The Last Weeks of Maxwell's, Part 6: Real Estate / Cassie Ramone, 7/29/13

Our Careless Lifestyle, It Was Not So Unwise

I've mentioned before that CoolDaughter #1 swims competitively. This past weekend (actually, starting Thursday) we went to Rutgers for the summer Junior Olympics. She's a specialist, CoolDaughter #1 -- a breaststroker. That meant that we were at the meet for two individual events and two relays.

I absolutely love watching the girl swim. What usually happens, though, is that she swims her individual event; and then we wait about four hours for the relay. On Thursday, I took out my phone during the four-hour wait and noticed that Real Estate had booked a last-minute, late-night show at Maxwell's for Monday night. I'd promised CoolMom that, after all of these Maxwell's shows were over, I'd take it easy for a while. I couldn't pass on this one, though.

Opener Cassie Ramone of Vivian Girls and The Babies was set to go on at 11:30. I'd left myself what I thought was plenty of time, but the nearest parking garage to Maxwell's closed for entry at 10PM. That meant a walk up from 2nd Street for me. I'll miss a lot of things about Maxwell's, but looking for parking in Hoboken will not be one of them.

I made it inside after Ramone had started her set, but managed to catch almost the whole thing. She played solo, using Martin Courtney's acoustic guitar. Always a good songwriter, her new material showed that her songs have gotten even smarter, sharper with experience. Ramone also seems much more confident in her unconventional singing voice. She pointed out that, like the members of Real Estate, she'd been to many shows at Maxwell's while growing up in New Jersey and that she was grateful for the opportunity to participate in the send-off.

The stage had already been set up for Real Estate, so the band were able to begin their set almost immediately following Ramone. Martin Courtney warned the crowd that the band would be playing several new songs. The band played what had to be almost a full album's worth of new material, including an instrumental and songs on which Matt Mondanile and Alex Bleeker each took lead vocals.

Though I love the first two Real Estate records and would have loved to have heard more from them, the new material had all the reverb and single-coil jangle that I was looking for coming into the evening. The crowd appeared to enjoy all the new material as well, but the biggest reaction during the early portion of the set was for "Green Aisles" from 2011's Days.

Glenn Mercer joined the band on stage; and, after some initial technical difficulties, played what will likely be the last Feelies music ever heard at Maxwell's ("It's Only Life" and "The High Road"). The band closed the hour and fifteen minute set with "Beach Comber" from their debut and another Days track, "It's Real."

After the set, I got to speak to a couple of the members of Real Estate and was able to get that the album containing all of last night's new material is due in January. As I've said, Maxwell's is great for that. There aren't many places where, when one of your favorite bands is done with their set, you can just go up to them and ask about the new record.

This really was my last trip Maxwell's. I'll be at a Team NJ swim practice while the closing block party is happening. As I sit there in the stands, watching CoolDaughter #1 and her New Jersey teammates swim their sets, I'm certain there won't be any surprise Maxwell's shows popping up that I just can't miss.

The Last Weeks of Maxwell's, Part 5: Ted Leo / Shellshag, 7/21/13

Click, Click, Click and the Moment's Gone

Last night was my last scheduled trip to Maxwell's (I showed amazing restraint when the two Mission of Burma shows were announced for today). I talked with my friend about it as we rode in the car up to the show. While we agreed that losing Maxwell's is definitely a big loss for music around here, we also agreed that it's all part of a natural evolution.

Like Mike V of The Everymen said in an interview with me a few weeks ago, things might feel worse if Maxwell's were being forced to close. That's not how things are happening, though. Todd Abramson and his partners have made the choice that it's time to leave, and I'm not sure that they're wrong. So I'm not shedding any tears. And there were no tears from the performers or the crowd on what will likely prove to be my last night at the space.

We arrived just as Shellshag were preparing to take the stage. Had I decided to come a little earlier, I probably could have staked out a better spot; but something about this night had me stressing a lot less about those types of things. One of the things I love about Shellshag is how obvious it is that they love what they're doing. That's evident on this year's Shellshag Forever, and it really comes through in their performance.

