Results tagged “irvingplaza”

Outspoken Nigerian dissident and afrobeat trailblazer Fela Kuti was beaten and arrested hundreds of times during his turbulent life, which came to an end in 1997 due to AIDS-related complications. Several years after his death, Femi and Yeni Kuti, his eldest son and daughter, opened a performance venue and cultural center in Lagos called the New Afrika Shrine, a living tribute to their father and his famous commune-nightclub-recording studio, which was burned down by the Nigerian army. Femi, who has since taken up the afrobeat torch, performs with his band Positive Force often at the New Afrika Shrine, which has become a refuge for politically active youths and a source for information in defense against the AIDS.

                

Over 700 nerds achievers descended upon Lucky Strike Lanes over on 12th Avenue and 42nd Street last night for the 4th NYC Lebowski Fest. The extravaganza, which came on the heels of Saturday night's sold-out concert and The Big Lebowski screening at Irving Plaza, featured a costume contest, profligate consumption of White Russians, amateurish bowling, and incessant shouts of "Over the line!" Sort of a Star Trek convention for party people, the Lebowski Fest has become an international phenomenon since its humble beginnings in Louisville in 2002, when Will Russell and his pal Scott Shuffitt drew a spontaneous crowd of "Lebowski" quoters at a tattoo convention. Here's our interview with Russell from last week, and here's The F%#king Short Version of The Big Lebowski. Well, enjoy!

Look, we're not trying to scam anybody here, man, but Will Russell and Scott Shuffitt, two urban achievers from Louisville, are throwing their fourth NYC Lebowski Fest this weekend and, well, they'd love it if you would come and give them notes. (Also, tomorrow's already the tenth.) If any of what you just read was confusing, don't worry, it just means you need to rent the Coen brothers' masterpiece The Big Lebowski again. Released ten years ago to general critical disdain, the astonishingly nuanced Chandleresque romp has gone on to become an incessantly quoted cult classic.

We'll be liveblogging the MTVU Woodie Awards tonight (hopefully Jared Leto won't break our blogging fingers) -- if you're looking for something else to do though, here are some suggestions... READING: Spend an evening with Global City Review contributors Linsey Abrams, Fred Tuten, and Michelle Yasmine Valladare. The publication "celebrates the difficulties and possibilities of the 'global city' and other constructions of community...while honoring the subversiveness and originality of ordinary lives," and reflects on New...

Debbie Harry's internationally known as the smart, cool and sexy front woman for pop/punk sensation Blondie, but when it comes to her solo career she prefers to be thought of as Deborah. The slight but significant name change might imply a conservative shift in tone, but her latest album - the first in fourteen years - finds her as vibrant and upbeat as ever. (Website, myspace) There's something inspiring about seeing Harry, whose storied career...

The welcome trend of artists playing their entire albums through live in concert has spread to the country world. Lucinda Williams was in town this week for five (relatively) intimate shows at Irving Plaza and Town Hall, each featuring one of her five albums. Lucinda didn't stop at just recreating her past work -- after a short intermission set by up and coming singer/songwriter Fionn Regan, she'd come back up for another set of old and new jams while joined by some friends of hers. And at that, what went from a rather sedate and straightforward show erupted into a grand ol' hoedown, with all sorts of dancing and singing and goofing around. Perhaps the highlight on the night we went was seeing 80-something year old Charlie Louvin up on stage well after midnight, not only keeping up with the party, but stopping the room in its tracks with a stunning rendition of 'When I Stop Dreaming.' What a show, what a party.

Last night at Irving Plaza, Andrew "William Ocean" Litz became the 2007 US Air Guitar Champion. Ocean, who lives in New York City, used his home-field advantage to...his advantage. He had several of his supporters in the crowd to aid his performances - throwing water in the air (like an ocean, we suppose) and supporting him as he crowdsurfed. Ocean's moves were enough to move him from 2nd place entering the finals/compulsory round. He defeated 14 other air guitarists that qualified in regional US Air Guitar events, including 2006 US Champion Craig ‘Hott Lixx Hulahan’ Billmeier and Fatima "Rockness Fucking Monster" Hoang, who was in first entering the finals.

