It was roughly four years ago that I first got the opportunity to witness The Magnetic Fields in the flesh. On that evening (also at Town Hall), the band focused on their 2004 opus, I, with no more than a handful of older tracks dispersed into the mix. The evening was glorious. Last night, the legendary act broke the 120-minute set into two parts (plus a brief but thrilling 3-song encore). The focal point was, ironically, not on their most recent album, Distortion. Instead, emphasis was placed upon performing their myriad classics (1994 to present), rarities, tracks from side projects & soundtrack favorites.

While the gig was truly sensational from start to finish (with Stephin as bitter and sarcastic as ever), it’s worth noting a selection of highlights. Of which I have to draw attention to Stephin Merritt’s gorgeous solo take on 69 Love Songs staple, ‘The Book Of Love’, which received the loudest cheers. Distortion‘s ‘Too Drunk To Dream’ and ‘The Nun’s Litany’ (hilariously sung by Stephin, not Shirley or Claudia) were also crowd-pleasers. The sweetest treat was a piano-heavy take on Holiday‘s ‘Take Ecstasy With Me’. Finally, the show-closing ‘Grand Canyon’ proved to be the perfect culminating number. The Magnetic Fields continue their Town Hall residency tonight, Saturday and Sunday. All engagements are sold out. Visit The Magnetic Fields at their official site.

MP3: The Magnetic Fields – The Nun’s Litany [alt link]

New Yorkers – we’re in luck. The Magnetic Fields and Bowery Presents have just added yet another date (Sunday, 2/24) to the band’s upcoming residency at Town Hall. Tickets will be available through Ticketbastard this Friday at noon. If the three previously announced shows are any indication, this gig will sell out in under fifteen minutes (and become a scalper’s wet dream). View the track listing for the band’s new album, Distortion (out in January), here. Enjoy the official clip for TMF classic, ‘Born On A Train’, below.

MP3: The Magnetic Fields – All The Umbrellas In London

For as much as I adore all albums from Death Cab For Cutie’s catalog and The Postal Service’s ever-so-brilliant debut, Give Up, I’ve failed to see Ben Gibbard and the gang live since their Siren Festival appearance back in ’04. I’ve been holding out for the opportunity to hear Ben’s tunes in an intimate setting for some time now (I regretfully missed his Bowery gig last year) and Town Hall was the ideal venue to carry out my wish.

Performing a selection of tunes from The Photo Album through Plans, intertwined with Neil Young & Nirvana covers, a couple new ditties, and yes, even some Postal Service tracks for good measure, Ben Gibbard’s 75-minute set was genuinely outstanding. Well worth the wait.

Highlights of the evening included ‘Brand New Colony’, ‘Passenger Seat’, ‘Crooked Teeth’ and ‘A Lack Of Color’. Take a listen to the latter track below.

UPDATE: SETLIST! (Note: He did NOT perform ‘Blacking Out The Friction’ in spite of the fact that it’s listed below)

MP3: Death Cab For Cutie – A Lack Of Color

For as much as I adore all albums from Death Cab For Cutie’s catalog and The Postal Service’s ever-so-brilliant debut, Give Up, I’ve failed to see Ben Gibbard and the gang live since their Siren Festival appearance back in ’04. I’ve been holding out for the opportunity to hear Ben’s tunes in an intimate setting for some time now (I regretfully missed his Bowery gig last year) and Town Hall was the ideal venue to carry out my wish.

Performing a selection of tunes from The Photo Album through Plans, intertwined with Neil Young & Nirvana covers, a couple new ditties, and yes, even some Postal Service tracks for good measure, Ben Gibbard’s 75-minute set was genuinely outstanding. Well worth the wait.

Highlights of the evening included ‘Brand New Colony’, ‘Passenger Seat’, ‘Crooked Teeth’ and ‘A Lack Of Color’. Take a listen to the latter track below.

UPDATE: SETLIST! (Note: He did NOT perform ‘Blacking Out The Friction’ in spite of the fact that it’s listed below)

MP3: Death Cab For Cutie – A Lack Of Color

For as much as I adore all albums from Death Cab For Cutie’s catalog and The Postal Service’s ever-so-brilliant debut, Give Up, I’ve failed to see Ben Gibbard and the gang live since their Siren Festival appearance back in ’04. I’ve been holding out for the opportunity to hear Ben’s tunes in an intimate setting for some time now (I regretfully missed his Bowery gig last year) and Town Hall was the ideal venue to carry out my wish.

Performing a selection of tunes from The Photo Album through Plans, intertwined with Neil Young & Nirvana covers, a couple new ditties, and yes, even some Postal Service tracks for good measure, Ben Gibbard’s 75-minute set was genuinely outstanding. Well worth the wait.

Highlights of the evening included ‘Brand New Colony’, ‘Passenger Seat’, ‘Crooked Teeth’ and ‘A Lack Of Color’. Take a listen to the latter track below.

UPDATE: SETLIST! (Note: He did NOT perform ‘Blacking Out The Friction’ in spite of the fact that it’s listed below)

MP3: Death Cab For Cutie – A Lack Of Color

Fresh off his two instantly sold-out shows at Bowery Ballroom this past weekend, Bright Eyes will return to the Big Apple later this spring for a record-breaking 7 shows at my favorite seated venue in the city, Town Hall. We wonder how Ryan Adams feels about this one! If you recall, he sold out 3 shows himself, back in December at the same venue (our review can be found here).

