| Brooklyn Stomp |
| Written by Pete Millerman and Mark Rifkin | |||
CaveStomp!: The Garage Rock FestacularNov. 2-4, times varyWarsaw at The Polish National Home 261 Driggs Ave, Brooklyn NY 718-387-0505 warsawconcerts.com November 3 Is Just Another Night in the Never-Ending Crush of Bands Playing New York City  The Wiyos will reveal new CD at the Lyceum  The Izzys head to Lakeside Lounge with new CD  Railroad Earth rides into town for Irving Plaza gig  Amayo will lead Antibalas in 2:00 am show at BAM  Eleanor Friedberger will heat up the Hiro Ballroom with brother Matthew Take November 3, for example. An extraordinary amount of hot shows are scheduled for Saturday night, mostly featuring homegrown acts that are starting to make their mark on a bigger stage, with a few old-timers back to recapture their old glory. Following up many months spent barnstorming the continent, the Wiyos are returning home to celebrate the release of a new CD, their third, at the Brooklyn Lyceum. The trio brings a vaudevillian sensibility to their unique take on “ragtime blues, hillbilly swing, and old-time country,” mixing originals with older numbers by the likes of the Washboard Rhythm Kings and Cannon’s Jug Stompers. Lately, Teddy Weber, of Massachusetts compatriots the Hunger Mountain Boys, has been sitting in, lending steel guitar to the volatile, oft-kazoo-driven mix. With their immediately likable stage presence, great musicianship, and tangible love for hokum, Victrolas, and all things American old school, an evening with the Wiyos always promises an entertaining show. Local favorites the Izzy’s, meanwhile, continue their first-Saturday-of-the-month residency at Lakeside Lounge, also behind a new album, The Violent Bear It Away. As no review of this foursome seems to omit referencing Goats Head Soup, Sticky Fingers, or the Flamin’ Groovies, we’ll abide by these comparisons while arguing that if the terminology “bar band” has somehow become a slur, it can be remedied by seeing the Izzys break free and rock out ferociously in what, for them, is a perfect environment. As a special treat this Saturday, they’ll be adding pedal steel to the mix, exploring their country-blues roots. Roots-based road warriors Railroad Earth, who hail from the forgotten corners of New Jersey’s rural hinterlands, are known for crafting beautiful, danceable songs from the bountiful fruit of the “Americana” tree. Somewhat unfairly lumped in with the “jam-band” scene—due, perhaps, to a combination of a slightly hippie-ish fan base and an affiliation with String Cheese Incident’s SCI Fidelity CD label—Railroad Earth is cut from a different, far less noodly and self-indulgent cloth. While the mostly acoustic six-piece features tremendous musicians who can stretch a collaboration to admirable lengths, their improvisations are inevitably song-based and organic, with a warmth missing from most purveyors of the jam-band aesthetic. Hitting the Fillmore at Irving Plaza Saturday night with Virginia’s foot-stompin’ Old School Freight Train as support, Railroad Earth nestles in an area closer to such revivalists as Old Crow Medicine Show, only with more exploration and interplay. They can journey “out” while not leaving the audience—or song—behind. With a nod to their forebears, Railroad Earth mixes up the setlist for every show, with a lineup featuring fiddle, mandolin, and banjo and influenced by bluegrass, folk, and the feel of such albums as Workingman’s Dead and Music from Big Pink. Expect the type of original compositions that don’t make it onto radio anymore accented by the occasional Robert Earl Keen or Gram Parsons cover, the odd Grandpa Jones lick, the stray unearthed jig or reel . . . and a lot of positive energy. The Brooklyn Academy of Music is one of the city’s most innovative institutions, featuring an eclectic mix of film, theater, dance, music, and art. On November 3, they’ll be hosting Takeover, an all-night open house with live musical performances from 10:45 till about three in the morning. The headliner, Brooklyn’s own Antibalas, will go on at 2:00, playing its unique brand of Afro-beat funk and fusion influenced by the great Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti. Lead singer Amayo will turn the show into a call for action, fighting the power as the band—which sometimes numbers more than a dozen people onstage at any one time, including a panoply of horns—grooves its way through tunes from its latest album, Security. Nashville-based Be Your Own Pet will kick things off at their own breakneck pace at 10:45. Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger like to do things their own way. The Brooklyn-based brother-and-sister duo are the leaders of the Fiery Furnaces, who have just released their sixth album, the sparkling Widow City. The record opens with the tantalizing, carnivalesque seven-minute epic “The Philadelphia Grand Jury,” a Brecht-Weill dance of death that sets the stage for the rest of the disc, which mixes in offbeat electronic sounds (supplied by Matt) over, under, and all around Eleanor’s distinctive voice and the album’s mysterious, poetic lyrics. This summer, the Furnaces played an amazing free show in Socrates Sculpture Park; it was supposed to preview Widow City, but instead Matt and Eleanor experimented by stringing together different versions of older songs in a kind of indie-rock opera. They’re more likely to play tracks from the new disc, with Robert D’Amico on drums and Jason Loewenstein on guitar, at their November 3 gig at the Hiro Ballroom, their final stateside show before heading over to Europe. Pit Er Pat opens up. CaveStomp!, the self-described Garage Rock Festacular, will be celebrating its tenth anniversary with a weekend of retro shows at Warsaw. On Saturday night, the sixties come alive with the Strawberry Alarm Clock, the L.A. band best known for such psychedelic hits as “Incense and Peppermints,” “Tomorrow,” and “Sit with the Guru.” Filling out the bill are the New Colony Six, the Alarm Clocks, the Urges, and the Higher State, with MC Peter Zaremba from the Zombies. And that’s all just one night in the Big Apple—not to mention Hem at the Highline Ballroom, Gogol Bordello at Terminal 5, Grizzly Bear at the Society for Ethical Culture, Phil Lesh and Friends at the Nokia Theatre, and so many more. We’re exhausted just thinking about it. But we also can’t wait for it to be here. {mos_ri}
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