i've already written about my love for sam amidon, so i'll just let the photos do the talking.

you can see the rest of my photos here.

k

i LOVE beth orton and have for years. i just think her voice magical and her music is so beautiful.  i've only seen her perform once before at the ill-fated field day music festival in 2003, so it was a thrill to see her play in such a tiny venue. she was recovering from walking pneumonia, so she stopped and started a lot, but that just made her performance all the more charming.  and, as if already seeing them the week prior wasn't enough, doveman and sam amidon lent their backup support. it was a terrific night.

you can see the rest of my photos here.

k

i don't know why i've waited so long to post these pictures...they are certainly not my best. but nada surf is one of my all-time favorite bands. most people think of their song popular when they hear the name, but you should know that nada surf have put out several brilliant albums since then and their live shows are always a thrill. matthew caws writes what i find to be the most poignant lyrics - i relate to nearly every one of his songs. i feel so passionately about this band that when i was asked by a friend a few years ago to name which band wrote the soundtrack to my twenties. i answered with nada surf without any hesitation. in fact, before this show, matthew caws was standing right next to me and we had a conversation where i revealed this to him. he asked me for a cough drop.

to see the rest of my photos, click here.

k

the french post-punk band underground railroad also opened for nada surf at the bell house.

thanks for looking!

k

this is an oldie but goodie. holly miranda opened for one of my all-time favorite bands, nada surf, at the bell house last spring. and i was floored by how great she was. i was already a fan of the jealous girlfriends, but had not heard holly's solo music before this show. beautiful vocals, excellent lyrics, dreamlike songs...check her out.

you can see the rest of my photos here.

k

new york's mike bones also opened for phosphorescent on 2/28 and i can't say that i really liked or got his music. ironically, my camera REALLY liked him.

thanks, as always, for looking!

k

brooklyn's own motel motel opened for phosphorescent on 2/28 and were pretty great. i love me some good alt-country.

by the way, i should apologize - i know that a lot of these posts are about events that happened awhile ago. but i'm just playing catch up until the fall season of concerts starts. i'm taking pictures at some pretty amazing shows and i'm psyched. stay tuned!

k

this show may have happened last winter, but it was too awesome to not blog about now. there's a little bit of a backstory...in february of 2008, my friend katie and i hit up a friend who went to nyu to buy us tickets to a tiny show that the national were playing on campus. awesome. until we discovered that one of the tickets had to be used by a student, which neither of us were. so we decided to put our best college kid faces on and try to crash the party. and even though we looked like soccer moms compared to everyone there, we got through several levels of security with no problem. the show was one of the most incredible i've ever seen...it was in such a small space and so immediate. anyway, the opener was a band called phosphorescent who i had never heard of before. and as they came out and took the stage, i was like, "hey, that's jeff!" and sure enough, phosphorescent's bass player is jeff bailey who plays in my friend mike's band, mason dixon (who you should definitely check out). they started playing and we were both blown away....really beautiful music that was at once subtle and totally rockin. we were both instant fans. fast forward a year to when they put out an album of willie nelson covers called "to willie". i hadn't heard a note from it when i heard that they were playing the album in its entirety for the first time live at the bell house. katie and i immediately bought tickets. oh man, what a great show and great album. and unless some miracle happens in the remaining few months of this year, "to willie" will be at the top of my list of the best music that was released this year. here are the pictures.

i can't wait to hear what they do next.

k

i have to admit, i really went to the bell house to see hotel lights...i had no idea who the heck mark eitzel was. well, i certainly know who he is now. he blew me away. hilarious banter, interesting stories, and a voice that i never would have expected before he opened his mouth. this man can croon with the best of them.

i was more than impressed and will absolutely go to see him when he's in town next. you should, too!

k

butterfly boucher opened for hotel lights and mark eitzel last week and sadly, there was no one there to hear her. i have her first album and it's good. she has a really pretty voice and great stage presence. i can't understand why no one came early to hear her, but i can't help but think that we were lucky to have the place to ourselves and to be able hear a really intimate set of lovely songs.

mark eitzel post coming soon!

k

on wednesday, a couple of friends and i went to the bell house in the gowanus neighborhood of brooklyn to see hotel lights perform. hotel lights is darren jessee's (former drummer for ben folds five) band. i've loved him since the bf5 days and when i found out he had a brooklyn based band, i checked his stuff out. while his new venture may be a complete departure from bf5, do not be deterred. his new music is GORGEOUS singer/songwriter stuff. he writes really beautiful lyrics and melodies. you should check him out. the show was great, though there weren't many people there.

a note about the venue - i love the bell house...it's small and beautiful and has a really great bar/lounge. it's really awesome. but taking pictures in there is a nightmare. the lighting is pretty terrible (for picture taking) and it's either red or blue, so everyone comes out looking like tomatoes or smurfs. it's also really hard to focus because the lights aren't very bright. so when i take pictures there, i usually convert most to black and white and a few end up a little blurry. anyway, here are the pictures.

butterfly boucher opened and mark eitzel played american music club after. good stuff. pics of them to come soon.

k