Saturday: Two Great Free CBGB Fest Shows (and Maybe Record Temps)

The two free CBGB Festival concerts on Saturday should be great, presuming you can tolerate what might be record-high temperatures in NYC. The thermometer is expected to hit between 99 and 102 degrees, depending on which forecast you read, and the SummerStage venue in Central Park has no shade whatsoever. I'd guess there won't be much shade at the other free show, in Times Square, but there are supposed to be vendors there, which might provide a bit of relief from the sun.

Below are details on the two shows, taken from the CBGB Festival website (which often had limited info on events, such as mentioning the Times Square show without providing a link to any information on it.)

The set times for the Central Park show match what SummerStage sent out via Twitter Friday night, give or take five minutes. SummerStage says that doors for the show will open at 2 p.m., and the line to get in will form before then. It's hard to say how early you should get there to be guaranteed getting in, but I'd recommend checking SummerStage's Twitter feed on Saturday, which during regular SummerStage shows posts updates on how long the lines are to get in. (You can check the CBGB Twitter feed, but it doesn't seem to be updated as often.)

It's even harder to predict how things will play out at the Times Square concert, since it's not a regular venue but a large, blocked-off area of the streets. I can't remember any concert event of this size being held in Times Square.

Free CBGB Festival concert in Times Square, Noon to 6 p.m.
(Stages on Broadway at 46th St. & 51st St.)

• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
• The Hold Steady
• Duff McKagan's Loaded
• Superchunk
• Glint
• Upper West
• Zulu Wave

Free CBGB Festival concert in Central Park, 3 to 8 (?) p.m.
(Rumsey Playfield, center of park near 72nd St.)

• Guided By Voices - 6 p.m.
• The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - 4:45 p.m.
• The War on Drugs - 3:45 p.m.
• Cloud Nothings - 3 p.m.

Needless to say, the heat and humidity will keep some folks away, and cause others to stay a shorter time than they had planned. If you go, make sure to use plenty of sunscreen, keep hydrated (with water, not beer or other alcohol!), and stay safe.

If you're not up for being outdoors in the steambath, there are plenty of CBGB Festival events in the great indoors. (See schedule for times, links to tickets, etc.) Music events include:

• Soft White Sixties, The Young Things, Raccoon Fighters, and The Head at the Studio at Webster Hall
• D Generation, Romans, Brass Knuckle Evangelists, and The Bamboo Kids at the Bowery Electric (SOLD OUT to general public; first come, first served for pass holders)
• Mongrel Bitch, The Whores, A Devil's Broadcast, Brunch of the Living Dead, Drugstore, Bannor at Hank's Saloon

Movies on Saturday include a showing of the 1980 cult classic "Times Square" at 2 p.m. and Sid and Nancy at 7 p.m.,  among many others.

CBGB to Return with July Music Festival; Club Being Planned

Live music under the CBGB name will return to New York in the form of a four-day festival in July featuring a free concert in Central Park. And the organizers are looking to a open a new CBGBs club in the city at some point.

The legendary CBGBs name will grace a music festival... and maybe a club.

The inaugural CBGB Music Festival will take place July 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th at 20 clubs around Manhattan and Brooklyn. Bands include veterans such as Willie Nile, Rocket from the Tombs, David Johansen (of the New York Dolls), the reformed D Generation (featuring Jesse Malin), and Guided by Voices as well as newer groups like Cloud Nothings, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The War on Drugs, and Vision of Discord.

The Cro-Mags and Sick of it All are also in the lineup, as well as The Baseball Project, the supergroup consisting of Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck and Mike Mills (from R.E.M.), and Linda Pitmon.

The CBGB Festival will also feature films and conferences.

The schedule hasn't been announced yet, but venues include Arlene's Grocery, Bell House, Joe's Pub, Le Poisson Rouge, and Highline Ballroom. There will be about 300 bands taking part, according to the New York Times (their article also describes the investors in the new CBGB effort and their future plans).

The group that owns the CBGB name is sponsoring the festival, and is hoping to re-open a New York City club with the legendary name. The group is said to be looking for locations below 14th Street, and is seeking to own the building the club will be in. This would avoid the problem faced by the original CBGB and many other New York clubs: having to close down when their landlord jacked up the rent to unsustainable levels.  

The free Central Park concert of the CBGB Festival will feature Guided by Voices, the Pains of Being Pure of Heart, Cloud Nothings, and other artists. The concert is set to run from 3 to 7 p.m.

Video Roundup: Guided by Voices, WU LYF on Letterman; Ted Leo & Sharon Van Etten Cover the Soft Boys

Guided by Voices on Letterman? Sharon Van Etten covering "I Wanna to Destroy You" with Ted Leo? Yep, they both happened in the last week. In case you missed them, here are a few videos from recent performances.

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.

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Guided by Voices, Jaimoe, & More

The much-anticipated reunion album by Guided by Voices is the most high profile of the new releases available for free streaming this week (it would stand out even if this week's selection wasn't so small).

