The Psychedelic Furs Announce New East Coast Tour Dates (Maxwell's In March)

Did you miss out on the '80s 'splosion that was The Psychedelic Furs' joint tour with Tom Tom Club this past fall? Do you live on the East Coast and promise not to be lazy this time around? Well then you're in luck - our friends at Slicing Up Eyeballs have reported that the Furs will be back on our coast this March with seven planned shows beginning on March 17 at the State Theatre in Falls Church, VA.

This short run will conclude with a two-night residency on March 24 & 25 at the famous Maxwell's in nearby Hoboken, NJ. Tickets are onsale now for $40 and can be purchased here and here.

Check out the full tour schedule below, along with a video of a live performance of "The Ghost In You" because that's my favorite song of theirs (sorry "Pretty In Pink" fans... but not really sorry).

Yo La Tengo's Hanukkah shows still happening despite Ira Kaplan's health scare

Ira Kaplan w/ Yo La Tengo @ The Bell House in May (more here)

In a statement released on YoLaTengo.com...

"Hi everybody, especially those of you with tickets to next week’s shows, 

We strive to make our Hanukkah shows unpredictable, and in one unfortunate regard we’ve outdone ourselves this year. I’m going to be a little vague here, but I had a pretty serious health scare earlier this month. I’m well on the way to recovery, but I’ve not yet been deemed ready to Rock. The good news is . . . well, the good news is I’m on the way to recovery . . . but vis-à-vis next week, the good news is that I’ve been deemed ready to sit in a chair and play the concerts that mean more to me, Georgia and James than most anything else we do together. Our sets will undoubtedly be tweaked accordingly. In other words, if you were hoping to be in attendance for our annual airing of “Mushroom Cloud of Hiss,” I’m afraid that is now zooming up the Unlikely chart with a bullet. But we’re confident that it’s going to be a great eight days. We’re looking forward to seeing you all, and to not answering any questions about what happened to me! 

As long as I’ve got your attention, I’ll let you know about one other change this year. We’ve filled the walls of Maxwell’s front room with a bunch of posters and other ephemera from our various closets. Some of it will be for sale (all proceeds to charity) and all of it will hopefully be entertaining.

Hanukkahly yours,
Ira"

We're hoping Ira is doing okay, and we're still looking forward to eight nights of greatness! Also... who do you think is opening?

Who Are The Openers For Yo La Tengo's Hanukkah Shows?! (Speculations)

More shots from YLT @ The Bell House over here!

Everyone's got their own reasons for loving and/or hating the holiday season, and for us NYC-based music fans our love is focused on a very special event that comes but 8 times a year: The 8 Nights Of Hanukkah With Yo La Tengo! Find your way into one of the shows at the legendary Maxwell's in the slightly-less-legendary Hoboken, NJ from December 20-27 if you can, because each and every year they're all great times.

But in a yearly mystery that rivals the suspense of The Simpsons' "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" cliffhanger from back in the day (it was Maggie, in case you somehow never saw that), we're sitting here a week out from the first night of Hanukkah wondering... who the hell are the openers going to be? Last year's festivities featured musicians like Fucking Nostalgic heroes Mission of Burma, The National, and Jeff Tweedy from some band called Wilco - along with comedians like Todd Barry, Jim Gaffigan, Marc Maron, and Eugene Mirman - so that all re-emphasizes the "you don't want to miss this" aspect of these shows.

But if there's anything we've learned in the past nine months of existing, it's that Fucking Nostalgic fans are a very sharp, clued-in set of people. So go ahead and throw out your best guesses (or even leaks!) about who the 2011 YLT Hanukkah openers will be in the comments of this post or over on our Facebook page. So far we're hearing The Feelies may show up for one night - who else ya got?

Photos/Review: Sebadoh @ Maxwell's

Sebadoh @ Maxwell's - November 11, 2011

"LESS ROCK!"

Or was it "LET'S ROCK!"? That's what some drunk little kid in the middle of the crowd at Maxwell's yelled out at least five times as Sebadoh took the stage Friday night. No one, not even Lou Barlow (who the heckles were apparently directed towards), could make sense of it.

"It's funny, usually when I get heckled it's by someone I know," Barlow responded after several inane comments such as "that's a really cool guitar," and "I didn't know you played guitar," and--my personal favorite, "who's Jake?"

Barlow was clearly annoyed but that didn't stop the band from putting on a great fucking show at Maxwell's Friday night, the best venue in New Jersey as far as I'm concerned. Blasting through the majority of Bakesale, which its reissue I assume they're still touring behind, Sebadoh sounded just as raw and intense as you would hope. Their current drummer, Bob D'Amico, breathes new life into this batch of songs--tracks like "S. Soup" and "Give Up" sound even more hardcore than they do on recording, sped up for sure, but not sloppy at all.

