This blog post is a mad dash to get back up to speed after my wisdom teeth removal—the last frontier & final milestone of my adolescence. (To be clear, I’m 25-years-old.) I’m hitting a string of sick shows in the next few days, so if I don’t get caught up now I never will.
Also breaking new ground in this post by recommending an event that occurs in the future instead of the past. Jack booked a show tonight at The Broadway that I’m pumped for. He consults me often enough with show-booking questions that I’m claiming credit too.
Evanora Unlimited is playing with Gods Wisdom. With Lucy on aux between sets. An iconic night in my book. Evanora and Gods Wisdom are different but compatible brands of weird. There aren’t too many artists I’d be more hype to see together right now.
This newsletter features an illustrious collection of guest writers:
Eva of Birthday Girl, Chloe MK, JessX, Lowertown, and Lazylazy
Sasha of Starter Packs of NYC, The Cut, and NY Mag
Natalie of Terrorbird, and Billy Jones of Baby’s All Right
Very grateful to all of them for holding down the fort while I was on the operating table.
Another note: I’m hosting a party / show with Stella Rose and the Dead Language and The Dare, also at the Broadway, late night on Saturday. Should be wild.
In the days since my last post, my prospects for a career in the music industry have skyrocketed, and then plummeted again. Got a taste of the big time, though. Fat Possum Records followed and then quickly unfollowed me on Instagram.
Quick Note: Big in Sweden
Have we all seen the Swedish talk show clip that Blake posted? I’m deliberately keeping myself in the dark on the details. Would rather not know the translation or how this happened. The host rattles off an unhinged collection of buzzwords (see title), says something else in Swedish, and then names Blaketheman1000.
9/30 ~ Wisdom Teeth
I don’t have much more to say about my wisdom teeth, but I want to log a few things I did while back home in Boston.
I went to a funeral service for someone I knew in elementary school. I don’t have many memories of her, but I do know that we wreaked havoc together when we conspired to lock the bathroom stalls from inside and crawl out on the floor.
Got breakfast with my grandmother at the Daily Paper. Charlie and I had two fires. I saw Camille’s new apartment, and we got McDonald’s with Olivia West. It was odd being back in Boston/Cambridge, but all love to the people I love.
9/30 ~ Birthday Girl, by Eva
On the 30th, Birthday Girl made their return to the Brooklyn music scene. Rumors had been spreading around their hiatus over the summer and hordes of people came out just to see whether or not they were true. The lineup was absolutely stacked, opening with Olivia O. of Lowertown, followed by Lola Star and November Girl (apparently no boys were allowed). All three sets had the crowd utterly enthralled.
Birthday Girl opened with a particularly shy rendition of “The Book of Love.” It was hard to tell whether they were covering the magnetic fields or the Peter Gabriel version. The song ended and the cello player let out a painfully long screech into the next.
Birthday Girl then seemed to become possessed by some sort of man-eating succubus. She wailed and crawled and leaped around the stage for the next 30 minutes. The whole thing was terrifying. Honestly, if the rest of the band hadn’t been so sexy I probably would have left. The whole thing had this kind of confusing air of incestuous sexual tension (three of the members looked like platinum triplets and the other three looked like curly haired triplets). They all wore red dresses while the BDG was in suit and tie. At the end of the set the Birthday Girl disappeared into a pool of blood.
10/1 ~ Porches, by Sasha
On Saturday, October 1, Porches headlined Baby’s All Right. I lied (or not) and said I was covering for press (this is press I think) so I swerved my way to the front row, which, it turns out, was the place to be. When I got the pitch for the show – cool, pretty famous, much beloved Aaron Maine band that tours with Phoenix playing an intimate Brooklyn gig – I figured I would mostly be anxious about the cool factor, as I am not great at the blasé leaning against the wall nodding head thing.
