Titans of Industry
November 4 - November 11
This week, the music industry goes live on the You Missed It account. It’s 2022 and Pitchfork still gives scores to artists. But let’s see what the rest of the biz has to say.
First, though, exciting news. You Missed It is hosting NYE at Baby’s All Right. Big night for the team. As big as it gets, really.
Some ideas. A dunk tank—everyone gets one shot at dunking the guy from The Dare. Dan English up first. Or we do pin the tail on the donkey but it’s pin the tie on The Dare. Just brainstorming.
You’ll note that some of the homies (including Harrison) are involved in another high profile NYE event. But we’ve secured verbal commitments that they’ll take their star power over to Baby’s post-Bowery. Let’s goooo.
Before we get into the meat of the newsletter, a thank-you to the blog’s generous sponsors:
The Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Knickerbocker and Flushing
Blue Capris—lite menthol slims—what’s cooler than cool? Ice cold.
And thank you to our network of unpaid interns & boots-on-the-ground correspondents. You’ll hear from a lot of them in this newsletter. So I’ll have a solo pic of the writer every time it changes. Beth first.
11/4 ~ Knifeplay, by Beth of Carpark Records
Hello friends and simps of You Missed It. Here is how I experienced the Knifeplay show at The Broadway. I am no live music writer so bear with me, ok???
I really love the new Knifeplay record, Animal Drowning. The entire thing is dreamy and moving. There is pedal steel which will always and forever melt my little heart. And it’s very shoegaze-y which I also love. My officemate Ruby and I played it a lot in the office together, so we had to attend the show.
First observation: lots of men! Make of that what you will.
Second observation (by Ruby): lots of good merch (Ruby got a shirt see Appendix A below). They opened with “Nobody” which is also the opening song of the album and is one of my favorites. I was curious how the album would translate live since it’s very well produced and blends so many components together (there are strings, piano, a chorus of voices singing on one of the songs, etc). “Nobody” sounded awesome though.
The entire band was really tight, and I love the tone of the lead vocalist's voice. I also really admire how the band is able to build the songs so enticingly and always deliver a deeply satisfying climax/crash.
Other highlights worth mentioning… they whipped out a 12 string guitar. So sick. Great fingerpicking. They did a lot of long outros, which I generally fuck with, but I did do some daydreaming. Which! I don’t think is a bad thing, as I got a lovely soundtrack for all my lovely little thoughts. If you get a chance you should see this band—quite a good show.
The last thing I’ll say is that I met a young-looking person at the show visiting from LA who, after I asked what they’re up to in NYC, said “I’m a creative, and when you’re a creative, you have to do a lot” and I was like woah lol.
That’s it! Byeeeeee!
Interjection, by Joe
11/5 was a big night for music. I’m still thinking about it. Covered it in the last post, and we’re covering it again.
There were 5 big-league shows on my g-cal, so I enlisted some of the industry’s best & brightest to give us the lowdown. Grateful to everyone who chipped in so we can see the city from all angles.
One notable show that wasn’t covered: Jobber x Customer x Television Overdose. I’m 100% sure it was fire. I love you Greg Rutkin.
11/5 ~ Been Stellar x Just Mustard, by Lau of Secretly
I caught two Been Stellar shows @ Baby’s in the span of a week … talk about lucky? The band has, indisputably, become a New York staple, and a newsletter favorite (just scroll down a bit and you’ll be converted quite quickly). To be part of NY’s music resurgence is to know and love these guys. Total must-see. I’ve been obsessively listening to their debut EP since the summer; yet their live show is what makes this band so undeniable.
Something about this third time seeing them felt like a coupe de maître. The band kicked off the set with a series of unreleased songs (“Sweet” lives rent-free in my head). Laila + the guys are currently on tour supporting the iconic Irish band Just Mustard (who we’ll get to in a bit).
The room was packed since the first song of the set, which I can’t remember experiencing in a while. Or is it that I am always running on Peruvian time? Thinking back to their Union Pool show a couple months back, their evolution is striking — the synergy between them is kinetic. “IT’S JUST AS REAL AS IT REALLY ISN’T!” *ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★. When does a five-piece band co-write every single one of their songs? Six years of friendship and shared living spaces coalesces in what makes this band so special. If you haven’t listened to “Kids 1995” (or watched the music video) I suggest you do that right now. Streaks of nostalgia blend into a modern-day exploration of youth culture. Been Stellar is a preeminent example that the kids are ~indeed~ alright.
