130 search results for "yo la tengo"

[photo by nyctaper]

I love this picture. Its the dreidel / disco ball that came down from the ceiling at the Matisyahu show at Webster Hall tonight. It looks like its about the come down onto my microphones, but the dreidel was really about 20 feet in front of me.

We recorded Matisyahu tonight. The performance lasted over two hours. That recording will be up on the site in about two days. He will play 6 more shows this week, at Webster and then at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

We will be at Yo La Tengo tomorrow night and then again on Saturday. We received a blackberry message when Magnetic Fields showed up as the opening act at Maxwell’s for YLT’s show tonight.

[image by Songbirdnest]

Its getting late, less than 2 weeks left in the year. So we feel like we left our yearly Top Concerts post until as late as we can, with all due respect to the rest of the shows we will see this year — Matisyahu (Dec 22) and Yo La Tengo (Dec 23 and Dec 27 — they won last year) and possibly others.

NYCTaper saw something like 100 concerts this year, and recorded upwards of 150 different sets. This list represents our totally subjective ten favorite show for a variety of reasons.

NYCTaper Top Ten Concerts of 2008:

1. Sigur Ros: June 16, 2008 Grand Ballroom
This two-hour set of majestic brilliance was the clear winner of the best concert of 2008 — and perhaps the greatest show we have ever seen.

2. Of Montreal: October 10, 2008 Roseland
This show is almost legend by now — almost more an artistic theatrical event than simply a concert. The horse, the noose, the stage antics all ultimately paled to the two hours of intense music.

3. Deerhunter: November 7, 2008 Music Hall
A band at its creative peak performed a flawless set primarily consisting of its new CD — perhaps the best album released in all of 2008.

4. Love Is All: June 12, 2008 Cake Shop (NYC Popfest)
A packed sweaty room literally swaying with uncontrollable joy as the Swedish punk-pop masters perform in the most intimate venue they will ever play in NYC.

5. Wilco: August 13, 2008 McCarren Pool
Perhaps the strongest Wilco show we have ever seen, the eleven encores at this show exceed in number and length the entire sets they are performing opening for Neil Young this month.

6. [deleted]

7. Sharon Van Etten: October 23, 2008 Cake Shop (NYCTaper CMJ Show)
Admittedly, a personal and sentimental favorite. Sharon delivered a breathtakingly beautiful set as the ultimate finish to an outstanding day of music and musical camaraderie.

8. The Mountain Goats: November 9, 2008 Webster Hall
At the tour-closing night, John Darnielle pulled out all the stops. As he revealed early in the night that he had considered retiring from touring and that the current tour rejuvenated his love for live performance, this show took on a celebratory air.

9. Ponytail: June 21, 2008 After the Jump Fest (Music Hall)
This thoroughly original set literally took my breath away with its unrestrained energy and musicianship. It was the final performance of the day session of the outstanding After The Jump Fest — an amazing day of music.

10. Natalie Merchant: January 8, 2008 Hiro Ballroom
A triumphant return to performance. Natalie sang and performed beautifully for nearly two and half hours. This is ironically the only recording ever removed from the site at an artist’s request.

Kimya Dawson has announced that she will return to NYC in December for a show at the Bowery Ballroom. Kimya’s show is a celebration of 10 years of sobriety. Here are the details:

Friday December 26th
Kimya Dawson’s 10 Years Off The Sauce Extravaganza!
w/ special performances by Akida Junglefoot Dawson, Malcolm Rollick, Joie DBG, Underthrust, and more!!!
@ Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY
A celebration of recovery and being alive!!!

This has not yet been posted on the Bowery site. We recorded Kimya twice already this year [here] and [here], but we are uncertain about this show, since it conflicts with the Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows we announced last week.

We attended 85 concerts this year, recording 75 of them. Of all of these many shows, these 5 concerts below are the most memorable experiences of the year for a variety of reasons.

nyctaper’s Top Five Concerts of 2007:

1.  Yo La Tengo December 6, 2007 Maxwell’s
An absolutely amazing YTL set, with legendary openers the dBs. We had a great time, with a great atmosphere and an excellent taping experience.

2.  White Stripes July 24, 2007 Madison Square Garden
Jack and Meg fill up the big room with a sonic masterpiece. Two hours of intense blues rock and nine encores. nyctaper enjoys the concert and records from the perfect location.

3.  Fiery Furnaces August 26, 2007 Socrates Sculpture Park
This concert was like seeing your favorite band at a family picnic. Eleanor, Matt and company rock through the final live performance of the Bitter Tea medley in a beautiful park on a beautiful day with the scenic East River and Manhattan skyline behind them. nyctaper sits on the grass and records from the ideal spot.

4.  Bruce Springsteen October 18, 2007 Madison Square Garden
The only 57-year old in rock history to perform a non-stop concert of such intensity for two and a half hours straight. The Meeting Across the River / Jungleland was the highlight of any Bruce concert of the entire 2007 tour.

