Mirah, Mal Blum, Worriers, Slothrust, and Aye Nako Played Knitting Factory Brooklyn, 4/3/15

Mal Blum played the She Shreds / Don Giovanni Showcase last Friday. Great photo by Mike Petzinger.

Words by Allyson Dwyer

Yesterday, I gave you Mike Petzinger's photo highlights of last Friday's She Shreds / Don Giovanni Showcase featuring Mirah, Mal Blum, Worriers, Slothrust, and Aye Nako at Knitting Factory Brooklyn. As promised, here's Allyson Dwyer's take on the event.

The same pair covered the Screaming Females show at Asbury Lanes for us, and I'll get you that tomorrow. For now, here's Allyson. Now, it's time for a limoncello with George.

She Shreds / Don Giovanni Showcase at Knitting Factory Brooklyn

by Allyson Dwyer

CoolDad is in Italy, probably on a yacht with George Clooney drinking fancy wine and wearing designer scarves; so I'm stepping up to do his dirty work. Usually the designated beer runner, I've finally graduated to covering shows while CoolDad HQ CEO laughs from a distant private yacht.

On Friday, I headed into Brooklyn by my lonesome to check out the She Shreds release showcase with Don Giovanni Records. In between sets, DJ SAD13 (aka Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz) spun tunes. As with the record label's previous three showcases this year, it was held at the Knitting Factory.

I arrived just in time for the beginning of Aye Nako's set. I had listened to Aye Nako, having come across them on a random Spotify playlist, and was excited to catch them live. The Brooklyn-based band had a wonderful dynamic on stage – lo-fi power pop-punk musings, with lead vocals traded off between guitarists Mars and Angie. Roommates, they shared that they have the best name for a dog ever...Broccolini. Holy shit! So cute.

I caught up with Mike Petzinger and other friends, and then got up front to check out Slothrust. I had never seen them before, and I was blown away. From Brooklyn via Boston, they are a band you have to experience live. Watching them play is like watching a perfectly edited, timed short movie. Leah Mallbaum's neurotic lyrics are made unique by her precise guitar playing and calculated-yet-warm voice. My clothes literally floated above my skin to Kyle Bann's basslines, and the hair on my neck rose to each soaring, rising crescendo of a song. Since, their album has not left my car stereo.

Next up was Lauren Measure's Worriers, a band I have seen quite a few times now. It felt like seeing old friends. Sadly, the night was going to be the last that guitarist Rachel Rubino would be playing with the band for some time. But they played their hearts out to an absolutely packed and enthusiastic room. The band are working on a new album. I'm excited to hear more and, of course, to see them again.

The fantastic Mal Blum and band took the stage to play tracks off her recent Tempest In A Teacup as well as new songs from her upcoming album that will be her first for Don Giovanni. Saying I'm excited for this new album is an understatement – and so hearing some of the songs again made me very happy. Plus, Mal Blum is just such a wonderful personality. Her stage presence is just another part of what makes her music so warmly inviting and familiar.

The night was building up for Mirah, an artist each band gushed about being excited to play with. It seems that everyone has a history with her music. I have a few of her albums, but I haven't yet made that deep connection with her in a way that others, like her peers, have. With a long drive ahead of me, I headed out for the night after just a few songs. I heard from Mike Petzinger that, for many in the audience, it was like a religious experience. I can certainly identify. I have a few artists who would, no doubt, do that for me (All Praise Queen Björk).

Stay tuned for another takeover, in which I visit Saturday's Screaming Females show at the Lanes. I know, I'm hella interesting. Xoxo.

Don Giovanni Showcase / Screaming Females Record Release at The Knitting Factory Brooklyn, 2/28/15 (PHOTO LINKS)

Night 3

Here it was three weeks since Night 2 of the 2015 Don Giovanni Records Showcase and time for the third and final night. New Brunswick power trio, Screaming Females, had put out Rose Mountain earlier in the week; and this evening would double as their record release show. Also on the bill were Cincinnati's Vacation, Appleton, Wisconsin's Tenement, and DC's Priests. When Night 3 was announced, it sold out quickly; so Don Giovanni added a second, late show. I'd be attending the early one.

I saw Don Giovanni co-founder Joe Steinhardt briefly before I went inside the Knitting Factory's performance space. He looked a little harried. I can imagine that putting together two separate 3-plus-hour shows and ensuring that everything runs on time might be a little stressful. As it turned out, the early installment ran like clockwork even with a few, brief onstage technical difficulties.

Vacation

Unlike the previous two nights, Chris Gethard wasn't there to host this one. Instead, Vacation came out unannounced right on schedule just before 7pm and lit into their set. 2013's Candy Waves was a standout album for me that year. I hadn't seen the band since last year's showcase, and it was cool to hear "Horny Politicians" and "Pyro Hippies" live again. Singer / guitarist Jerri Queen gave the songs all the snottiness that I love hearing on the record.

Tenement

Tenement were next and played a set that, I think, clocked in at around twenty minutes. They were relentless, though; and didn't pad things out with any stage banter. There were several chants for more as the band walked offstage.

Last year, Night 3 fell on CoolDaughter #1's birthday, so I had to miss the show. That was the night that Priests played; and, until last night, I'd still never seen them live.

Priests' 2014 Bodies and Control and Money and Power is a short gut-punch of politics and paranoia. Saturday night, guitarist G.L. Jaguar and bassist Taylor Mulitz combined riffs and basslines into some kind of not-quite-surf / not-quite-post-punk sound doled out in short, frantic bursts and punctuated by Daniele Daniele's drums. Vocalist Katie Alice Greer was a force, delivering the band's lyrics decrying consumerism, television, and disposable culture as she moved frantically onstage atop a pair of perilously high heels. Her stage presence and the band's sound were impressive and nearly stole the evening. Nearly.