The duo -- facing each other on stage with John "Shellhead" Driver on guitar and Jennifer Shagawat on drums -- played a set heavy on songs from their new record with all of the exuberance that they showed during their record release show a few months ago. King Mike of Screaming Females, who'd played an afternoon set that same day, was right in the middle of things once again, fist pumping and singing along for the entire set. Shellshag closed with their cover of "Just Like Heaven," built their tower of instruments, and thanked Maxwell's for thirty years. There were no tears, no emotional goodbyes, only smiles.

Ted Leo took the stage at around 10PM and drew from a setlist 26 songs strong (I think he may have played closer to 30). This would be a solo set without The Pharmacists. As the evening progressed, it felt appropriate to be closing things out with Ted Leo. Yo La Tengo and the Feelies are older than I am. The Everymen, Titus Andronicus, and Screaming Females are younger. Ted Leo is almost exactly my age. He peppered his set with covers, most of which I remembered from my own youth.

The two-hour set covered Leo's entire discography, from 1999's tej leo(?), Rx / pharmacists to the songs he's currently working on with Aimee Mann for their #BOTH project. Leo is a charismatic performer and engaged the crowd all night with stories of his early band days (when an audience member at ABC No Rio told him, "Fuck tune! Just play punk!") and his days as a student in Catholic school ("Really, Teddy? A song called 'Angelfuck?' Take it home."). He spoke about the Game Theory show he missed at Maxwell's in 1987, and he also does a pretty good Paul Stanley impression.

The crowd did a great job of singing along with favorites like "A Bottle of Buckie," "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone," "Me and Mia," "Under the Hedge," "Timorous Me," and "One Polaroid a Day." For "Bottled In Cork," Leo grabbed an acoustic guitar, stepped away from the mic, and led a full-crowd sing-a-long, campfire style.

Leo included covers of songs by Rush ("The Spirit of Radio"), The Misfits (yes, "Angelfuck"), The Velvet Underground ("What Goes On"), Pink Floyd ("Goodbye Blue Sky"), Game Theory ("Erica's Word"), and Bruce Springsteen ("I'm Goin' Down"). He closed out the evening performing Blondie's "Union City Blue" as an encore.

Leo was joking and smiling throughout the set, getting laughs from the crowd, and having a good time himself. At one point, while reminiscing about Maxwell's, his voice cracked a little. He was quick to point out, though, "I'm not crying. I'm choking." There wasn't any crying last night, and it felt just right.

So this is it for this series. It's been fun. There are still several shows on the Maxwell's docket for the next 10 days. Most are sold out, but I hope you get / got a chance to say goodbye in your own way. Don't cry. Just keep supporting the music that you love, and maybe someplace will appear to take the place of Maxwell's.

I didn't have the best vantage point in the house, but I managed to get a few shots to commemorate the evening.

The Last Weeks of Maxwell's, Part 4: Titus Andronicus / Screaming Females, 7/15/13

Peeking Through Blotches of the Blood of Bugs Towards the Elysian Fields

The crowd at this show was a lot younger than any of the crowds at the other Maxwell's shows I'd attended in recent weeks. I took comfort in the fact that the guy I just met was somewhat older than I was and such a fan of Titus Andronicus that he made the drive down from Boston to Hoboken with his family, after purchasing tickets on the aftermarket, just to see one of his favorite bands. He told me something similar to what I'd hear from several other people over the course of the evening.

He said that he and his family had arrived in New Jersey the previous day. Somehow, they managed to contact Titus Andronicus frontman / mastermind, Patrick Stickles guitarist Liam Betson. Upon finding out that these folks had come all the way from Boston, with tickets only for Monday night's show, Stickles Betson put them on the guest list for Sunday night. They loved the show and told me I was in for a treat.

Leading up to Titus Andronicus's final, three-night stand at Maxwell's, each show appeared on the schedule as "Titus Andronicus with Special Guests." On Sunday night, New Brunswick's Screaming Females announced that they would be the guests on Monday. This made the show a special one for me. As I've said before, not only do I love both bands; but also, both were the subjects of the first-ever post here at CoolDad Music. I credit Titus Andronicus and Screaming Females, along with Diarrhea Planet, with helping to get me started down the road of doing something that I love. I will be forever grateful.

Screaming Females took the stage just after 9. As they took their places, I asked my new friend from Boston if he'd ever seen or heard them before. No, he said. This would be his first time. I told him to prepare himself, and Screaming Females did not disappoint.