I had spent less time with Just Mustard’s new album Heart Under, so going into their set felt like a major opportunity to dive in. As a friend of the Been Stellar crew, I’d heard countless striking reviews of these guys, “our dream band to tour with,” – nothing like bands supporting other bands. I spotted some of the newer songs sown throughout the set; “I Am You” live is a total stunner. Katie Ball’s vocals take you to another place – dream-like melodies juxtaposed with dark, hazier textures. The show happened to be part of their first headline North American tour, which felt exciting to witness. If anything, I realize I need to take a trip to Ireland ASAP.
Yes, I only moved here five months ago from LA (I know, I know) but this night felt like a core NY memory. Jackie was there catching footage on their infamous camcorder. Some out-of-town visitors (shout out my dear friend Archie), as well as many familiar faces I hadn’t seen in a while. The show was followed by a massive hang at the outdoor tables (perfect weather that night). Excuse the light corniness, but I feel so lucky to call this city my home. A night like this one is a reminder on why there is no place like New York. ♡
11/5 ~ Blush Cameron x Richard Orofino, by Christian of AdHoc
One of my favorite things about going to shows is being surrounded by all the friends you've collected over the past year-or-so. I always used to say that it was never about the music but the conversations and connections you make in-between. And all that art was just a conduit for a more genuine human connection. If it happens in some dingy bar basement and everything starts an hour late because the other bands in the early show also feel the exact same way, that's a plus.
I caught Jimmy and Brita as I walked off the Seneca M stop. Turns out we were on the same train. We hugged 'hello', and they asked which direction Bar Freda was. I said I knew, and had them follow me. We talked about a bunch of stuff—the cafe Brita and I work at, Jimmy's EATALY job, different DIY communities—until we realized I’d led us 15 minutes in the wrong direction. Jimmy and Brita claimed they didn't care because it was nice to chat. I thought that was sweet. When we arrived, a lot of friends were there, waiting for the early show to end.
Mel*n (aka Melissa) started around 11, I believe. I had a few shots before the show began and I'm not much of a show writer so I didn't really think of how much this would affect my memory but here we are. So just gonna say 11. Mel’s songwriting is something I've been very much in love with since they showed me their music a year or so ago at REBECCA'S BAR NEAR MYRTLE BROADWAY—it's pop music that has early 2010's DIY edge that genuinely sounds like them. We both share a love for Last.FM and CFTPA (gatekeeping that acronym). Mel's performance has grown a lot, and the energy that they brought out into the room was wild. They had most of us jumping around, screaming along, and that carried straight through until the end. 10/10 iconic set.
Richard Orofino is a new friend, one that I've been very fortunate to spend a lot of time with. Funny dude, like genuinely. Also just as talented. With his new band set-up that includes Logan Chung-Rifenburg and Curt Brown, it really feels like he is coming into himself in a way that I'm excited to witness. And I'm not just saying that because he covered my favorite band. Richy's use of a Baritone guitar instead of a bass sounded great. Johnny Cakes and Superstar are very sing-along-able. 10/10 iconic set.
The show was running pretty fucking late but Blush Cameron hopped on, a one man show with a guitar and a backing track. It sounded full and Jeff has whole lot of energy. The new single is a catchy throwback to early 2000's emo. It's really effective. In a live setting, doubly-so. I've only seen a couple of Blush shows but it's always notable how many passionate people are there singing along. Jeff hit a pretty cool stage-dive which punctuated a really great night. 10/10 iconic set.
Now, drunk, I headed home with my partner, I think. I'm sure I did. Or I might have gone to REBECCA'S BAR NEAR MYRTLE BROADWAY. But I'm pretty sure I went home. IDK.
11/5 ~ Forever x Dan English x Babehoven, by Dale of Pitchfork
I basically only do things when I’m asked these days. So when Joe asked me to write about Dan’s show, I just said yes. However, my wife Embla had already asked me to dinner with some friends, and Anika had suggested I make it to the Forever launch party. All these things “started at 7.” That sounded like a lie to me, and New York City always happens as you encounter it. Yet again, a breathless night.
Dinner conversation circled around the TMZ push: Aaron Carter drowning in a bathtub. Another tragedy of the perverted, Hollywood, Disney Star, kid-toucher model of music making. Embla tells us Aaron was her first crush, that she used to kiss the cover of his CD, that he was on a livestream not a day earlier. Can you name a single Aaron Carter song? I cannot. Our dinner companions included an old friend of Embla’s from Reykjavik, who now assists one of the top gender-confirmation surgeons in the world. She explained pushing through crowds of TERF protesters outside the NYU hospital on the East Side, as they shouted things like, “You’re turning our friends into gummy worms!” (apparently referring to the fleshy tubular appendages of thigh meat that become flaccid penises).
