CMJ Recap Part Deux: Music, Music and Beer.
Words and images by: David Turcotte
Last Friday’s set of CMJ showcases was just as crazy the night before. Steph and I woke up sometime around 11am, ate a quick breakfast in Brooklyn, and headed down to the Knitting Factory to catch TSI favorites Radiation City. We did a very quick and entertaining interview with the Portland based outfit, which included topics ranging from musical influences to tour-bus masturbation. Yes, tour-bus masturbation.
RADIATION CITY
After hanging with Radiation City, Stephanie and I returned to the Puma Store Showcase series (sponsored by SPIN) to hear a few songs from blues extraordinaire Gary Clark Jr and Active Child. Gary Clark Jr. had come from Rolling Stone’s studio where, hours earlier, he recorded a number of his songs for an exclusive RS feature. It was great to see him perform live at such an intimate venue. Before he left NYC for Paris to start a European tour, we squeezed in a brief photo shoot. You can catch him on tour here, or view the Rolling Stone video feature here.
GARY CLARK JR.
Active Child followed Gary Clark Jr. with a beautiful set of music featuring a number of songs from his latest LP You Are All I See. We got a chance to hang with Active Child lead singer Pat Grossi which included a brief portrait shoot and discussion about his roots in south Jersey and migration to southern California. You really should check out Active Child’s feature on NPR earlier this month as well as looking out for future tour dates and showcases.
ACTIVE CHILD
From the Puma store, we headed back into Manhattan to cover a few of the larger showcases including Dragonforce and Damian Marley. Unfortunately, neither the Best Buy or Gramercy Theaters would honor the CMJ photo passes. I was able to get into the building with the CMJ press pass, but I was going to have to check my camera bag. Not gonna happen. Besides, what good is an article with no pictures?
I begrudgingly left the Gramcery theater and decided to meet up Stephanie and the lovely Dr. Melissa Fancy Pants for dinner at Back Forty in the East Village. From there, the three of us headed to Sullivan Hall to see Lily and the Parlour Tricks rock an official CMJ music showcase. The New York based band easily won the audience over with their 50′s rockabilly style and heart-breaking good looks from lead vocalist Lily Claire. You can follow Lily and the Parlour tricks here.
LILY AND THE PARLOUR TRICKS
The TSI team finished the night off back in Brooklyn at Bar Matchless to meet up with some friends in town from Philly. Although there was a ton of awesome music happening at Bar Matchless, we decided to simply hang out with another good friend of mine..beer.
For more coverage on CMJ showcases and artists, check out the official CMJ website.
