Back in the sand for the second annual Sea.Hear.Now music festival with a crowd of over 37,000 impressively about doubled last year’s attendance. This family-friendly event takes place on a perfectly chosen beach of the seaside town, Asbury Park in New Jersey, a town built on music. Last year’s festival set the bar high, and it’s no surprise that Danny Clinch and company met and exceeded that from the moment the gates opened.
Photos by Brian Berson
A warm night in Brooklyn is the perfect way to end the outdoor summer concert series at industry City. With the crowd packed in and the stage set with drums, guitars, amplifiers and quite possibly the most important item on a Guided By Voices stage, their famous giant white cooler stocked with cold beers.
Finally, someone from their crew came on stage to introduce the band with two huge pieces of paper taped together which was their typically long setlist. Guided By Voices took the stage and frontman Robert Pollard immediately said to the crowd “We have 57 songs for you tonight” and the crowd went wild. Marathon sets would be too much for most bands but it’s an average show for these indie rock legends of thirty plus years and twenty-eight records. Several songs into the set Pollard said they want to do a New Year’s Eve show where they play one hundred songs for one hundred dollars.
With constant trips to their huge cooler, all the band members drank beer as if it were water for the entire two and a half hour set with Robert Pollard switching from beer to tequila out of the bottle. These veterans of rock n roll became visibly more intoxicated as the night went on but it did not hurt the songs in the slightest, they stayed tight and never missed a beat. Bassist Mark Shue jumped around the stage and literally bent over backward while keeping perfect groove, Bobby Bare Jr swings his guitar around and holds it up at a ninety-degree angle while singing backing vocals and Doug Gillard, legs spread widely apart in true rock stance ripped through the leads, Kevin March kept the band going pounding away on his drums while Guided by Voices took the crowd on a musical journey weaving in and out of their long discography.
The band is preparing for the release of Sweating the Plague, their third album to be released this year. Guided By Voices will hopefully continue touring and playing their epic shows for years to come.
Photos by Matt Esposito
Strand Of Oaks returned with his new album Eraserland earlier this year (which he recorded with members of My Morning Jacket) via Dead Oceans and has been touring hard of it all year, including a performance at Music Hall of Williamsburg back in May.
Timothy Showalter and his band returned to New York for a larger performance at Brooklyn Bowl on September 26th, which began with an opening performance from Ryley Walker.
Our photographer Matt Esposito was there to capture photos from both performances, all of which can be found posted in the gallery below.
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Photos by Krystena Patton
Brian Wilson and The Zombies closed out their “Something Great from ’68” tour together with a performance in New York on September 26th at Beacon Theatre. Following the last few years touring with a focus on The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Wilson (who we last saw in 2016) and his band turned the spotlight on their 1968 album Friends. Meanwhile, The Zombies (who we last saw in 2017) performed their landmark 1968 album Odessey and Oracle in full following a few other favorites.
Our photographer Krystena Patton was there to capture photos from both performances, find all of her shots posted in the gallery below, along with the setlist.
The Zombies setlist:
1. Tell Her No
2. Merry Go Round
3. Edge of the Rainbow
4. She’s Not There
[Odessey and Oracle]
5. Care of Cell 44
6. A Rose for Emily
7. Maybe After He’s Gone
8. Beechwood Park
9. Brief Candles
10. Hung Up on a Dream
11. Changes
12. I Want Her She Wants Me
13. This Will Be Our Year
14. Butcher’s Tale (Western Front 1914)
15. Friends of Mine
16. Time of the Season
Brian Wilson setlist:
1. California Girls (The Beach Boys song)
2. I Get Around (The Beach Boys song)
3. Help Me, Rhonda (The Beach Boys song)
4. Don’t Worry Baby (The Beach Boys song)
5. Darlin’ (The Beach Boys song)
6. Meant for You (The Beach Boys song)
7. Friends (The Beach Boys song)
8. Wake the World (The Beach Boys song)
9. Busy Doin’ Nothin’ (The Beach Boys song)
10. Wouldn’t It Be Nice (The Beach Boys song)
11. Sloop John B (The Beach Boys song)
12. God Only Knows (The Beach Boys song)
13. Feel Flows (The Beach Boys song)
14. Long Promised Road (The Beach Boys song)
15. Sail On, Sailor (The Beach Boys song)
16. I Can Hear Music (The Ronettes cover)
17. Little Bird (The Beach Boys song)
18. Diamond Head (The Beach Boys song)
19. Passing By (The Beach Boys song)
20. ‘Til I Die (The Beach Boys song)
21. Surf’s Up (The Beach Boys song)
22. Lookin’ at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song) (The Beach Boys song)
23. Heroes and Villains (The Beach Boys song)
24. Good Vibrations (The Beach Boys song)
25. Fun, Fun, Fun (The Beach Boys song)
26. Love and Mercy
Photos by Qbertplaya
On September 24th 80’s mainstays, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Berlin performed at Summerstage in Central Park, opening up for The B-52’s. This was our first time seeing OMD since last year when they headlined Terminal 5 and the concert was the penultimate performance for this season of Summerstage.