5.  Pylon November 7, 2007 Mercury Lounge
1980s Athens legends tour for the first time in 17 years, and miraculously sound as tight as if they’d played together all that time. Vanessa and company seem thankful for the fans in attendance that night, and are incredibly gracious to nyctaper before and after the show.

Honorable Mention:
Dinosaur Jr. June 6, 2007 Irving Plaza
Regina Spektor October 16, 2007 Hammerstein Ballroom
of Montreal March 9, 2007 Irving Plaza
Richard Thompson June 21, 2007 Prospect Park
Meat Puppets August 30, 2007 Knitting Factory

Venue of the Year:
Maxwell’s Hoboken, NJ
Without question, the most enjoyable location to attend a concert in the NYC area. From top to bottom, Maxwell’s offers the music fan every ingredient for a positive experience — fine sound system, excellent sight lines, excellent beer selection, and the venue does not include any of the negatives that often detract from enjoyment — the staff is friendly and professional, there is no power-drunk security, and concert goers are permitted to freely mingle and move around inside the venue. nyctaper attended 3 shows at Maxwell’s this year (Fiery Furnaces, Figgs and Yo La Tengo), and each experience was as positive as the last one.

There’s a lot to talk about this morning.

The Shins

Apologies to Shins fans waiting for the recording from last night. I did not attend, and wasted my ticket. Between the rain, my not feeling well, and lackluster reviews of the show and the venue, I did not really feel up to attending.

Server Outages and new Server Limits:

The Springsteen and Morrissey recordings have brought users to this site in record numbers. The total number of visits the day after the Springsteen concert was 118,000, roughly 5 times the record number of hits for a day on this site. The record number of visits have continued throughout the week. Those numbers have essentially crashed the server on multiple occasions, and have brought download speeds down to a trickle.

Unfortunately, my host has now put limits on my server capacity. The total number of visitors at any given time is limited to 150 distinct ip addresses. The total number of files one user can download at once is now limited to 5. And upload speed from the server has been capped at 2.5 megabytes per second. That’s a lot of speed if you’re downloading alone, but a slow speed if you divide it by 150.

There have been complaints and frustrations communicated in various forums on the web about the crashes and the speed reductions. I understand these complaints, but want users to know that these limits come from the host, and are a direct result of the popularity of the site.

Support the Artists:

I am capable of tracking the total number of purchases of official CD’s that are made through links on this site. I must say that I am profoundly disappointed at the number of people who download from this site, and the subsequent lack of purchases of official releases. I understand that of the 5000 people who downloaded Springsteen, most if not all of them already own Magic, or of the 3000 people who have downloaded Bjork, most or all already bought Volta.

It is the goal of this site that those 8000 people be exposed to other artists, and support those artists. Springsteen fans would be more than happy with the music of The Hold Steady, or The National, and Bjork fans would love Regina Spektor, or Animal Collective, or Kria Brekkan. In other words, if you already own Volta, click on the link and buy Begin to Hope!

nyctaper is currently considering implementing a limitation of downloads, where access would only be granted if confirmation of purchase of the official release is offered. This is something that we don’t want to install, but may be forced to do if users do not support the bands.

Support the Site:

The plan for this site was that donations and ad revenue would make it a not-too-expensive proposition. nyctaper was willing to operate at a loss in order to be able to implement a new model of music exchange and artist promotion. In this regard, the site has been a complete failure. The total number of donations thus far has amounted to $134. That represents less the price of the ticket for Springsteen. Commission ad revenue has generated zero. We did not envision being in the hole for roughly 12 thousand dollars within six months of the opening of the site.

Ironically, today we were accused of being bootleggers.

Plans for the Future:

At this point, nyctaper will continue to exist until the end of the shows listed below. We can not continue to afford to operate past that period without any significant user support.

Upcoming Events:

The Decemberists:
November 1, 2007
November 2, 2007, Terminal Five, NYC

Fiery Furnaces:
November 3, 2007, Hiro Ballroom, NYC

Pylon:
November 7, 2007, Mercury Lounge, NYC

Phil Lesh and Friends:
November 8, 2007, Phil Lesh Tickets at Nokia Theatre Times Square

mum:
November 9, 2007, Church of St. Paul NYC
November 10, 2007, Society for Ethical Culture Concert Hall NYC

Yo La Tengo:
November 16, 2007, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

Pierce Turner:
December 2, 2007, Joe’s Pub NYC
December 9, 2007, Joe’s Pub NYC

Yo La Tengo:
December 6, 2007, Maxwell’s Hoboken NJ (12/6 sold out, click link for tickets to other nights)

I will not attend Neil Young at the United Palace because I can not afford the ticket price, and no user has offered to sponsor my attendance.

Recordings will be posted at this site for each of those concerts that nyctaper attends and records. As with any future plans, some of these concerts may not be attended or recorded by nyctaper, for reasons out of my control. Please check back to the site often for updates as other concerts will be added.

I have received numerous requests to attend and record certain specific events. Please bear in mind that my time and energy are limited. Specific requests are more likely to be successful if accompanied by a guest list pass, complimentary ticket or other incentives.