Lucky for me, and everyone, it is cool to care again. The show was an earnest, bopping friends fest. Chloe mk made an appearance, wearing a very cool fit and sporting Porches merch (bonus points). Then it ended, after a much-demanded encore, and everyone headed to the front room to hear how Harrison likes the girls that do drugs etc etc. It’s The Dare, you know the drill. Then, indie music history was made in a Michelangelean “Creation of Adam” type exchange as The Dare debuted his own mix of Porches’ ‘Hair,’ and Aaron reached behind the booth to christen it, maxxing up the volume. I feel like if Joe were writing this, he’d use the phrase ‘legend on legend’ somewhere. I filmed the whole thing, text me if you want to see it.
10/2 ~ Pavement, by Billy
A quick note from Joe – Natalie texted about an extra ticket while I was at dinner with my mom in Medfield, MA. Missing this gig was a significant loss both for my lifestyle and for my lifestyle blog. Billy’s review:
We had gone to see Pavement at Kings the night before on my birthday with Greg, Emma, Roi ,and Sebastian. It was raining piss and I was spinning out cause of, you know, death's door a-knocking, so it was exciting to get a second chance to see one of our all-time favorite bands. I thought the night before was a tad off and Malkmus was kind of being a dick. We found out later from a friend of the band that Spiral Stairs had eaten an edible and forgotten a bunch of his parts.
This night, however—the last night of their sold-out four night run—felt much better. The band was loose and having fun just like me and Natalie. After, we snuck backstage (back parking lot rather) with Rachel and Nate. It was still raining piss but the rain added a layer of poetry to gawking at Malkmus and chatting it up with Chloe Sevingy and Lee Renaldo under an oversized translucent kitty umbrella. Sebastian, our friend who booked the shows, wanted a picture with Malkmus but was too proud to ask, so Natalie, the PR princess, did it for him. I was in charge of getting the shot until Natalie suggested I got in it for what ended up being maybe the worst/best photo I've ever been in due to an unbeknownst face warping effect probably caused by an edible my phone ate before the show.
10/5 ~ Claire Rousay x Caroline x Café Wha
Jack and I are on a self-improvement kick. I got back to NYC on Tuesday the 4th, and on the 5th we were at the office putting in good honest work at 9 AM. Logan walked by with another Katy Kirby instrumentalist on their way to a tattoo appointment.
I visited Meetka at work 15 minutes before closing but she still made me her signature limeade. The signature part involves a small pointy test-tube-looking pod filled with real life actual sea water. Tom was there but he had to go do laundry.
I stopped by Rebecca’s to network on my walk home from the JMZ. Handed out some business cards and promoted my company. I get a real rush from shaking people’s hands and saying “I’m looking forward to working with you.”
Dawood of Saddle Creek and Bloody Knuckles hooked Jack and I up with list spots so we could see Claire Rousay at LPR. When I walked in, the lights were dim and everyone was facing the stage. There was some sort of ambient drone but nobody was up there. Beth told me the set was already halfway over.
I was still trying to figure it all out when I heard someone behind me say, “Would you like to participate in the set?” I turned around and Claire was talking to Dawood, recording his voice into a handheld microphone that looked like a clip-on reading light.
She built a sound collage with layers of looped spoken word. The voices were muted and it felt like the speakers were faced away. Different voices surged at different moments, and melodies emerged from the repetition. Poetry can feel too intellectual for me on its own, so this was a cool way for me to focus on the natural music of speech.
Caroline was the headliner. I know they write their name all lowercase, but I don’t want to fight autocorrect on this one. I didn’t put this together at the show, but I just dug through my texts and confirmed that Caroline inspired the now defunct Dan English Acoustic Guitar Orchestra.
Beth, Jack, Andrew, and I watched from the table service section. Which felt extravagant. The band was set up ‘in the round’—faced inward on a stage in the center of the room. This was my first time at LPR and I was excited about the layout until I learned that they don’t usually do it that way. I wish we had more venues where the audience surrounds the band.