It doesn’t really matter what else was going on at the Forever party–they had Eileen Myles reading. The scene at Public Records was astonishing. This long outdoor corridor served as the throughway to the event space, an LED-bathed shoulder-to-shoulder eyefuck of the hottest people you’ve ever seen, a horny cyberpunk nightmare. I laughed out loud when I heard a guy dressed like Tweedle Dee (round orange man with yellow cap upturned brim) tell his friend, with genuine anger, “Bro, stop shitting on John Irving!”
Congratulations to the Forever Girls - this issue feels like a big step forward. The book is so substantial, the pages feel like leather, the design shocks and confuses in the best way. I had met Anika years before all this, at one of the final nights of 285 Kent. I remember chatting with her as Fucked Up played. I think she might have still been at university at the time. I was probably just wasted at the time. Who knows how or why the universe forces these meetings upon us. But she really is just one of those gloriously effusive people you can rely on to bring a positive thrust to the night. You don’t become an it-girl by being exclusively annoying.
Clutching my elfbar in the back of a Camry, soaring above the BQE on the way to Union Pool, I thought to myself, nauseous: Will I ever get tired of feeling like shit? The answer was shouted back to me from the deep of my subconscious. Hell no. Feeling like shit is an affirmation of life. Futility and glory are bridged by the insurmountable. A cloud of vapor obscured the driver’s eyes in the rear view, as I reached for Embla’s denim-wrapped thigh.
A funny thing about this column: Joe told me it was fine if I missed Dan’s set. I showed up in time to hear some strangers telling Dan how fantastic his instrumentation is. I’ve seen him live enough to agree. Not only does he understand music on both spiritual and technical levels, he’s assembled a band of players who respect music enough to pay attention.
I think, for a few years in New York, musicality suffered. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; as we’re all so attuned to vibe, music used to run on that alone. The whole Brooklyn underground thrived on psychic force. It felt like a decade driven purely by spirit, and, hey, if you could play a Sus4 chord, that’s cool too. But that kind of musical force demands a unified spirit to accept the norms of a music with no constraints. That spirit could be reflected in the unifying aesthetic that came to the psychedelic/turbo-goth intersection that happened at South 2nd and Kent. But you go anywhere these days and you can simply see in what people are wearing there’s not much of a unifying logic. I take this as a great signal, actually: the freedom to know no boundaries, and still feel comfortable in a crowd. I’m thinking of an essay in Tom Wolfe’s Tangerine-Flake… we’ve come a long way from the mashed potato (no one dances now, but that’s a different story).
So what happens to music, to sound, when those psychic bonds must be reformed? Musicality returns as the underlying logic. I’ve written once, and never again, on “indie sleaze,” which I do not think is a musical impulse, but speaks more to an attitude akin to the “vibe shift.” I think I have identified, correctly, this shift as the object of attraction moving from the punishment of shame, to the reward of ecstasy. The resurgence of Swans, the brutality of music not based uniformly on musicality, speaks to the crest of the former. And truly no one is exemplifying the latter as well as Dan is, using the science of musicality to achieve a uniform ecstasy through good, strong songwriting. But as I said, he also understands the spiritual side. We’re watching Karl and he’s telling me how The Dead Texan is his favorite record of all time–he looks exactly like one of the figures on the cover, in fact. Well, when I first met him a couple years ago, his favorite record was Calling Out of Context. How much more could I love this sweetheart? He transcends the scenester pontificating by way of unmistakable goodwill.
I will say, and he might get mad at me for this, but I had to explain to Dan, a week or so ago, the importance of playing on this bill with Karl Blau. Have these kids only listened to The Glow Pt. 2? There’s literally a song on It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water called “Karl Blau.” So this morning, I’m thumbing through my copy of Our Band Could Be Your Life and pondering the throughline from Beat Happening to having Dan, on one hand, and Karl on the other, at a sold-out show that neither of them headlined on a Saturday night in Brooklyn in 2022. Melody is at every Dan show and we started reminiscing about seeing Phil and Karl playing at that garage in the desert of Nampa, Idaho around 2005. Everything felt much simpler then. The best Karl sounded last night was on “Gray Area,” a cute little bossa number from his 2022 record Love & Harm. Live, it bordered more on a Bill Callahan-register lament, and knocked me out. The first thing I thought when hearing Karl on guitar last night: “Damn, he’s been playing that thing for 30 years, is he ever going to learn how?” God bless him.