It seems that every time The White Stripes fade away for a year or two, people seem to forget exactly how amazing they can be live. Perhaps it takes a show like the one at Irving Plaza last Tuesday...filled with hardcore, line-waiting fans and eager and excited members of the media to really drive home just how good a show Jack White puts on, and exactly how impressive Meg is to keep up with him (though not everyone agrees). Those in attendance were in for a treat, as any time an arena band brings it down for a club show, it's always a spectacle. We were floored at Keyspan Park two years ago, and are excited to see them bring it to another level at the Garden next month. Read the reviews at Productshop, The Modern Age, and Stereogum, to (name a few in attendance.) (Pic Via DanFun)

While we couldn't make it down this year (a bit festivaled out between SXSW and Coachella and Sasquatch so far this year), Bonnaroo kicked off last night with a couple local favorites warming up the early arrivers. The National, Langhorne Slim and Apollo Sunshine among others took the stage for the Thursday night festivities. Much much more on the way for the rest of the week, including hometowners Sam Champion, El-P and The Hold Steady. If you're stuck in NYC this weekend as well, relive our full coverage of the hippie/hipster fest from last year here, here and here. Also, stream the current fest at AT&T Blueroom. (Photo via EW's flickr.)

Earlier this week, Interpol (who if you haven't noticed is suddenly on the verge of massive international superstardom) played a local, intimate show at Bowery Ballroom to a select group of friends, label people and fans lucky enough to snag tickets when they quietly went on sale last week. The show was excellent and the band certainly proved that they've got the chops to push it to much bigger stages, even if their lonely, isolated sound feels much warmer from close up. The more exciting development, however, is that Bowery Ballroom seems to be the go-to spot for big bands playing intimate shows these days. Next week the club will play host to both Franz Ferdinand and the suddenly semi-respectable Maroon 5. As the battle for venue and promoter dominance heats up, we can only hope for more shows like this, in an effort to one-up the competition. Looks like so far, Bowery Presents is winning this battle. (Though Rufus Wainwright at the Gramercy Theatre is a strong counter). (Pic via Bao.)

With brick and mortar sales declining, and the future of the music industry uncertain - at least live shows are always dependable. Sure, there are a lot of venues closing, but how about the ones thriving? The NY Times reports on some of the big players in the New York venue scene.

THEATER: Listen up: The World Financial Center’s unique Word of Mouth Festival is going on through Saturday only. Taking inspiration from the festival’s location, The Women’s Project is presenting a series of short plays by women playwrights called Girls Just Wanna Have Fund$. They’re all site-specific works about the relationships between women and wealth (or lack thereof); audiences are escorted through various spots around the World Financial Center to watch each performance. (There's an article today's Times Metro section.) Another intriguing production is Bird Eye Blue Print, which occurs in an abandoned office suite on the first floor of One World Financial Center. “In these rooms, a mysterious woman known only as ‘the blue dress lady’ has made her home. Join her as she tours you through her realm of disappearing birds, empty phone jacks, false doorways and lost sisters. Is it an office suite? Or an elaborate optical illusion?” (Playwright Jeffrey M. Jones highly recommends the play; he also stresses that while they are limiting the advance reservations for Bird Eye Blue Print, nobody who showed up without a reservation was turned away on the night he attended.) - John Del Signore

There has been much to-do about the anti-establishment efforts of The Arcade Fire at their recent Radio City concert, urging the fans to rush and outnumber the security guards keeping the aisles clear. What was overshadowed was that this is perhaps the best live band touring right now, and they were absolutely at the top of their game this week, playing each of these shows as if it was the last they'd ever do and merely asking the fans to react with an equal enthusiasm. While the debate will continue as to whether the band should have toned their calls to riot down a smidge, or why they were even playing a sit-down theater tour in the first place, what shouldn't be lost is that these guys seem to get better and better as their popularity grows. The inevitable MSG show their next time around is sure to be quite the spectacle.