The ambient deconstructed folk vibes made me think of this song I love arranged by Nico Muhly. The songs were more drawn out, though, with long stretches of silence making space for anything to enter the soundscape. You could only be sure a song was over when the guitarist relaxed his posture and nodded.
After the show, I made Jack walk with me to Café Wha so we could see how we stack up against the classics. If you’re not familiar with Café Wha, here’s some info from the Wikipedia page:
The club is important in the history of rock and folk music, having presented numerous musicians and comedians early on in their careers, including Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, The Velvet Underground, Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys, Kool & the Gang, Peter, Paul and Mary, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Joan Rivers, Bill Cosby, and Richard Pryor.
Bob Dylan first performed at Cafe Wha? during a "hootenany" night on January 24, 1961 after hitchhiking across the country. He continued playing at the club as a backup harmonica player during the afternoon.[2] Before she was part of the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary, Mary Travers was a waitress at Cafe Wha?[7]
Based on the recommendation of folk singer Richie Havens, Jimi Hendrix was hired as a recurring performer in 1966.[3] He played five sets a night, six nights a week. Chas Chandler, the bassist for The Animals, discovered Hendrix at Cafe Wha? and brought him to England to promote his career.[7][8]
In 1967, Bruce Springsteen's band, The Castiles, played afternoon sets for two months.[7]
Van Halen performed at Cafe Wha? in 2012.
Notable comedians who performed at the club early in their careers include Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Joan Rivers, Bill Cosby, and Richard Pryor.[2]
Now, Café Wha has a nightly cover band in residence that supposedly brings together the best undiscovered talent in NYC. This is the kind of thing that I can only do because Jack lives here now. Would not want to mobilize normal friends for a tourist trap cover band. There was a $20 cover and a two drink minimum. The waitress said food would work too: “Chip and dip and a brownie? Chip and dip and a brownie?” We left.
10/6 ~ Home Sweet Home
A wholesome night at Home Sweet Home.
In one booth, two people were slumped face down with their heads on the table. I asked their friend if they were ok and she shrugged.
Greg Rutkin came. Along with quite a few other legends making their maiden Freakquencies voyages. Al Nardo of Sloppy Jane, and Rachel and Nate from Water From Your Eyes. My band played a show with Water From Your Eyes at SMOG at Bard College back in 2019 I think. Now, they’re opening for Interpol, and I don’t have a band. That night at Bard, though, we both played to nobody.
I’ve only actually hung out with Sipper like twice and he’s already observed that Jack and I “lean starchy.”
10/7 ~ Foggy Customer x Chilled Red Wine x Isabella Lovestory x Stump
Breakfast with Logan & co. Talked through my family relation to the Kennedys and the screenplay Logan wrote for Horsegirl called Finding Malkmus.
They were all going to the Frankie Cosmos release show at Knockdown Center. I would have loved to but the tickets were expensive. Heard they got like 800 people out. So cool.
Evening rolled around and I went to see Alex Gleeson at Baby’s. Not sure who the band was but they wore masks and said things like, “I am a human, with eyes and two hands.”
We walked down the street and got drinks with Brandon (one of the other Baby’s owners). The bar was a prime Hinge date spot. Also great to be there with just Alex and Brandon, though. They’re well-connected, so we got free shots of upscale fernet. Justin came by. I gave them all business cards in case they need to contact me about business.
From there, I trekked to the Isabella Lovestory show, ending my extended Bella Ciao hiatus. Ran into Amana and Sabina in line—a lifesaver. Andrew and Ruby were inside.
They had flower petals on the tablecloths, balloons everywhere, and two different Isabella Lovestory cakes. Her set was unreal. One of the only times I’ve enjoyed the Bella Ciao basement. Talked briefly with Evanora Unlimited and his manager.
Got my fill of Bella Ciao and hopped on the train again. This time to Bed Stuy. Arrived around 3 AM. Ran into Jess, Ellie, and Isabelle for the second time that night—they were at Baby’s earlier on. Huge win. Feel like I never see those guys.
