Billie Joe Armstrong + Norah Jones Play ‘Foreverly’ at Bowery Electric
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Billie Joe Armstrong + Norah Jones Play ‘Foreverly’ at Bowery Electric

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What a nice surprise it was to wake up on Wednesday morning and see the email about a ticket sale for a Billie Joe Armstrong (of Green Day) acoustic show happening at The Bowery Electric. What was even more pleasant was that I was lucky enough to secure tickets to the show. It turned out to be the first live performance where Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones performed their two year old Everly Brothers album Foveverly in full (plus “Sure to Fall (In Love with You)” by Carl Perkins), a total of thirteen songs, all the ones they knew together. There were no Green Day songs. There were no Norah Jones songs (which is more funny as I’ve seen her with Puss N Boots twice and now this but not solo). But that’s okay. There was some great tunes and it was an intimate venue. Check out my exclusive photos below (BrooklynVegan should have a few others they’ll get up sometime soon) the jump and be sure to buy Foreverly. And please follow me on social media accounts and share the link to this page!

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June 27, 2015
Photos of Algiers the band at Baby’s All Right
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Photos of Algiers the band at Baby’s All Right

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From their press release, “Algiers, whose unique blend of post-punk sonics and gospel bloodletting has been called “spiritual, political and confrontational” (Rolling Stone), are bringing their “truly incendiary” (The Quietus) live show to NYC on June 9th (Mercury Lounge) and 10th (Baby’s All Right) to celebrate the release of their self-titled debut on Matador Records, out June 2nd.” Though I haven’t yet heard their album, I decided last minute to go and photograph their show at Baby’s for use HERE!  And they were a cool band to catch as lead singer Frank James Fischer really gives it his all.

Hilary Hughes over on Village Voice recently spoke with the band and she gives them a more apt description. “Algiers is a Southern Gothic tornado charged by the swirling winds of punk, electronic, metal, gospel, and blues. They leave nary a stone unturned on the sociopolitical front as far as their lyrics go, and they pair these thought-provoking lines with a sound that’s devastatingly current — and appropriately overwhelming.” (I had half expected Fischer to physically tear apart Baby’s.)

Check out photos from the June 10th, 2015 performance from Algiers music at Baby’s All Right after the jump. If you are interested in using any of these for your site, please contact me (see the about me tab on the left).

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June 11, 2015
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Holly Herndon at The Wick (Photos)

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Holly Herndon‘s album Platform received a Best New Music categorization from Pitchfork and in their review they said, “Into these complicated soundworlds—all of which are rooted in human action—Herndon mixes noises that emanate from the structure of her computer (hums, fan whirs, “thinking” noises), as well as its internal audio (she records the sound of her Internet activity and uses it as a source material or a point of inspiration). For her, a laptop is a natural extension of her mind and body rather than a place of escape and self-negation. ”

It was interesting to see her extend her mind live at The Wick in Brooklyn, my first time at the open, barn-like venue. Behind her a projector was distantly connected to the audience via a medium who received text messages from the crowd and responded to them on screen. I was shooting for Village Voice who described her set as a digital paradise. The review noted the challenge of doing a show fixed behind a laptop. “Her eyes rarely left her computer as she manipulated these constructs into endless iterations. On her album it’s her compositional training that shines brightest; here, in a pitch-black repurposed factory, it was her years spent in the Berlin techno scene. There were no breaks in her dizzying flow and, although tracks from Platform made appearances, Herndon gave us a set more akin to a DJ’s, which was perfect.”

As only a couple of my photos made the article, please check out my gallery of Holly Herndon outtakes after the jump.

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June 11, 2015
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Apollo Theater Spring Gala with Nile Rodgers

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The Apollo Theater is a legendary music venue and on June 8th they held their 10th annual Spring Gala event featuring “performances by Nile Rodgers and CHIC, Ne-Yo, Rosanne Cash, Luke James, The Soil, and Kimberly Nichole as well as presentations of awards for civic leadership to The Madison Square Garden Company and The Ford Foundation and a post-event party.” I photographed the main event (not the red carpet or after-party) for The Village Voice. It was the first time I photographed any of the aforementioned artists in performance, but capturing Rodgers was the real treat for me.

As Lindsey Rhoades put it in the review, “Truly, though, the Apollo Gala belonged to Chic. Rodgers lovingly described his initiation into the Apollo family at the tender age of nineteen, when Screamin’ Jay Hawkins popped out of a coffin onstage to prank the unsuspecting guitarist. Delighted to finally play his own tunes on stage, Chic began with a rousing version of “Everybody Dance,” the first song he ever recorded.”

Check out some of unused performance photos after the jump.

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June 10, 2015
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Josh Ritter at Tarrytown Music Hall

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Josh Ritter is a wonderful musician, gifted song-writer and ever smiling guy. He recently played at Tarrytown Music Hall and I made a trip up from NYC to catch him do his acoustic set. Many live recordings of his shows are available over at the internet archive and if you like what you hear, buy any of his albums, either the latest full-length Beast in Its Tracks (which is recorded evidence that Ritter was once not-smiling) or So Runs the World Away, which has so many of his live staples on it. The first time I saw him was when he opened for The Swell Season at Radio City and I was instantly a fan.

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June 9, 2015
Azealia Banks at Irving Plaza (Photo)
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Azealia Banks at Irving Plaza (Photo)

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Azealia Banks celebrated her 24th birthday on May 31st. A couple weeks ago, I got to shoot Banks‘ performance at Irving Plaza for Village Voice. The full gallery is up here. My kind music editor at Village Voice offered me kind praise for the photos on her Twitter and included the main image used on the site’s homepage. That image was also the one I instagrammed and it almost got more likes than I had followers (around 170 at the time). But if you saw the Instagrammed pic, you would have realized more of the image existed. I cropped it. Shame on me? I dunno. Anyways, you can check out the full uncropped image below the jump. (more…)

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June 1, 2015