When Bushwick DIY venue Palisades closed in 2016 after an unsuccessful quest to get up to code following a police raid, we briefly brainstormed what the space at 906 Broadway might become. A corporate music venue, a new Vice headquarters, some kind of chain store? None of these appeared, but in June a Sicilian “casual dining experience” called Concrete officially began serving dinner and weekend brunch there, with plans to begin hosting live events later this fall.More →
Last week, the possibility that New York City music fans feared the most became a reality: the space at 906 Broadway that since April 2014 had been known as Palisades– the DIY venue with a bar, shows almost every night of the week ranging from punk to noise and underground hip-hop, and Ariel Bitran, the co-owner/booker with a heart of gold and ears that were open to even the littlest of bands– had a “For Rent” sign placed in its window.
Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin Tuesday May 24, 8 pm at the Marlin Room, Webster Hall: $25
Goblin– the late ’70s Italian band best known for their amazingly spooky soundtracks, written for the Italian art-house horror master, Dario Argento– really needs no introduction. However, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin might call for some explaining.
Sediment Club, New England Patriots, Guardian Alien, Bugs & Rats, Worse Friday April 22, 8 pm at Aviv: $8
It’s true that I inevitably run into some semantic obstacles when I try to enlighten people about the New England Patriots. Yeah, not the football team or whatever, but the weirdo punk band. But trust, the Pats are worth the hassle. OK, so they’re from Boston, but hear me out– these guys are ratchet as all hell, and know how to whip even the blandest room into a professional-grade brain-screw. Expect spineless (in a good way) noise without seeming end or beginning, interspersed with small grasps at reality or familiarity– try and hold on to them and within a blink’s time they’re gone. This is the attention-shattered ecstatic floundering of a band truly unhinged.
The Pats recently dropped some new tunes on the net for the first time in two long years (along with some heady new artwork depicting their googly-eyed Steal Your Face skull), which bodes well for a new record release. But all you need worry about right now is the Pats’ impending appearance in NYC, and since they’re about halfway through their April tour– the point where, deep into the bender, everyone begins to lose their mind, but still manages to have some semblance of fun– there’s a good chance it’s gonna be a real banger.
(Image via Silent Barn/ Raw Pony)
Raw Pony, Shop Talk, Anna Banana, Shockwaves Wednesday April 20, 8 pm at the Silent Barn: $8
The frontwoman of this Columbus, Ohio garage punk outfit has a bellowing range of vocal talents, from quivering falsettos to dips and whirs and extends and holds, all of which she utilizes at her whim, without paying any attention to the laws of physics, which can feel something like the worst roller coaster ride you can imagine. And that’s awesome stuff for punk. It’s all so worthy of our girl Kathleen Hanna (who’s back not only performing but landing perfect splits) and the same unbridled energy, and combined with the Raw Pony‘s bare-bones slacker psych, makes for a real interesting and, uh, real raw rock n’ rolling. Pairing nicely with the old-school vibes are the actual Ramones incarnate, Shockwaves.
Did we mention that you’re not likely to get even one second to breathe at this show? Shop Talk keep the waves a flowin’, with their frenzied take on clunky, bass-whopped folk punk. The band occasionally veer close to the edge of wide-eyed Mountain Goats earnest storytelling garble, but something manages to pull them back. Maybe it’s the snappy guitar and bass interplay that won’t take a backseat to no one. But for now (considering their relative newness and bitty online catalogue of just two songs) it’s hard to say for sure.
(Flyer via Trans-Pecos)
“Becoming New Objects”: Genesis Breyer P-Orridge & Edley O’Dowd, Victoria Keddie, Sam Vernon & Abby Dobson, Bonnie Baxter, Deli Girls, Maria Chavez (DJ) Friday, April 22, 7 pm at Trans-Pecos: $12.
It’s part II of the Queens International Concert Series’ Trans-Pecos iteration, and duh, the fact that industrial music legend Genesis Breyer P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle is headlining with h/er Psychic TV drummer Eddie “Edley” O’Dowd– the guy who encouraged P-Orridge to start the band up again– is reason enough to get to this show. (And if you haven’t seen P-Orridge’s ongoing exhibition at the Rubin Museum, get to it already.)
But obvi the rest of the lineup is pretty stellar too, what with the Deli Girls (who’ve recently been mixing iconic reggaeton beats and other dance items into their fourth-dimension dischord deluge). And then there’s noise magician Bonnie Baxter (Kill Alters, Shadow Box) as we rarely see her– unadulterated by neither her ambient project nor her avant-noise moniker. Whatever that means, we’re looking forward to it.
Interestingly, a slew of visual artists are on the lineup as well. There’s Victoria Keddie of E.S.P. TV, the psychedelic cable access show and roving analogue video collaboration/ live broadcast experiment, as well as Sam Vernon, who works mainly with collage.
