables with candles, and wine delivered to makeshift booths in ice buckets. It was surreal. No sooner did I picture Andy Kaufman's lounge-singing alter ego did Reid Paley take the stage, reinforcing the parallel with his gruff, conversational demeanor and his acerbic wit. After a long and deadly silent pause between him getting on stage and finally acknowledging the crowd, Reid broke the ice in grand fashion. "Thank you and good night!" he shouted into the mic, and pretty much all the sanctity that was established in the cocktail-party atmosphere of LPR was shattered in an instant.

Reid Paley was the consummate bar-room troubadour, equal parts Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and Johnny Lee Hooker. That’s not to say he was derivative. In all the sing-along-ready, blues-punk-drunken tunes he cranked out, nothing felt anything less than honest. He strummed nasty guitar and sang hangover-inspired lyrics with abandon, or so he would have you believe. His style of 'make it seem easy, seat of the pants performing was deceptively easy-going. He knows how to play and sing like anybody, but he also knows how to put you at ease with the artist. He often paused mid-song to elevate the crowd’s awareness of him just long enough to gaze into the crowd with a smirk before launching back into the song. He was raw, unpolished, honest, and absolutely soulful. He commanded the dinner party crowd with his somewhat familiar and personable style. Just another down on his luck everyman, who just happens to be able to draw the listener in totally, leaving them no choice but to live the debaucherous stories with him.

Olivia Tremor Control playing Le Poisson Rouge, tickets on sale now

In what appears to be an announcement made to blow my mind, Elephant 6 mainstays The Olivia Tremor Control are embarking on a tour in August, starting in Austin, TX and eventually coming to New York City’s Le Poisson Rouge on 9/21. Tickets are on sale now. The Elephant Six Collective must have some sort of relationship with that venue, as they played there back in March and have held numerous events there in the past. But this one takes the cake.

Check out the rest of OTC’s tour dates below…

WHOA: Black Francis (THE PIXIES) NYC Show Confirmed for 7/24

Well THIS is a nice treat for a Thursday night. One of our favorite NYC venues, Le Poisson Rouge, has just confirmed that one Mr. Black Francis (of THE PIXIES) will be playing there on July 24!!

He'll be joined by Reid Paley at this intimate and partially seated performance, and tickets are on sale NOW. Fucking Nostalgic will definitely be there to cover it - hope to see you there too.

Photos/Review: Lætitia Sadier (Stereolab, Monade) @ Le Poisson Rouge

Lætitia Sadier @ Le Poisson Rouge, June 13th, 2011
Photos & Review by Debbie Chou

Take away all the instruments in Stereolab and Monade, leaving just the lead vocals with a light electric guitar and you will get a mesmerizing solo performance by Lætitia Sadier. I was surprised to see she did not have a live band at le Poisson Rouge yesterday evening. But after hearing her play solo, I was convinced that her album The Trip would have still captured her fans if it were solely done on vocals and guitar.

She gave a brief description of what each song was about. If the song were in French, you would believe every word she is singing even if you didn’t understand a word of it. She sang about divorce in “Fluid Sand.” “Wash and Dance,” a song from her Monade days, consists of "angry lyrics that can be aimed toward Sarkozy, Berlusconi, and Obama." The song ends with a frustrated shout. Another Monade tune “Invitation” is an invitation to connect with one another, because nowadays “to connect is a revolutionary act.” She closed the set with her cover of Wendy & Bonnie’s “By the Sea.”

When Lætitia sings, the entire room is silent and all eyes are fixated on her. There is nothing pretentious about her pitch-perfect voice over her warm guitar chords. Her voice is haunting when low, angelic when high, and along with her sense of humor, it leaves us wanting more.

Check out a full set of photos below the jump.

Photos: The Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour @ Le Poisson Rouge

The Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour hit the Knitting Factory on 3/21 & 3/22 and then Le Poisson Rouge on 3/23. The seminal indie-rock collective played close to a four hour set on their final New York City stop of the tour, shuffling through a vast catalogue of favorites from Elf Power, the Gerbils, Music Tapes and of course, Olivia Tremor Control. I didn't notice any Neutral Milk Hotel songs, and if Jeff Mangum was in attendance (as was reported during the Knitting Factory shows), he didn't make an appearance onstage. Upon the band's return from intermission, four audience members were given the chance to throw a styrofoam snowball through a paper moon. The fourth contestant finally got it, and he was given the chance to request the band play any song outside of the E6 family of bands. He chose a Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf". Full set of photos below!