The Bowery Presents

Yola Brings New Music to Racket on Friday Night

Yola – Racket – April 19, 2024

With an EP, My Way, on the way, Yola — born in Bristol, England, based in Nashville, Tenn. — headed out on a short tour of smaller rooms to preview the new music in an intimate setting, which brought her to Racket on Friday. (Meanwhile, my show-going has drastically decreased since March 2020, and somewhere along the way I realized I’d become a pandemic centaur: half man, half couch. It’s not that I’m afraid to go out, it’s just that I’ve grown very comfortable (pronounced: lazy) seated at home. But since Friday was Yola’s second night at Racket and the last night of her tour, I got up and walked over to the Meatpacking District.) 

I already knew that Yola is a fantastic songwriter and a powerhouse singer, but when it comes to her guitar playing, well, I’m like that Shaq apology meme. She can rip it. Backed by a gifted four-piece (guitar, bass, keys and drums), she took the stage armed with a guitar and launched into “Barely Alive.” “Starlight” followed, Yola crooning, “Wanna feel goooooood” resonating across the room. Without the guitar, she danced joyfully during “Dancing Away in Tears,” which seamlessly segued into “Now You’re Here,” the fourth song off her sophomore LP, Stand for Myself.

It turns out that Yola is also a great host, the kind who introduces you to the new friends you haven’t yet met at a party. “How you dooooooooing?” she greeted the enthusiastic crowd. “Every time I play you a new song, I’m gonna tell you about it.” And that’s exactly what she did for the next hour-plus: She sang, she danced, she vibed, she entertained, she was wildly funny.  

Yola introduced new song “Temporary” by mentioning that “fuckboys are the genre of person who have a very specific use.” She offered, “This next one is about an epiphany I had when I was dating. You go and meet someone and sit down and one minute, two minutes, three minutes … and you realize you’ve met a future enemy, a sleeper-cell nemesis” before the aptly titled “Future Enemies.”

They went back-and-forth between old and new (in a departure from her first two LPs filled with R&B-fueled soulful Americana with bits of gospel and rock in the mix, the new leans more toward synth-pop and progressive R&B) and after a short encore break, Yola and Co. returned to play covers of Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love,” Yarbrough and Peoples’ “Don’t Stop the Music” and Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” — the dancing crowd handling the “Oh, no, let’s go” duties — before ending with one last new song, the joyous “Ready.” 

“Goodnight, I’m Yola. Take care,” she said, blowing kisses to the crowd, leaving everyone smiling — and reminding us that life is best lived off the couch. —R. Zizmor | @hand_dog

Photos courtesy of Toby Tenenbaum | @tobytenenbaum

Cypress Hill – Brooklyn Steel – April 19, 2024

On just the second night of their We Legalized It Tour, beloved Southern California hip-hop group Cypress Hill cut loose at a very enthusiastic, sold-out Brooklyn Steel on Saturday night.

Photos courtesy of Adela Loconte | www.adelaloconte.com

Real Estate Bring New Music Home to a Sold-Out Webster Hall

Real Estate – Webster Hall – April 18, 2024

New Jersey natives Martin Courtney and Alex Bleeker have been producing upbeat, jangly melodies as Real Estate for more than a decade. Known for their breezy lamentations on suburbia, the band contributed original songs for the 2019 rom-com Plus One starring Jack Quaid and Maya Erskine. Their latest release, Daniel, continues their canon of cheery tunes with a country tinge, as it was recorded at the famed RCA Studio A  in Nashville, Tenn. The suburban ennui transfers to a perfect soundtrack for a cross-country road trip.

Longtime fans were delighted to have their local boys back as the quintet hit a sold-out Webster Hall on Thursday night for a homecoming show, playing largely from the recent record. They opened with its lead track, “Somebody New.” Real Estate played older favorites “Green Aisles” and “Saturday” early but newer songs from Daniel garnered equal applause. There’s a playfulness that adds to the band’s charm, like the life-size Danny Devito cutout manning the merch booth and their cheeky way of honoring famous Daniels. (Before putting out Daniel, they had been highlighting famous Daniels beginning in December with Daniel Radcliffe and this month with Anthony Daniels.) 

