The band Savages are set to release their new album Adore Lifeon January 22nd. They recently dropped the video for the second single from that album, “Adore”, online and you can stream that below. But first, I must catch up on unpublished photos. Last year the band had a residency in NYC with nine shows across a few venues. I caught them at Baby’s All Right on January 19th and hadn’t posted any of the photos till now for whatever reason. Enjoy some more pics below the jump and plan to see them when they return to the States (dates at the bottom).
Stromae sign at Madison Square Garden on October 1st 2015.
Stromae is not a well known name in the United States. The lanky Belgian artist born Paul van Haver is however a strong enough performer to sell out Madison Square Garden as he did earlier this month. I took a few photos for the VIllage Voice that you can see at the link here but it is their review I want to share first. Sarah Grant wrote, “Stromae’s 2013 breakthrough album, Racine Carrée (English: “square root”), announces his passion for roots music and his polyglot background as a Belgian with Rwandan blood. The “square” part relates to his gawky yet lovable persona”. And I could see why he was lovable as his set was quirky, he sat at a table and drank wine at a couple points and he was a wild dancer throwing himself laterally across the stage. Many of his songs I was really into, as they sounded more powerful than they do on an album, but a few of them seemed to fall flat to me. One of the highlights was, “Stromae’s song to “turn up” to is contemplative and intense. “Papaoutai,” his monster hit, is a trompe-oreilles: a nonsense word that becomes a meaningful phrase. In this case, it means “Papa, where are you?” (ibid).
I really was excited to see Janelle Monáeopen the show (I had missed her at least two other times in NYC this year) along with her Wondaland records friend Jidenna, the “Classic Man”, who I spotted enjoying Stromae’s set on the floor (but his friend with a cane wouldn’t allow me to get a photo unfortunately). Monáe is a real treat to photograph with her stark costumes and her vibrant antics, plus her music is great too. Shout out to her guitarist Kellindo Parker for being awesome and for sharing a photo of mine earlier. Someone found it and turned it into a sketch. Click through the jump to check out many more of my photos from the show or click this link to purchase Stromae’s work from Amazon!
I saw Vintage Trouble at Afropunk Fest a couple of years back when they just had one studio album to their name and really enjoyed their set. This year, they did an Afropunk warm in New York City at an event at Lincoln Center Out of Doors (where I got some really wild photos in the first four songs or so) ahead of their second album release, 1 Hopeful Rd. and the Afropunk Fest itself.
When the full Afropunk Fest rolled around, I was hoping to get some great shots of the band but for whatever reason, I was not granted a photo pass (even though I had one the past three years). However, I still managed to get a bunch of damn good pics as I stood against the rail for their entire set. Even though frontman Ty Taylor didn’t get as crazy as he had at Lincoln Center, he did end up sweating profusely. Vintage Trouble are a totally great band to see live and their new album is worth checking out. Check out more photos of Vintage Trouble at Afropunk after the jump!
Kamasi Washington‘s The Epicis the strongest jazz album of the year without a doubt. Clocking in at almost three hours, the album, like the artist behind it, is unconventional but tremendous. Signed to Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder label, Washington creates jazz even as he roams amongst hip-hop colleagues, having appeared on albums from Kendrick Lamar and Thundercat for example.
A better recap will be up on PopMatters. And before that one of my images was featured on Dan Ouellette’s review over at ZealNYC, where he wrote, “Arguably not since Ornette Coleman left L.A. with his quartet in the late ‘50s to turn New York audiences onto his newfangled “free jazz” has a West Coast artist been so anticipated to finally arrive in the Gotham heart of jazz. While Washington may not make the profound impact that Ornette creatively foisted upon the jazz world, he will, judging by his first album and his fantastic showing at the Blue Note, continue to turn heads and open ears. As for significance, what he could do is introduce a new audience to jazz.” Follow the link above to read the rest and also check out the rest of my photos from Washington’s August 25th 8 pm set at Blue Noteafter the jump.
In 2010 or 2011, a friend of mine recommended the band Philly-area band The Kominas to me. For whatever reason I didn’t get to see them till August 22nd 2015 at their show at Baby’s All Rightin Williamsburg. The put on a great performance and their energy was tremendous. Their performance was in the middle of DJ sets from DJ Haram, DJ Rekha (who put together the event) and Bobby Friction, whose birthday was (around) the same night. At the end of their set The Kominas wished Friction a happy birthday with the help of the crowd. Check out photos of their show after the jump.
I don’t know his music but Romeo Santos puts on a fun concert based up the three songs I saw and from the review that ran on the Village Voice with a few of my photos (that are not posted here). In her review, Claire Lobenfeld wrote about his awesomeness, “In the middle of Romeo Santos’s final night of his three-show run at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, the anointed king of the new generation of bachata told the crowd, “Do not bring men to my concert.” This wasn’t a comment on the many instances of girlfriend-stealing and temporary lover-dom he had been espousing for most of the evening. This was about “Dudes who hate at home.” As he went on, he said in so many words that gay fans were welcome, as well as men who were there to have a good time, but that frowning boyfriends and husbands should be left scowling on the couch. “Why do you like Romeo? I can do that shit better than him!” he joked to the crowd. “No, you can’t, motherfuckers. Or else I wouldn’t be up here.””
Well played Romeo. Check out some additional photos from the third and final night of his run at the Barclays Centerin Brooklyn after the jump.
