Show Review

After yet another day of panels, I made my way over to Piano’s where Brooklynvegan was holding his first day party. While the party began at noon, I made it over there just in time to see the latest vice signing Japanese Motors from Los Angeles. The band looked like they had just rolled out of bed by the time they first hit the stage but that didn’t affect their stage presence. Lead singer Alex Knost quickly shaped up and took control of the microphone. With their surf rock and roll feel combining a more lo-fi indie vibe, the band could be described as a combination of Social Distortion and The Strokes. The band was definitely on their game as they had many toes tapping and even a few people moving.

After that conveniently was Friendly Fires who I had seen the night before. Expecting what was to happen, I knew I was in for something special. The band was once again solid and while they did not have as much of a positive reaction from the crowd as the night before, their set was still solid. The band also switched it up from the night before and played the incredibly catchy “In The Hospital” off of their debut album. Very similar to the night before, the highlight of the set was the last song “Ex-Lover” where guitarist Edd Gibson used a DustBuster on the guitar pickups. Unfortunately, while the rest of the party lineup was solid, I had to head back and change.

As a part of CMJ, they were giving out a limited amount of tickets to see the tony-award winning Spring Awakening which at the time was starring Hunter Parrish (Weeds). The rock-musical written by Steven Sater is based around a German play with the same title and revolves around teenage sexuality set in 1891. While the lyrics and book are written by Sater, the musical portion was written by sing-songwriter Duncan Shiek. Like many other musicals, the play is filled with ballads but Shiek adds some fiery songs such as the notable “And Then There Were None”. The music and the book work together to create an enjoyable experience and while the musical has its corny moments, it is a lot of fun for what it is.

After the play, I hopped a few subways to head over to The Red Bull Space to check out a new Merge band The Broken West from Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the band had technical difficulties for first few songs as the vocals were too low. After it was sorted all sorted out, the set came together as they performed their brand of alternative indie rock. Although there wasn’t much stage presence brought on by the four-piece, at times they would be reminiscent of larger rock groups such as Jimmy Eat World who would control the room with the music rather than making their way around the stage. If you are looking for a solid indie rock band that goes back to basics, The Broken West is probably your thing.

review by Dave Giumara