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Hot Chip Return For MySpace Secret Show In New York

Posted 2/8/10 2:35 pm EST by in Music


Hot Chip would make a pretty killer rock band. They just need to work on their set list a bit. Sure, you can play some of the new stuff, but you've also got to sprinkle in the hits. You can totally do an encore, but you've got to have one bombastic number left in the bag. After all, the kids need something to buzz about as they make their way to the exits.

All of that was abundantly clear on Friday night (February 5) at New York's Highline Ballroom, as Hot Chip returned to the stage after a brief hiatus for a MySpace Secret Show in support of their brand-new album One Life Stand. It was a rather excellent rock show, with epic light design, massive backbeats and even the occasional guitar thrown in for good measure, but the guys could probably learn a thing or two about pacing.

Opening with a pair of rather jittery songs from Stand — "Thieves in the Night" and "Hand Me Down Your Love" — Hot Chip filled the Highline with warbling synths and pealing organs, the room bathed in a noirish purple haze. Frontman Alexis Taylor, dressed in a long purple shirt and yellow pants (the former of which he'd eventually shed to reveal a pretty excellent Wendy's tank top), unfurled his impressively lithe pipes, crooning lines like "Baby I've lost you here in the crowd/Open your arms, I want to be found" while heads bopped and a million tiny smart phones were held aloft.

From there, the band switched into "Boy From School" (turning the song into a Culture Club-esque exercise in synth balladry) and "One Pure Thought" (which showed off some of Al Doyle's jangly guitar and threatened to lift the temperature of the room by several degrees Celsius).

Things shifted down from there, with another Stand track, the downright dour "Alley Cats," and then old favorite "Ready For The Floor," which was given a majestic, down-tempo makeover on this night.

But then we got hot, the band bobbing heads and going five-synths wide on "Over and Over," which roiled on electro and guitars and built to a thumping climax, with the guys stop-starting on a dime as lights blinked on and off in perfect unison. Read More...

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Rob Zombie Brings New Songs, Scares To New York Show

Posted 12/2/09 10:00 am EST by in Music


For a guy who claims he does not like to be the center of attention, Rob Zombie is an impressive showman. At a show Tuesday night (December 1) at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, Zombie transcended his role as the frontman of a rock band and became a twisted carnival barker, borrowing moves from great metal singers, gilded age illusionists, sideshow hype men and horror film producer Val Lewton. The result was not only 90 minutes of Zombie's patented industrial metal stew but also a fully-realized sight and sound experience.

Following a clip from his recently-released animated film "The Haunted World of El Superbeasto," Zombie stormed the stage to pound out the spooky "What Lurks on Channel X?" before turning up the BPMs for "Superbeast." "I heard that New York was kind of mellow tonight," Zombie taunted between songs, further escalating the already-rabid sentiment among the fans in the pit. With the help of a surgically adept trio of musicians behind him (all of which joined Zombie for his forthcoming album Hellbilly Deluxe 2), Zombie bounced around his deep catalog and brushed up against hits from his solo career ("Living Dead Girl," "Demonoid Phenomenon," "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)") as well as a handful of tunes from his former band White Zombie (including extra-savage takes on "More Human Than Human" and "Super-Charger Heaven," both of which are from the band's incredible final album Astro-Creep 2000: Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head).

Both Zombie's films and his music borrow heavily from multiple past inspirations, and his stage show is no different. The giant video screen behind him delivered a constant barrage of old film clips, bits of animation, stag footage and excerpts from music videos. There's even a bit of classic rock posturing in Zombie's show, as at one point he left the stage to allow for a drum solo and later made the audience beg for him to play White Zombie's breakout hit "Thunderkiss '65."

Two songs from the forthcoming Hellbilly Deluxe 2 found their way into the set, and in a brilliant move, Zombie created a pair of gimmicks to help the unfamiliar material go down smoother. For the first single "Sick Bubble-Gum," he taught the crowd to shout along to the song's bridge (the easy-to-remember refrain "Rock, motherf---er!"). And he cleared out a space for an all-girl mosh pit during the speedy two minutes of "What?"