Marissa Paternoster showed up in her usual black, though in short sleeves and collarless this time, perhaps in a nod to the sweltering temperatures. The band opened with "I Don't Mind It" from 2010's Castle Talk and blazed through other favorites like "Expire," "Extinction," and "It All Means Nothing" from 2012's Ugly and "Poison Arrow" from this year's Chalk Tape EP. Paternoster's fingers appeared never to cease moving, while the rhythm section of King Mike and Jarrett D kept everything moving forcefully ever-forward.

When the set was done, I looked over at my friend. He just stared back wide-eyed, shaking his head, mouthing, "Wow."

Titus Andronicus took some time to set up their equipment. While this was happening, young fans started to push their way to the front and to establish their positions. Patrick Stickles announced that all of the guitars and amps were working and that, "We're gonna leave the stage now, and take drugs for the next 20 minutes or so. Then we'll be back." That, of course, was a joke.

Stickles took the mic without his guitar, and the band launched into "Titus Andronicus" from their 2008 debut. The crowd went crazy. Some people had brought miniature American flags and began waving them wildly. Stickles got hold of one and waved it on stage. The frenzy continued through "My Time Outside the Womb" and "A More Perfect Union."

Following the opening barrage, Stickles warned us that, "You're not gonna like what's about to happen to you." He reassured us, though, that, "What you're about to go through isn't the worst thing in the world." The opening strains of "Ecce Homo" signaled the start of 2012's Local Business, which the band proceeded to play in its entirety. I love that record. I feel like it's part of a single narrative formed with The Airing of Grievances and The Monitor. The crowd sang along and fist-pumped in all the right places.

To round out the Local Business portion of the evening, Titus Andronicus played both non-album tracks from their 2013 Record Store Day release, including the Eric Harm composed / sung "The Dog." "I've Got a Date Tonight" provided a segue into two new songs ("Fatal Flaw" and a Pogues-ish number whose chorus, I believe, was "C'mon Siobhan") and a cover of "My Best Friend's Girl." The band closed out the set with "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ," "No Future Part Three: Escape from No Future," and the 14-minute "The Battle of Hampton Roads."

Titus Andronicus played for approximately 3 hours.

I think it's important that I got to see a slightly different kind of show than what I've seen in recent weeks at Maxwell's. The crowd was very young. I hate mosh pits. I hate crowd-surfing. But I love the songs of Titus Andronicus -- and Screaming Females, for that matter. There was plenty of room to position myself safely outside most of the action and just enjoy the music.

Two guys standing behind me -- two other folks, apparently from South Carolina, who began the night ticketless and ended up inside thanks to Patrick Stickles -- were talking about Maxwell's and its history.

"I've heard that this place is legendary and all, but the New Brooklyn Tavern in Columbia is much cooler than this."

That is something I'd have to see to believe.

The Last Weeks of Maxwell's, Part 3: The Everymen / Life Eaters / Black Wine / Brooklyn What, 7/12/13

A Concert Ticket's All She Really Tries to Score

In parts 1 & 2 of this series, I wrote about Yo La Tengo and The Feelies. Maybe The Feelies have never truly gotten the recognition they deserve, but both of those acts have a relatively large national following. I called them two of Maxwell's house bands.

Maxwell's has another "house band." That band is every local, tri-state area band that works and works, playing show after show as openers for national acts, in New Brunswick basements, and at Maxwell's. They're your friends, maybe your co-workers. And Maxwell's gave them a place to play where they could say that they played the same room as Sonic Youth, Pavement, Guided by Voices, R.E.M., Hüsker Dü, and The Replacements. On Friday night, four of those house bands came together to perform their last sets ever at the venue.

The Brooklyn What brought the guitar-driven rock and roll onslaught of their most recent LP Hot Wine with songs like "Punk Rock Loneliness," closing things out with a cover of The Replacements' "Left of the Dial." New Jersey punk supergroup Black Wine, which features former members of The Ergs!, Full of Fancy, and Hunchback, had the crowd moving to the no-core sounds of songs like "Chateau of Ghosts." Life Eaters, frontman Mike Sylvia appropriately decked out in a Rip Curl wetsuit in anticipation of the deluge of beverages that would be flying in from the audience, tore through a set of aggressive, high-energy rock.