I stood in the courtyard pondering all this, thinking, “How, despite everything, my fucked up degenerate life, and the repute of Union Pool’s bathrooms, have I actually never done cocaine here?” I couldn’t have been standing there for more than ten minutes before someone offered me some, followed by a conversation about how now everyone says they don’t do cocaine, but they actually do do cocaine. So I’ve still actually never done cocaine at Union Pool. But that Forever Magazine came in handy elsewhere as a surface–I’m telling you, it’s substantial. Damn I love this city.
11/5 ~ May x Jackie Hayes, by Tom of Dots Per Inch
Just after 7pm on Saturday, I was squeaking backwards into a tightly upholstered leather accent chair when May called. I single-tapped the sleep/wake button, thus ending our day-long game of phone tag. I don’t like to take calls in front of people, even when given the blessing to do so. Sipping on a Manhattan over rocks (made by Jack) and eating cheese with fresh baguette in the presence of a technically-French person (Coco) left no room for an exception. Some rules come from instinct—needing no real justification.
The two of them were telling me their ideas for a music video, stills from which would double as material for LP artwork, and which I was gently hoping could serve as material for marketing assets as well (specifically assets for TikTok, an app whose greatest diviners all seem to not use it).
I slyly texted Joe and told him I’d be missing May’s show at Elsewhere with Jackie Hayes, which I was assigned to cover because Joe felt bad about how he portrayed me in his last missive.
First, I asked that Jack, Coco, & I’s 5:30 meeting become a 6:00, so I could take a nap. I felt entitled to be late since I never am, and actually planned on arriving at 6:15, since anything past twenty minutes is extremely rude (at least according to my friend Avery, who is not shy of hyperbole). I never check train statuses because of some unaddressed ego issues (and because I live in Manhattan), and I paid the price for it this time. I got to Bed-Stuy a whole fifty minutes late. Mercifully, Jack and Coco (AKA Amiture) were already finishing their first-or-second Manhattans. With their sense of time & space collapsing, I kept apologies brief and we all got to talking.
Like all central-Brooklyn hangs, we enjoyed the surplus of rooms-with-different-purposes by starting with small talk in the kitchen and then waiting with a genuinely curious flare for our host (Jack) to suggest a move to the adjacent living room. Four people live in this house and they seem to never see each other. Jack once volunteered this living room for a Grace Ives music video shoot in 2019. The crew of twelve-ish, so enviably self-assured in their shared purpose of image-making, even had one of those PAs whose job it was to control foot traffic. In this case, said PA’s domain was one hallway and one staircase, each of which led to the enviably large living space with the aforementioned accent chair, which at any moment could emit one of the alleged roommates that live upstairs.
Ever the host, Jack made it known that it was time for Coco & I to leave by rolling a cigarette and standing up. I took the queue, left with Coco, got on the B44, and headed north for Leo, where Peter (friend of twelve years and Baby’s All Right bar back) was having dinner with his family. They were characteristically mean to me, and, being hungover, I left on a city bike without joining them for wine. I went to Baby’s, threw away three plastic cups and an empty can of red bull to the applause of Jesse (who is always impressed by people working when they’re not on the clock), said hello to exactly four music industry professionals inside, and then biked home to watch a Jim Jarmusch picture (Ghost Dog) with my girlfriend Lucy.
It is always worth seeing one of May’s sets because any two shows are never going to be the same. I failed my mission to see May that Saturday, so I tell you this story made of dust instead. I love living in this city because even when the “thing” doesn’t happen, five minutes of reflection reveal narratives, characters, and an excuse to employ that sixth sense of mapping the community around you. Both May & Amiture have incredible LPs in the works. Catch their shows while the tickets are still cheap.
11/7 ~ Soccer Mommy x Hotline TNT x Dear Nora, by Justin of GIFT
Alex, Ruby, Ella, Beth and I were celebrating Ruby’s new job with wine and vegan pasta at Soda Club (woo Ruby!) and returned to the House of Music late for the early show and early for the late show. Right on time?
I watched what seemed like the last half of Dear Nora’s set with Beth. It wasn’t until Googling who Dear Nora was that I learned they’ve been a band since 1999. To the Dear Nora stans out there, sorry for my ignorance, they were great. Complete with lowercase song titles, they sounded like they could have broken through this year and I wouldn’t have thought otherwise. Beth whispered that if they played a certain song she would probably start crying. I spent the final 4 songs of the set asking her if *this* was the song. No song, no tears. Mallory had a similar sentiment of not getting to hear certain favs. I guess this is what happens when you’ve been a band since the 90s—you have a ton of songs and can’t play them all.