Other highlights included the rarely-played "Scum of the Earth" and the set-closing death disco that is "Dragula." When the music ended, the band lingered, tossing keepsakes into the crowd and posing for a picture on stage. Like the hardcores who showed up, they didn't want the night to end.

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Beyoncé, Asher Roth Helping To Bring Stage Diving Back

Posted 11/20/09 2:41 pm EST by in Music


When Beyoncé took the stage at the O2 Arena on Monday (November 16), she not only brought Kanye West and Jay-Z on stage with her, but also busted out a big concert trope that seems to have gone by the wayside but may be making a comeback. In the middle of "Halo," she ran directly at the crowd and hurled herself onto the outstretched hands of the mass of fans in a stage dive.

Stage diving used to be a common occurrence during the alt-rock era, which saw frontmen like Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain channeled the spirit of Iggy Pop and constantly tossed themselves at the swirling crowds at their shows. But at some point around the turn of the century, stage diving got a bad name. It's possible that Fred Durst sunk the whole concept, as he famously used a piece of the security fence to surf across the hands of thousands of revelers at Woodstock '99 while Limp Bizkit played and women were sexually assaulted. But there's no real event that ended the practice — like the dinosaurs, stage diving died slowly and inexplicably.

But clearly it isn't completely extinct. In addition to Beyoncé's head-first dive, there were plenty of human missiles tossed off the stage at the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards, which were taped this past Wednesday night (November 18). After accepting an award on behalf of Green Day, rapper Asher Roth leaped into the crowd for a brief surf, and the beginning of the show saw Kim Schifino (of Matt and Kim) crawl across the outstretched arms of the people closest to the stage and stand up on top of them in a makeshift pyramid.

So if one of the biggest stars in the world, one of the slickest rappers in the hip-hop game and one of the coolest indie bands about to pop are all hopping off stages and into crowds, it's clearly an equal-opportunity deal. Who would you like to see stage diving? Should Taylor Swift let herself be carried away by fans? Should the boys from Tokio Hotel risk dismemberment in crowd surfing? Make your pleas in the comments!

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Jay-Z And Beyonce Heart Grizzly Bear

Posted 8/31/09 12:25 pm EST by in Music


What did you do on Sunday?

Well, if you were Jay-Z or Beyoncé (or Beyoncé's sister Solange), then you braved the be-jorted masses in Brooklyn to check out Grizzly Bear's set down at the Williamsburg Waterfront.

Yes, that's right: In perhaps the summer's biggest fish-out-of-water moment (aside from Kanye at Nine Inch Nails last week) Jigga and B waded into the epicenter of Hipster Nation on Sunday, sending texters and Twitters into a veritable frenzy as they grooved to the hazy, lazy sounds of Grizzly Bear at the final JellyNYC Pool Party of 2009.

Perhaps fittingly, they wore their Bedford Avenue best (Jay in dark shades and a gingham shirt, Bey channeling her inner Debbie Gibson), and by all accounts — i.e. roughly 100,000 Tweets and a few shaky YouTube clips — they were really into the show, drinking booze out of plastic cups (just like us!) and bobbing their heads to the beat (and during GB's sun-dappled "Ready, Able," Jay even threw his hands in the air as if he didn't care). Apparently, Solange is really into the Grizz, and brought Jay and Bey out to the show, which is pretty awesome and gives us hope for a Grizzly Bear/Jigga collabo on The Blueprint IV (which should see the light of day sometime in 2015).

Of course, not everyone shared our enthusiasm. Even though the show was free -- you know, as in "anyone can attend" -- their appearance set blogs ablaze with (predictably hand-wringing) posts, most of which seemed to posit that Grizzly Bear were now officially "over" because Jay and Beyoncé decided to check out the show (you know, despite the fact GB's Veckatimest debuted at #8 on the Billboard albums chart earlier this year).