By the time The Everymen took the stage at around 1AM, I was beginning to question the wisdom of my decision to attend such a late show the night before an early swim meet. Once the band's set got underway, though, I forgot all of my misgivings. The band started things off with a slow number before frontman Mike V said, "OK. Enough of that shit...," and The Everymen tore into a more typical set that had the entire crowd dancing from beginning to end. For the evening, they changed the title of "Coney Island High" to "Maxwell's," adding a Maxwell's reference to the chorus.

Then, in fine, final Maxwell's set tradition, the band did a series of covers: Bruce Springsteen's "Ain't Good Enough for You," Midnight Oil's "Beds are Burning" with saxophonist Scott Zillitto on vocals, Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released," and Neil Young's "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World." The Lost Romance's Gerry Perlinski joined the band on stage; audience members sang entire verses into the mic; the horn section came down and played among the crowd; and show closer "Boss Johnny and the Get Lucky" saw almost the entire audience on stage with the band.

It was a party that went a few minutes past the official Maxwell's 2AM close; and, as CoolMom and I walked out into the street, sheepishly realizing how late my parents would be up babysitting the cooldaughters, we both told each other how happy we were to have been a part of it.

My growing confidence as a point and shoot concert photographer took a bit of a hit under last night's difficult lighting conditions, but I did my best to document the proceedings. I also managed to corner some of The Everymen in Maxwell's basement to get their thoughts on Maxwell's imminent closure. Stay tuned for that.

The Last Weeks of Maxwell's, Part 2: The Feelies, 7/6/2013

Crazy Rhythms

People love music in different ways. For many, a favorite song is a part of life, a marker for an event or a feeling. Favorite tunes soundtrack almost every moment: the last half-mile of the town 5K, the drive to the voting booth on Election Day, romantic times with a significant other, an imaginary takedown of someone who's done them wrong. Music is important, revered.

For others, music is something less cerebral. It's more physical, more primal. It grabs them. It shakes them and fills them with joy. It makes them move uncontrollably. They may not even know the particular song, but they love it in the moment.

I know I'm much more the first type, but I like to feel that I've got elements of the second in me. Last night at Maxwell's, I saw both.

The Feelies were playing the last of their three-night, July 4th weekend stand at the Hoboken spot. Maxwell's was bursting long before the band's scheduled 9pm start time. The Feelies -- the bespectacled trio of Glenn Mercer, Bill Million, and Brenda Sauter up front, percussionist Dave Weckerman and drummer Stan Demeski in the back -- took the stage just after 9. Throughout about four hours consisting of two full sets and five encores during which the band were joined by members of Speed the Plough and the mayor of Haledon, NJ, I got the feeling that The Feelies and most of their fans are the kind of people for whom music holds significant meaning.

They played songs from their entire discography, including the jagged, spastic sounds of their debut Crazy Rhythms ("Fa Cé-La," "Crazy Rhythms") and the more melodic and expansive sounds of the Peter Buck-produced The Good Earth ("The High Road") and their most recent album Here Before. They peppered the main sets with covers like The Velvet Undergound's "Who Loves the Sun," an excellent rendition of Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot," and The Beatles' "Ticket to Ride." The encores were heavy on covers.

The Feelies performed songs by The Rolling Stones ("Get Off of My Cloud," "Paint It Black"), The Stooges ("I Wanna Be Your Dog"), R.E.M. ("Shaking Through"), The Beatles ("She Said" and, of course, "Everybody's Got Something to Hide"), The Velvet Underground (show closer "After Hours"), and probably more that I've either forgotten or couldn't recognize.

Were each of the covers fantastic renditions of the originals? No, not in every case. But each selection held meaning for the band and for the crowd. The Stones and The Beatles are obvious influences on The Feelies' own sound. The band are long-time friends with R.E.M. having met them through Maxwell's, even opening for them on a tour. The influence of The Velvet Underground on The Feelies is well-documented and can be heard in Mercer's vocal delivery. The selection of "After Hours" to close the band's final show at Maxwell's ("If you close the door / the night can last forever") was poignant.

But this is where we get into the importance of that other type of music lover. In these last weeks of an establishment that's meant so much to so many people and to American indie rock, we run the risk of becoming overly reverent. The band themselves weren't guilty of this. When a cockroach ran across the stage towards the end of the show, Demeski shouted, "We're never playing here again!"

