Ted Leo and the Pharmacists played at Maxwell's on New Year's Eve, and Van Etten opened (I'm still kicking myself for not getting tickets before they sold out). At one point they joined forces for a lively version of the old Soft Boys tune, "I Wanna to Destroy You." The video is below, and at the end of it you'll find choices for other videos from the New Year's Eve at Maxwell's by these two Jersey natives. [Note: Sharon Van Etten will be the musical guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight, Thursday, Jan. 5th]
With its reunion album out, Guided by Voices appeared on Letterman and played that disc's "The Unsinkable Fats Domino." One interesting unplanned moment occurred when bass player Greg Demos slipped and fell straight on his rear end about 36 seconds into the song (you can hear his bass emit a strange noise as he fell). Demos got up and continued the song, playing with a big smile on his face. No damage done, it seems.
The British band WU LYF was the musical guest on Letterman January 4th. The guys from Manchester have gotten a lot of attention and acclaim for their new album, "Go Tell Fire To The Mountain,"
which was rated best album of the year by fellow blogger Ben at I Have 19 Voices.
" (see the video for "People Got A Lotta Nerve," from the new album, below). I was at Tuesday's show, and it was a great performance by Neko, her band, and a few guest vocalists.