The party had mostly cleared out by the time I arrived. Tristan & co were outside playing stump like they do up at Middlebury College. You toss a hammer in the air, catch it, and try to strike a nail into a tree stump. The idea is that it happens all in one fluid motion, I think. Nobody was very good.
Sofia Showandtell (idk her real last name) rolled thru late. I thought she had moved across the pond. We talked writing and natural wine.
10/8 ~ Kolezanka x Spllit x Pons x Marjorie W.C Sinclair x Cured Meat
Beautiful friends at the Broadway. Greg Rutkin came to see Kolezanka and then left with Lance to go to Masquerade. Lance seemed a bit offended when Jack asked if Masquerade was “just a bar.”
Spllit was pretty fuckin sick. Betting that they met at conservatory. It’s usually pretty easy to hear when that’s the origin story. Conservatory kids bring a pretty specific kind of weirdness to the table. And I’m pretty consistently into it. On the off chance that Spllit is not a conservatory band, I would still say it’s a good way to categorize their sound. Frantic. Airtight. Rhythmically weird but not too weird. Deconstructed and avant-garde but also consistently groovy and accessible. Sharp melodies. Looks like they’re from Louisianna, but next time they’re back, I hope you’ll be there.
Pons was as loud as a band could be. Pretty ripping. Crazy energy. Again, frantic. First time seeing them. Great to hang with Ashley and Sam. They were masked up for most of the night because they’re going to Iceland together soon. What do people do when they go to Iceland?
Beth and I buzzed over for Marjorie W.C Sinclair (Evanora Unlimited’s other project) at Nublu. Between the Uber and the $20 cover, it was an expensive venture without much return on investment. The sound system wasn’t pulling its weight, so the music was too quiet to be immersive.
Marjorie is unreal but the other dudes on stage trying to act like they were in the entourage were a bit distracting. Hypebeast-y energy. One kid was up there dressed like Harrison. I think this was the first time I’ve seen Evanora play on an actual stage—think I’ve just seen him bouncing off the walls / ravers at Rash. The non-performers were clearly also performing, so it was hard to suspend disbelief.
Rob and Madi came. But when the show ended they left with their friend Henry, who was looking for love. I can’t imagine he found much in the direction they went walking. Jack busted his ass to count the money when the Broadway show ended and he threw down for the $20 cover, but missed it all.
Beth bought salami. Jack got an IPA in a fancy glass. We ate outside.
10/9 and 10/10 ~ My Parents x The Broadway x Rocka Rolla x Skinny Dennis
My parents visited Sunday and Monday. It’s the first time my mom has been here since I moved. Jack and I took my dad over to see the Broadway. The whole fam hit it pretty hard at Rocka Rolla. From there, Jack and I retired. My dad went to Skinny Dennis alone to see a rock & roll band. They finished up soon after he got there so he saw someone else play at Radegast Hall.
Our parents went home on Monday. Jack had a late night door shift at the Broadway. According to him, I missed out. One of the artists smashed his laptop. Jack sent me a video. The weird thing about smashing a laptop is how little noise it makes. Smashing a guitar is a crazy sonic experience. In the video Jack sent, the room is pretty much silent. Just three to five people taking kicks at a laptop on the ground.
Appendix:
My first Gods Wisdom live gig was a 2018 Minty Boi Presents house show in Providence. We drove to RI after playing our own show at Midway Café in JP. When his set started, it was just me, Jack, and Camille down in the basement. Gods Wisdom was writhing on the ground along to a “Sex Machine” sample. Nobody came downstairs for a few minutes so he restarted the routine three or four times before moving on to other songs.
Gods Wisdom is a legend, and further evidence that Pitchfork sucks. Evanora Unlimited is an obvious can’t-miss. Lucy is my favorite songwriter, and I always want to hear what he’s listening to, so I’m excited that he’ll be on aux. Hope I’ll see you tonight : )