I ran into Winter again, who stayed in town to hang for a bit. After the dust settled from the switch-over, it was time for TNT Hotline to hit the stage. Grungy and fuzzy. The guitars were especially heavy because it looked like all 3 of them were playing big riffs and chords in unison the whole night. Not necessarily my vibe but Beth is a fan.
I haven’t listened to Soccer Mommy in a while. They remind me of living in Asheville, fresh out of college. I was working as a personal assistant for a jazz violinist. During the various errands I’d run for him such as mailing CDs, getting his oil changed, and picking up Whole Foods orders, Soccer Mommy was a constant presence in the old Prius (alongside Scott Walker and D’Angelo... not really sure where my head was at the time? But I stand by it). I saw them open for Slowdive which I thought was an odd pairing but makes more sense now seeing her play new vibier songs.
Alex Gleeson has been killing it with the big shows lately (re: Spoon in August). It was a packed room and everyone was having a time. The new songs were great, not knocking them, but I selfishly wanted to hear what I was familiar with. More“Cool” and less “newdemo.” We all want the version of something we remember best I suppose.
11/7 ~ The 1975, by Curtis / Joe
Curtis was gonna send me a review of The 1975 at MSG. It’s been over two weeks though. I don’t wanna keep bugging him so I wrote this from his perspective:
The 1975 is great. Matt Healy is very handsome and also has one of the best accents. Favorite line is “We all smell like chocolate.”
MSG is huge. Tyler Bainbridge was there. I’m so glad he introduced me to Joe Kerwin. Joe is very attractive and charismatic and nice and he loves music. Didn’t see Joe at the after party, personally, but I really hope he was there because his blog is so good.
11/7 ~ The Dare x Julia Cumming x The Life x The 1975 x Beach Fossils
The Ion Pack party was quite the production.
There was a line to the left of the door that probably wasn’t worth waiting in. There was a line to the right of the door that definitely wasn’t worth waiting in. The line on the left was for the list, and the line on the right was for the general public.
Hung out by the door hoping I could latch on to Curtis or The Dare or Steele or Julia. Then I got in line with Joey, Avi, and Sarah. Joey asked me if it felt like fashion week and I said that it did.
When we got close, though, the doorwoman confirmed that the list said “Joe Kerwin +5.” A short procession of homies slid in.
Ran into Julia downstairs and she seemed maybe a little stressed but I also might have been projecting. I definitely saw Matt Healy across the room at one point which was cool.
Everywhere I looked, there were giant screens with A Hard Day’s Night esque black & white vids of Matt Healy the Ion Pack talking and smoking.
Harrison told me he signed a record deal and I kissed him on the cheek. Very proud. Billy and Natalie were wearing their “Live Music” hoodies.
Smoked one cigarette inside just to feel like I was doing something transgressive. And because the guy from The Hellp was doing it.
Hung out with Katie in the upstairs balcony area and met a cool woman who manages a cool band but I forget which cool band.
11/8 ~ Petey @ Music Hall
Guest columnist Katie hooked me up with the list spot for this one : )
Petey is an Alex Gleeson fave. Alex sent me this Tik Tok a long time ago.
Showed up with Jack and we watched from the balcony. We stood on the left-hand side, which seems to be sponsored by Marshall.
The rest of the venue looks normal, then half the balcony is tricked out. There’s a rug, a Marshall stack, a record collection, a bookshelf, and a giant hand you can sit on. A rock n roll lounge scene, complete with a couple kanoodling on a black leather couch.
Petey is an entertainer. He kinda does standup in between the songs. But the songs are no joke. I’d be proud as shit if I wrote them. I’m not generally looking to blend humor and music at the moment, but I think we’ll lose something if we expect all artists to take themselves super seriously. It’s good to have different people attacking music-making from all angles.
I’m not used to seeing people at a show care about an artist this much. The “Petey! Petey! Petey!” chant reminded me of Rudy. A grown ass man next to me yelled, “We love you Petey!” cupping his hands around his mouth like Petey might actually be able to hear him. Jack said it made him believe in music again.
If I tear up at the Petey show…don’t tell the boys.
