Tonight: Raccoon Fighter Release Party + After Party

Raccoon Fighter is playing Mercury Lounge tonight to celebrate the release of their latest 7". They go on bright and early at 7pm sharp. Also on the bill are Three Blind Wolves from Scotland. I know nothing about them but as a proud descendant of Clan Donald I like all things Scotland, except the Campbells - those dirty fucks.

After the show the Raccoon clan heads over to St. Jerome's for the after party. My homeboy Carlos (who I throw Smell The Glove with) is DJing punk & rock n' roll. There's also $2 Bud until 12 so come party with the family.

RSVP & Details

The Death Set Have A New Video, "DZ Deathrays"

The Mess Up - DZ Deathrays (The Death Set Rmx) from The Death Set on Vimeo.

Today: Superchief Presents w/ Gunfight!, Ritz Riot, Raccoon Fighter, EULA, Shapes & More

Killer, killer, killer show today at the Morgan. Damn near all of my favorite local bands are playing this. All we need is Ballzy & Wild Yaks and it would be perfecto. It's also weird because if I booked an all-day show in Brooklyn this is pretty much the exact line-up you'd get, or pretty damn close. It's $10 but that gets you 22 bands and I think there's free booze early on.

Info & RSVP

Wild Yaks Played Grand St. Bakery (Video)

The Yaks are back after taking a short hiatus to record their new album. On Friday they played the backyard of the Grand Street Bakery, which is a killer space. They should have more shows back there. Despite being completely shit-faced the set was pretty killer. I took a bunch of pics and shot some video of it. I still need to upload the pics but check out the sweet HD (make sure to toggle it to 1080p before viewing).

Tonight: Wild Yaks, EULA, Ritz Riot, Spirit Family Reunion

If you wanna run around town you can see Wild Yaks and Spirit Family Reunion twice tonight! Early on Wild Yaks are playing The Grand St. Bakery on Grand St. in Brooklyn. Also early, Spirit Family Reunion (who recently opened for the legendary Levon Helm) are playing the Invisible Children event at Big Screen Plaza. Later on Wild Yaks are playing with EULA and Ritz Riot at Tommy's Tavern! A shitty dive bar with three of my favorite local bands, yes! Elsewhere, SFR is playing the MeanRed party at DROM which is a weird combo of band/venue/promoter but good for them. 

RSVP & Details:

SFR Early Show

SFR Late Show

Yaks Early Show

Yaks, EULA, Ritz Riot Show

Black Lips Playing VICE Halloween Party @ Webster Hall

Black Lips are coming to NYC for Halloween! VICE put together a rager at Webster Hall with Davila 666 and X-Ray Eyeballs. The tickets are $25 which is pretty cheap considering it's Halloween. Nonetheless, put me on the list yo!

Link:

Buy Tickets

Youth Of Today Playing Santos Party House, Really?

I just got an email informing me that Youth Of Today is playing Santos Party House with Kylesa, Mouthpiece, Trash Talk & more. Fucking Youth Of Today? I was never a big fan but these dudes are legendary and this show is going to be fucking apeshit nutso.

Link:

RSVP for Youth Of Today

Hull Has A New Album Streaming On AOL

Brooklyn's finest metal band, Hull, has a new album entitled Beyond The Lightless Sky and it's streaming for free on AOL.

Link:

Hull Beyond The Lightless Sky

Spanish Prisoners Have A New Album (Free Stream)

Spanish Prisoners have a new album called Gold Fools. You can stream the whole thing on the band's Bandcamp page.

Link:

Spanish Prisoners Gold Fools

Radiohead Is Playing Occupy Wall Street Today(?)

The rumors are true, Radiohead will be playing Liberty Park today at 4pm. This will be a shit show to end all shit shows. In fact, I kinda think it's irresponsible of the band. The cops are already heated and flooding downtown with Radiohead fans might be exactly what's needed for a full on riot to erupt. This is gonna get ugly, proceed with caution.

Link:

Radiohead Occupy Wall Street

***NEVERMIND. They just cancelled. Probably a good thing.
******Okay, maybe it is happening. The band says no, occupy Wall St. says yes. But the band saying no could simply be a crowd control measure.
*********Looks like my hunch might be right. Now Gothamist is reporting that the bands denial was a fake out to keep 1,000,000 people from showing up. We'll see what happens.

Chris Cornell Has A New Album & Video, "The Keeper"

Chris Cornell is guilty of making one of the worst solo albums ever. He is also guilty of making one of my all-time favorite solo albums, Euphoria Morning. So what can we expect with this one? Well, the good news is he's back in Soundgarden and playing guitar again. He also has ditched Timbaland (thank you big baby Jesus)! And furthermore he did a solo acoustic tour recently.

Based on the first single/video, "The Keeper", we might have a proper follow up to Euphoria Morning. The new solo acoustic album comes out on November 21st.

Cerebral Ballzy Has Another New Video, "Anthem"

Cerebral Ballzy has released yet another video. This time it's for "Anthem" and it's being released by Hot Topic. People are giving them serious shit for working with Hot Topic and even for working with Adult Swim. That's fucking bullshit if you ask me.

Labels are broke, fans aren't buying albums or even much merch and here we have a band actually being success in the only way possible these days and you're busting their balls? Don't be a dick. These are good dudes who make pretty killer music and put on some of the best live shows you'll see these days. They deserve to put a couple bucks in their pockets. My only complaint is the video itself (not the song) is kinda boring and why is only Honor in it?