A young woman next to me was dancing, screaming, and pumping her fist along with every song during the early portion of the first set. "Wooooo! Rock and roll!!!" A couple of times, I swear I saw Brenda or Bill smile in her direction.

Another person in the crowd had finally had enough, though.

"You're ruining this for people. Just chill out and listen to the music."

She kept it up for a few more songs, then she excused herself to go to the restroom. She never came back; and the rest of us stood there, for the most part, bobbing our heads, mouthing the lyrics.

It was a great show and a great experience -- a wonderful ending to the run of another of Maxwell's "house bands" at the venue. I think it's important to remember, though, that Maxwell's is a rock and roll club. They've put on rock and roll shows for about 35 years. If you attend a show there in the coming weeks, try to remember that you're not at church. Let loose, have a blast, and give the place the send off it deserves.

The Last Weeks of Maxwell's, Part 1: Condo F*cks / Yo La Tengo, 6/15/13

This Is Where I Belong

"This band does not exist without this club." That was Ira Kaplan / Kid Condo in the final moments of a double bill that saw both Yo La Tengo's final performance at Maxwell's as well as the realization of The Condo Fucks' career-long dream to headline the back room. A last minute edition to the bill following a cancellation by the Pastels, Yo La Tengo took advantage of probably their first opening slot at Maxwell's in decades to focus on the quieter, more melancholy portions of their catalog. The Condo Fucks provided a contrast, making the most of their first and only Maxwell's headlining set by turning in an ear-splitting performance of garage rock covers.

WFMU's Gaylord acted as the evening's emcee and made reference to Yo La Tengo's long history as Maxwell's de facto house band, recalling an early performance by their pre-YLT incarnation as A Worrying Thing. Guitarist Ira Kaplan pointed out that the band's first performance at the club as Yo La Tengo took place in 1984. Then, armed with the acoustic guitar he would use for the entire set, Kaplan, along with drummer Georgia Hubley and bassist James McNew, opened with "Big Day Coming" from 1993's Painful.

The band acknowledged Maxwell's co-owner Todd Abramson several times, at one point noting that he may be the only show promoter in America still calling himself a "booker" instead of a "curator." Yo La Tengo, said Kaplan, had moved with the times. No more would they use a "set list." Instead, they'd work from a "libretto."

The night's libretto pulled songs from the entirety of Yo La Tengo's discography, including what will likely be James McNew's only performance of "3 Blocks from Grove Street" from 1987's New Wave Hot Dogs, "Speeding Motorcycle," and the acoustic, Georgia Hubley-sung version of "Tom Courtenay." The songs from this year's Fade, an album that deals with aging and the passage of time, -- "The Point of It," "I'll Be Around," and set-closer "Ohm" -- took on a subtle power given the context of the evening.

At the end of the set, the band climbed down from the stage and made that walk, as Yo La Tengo, through the Maxwell's crowd for the final time.

At about 8:15, The Condo Fucks -- guitarist Kid Condo, drummer Georgia Condo, and bassist James McNew -- took their positions on stage. Gaylord returned and provided a bit of the band's history, noting their rise from the streets of New London, CT to the headlining slot at the New Jersey rock institution.

"1! 2! 3! 4!" counted off Kid Condo, and the squall of his electric guitar sent a few folks to the bar, buck in hand, to grab some ear plugs. The set, comprised totally of covers, included selections from the band's 2009 Fuckbook (don't  Google that one) along with searing renditions of obscure cuts run through the filter of garage and psych-rock. James McNew took lead vocals on Fuckbook cuts like The Electric Eels' "Accident" and Slade's "Gudbuy T'Jane." Georgia Condo managed most of the lyrics to the Troggs' "With a Girl Like You," but missing a few words just added to The Condo Fucks' overall wonderfully ragged feel.

The Connecticut trio left it all on the stage, but managed to come out for one more song. Ira / Kid Condo picked up the acoustic one last time, and the band delivered a cover of The Kinks' "This is Where I Belong" that set more than a few eyes watering.

There are six weeks worth of shows left on the Maxwell's schedule. Many of those will be truly great and just as emotional as last night. But a big Maxwell's chapter closed last night. Yo La Tengo will never play there again. At least The Condo Fucks finally got their big shot.