Photos: Fucking Nostalgic's 1st Anniversary Concert (ZZZ's, The Barrens, Grandfather, EULA & Liquid Light Lab)

Fucking Nostalgic’s 1st Anniversary Concert @ Fontana’s – April 21, 2012
Photos: Nadia Chaudhury

Well… we did it. On Saturday night, we threw our first anniversary concert at Fontana’s—something we hope to make an annual tradition. And if the turnout was any indication, we shouldn’t have any problem doing that. First and foremost, a huge thank you to everyone who came out and partied all night with us and I also need to give special gratitude to all of the bands who played, Liquid Light Lab’s Steve Pavlovsky for providing lights all night long, our DJs Debbie and Damien, all of our contributors who came out to support us, plus Nadia for taking all of the photos that adorn this post. And now for a little rundown of what took place…

Had it not been for a chance encounter with Japanese noise trio ZZZ’s two weeks prior at Party Xpo, I would not have been aware of how awesome a band we had to open the show. A gig they had booked on this night was cancelled a week earlier, and when Deannie (one of the owners of Fontana’s) told me they were looking for a show, we excitedly added them to the bill. And they got things off to a crazy-good start. With fuzzed out bass lines accompanied by frenetic drumming and intricate surf-rock inspired guitar licks, ZZZ’s are certainly one cool-f’in band. If you haven’t checked them out already, you may not have many chances left (they’re heading back home to Japan sometime this week)… they played Pianos last night but they don’t have any gigs on the horizon. Definitely “like” them on Facebook, where they seem to often keep fans update on their activity.



Next up was The Barrens – and since I happen to play drums in the band, I’m not going to get into a lengthy critique of our set. I will however say that we ended our performance with a cover of T. Rex’s “Children of the Revolution,” which if I do say so myself, was quite awesome. Many thanks to my band members Colin Fitzgerald, Debbie Chou (who just released her first solo album), Mike Koene and our semi-permanent bass player Jay Sharp for playing the show. You guys are the best!



After the Barrens, Brooklyn’s Grandfather took the stage. For the next 45 minutes at the very front of the stage, I was in a complete trance. The last time I caught Grandfather, they were a three piece opening for Mission of Burma at Maxwell’s. On Saturday, they were a four piece with a new bass player and drummer (their singer instead used to play drums and sing simultaneously) and their sound has since become heavier and somehow even tighter than before. I remember them being loud and extremely well calculated in their performance at Maxwell’s, but in the past year they’ve grown into an entirely different beast. Though they did play a few songs off their debut Steve Albini-recorded album, most of what I heard was new material. And it was great.



Closing out the show was EULA, a band originally from Connecticut but now based in Brooklyn, who are quickly gaining a reputation for being an extremely entertaining live act on the scene. And for the entirety of their set we were up front dancing along to their signature blend of noisy no-wave/post-punk. Frontwoman Alyse Lamb possesses an iconic stage presence that is sure to become gradually more noticeable in the coming years, and the rhythm section of Jeff Maleri on bass and Nathan Rose on drums provides the hard-hitting backbone to EULA’s unique sound. I honestly couldn’t have envisioned a better way to close out the night. I was excited to see that EULA will be playing nyctaper’s upcoming showcase at L Magazine’s Northside Festival on June 14, for which tickets are on sale now.



Below, check out a full set of photos by photographer Nadia Chaudhury of all the bands who played, and take special notice of the trippy visuals that were provided courtesy of Liquid Light Lab (aka the best light show in New York City)...