Lou Reed + Metallica Track Leaked...It Sucks

The first full track from the Metallica and Lou Reed collaboration has hit the net and boy does it suck. It's everything wrong about Metallica (the 90's) mixed with all that is wrong about Lou Reed (artsy bullshit) mashed together. It sucks to a level that nothing has sucked before, not even St. Anger. It makes me want to exterminate man kind. I woke up kinda drunk and feeling good and now I want to kill myself. I want someone to drop an anvil from the 20th floor and have it land on my head, obliterating my eardrums. Then, and only then, I will at last be at peace.

Link:

The Gauntlet

Don't fucking hit play! Did you read the words up there? Don't do it!!!

The View by Lou Reed & Metallica

Tonight: Ritz Riot & EULA @ Matchless

Two of our favorite local bands, Ritz Riot & EULA, are at Matchless tonight. They make for an awesome 1-2 punch. The first time these two played together was at the Brooklyn Ski Club edition of Personality Crisis at Shea Stadium. That was awesome so don't miss out this time.

RSVP & Details:

Ritz Riot & EULA

Suicidal Tendencies Played House Of Vans

For the past few weeks people were talking about a secret Suicidal Tendencies show going down in Brooklyn. Everyone knew it would be on September 15th because that was the only open date on the tour but the location was under wraps. But when your tour is sponsored by Vans and it just so happens Vans has a pop-up venue in Brooklyn it wasn't a hard one to figure out.

I had a few friends that know people at Vans and/or with the band, I'm not really sure. All I know is we asked around and it seemed like we would be able to get in. Then MyFreeConcert posted the RSVP info so to be safe I RSVPd. I never got a confirmation and our friends who might be able to get us in were running late so we just went over there, not at all sure we'd get in.

The first band I ever saw, way back in 1994, was Suicidal Tendencies and I haven't seen them since. I had to get into this show.

To our surprise there were hardly any people there. People in line were chatting about the RSVP thing and it seemed like only about 1 of 5 people actually got a confirmation. The majority of the line were just there, hoping to get in.

Right at 8pm they opened the doors and people started trickling in. It turns out the RSVP email on MyFreeConcert actually worked. 15 minutes after the doors opened we were inside getting frisked. Apparently they don't usually frisk people at House Of Vans but this is an ST show.

After getting through the checkpoint we headed right through the warehouse/skate park and through the giant garage door into the yard. Outside they had a bar area and free food from that Korean taco truck and Meatball Shop. Unfortunately we just stuffed our guts at Fette Sau so instead we headed straight for the booze. They had tall boys of Brooklyn Lager up for grabs (yeah, that means free).

We hung out in the back drinking until the show was about to start. As we were waiting we saw the Cerebral Ballzy boys, The Death Set and other familiar faces. All the punks were out!

When the band started to setup everyone headed inside and the outdoor bar shut down. People were drunk and pumped and ready to get crazy. As soon as ST struck the first chord all hell broke loose. I think they started with "You Can't Bring Me Down" which was fucking amazing. Almost too good to waste in the beginning of the set.

They went on to play all of the songs you'd want to hear. The pit was huge and crazy but not very violent. Just a bunch of kids having fun and even skating through the moshers. At one point there was this long hair, bearded Viking looking dude kicking ass in $200 jeans. Then it hit me, Chad fucking Muska! My favorite skater when I was growing up. I've been to a bunch of parties with celebs lately and this was the very first time I was starstruck. Chad Muska was thrashing like a champ in the pit. Fuck yes!

There were some lulls in the set most likely due to Cyko Miko's semi-incoherent rants between songs. The vocals were super low the whole set and no one could understand a thing he was saying but that didn't stop him from talking. It also didn't stop him from dancing which was awesome. He was doing his modified Beavis dance all over the stage.

For the encore the band invited the crowd up on stage with them for "Pledge Your Allegiance". The kids on the floor immediately bum rushed the stage. My shitty knee prevented me from joining them. Some chubby goon went to hop the barrier and hooked his foot - 250 lb face plant, ouch! Within seconds the band was playing and there was an all out mosh pit on stage. Then out of nowhere someone is crowd surfing on stage. It was Crazy Abe from Cerebral Ballzy!

To recap - free booze, free food, rad kids and Suicidal Tendencies! How can that not be fucking awesome?

Tomorrow: For The Record w/ Raccoon Fighter, Locksley + More

The Society of Illustrators is celebrating their Rolling Stone Art exhibit with a rock n' roll show. The bands playing are Locksley, Lily & The Parlour Tricks and our bros Raccoon Fighter. It's $10 to get in.

Info & Tickets:

For The Record

VICE Throws One Hell Of A Party

On Thursday I was one of the lucky few who managed to get into the VICE.com Launch Party. The domain name was being held ransom by some porn site and VICE finally got their hands on it. Obviously this is calls for celebration so they invited Rick Ross, DFA 1979, Tanlines and more to perform at some gigantic old bank in Brooklyn.

I've been to many VICE parties in the past and sometimes getting in, even if you're on a list, can be an issue. So I made sure to get there as soon as doors opened. When I arrived there were maybe 40 people in line, which is nothing. It took us about 15 minutes but we got in. Considering that there weren't many people waiting and the doors just opened I was surprised to walk into a nearly packed room. Apparently some press and VIPs had been there partying since 7:30.

