The Constellations: March 15 @ Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
The Constellations from Atlanta kicked things off Monday night at Bowery Ballroom on a bill that included The Postelles and Hockey. When they first walked onstag
e, I thought, well aren't they a mismatched looking bunch of folks. But, you can't judge music by appearances most of the time so I was curious to hear what they sounded like. Frontman Elijah Jones at times reminded me of a cross between Eddie Vedder (channeling Sly Stone and minus the pretentious air), Rob Thomas if he went rogue and some random hip-hop guy ... pick a non-hardcore one and insert name here. Then there were the two dudes that looked like Marshall Tucker escapees, a hipster looking guy who loved the hell out of his cowbell, two chicks with extra short dresses, the guy hidden behind the chicks that looked like he might have some pot to sell and a drummer I couldn't see. If they should happen to come across this description, they'll likely say WTF?! Exactly! That was my thought when I saw them. Then, they played.
Their music was a variety of genres ranging from straight ahead rock, to hip-hop, to soul, to dance with some Latin tinges. They mixed it all together and it worked well and they worked the stage hard.I was on the verge of being hypnotized by bassist Wes Hoffman's 'fro glowing and shimmering according to the stage lighting. That is, until keyboard guy Jamie Gordon busted out the cowbell and proceeded to fascinate me with his enthusiasm. Can I be a cowbell player groupie? I'm just sayin', I'm down with the cowbell y'all. And, so nobody feels slighted, I'll mention the rest of the band by name. There's Ryan Davis (guitar/keyboard) the pot co
nnection looking guy; Jason Nackers the drummer I couldn't see; Trevor Birdsong (guitar) one of the Marshall Tucker escapees; and, Alaina Terry and Shabnam Bashiri (backing vocals/percussions) the chicks with the extra short dresses. For the record, I have no idea if Davis has any association with pot well, other than knowing how to spell it ... hopefully.All was going well and I was getting my groove on but then ... oh yes, there's a but! But then, they got to the last song which I got along with well enough at first. But, near the end, it kinda went wrong for me. I found myself wanting to scream out and beg, for the love of God, make it stop! Other than that, it was a high energy, enjoyable set.
www.myspace.com/theconstellations
theconstellationsmusic.com
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eases. Brittelle will release his Television Landscape in June, while Kirkland Snider will release her Penelope in September. Fans of both will be in for a treat when both premiere the upcoming releases live. Head on over to The Bell House in Brooklyn on Saturday, April 3 to witness it. Last year, early versions of the works were performed as part of New Amsterdam Record's Undiscovered Islands series. Both works have now been completely re-worked and will feature new performers. Check out Sarah Kirkland Snider's "This Is What You're Like" featuring Shara Worden below in the MP3 Grab.extensive experience with classical, jazz, and rock music, with influences for Television Landscape varying from Prince's Purple Rain, Michael Jackson's Thriller to the complete orchestral works of Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy. The music on the album is fully notated in every regard, featuring ornate string arrangements, epic guitar solos and jazz horn sections all performed by critically-acclaimed musicians/members of The Long Count, So Percussion, Alarm Will Sound, NOW Ensemble, The Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Dirty Projectors collaborator Matt Marks and more.
Sarah Kirkland Snider's debut album Penelope (September 2010) is a haunting 60-minute song cycle for female voice, chamber orchestra, and electronics composed by Sarah Kirkland Snider, featuring vocalist Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond and highly acclaimed chamber orchestra Signal, conducted by Brad Lubman, and sound design by Michael Hammond. A deft blend of Snider's classical training and strong interest in indie rock, pop and folk music, Penelope is a genre-defying work that moves organically from moments of wistful string and harp reflection to dusky post-rock textures with distorted drums and guitars, always buoyed by a strong sense of melody. Derived from a multimedia-theater piece co-created by Snider and acclaimed playwright Ellen McLaughlin, the work centers on a woman whose long-missing former husband turns up at her door, traumatized by two decades spent in an unnamed war. To restore his memory, the woman reads aloud from Homer’s “Odyssey.”
s hosting it. They'll be rockin' the stage down at Santos Party House on Saturday, April 3. You can grab tickets HERE. You don't want to miss this one. Who knows when they'll find their way back to a NYC stage folks.
4? Personally, I think you should be over at the Highline Ballroom to rock out with The Donnas. To get you in the mood for tomorrows show, check out the video below. Me, I'm blasting The Donnas catalog in preparation.
at consisted of The Postelles and The Constellations. They were the band I knew the most about when I ventured down to the LES venue for a night of music. Having never seen them, I was interested to see what they were about live.
the chick and I kind of wish she had.
www.hockeyband.com
e, I thought, well aren't they a mismatched looking bunch of folks. But, you can't judge music by appearances most of the time so I was curious to hear what they sounded like.
nnection looking guy; Jason Nackers the drummer I couldn't see; Trevor Birdsong (guitar) one of the Marshall Tucker escapees; and, Alaina Terry and Shabnam Bashiri (backing vocals/percussions) the chicks with the extra short dresses. For the record, I have no idea if Davis has any association with pot well, other than knowing how to spell it ... hopefully.
www.myspace.com/theconstellations