leaders of the free world

Exciting news for Surefire, as they will be opening for Arctic Monkeys on wednesday november 16th... however, the show that was originally planned to take place at the mercury lounge has now been moved to the Bowery Ballroom. More tickets are now available, buy them here!!

Listen and download two new brand songs on Surefire's myspace page.

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You know how you sometimes forget the greatness of a band? Shame on me, i did forget how good Elbow was until last night when they played at Hiro. Back when Asleep in the back came out, i was so into them that during their first US tour i even went to Philly to see them play. Since then, three years have passed, and two more albums have been released (well sorta, the 3rd album is available at online retailers only for now), and they are still one of the strongest, yet so underrated, UK acts. They have everything a good'ole british band should have, moody and layered songwriting surrounded by swirling harmonies, challenging lyrics, and some of the most haunting vocals. What makes them an even better band that most is the fact that they are amazing live, they deliver each song with so much added intensity and they, well singer Guy is extremely entertaining and charismatic on stage as he loves to interact with his crowd. Last night was no exception, we got the magic dragon and a weird Q&A that filled up time when equipment failed. I only gave the new album Leaders of the free world one listen so far, but this show made eager to revisit all three albums and not forget how good they are.

Elbow at Hiro. Photo by Miss Modernage.

my lady heroine

Let me start by saying thanks to all who came out to Guest House last night for what was a really fun night... second i just want to say that Junior Sanchez is the shit. In this city where everyone's a DJ (including myself), it is so great to have a guest DJ who not only plays a great selection of rock, 80s and remixes, but also comes up with unique mixes and other great tricks. He played a lot of his own remixes, not including the upcoming remix he's working on for Madonna's second single. He did play this Mylo vs Gloria Estefan mashup that i heard Eamon play before. I'm not a big mashup fan, but i really like that one. There already are a few i can think of, but we need more people like that to inspire me and others to keep getting better at the art of DJing. Junior will be back at Cheeky B*stard in the future, so will other great DJs that we're in the process of booking.

I'm sure loads of you will relate to this, i was thinking about how most of my close friends are not only super talented individuals, but they're also nerds like me in terms of collecting music and records... and not just records, but also films, designer art, photos, vintage designer clothing, old posters (yeah, let me not get into how i'm obsessing over these original 1960s J.L Godard movie posters right now!)... but i thought there's something to be said about collecting in general, and how it is an art in and of itself. I hope that in this age of mp3s, disposal music, digital photography and virtual everything, there will always be people around to be the proud owners of those "relics" and even new items to one day become rare, and in my case of records (for the most part). Besides the awesome nerdy conversations we have, being surrounded by such people makes one even more excited to go hunt for the collector pieces. The best example recently was when my friend Sean loaned me forty 60's french pop 45s for our friend Devery's wedding! Amazing, take a look...

All original and rare imports Sylvie, France, Francoise, Serge, and Charles... this is ebay gold people! If he wasn't my friend, believe me, i would not return them... but for now, i'll just go on my own treasure hunt.

message in a bottle

On Halloween night, The Head Set performed as The Police at Pianos and they were absolutely awesome! They played Regatta de Blanc from beginning to finish and came on stage with blonde wigs and proper throwback outfits. They really sounded like The Police too, it was surreal. The crowd loved it, there were some pretty hardcore Police fans in that room.

Tonight, we're having another Cheeky B*stard @ Guest House!
We are hosting the Official Concert After-Party for The Go! Team, they're playing Webster Hall. Junior Sanchez will be our guest DJ! I'll be spinning before and after!

:: $4 Budweiser all night
:: Vodka Open Bar from 10pm to 11pm
:: Late Night Drinks Specials 2am to 3am (2-for-1 Vodka Drinks & $5 GBH shots)

Hosted by Tom & Alejandro, Audrey, Dagny, Nico XO, May, Simcha & Rosie, Mike DeGuzman, Steve M. & Joe T. and Tim Sharp.

Door By Thomas (Motherf**ker / MisShapes) and Eddie Q (GBH)
Doors Open 10pm.

Guest House :: 542 W27th St between 10th & 11th

enjoy the silence

Friday night, i was one of the lucky ones who got to see Depeche Mode play the Bowery Ballroom... first and only time i saw them was at Madison Square Garden in 1998, so imagine my excitement to see them a second time in that small a venue and with people as happy to be there as i was. The show was great, though it seemed a little short, and we all wished we heard more of our favorites, but in all seriousness, no complaints over the set list, because the band gave a fabulous performance. The fact that Dave Gahan still looks this good and has those irresistible dance moves was just awesome to see. They played a bunch of new songs, but it's when they played the older stuff that the crowd got the most animated. The old material was heavier on the Violator side but generally a good choice of songs, especially at the very end when they gave us hits after hits and ended with Enjoy the silence as their encore. Unfortunately no photos were taken, because i was in the back, and my camera is so 2002, it can't handle the distance anymore!
Here's the setlist:
Intro / A Pain That I'm Used To / John The Revelator / A Question Of Time / Policy Of Truth / Precious / Walking In My Shoes / Suffer Well / Damaged People / Home / I Want It All / The Sinner In Me / I Feel You / Behind The Wheel / World In My Eyes / Personal Jesus
Encore: Enjoy The Silence

After Depeche Mode, i stopped by Pianos to catch Benzos play a little warm up show before playing the mercury lounge on november 9th. They sounded fantastic and played lots of new material, one song appropriately named Phase 2 particularly stuck out. Don't miss them in two weeks, they haven't played new york in a while.

Photo from bowery by brooklynvegan.

Depeche Mode by Anton Corbijn