The Black Lips were on the main stage DJing when we got in. We took a quick tour of the main floor and then grabbed a few drinks. They were serving up free rum, vodka and Grolsch. There were bars in just about every inch you could cram one - a setup I very much approve of. There was not going to be a shortage of booze tonight, that much was certain.

We hung out on the main floor as more and more people funneled in. Word is there ended up being quite a line outside. Familiar faces started popping up all over the place including Hima from Das Racist, Rob from Wild Yaks, Nick Zinner, various VICE Guide To Everything reporters and every photog ever. It was pretty much impossible to take ten steps without someone taking your picture. Good for posterity I suppose.

The call of nature arose and we went in search of the bathrooms. It was at this point that we discovered the downstairs vault. There was a whole other party going on downstairs and it was awesome! It reminded me of a Brooklyn DIY party back in 2005 or so, only with endless free booze and better sound.

Full Frontal VICE Launch Party w/ Rick Ross, DFA 1979, Black Lips, Nick Zinner & More

VICE is putting all of it's various websites under one roof, www.VICE.com, and want to celebrate. So they've put together what looks like the best fucking party in history. The line up is fucking insane and best of all it's free! Hurry the fuck up and RSVP now though because this will fill up fast. I generally hate shit shows but this is so crazy that I don't think I'll even care.

Link:

www.vice.com/rsvp

Full Frontal VICE | The Official Launch of VICE.COM | Presented by boinc 

Thursday, September 15th | 9:00PM - 3:00AM 

Skylight One Hanson | One Hanson Place, Brooklyn
General public can RSVP (space will be limited | 21+): http://www.vice.com/rsvp 

Performances by:
Rick Ross | A Trak | Death From Above 1979 

Bands also scheduled to perform:
Tanlines
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
The Men
Hanni El Khatib
Anamanaguchi
Total Slacker 

DJs:
Nick Zinner
Black Lips
The New York Night Train
Lemonade
True Panther
Greenie 

Brooklyn Ski Club Classic Punk DJ Set Tomorrow w/ Parris of Cro-Mags!

Tomorrow night I'm going to be over at St. Jerome's doing a special DJ set dedicated to classic punk of the 70's and 80's. Expect to hear some Dead Boys, Anti-Nowhere League, FEAR, Subhumans, Ramones, Misfits, New York Dolls, The Damned, Sham 69 and so forth. Later that same night Parris Mayhew of the legendary Cro-Mags is doing a Cheap Trick tribute set. It's free to get in and the beer is only $2 until midnight. Party!

RSVP:

Facebook Event Page

Steel Phantoms Have A New EP + Free MP3, "Bedouin"

Brooklyn's Steel Phantoms have some new tunes you should listen to. Check out the Forer EP on Bandcamp and download the track "Bedouin".

Link:

Forer EP on Bandcamp

Tom Morello Played City Winery

On Thursday I stopped by City Winery to see Tom Morello performing as The Nightwatchman. I was only familiar with a handful of songs prior to the show and I had mixed feelings about what I had heard. I didn't know what to expect.

We were given seats a couple of feet away from the stage. I scanned the room and saw an surprising amount of middle aged dudes in collar shirts. It looked like a holiday luncheon for CitiBank or something. We ordered a couple of drinks (Old Speckled Hen!) and waited for Tom to come out. Luckily we didn't have to sit through any crappy opener or anything and the show started 15 minutes after our arrival.

Tom came out with nothing but a stomp box and an acoustic guitar. The crowd went crazy! People were yelling out "revolution" and shit along those lines. Again, considering the appearance of the crowd this was not what I expected. Tom thanked the crowd and chatted a bit before launching into the first song.

His songs were clearly inspired by Dylan, Seeger and Guthrie. They were folky but had elements of what we know of his work with RATM and Audioslave. I didn't love every tune but none of it was bad either. He is a master perform and even when the tunes were lackluster he completely controlled the mood in the room. The between song banter was very entertaining. He is pushing an agenda but kept it light enough that it didn't come off as preachy.

On a few occasions he whipped out his electric guitar and played some of the craziest shit I have ever heard/seen. I've always taken issue with him getting such high marks on all-time guitar player lists but when you see what he's doing from 10 feet away it's fucking mind blowing. He is a technical master but has Hendrix-esque flare (he even played with his teeth).

My one complaint would be that the range of his voice is pretty limited. Granted he's a guitar player, not a singer, but the songs would have benefited greatly if the vocals were better. He did have another guitar player on some of the songs who would occasionally chime in on vocals. That guy could sing very well and it added so much to the music.

Some other highlights included Tom performing "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "This Land Is Your Land". At the end of the set he invited everyone on stage to sing along and close out the set. That's when I saw Michael Moore smash his head on an overhead speaker getting on stage. Did I mention Michael Moore was there? He was amongst the rich white guys yelling "revolution" while drinking a $14 glass of wine.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the show, more so than I expected. Tom knows exactly what he's doing on stage and just fucking owns the room. It was impressive, not so much on a song level but on a performance level. I would see this guy perform anytime.

TV On The Radio Have A New Video, "Second Song" + Releasing Live EP

TV On The Radio have a new video and a new live EP coming out called "World Cafe Live" which is available on September 6th. They will be in NYC on the 8th at the Williamsburg Waterfront. 