(Flyer via The Acheron)
Hank Wood and the Hammerheads, Porvenir Oscuro Tuesday April 26, 9 pm at the Acheron: $10
You’d think we were SOL when it comes to party punk done right, given the enormous wave of saccharine garage rock flooding the interwebs and venues around these parts. But a hometown outfit, Hank Wood and the Hammerheads– a band you’ve probably seen paired up with the Dawn of Humans crowd– prove that you can wriggle to an organ and potentially get the wind throttled right out of you. Performances are usually a sweaty affair but as far as the tunes are concerned, think of The Cramps, with an acid-soaked guitar or two thrown in there plus a hefty dose of hardcore spittle screaming, all fronted by a corn-pipe smoking hillbilly pirate.
Speaking of hardcore, Porvenir Oscuro (that’s “dark future” en español for those of you who don’t speak Google translate) does a rather excellent job of it– slippery slide guitars, chanty lyrics about exorcisms, calls for “no more” and other things that are beyond the realm of the aforementioned Spanish cheat sheet.
(Flyer via Palisades)
KHF, Compactor, Madame Deficit, Spreaders, Fetishes (DJ) Tuesday April 26, 8 pm at Palisades: $8
You know what Tuesdays are great for? Disappearing from the dang world. And while it’ll be far too early in the week to do something really escapist, this lineup at Palisades might do the trick without pulling you too far out to sea. It’s all about compromise, people.
Spooky noise from KHFwill cap off the night with some seriously spaced-out, extended meditations on being and nothingness. Madame Deficit is back again to introduce some actual ghosts into the space with her horror show of a set (read more about LC von Hessen’s project here here.) And if you have ears when you walk into this thing, you certainly won’t have them after staying for theSpreaders set, which is best described as an onslaught of relentless wire-crackling, fuse-busting, and conductor-harnessing power electronics. Sick stuff.
The Men, Fur Helmet, Wrung, Barbed Wire Wednesday April 6, 8 pm at Union Pool: $8
If you were always hanging out in the garage as a kid, wearing your favorite motor-grease-stained “Daddy’s Little Girl” sweatshirt, munchin’ on Cheetos (only when your mom was out back in the hot tub sippin’ wine coolers with her gals, though), and sneaking sips of your pops’s Bud, then the soundtrack to your childhood was no doubt the same ’70s and ’80s proto-metal, classic-rawk sounds that have inspired NYC rock-n’-roll revival band Barbed Wire. As the evening’s openers, they’ll set the tone with their familiar brand of brawny, Lizard-King-not-dead rock rippers. Is this nostalgia tripping or high-concept performance? You be the judge.
Madame Deficit, Astral Knife, Spreaders, Spiteful Womb, Transient in Barcelona Saturday March 12, 8 pm at Torus Porta: $6
Trust this one’s going to be a, shall we say, intimate show– for one, it’s going down at the tiny Torus Porta space in Bushwick, and secondly, it’s going down at Torus Porta. It’s a place where weird, nudey, slimey, I guess you could call it “intimate” happenings are throbbing constantly upward toward some more enlightened psychedelic digi-future thanks to bizarro performance art collective Wild Torus. They also host music shows, but judging by experience, these are likely to be unlike any old Saturday-night thing at a dingy venue with cheap beer and even cheaper philosophies on toilet paper. More →
Uniform, Shredded Nerve, Super Secret Special Guests Thursday March 3, 8 pm at The Acheron: $10 – $12
Next week Uniform returns to the stage following a show with the Soft Moon earlier this month at Market Hotel. This time, they’ll take their rip-roaring noise punk act to the Acheron where the band will be joined by some super mysterious, ultra top-secret special guests plus one ear-splitting noise set by an act most beloved. Expect speedy, metallic guitar monologues, speaker-quashing feedback, and vocal chord shredding screams.
B Boys and who? (Photo via Baby’s All Right/ Photoshop trix by Nicole Disser)
Secret Show Wednesday, Jan. 27, 10 pm at Baby’s All Right: $15 at the door
We’re not really all that into surprises. The chances of looking your birthday best after busting open your apartment door to find a surprise party are pretty low, especially considering it’s the one day each year that you leave your pants unbuttoned all the way from the dollar slice place back home. And let’s be real, those grab-bag things are usually filled with plastic dinosaurs, expired condoms, and airplane bottles, anyway– things only a child could love. But when Baby’s All Right threw another one of these secret shows back in December, they gifted us Blood Orange. And even though it would be kind of a not-surprise surprise, we’d be totally cool with another Blood Orange show.
Guido, Ritual Humor, Lover’s Touch, Rubber, Decorum Monday January 18, 8 pm at Aviv: $8
Late notice, but we know you’re looking for something to do on what’s sure to be a cold-as-hell Monday night anyway. We’re talking something that doesn’t involve drinking a bottle of wine to the face in front of How to Make a Murderer and passing out, mid-text message while you’re attempting to convince your friend that Steven Avery did do it. Rest assured this one’s not going to be outside, but last we checked it’s a good idea to wear a lil cardi and a beanie to Aviv– industrial spaces can be tres drafty, y’all. But even if you’ve got the chills, count on em being long banished by the time the second opener, Rubber, takes the stage.
While you still have a staggering amount of Manhattan performance festival shows going on this week, don’t be afraid to take a break from sifting through show schedules in order to check out some of these other options.
