Indie-girl-rock supergroup Wild Flag played their first New York show since the release of their self-titled album on Saturday, October 15, at Brooklyn’s Bell House. After playing a series of sold-out shows beginning in the spring, the band finally have a proper record to peddle. But as good as that album is—and it’s pretty good—there’s no replacing their live show. Maybe it’s just a natural result of debuting as a live band with no catalog to speak of. But the excitement generated when the band was announced last year and then when they played their first shows and improbably lived up to the hype—that’s tough to capture on record.

It’s possible that the reason the live shows are so energetic is because the band’s Sleater-Kinney half—drummer Janet Weiss and guitarist/singer Carrie Brownstein— were so used to playing huge venues (Weiss with a host of other bands besides SK), and just forgot to tone it down for these smaller clubs. But that would be ignoring the contributions of keyboardist Rebecca Cole and guitarist/singer Mary Timony, who for my money is one of the best female rock guitarist around, period.

On Saturday night, they tore through their album at a blistering pace (though delving into meandering jamming periodically), then threw in a few covers for good measure, one of which was Television’s “See No Evil.” And it really can’t be overstated how well Brownstein and Timony compliment each other. I’d give Timony the nod as far as axe chops go (can’t beat the jagged, Medieval guitar lines and two-finger tapping!) but Brownstein is by far the better showman. But you can definitely see the influence they’re having on each other,  especially in Timony’s attempts at keeping up with Brownstein’s master class of Pete Townshend guitar kicks and jumps. They may be the most endearingly dorky guitar histrionics ever, like if Napoleon Dynamite was a girl who was awesome at guitar.

It should be also mentioned that the opener was Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Renaldo + Band—a four-piece that also included SY drummer Steve Shelley—in their first performance as a band, according to Renaldo. “It’s a strange night to be starting a new project,” Renaldo said, referencing the fact that his Sonic Youth bandmates—wife/husband Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore— had just announced their split. He actually made quite a few references to the divorce, introducing one song saying “This goes out to a couple of friends of mine who are having a tough time,” and after introducing Shelley on the drums, “We’re still playing together.”

Musically, Renaldo’s sound didn’t veer too far from Sonic Youth’s musical palette. You could easily imagine Gordon or Moore speak-singing his lyrics, which may be a backhanded way of saying that the tunes sounded like decent facsimiles of Sonic Youth songs.

The Tennessee country/punk outfit Those Darlins hit New York City on Friday, October 14th, playing Brooklyn’s Bell House. The three-girls-and-a-guy group got the crowd going by opening with their “let’s just be friends” anthem “Be Your Bro,” and neither the band nor the crowd (which I’m pretty sure included Best Coast baritone guitarist Bobb Bruno) let up the rest of the night. The band oozed attitude and desire (though in the case of “Fatty Needs a Fix,” the desire is for a lover—to get some food, stat!), rolling through most of their second album Screws Get Loose, adding in a generous dose of songs from their more-countrified first record.

Lead singer Jessi Darlin came out in what’s becoming her standard sequined gold leotard, which she totally pulled off despite the fact that it looked absolutely ridiculous. Her look was helped out by a serious dosage of crazy eyes, and a few forays offstage into the crowd, which added to the whole “screws get loose” concept. And while Jessi is center stage most of the time —and it’s hard not to be the center of attention when you look like Amélie in a sparkling unitard—Nikki and Kelley Darlin, along with drummer Linwood Regensburg, all chipped in their fair share of lead vocals. Standouts included Kelley Darlin’s “Boys,” an ode to the men she encounters on tour, and Nikki Darlin’s matter of fact, back-the-fuck-up-mister declaration, “Wild One.”

While performing all our favourite hits, he jumped around the stage, joked with his DJ and interacted freely with the audience of about 50 people in what felt like a private show. He even gave us a preview of a newly penned track ‘Love Suicide’. Check out the pics below:

Friday: Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Tiga, Gareth Emery, Markus Schulz, Benny Benassi, Moby, Carl Cox, Tiesto, Richie Hawtin

Saturday: Beardyman, Sander van doorn, Luciano, Tommy Lee & DJ Aero, Above & Beyond, Dirty South, Guetta, ATB, Ferry

Sunday: John Dahlback, Calvin Harris, Chromeo, Afrojack, Dubfire, Diplo, Armin van Buuren

BSK = Photo Credit: Bennett Sell-Kline for ElectricZooFestival.com
SRK = Photo Credit: Scott Kowalchyk for ElectricZooFestival.com
JRL = Photo Credit: Jordan Loyd for ElectricZooFestival.com

As far as cool lineups of bands go, you’d be hard-pressed to find a trio more unassailably cool than the three bands that played the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn on August 12. Critical darling Kurt Vile, with his band the Violators, opened the show under the early evening sun and played a short set comprised mostly of songs from the recent, great Smoke Ring For My Halo. The newly formed super group Wild Flag— comprised of indie-rock heavweights  Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney, Mary Timony of Helium, and Rebecca Cole of the Minders—followed with a set from their upcoming debut record. Wild Flag sounded great, but raw, at their Brooklyn show in the spring, and it’s clear that they’re a much more cohesive unit five months later. Timony in particular is clearly more energized, and seems to have adopted some of Brownsteins guitar-hero theatrics.

After two pretty impressive openers, headliners Sonic Youth played a predictably great, multiple encore set as the setting sun gave way to a full moon. Playing again as a five-piece (with ex-Pavement bassist Mark Ibold back in the fold), Sonic Youth sounded as vital as ever. It’s almost impossible to believe that Kim Gordon is pushing 60. Thurston Moore’s no spring chicken either, but likewise shows no signs of slowing down. Given how young the crowd seemed to be, Sonic Youth are definitely proving they’ve still got it.

DJLilAlex by ShakedownFestival

Storming onto the stage just before 11, Tinie Tempah performed all his top hits from the album Disc-covery including, Pass Out, Frisky, Written in the Stars, Til im gone and Miami 2 ibiza – plus a couple more. However, the set felt incredibly short at just over 30 mins, with the DJ shouting after he fled the stage, “look you tired him out already”. Nonetheless, short but sweet comes to mind as the crowd were bouncing from start to finish – particularly during his smash-hit collab Miami 2 ibiza.