A Simple Twist of Fate, Wormburner, 12.19.13 Mercury Lounge

Wormburner, Mercury Lounge 12.19.13

The Holidays can really wear a brother out.  The day to day business is hard enough.  Throw in work get togethers, gift shopping, and the inherent stress that comes with December before long it will break a man.   It is no coincidence suicide rates climb right about now.  Shit be real.

It is that stress that led some friends and I to make dinner reservations to one of NJ's finest restaurants, Serenade.  I am no foodie and am deeply uncomfortable sitting in their dining room (and most dining rooms really.)   Sitting in their quaint bar with access to chef James Laird's creativity and skill is a different story altogether.  The bar is a gem.  It is easily the best around We had to set it up about 6 weeks ago.  When is their a night, without sports or car pooling, tests, deadlines, that could work for an early bird special?  The logistics can be overwhelming.

But sure enough, at 6pm, we were seated in a cozy 4 top sipping our first cocktails.  We made it.

If we ended up simply having the meal, and it was exceptional believe me, the night would have been an unmitigated success.  The conversation was as complex and entertaining as the food.  From parenting issues, to the economy, values of college, tonight's 6th grade hoops game (I coach, good grief), cell phones, home improvements, it was ALL on the table.  The shopping and stress disappeared for a while.  Mission friggin accomplished.

I can be a bit of a phone hog during the day.  I never really figured out how to fix my settings after the IOS update.  The thing doesn't ring or vibrate, then it will, or not.  It's all messed up and I just can't be bothered.  Since the update I now get ALL of my 11 year olds texts and, gasp!, Face Time requests.  Gentlemen callers ask to face time my daughter constantly.

FT me.

FT.

FT.

Please!

Now!

ANSWER ME!!!

I even saw a 'WTF won't you FT me one?"  It is a touch on the creepy side.  Come on boys, talk to her at school.  IT IS totally lame to harass her on the phone when you see her all day.  You can act like a man!  But anyway,  I am constantly looking to see if I missed a call, text, or Duck Dynasty news alert.   However, at social events I put the damn thing away.  I am not an animal.

Midway through dinner I will take a peek.  There could be a chance the babysitter is flaking out.  Or more accurately that lovely 11 year old all the young men seem to like.

I did have a text it from an old high school pal.   you remember this guy, right?  It read:  "you should be meeting me in Mercury Lounge tonight"

"Yeah right" I thought to myself.  He had been mentioning this show for months.  Wormburner and The Yule Dogs were headlining a Christmas show.   He is tight with Wormburner's drummer Jim Spengler.  I was unable to commit to the show prior to making last nights dinner plans.  Now?  Forget about it.

I was itching to see a live show though.  It felt like forever since Caveman's Bowery show.

But no, I reminded myself, it's impossible.  The dinner is the event.  Make it an early night and get some much needed sleep.

Funny thing happened though.  Our friends knew some folks at the bar.  They were from the same town and it turned out we knew them peripherally too.  It is a small town so that is not an Earth-shattering coincidence. What they told us as we were making small talk exiting the restaurant was a bit shocking.  They said they were off to a concert.

"Oh yeah" I asked.  "Who?"

"Wormburner" they told me matter of factly.  "Mercury Lounge."

Naturally.

Mercury Lounge is tiny.  Maybe 250 squeeze in there on the busiest night.  Its friggin small.  Which is why I love it.  I get there far too infrequently.  Most of the bands I want to see there end up playing  Wednesday's at midnight.  That's a hard sell.

Point is, this is a very random event.  Why on Earth would I be in contact with 2 human beings that are both going to a fairly obscure concert.  One is from the suburbs.  One is from the City.

Their connections brought them together with the band and now I was involved.

2 Degrees of Wormburner.  One knows a guy from College.  One know the guy from town, or is related to, or whatever.  

I am not one to believe in the supernatural, fate, or any of that happy horse shit.  But this one stopped me in my tracks.  How could I not go to Wormburner?  Stars were aligning.

We were not prepared for night time baby sitting and the Mrs had spent the better part of yesterday working in NYC.    She easily made the decision to stay back with the little one.  They probably made it through one episode of Property Brothers before sleep grabbed hold of them.

By 9:30 I was at Mercury Lounge.  It was a joyous 35 minute drive.  The Turnpike was wide open, almost as empty as my attempted drive into Lower Manhattan on 9.12.11.  Mad Maxian if you will.  On that ride I also came to the realization that I really like The Head and The Heart.  Their record Let's Be Still has provided many smiles from me this year.  Where was I?

I caught the final two songs of The East River Bandits set.  East Village country rock served with a big, brimming smile.  They recently funded their debut record through Kickstarter and seem poised to be headlining a gig like this in the near future.  Warning, you must like mandolin and twang.  If you don't you probably aren't reading this anyway.

Wormburner is an East Coast act too, by way of Hoboken, Colgate University, Philadelphia, and clearly New York City.  Those who attended last night were engaged, invested and genuinely glad to see these happy lads.  I had never heard one of their songs prior to the show.  I barely knew of them a mere two hours before.  But when a crowd fills a  room with energy and joy, particularly a club as intimate as Mercury Lounge,  its hard to ignore it.