EULA Has A New Video, "Maurice Narcisse" + Free MP3 Download

Our pals EULA have a new video for their song "Maurice Narcisse". After you watch if go ahead and download the MP3. If you want to check them out live, which you should, you're in luck - they're playing tonight on Canal St.

Larry David Talks To "Mo" Gaddafi (Video)

Larry David and "Mo" Gaddafi go way back man. When he's not busy dictating Libya he's hitting the resorts with Larry.

Matt & Kim, Souja Boy & Andrew WK Made A Song, "I'm A Goner" - It's Bad.

Some drunkard at Converse thought it would be a good idea to pay Matt & Kim, Soulja Boy and Andrew WK to write a song together. Needless to say the results are boring and pretty terrible. I don't understand how anyone could think this would work out well. There's a proper video for this tune on the Converse website but I can't embed it so head over there if you give a shit.

Today: Tiki Disco @ Roberta's; Dixons BBQ

Two great options for today. There's another edition of Tiki Disco at Roberta's. This is basically a full on dance party in the backyard of Roberta's and it's really fun. Get there early (leave now) or wait in line forever. Also, Clem's bar is having an 8-year anniversary BBQ today. It's not actually at Clem's, which is weird, so head to 878 Metropolitan. It's free to get in and The Dixons are playing!

Brian Newman In Lady Gaga MTV Promo

I don't really post much about Lady Gaga because we have a lot of mutual friends and I don't want people giving me shit. But I'm making an exception here because Brian Newman is a cool dude and it's not every day you see somebody from the neighborhood on MTV.

Lavalette Hilariously Covers Cro-Mags "Malfunction" (Video)

New York Heart Core!!! Haha, this shit is straight up hilarious. Some band called Lavalette has released a full on pop version of "Malfunction" by Cro-Mags. Some people are getting their panties in a knot over it but who cares? I actually hope they cover some more NYHC. How about some Warzone or Agnostic Front? Oh, Gorilla Biscuits would be great! Hell, Civ even dabbled in MTV pop back in the 90's so it kinda makes sense, no? Anyway, if this video does anything but make you laugh then you need to mellow out.

Deftone's Have A New Video, "Beauty School"

Deftones never cease to amaze me. They emerged from a scene that many consider the low point of the last 20 years to be one of the great bands of our generation. Somehow they continue to maintain relevancy when all of their contemporaries have become the punchlines of tired old jokes. But their evolution isn't what this post is about - they have another new video to share and it's chock full of live footage.

Link:

Metal Sucks

Cerebral Ballzy Has Another New Video, "On The Run"

Adult Swim released another Cerebral Ballzy video. This one is for the track "On The Run" which is an awesome song. The video features footage of the Ballzy boys playing live besides an empty pool full of 80's style skaters.

GWAR's Crack-A-Thon 2011 Goes Down On September 2nd & 3rd

GWAR is bringing the Crack-A-Thon back to Brooklyn this year! The "spoken turd" event goes down on September 2nd & 3rd at the MF Gallery. There will be two shows each day and tickets are $15-$20. The space is really fucking small so just be aware of that ahead of time. Read the press release after the jump for more details.

Ninjasonik Has A New Video, "MoshPit"

Pretty rad new video from Brooklyn's own Ninjasonik. Tons of pals are in this video, including Hussle Club, paying homage to The Warriors. I don't get how the fuck Sway ended up in the video, kinda weird, but whatever. Check it out.

Kings County Cookout Is Tomorrow! (No Cover, Cheap Booze)

The 4th installment of our Sunday afternoon cookout is tomorrow! We've got Morgan O'Kane and Daddy Long Legs stopping by to play some tunes for ya. Lex is on the grill cooking up open face brisket sandwiches on homemade bread, BBQ chicken, potato salad and more. As always, plates are only $5 and drink specials get as cheap as $2.50 for a beer and $4 for wells. This will be good, good fun. It's rain or shine so if it rains don't let that stop you.

Link:

RSVP on Facebook

DADDY LONG LEGS: Electric from Ryan & Rob on Vimeo.

Cerebral Ballzy "Junky For Her" (Video) + Played Rock Yard Yesterday

Cerebral Ballzy have a new(ish) video for "Junky For Her" which you've probably seen on Adult Swim. Yesterday the boys were back in Brooklyn at the Jelly NYC Rock Yard. The sound was shitty but everyone managed to have fun, how can you not have fun at a Ballzy show? 

Rock Yard in Brooklyn

Alexisonfire Is Done For, I Am Bummed

Alexisonfire has been one of my favorite bands for the past 10 years. Today they announced that they will be breaking up. Dallas Green and City & Colour has exploded and he simply can't manage Alexis and C&C. He is choosing City & Colour over Alexis, which is understandable. Dallas is quite possibly the hardest person to replace in the entire genre, let's call it "post-hardcore". His voice is simply stunning and without him Alexis just isn't Alexis. They might do one last run of shows in Canada as a farewell and I might be visiting Canada soon.

The band gets lumped in with screamo and pop-punk bands but I've always considered them a genre within themselves. They have a passion that is rare and an enthusiasm that is even rarer. The last album was a bit of a let down and I think that had a lot to do with Dallas being spread too thin. To be honest this was inevitable. Any fan of Alexis knew that Dallas was a talent that couldn't be contained. He obviously would go on to bigger and better things at some point, which is apparently now.

I will miss this band very, very much. THE ONLY BAND EVER!

