Dylan @ Bowery Ballroom - NYC
April 17th, 2024: Dylan @ Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
Dylan - Photos Courtesy of: Niamh Murphy
On the penultimate night of her Rebel Child Tour, London-based pop-rock singer Dylan took to the stage at New York City’s iconic Bowery Ballroom for a high-octane set that kept fans dancing and singing all night.
Anticipation was high, with fans lined up around the block before doors opened. Many had discovered Dylan after 2022’s stint opening for Ed Sheeran on his +–=÷x stadium tour, and many others found her through TikTok. “I’m always on TikTok and heard her that way. I got my daughter into her and when we heard she was going on tour, we had to come up for it” reveals one fan, who brought her pre-teen daughter with her. “It’s her first concert – she’s so excited”
It’s hard to think of a cooler first concert to experience. (My own was the Cheetah Girls). But Dylan is a bold and dynamic performer, leaving no inch of the stage uncovered and no fan ignored. She keeps her energy high, never flagging even after vigorous performances.
She takes fans through a solid catalog of uptempo pop rock like “Rebel Child,” “Every Heart but Mine,” and “No Romeo,” taking breaks for slower songs like “Blue” and an acoustic cover of Taylor Swift’s “Out of the Woods.” Fans were also treated to a cover of Sam Smith’s “Unholy” and an electric performance of her most recent release: “The Alibi.”
With an overall lively set, the show solidified Dylan as a force to be reckoned with, leaving a strong impression. Anyone leaving that set would have been impressed, whether it was their fiftieth concert or their first.
Daisy Grenade @ Irving Plaza - NYC
December 6th, 2023: Daisy Grenade @ Irving Plaza, New York, NY
Daisy Grenade - Photos Courtesy of: Chinaza Ajuonuma
Daisy Grenade, a dynamic bubblegrunge force hailing from the vibrant music scene of Brooklyn NY, brings a fresh and explosive energy to the stage. With the captivating vocals of Keaton Whittaker and Dani Nigro, the band marries raw emotion with catchy melodies, creating a sound that leaves a lasting impression. Daisy Grenade's performances are marked by infectious enthusiasm and a seamless blend of harmonies, showcasing their versatility in covers and unreleased gems. With a jumping, electric energy that electrifies audiences, Daisy Grenade is carving its path in the world of pop-punk.
Daisy Grenade brought an explosive burst of energy to Irving Plaza for the second night, delivering a performance that resonated with the crowd. The celebration kicked off with a special touch as the band, led by the dynamic duo of Dani Nigro and Keaton Whittaker, celebrated guitarist Erez Levin's birthday. The venue echoed with harmonies from both the band and the audience during the heartfelt rendition of the birthday song. The setlist featured a diverse range of hits, including a powerful cover of "King for a Day" by Pierce The Veil, during which Keaton Whittaker and the band sat on the edge of the stage, connecting intimately with the audience. Daisy Grenade also unveiled a new, unreleased gem titled "Skin," a testament to their evolving sound. Closing with the infectious anthem "Spring in the City," the band left the stage with the audience still buzzing from the jumping, electric energy that characterized their performance. Despite omitting "Got it Bad" from the setlist, Daisy Grenade's Night 2 showcased their ability to captivate and warm up the crowd, setting the stage for a memorable night with The Maine.
Horsegirl, Iceage, Water From Your Eyes, and Lifeguard @ Central Park SummerStage - NYC
July 20th 2023: Horsegirl, Iceage, Water From Your Eyes, and Lifeguard @ Central Park SummerStage - New York City
Horsegirl - Photos Courtesy of Edwina Hay
On Thursday, July 20, 2023, Horsegirl, Iceage, Water From Your Eyes, and Lifeguard performed at Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. All four acts have one thing in common: they’ve all released music on the same record label that’s based in New York City, Matador Records. The show was free to attend, for all ages, and was one of the highlights of their schedule this season.