Sebadoh Return To NYC/NJ This Weekend To Rock Our Faces Off + ATP In March

One of the very first shows we covered on this site was Sebadoh at Bowery Ballroom in April, which was subsequently the last time they were in New York City. And now that they’re coming back, we’re pretty thrilled. If you’re in the New York City area, you have two opportunities to catch the band this weekend. Tomorrow night Sebadoh will play Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ, and then on Saturday night they will melt faces in Brooklyn at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets are sold out for Maxwell’s but you can still nab one for MHOW.

My pick of the two goes to Maxwell’s--mainly because I just love that venue, it’s incredibly small, and the sound is pretty phenomenal. Check Craigslist for people getting rid of extras. But if you’re too lazy to take the 10 minute bus ride out to Jersey, then you’re better off sticking to Brooklyn (you lazy, lazy person). Anyway – we’ll be covering both shows, so be sure to check back for photos and reviews. We have our fingers crossed for new material (at least that’s what Lou semi-promised when I spoke to him in May), so we’ll be sure to report back to you on that.

And don’t forget, Sebadoh is still confirmed to play the Jeff Mangum-curated ATP in Minehead as announced earlier today. Tickets--for those who didn’t already purchase them before the original December dates were cancelled-- are on sale now.

Yo La Tengo Playing Hannukah 2011 Shows At Maxwell's, Tickets Onsale Friday

Check out more pics and a review of YLT's Bell House show back in May over here!

We here at FN, like pretty much every sane person in the world, love the hell out of Yo La Tengo. And it's been my personal mission for way too many years now to see one of their legendary Hanukkah shows at Maxwell's in nearby Hoboken. Well on Friday (10/28) at noon, the time will come again to fight tooth and nail for tickets, as the venue has just announced all eight shows are on for December 20 through December 27.

Keep the site bookmarked and grab 'em if you can. But not before I do. Good luck! (And cheers to NYCTaper for the tip!)

Photos/Review: Wild Flag @ Maxwell's

Wild Flag / Eleanor Friedberger @ Maxwell's
Photos: Nadia Chaudhury / Review: Josh Kurp

Only hours after seeing Carrie Brownstein discuss putting a bird on things as part of the Portlandia panel at New York Comic Con, we watched her again at (our favorite venue) Maxwell’s in Hoboken, New Jersey--this time as one-fourth of Wild Flag--scream “cunt” as loudly as she could into a microphone. Just another day in the life of the former Sleater-Kinney band member, who teamed up guitarist/vocalist Mary Timony (formerly of Helium), keyboardist Rebecca Cole (The Minders), and drummer Janet Weiss, also from Sleater-to form Wild Flag last year. They sound like if The Woods was more Who than Zeppelin, with a bit of a psychedelic space-rock vibe in there, too.

Brownstein, whose intensity is quite terrifying in person, sings in urgent jabs and slanted hiccups, but it’s Timony who stole the show. She may not be as flashy as the punkier Brownstein, who furthers the Who comparison with her take on Pete Townsend’s swirling guitar strum, but Timony’s more poised and sly, and her restraint makes the songs give off a sort of haunting feel. When they’re trading licks back and forth, though, like on “Glass Tambourine,” that’s when the real magic happens.

Wild Flag plays Bowery Ballroom tonight (as part of CMJ), along with Eleanor Friedberger, who opened the Maxwell’s show with a set of songs from her excellent debut solo album, Last Summer (“I Won’t Fall Apart on You Tonight” is particularly affecting live). You’d be wise to find a way to get into the sold-out show. Check out a full set of photos of both Eleanor and Wild Flag below...

Reminder: X is in town this weekend, playing Los Angeles and screening The Unheard Music

There are tons of great events going on in New York City this weekend, but if I had to single one event out it would be this: the legendary X will be playing Irving Plaza on both Friday and Saturday for two very special shows. In addition to performing the iconic Los Angeles album in full, there will be a screening of X: The Unheard Music before the band takes the stage.

If you haven’t yet seen the excellent documentary, it focuses on the importance of X’s contribution to the Los Angeles music scene throughout the late ‘70s and most of the ‘80s, featuring amazing live performances and interviews with the band, interspersed with tons of footage of the L.A. scene they birthed. Seeing the film with hundreds of other X fans should be quite a treat, not to mention getting a full performance from the film’s subject immediately after. X will also be performing songs from throughout their catalog.

These shows were announced a while ago, and FN contributor Anjelica LaFurno even had the chance to interview Exene Cervenka for us last month, which we were thrilled about. Read the interview if you haven’t already, and definitely pick up a ticket for either of the Irving Plaza shows (tickets still on sale for both Friday and Saturday). But if you’re in the mood for a more intimate performance, X will also be playing Maxwell’s in Hoboken tomorrow night (sold out, but check craigslist)—and if you’ve ever been to Maxwell’s before then you know it’s a special place to see your favorite bands. Godspeed.