Concert Notes: Tickets for Rodriguez, The Black Angels, Sky Ferreira, & More on Sale Friday

Rodriguez, the subject of the acclaimed documentary "Searching for Sugar Man," continues his incredible true-story comeback ride with a show at the Beacon Theatre in April, that that's just one of the shows going on sale Friday, Jan. 25th.

The recently rediscovered musician Rodriguez is back on tour, and playing the Beacon on April 8th.

Below are some of the more notable concerts, listed in order of show date. All of these gigs go on sale at 12 Noon, except where indicated.

* Lord Huron at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Sun., Feb. 24th (2nd show added; Feb. 23rd show sold out).
* Sky Ferreira at Bowery Ballroom, Wed., March 20th, and at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Thurs., March 21st.
* Little Green Cars at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Tues., March 26th.
* The Black Angels at Webster Hall, Mon. April 8th.
* Rodriguez at the Beacon Theatre, Mon., April 8th. On sale Friday at 11 a.m.
* The Joy Formidable at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Wed., April 17th. and at Bowery Ballroom, Thurs., April 18th.
* Akron/Family at Bowery Ballroom, Wed., April 23rd.
* Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers at Town Hall, Tues., June 25th.

And here are a few shows at City Winery that should be of interest to readers of this blog (all are currently on sale):
* Kathleen Edwards with Sera Cahoone, Wed., Jan. 30th and Thurs,. Jan. 31st.
* Southside Johnny and the Poor Fools, Thurs., Feb. 7th.
* Ian Hunter, Sun., Feb. 9th and Mon., Feb. 10th.
* Richard Shindell, Mon., Feb. 18th.
* Sara Watkins, Tues., March 26th.

Black Angels Play Free Show at Mercury Lounge Tonight (& Photos from 4 Knots)

The Black Keys at the 4 Knots Festival Saturday.

After playing Maxwell's on Friday night and closing the 4 Knots festival on Saturday, Austin's Black Angels continue their NYC-area gigs with a FREE concert Monday night at the Mercury Lounge.

The gig, which the band announced from the stage at 4 Knots, is sponsored by Spotify and is part of effort surrounding the online music service's recent U.S. launch. Here are the details on the free Black Angels show: admission is first come, first served, and people can start lining up outside the club starting at 11 p.m. Monday. Doors open at 11:30, and the Black Angels are scheduled to hit the stage at 12:30 a.m.

I'm guessing that you'll be able to get Spotify invites at the event.

The Black Angels put on a fine show at 4 Knots, and actually I enjoyed the bands I saw, the last three of the day (Davila 666 and Titus Andronicus, in addition to Black Angels). I have never seen any of these bands, and had never heard of Davila 666, who are from Puerto Rico.

Some more photos from 4 Knots:

The Black Angels:

Titus Andronicus:

Davila 666:

Today's Inaugural 4 Knots Festival - Lineup, Set Times, Directions, & More

The inaugural 4 Knots Festival runs from 1-8 p.m. today at South Street Seaport.

Relocated from Coney Island and with a new name, the 4 Knots Festival today seeks to bring the vibe of the Village Voice's long-running Siren Festival to a new location at South Street Seaport.

The Festival takes place at Pier 17 and runs from 1 to 8 p.m. If you can't be there, East Village Radio is said to be streaming some of the content live.

The 4 Knots Festival features one stage (though it's still called the Main Stage), as well as the "4 Knots Indoor Lounge" (at 210 Front St.), which will have DJ sets from Yeasayer, Dan Deacon, Finger on the Pulse, Punches, and Brahms. The lounge is open from 2 p.m. to midnight, and is 21 and over, while the rest of the festival is an all-ages affair.

[UPDATE: Set times for the bands and for the Indoor Lounge DJ sets are posted below, or you can find them at the Village Voice website.]

You can also check the 4 Knots website and its Twitter page for information. You can also download a 4 Knots app (for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry) from Livetapp here.