Adding to the whimsy, Bleeker requested the disco ball be activated for “Haunted World,” and despite a delayed start, it cast a glitter across the room. Admittedly a New Jersey band, Courtney confirmed that “Talking Backwards” was their only song recorded in Manhattan and hoped to record more in the future. The set sped along quickly as everyone was having a great time and soon “Darling” was declared the last song. But it wasn’t a surprise when Real Estate returned for an encore with Bleeker’s throbbing basslines on “Friday” and his lead vocals on “Victoria.”  They capped off the show with fan-favorite “It's Real,” ushering folks into the late night with an extra bounce in their step.  —Sharlene Chiu | @Shar0ck

Photos courtesy of Savannah Lauren | @savannahlaurenphoto

Allah-Las Leave Them Wanting More at Webster Hall on Wednesday Night

Alla-Las – Webster Hall – April 17, 2024

In this age of lasers, massive LED screens, backing tracks and effect-laden synthesizers, a no-frills concert can feel like the bolder statement. Playing a packed Webster Hall on a rainy Wednesday night, Los Angeles rockers Allah-Las were decidedly no frills, lo-fi and all the better for it. The band lead off with “The Stuff,” the opening track off last year’s Zuma 85 release, almost purely rhythm with a steady drumbeat, the jangliest of guitars and understated monotone vocals. A pair of small screens bracketed the stage with analog slide projectors displaying simple abstract shapes, few frills, plenty of rock with a short surf-guitar solo to end the first tune. 

From there, they bounced around their catalog, short-but-sweet garage rock evoking a bygone era when a pair of guitars, drums, bass and keys — and a headlong spirit — would suffice to get a club moving. “Tell Me (What’s on Your Mind)” opened with an extended noodling instrumental before dropping into a straight-heat love song. As the set went on, the projections took on more colors and shapes matching an evolving sound: Warm orange for the vocal harmonies, crisp blue for the tight changes, abstract squiggles of guitar and splotches of bass and drums. 

Lead vocals were passed around from guitarists Miles Michaud and Matthew Correia to drummer Pedrum Siadatianon the dreamy psychedelia of “Prazer em Te Conhecer” off 2019’s LAHS release. Like any good rock band playing Webster Hall, Allah-Las made excellent use of the disco ball, adding an otherworldly feel to the surfy desert blues of “Sacred Sands” and a sun-dappled effect to the layered, lazy melodies of “Catalina.” The set closed with a cover of Mazzy Star’s “Blue Flower,” the lyrics “Superstar in your own private movie / I just wanted a minor part” perfectly nestling between the band’s irresistible low-key vibe and the large, cheering crowd calling for more. —A. Stein | @Neddyo

(Allah-Las play Underground Arts in Philadelphia tomorrow.)  

Photos courtesy of Adela Loconte | www.adelaloconte.com

Sir Chloe – Music Hall of Williamsburg – April 13, 2024

After putting out a host of singles, Sir Chloe’s highly anticipated debut full-length, I Am the Dog, arrived last May, earning plaudits from fans and critics alike: “Along with a twangy, soft-loud art-punk sound that evokes the influence of ’90s icons like the Pixies and Hole,” raves AllMusic, “Sir Chloe have a knack for crafting sharp-tongued anthems that are often built around the struggle between the ego and the id, or more specifically, the human and the animal.” On Saturday at a sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg, the Vermont five-piece kicked off a two-night run.

(Sir Chloe play The Sinclair in Cambridge, Mass., on Wednesday.)

(Sir Chloe play Fête Music Hall’s Ballroom in Providence, R.I., on 5/29.)

(Sir Chloe play Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park, N.J., on 6/2.)

Photos courtesy of Adela Loconte | www.adelaloconte.com

INIKO – Webster Hall – April 13, 2024

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist INIKO was back in NYC on Saturday night for a hometown headlining show at Webster Hall.

Photos courtesy of DeShaun Craddock | dac.photography

Mariah the Scientist – Terminal 5 – April 13, 2024

More than halfway into the North American tour in support of her third long-player, last fall’s To Be Eaten Alive, rising R&B star Mariah the Scientist had everyone at a sold-out Terminal 5 eating out of her hand on Saturday night.

(Mariah the Scientist plays Rams Head Live! in Baltimore tonight.)

(Mariah the Scientist plays The National in Richmond, Va., tomorrow.)

(Mariah the Scientist plays The NorVa in Norfolk, Va., on Wednesday.)

Photos courtesy of Toby Tenenbaum | @TobyTenenbaum

Connor Price – Webster Hall – April 11, 2024

He got his start in the entertainment world as a child actor, appearing in a slew of movies and TV shows, but Toronto native Connor Price — inspired by Donald Glover — has been doing his own thing as a rapper for more than five years now, especially finding time to devote to it during the pandemic.

Making his way across North America, out on his first-ever headlining tour, he sold out Webster Hall on Thursday night.

Photos courtesy of Ken Grand-Pierre | www.kenamiphoto.com

CMAT – Music Hall of Williamsburg – April 9, 2024

Influenced by the likes of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and Katy Perry, Dublin singer-songwriter CMAT crafts cheerful pop earworms.