The "classic" GbV lineup reunited last year to play at the Matador Records 21st anniversary party, and has done some shows since then. The new album, "Let's Go Eat the Factory" (due Jan. 17th available now, on iTunes at least) features the same lineup (Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Greg Demos, Mitch Mitchell, and Kevin Fennell).

Pollard and company had their "farewell" tour seven years ago, but now they're back. As NPR Music says, "Let's Go Eat the Factory" is "for better and worse, a prototypical Guided by Voices album—it's 42 minutes long and has 21 songs."

Guided By Voices - Doughnut For A Snowman by FIRE RECORDS

Also online for streaming this week is the new album by another artist with decades of experience, though in a totally different vein than GbV: Allman Brothers Band drummer and founding Jaimoe Johanson. He's back with a new album from his group Jaimoe's Jasssz Band, called "Renaissance Man."(Despite the group's name, it incorporates blues, rock, & soul as well as jazz elements).

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Let's Go Eat the Factory" by Guided by Voices (also streaming at NPR First Listen)

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Renaissance Man" by Jaimoe's Jasssz Band

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Cloud Maintenance" by Kevin Hearn
"A Brushfire Holiday, Volume 2" by This Warm December (features G. Love, Matt Costa, Rogue Wave, Jack Johnson, and more)
"Christmas Album" by The Beach Boys

Live Music in NYC & Environs for New Year's Eve - Who's Playing?

Patti Smith & band continue their annual run of New Year's Eve shows  in NYC this year. Shown here is their New Year's Eve 2007 show at Bowery Ballroom. Photo: Kimberly Smith

For me, seeing live music is the best way to ring in the new year. And all things considered, you can get more entertainment bang for your buck with a concert than with a pricey cocktail party or other New Year's Eve option.

Here's a look at some of the live music shows, large and small, taking place in New York City and the nearby area on Friday, December 31st. (Note: Tickets may not be available for all events at the time you're reading this; make sure to check the venue's website for details.)

• Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings & Allen Toussaint, Best Buy Theater (formerly Nokia Times Square), 8 p.m., $55
  
• Patti Smith and Band, Bowery Ballroom 8 p.m., $55
  
• Los Lobos, City Winery, two shows: 7:30 p.m., $60 to $175 (11 p.m. show sold out)
  
• Mike Doughty, Maxwell's (Hoboken, NJ), 7:30 p.m., $25
  
• The Detroit Cobras & The Fleshtones, Maxwell's, 10:30, $20 advance/$25 d.o.s.
  
• Chuck Berry, B.B. King's, 8 p.m. ($98 advance/$100 d.o.s.) & 11 p.m. ($120)
  
• The Butthole Surfers & Lumerians, Music Hall of Williamsburg, 9 p.m., $55
  
• Titus Andronicus, Real Estate, Andrew Cedermark, & Julian Lynch, Ridgewood Masonic Temple (Brooklyn), 8 p.m., $15
  
• Drive-By Truckers, Terminal 5, 9 p.m., $35
  
• Passion Pit & Slick Rick, Wellmont Theatre (Montclair, NJ), 8 p.m., $70
  
• Ms. Lauryn Hill, Bowery Ballroom, 8 p.m., $75
  
• Gov't Mule, Beacon Theatre, 9 p.m., $59.50 to $84 plus fees
  
• Phish, Madison Square Garden, 8 p.m., $70 plus fees
  

Big Week at Maxwell's: Mike Doughty, Detroit Cobras & Fleshtones, & The English Beat Roll into Hoboken

The Detroit Cobras (shown here in Santa Fe in 2008) play a New Year's Eve show at Maxwell's. Photo: Steve Terrell.

The old year is ending with a bang, and the one's beginning the same way, at Maxwell's in Hoboken. The club has two shows on New Year's Eve, with Mike Doughty (formerly of Soul Coughing) performing at 7:30 ($25) and then a year-spanning garage-rock show with Detroit Cobras and The Fleshtones starting at 10:30 p.m. ($20 advance; $25 day of show). According to the Maxwell's website, tickets are still available for both shows.

Maxwell's starts off 2011 with The English Beat on New Year's Day (tickets are $20, and still available).  And the great shows keep coming in January: Dean Wareham (of Galaxie 500 and Luna) plays Galaxie 500 on Jan. 13th; Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield play on Jan. 20th; Mission of Burma performs on the 28th; and one of my favorites, The Muffs, plays on Jan. 29th.

I haven't even mentioned that fact that the Guided by Voices reunion tour is coming to Maxwell's on Dec. 30th (because tickets seem to be sold out, at least on Ticketfly). But the show isn't listed as sold out, so tickets may be available at Other Music or Tunes (in Hoboken). Or, if you go to the club on the day of the show there might be folks looking to unload extra tickets that they can't use.

GbV sold out a couple of shows in NYC in short order, so a chance to see them at the intimate confines of Maxwell's would be a treat indeed.