Yes, when they played their own set on Saturday night at Studio B, Of Montreal pretty much ran through the same shtick they did a month earlier at Irving Plaza. Nothing wrong with that, however, as that set was just about the best show we've been to all year and we were more than happy to re-experience it. But this show, was not entirely about Of Montreal. It was about the fans. In particular, the fans with the BAC to get up on stage and sing karaoke standards with Kevin Barnes and friends playing backup. And believe it or not, It was an almost entirely enjoyable experience. Fluxblog has a nice write-up and links to YouTube videos of most renditions. (Recommended: Aquaman and The Rudd/Wain Experience.)

On the night Lily Allen played her first post-bloghype show in New York, the ad wizards at Live Nation decided to officially rename the place The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza and drop some fake pseudo-hippie nostalgia to an already otherwise storied venue. It's an embarrassing and senseless stunt thought up by past their prime marketers in an attempt to make a consistent nationwide brand under the Live Nation umbrella. Irving Plaza is, and has been for a while, often the first step for a band that has grown out of its grassroots support and has begun its assault on the mainstream. So while the name change is really just that, it's another clear-cut sign that the homogenization of the New York rock scene in full effect. Any band playing at this new Fillmore now holds an even greater disconnect from the local scene that likely helped get them where they are in the first place. We hope the larger VIP section is worth it.

Joshua White is renowned for his light show at the Fillmore East (not to be confused with the inanely re-branded The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza) in the late sixties and early seventies. Employing an arsenal of various trailblazing effects, including the now-iconic “liquid light”, the Joshua Light Show catapulted Fillmore crowds into cosmic depths from which many have yet to return.

Some venues close and reopen in lower rent areas (like Luna Lounge) and some shut their doors forever (CBGB). Most recently, the Roxy called it quits and Sin-e and Tonic have announced their closings as well. Tonic was saved two years ago (we interviewed one of the owners at the time), and they have not yet announced why they're closing for good this time (they'll shut down in two weeks). As far as smaller downtown venues go, we're left with some less than ideal spaces: the Annex, the Delancey and Fat Baby - none of which have ever been a favorite to see a show at. Seems if Pianos, Cake Shop and the recently made-over Knitting Factory can manage to keep their doors open, they'll be the places to go (though the Todd P shows and their ever-changing venues are probably the best option in town).

The much anticipated, David Bowie-curated High Line Festival has finally announced a lineup.

We've been down in Austin for South By SouthWest for most of the last week, but before taking off, we caught one of the most enjoyable shows we've seen all year in Of Montreal at Irving Plaza. For those who claim the show was boring, we don't know what they would have to do to satisfy you. There were costume changes, songs performed oh the shoulders of mustachioed, white bodysuit wearing men, and music from what is perhaps the best album released so far in 2007. Not sure what more one could ask for. (pic via Leia Jospe Flickr)

I saw Zach Galifianakis(Comedy Central Presents, Comedians of Comedy, Dog Bites Man) at the UCB theater a few months ago and he was going some crowd work. Some lady said something, I don't remember what, but Zach's response was, "Don't get me farted." From that, you can gather two things: Zach Galifianakis is a comedic genius and you should definitely see him at Irving Plaza on the 24th of February.