On her second studio full-length, last October’s Crazymad, for Me, “The imaginative complexities required for a concept album often take a while to gestate, usually coming further down the line in an artist’s career. Not for CMAT,” raves The Line of Best Fit. “She’s an artist who has hit a creative purple patch on album number two; imagining, and delivering, a story worthy of its creator’s prowess.”

With just a pair of dates remaining on her current tour, CMAT headlined a sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg on Tuesday night.

Photos courtesy of Katie Dadarria | @dadarria

Ahead of Album Release L’Impératrice Bring New Music to Sold-Out Racket

L’Impératrice – Racket – April 9, 2024

L’Impératrice are one of those bands that feel like a secret. I imagine there were some people looking around the very sold-out Racket on a Tuesday night wondering how everyone else was also in on it, but once the music started, there was clearly no way to contain the word on the French indie-disco band. In fact, this was the first of two sold-out shows in NYC this week, with two more dates at the much bigger Terminal 5 in September, one of which is already sold out.  

The band took the stage promptly at 9: six members on guitar, bass, drums, a pair of keyboards, all fronted by lead singer Flore Benguigui, all wearing light-up medallions flashing to the music as they dropped into “Cosmogonie.” It would be one of several songs featured on their upcoming LP, Pulsar, due out in June, the first of many crowd-quaking beat drops almost immediate, Benguigui’s French vocals echoing as she did an old-school robot dance to the pulsing rhythms and throwback synthesizers from bandleader Charles de Boisseguin. 

Other tracks off the new album included singles “Me Da Igual,” with its dreamlike groove, and the just-released “Danza Marilù,” featuring some melodic twists and a grandiose bridge. “Peur des filles” (translation: afraid of girls), off their 2021 album, Tako Tsubo, was a cross between Funkadelic and Madonna with threatening pink strobes and a dark funk. 

“Heartquake,” a standalone single from 2023, showed the range of their sound with nifty tempo changes leading to a driving rhythmic close. In the crowd it was just a continuous dance party, most songs flowing one into another, in particular, a slick exchange from “Voodoo?” — with Benguigui repeating the English lyric “Can I resist this?” — into “Submarine” without missing a beat. Before they knew it, it was the last dance, the set closing with another new song, “Sweet & Sublime,” complete with some low-end synth bombs that rattled the walls of the club and maybe beyond, the felt-by-all call of the worst kept secret in town.  —A. Stein | @Neddyo

(L’Impérartrice play Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight.)

(L’Impérartrice play Union Transfer in Philadelphia on 9/6.)

(L’Impérartrice play Terminal 5 on 9/7.)

(L’Impérartrice play Terminal 5 on 9/8.)

Photos courtesy of Toby Tenenbaum | @TobyTenenbaum     

Listen to our playlist as the soundtrack to your solar eclipse.

The Magnetic Fields – The Town Hall – April 6, 2024

Twenty-five years ago, Stephin Merritt’s the Magnetic Fields put out the highly acclaimed triple album 69 Love Songs. The A.V. Club labeled it “impossibly daring, breathtakingly gorgeous.” In a rave review, Pitchfork wondered, “Is it a brilliant masterpiece or merely very, very good?”

AllMusic declared the LP, “Stephin Merritt’s most ambitious as well as most fully realized work to date, a three-disc epic of classically chiseled pop songs that explore both the promise and pitfalls of modern romance through the jaundiced eye of an irredeemable misanthrope.” 

Celebrating the album’s silver anniversary, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Merritt has hit the road along with the band’s current lineup and some of the musicians who originally appeared on 69 Love Songs, performing it live — for the first time in nearly two decades — in full over the course of two nights, featuring singers and orchestral-pop arrangements. 

(The Magnetic Fields play Town Hall again on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.)

Photos courtesy of Ellen Qbertplaya | @Qbertplaya

San Fermin Bring New Album to Sold-Out Hometown Show at Racket

San Fermin – Racket – April 5, 2024

San Fermin is the summer festival celebrated in Pamplona, Spain, where the famed running of the bulls occurs. To name a band after such an event reveals much about their evolution, and for founder Ellis Ludwig-Leon, it was a catalyst to release what was thought to be a standalone project back in 2012. Allen Tate and Claire Wellin take turns sharing vocals, while trumpeter John Brandon, saxophonist Stephen Chen, drummer Griffin Brown and guitarist Tyler McDiarmid add to the collective sound that blends indie rock with chamber pop. On Friday night, the Brooklyn band trampled into a sold-out Racket with their new album, Arms. 