Chicago’s Lifeguard, who began their tour with Horsegirl tonight, just released a pair of EPs on Matador Records (Crowd Can Talk EP and Dressed in Trenches EP) and kicked off the show at 6 PM. The young band was full of energy and was a great start to this highly anticipated show.
Water From Your Eyes released their Everyone’s Crushed album at the end of May on Matador, and their set featured songs from that release. The duo of Nate Amos and Rachel Brown were joined by an additional guitarist, Al, and seemed to have many fans in the audience who were eager for their early evening set.
Copenhagen’s Iceage went on next at 7:41 PM, and the last performance of theirs I caught was in 2019 in Queens and Central Park’s outdoor stage seemed to fit them well, with many people near the barricade dancing and singing along during their set. Singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt barely stood still during their performance. Immediately after “High & Hurt,” Elias declared, “We love you, New York.”
Horsegirl, who I last saw in March opening for Unwound, closed the show when their set began just before 9 PM. The second song of their set was brand new, and Penelope mentioned her brother, Isaac Lowenstein, of Lifeguard, while on stage. Before starting their second brand new song, Horsegirl announced they were recently in their hometown of Chicago working on their second album. During “Billy,” Horsegirl brought out the trio of Lifeguard to assist them on the final song of their set.
Throughout the show, a t-shirt gun was used to launch t-shirts into the audience, and was done by a member of a band who wasn’t performing at that moment. For Lifeguard, Nora of Horsegirl shot a t-shirt to a lucky audience member who was near me, proudly whipping it around in the air after catching it. During Water From Your Eyes, Kai of Lifeguard used the gun, in Horsegirl’s performance, Nate of Water From Your Eyes shot shirts into the audience a few times before the show came to an end. The venue also kept fans cool by having their security team occasionally spray water but simultaneously needed more than just one water fountain/bottle refill station located in a somewhat hidden spot, which was a noticeable change compared to last year. Between the strong bill and venue inside one of our city’s most famous public parks, Thursday night was a stellar way to spend a warm July evening in New York City.
Horsegirl
Lifeguard
Water From Your Eyes
Iceage
Unwound @ Irving Plaza - NYC
March 10th 2023: Unwound, Horsegirl @ Irving Plaza - New York, NY
fans at Unwound - Photos Courtesy of Edwina Hay
Olympia, Washington’s Unwound disbanded in 2002. This was around the time I first discovered their music and quickly became one of those bands who I really enjoyed but liked other acts such as Pixies, Bikini Kill, or Murder City Devils where I was either born too late to see them when they were active, or connected with their catalog right as they were disbanding and figured I would never see them live. Twenty years after their final shows, Unwound revealed they were performing again in July 2022. They announced a concert at New York’s Irving Plaza on Friday, March 10, 2023, which quickly sold out, and then two more shows at the same venue were added.
Friday night’s show began promptly at 8 PM with a performance by Horsegirl, the trio from Chicago that relocated to New York City. The group didn’t say much while on stage during their 45-minute set, but Penelope Lowenstein disclosed that they were excited when this show was first announced and long before they were invited to play, that they would have been in the audience with us too. Before performing “Forecast,” Penelope announced it was the first song they ever wrote in her basement at the age of 15. In addition to playing songs from their record Versions of Modern Performance, they also included a Guided By Voices cover in their set (“As We Go Up, We Go Down”).
For their first New York show in two decades, Unwound performed two sets. The first one began at 9:15 PM, followed by a 15-minute intermission, and resumed again at 10:20 PM. Their drummer, Sara Lund, asked before their fourth song how many people were supposed to see them at Bowery Ballroom in 2001 (they were scheduled to play on September 12, 2001), and not many people responded. She quickly modified the question by then asking who was born after 9/11/01 and dedicated their next song to the numerous young fans in attendance who qualified.