This sort of ruined our post-weekend high, though we did get a laugh out of one Brooklyn Vegan commenter, who summed up all the hullabaloo thusly: "Do people write about me like this when I show up at Big Daddy Kane or Del La Soul or Dead Prez?"

Good point, dude.

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Kanye West Protege Mr. Hudson Overcomes Fever To Begin Conquest Of America

Posted 7/16/09 10:30 am EST by in Music


By Jett Wells

Kanye West's latest protégé, Mr. Hudson, showed off his chops last night at the Canal Room in New York for a promotional mini-concert. Having already conquered Europe, Mr. Hudson is starting to make a name for himself in this country, and last night was a good first step.

In a six-song set, Mr. Hudson carried himself with a confident swagger and stage presence to go along with his orchestra-sized supporting band. He didn't look like an artist piggy-backing on a hip-hop titan. Rather, he looked like a man taking over. He didn't do it alone, and his supporting cast was stellar, including a high-energy steel-pans player and backing vocalist. The band members were wearing white outfits and Mr. Hudson contrasted that with his black jeans, jacket and Billy Idol-esque blonde hair.

The show brought together catchy R&B and a little afro-pop, but the crowd didn't catch on fire until Mr. Hudson closed out with his new single "Supernova." He showed his Chris Martin-like pipes in the chorus, singing "And I feel like taking over/ Let me be your supernova/ Before you make the biggest mistake of your life/ Just give me a chance to make it right." The studio version of the song features a guest spot from Kanye West, but Mr. Hudson did it alone and didn't miss a beat.

In the middle of the set, he found himself in a confessional mood and admitted that he quit drinking only a week ago. He took the storytelling further by saying he was performing with a fever, though he said he wasn't looking for sympathy. All the while doing this, he kept referring to the crowd as America; as if he was trying to stress he was a foreigner looking in from the outside. The crowd stuck with him, though, and even offered him up some high-fives. Clearly, the border has been opened wide to him.

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Britney Spears Gets Remixes, Mixed Reviews For London Circus Stop

Posted 6/4/09 1:46 pm EST by in britney spears, Britney Spears, tour, Tour Dates


Britney Spears has taken her Circus across the pond and kicked off the European leg of her tour Wednesday night at London's O2 Arena. But instead of just bringing over the same tour she had Stateside, the singer has some new song remixes of old favorites and some new looks as well.


According to her Web site some of the remixed tracks include "Baby One More Time," "Do Something," "Piece of Me," "I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Womanizer." After the show, Britney Tweeted excitedly, "Just wrapped my first show in London. I love all the remixed tracks and new costumes!"

Although we're sure Spears' loyal fans loved the show, the same can't be said of some of her critics. The reviews are in, and some professional concertgoers described it as dull. The Sun said of Brit's performance, "Madonna is twice her age and does double the dancing." Read More...

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Live From The 'We Are One' Inaugural Concert

Posted 1/18/09 2:49 pm EST by in Barack-Obama, inauguration


By Erica Anderson and Gil Kaufman


The “We Are One” Obama inaugural celebration — featuring Bruce Springsteen, U2, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Usher and many more — just wrapped up. We had reporters in the crowd for the whole thing — check out what they saw and heard!

Erica, 1:30 p.m.: The space around the reflecting pool is gradually filling up. Despite the chilling wind, spirits are high. People are doing the wave. The number of people gathered here seems to rival the iconic scenes of the Civil Rights March in August 1963.

The significance isn't lost on the young attendees.

Will, a 21-year-old from Massachusetts, called it a historic day.

"It's crazy to believe some of the people who took part in that march 45 years ago are here to witness this, [the inauguration of] our first black president."

"This is monumentous," Elliott, a college student in D.C., added.

There's about an hour to go before the performances kick off, and people just keep rolling in.

Erica, 2:25 p.m.: The entire crowd is doing the wave to pass the time. Everyone seems to be buzzing for Beyoncé. Read More...

