Walking over to The Bowery Ballroom, clinging onto my umbrella and shivering from the cold wind, I was thinking, “man, this better be a good show.” Even though I ruined my shoes and looked like a wet rat walking into the venue, it was worth it. Hooray For Earth’s album, ‘True Loves’, with its heavy percussion, synth infusions and fluid harmonies, translated marvelously in a live setting. The pounding, “Sails,” got the show going and there weren’t too many people standing still, as the song has a certain swagger about it. Whether accompanied by the pair of ladies on backup vocals, or singing solo, Heroux’s falsetto mixed well with the infectious and often enveloping sounds. I was happy to see that their stage set-up positioned drummer, Ciampini, at the front of the stage rather than hiding him in the background.

While there was a consistent pulse throughout their set, “True Loves,” “Bring Us Closer Together” and “No Love,” seemed to enchant the audience, forcing even the most stubborn into a thumb in pocket, tapping your leg with the rest of your fingers frenzy. They ended the show with the appropriate, “Black Trees,” and were joined by a couple members of Cymbals Eat Guitars. Hooray For Earth certainly delivered live, altering the mood with electro-pop goodness.

No Love from Hooray For Earth

Side Note: I caught a few songs from Beige (who opened up the show), and while watching two guys standing mostly motionless messing around on keyboards didn’t really hold my attention for too long, their music percolated nicely in my ears.

With all the bands/artists strolling through NYC this past week for CMJ, I was looking forward to one in particular, Parlovr. I caught them at a showcase @ Bruar Falls, and it was bittersweet. (Bitter) – When I arrived at the venue they were already playing…pretty sure the calendar event listing had the wrong time, so I was only able to enjoy a short part of their already brief set. (Sweet) – However, I thoroughly enjoyed what I did get to see/hear.  Fixed on a rather tiny stage with a minimalistic set-up (guitar, keys, drums) and playing to a sparse crowd (it was 6:50pm on a Saturday)  the three-piece did not seem to hold back. For some reason I thought that Jackson’s vocals could possibly sound a little messy live, but they did not, they sounded on par with their polished records, yet more vigorous.  The drummer, MacCuish, was pretty intriguing to watch as he wailed away like a flailing bird, and I found it rather suiting that he was missing a front tooth…just seemed appropriate. While the music sounded gritty, it also sounded really tight and contained. I was disappoint and kind of pissed off at that flyer when they started packing up their gear after a stellar rendition of, “Pen To The Paper.” I’m looking forward to checking them out next time they’re in town and have a longer set.

I was pretty excited to see Yuck this past weekend at Music Hall of Williamsburg, as their self-titled album has been one of my favorite releases this year. The four-piece was pretty low-key on stage, there was not too much straying outside their self contained boundaries. This actually surprised me a little, I thought they would be a bit more wily…perhaps it’s because of their bizarre (and amazing) cover art. Since the band has only released one full-length album thus far, the set list was pretty much a rendition of the track list. The crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves, singing along to their favorite songs…although I don’t recall them playing, “Suck,” which I was most looking forward to.

The band is still on tour but headed back over to Europe, so if you dig their album, you should check them out if they’re in your neck of the woods. Tour dates.

As I was checking through concert listings I saw that Other Lives was playing a show @ The Earl.   I had only recently become acquainted with the band but was interested in seeing them live.  While I only recognized a few songs during their set it didn’t really matter because the music sounded fantastic, and I was pretty captivated.  The five members of Other Lives work seamlessly as an ensemble, and at the same time, all five are obviously talented in their own specialties (violin, keys, trumpet, cello, drums…etc).

From under his tangled long locks and raggedy beard, Tabish delivered the lyrics with ease and a natural vulnerability. This is a listen and feel live show (as it should be), there’s not too much action on stage, not a lot of movement… besides the switching of instruments.  But who needs stage antics when the music filling the room is soothing yet powerful and sweeping.  Overall, Other Lives was stellar live and I for one would love to see them again.

They’re on tour right now, check out the dates.

The rather diverse crowd was very much into RJ’s performance from start to finish, there was chanting, glow stick battles, growing clouds of smoke, and definitely a lot of bouncing. Even though there were some technical difficulties with one of the four turntables, I’m not sure many people actually noticed or cared if they did. The visual aspect of his performance was pretty neat. RJ had a small video camera attached to his drum machine, and that birds eye view was then displayed onto a big projection screen in real time…along with some other random images like a dude break dancing on crutches (Work It Out video).

For me, the highlights of RJ’s set came from tracks such as, “Since We Last Spoke”, “Ghostwriter”, and “True Confessions”. To conclude the evening, RJD2 slipped a Mario (a la Mario Brothers) puppet onto his hand and mashed up the classic video game’s theme song. Overall, it was a fun show!

Take A Listen: Games You Can Win from RJD2 (Feat. Kenna)

RJD2′s latest album, ‘Inversions Of The Colossus’, is out now.

Minus the Bear was  pretty reserved on stage, but if you were expecting rowdy behavior, chances are, you never heard their music before.  Although, the bass player, Murchy, did show signs of life after just about every song, giving the audience two very enthusiastic thumbs up.  So I guess I’ll follow his lead and give the night a wink and a hand shoot.

The four-piece kicked off their set with a few ‘Red of Tooth and Claw’ tracks, such as, “52 Ford”, “Ball & Chain” and “Rumbrave”.  Actually, I don’t think it was until mid-way through the show that ‘Magpie’ material appeared in the form of, “You Don’t Miss Twice (When You’re Shavin’ With a Knife)”.  Murder By Death trudged along to the end playing mostly older material like, “Comin’ Home”, “Dynamite Mine” and “Until Morale Improves, The Beatings Will Continue”.

There were no batty antics during the performance, simply a talented band perched on a dark stage illuminated with red lights.   They sounded great live, very rabble rousing, and the lyric howling crowd seemed to be happily drenched in whiskey fumes; I dug it!

And to top off the evening, Murder By Death ( or Adam Turla) came back out for an encore and slightly hushed the bleary-eyed crowd with a cover of, “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”.