Today: Rock Yard w/ Cerebral Ballzy, Death Set, So So Glos & More

Jelly NYC brings the party back to North Brooklyn with a free show this afternoon at The Morgan. The Death Set, So So Glos, Cerebral Ballzy, Japanther, The Growlers and CSC Funk Band are playing. That, my friends, is awesome!

Hussle Club Featured In Axe Body Wash Commercial (Sure, Why Not?)

Our buddy Prince Terrence fronts a band called Hussle Club. You probably already knew that. But did you know they were recently featured in an Axe Body Wash commercial? The cool thing is they play quite a bit of the song, unlike most commercials which play about 10 seconds of a tune. The weird thing is 10 years ago people would have been yelling "sell out" and "corporate" and all that shit. Nowadays though everyone is just stoked to see a local band finally getting some love. Good shit.

Link:

I Think You're Swell

Hank & Cupcakes Playing Union Square Tonight

Hank & Cupcakes are playing a free show at 6pm today in Union Square. I don't know it's on a proper stage or not but who cares? H&C are always good fun.

Corrosion Of Conformity Played Brooklyn Bowl

On Wednesday the great COC played Brooklyn Bowl. But this ain't your Southern metal COC from the 90's. Nope. This is the version of COC that fused metal, punk and hardcore back in the late 90's. When I was a teenager I thought Mike Dean had some of the sickest bass lines I'd ever heard within the realm of heavy music.

By the time I was old enough to go to shows though Pepper Keenan had come into the fold and COC turned into the MTV friendly Southern metal that made them famous. I love most of what they did with Pepper but the early stuff was special and I never thought I'd get to see it live. To say I was excited for the show would be an understatement.

As we walked in COC was just getting started. We headed towards the front; pushing our way through a sea of fat, old and ugly bastards. Now a COC show in general won't exactly get the pretty people to show up but the fact that Clutch was headlining made for an exceptionally gnarly cluster of apes. Fucking Clutch, man. What a shitty band. Nascar metal for retards...but I digress. COC is why I was there, the only reason I was there.

We got right up front with ease and there they were Woody Weatherman, Reed Mullin and Mike fucking Dean! Mike Dean, as I mentioned, was a bit of a role model for me when I was learning to play bass. It was all very awesome.

They played some of my favorites like "Holier", which was amazing to hear live. They were all smiles and laughing as they messed up a couple tunes. They were having a great time and so were all of the fans down on the floor. They even started to play some Deliverance era tunes to whip the crowd into a frenzy and then switch it up to an old jam right before the verse. Good fun.

Today: Bushwick Block Party

Wild Yaks, Team Robespierre, Roberta's Pizza...Yes please! 

Let's ignore the fact it's not actually in Bushwick.

Kings County Cookout w/ Spirit Family Reunion and Sean Kershaw

We've got another edition of Kings County Cookout on Sunday. One of my favorite Brooklyn bands, Spirit Family Reunion, will be playing out back at Lady Jay's. We've also got the king of Brooklyn country music, Sean Kershaw, performing with his 2-piece The Terrible Two. We start dishing up barbecue at 3pm and the music starts around 4pm. As always a plate of delicious grub is only going to cost you $5 and we've got several drink specials in the $3-$5 range.

Now, the fact is this is my party and I'm telling you it's awesome and you should go. Well, of course I'd say that and while you should take my word I understand if you need a little more convincing. Turns out the NY Times, NY Magazine, Time Out NY, Eater, Serious Eats, Brokelyn, Zagat, Brooklyn Based and a bunch more have written it up too!

Details & RSVP:

Kings County Cookout

Here's a little video of what you missed last time

Eddie Clendening & The Blue Ribbon Boys w/ special guest Daddy Long Legs

Pictures from the last KCC

Cerebral Ballzy Has A New Album Streaming

Our boys Cerebral Ballzy, the best damn punk band in America, have a new album. For the first time ever the recording actually manages to sound like the band does live, which is rad. They've been getting all sorts of air time from Adult Swim which means they have fans all over the world now. I can't wait for these fuckers to get back to BK.

 Cerebral Ballzy by Cerebral Ballzy 

Tonight: Corrosion Of Conformity @ Brooklyn Bowl

The original COC lineup will be at Brooklyn Bowl tonight. As some of you may know before Pepper showed up COC was a bad ass, hardcore punk band. Well, not exactly hardcore or punk but something like that. They were fucking awesome. The headliner is Clutch. Of all the overrated bands in the world I think Clutch might be my number one head scratcher. Why do people like this damn band? Anyway, COC goes on at 9pm.

Wild Yaks Have A New Song, "Million Years Old"

As you've noticed I haven't been posting much as of late but a new Wild Yaks songs certainly warrants a post. The track is called "Million Years Old" and I remember the first time I heard it. I was at Legion, I think it was someone's birthday party. The Yaks played a couple new songs all of which were good but this one in particular was like a punch in the face. It just fucking floored me. There was a level of intensity to it that was shocking, even for the Wild Yaks. I'm happy that I can now listen to it at home. The recording is great but for the true impact of this tune you have to see performed live, perhaps tomorrow at Rock Beach.

Wild Yaks, "Million Years Old" by The FADER

Kings County Cookout w/ Eddie Clendening & The Blue Ribbon Boys (Free Show)

We've got another edition of Kings County Cookout coming up this weekend. The last one featured The Dixons and it was amazing. This time around we've got Eddie Clendening & The Blue Ribbon Boys.

