How many bands does Christian Gibbs have? Apparently at least one more than I thought until I looked up the band The Droves that was sharing the bill with Melomane last Thursday night at Hank's Saloon. As it turned out, this is the band in which Christian can be his true self, a rocker:
Hank's Saloon is a great dive bar in Brooklyn and it was packed with friends of the bands and a couple of very special regulars. And it sports a beautiful American flag behind the stage, I wish Melomane had played 'The Ballot is The Bullet'! The lady of the night, however, was definitely Daria Grace, who works at this bar and acted as a host and sound master and of course the coolest bassist in town. She can also sing and play the bass at the same time, a task that I was told requires very special skills. Check it out in this video:
There is one more video of Melomane on my youtube account in which I captured the double-guitar-solo of Quentin and Pierre and as usual, more pics can be found in my photodiary.
Last Saturday was a big night: lots of bands worth seeing at the Luna Lounge. I went there early to check out Haley Bonar because I was longing to hear a good female performer again for a change. And she didn't let me down. Her voice reminds me ofMazzy Star, one of my favorite bands. Her music also has this dreamy quality but is a little jazzier and less depressive.
After a dinner at the Black Betty across the street, which was good, but once again American oversized, we made it back to the Luna Lounge for the last song of resident band Falcon. The follow-up band Motel Creeps was entertaining. The singer has a good stage presence and a pleasant voice. The sound reminded me of The Cure and Depeche Mode, but unfortunately, it all sounded a bit the same to me after a while.
Melomane has the exact opposite effect on me; the longer I hear their music the more interesting it gets. Even though always carried by distinct melodies, the music behind it is so diverse, there is always a new aspect to discover. And the poetic lyrics are like small riddles to solve. Unfortunately the sound in the Luna Lounge was not mixed very well, at least in the beginning of the show. But it got much better over time. I took a movie of the song 'Open Invitation':
On my youtube account you also find a movie of Quentin singing 'Nobody' with Pierre on the bass and Daria at the keyboard for a change. This performance and Quentin's new demo tracks on the blog's podcast should convince everybody that he should front his own band ASAP!
You can find more pictures of that night in my photodiary for April.
I wasn't expecting a big night out when we head down to Williamsburg, but we ended up being thrown out of the bar when they were closing. So what went wrong?
The first band Pretendo was a real surprise to me. Those guys are all a little short, if you ask me, but when they hit the stage that really didn't matter anymore. But why the hell did the drummer take off his red hoodie after the first song? Next time he should really just leave it on no matter how hot he gets: I dig the skater-turned-rocker looks. But what really convinced me was when the bassist was singing and I was thinking: is this Justin Timberlake going punk? I love it! And the keyboard added that little electroclash something to top it off. Get an impression in this short video:
And then the Melorex gig: Heather was cool as ever on the drums, while Kristofer and Pierre were switching guitar and bass between songs. I already knew the Melomane songs and even though I like them very much in original, the Melorex versions were rough in a very good way. And didn't Kristofer look a little like Justin Timberlake in that suit?
Here is a movie of them performing 'Unfriendly Skies', so you can directly compare the Melorex version with the Melomane version in my last post!
After the show it was 'shots with the band' as Pierre put it and some foosball in the back. But hey, why do the foosball tables in the States have three guys in the back??? One is really enough! I have to practise how to handle all three of them for next time...
Hi everybody! I am Anita, Roman's new assistant blogger. See, I take so many movies and pics and he is just sick of downloading them and linking them up, so he asked me to do it myself. I hope you don't mind. I am not a journalist and I am a foreigner, so please excuse my very subjective way of writing and my not so flawless English. However, I would appreciate it if you told me in a nice way if I repeat the same errors in English over and over again, I am trying to improve it. But hey, maybe you just like my Swiss accent? That is fine too. So let's get to the point:
I had so much fun at the benefit party for Falconworks, so thanks a lot, Genevieve! For everybody, who couldn't make it, please check out their homepage. They are doing amazing work!
Whoever was there and loved it as much as I did and for whoever wasn't there - you can watch a movie of 'Melomane' performing 'Unfriendly Skies' right here:
On Sunday I went to see 'Room' and 'C.Gibbs' at the 'Cakeshop'. The first time I saw Christian Gibbs live and it definitively met my high expectations. I was thrilled! Again, I was taking movies like crazy and the best one of C.Gibbs is on youtube now. There is not much to see, except Christian Bongers bobbing head, but the sound is great! And I think you get a feel of how it was like to be there:
You can see pics of both the benefit and the gigs at the Cakeshop in my photodiary for February.
We will tell you soon what is up this weekend, so stay tuned. I think this is enough for now. God, I get all these error messages with this blogger, I first have to figure out how this works!
This is why we love living in New York: The weekend is opened by Ennio Morricone, who performs "Voci del silenzio" in the General Assembly hall of the United Nations with a 200 piece orchestra - we'll be telling you who was the good, who the bad and who the ugly.
Then, on Saturday, we highly recommend you a double bill: Go to Club Midway to the Benefit Show "Hand picked" to support Falconworks' Teen Playwriting Programm "Off the hook", where Daniel Carlson, Coney Island Swan Dive and Leslie Mendelson will perform. Take the short trip from Midway to Tonic to check out the homecoming show of the fantastic Dorit Chrysler and mingle with celebrities, then head back up to Midway to see one of the rare Melomane shows as highlight of the Falconworks benefit.
No rest for the wicked ones on Sunday! After soccer, don't settle in your seats, drinking beer and eating pizza, watching the Superbowl. No, you gotta come out to The Cake Shop on 152 Ludlow Street to witness this years incarnation of Room, graciously early at 8.30, followed by C. Gibbs at 9.30, so that you can be safely tucked under by midnight.
Cause also the next week won't be boring: We'd like to direct your attentin to the first ever show of Melorex, the combination of Melomane and Morex Optimo that is about to tour France. Marek of East River Bar has opened a slot on Thursday night, Feb 8th, for all us poor New Yorkers who can't fly to France to witness the birth of a new New York Uebergroup.