Unwound’s vocalist/guitarist Justin Trosper mentioned after intermission it was an honor to be here and when someone yelled out a song that they wanted to hear, he laughed and said they don’t take requests and that everything was pre-planned. He then dedicated the next two songs to their departed bassist Vern Rumsey, who sadly passed away in August 2020. Their current bassist is a longtime friend, Jared Warren of Karp, Big Business, and Melvins, plus Unwound now features Scott Seckington on guitar. With the show coming to an end at 11 PM, we all departed Irving Plaza in the cold rain, and I felt extremely grateful that I finally got to experience Unwound live after all these years.
Horsegirl
MAX @ Irving Plaza - NYC
November 26th 2022: MAX, VINCINT @ Irving Plaza - New York, NY
MAX - Photos Courtesy of Ann Storlie
“Young Pop God” MAX (Max Schneider) took over NYC’s Irving Plaza for the second of two sold-out hometown shows Saturday night.
VINCINT (Vincint Cannady) was the night’s opener, and he warmed up the crowd with his soaring voice and danceable tracks “Taste So Good (The Cann Song)” and “Hard 2 Forget.”
MAX began his set with an explosive energy that continued throughout the night as he played fan favorites “Basement Party,” “Colour Vision,” and “Blueberry Eyes” including the Korean rap verse originally done by SUGA of BTS in the single.
Growing up in the nearby Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, MAX spoke multiple times throughout the evening on how lucky he was to be performing in one of his favorite venues among his fans. A former Nickelodeon star (he starred in 2012’s How to Rock), MAX’s energy continued to inspire the crowd as he performed “Someday” from Rags - a Nickelodeon Original film where he was the lead; before performing more tracks and closing his set with his chart-topping hit “Lights Down Low.”
VINCINT
Mitski @ Radio City Music Hall - NYC
July 23rd 2022: Mitski @ Radio City Music Hall: New York City, NY
Mitski - Photos Courtesy of Em Grey
Last Friday - singer-songwriter Mitski played her largest show in NYC's iconic Radio City Music Hall, dazzling thousands of fans with her boisterous indie rock along with her emotional crooning vocals. Arriving at the venue on time, I witnessed the longest merch line I had ever seen at a Mitski show in my career; I have been lucky enough to see this very well-deserved artist garner a massive fanbase, going from DIY venues to touring with Lorde and headlining (and selling out) two nights at Radio City herself. Knowing Mitski, this is a perfect venue for her, as her shows err on the side of theatrical and emotional compared to her genremates.
Canadian folk band The Weather Station opened the night up, citing "this is the largest venue we have ever played." They delivered a beautifully composed set, with frontman Tamara Hope donning a mirrored blazer halfway through the set, providing gorgeous reflections and visuals throughout the entire hall. The crowd bobbed along excitedly, with anticipation bubbling in the crowd.
Mitski arrived on stage at 9:10, in front of a single set piece of a door in front of the stage drapes.
Opening the night with "Love Me More", the set included a wonderful blend of previous releases aside from the focus on her newest album release "Laurel Hell." The set saw many songs from "Puberty 2", "Be the Cowboy", and even "Bury Me at Makeout Creek." Her self-released albums from 2012-2013 did not make it to the setlist, though. Seeing Mitski is and always has been a magical treat; she's truly an artist I've seen in almost every format and venue size and each time felt similarly emotionally impacted. This show was packed full of female fans passionately mouthing lyrics at each other along with her, clearly having the absolute time of their lives.
Deftones @ Pier 17 - New York City
May 5th 2022: Deftones with Gojira, and VOWWS @ Pier 17 - New York City
Deftones - Photos Courtesy of Edwina Hay
My first concert ever was in 1998 when I attended the Vans Warped Tour at Randall’s Island about two weeks before I turned 18 years old. It was a few weeks before I began college and I made the trek out to Randall’s Island from Brooklyn via public transportation in order to see punk and ska acts like The Aquabats, Bad Religion, CIV, and many others but a huge reason for my attendance was the Deftones, of Sacramento, CA. During their set at Warped ‘98, a mosh pit formed in front of me and I had to take a bus and two trains home covered in the dirt that circled around in the air and landed on our bodies.