The band features members of the Broadway musical Million Dollar Quartet. Eddie plays Elvis and they don't let just anybody play Elvis. The band plays old school rockabilly and it will blow your mind. In fact, they backed up Little Richard last weekend on PBS! Yup, they played with Little Richard last weekend and now they'll be in the backyard of Lady Jay's performing for free.

But it's not all about the music, there's also going to be food. Our buddy Lex Taylor will be grilling (and smoking) up a storm. Entrees include smoked baby back ribs, barbecue brisket and chimichurri hot dogs with sides of German potato salad, smoked beans and mixed green salad. Plates are only $5 and include 1 entree and 2 sides - it's a while lot of food for $5. There might be a few surprise menu additions as well.

Sundays in Brooklyn during the summer are all about day drinking and we've got plenty of that too - Lady Jay's is a bar after all. We've got drink specials ranging from $3 for a beer to $5 for a mixed drink. You don't need booze to have fun but you're much more likely to dance with some hooch in your gullet. Plus you'll need something to wash down those ribs.

Details & RSVP:

Kings County Cookout

Tonight: BSC Presents Personality Crisis w/ SHAPES, EULA, Ritz Riot; K-Holes @ Union Pool

Start your night by hitting Union Pool for Summer Thunder. They've got the always awesome K-Holes playing on the patio in the yard. I'd guess they play around 8pm or so. Then head over to Shea Stadium for the Brooklyn Ski Club curated edition of Personality Crisis. As always SHAPES are headlining. We've also brought in a couple of our favorite local bands, Ritz Riot and EULA. This will be super fun. '

RSVP:

PC @ Shea

Tomorrow We Party At Shea Stadium

We've partnered up with our pals from Personality Crisis to bring you a pretty solid rager. Brooklyn Ski Club presents the next edition of PC which is tomorrow. That means we brought in two of our favorites, Ritz Riot and EULA, to add a little extra excitement to the mix. PC is always fucking awesome but I think this one will be extra crazy. So get off your fat ass and come party tomorrow.

RSVP & Details:

Brooklyn Ski Club Presents Personality Crisis

NYPD Ticketing Rooftop Party Goers

Let me preface this by saying the story you are about to read is not necessarily about myself. When I hear about abuse of power shit I like to use this public forum to share. So while I may or may not have been in attendance here's a little story about some shit that went down last night. I left out the location, names of officers, names of attendees and even names of bands involved since there will be people taking this to court.
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Last night there was an impromptu roof party somewhere in Williamsburg. Now, hosting a roof party with loud ass bands on a Monday night is pretty stupid, no one would argue otherwise, and you're basically asking for trouble. But simply showing up as an invited guest doesn't seem like something that should be worried about.

The band started playing and the guests moved towards the stage area. There were about 30-40 people all hanging out and having drinks. After about 15 minutes the cops showed up. This surprised absolutely no one. But what's to worry about? Adults, drinking adult beverages and/or soft drinks on private property to which all attendees were invited.

The coppers seemed to think otherwise. First they split the crowd into two lines, based entirely on where people were standing. The people on the right got in the right line and the people on the left got in the left line. The two officers went through each line and asked for everyone's ID. The cop collecting the ID was asked specifically why they were confiscating IDs and replied, "I'll tell you later".

Then all of the officers, about 6 or so, gathered in a corner to discuss the next steps. They could be overheard discussing trespassing, which one of the officers shot down saying that wouldn't go over, but they were too far away to hear most of the conversation. The cops came back over to the two lines and one of the lines was told to go downstairs to the street. The other line was held up for a bit but eventually told to do the same. The cops told the legal adults in attendance to leave their drinks, open or closed, on the roof. They did not gather these up or even make contact with a single drink.

On the ground level a huge crowd was formed with cops mixed in. Honestly the mood was very civil and everyone was fully cooperating at all times. But people were starting to get freaked out because the cops, who were now in there cars on the other side of the street, were running every single persons ID. One of the cops comes back and starts handing out IDs to random people in the crowd with instructions to "go home".

However, several people were still waiting for their IDs to come back. After another 15 minutes the IDs finally came back but they came attached with a ticket. Now, what could you possibly get a ticket for on a roof of a residential building? Apparently, you can get a ticket for open container. About 10 people of the 40 or so on the roof were randomly awarded open container tickets.

Now let's first address the legality of an open container ticket on private property. I'm no lawyer but I can not find anything in the legal code that in anyway makes it legal to issue a ticket for open container on private property. I was able to find instances of it happening to other people in NYC but there's nothing in the law that says it can be done, ever. So the general premise of the tickets is bogus to begin with, which common sense would tell you.

Next let's address these open containers themselves. At no point did a single officer on the roof inspect, in any way, the contents of a single container. In fact, none of the officers made physical contact with any of the containers in question. That makes an inspection of it's content pretty difficult no? I don't know the story of all of the people who were ticketed but one person who was issued a ticket was holding a cup. Not a beer bottle or a jug of wine, just a cup. Pretty sure you need to do a little more than just glance at person holding a cup before you write them a ticket.

