Jeffrey Lewis & Peter Stampfel
Almost three years ago to this very day, Shea hosted the record release show for Come On Board, a collaborative LP between NYC's multidisciplinary anti-folk hero Jeffrey Lewis and Peter Stampfel - a legend in his own right, with a career that began nearly 50 years ago (as a founding member of the seminal folk group The Holy Modal Rounders) that has continued strong into the 21st century. Backed by a large mob of some of their closest friends and confidants, this performance conjures up a special kind of magic forged by years of experience and mutual respect that has become an increasingly rare occurrence on Brooklyn stages in the 'teens. At its core are two seasoned vets, decades apart in age with thousands of combined gigs between them, playing with the kind of endearing looseness that reminds us of why people began making music together in the first place. This looming fact, along with the sheer joy brought by tracks such as "Ass In The Air", "Bottlecaps Are Cool" and "Demon In The Ground" makes for a great heart-warming listen for those who've been beaten up emotionally by the relentless winter weather. Clocking in at just under 90 minutes, it also set the record for longest performance at the space at the time, obliterating the standard 30 minute set length.
Included at the end are some "bonus tracks" from their return visit in May in 2013, bringing it all to a close with a particularly spirited version of the "Surfin' Bird" medley, which over the course of 12 minutes builds to a frenzied interpretation of (not kidding) Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird". Like the true folk giants of yesteryear, these guys are living proof that countless years of honing your craft can indeed teach you one of life's most valuable lessons - not to give a shit. -AR
Alice Cohen
Contrary to the thousands of musicians whose careers began the day they purchased their first MacBook Pro, Alice Cohen has been honing her electronic craft for decades. With a discography dating back to 1979, Alice was very much present at the dawn of synth-pop in the United States and has been steadily pushing the boundaries of it ever since. This set, taken from an early evening performance in March of last year, is a true mixed bag of abstract emotions, all sung with the kind of sophistication that only comes with her amount of experience. Pay extra special attention to "Traffic Jam Heartbeat" and "Carnival Ride"; consecutive tracks with distinctly opposite vibes, the former manages to perfectly encapsulate the building intensity of some of the worst backups on the highway, while the latter conversely paints one of the most serene pictures in the archives. -AR
Celestial Shore
There's an element of unpredictability to Celestial Shore's songs. On first listen the delicate vocal harmonies are bound to lull you into a false sense of security before jarring tempo changes or straight up noise freakouts pull you out of the trance. Cel Shore manages to nail a delicate balance between those two extremes, and never feels like other bands that are more etude than attitude when it comes to elaborate song structure. Their live show still manages to be loose all while they pull off their labyrinthian tunes with impeccable precision - it's a joy to see and yet another duality for this complex trio. Their new LP 10x is out now on Hometapes -LC
Family of Love
On the eve of a deep freeze that is supposed to bring record-breaking cold temperatures across the country, we reminisce about our own very first experience with extreme weather. 'Twas the Saturday before Christmas 2009, and Family of Love was rehearsing here in the afternoon. This was a special occasion, like most Family of Love gigs around that time; geography had prohibited some of its core members from getting together that often. When canceling the show didn't seem like an option, a consensus was reached that we would "play ball" until we got snowed out. Weather predictions had been wrong so many times before and hyped up dozens of snowstorms that went way soft-- it was a risk everyone was willing to take. Shortly after the show was under way, we were quickly being proved very wrong-- a rare occasion that the weatherman may have underestimated. Everyone that night had a fairly split decision to make-- to get out while you still could or run the risk of being indefinitely snowed in. The stakes of this decision were particularly high, as this was a time before there was heat of any kind at Shea. Those who left probably had a nice, cozy, warm evening. Those who stayed would rock (or get rocked) in their winter coats. Thankfully, Family of Love rose to the occasion and brought up the temperature at the Stadium that night with a blistering set, led by the endless thrashing of NYC drum guru Greg Fox and the searing riffs and screamage of O.G. Shea all-star (and then Liturgy bandmate) Tyler Dusenbury. A lot of people trekked it home in the elements afterwards, and a lot of people had to crash on the couch-- but courtesy of the Fam's performance (and the hot toddies supplied by SDJ alum Hard Nips) they all did so extremely satisfied. Thinking we may have had to call off the show at some point, we had decided to forego our normal mic set up for recording, opting instead to place a single microphone at the back of the room pointed towards the stage. The fact that all of those big, heavy sounds fit into one tiny microphone is one of the more baffling concepts in the archives. And although this was the Family's first and last performance at Shea, Tyler has since come out of retirement to bring his dust-bowl psych project A.M. Gems to life at Shea-- a memorable night in it's own right, ironically taking place on a 90 degree day in June. Here's to hoping this set can have the same effect some four years later, and bring a little heat to what could be 2014's coldest day. -AR