Here are the 4 Knots set times:

• 7:00 p.m. - The Black Angels
  
• 5:30 - Titus Andronicus
  
• 4:30 - Davila 666
  
• 3:30 - Oberhofer
  
• 2:30 - Eleanor Friedberger
  
• 1:30 - Mr. Dream 

Set times for the 4 Knots Fest, screen grab from VV website.

Directions: See the 4 Knots directions page for all the details and a Google map, but here's the condensed version: By subway, take the 2, 3, 4, 5, J, Z or M trains to Fulton Street, or the A or C to Broadway-Nassau. Then walk east on Fulton Street toward Water Street and the East River.

You can also get there by bus and by ferry (appropriately enough for this nautical-themed event); see NY Waterway's route map for boats from New Jersey to Wall St. and Pier 11.

Free on Saturday: Ted Leo and The Screaming Females at the Seaport

Ted Leo and the Screaming Females play the Seaport Saturday, a week before the big 4 Knots Festival.

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists play a free show tomorrow at South Street Seaport's Pier 17 that's billed as a kickoff show for next Saturday's all-day 4 Knots Festival, also at Pier 17. New Brunswick, NJ's Screaming Females are also on the bill with Ted Leo. The show starts at 6 p.m. (See the Village Voice's story on the 4 Knots kickoff show.)

You can get to Pier 17 by taking the 2, 3, 4, 5, J, Z, or M trains to Fulton Street or the A or C to Broadway-Nassau. (See map and directions.)

The 4 Knots Festival is the free shindig that's replacing the Siren Festival, which was held on Coney Island for the last 10 years. Like the Siren Festival, 4 Knots is presented by the Voice, as well as the Seaport Music Festival.

Speaking of 10 years, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists have been around for a decade (and have played many free shows in that time, including the Siren Festival), and for their appearance Saturday they'll be playing their first album, "The Tyranny of Distance," in its entirety. The Voice looks back at some of Ted Leo's 10 years of free NYC shows, with videos. (Below is an amateur video of Leo doing "Little Daw" from the 2010 Siren show, which I attended.)



The 4 Knots Festival takes place from 1 to 8 p.m. and features The Black Angels, Titus Andronicus, Davila 666, Oberhofer, Eleanor Friedberger (of Fiery Furnaces), and Mr. Dream. While the Siren Festival featured two stages, I'm not sure if that will be the case with 4 Knots. Which may be just as well, since you won't have to choose between two acts you really want to see that are playing at the same time.

Music Notes: Hot Shows on Sale; Les Paul Google Doodle; & the Deal Sisters Turn 50

Happy 50th birthday to those rock & roll twins, Kim & Kelley Deal!

Here's a mish-mash of musical updates for June 10th...

* The most timely news involves some in-demand gigs that went on sale today:

• Black Angels and The Sadies at Maxwell's, July 15
  
• Detroit Cobras at Maxwell's, August 11
  (Also at Maxwell's: a third show with The Feelies has been added on July 3)
  
• Fleet Foxes and The Walkmen at Williamsburg Waterfront, Sept. 24

* Many work hours were no doubt lost on Thursday to employees playing around with the very cool Les Paul "Google doodle" featuring playable guitar strings (Les Paul, who died in 2009, would have turned 96 on Thursday). The guitar-string doodle was so popular that Google kept it as its logo on Friday, and now it has gone one step further: it has created a permanent home for the Les Paul guitar doodle, says the L.A. Times. You can find it, and play it, at www.google.com/logos/2011/lespaul.html

* And speaking of birthdays, June 10th marked The Big Five-0 for those rocking twin sisters, Kim and Kelley Deal. The Dayton, Ohio natives have been on the scene a long time, in bands from The Pixies and The Amps (Kim) to The Breeders (Kim and Kelley). (See the video for the Breeders' classic song, "Cannonball," above, from their Last Splash album.) Happy birthday and many more to the Deal sisters.