Review: Catalpa Festival @ Randall's Island (Day 1)

Catalpa Festival @ Randall’s Island - July 28, 2012
Photos: Geanna B. and James MacFie / Review: Geanna B.

Renaissance Fairs are great, we know this much is true. Where else can you eat delicious turkey legs while donning your favorite crushed velvet garments and lamenting the devastation of the Bubonic Plague? Probably nowhere, actually. But even in the midst of all this Humanist fun, there is one major thang that the Renaissance inarguably lacks: the presence of Snoop D-O-G-G and his historic album, Doggystyle.

Lucky for us, Catalpa NYC was there last weekend to fill the void. But what is Catalpa, exactly? And how did it get its name? And how are we to pronounce said name? And why were there no cats involved? AND WHERE WERE THE BRISKET TACOS?! All of these questions remain unanswered, but we did give it a Google, just for good measure:

Review: The Black Keys @ Madison Square Garden

The Black Keys @ Madison Square Garden - March 22, 2012
Review: Mariel Marelli

Long ago, in the middle of 2003, I was sitting in a college class at Ohio University when a classmate stood up and awkwardly announced “Hey everybody, my friends who are staying with me this weekend are in a band called The Black Keys. They’re playing a show if anyone can make it.” That is where I first learned of the guitar and drums duo that is Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney. A year or so later, I was back in school, this time in Orlando, and my friend excitedly tells me that this band he really likes is coming to town and we have to go. Again, that band is The Black Keys. I remember it being a great show in a small venue and that’s where I truly fell in love with their music.

When it was announced this year that they were playing the almighty Madison Square Garden, I was scared! Was that venue too big for the duo? Would that many people want to see them? Apparently, everyone wants to see them, because not only did they sell out MSG, they then added another show and sold that out too! They showed me!

FN News Roundup: March 22, 2012

It's been quite a day in terms of album reissues, festival news, and movie castings that have been plucked from our dream journal. But pop this article up on your phone and go read it outside, it's like summer out there right now!

• At long last, shoegaze legends My Bloody Valentine will reissue their classic LPs Isn't Anything and Loveless along with four EPs' worth of material from 1988 to 1991 and unreleased / rare tracks. The countdown to May 7 is ON! (Slicing Up Eyeballs)


• Speaking of long-awaited reissues, David Bowie will be celebrating the 40th Anniversary of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars on June 5, with completely remastered tracks and an audio DVD with previously unreleased mixes (Consequence of Sound)


• INDEED. Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire) has officially signed on to play Ol' Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan in an upcoming biopic about the late rapper's career and life. YES. TO. THIS. (Warming Glow)


• Happy 35th Anniversary to the B-52s! The band who taught us much about tin roofs rusting are playing four shows in the NYC area in July with Squeeze, plus a separate show in Englewood, NJ in early August (BrooklynVegan)


• I guess we can't complain about a lack of local festivals anymore. We've got another new one on July 28 & 29 called the Catalpa Festival with headliners including TV On The Radio & The Black Keys, along with Snoop Dogg performing Doggystyle in its entirety. Geanna expressly wanted that last part bolded (Pitchfork)

Future Nostalgia: Get Free Tickets To The Black Keys Tonight (If You're Fast / Downtown) + Check Out Their SNL Performance

Looking for a cool show to go to tonight? Are you in NYC's Lower East Side now or can get there pretty fast? Are you legally an adult? Well congratulations, it's entirely possible you'll be able to snag a free ticket to see Akron, Ohio's indie blues rock champions The Black Keys tonight!

Southern Comfort (the show sponsors - kinda makes sense) is now giving away 400 tickets to tonight's gig down at 6 Delancey Street. Just show up in a timely way with your ID and you might get in. Good luck to you, and if you don't make it you can always pay money to go see them at Madison Square Garden in March with The Arctic Monkeys.

Or, failing both of those things, you can check out their performance on SNL from over the weekend, during which they rocked through "Gold On The Ceiling" and "Lonely Boy" from their new album El Camino, set to drop tomorrow. Videos after the jump.