Familiarize Yourself

After 6 days in New York City I can honestly say I am ready to head back to the Midwest. We woke up early this morning to cross Manhattan into Queens to catch our flight at La Guardia Airport. As I enjoy my last 30 minutes of vacation time on this flight, I figured this would also be the best time to recap my last night in NYC and the whole CMJ experience.

Now that the panels have ended, the CMJ Music Marathon wrapped up with the remaining showcases in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Saturday’s weather was humid and rainy, so in between running through raindrops we decided it was the best choice to stick it out at one venue, the Bowery Ballroom. A friend of mine works at ICM and manages Violens, one of the bands playing the Bowery showcase, so that helped make our decision on where to camp out.

Threes and Nines @ The Bowery Ballroom

The first band playing when walked into the Bowery Ballroom was called Threes and Nines out of California. The four piece band featured lead singer/songwriter Jake Brebes, female upright bass player Tasha Powers, drummer Max Triplet, and an unnamed guitarist. The group was fun to watch and their sound at times reminded me of early Bob Dylan mixed with some early rockabilly influences. Threes and Nines looked like they had a great time playing together on stage and was an energetic way to kick-off the long roster for the evening.

Violens @ The Bowery Ballroom

Violens and Sharon Van Etten entertained us throughout the night, Violens picking up right where Threes and Nines left off with their fast tempoed, traditional rock band feel, and Sharon Van Etten bringing down the tone with her soft, acoustic performance that left the audience in silence as they waited for her next song.

Closing the showcase at the Bowery Ballroom was TV on the Radio frontman Kyp Malone’s solo project, Rain Machine. Rain Machine featured a variety of instruments to create an eerie atmosphere played by Malone’s four other bandmates who are accompanying him throughout his North American debut tour. The six minute long songs hold your attention while the band jumps into each song with an abundance of energy that is contagious. Overall, Rain Machine’s set may have been the best performance of the evening (with Sharon following in close second), and Malone left classic TV on the Radio fans impressed with his solo songwriting skills.

Check out my previous CMJ posts here:
DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
DAY 4