But wait, there's more! All of the people that were given tickets for open container, with the exception of the party organizer, were in the right line. It had nothing to do with who had a drink and who didn't, it was based on where you were standing when they lined you up. Even then it was pretty clear that the tickets were randomly assigned. The IDs were collected in a huge stack, they were not separated out based on drink in hand or no drink in hand, just one big stack of IDs. And just to reiterate, you can't give a person an open container ticket for holding an unmarked cup without at least inspecting it's contents, especially on private property.

Are we done yet? Nope. Nearly all of the people who were ticketed had their IDs taken by one officer. He was the only officer on the right side of the roof at the time the IDs were collected. It was nighttime on a roof, there was very little light available. The only way to ID who did or did not have drinks would be up close. There was only one officer up close to the people on the right (the door was on the left where the other cops were gathered). So the identification of these open containers had to come from that one officer, right? Nope, each ticket was signed by a different officer. That's right, they each got one in for the books. Way to go boys.

When the crowd dispersed and there were only a few stragglers left some casual conversation was struck up with the boys in blue. They said that the reason they had to issue tickets was because roof parties are getting a lot of heat. Last year some kids fell off a roof and died so they had to crack down. He continued by saying that if you get invited to a roof party you should ask the organizer if he has the proper permits before attending or else you might get in trouble just for attending...really dude?

While the ticket was being discussed the officer was told, "there's no way this stands up in court" the officer replied, "oh, no way, you'll be fine - don't even worry about it". Great, so people waited around for an hour and were issued tickets for engaging in lawful activity and then even the cops who just issued the tickets admit it's all bullshit. Now these people either have to admit guilt and pay a fine for a crime they did not commit or take off from work and go to court to fight it. Of course, for all of the above reasons there's no chance the ticket holds up so it's basically just wasting a day in court for no reason.

Well, at least you can rest easy knowing the NYPD is out there meeting quotas by issuing tickets to random people who are in no way breaking the law. Makes you feel safe, huh?

***Update: Several people went to court to fight these tickets. The public defendant in no way even attempted to help clear their names. The judge issued fines without even hearing out what actually happened. The officer said they were guilty and the judge obliged. Adults were found guilty and fined for "drinking in public" on private property. Some of the officers who appeared in court never even came in contact with the people charged the night of the incident. This is NYC. Don't drink on your roof, in your yard or on your terrace - that's illegal apparently.

Ritz Riot Has A New Video, "I'll Be Okay"

These kids are rad. Go see them live sometime soon. Maybe, the BSC edition of Personality Crisis at Shea Stadium on June 25th. Yeah, that'll be a good time.

Kings County Cookout, Summer BBQ & Music Series

Summer in Brooklyn is all about Sunday! As soon as it gets warm Thursday, Friday & Saturday get pretty boring. Sunday is all about food, music, outdoors and day drinking. 2011 marks the unfortunate end of The Pool Parties so what the fuck are people in North Brooklyn going to do?

Well, we don't have a 5,000 capacity space or a big fancy stage but we do have food, we do have booze and we do have live music from some pretty amazing bands. Brooklyn Ski Club is bringing you the Kings County Cookout at our favorite little bar, Lady Jay's on Grand Street! 

KCC is a five date series on Sunday afternoons this summer. We'll have super delicious BBQ (1 entree & 2 sides for only $5), cheap booze (2 Lionsheads for $5, $4 drink specials from Tito's Vodka & Blue Point) and awesome bands. The series is totally free, all we ask is you RSVP for each event you plan on attending. 

The first KCC is on June 12th with The Dixons. We'll have chimichurri hot dogs, barbecue chicken, German potato salad and more.  

June 12th, 3PM

Kings County Cookout 

w/ The Dixons

RSVP: http://j.mp/LJKCC

KCC on Facebook: http://facebook.com/KingsCountyCookout

KCC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/KCCookout

Upcoming Dates:

July 3rd - Eddie Clendening & The Blue Ribbon Boys (Feat. members of bway musical Million Dollar Quartet)

July 24th - TBA

August 14th - Spirit Family Reunion, Morgan O'Kane

September 11th - Gunfight!, TBA

Cerebral Ballzy Has A New Video, "Drug MySelf Dumb"

Tonight: Unstoppable Death Machines & Ritz Riot @ Silent Barn; Willy Gantrim & Honne Wells @ BK Rod & Gun

Two awesome shows completely different scenes. I think I'll be swinging by the Rod & Gun Club because I haven't Honne Wells in a long time.

Link:

Silent Barn

BK Rod & Gun Club

Today: Hillstock w/ Gunfight, Ava Luna, EULA & More

An awesome way to spend the day. But get your ass over there quick, it already started.

Link:

Hillstock

Jelly NYC Announces Rock Beach With The Strokes, Mobb Deep & More

We already know that the legendary Pool Parties have come to an end. So what's a Jelly NYC to do this summer? Go bigger and better! Jelly has announced that they'll be throwing a 6-event series way down by Rockaway Beach. The space can hold up to 8,000 people and apparently even allows for camping. The bands include The Strokes, Mobb Deep, Man Man, Dan Deacon, Fleet Foxes and more.

The big question is - how the fuck do I get to Floyd Bennet Field? That's a great question so I looked it up. From my place by the Grand L it takes over 30 minutes by car, over an hour by bike and at least an hour and 3 transfers by MTA. What does this all mean? I doubt I'll be attending is one thing it means. But hey, if you build it they will come...right?

Link:

Brooklyn365

Tonight: Wild Yaks & McDonalds @ Union Pool; Ritz Riot @ Legion; Spirit Family Reunion & Morgan O'Kane @ Zebulon

Some of my favorite BK bands are all playing tonight.