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Janet Jackson Fans Not Buying Her Brand Of Discipline At MSG Show

Posted 11/3/08 3:29 pm EST by in Concerts, Janet-Jackson


Janet Jackson

By Daniela Capistrano

Despite canceling nine shows on her Rock Witchu Tour due to vestibular migraines, Janet was present and full of energy for her Saturday performance at Madison Square Garden. She left the packed house standing and cheering for more when she closed with her top-five hit "Runaway," but received mixed reactions throughout the night to tracks from her latest album, Discipline.

Janet Jackson

(Check out more pics from the concert here.)

Although the LP is Janet's least successful album to date (as of September, record sales stood at 415,000 copies in the U.S.), the turnout at Madison Square Garden probably convinced Midtown onlookers otherwise. Hundreds of Janet fans of all ages and backgrounds spilled onto the streets, clutching merchandise and congregating outside the venue as if unwilling to leave, still glowing and chattering excitedly about the show they had just experienced. "Did you see her dancing the entire time?" shouted a middle-age mother to her group of friends, teenage daughters in tow. "It was flawless!" Other fans expressed similar sentiments. "Oh my God, that was hot," a male teen crowed to his similarly well-coiffed associates. “Janet is timeless, right?" Responses to the new album, however, were decidedly mixed. Words used by the crowd to describe her latest release ranged from "pretty good, but not great" to "disappointing." Read More...

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Sway Honored To Serve The Troops During 'A Night For Vets'

Posted 10/24/08 8:27 pm EST by in BRAVE, Concerts


SwayThis whole year of covering veteran issues for MTV's Choose or Lose has really opened my eyes to what our young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are going through. "A Night for Vets: An MTV Concert for the BRAVE" was one of the most gratifying experiences I've had as an MTV News correspondent.

The overall theme of the show — a celebration of vets — seemed to resonate with the crowd. All the veterans I met were elated to be acknowledged. The packages CNN and MTV produced really hit home with what they've been going through in terms of transitioning back into civilian life. And the BRAVE petition excited them and showed them that we haven't forgotten them as a country.

50 set the tone. He answered the crowd's excitement and anticipation. The fact that you could get one of the top artists in the world for these guys says a lot about the cause. And every one of the vets appreciated it. Read More...

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It's All About Family: Talking To Vets Before MTV's 'Concert For The BRAVE'

Posted 10/24/08 1:45 am EST by in BRAVE, Concerts, veterans


Tonight, just before the taping of "A Night for Vets: An MTV Concert for the BRAVE" (which airs Friday on MTV at 8 p.m. ET), I was out on New York's 44th Street to speak with a number of combat veterans about their experiences overseas, their expectations for the big night and the Bill of Rights for American Veterans (BRAVE), a petition presented by MTV and several veterans' organizations. Most of those I'd spoken with stood outside for hours, braving the increasingly unbearable cold, huddled together as a mass, in an attempt to conserve body heat, waiting for the concert's 7:30 p.m. start.

What struck me about the vets I'd met was the overall sense of family they seem to share. Having all endured similar experiences, war has, for better or worse, bonded these brave men and women, who displayed their dog tags with pride and recounted for me their time in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan — oftentimes, in vivid detail. In fact, one soldier I spoke with was the guy who was ordered into the narrow, dark hole Saddam Hussein was hiding in, beneath a two-room mud shack on a sheep farm ... but I'll have more on that tomorrow afternoon.

Waiting to get inside, I saw Marines greeting each other with that familiar call, "Semper fi, do or die." I saw soldiers reuniting — men and women who'd shared the same battlefields, hugging each other solidly. Veterans shared doughnuts and entire pizza pies with complete strangers — other soldiers they'd just met, but people they share a unique connection with; a familial connection. One soldier, Air Force veteran Jerry McDougal, perhaps summed it up better than any of the soldiers I'd met.

"By being there, we became something of a family," the 27-year-old Alabama son said; he just returned from Baghdad six months ago, and is still adjusting to civilian life. "You bond with the rest of your unit, and you're there to protect each other. When you leave, you're leaving behind family members."

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