Our photographer Qbertplaya was there to capture photos from both performances, all of which can be found posted in the gallery below.
Berlin setlist:
1. No More Words
2. Metro
3. Masquerade
4. I Want You
5. Take My Breath Away
6. Sex (I’m a…)
7. Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover)
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark setlist:
1. Enola Gay
2. Secret
3. Tesla Girls
4. History of Modern (Part 1)
5. (Forever) Live and Die
6. If You Leave
7. Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)
8. Talking Loud and Clear
So in Love
9. Dreaming
10. Locomotion
11. Electricity
Photos by Brian Berson
In these divided political times we should be glad to have someone like Billy Bragg that can sell out three consecutive nights at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom and share his far-left political songs. For nearly forty years Billy Bragg has written powerful songs to change the political landscape and tackle activism while also sprinkling in the occasional love song.
Without being overly preachy Bragg speaks to the crowd between songs with humor and jokes while sharing his thoughts about the prime minister of England or the president of the United States whose very names elicit sounds of boos and hisses throughout the crowd.
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Photos by Anthony Mulcahy
This year saw Josh Ritter return with his tenth studio album Fever Breaks, which was released on April 26th via Pytheas Recordings. He’s been touring hard in support of the new record, which included a headlining performance at Beacon Theatre on September 22nd. This was our first time seeing Ritter perform since his performance at Brooklyn Steel in 2017.
Our photographer Anthony Mulcahy was there to capture photos from Ritter’s performance, all of which can be found posted below along with the setlist.
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Photos by Dutch Doscher
K.Flay returned this year with her new album Solutions via Interscope Records and is currently on the road touring in support of it. She brought the tour to Brooklyn Steel on September 24th, where she performed alongside openers Houses.
K.Flay performed two different sets, with the first being a normal set, and the other a stripped down acoustic one. Both sets saw her run through mostly songs from Solutions, as well as some older favorites, along with a cover of Liz Phair’s “Fuck & Run.”
Our photographer Dutch Doscher was there to capture photos from both performances, all of which can be found in the gallery below along with K.Flay’s setlist.
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Article + Photos by Joe Saturday
Norwegian pop singer Sigrid, who released her debut LP Sucker Punch earlier this year (via Island Records), is no stranger to playing New York; she has previously headlined shows at Mercury Lounge, Bowery Ballroom, and Brooklyn Steel. A few weeks back, Sigrid and her band returned to the area for two sold out headlining performances at the East Village venue Webster Hall. We were fortunate enough to be in attendance for the second sold out night on September 20th.
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Photos by Dutch Doscher
On September 16th Marina (formerly Marina and the Diamonds) returned to New York for a performance at Summerstage in Central Park, with an opening set from LPX, Lizzy Plapinger of MS MR.
Marina is touring in support of her two-part album Love + Fear, which was released via Atlantic Records this April. She broke the set up in a similar format with songs that fit into both the Love and Fear section of her set.
Our photographer Dutch Doscher was there to capture photos from both performances, all of which can be found posted in the gallery below.
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