As the Cranberries’ “Dreams” played over the house speakers, the collective began the set with the lead single, “Weird Environment.” Ludwig-Leon cheerfully remarked, “It’s great to be home,” before Tate crooned crowd-favorite “Emily.” Although Wellin played fiddle on the previous song, her vocals took center stage on the melancholic “My Love Is a Loneliness.” The juxtaposition of Tate's rich baritone and Wellin’s lilting delivery anchored the show through sonic lows and highs, bringing delight to hometown fans, many of them shouting from the balconies. Prior to performing the title track, “Arms,” Ludwig-Leon shared that he’d gone through a difficult time making the album and that Tate was instrumental in guiding the process with sage advice — even on his honeymoon, a testament to their decades-long partnership. 

Trumpeter Brandon and saxophonist Chen parted the floor as they descended into the crowd, blowing solos on oldie “Sonsick,” one of the night’s exuberant highlights. To preempt the thought of an encore, Tate mentioned learning on tour that “encores are like peekaboos for adults,” announced that they’d have a few more songs. Wellin sang, “You Owe Me,” the new LP’s last track, which delved into an unraveling relationship, like much of the material on Arms. Finally, the freewheeling “Jackrabbit” had everyone in the room on their feet jumping. It was a satisfying homecoming and the perfect end to the first leg of their tour. —Sharlene Chiu | @Shar0ck

Photo courtesy of Sharlene Chiu

Caroline Rose – Brooklyn Steel – April 5, 2024

Less than a week into the new tour for last year’s terrific The Art of Forgetting, smart, funny singer-songwriter (and New York native) Caroline Rose was back in Kings County on Friday night, getting the weekend started at Brooklyn Steel.

(Caroline Rose plays Union Transfer in Philadelphia on Friday.)

Photos courtesy of Ken Grand-Pierre | www.kenamiphoto.com

Destroyer – Music Hall of Williamsburg – April 5, 2024

He’s been a member of the beloved Canadian rock collective the New Pornographers, but singer-songwriter Dan Bejar launched what was initially a solo project, Destroyer, nearly 30 years ago, quickly earning comparisons to David Bowie in the process.

He’s since experimented with a variety of sounds, and on the 13th Destroyer album, Labyrinthitis, “a career peek,” per Pop Matters, which arrived about two years ago. It’s a record “that finds Bejar continuing to transition from being merely an admirable artist into one that’s approachable on a deeper level. As an entry into Destroyer, Labyrinthitis succeeds in a plethora of ways, but where it works the most is in transforming a notoriously prickly artist into one with the unforeseen capacity to retract his spikes. Hard to stand out as a destroyer, it appears, if everything’s already on the cusp of destruction.”  

Halfway into a solo North American tour, accompanied by producer and guitarist and frequent collaborator David Carswell, Bejar headlined a sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday night.

Photos courtesy of Ellen Qbertplaya | @Qbertplaya

Young Fathers – Brooklyn Steel – April 4, 2024

Young Fathers make an all-encompassing brand of progressive hip-hop (think: hip-hop, pop, soul, avant-garde, noise, political, punk, psych, rock, layered harmonies) that is uniquely theirs. The band’s three members met as kids at a youth club, began performing live in their teens and then, after dropping a pair of acclaimed mixtapes, came out swinging on their 2014 debut studio album, Dead, winning the coveted Mercury Prize. 

“Many bands spend their entire careers being compared to a host of their peers and predecessors, operating more as an amalgamation of influences than creators in their own right,” says The Line of Best Fit. “Others, however, become just the opposite — the cultural touchstones against which other artists will always be measured. With Dead, Young Fathers have become on those bands — it’s like nothing else out there.” 

The Edinburgh, Scotland, trio’s fourth LP, Heavy Heavy, arrived last winter, again earning raves. NME dubbed it “anthemic, boundary-breaking pop,” going on to add: “Succinct and underpinned by a catchy melodic structure, it continues Young Fathers’ peerless run of singular albums and further cements them as one of the more unique acts to exist today.”

Young Fathers launched a much-anticipated two-week North American tour on Wednesday at The Sinclair in Boston, and last night they were enthusiastically welcomed by a sold-out Brooklyn Steel.

Photos courtesy of Ken Grand-Pierre | www.kenamiphoto.com

Arlo Parks – Brooklyn Steel – April 2, 2024

Arlo Parks’ sophomore long-player, My Soft Machine, arrived last May, quickly earning praise from fans and critics alike: “UK pop prodigy’s second album provides plush armor against life’s slings and arrows,” raves Rolling Stone. “Parks has a skill for inviting listeners not only into her mind, but into her immediate environment, and the effects bring her racing emotions right to the forefront.” Last night the London singer-songwriter-poet came to a sold-out Brooklyn Steel to close out her North American tour.

Photos courtesy of Samantha Schraub | @samcsch