Tonight: Fat Tuesday w/ Wavves + A Snow Parade

It's snowing...not sure I'm going.

About a month ago, we here at The L decided to make this year's Fat Tuesday one for the books. We asked Wavves if he would play a free show; he said yes. So did Hipsterdom's newly crowned queen of party-starting, MNDR. We obviously wanted to incorporate bead-throwing, so we made plans for local burlesque stars to ride on a float accompanied by crazy costumed revelers (that's you, dear readers!) as we make our way through the streets of Williamsburg to Brooklyn Bowl. And what would Mardi Gras be without Southern Comfort drink specials, prizes for the best bicycle float, and a few more surprises? A disgrace. (There will be those things.) RSVPs are required (must be 21+); do that at mardigras@thelmagazine.com. More info here.

Wavves Playing Free L Magazine Party @ Brooklyn Bowl

The L Magazine is celebrating Fat Tuesday with an indie rock show. Kinda weird right? Oh well, it's free and since SoCo is a sponsor I'm guessing their will be some kind of free drinks. To start the festivities there will be a parade complete with floats, costumes, and beads (show your tits!). It all starts at McCarren Park and then ends up at Brooklyn Bowl. You gotta RSVP to get in.

Link:

L Mag Free Wavves Show

It'll be just like this, only colder and more hipstery.

Tonight: Wavves; Suckers & Wild Yaks; Team Robes (Free Show!); Netherfriends

• Wavves @ Market Hotel: Wavves are pretty awesome and when I saw them at Bowery Ballroom the whole time I was saying to myself "This would be so much better at Market Hotel". $10
  
• Suckers & Wild Yaks @ Glasslands: Somehow I haven't actually seen Suckers yet. I don't understand how that's possible. But Rob from Wild Yaks swears that they're amazing and that's good enough for me. $6.
  
• Team Robespierre @ Legion Bar: This is my FUCK YEAH show of the night. A free Team Robes show at Legion Bar. Sign me up! VICE and Colt are involved too so there's going to be free beer. I may or may not hit the other shows but I will def be at this.
• Netherfriends @ The Glass Door: Netherfriends are an awesome band from Chicago. I thought I exchanged some emails with them a few months back but I can't find them so maybe I hallucinated the whole thing, damn you peyote. Anyway, this is a house party and my homeboy DJ Full Time Fun is spinning too. Also, Purple Crush is playing but I can't remember if I like them or not. $5, 98 Moore Street 2nd Floor.
  

Wavves, Woods, Real Estate, & Popo Played Bowery Ballroom 7/15

Battle of the Bands: Vocal Distortion Edition would be a great way to describe this show and honestly it's the only thing these four bands had in common.

I got there pretty early and for good reason, Popo was playing. These dudes have played a few shows out in deep Brooklyn and they're good. Wednesday night was no different. They play high energy punk and had the Ballroom packed, which is not easy to do when you're the first of four bands.

My only negative thing is that they have a song that has the exact same riff as "Nervous Breakdown" by Black Flag. When they started playing that I actually started singing along and then realized they weren't. So yeah, let's scrap the Black Flag knock off song, otherwise good shit - as always.

Next up was Real Estate, whom I've seen once before in a similar situation. Here's the thing about Real Estate - they're super fucking mellow. Like drink a jug of red wine, eat ten pot brownies, and take a toke off an opium pipe mellow. So why is it these dudes always play AFTER fast punk bands? Honestly I think I like them but I'm always so worked up from the opener and then they come on and bore the shit out of me. Again, it's weird because I dig their music it's just that it's a tough transition to go from pogoing to sitting on the floor vibing.

Woods was next up on the bill. I didn't know much about them before-hand, aside from seeing their names on Todd P bills at far off DIY venues. I had no expectations and that's probably good because they were pretty weird. The music was interesting and they had this circus gimp dude writhing on the floor screaming into a pair of rigged headphones. On the floor in front of him were a bunch of pedals he was using to manipulate the fuck out of his vocals. It was kinda cool really. But again, Popo set the mood for me and these kids were also kinda mellow so I couldn't get into it.

From what I've heard of Wavves I wasn't sure what to expect. I mean I thought they were kinda punk but then the fact they have Woods and Real Estate opening for them made me think I may have been misled. Well, they quickly affirmed their punkness when they opened with "Nervous Breakdown" by Black Flag. Sound familiar? After the first few chords I was like, "Oh shit, these dicks ripped off Black Flag too?", and then the vocals came in and it was actually the real "Nervous Breakdown". It was a killer cover (and likely a jab at Popo) and it was a great way to wake everyone the fuck up. A pit instantly formed and did not die down for the rest of the set.

That's pretty much all it took for me. I was sold after that. The originals that they followed with were all in the same spirit. People were jumping around going crazy. It was super fucking fun. My single complaint with Wavves is the vocal distortion is too much. I dig vocal distortion but when no one can understand what you're saying between songs it's too much. Otherwise Wavves play this very So-Cal sounding brand of garage punk. Lots of Agent Orange and Black Flag can be heard and then a little modern indie is thrown in to keep the youngsters interested. I'm just super bummed that I didn't go see them at Market Hotel.

Wednesday night could have been two awesome shows but instead it was one mediocre event. Popo and Wavves whould have played a show together and the same goes for Real Estate and Woods, both would have been cool shows. But sandwiching Real Estate and Woods between two upbeat punk bands is just dumb. It totally ruined it for me. I still left happy after seeing Wavves but it was just a weird night overall.

Wavves

Woods


Popo

Tonight: Wavves @ Bowery; Motel Motel & Evil Dead 2 @ McCarren

Wavves, Woods, Real Estate, & Popo are playing Bowery Ballroom tonight. That's a pretty solid lineup if you ask me. I've seen both Popo and Real Estate before. Popo are just fucking awesome and Real Estate is good but a little too mellow at times. I'm sorta on the fence about Woods and Wavves so seeing them live will be interesting.

Elsewhere! Motel Motel plays at Summerscreen at McCarren Park across from Turkey's Nest. They actually let people in with Big Buds last time, which is super awesome. Also, the movie is Evil Dead II, so it's going to be really fun.