After I got home from that Warped show, my parents made no comment nor asked questions about my filthy appearance as I immediately headed to the bathroom upstairs to take a shower. Then over the next few years, I attended their performances whenever I could including Ozzfest the following year, culminating until when I last saw the band in Sayreville, NJ in 2004 at Starland Ballroom. A friend drove us from NYC to The Garden State where I didn’t realize at the time that my next Deftones concert would take place nearly two decades later at Pier 17 at South Street Seaport in downtown Manhattan. The band was originally scheduled to tour in 2020 in support of their ninth studio album, Ohms, but a worldwide pandemic would cause them to postpone their tour not once, but twice, finally hitting the road for that record in April & May 2022.
On this tour, they are joined by VOWWS, a duo from Australia that resides in Los Angeles, that replaced the 2020 tour opener, Poppy. VOWWS took the stage at 6 PM on the outdoor stage with both of their members, dressed all in black, performing the songs they describe as Death-Pop. Their 30-minute set seemed to be in contrast with the sunny, slightly breezy weather we experienced on a Sunday evening.
The French heavy metal band, Gojira, were next and before they played their first song, a 170 second countdown started and a mosh pit immediately broke out to my left as singer/guitarist Joe Duplantier began to sing. Since their tour with Deftones was delayed by two years, it felt like my neighbors had been waiting a long time for Gojira’s set and I was witnessing their catharsis. Someone raged so hard that they lost their phone and others in the pit immediately tried to return the device to its rightful owner once it was found. Duplantier dedicated their 2001 song, “Love,” to their friends in Deftones and the final one of their set was dedicated to indigenous people all over the world.
Kicking off their headlining performance at 8:20 PM, Deftones began with “Genesis,” the opening track off their newest album, Ohms, to numerous screams from the sold-out crowd. The large screens on opposite sides of the stage began to project different visuals for each song of their setlist. People were ecstatic for “Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away),” their hit single from their 1997 record, Around the Fur. I found that I could barely hear Chino Moreno’s vocals where I was standing since everyone near me was singing along so loudly. The same thing occurred for “My Own Summer (Shove It)” from the same release that happened to be the next song on their setlist.
Chino played guitar for the ninth song of their set, “Digital Bath,” which was followed by “Knife Party,” both songs from their 22-year-old landmark album, “White Pony.” The band concluded their set with another Around the Fur track, “Lotion,” which was followed by “Engine No. 9” from their debut album, Adrenaline, with lyrics from Cypress Hill’s “How I Could Just Kill A Man” peppered in, finishing the night before the 10 PM curfew.
VOWWS
Gojira
Bitch @ Rockwood Music Hall - New York City
April 13th 2022: Bitch @ Rockwood Music Hall - New York City
Bitch in NYC - Photos Courtesy of Joseph O'Malley (they/she)
Bitch’s live show at Rockwood Music Hall could have easily come as a surprise to any fans that discovered her solely through playlists and music streaming. The night ran more like a theatrical one-woman-show than a concert, complete with props, monologues, and comedic audience participation. Thankfully, it fit right in with the downtown Manhattan crowd, many of whom were friends, and all of which felt like a warm community.
Fans laughed and sang along as Bitch told a series of autobiographical stories and played through the majority of their most recent release, Bitchcraft. They also were met with cheers for some older tracks like “Pussy Manifesto,” which reaches back to her time producing material with writing partner Animal. The synth-laden pop of Bitchcraft does stand up on its own - some highlights from the record include “You’re the Man” and “Easy Target” - but it’s clear that Bitch’s fans are in it for the long haul, and that her live persona and comedic social commentary are what keep them coming back in the long years between her music releases.
