Live Show Photo + Video Recaps - June 2014

June 2014 has been a particularly diverse month as far as shows attended. Along with a number of long-time favorites appearing at familiar venues, some bigger names at less frequented (and some first time attended) spaces made their way into the mix.

 Opting to let the photos (and occasional audio or video clip) tell the story here, these visual streams should give the sense of what it was like to be there.

First up (and technically not in June, but too noteworthy to leave out) was the recently reformed Cleveland legends Death of Samantha. Playing their first show back in New York City in over 23 years, new favorite venue Baby’s All Right hosted the event on May 29.

The band is fronted by vocalist/guitarist John Petkovic, whom I initially interviewed back in 2010 when he was premiering his Sweet Apple project.

Death of Samantha, however was John's first band, bursting on the scene in 1984  and lasting until 1992.

The band made three albums for Homestead Records (Gerard Cosloy's pre-Matador label) before the members moved on to different projects.  Out of those ashes came John Petkovic's other long running band Cobra Verde.

The original Death of Samantha lineup (Petkovic, Doug Gillard - lead guitar, David James - bass and Steve-O Eiredam - drums) collectively decided it was time to put it back together for a new album and a select series of shows.

The boys thrilled a packed house with their heavy riffs and dynamic songwriting.

Catching up with John at this big event was a real treat.

As was getting to chat with John's friend, Sweet Apple bandmate and legendary Dinosaur Jr resident genius J Mascis.

Find out more about Death Of Samantha Here

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On Saturday June 7, it was an absolute thrill to attend the hometown return of iconic guitarist Joe Satriani at The Space At Westbury

Few artists living or deceased can even begin to approach the career spanning magnitude of what this musician has accomplished.

Much love to the wonderful Michelle at MadInkPR for making sure arrangements like access to the artist (and show) went down in a smooth and professional way.

One of the most influential and revered rock guitarists of all time, “Satch” has turned a three decade career into something truly magical.

With 14 studio albums under his belt, the catalog division of Sony Music - Legacy Recordings, have recently released a 15 CD Box Set which includes every track from those albums plus a brand new curated anthology disc of rare compositions.

Along with this, BenBella Books have also published Joe’s creative memoir titled "Strange Beautiful Music"

As for the live show, it was a brilliant tour de force of his greatest songs (of which there are many).

Joe is one of the most amazing guitarists alive, and his bandmates (all highly evolved musicians) were equal to the task of not only keeping up, but in fact enhanced the overall sound.

As can be clearly seen by these pictures, the light show was absolutely spectacular.

End of set (pre-encore) - the band takes a bow.

Waiving to the audience as they headed off, you knew they were coming back.

Which of course Joe and company did.

Affording the opportunity to inch a little closer to the stage.

Bathed in alien light.

A preview of this show with commentary on the song collection, book and direct quotes from Joe (written by yours truly) can be found Here on Dingus

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The following Tuesday had me back at Baby's All Right for a double bill that had "must attend" all over it.

Heaven is a band that is no stranger to this blog or The Deli Magazine (whom I've written about for numerous times).

Fronted by guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Matt Sumrow, Brooklyn's Heaven plays a precise and controlled version of dream rock.

Long-time powerhouse drummer Mikey Jones gives the band a tightness that is frequently missing among bands playing in this style of music, yet still provides a decidedly forceful edge.  While bassist Yoi Fujita has been capably handling the low end frequencies for a while now.

Complementing Matt's lead vocal is the recently added keyboardist and tandem vocalist John Paul Frank. In addition to providing the anticipated buzzy synth textures, John Paul’s backing vocals and harmonies don’t miss a beat in continuing this band's signature sound.

Other Crom features on Heaven can be found via the links below:

Telepathic Love on The Deli by Dave Cromwell
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Dream Rock on The Deli by Dave Cromwell
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Live at The Bowery Ballroom on DaveCromwellWrites

Check out their latest album Telepathic Love at Goodnight Records

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Following Heaven was the much beloved Ringo Deathstarr

Returning to a New York stage since I last chronicled their activity, they continue to circle the globe touring their amazing latest record God's Dream

A quick snap of the tools of this trade - backstage.  Road worn and road ready!

Daniel still sings - just now on "See You" and not "Bong Load" anymore (at least for this show).

What was played

Hanging with The Croms afterwards!

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Brooklyn’s The Vandelles played an explosive set of light and sound shearing music on Friday the 13th during the recently completed Northside Festival. Appearing at Brooklyn Night Bazaar along with celebrated DJ Jonathan Toubin and the sax-enhanced retro R and B of Nick Waterhouse, surf, psych and grunge were all well represented. A photo stream and links to live videos from the night follow right here.

DJ Jonathan Toubin

A longer video with the last three songs of The Vandelles set, Jonathan Toubin’s tracks playing in between and Nick Waterhouse’s performance can be found Here

Additionally, this photo/video stream can also be found Here on Dingus

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Saturday June 14th served as the perfect warm-up for New York’s ever-growing outdoor summer concert season. As locals have known for years now, this city’s boroughs throw some of the best live shows under the sunshine and blue sky when the weather turns warm. Headlining Brooklyn’s Northside Festival on this afternoon was the tight frenetic rhythms and hyper psych blues of Thee Oh Sees.

Fronted by John Dwyer’s magnetic presence, the band raged through a set that blurred the lines between stripped-down psychedelia and speed-drive garage rock. Follow the photo stream and live video capture for a sense of what it felt like to be there.

Check it all out in full motion:




Although the track is called "Dead Energy" - the energy level on display here was very much alive.

Before Thee Oh Sees came on, Minneapolis riff-rockers The Blind Shake delivered a set of detuned psych-noise. The trio impressed with their Sonic Youth influenced sound. They continue as tour mates with Thee Oh Sees, and their full-length album “Key To A False Door” is well worth checking out.

Later on that evening, we headed over to Spike Hill to catch what was being presented there.

Just in time to catch the set from Chicago synth rockers Psychic Twin

Sound and vision

Another noteworthy performance came from a different set of “twins” – the equally synth heavy Twintapes

Well it WAS the “electro stage” night!

This photo and video stream can also be found Here on Dingus as well.