Lucinda Williams Does Her Discography
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.
CMJ Lineups Revealed
CMJ sure snuck up this year, hmm? It feels like only yesterday when we were hopping around from club to club, consuming unhealthy amounts of promotional energy malt beverages and discovering new bands by the vanful. And here we are again, on the cusp of another marathon. While the bands had been dribbling out over the last several months, this week they finally set the official showcase lineups, and posted them online. As we scroll through the endless list of bands and venues, we're reminded, as we are every year, how few we know and how many we hope to befan in the coming weeks. Who has the best lineup this year? Who will be this year's big emerging buzz band? Only 10 days away...Check out our Day One of Gothamist House lineup here.
Bloc Party Finally Make it to The Theater at MSG
Remember when Panic at the Disco and Bloc Party went on tour together? Yeah...that was weird, huh. Well, on that tour, BP had a medical emergency that forced them to cancel their New York dates. While they've played in and around the city several times since, they never got themselves back to the one spot they hadn't hit up until this week. Headlining the night themselves this time, with excellent support by Tokyo Police Club and Smoosh. The show was solid, though most agree they've been better in the past. Considering many of the band's popular contemporaries are now playing the MSG Arena itself, perhaps the spirit of playing in the big room, rather than that dreary narrow and awfully named Wamu Theater would have brought the best out of them. Hopefully next time they'll go for the main stage.
Automatic and Still for the People
What else happened this week? Stereogum released another compilation cd -- last time it was Radiohead's OK Computer, this time around it's R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People. We particularly enjoy The Wrens version of "Nightswimming". Check out all the tracks here.
