Fri 17 Apr – The Dead Milkmen

First NYC gig in 15 years. I had two tickets, and sold my unused one to a stoned dwarf who rode to Brooklyn on his little clown bike.
Though there is no more Dave Blood (RIP), the guy they have now sure has close to the same sound.
Rodney Anonymous hates Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Charlie Daniels and that guy with 18 kids who has a show on The Learning Channel. He's right to do so.
Rodney also has a HUGE amount of energy, and his keyboard programming is stored on 3.5" floppy discs.…

Mon 26 May – Firewater, Skeleton Key

Unfortunately this isn't going to be a complete review as I had to leave at midnight.

I'm not sure if the advertised DJ set came before or after the main performances but if it was before then it was totally uninteresting and uninspiring, serving only to delay the actual band performances.

I don't think that too many of the audience were there to see Skeleton Key or had even heard of them before this event. That didn't seem to stop them enjoying SK's always-engaging set though; Ben's bashing, crashing antics and spotlight trombone…

Mon 28 Apr – Crowded House, Don McGlashan

After last summer's tour, Crowded House announced that they were going to tour again and play longer engagements at smaller, more intimate venues. This show was the first of these and demonstrated why the band wanted to do this: the crowd was fully engaged and enthusiastic and everyone (including the band) got to have a great time.
Don McGlashan opened the show but only the Kiwis knew anything about him, and even their knowledge was limited to his material with The Mutton Birds - one fellow insistently called for "Dominion Road…

Sun 20 Apr – They Might Be Giants - A Special Show for Families (1:00p)

Too damn loud. WAY too damn loud.
Sure the performance was good, and it actually started out at a (barely) tolerable volume level but rapidly went downhill.
This show was advertised as a "special show for families" so there were a lot of children and even infants in the audience. The mix was way off – drums overpowered pretty-much everything – so the vocals were mostly inaudible and by the time you got to the fourth or fifth song the audience was full of crying…

Sat 15 Dec – Chemlab, Cyanotic, Skeleton Key, U.S.S.A., MegaNeura
I dunno what the hell MegaNeura were meant to be, but they were all about their Obi-Wan robes and not so much about good music.
Cyanotic were better but if I had wanted to hear that type of music and pre-recorded drum tracks (their drummer was perfectly capable; not sure why they thought they needed a backup) I would have brought a PWEI or Machines of Loving Grace CD with me. One of their keyboards was set up on a weird "dance" stand that bounced up and down and rocked…

Thu 8 Nov – Skeleton Key
The Brighton Bar is an odd little place. It's stuck in suburban small-town New Jersey a long way from anywhere, but it made for a fine rehearsal space. SK's new drummer Bob – not sure if he's a permanent member yet or just on board for this tour – had had exactly one practice session with the band, the day before. He does seem to be a good fit with the band's songs and style and with a bit more familiarity (and a little less rust from the rest of the band) the band…

Sat 9 Dec – Stolen Babies, Skeleton Key, The Billy Nayer Show
So yeah, Stolen Babies weren't really the headliners here. And The Billy Nayer Show? Billy No-Show more like it.
I'd seen both Skeleton Key and Stolen Babies a week earlier down in New Jersey (see review); SB played basically the same set this time but SK's show was quite different. No more grinder sparks, and quite a few different songs in the set. They did several encores, including a fantastic performance of "You Might Drown." As long as they're dragging out rarer material…

Sat 2 Dec – Skeleton Key
I'd been intrigued by Skeleton Key since my wife found a copy of their self-titled EP in a thrift store. The clanking, wheezing machine of macabre noise appealed to my dark humour so I casually sought out their other releases. This concert made me a rabid fan, however.
We arrived quite early, and sat at the bar beside Erik Sanko and the rest of the band for quite a long time, not brave enough to approach them and say hi, though I did raise a beer to him which he acknowleged with a grin.…

Sat 18 Nov – Blue Öyster Cult
Only four actual members of the band were on stage but that didn't stop them making a lot of noise or having a good time. After the first song Eric announced that Allen Lanier was ill, but that was no impediment to new members Jules Radino on drums and local boy Richie Castellano on bass really showing themselves as perfect fits with Eric and Buck and the band's music. Castellano in particular was astounding; playing a 5-string bass he's equally impressive with a pick or fingers. He plays chords, he plays funky pops…

Wed 8 Aug – Crowded House, Pete Yorn
I'll start by saying that I like Crowded House's music well enough to own most of their albums on CD and vinyl, but I wouldn't really call myself a major fan. However, this show could very well tip the balance.
Neil's son Liam Finn opened with an interesting solo set, and damn can that boy play and sing. He did some fun things where he (surreptitiously) recorded himself playing, seamlessly looped it, played more, looped it, switched instruments or guitar tones, looped it, switched instruments…. He's got a way to go…