Hott Tickets!
with Mike Conklin
If there’s one show in the next two weeks you cannot miss, it’s Ted Leo at Webster Hall on 12/3. But let’s face it, you’ve probably seen him more times than you can even count, that last record just gets worse and worse with age, and really, it’s becoming more and more clear that his brother Chris was the one with all the talent. So why go? Well, because the Black Hollies are on the bill, and — wait for it, wait for it — they’re the best band currently making the rounds in NYC. They play 60s-style garage rock like all those bands you hated a few years ago, but they do it without the obnoxious swagger that invariably sends your bullshit-meter through the roof. Get tickets and go early – they go on at 6pm, and if we’re lucky, they’ll play ‘What You Want,’ the only song in recent memory that wouldn’t stick out like a sore, indie-rock thumb on Nuggets.
Also of note: On Thursday 11/24, no questions asked: don’t go out. Just hang with your family and/or friends and eat a bunch of delicious food. You’ll be all good and rested so that on Saturaday 11/26 you can see the Mendoza Line at 4pm at Soundfix Records in Williamsburg.
11/28, Vietnam finishes up a month-long residency at Scenic. Stop rolling your eyes — I know they were on Vice, but they’re not anymore. And they do a far better impression of Loaded-era Velvets than anyone I’ve ever heard.
On 12/2, head to the Mercury Lounge to see David Dondero and Chris Mills. Dondero sounds exactly like Conor Oberst, but in interviews Oberst has admitted to totally ripping him off. Mills is set to appear with a 10-piece band and will be playing songs from the recently released Wall to Wall Sessions.
Later that same night, head to Pianos, where Sergio Vega will be spinning. Yes, Sergio Vega. From Quicksand. And no, I don’t think he’ll be playing exclusively songs in drop-D tuning.
