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The Presets @ Bowery Ballroom

The Presets singing, pressing buttons to the delight of the crowd @ Bowery (photo: marmar_photo)

Aussie disco punk at it’s finest. I had become a fan of this band from Digitalism’s remix of Down, Down, Down and few other singles off of their earlier album, Beams. Little did I know how much I would enjoy the tracks from their new album, Apocalypso which I had not heard before the show.

This new record will probably be a strong contender for the best electronic/dance album to come out this year but we have a lot of year left and clearly, some big releases have been falling through the cracks for me.

The show itself is what you would expect from an electronic band and unless you love to dance and/or get off on vintage electronic gear from the 70s and 80s, this show might have gotten a little boring. However, a friend of mine, who has a lot of experience at the Bowery, said he had never seen the crowd dancing like they were for The Presets. And if you take into consideration that New York crowds are supposedly boring, this show just might have been exceptionally good.

I enjoyed it.

Talk Like That
Down Down Down
Girl
A New Sky
Yippiyo-ay
Are You The One?
Together
Aeons
Girl and The Sea
Steamworks
This Boy’s In Love
Kicking and Screaming

My People
Anywhere
I Go Hard, I Go Home

Posted in Music, New York

June 6th, 2008 | 5:02 PM

The Raconteurs @ Terminal 5

Brendan Benson and Jack White rock. The audience salutes. (photo: Play Vicious)

Yet another show I was convinced I needed to see only to realize I shouldn’t have needed any convincing. If you like the White Stripes…imagine a full, southern-rock/blues influenced band backing up Jack White. Rockers in the audience were certainly impressed by Jack White’s presence and energy while the rockaphiles were getting blown away by the jams the band kicked out on each song.

Brendan Benson fronts a couple of songs and as good as he is, they end up being forgettable. Maybe he was overshadowed by Jack White singing into the mirror he had mounted on his guitar stack. Or maybe Benson is overshadowed by the entire band he’s involved with. Yeah, that’s it.

Also, this was my first show at the brand, spankin’ new music venue Terminal 5. What I think sums up this place is the fact that it reminds me of the dance club in Basic Instinct. That’s just weird.

Consoler of the Lonely
Store Bought Bones
Hold Up
You Don’t Understand Me
Top Yourself
Old Enough
The Switch and the Spur
Level
Keep It Clean (Charley Jordan cover)
Steady as She Goes
Many Shades of Black
Rich Kid Blues
Blue Veins

Salute Your Solution
Broken Boy Soldier
Attention
Carolina Drama

Posted in Music, New York

May 31st, 2008 | 11:05 AM