Priests

Screaming Females took the stage at around 9pm and played a set featuring both Rose Mountain cuts and favorites from their back catalog. The Marissa Paternoster-designed Rose Mountain logo adorned the amps and bass drum. I feel like the band are poised to blast off to another level of popularity. Their set was the same controlled intensity and fury that I've seen show after show, and it's what's gotten them to the verge of blowing up.

The crowd had been pretty calm all night, but I think some mosh pits started at some point during the set. I felt myself pushed up against the stage several times, anyway. I was too fixated on taking pictures and screaming lyrics with my camera held up to my face to really see what was going on behind me.

Bassist Mike Abbate and drummer Jarrett Dougherty held things down as Paternoster stalked the stage, bellowed lyrics into the mic, and did her furious soloing. People seemed to have a good handle on the new songs already. I've had the record in very heavy rotation since it began streaming at NPR. So too, apparently, have many of the people in Saturday's crowd.

Everything was done before 10pm, and we filed out to make room for the next crowd. Each of the bands on Saturday's bill was intense and unique. I often wonder how bands are physically able to tour and play shows every night. I can't even imagine having to do two performances at the level I saw from each band, but I'm sure the late-night crowd got something just as special as I did.

Screaming Females

Here are links to photos for each of Saturday's bands. I went a little nuts during the second half of the evening.

Screaming Females
Priests
Tenement
Vacation

Don Giovanni Records Showcase at The Knitting Factory Brooklyn, 2/6/15 (PHOTO LINKS)

Black Wine as Devo

Night 1

What a weekend. I'm still recovering. Swim meets. Father / daughter dances. Birthdays. Lots and lots of driving (including a traffic ticket -- the first since my late teens -- in the wilds of Brooklyn). Here's some stuff that happened Friday.

Allyson Dwyer and I set off in the sub-freezing temperatures for Night 1 of the annual Don Giovanni Records label showcase and arrived in Brooklyn a little after 7pm. We parked the family truckster atop a glacier about a block away from The Knitting Factory. We got inside and settled in for a drink before the show.

The great thing about this showcase -- and the label, in general -- is the communal feel. I said hi to Shellshag and Black Wine before the show, and I saw several people with whom I've become friends as a result of attending last year's shows.

We made our way into the performance space, and I parked myself right up against the stage. Host and Don Giovanni artist Chris Gethard started things off talking about how weird and awkward it always is for a comedian to host a concert. I think his worries were unfounded. At least with this crowd. Gethard gave away some free stuff -- really undesirable free stuff that people jumped on because it was free -- like a broken USB wall charger. Allyson got the package of wet naps. He brought Don Giovanni "label honcho" Joe Steinhardt up on stage to preview one of the jokes that Steinhardt has available for sale. I won't print it here, since I didn't buy it.

Gethard then laid down a challenge for each of the bands to include a joke in their set. Each band would ultimately comply with varying degrees of success. As a show of solidarity, Gethard started off the evening with a song. He brought out John Driver of Shellshag to accompany him on his (and my) favorite song of all time, Billy Bragg's "A New England."

John Driver, Chris Gethard

The music from the bands started. It would end up being a night of surprises -- some for me,
some for everyone. My first surprise of the night was Crow Bait. I hadn't heard them before and loved their set. A great discovery.

Once the stage was set for Black Wine, Gethard came out saying that he'd been asked to stall for some time. After a few minutes, the band came out wearing yellow jumpsuits and launched into a full Devo cover set. The whole set. All Devo. Halfway through, the band stripped down to the all black t-shirt / shorts combo. The audience went kind of bananas. Joe Steinhardt later told me that it was a total surprise to everyone. So much fun.

Mal Blum, whom I'd first seen at the Boyd Park show back in September, did another fun set including stuff from her upcoming Marissa Paternoster-produced record. Blum and the rest of her band have really relatable personalities onstage. Her sets are full of humor and warmth. When she and bassist Audrey Zee Whitesides stopped to give "a shoutout to CoolDad," I was floored. It kind of explained the surprising moment (one of the best moments to have ever happened since I started this thing, by the way) earlier in the evening when Chris Gethard said, "Is CoolDad here? There are rumors flying around backstage that CoolDad may be here tonight." I passed Blum and her band some stickers when they were done.

The Hamiltons

The Hamiltons, Canadian arch-rivals of The Ergs!, did an intense set of Ramones-inspired punk only after making sure that their nemeses weren't in the house. They rattled songs off one after another in a non-stop barrage. After their set, Gethard noted his surprise -- shared by me -- that several members of the audience knew every Hamiltons' lyric.

Shellshag were next and, as usual, turned the place into a crazy dancing love fest. The duo kind of epitomize the feel of the whole showcase weekend with their positivity. I don't know what more there is to say about their set other than everyone had their arms over their heads as they sang along.

Chuck Betz of Nude Beach

We were already almost an hour into the next morning by the time Nude Beach came out for the final set of the night. I loved their record from last year and had been looking forward to their set all evening. It looked like they'd grown the live band by a few members since I'd seen them in September, and the new set up did a great job of reproducing the sounds on 77. Guitarist Chuck Betz even broke out the double-necked guitar for a few songs.

Allyson and I headed out into the freezing temperatures for the long drive home. I had a swim meet to get to in the morning. I knew I'd be exhausted, but we'd be back for part 2.



I went a little crazy with pics both nights. Here's night 1.

Chris Gethard, Joe Steinhardt, John Driver
Crow Bait
Black Wine
Mal Blum
The Hamiltons
Shellshag
Nude Beach