Dates for the shows are as follows: May 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31 & June 1. I’m extremely curious as to which special guests will be featured on each night. Hmm. No on-sale date yet but we will surely keep you in the loop!

MP3: Bright Eyes – Make War

As expected, M. Ward was fantastic last night at his Town Hall debut. A perfect venue I could not think of to perfectly showcase his incredible voice and talent for storytelling. Opening the hour-and-a-half set with a 10-minute long steadily building guitar frenzy, he then quietly broke into Post-War fave, ‘Chinese Translation’. And from the first few vocals of the tune, we all knew we were in for something special.

With just one or two dim lights on Matt the entire time, the show felt extraordinarily intimate. In fact, it was one of the few shows that I’ve been to recently where I can actually say that I felt engaged throughout the entire performance.

The set featured a bevy of tracks from last year’s Post-War and his 2005 release, Transistor Radio, as well as a handful of covers, including a brilliant rendition of a Daniel Johnston tune (its name escapes me). Bouncing back and forth between guitar/harmonica/looping and the signature Town Hall Steinway piano, the whole show was really just beautiful. I don’t know what other words to use. Respectful crowd, amazing talent, and relatively low ticket price. Oh and a great seat didn’t hurt things either (row E center for you nosy folks!).

To top it off, M. Ward had some special guests during his encore. While I don’t quite know which two performers joined him for ‘Magic Trick’ (which he actually changed lyrically from ‘she’ to ‘I’ during the song), they did a great job; the collaboration really worked quite nicely. Then, as you can see above, Mr. Bright Eyes himself, Conor, came out joined M. Ward to perform ‘Vincent O’Brien’ to close the show.

And there’s Conor again for your visual pleasure. Amazing amazing amazing.

MP3: M. Ward – Poison Cup (sendspace)

Setlist: Come Pick Me Up/When The Stars Go Blue/Oh My Sweet Carolina/Love Is Hell/This Is It/Afraid Not Scared/La Cienega Just Smiled//Hallelujah/Wish You Were Here/Judy Garland/Blue Sky Blues/Games/My Winding Wheel/Willow Jane/29/The Rescue Blues

Well, all I have to say is that I’m glad I waited for the last night of Ryan Adams’ 3-night run at Town Hall. I knew he’d either bust out my favorites, have a tantrum, or tell some interesting stories. I got all 3!

First off, the setlist tonight was impeccable. Look at that first rush of songs before the break. Now look at the second set. Truly fantastic selections. The people over at Alt Country & To Be Young seem to disagree with me on this one. As you can see, Ryan focused on mostly (nearly entirely) pre-Cold Roses-era tunes, busting out some rarely-played Gold and Heartbreaker numbers instead. I have no complaints. Ryan’s voice and cohesion with The Cardinals have never been stronger.

The stories.. well, they were scattered and minimal, I will admit that. On a serious note, Ryan talked about being sober for the last 7 months and how we are all like his kids, which was rather sweet. Earlier in the set, as the hecklers were going strong, Ryan repeatedly joked about the setlist and was sarcastic about the influence the shouters had over his list. By the middle of the second set, he was calling them assholes and checking his watch to see how much longer he had to endure the pain of… well, the assholes.

In spite many people screaming ‘shhh!’ or ‘let him play what he goddamn wants!’, Ryan was clearly perturbed and around 10:35 cut the show, declaring that we were a ‘great crowd’ (sure, Ryan). Although it was slightly disappointing to see Ryan leave so angered and to waste the 25 minutes he could have played before curfew was met, I would rank this as one of my top 5 Ryan experiences (I’ve seen him in the neighborhood of 10 times over the years).

How could you not love the man? More thoughts on the night, including a blurb on Ryan Adams Crazy Dancing Lady, as she will now be known, over at The Modern Age.

You may have already heard but if not, Ryan Adams is doing 3 shows at Town Hall in December (with a rumored 2 or 3 or 79 more added onto that!).

The run starts 12/3 and who knows, it may even go straight into the new year! Tickets on sale tomorrow at noon via Ticketbastard. They wil surely sell out pretty quickly. Hop to it.

He and The Cardinals will be playing everything from Heartbreaker to 29 with new tracks thrown in as well (like you are surprised).

MP3s: ‘Amy’ (live) + ‘Dear Chicago’

Sufjan and his butterfly-winged (watch video below) 14-piece band played their first of 3 sold out nights at Town Hall last night. Parker Posey was in the front of the loge section eating it up, as was everybody else in attendance.

Spectactular show commencing with ‘Sister’ and ending with ‘Casimir Pulaski Day’ (the set spanned all the way from Michigan to a Christmas tune, all the way to the most recent release, The Avalanche.) Full setlist to come.

Suf told various stories including the song meaning behind ‘The Predatory Wasp’, why he chose to write and record his own Chistmas tracks, and how Metropolis is obsessed with Superman. At 2 points in the night, PROPS were thrown into the orchestra and balcony (inflatable Supermen and Santas).

Here’s a video of the new track he performed: ‘Majesty Snowbird’ which, was, absolutely amazing. Probably the best moment of the evening. It clocks in at just under 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Update! Setlist!

Sister
Metropolis
He Woke Me Up Again
Transfiguration
Detroit
To Be Alone With You
Predatory Wasp
John Wayne Gacy
Worst Xmas Ever
Supercomputer
Jacksonville
Abraham
A Good Man Is Hard To Find
Majesty Snowbird
Chicago
—
Zombies
Casimir Pulaski Day