11/7 ~ Sorry, by Ruby of Firetalk Records
“this is a good review” - ruby
the last time i saw sorry was the second week of march 2020 for their first and only US show before venues closed. the vibes were definitely off. the vibes were definitely off again when i saw them this past week. asha lorenz sounded like she was alduous harding at last call at winnies. maybe i made up that someone lit a cigarette in the middle of the set. the glitched out, spun up ten second intros before each track gave a nod to the band’s home demo/ns era, they played everybody’s favorite deep cut “snakes” but not “rock n roll star”
i’ve been listening to sorry since they were called fish (you should still peep asha lorenz’s demos on soundcloud—they often get re-released as fully-functioning sorry songs) and everyday i complain to my boyfriend that the american public hasn’t caught on to their specific world vision! beth townsend sure looks a lot like asha though.
in person, the songs feel even more sharp and angular and straightforward: aimed at a specific person who broke your heart, and immediately moved on, and you still see them around. eight years into my nyc tenure, there’s something relatable about their lovelorn dedication of staying living in the city anyway, at least on record. we all go to the same shows at babys all right, end up at the same clubs, take the same trains. anyway, the members of the band look like they wear the same perfectly(imperfect?) tailored suits from the night before every night. i think megsuperstarprincess once said, it’s much more glamourous to wear the same outfit everyday, isn’t that something like tour? time on your hands to mourn something intangible. either way, i told my indie rock girlies in the group chat who also came to the show irl, the difference between cool ppl in nyc and london is the ppl in london aren’t trying.
11/10 ~ Tom x Meetka x Lucy x Nancy x HSH
I’m gonna write a special bonus episode about this day, in honor of my first time being physically active in months. Teaser: I ended up throwing up in between cars on the J train.
But I went home, pulled myself together, and hopped back on a Manhattan-bound J to meet Tom, Lucy, Nancy, and Meetka at The Magician.
A tall older Jack Nicholson looking gent in a navy blue blazer and black Ray Bans kept complimenting Meetka and Nancy. When he was leaving, he approached them again. “I just gotta let you know—you look good,” he said. “Not just good. But interesting.”
Home Sweet Home which was a mob scene. I got a talking-to for writing negative stuff about Phantom Planet—never heard the phrase “a word to the wise” so many times in one interaction. It was a vibe killer so I went home.
11/11 ~ Alex G, by Katie of Capitol Records
Sometimes I hear a song that I love so much that I want it to live in my skin. That happened to me with Alex G’s 2012 track “Adam” when I first heard it. On Friday night I got to see him play to a packed, stylish and adoring crowd at Brooklyn Steel and here’s my report on it.
Dreampop cuties Hatchie opened the show which meant a bunch of my Secretly Group buds were there. I made my way up to the VIP zone to see that crew and tried to watch the show but I ended up talking to too many friends (a good problem to have) including friend of You Missed It, Foggy Customer himself, Alex Gleeson.
Me and my XXL-sized mango White Claw waltzed downstairs to be with the true heads for a bit and I ran into Mira and Ian on the floor. Speaking of heads, the whole show had a very deadhead energy around it. Probably because he played multiple nights or maybe because the fans were so dedicated? I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I would love to see Alex’s version of “Box of Rain.”
He took a few requests from the crowd for his encore which is so sick and more artists need to do. Musicians if you’re reading this: take note! I screamed “Adam” but alas he didn’t hear my cries. I wasn’t crushed about it because he played two bangers “Serpent is Lord” and “Mary” to close things out. As I was leaving I bumped into legendary concert-goer Chris by the merch table and a took photo with him to send to my father-in-law since they’re buds.
Left show and walked outside to joyfully witness the time change to 11:11pm on 11/11 with Ryan, Lulu, Lauren, Jenn and Liz Pelly. Then I gave everyone a squeeze, put on my headphones at full volume while listening to mbv “Off Your Face” and went on a romantic solo train ride to Bushwick.
The next morning I got a text from my pal Reed saying how he had never heard Alex G until he saw my IG story. He’d fallen in love with the music and spent all morning listening to it. So tight when that shit happens. Honestly it was a good reminder outside of ~my music biz~ job that passing along the feeling of musical infatuation to a friend, for fun, is still the best.
A closing note from Joe –
I shoulda asked Logan to write about opening for Alex G with Katy Kirby. Would have loved to read the story behind that gig. But now I’m too backed up. If you see this, Logan, I wanna hear about it next time I see you. Sending love to all <3
Which songs did Beth and Mallory want to hear?
Wow, skipping the legendary Customer/Jobber/TVOD show? Bold. You’re done for.