No Trash Whatsoever

While Roman enjoyed Swiss music in New York last Friday, I showed a Swiss resident the real New York: I went out to Williamsburg with my visiting friend to see Morex Optimo play. She was not so sure that a place called 'Trash Bar' would be the place to hear good music, but luckily got convinced otherwise:

First played a Detroit band called Freer and they were impressive. The singer is a dark-haired Chris Martin in looks as well as in sound. He seems to be pouring his heart into the singing and keyboard playing, crawling on the floor to emphasize the pain he is going through. The bass player sports some catchy bass lines and obviously loves his Marilyn Monroe T-Shirt (Hey, where did you get that???). The inconspicuous guitarist plays squealing solos like back in the early Nineties and the drummer certainly knows how to work the breakbeats. All together a great Pop experience and we all bought a CD, which is great too; some songs are maybe a tiny bit too corny for me, but I would definitely get anti-social with those boys the next time they come play in New York, no matter how ordinary men they are. Watch their performance in the video I made and decide if you would join in:


Finally Morex Optimo was on and this band is definitely ready to bring that sophisticated rock to Europe. The band was tight and the sound in the Trash place was actually really good:

Kristofer was wearing his famous shredded suit and sang like a little god. Pierre posed as the French bon vivant in his white shirt with rolled up sleeves and proved that he masters the bass in addition to all the other instruments. Jan led the band band through all the complicated changes of tempi and well, I guess the drummer is always the cutest in a band if you ever get to see him. Kerry wore the hottest high-heels in town and also played and sang like a goddess. We decided that she is a music warrior, because she had actually played another show with the band Overlord the very same night! I hope my treat to a dinner the following night gave them all the energy back that they had released during that gig.

Check my photo diary for more pics from both shows.

Justin Timberlake goes Punk

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...

More pics in my photodiary, and more footage on my youtube account.

Morricone, Chrysler, Melomane, Morex... What More Can You Ask For?

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.

Pierre's Performance Party Picks

Just one of more then twenty performances on Taaffe Place last Saturday: Quentin Jennings with C. Gibbs and Gerald Menke bringing the folk to the folks. As Pierre writes, there were "new heights of entertainment reached, including Powerpoint, avant-garde shadow puppetry, many many wonderful songs in many languages, songs by beautiful couples, original poetry, raccoons, trumpetry, cello-accompanied stories about Mars, and live Graduate thespian action". A true sense of a large scene coming together, enjoying each others art rather than criticizing or just being among the spectators. You know I like it like that. Am I a hippy now or just getting old? For a sense of beloning, go to Anitas Photopage and check out Love and Hate NYC Blog. Pierre and Denise videotaped most of it, so we hope to see some of the hilarious performances - such as Heather's power point performance of how to perform, the Swiss choclate dance or Frau Bauers first ever public appearance on stage - on YouTube pretty soon! Plus, Pierre already promised a next one!

Vote for Heather to perform in Jay Leno's Late show!