Link:

Wild Yaks & McDonalds @ Union Pool

Spirit Family Reunion & Morgan O'Kane @ Zebulon

Ritz Riot @ Legion

Vivian Girls Playing 285 Kent Tonight!

Todd P just sent out invites for a Vivian Girls welcome home show at 285 Kent tonight. Widowspeak and Colleen Green are also playing. This venue is one of my favorite DIY spots right now. This should be awesome.

Link:

Vivian Girls @ 285 Kent

Evan James Springsteen. Yup, Son Of The Boss.

Evan James is the son of some old dude from New Jersey that wrote a bunch of songs about how he hates/loves New Jersey, or something. Young Springsteen seems to like writing songs about New Jersey too, or so one is led to believe based on the two songs posted to his MySpace page. The music is akin to early Bruce but maybe even more akin to Dylan. I actually like the song "New York City" a lot and the other one is decent enough. Actually, I think I like "New York City" more than any song by his old man, but I've never been a fan of that dude so that's not saying much really. Give this kid a listen.

Link:

Evan James MySpace

Tonight: FORlokals Grand St. Happy Hour @ Lady Jay's (Free BBQ & Cheap Booze); Raccoon Fighter @ Don Pedro's

We're doing another happy hour at Lady Jay's tonight. As always, super cheap booze and free BBQ. It's friggin' nice out man, come hang out in the yard and unwind with a drink and a burger. Nora (I Rock I Roll) and Carlos (Nickels & Dimes) are you're DJs. I'm manning the grill (I apologize ahead of time). Our homeboys from Raccoon Fighter will be hanging out with us until their show at Don Pedro's tonight.

RSVP & Details:

FORlokals Happy Hour

Tonight: Eddy Segal Photo Opening @ Pushpin Gallery (I'm A Model); VICE Cinco De Mayo Party @ Hudson Hotel

Back in like 2004 or so I was offered a gig as a fitness model for Nike. Despite my hatred for Nike I was pretty excited about it. Hell, stand around modeling clothes and get a big fat paycheck after a few hours? Fuck yes! I filled out the proper forms and waited to find out location and time. And then I got an email informing me that the gig got cancelled and with it my modeling career was over before it ever started.

Well tonight I get to relive the dream. My friend Eddy is an awesome photographer and has a photo exhibit opening at the Pushpin Gallery tonight. She asked me to model for it so you can go see my ugly mug up on a wall, all zoomed in and porous. Don't worry, there's only one photo of me in the entire space so it'll be okay.

After you've had enough there's an after party at the Hudson Hotel, which also happens to be the location of the VICE Cinco De Mayo party which has bands, booze and Mexican wrestling! That's my night.

Tonight, 6:30-8:30

@ Pushpin Gallery

(Fordham University Lincoln Center, 60th & Columbus)

FREE

Tonight: SHAPES @ Piano's; Gunfight! @ Goodbye Blue Monday

Tonight two of our favorite bands are playing shows. SHAPES go on at 10pm so head to Piano's first. Then hop on the J and hit Goodbye Blue Monday for Gunfight! at midnight. Good night.

Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth & Anthrax Playing Yankee Stadium!

When the Big 4 announced they were playing together everyone assumed there would be a North American tour. When they finally announced the dates it was just one fucking show and in California. Needless to say people were pretty pissed off about the whole thing. Well, they just added another date and it's in NYC at Yankee Stadium! This is going to be amazing. My gut tells me tix are going to start at about $75 but given the circumstances it's probably worth it. The tickets go on sale at 10AM on May 6th. The show itself goes down on September 14th.

Bottle Up & Go Have A New Video, "To The Grave"

Bottle Up & Go are an awesome Brooklyn band and pals of ours. They've been off the radar for a bit but just released this killer video for "To The Grave".

Link:

BU&G Release "To The Grave"

BOTTLE UP & GO - "March to the Grave" from Bluebeard Productions on Vimeo.

Tonight: Smell The Glove Returns! @ St. Jerome's

Remember that awesome party we used to throw at St. Jerome's? The one with the cheap booze, hot babes dancing on stage and campy 80's hair metal? Well, Smell The Glove returns to St. Jerome's after a 6 month hiatus! Our good friend Michael T. will be DJing along with Natasha Komis and Ali Hassan from WildStreet.

Of all the events I throw this is hands down the most fun, in my opinion. It gets fucking crazy every single time we do this thing. You should definitely try and make it out next Thursday and don't forget to tell your boss you're going to be sick on Friday.

***Update: Vodka Open Bar 10-11pm! Parris of the legendary CRO-MAGS is hosting! YES & YES!

RSVP & Details:

Smell The Glove Returns!

Tonight: FORlokals, Grand St. Happy Hour @ Lady Jay's (Free BBQ & Cheap Booze); Lightning Bolt @ 285 Kent

Half of Brooklyn is going to see Lightning Bolt tonight. I'm hosting, DJing and grilling at Lady Jay's for the happy hour party I throw with Nickels & Dimes and I Rock I Roll. While it sucks I can't go to the show it will be an awesome place to have a few drinks before you go. Happy hour specials go from 6-10pm and I'll be grilling up free burgers and dogs out back in the yard. The weather is fucking perfecto today so make sure you swing by. 

Link:

FORlokals Grand Street Happy Hour