THEATER: It’s “go time” for The Butane’s Group’s Operation Ajax, which ingenuously sets the CIA’s 1953 overthrow of Iran’s first democratically-elected government in the context of a casino. “Constructed from no less than 25 text sources (memoirs, documentaries, plays, poetry, novels, films, reality tv shows), the densely-layered performance explores how the addiction to risk and gambling has become a potent metaphor for U.S. foreign policy.” (For an enhanced theater experience, explore the show’s thorough bibliography, with links to all source material.) - John Del Signore

Last Friday, crowds packed into Studio B to see the NYC return of laptop mashup extraordinaire Girl Talk deliver his most satisfying local set to date. 90 minutes of ADD jamz that kept the capacity crowd moving the entire time. This might sound odd, the best parts of a Girl Talk set are the mixes that don't work perfectly. They're few and far between, but sometimes two songs just don't work together. The remarkable feat is that Gillis is able to quickly realize this and seamlessly correct it right there. It's a reminder that he's not just pressing a button and letting the whole set roll, but is actually constructing these mashups on the fly. Nothing made this clearer than when after trying and failing to somehow successfully mix JT's 'My Love' with a variety of songs, finally hitting gold by matching it with the oh so timeless 'Whoop, There it is.' Ever so subtle, the trial and error made the end result that much more rewarding. Getting a peak inside how his head functions in real time gives an added sense of legitimacy to what is an already amazing performance. (Pic via Ben Shapiro's flickr)

Things are starting to pick up around here. The weather was nice, people were out leaving the cave from the post-New Years hibernation and getting back on their feet. It's still coming around, but the rock scene is starting to show some life as well...

Those folks at JellyNYC (also responsible for the free Sunday shows at McCarren Park Pool this summer) booked a great lineup for the 2007 Plug Awards. The awards will take place on February 10th at Irving Plaza, and so far the lineup looks like this:

THEATER: Self-proclaimed “super-ultra-nerd” Brooke O’Harra has spawned Panic at P.S. 122. Written by Rafael Spregelburd, her production invokes the mood of low-budget horror movies to tell the tale of a mother and her two children as they attempt to recover the key to their safety deposit box - from the hands of the dead! Panic is part of the Buenos Aires in Translation (BAiT) festival, featuring the U.S. premieres of four playwrights from Argentina’s capital, which has become the theatrical “epicenter of Latin America”. The three other plays are also running through Sunday. - John Del Signore

THEATER: Jude Narita's one-woman show, Walk the Mountain, is about the hellish effects of the Vietnam War. In the wrong hands, this might make for an unbearably ponderous evening, but the Times review puts us at ease: “In dramatizing unspeakably horrific events, must an artist end up brutalizing her audience as well? [Jude Narita] reminds us that it's possible for a performer to treat both her material and her audience with respect.” For Walk the Mountain, Ms. Narita interviewed Vietnamese and Cambodian women who survived the horror and traces the country’s history of resistance back to 39 A.D., when a Chinese invasion was thwarted. L.A. Weekly called it “haunting and heroic.” - John Del Signore

READING: What do you do after you've outed Deep Throat? Well, David

THEATER: Pot-au-Noir (The Black Hole) is a retelling of the story of Cain & Abel "through the lens of the Great American Myth -- combining images of Hollywood Film Noir, the Gold Rush, the Dust Bowl, and Manifest Destiny with a story that is at the core of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and, therefore, America." Jake Hooker’s new production promises lyrical text, contemporary dance and live music to tell a story of lies, deceit, jealousy, lust, revenge and, finally, murder. - John Del Signore

They celebrate the decade on November 16th with an event at Irving Plaza. The concert will include Superchunk, The Mountain Goats, Clem Snide, The Upper Crust and performances from Daily Show correspondents, of course. All proceeds benefit 826NYC. Buy tickets here, and check out the above clip of one of the first commercials for the show with Stewart as the host. Ah, so many memories.

THEATER: Harold Pinter’s taught two-hander, Ashes to Ashes, is running through Wednesday at the intimate Paradise Theatre in the East Village. The cryptic 45 minute one-act examines a refined couple’s quiet life at home, with the usual brutality menacing just beneath the surface. In a previous interview, Pinter blamed the male gender for the cruelty dramatized in his work, insisting that “God was in much better trim when He created women.” - John Del Signore