Frontman Steve "Hank" Henry, Alec, Paul, Jim and Terry have been doing this for a while.  The grooves are tight.  The songs are precise and well rehearsed.  Henry's lyrics are fun and sing-a-long worthy.  Their are not so subtle nods to Bruce Springsteen and subtler ones to Shane McGowan and Elvis Costello.  Their second album, Placed By The Gideons, was released in 2010.  That record was well represented.  They also threw in some new material, and two sweet and timely covers.  "Let My Love Open the Door" was a pleasant surprise.  But it was their cover of Lou Reed's "Ride Into the Sun" that was the sets high water mark.  It didn't hurt that ex-Luna guitarist Sean Eden absolutely killed a few blistering solos.

It was another example of what little I know.  Why had I never seen Wormburner before?  And furthermore, where has Luna been all my life?

The power of song.  The healing feeling that comes from live music.  The event.  All of it.

Friend of a friend one minute, concert bound the next.

Something tells me to keep going with this blog thing.  Forces are at work and I am not sure I know where they are taken me.  Come with me?

Join me?  We work too hard in this life to not stop and enjoy it once in a while.  Thanks mysterious force that got me off the couch after a wonderful filet dinner.  Looking forward to the next adventure!

For more:  Wormburner Official Site or Luna or East River Bandits

Hank from Wormburner

Wormburner, Mercury Lounge 12.19.13

The Yule Dogs, Mercury Lounge 12.19.13

Cayucas, Mercury Lounge 7.5.13

A few songs into Friday nights sold out Mercury Lounge's Show, Cayucas lead singer Zach Yudin informed the crowd "this our first show ever in New York City."  In fact, it was Yudin's first ever trip to the City.  Both the announcement and crowd reaction was tepid.  And therein lied the dilemma.  The SoCal band was at times too timid,  or too reserved, and in the end too damn lax to fully engage/ignite the crowd.

Yudin, his twin brother Ben (bass), Christian Koons (guitar), and Casey Wojtalewicz have made a memorable and entertaining debut record, Bigfoot.  It is  a vibey, surf sounding pop meditation on Beck, Vampire Weekend, and Weezer.  It is full of tongue-in-cheek lyrics sung with sweet harmonies over lullaby-esque acoustic guitars.  It goes down nice with a tall glass of lemonade and a Saturday afternoon poolside nap.  They even have scored an alt "hit" with "High School Lover."  

There is no shame in getting assistance from a quality producer or computer.  The best artists have done it (Beatles- Sgt Peppers for instance.)  Take a look at the top 20 songs in America right now.  Half probably use auto tune, right?  How else can you explain Jason Derulo's career?  The trick is to reinvent the studio work into something fresh, inventive, and daring on stage!  Get into it!  Do a cover if your only have 8 or 9 songs.  When you do play your "hit" make it a stand out!  Be excited!  Be overwhelmed to be there!  Never take it for granted and always perform as if it might be your last time on stage.

Yeah, it is hard work!  It is why there are only a handful of super successful rock bands/artists in the ever changing landscape that is pop music.  In the blink of an eye you can go from the early show at Mercury Lounge to disgruntled hipster barista.  

These kids are at the tail end of their biggest tour in easily their biggest year.  They have only making music together for about 18 months.  So far, so pretty darn good.

The critics adore their debut and without question they will end up back in NYC this fall.  Look for them at a bigger venue like Webster Hall or Bowery.  

Improvement is required before they hit a grander stage.  Too often their songs sounded too familiar from one to another.  My favorite tune,  "Cayucos"  was too up tempo and never found a great stride.  By the time they played  "High School Lover" (which the audience was begging for 2 songs in) the crowd seemed ready to hit the exits.  They got what they came for, although deserved more.

We get the SoCal laid back attitude, really we do.  But this is NYC damn it.  If you don't bring 100% there is another band begging, clawing and scratching to fill your spot.  Downloads alone will not pay the rent in this day and age.  Unless of course you write "Gangham Style" or some shit.

Cayucas, Mercury Lounge 7.5.13

JBM

Canadian born and New York based Jessie Marchand (stage name: JBM) opened the evening.  Ge was alone with an acoustic guitar, harmonica and big voice.  His music felt like Neil Young Harvest album with a touch of Ryan Adams.  Other than stand up comedy it is difficult to find a more ballsy thing than getting on stage alone and performing your own music.  No bandmates.  No nets.  No one else to blame if/when things go wrong.

JBM was thankful to be home after what he intimated was a pretty trying tour.  The rigors of touring can beat a man down.  There must have been a few crowds/venues that were more raucous than this receptive and polite NYC crowd.  It was silent!  He was thankful and was more than competent.   His act is more coffeehouse than rock club.  His classical guitar filled, heart wrenching ballad that ended his set was an odd choice too.  It draped the night in gloom which was somewhat unfortunate for both his, and Cayucas sake.

They both may have deserved better.  Good news though!  They can only go up from here.

 For a sample of JBM check here.

Sold out crowd stands to the music.

Mercury Lounge is always good on sound.

!!!!!!!!HUGELY IMPORTANT CONCERT PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!

Gentleman, please leave your backpacks at home when you head out for a show.  Ladies, you get something of a pass, but you should probably have a small purse only if truth be told.  What the hell could you have in those bags?  You need your id, a credit card, some cash, and maybe keys.  That is it! Should you need smokes, lighter and/or other drug paraphanalia you should allow for the necessary pockets.  NO! BACKPACKS! EVER!  Simply put you forget they are now part of your body.  And you can't control that shit.  Soon they are banging into open beers and womens' breasts and just about everywhere.   Keep them home and pack smart.  When the show is over you can go back to strapping it over your shoulders and doing your best Zach Morris.  

Should we put age limits on them?  After 18 backpacks can only be permitted on college campuses?