Instagram story viewer> @hotrockreview> Posts

Hot Rock

@hotrockreview

25

followers

0

following

Live music reviews - DM if you saw a show recently and have a thing to say about it
@izzy.lakes

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Wed June 24 The Rooftop at Pier 17, NYC

By Izzy Hall

Violet Grohl ~ I’ll admit, I arrived one song late to this set. But I remember a velvety voice over staticky guitars echoing along the East River Greenway. Because I’d never heard any of her music before, I didn’t know what Grohl’s voice sounded like, only that she would be opening for The Breeders. For some reason, even after reaching The Rooftop at Pier 17 and seeing her and her band on stage in front of me, I was convinced they must be a different act in the lineup. The frontwoman wore a baby-blue knee-length shift dress that billowed in the wind, her hair pulled back into a simple ponytail. Black, impenetrable sunglasses gave her an air of mystery. She hardly moved away from the microphone, her feet planted on the ground, one hand grasping the stand.

Read more at link in bio.

Wed June 24 The Rooftop at Pier 17, NYC

By Izzy Hall

The Breeders ~ Kim Deal was wearing a bright blue vintage Jaws long-sleeve shirt. It was the first detail I noticed as I watched one of my all-time favorite bands enter the stage. The shirt encompassed everything I knew and loved about Kim. Seeing her there, I understood all at once that this icon has never lost her distinct, 90’s-era coolness. Last Splash was born out of a decade when ironic graphic shirts were pivotal to the zeitgeist. And, strangely enough, they still scream the same thing they did forty years ago: “Who gives a fuck? Let’s have some fun.” That night I couldn’t agree more, as The Breeders sped through a set packed full of one seminal song after another.

Read more at link in bio. taken in The Rooftop at Pier 17 by @hotrockreview

4

0

2 months ago

Slide Away Fest Part 2 ~ Fri May 15 Brooklyn Paramount, NYC

By Sam Seward

Loveliescrushing ~ Shoegaze is often described as ‘beautiful noise’: loud, ringing guitars washed in effects that pummel and soothe the ears. Hell, the 2014 documentary that discussed the impact of three of the most influential shoegaze acts—Cocteau Twins, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and My Bloody Valentine—bears the same name as this descriptor. Being an avid fan of shoegaze myself, I understood why the genre was described this way, but never found myself agreeing with the phrase. Upon my arrival at the Slide Away Festival, I was not expecting any challenge to my preconceived notions. What followed was brilliance, and the epitome of ‘beautiful noise.’

Read more at the link in bio.

Slide Away Fest Part 2 ~ Fri May 15 Brooklyn Paramount, NYC

By Sam Seward

Hum ~ If you asked me five years ago who my favorite band was, I’d tell you Deerhunter, without a shadow of a doubt. If you asked me now who my favorite band is, I’d still say Deerhunter, but toss in a ‘Hum’s also up there for me’ right after. Given the likelihood of a Deerhunter reunion decreases by the day, a Hum concert was the more realistic option if I wanted to see ‘my favorite band’ perform live. However, a Hum concert also seemed like a pipe dream.

After the release of their 2020 album, Inlet, a punishing masterpiece from the Champaign shoegazers, they were unable to perform these songs live due to that other major event in 2020. Even after COVID restrictions were lifted, they didn’t tour, perhaps due to other commitments, old age, or lack of motivation. A worldwide pandemic has that effect on people. The band was then met with tragic news on June 29th, 2021, as drummer Bryan St. Pere—who had given Electra 2000, You’d Prefer an Astronaut, Downward is Heavenward, and Inlet the distinctive, pummeling drums that helped make Hum alternative legends—passed away at the age of 52. After that, Hum disintegrated.

Any dreams of seeing the band live seemed improbable, impossible even, until the lineup of the third annual Slide Away festival was announced, brought to us by modern legends Nothing. At the top of the bill, Hum.

Read more taken in Brooklyn Paramount by @hotrockreview

6

0

4 months ago

Slide Away Fest Part 1 ~ Fri May 15 Brooklyn Paramount, NYC

Bleary Eyed ~ From what I remember, this band never said their name. Instead, between songs, lead singer and guitarist Nathaniel Salfi kept bringing up his love for the Philadelphia Eagles. He probably talked more about this team than he did about the songs or the band, as the other members gazed at their shoes. Out of everything on their setlist, the echoey, ringing riff of the song “Upset” stayed with me the most.

Chapterhouse ~ One of the more soothing sets in the Slideaway Fest was the seminal English band Chapterhouse. Having reached their peak in the late eighties to early nineties, during which they lasted only a few years, the five of them reunited a second time (the first being in 2010) with plans to release new music this year. Calmly and politely, they played through each song, only stopping to say a few brief thank yous to the audience. They had the charm of a confident older band made up of friendly middle-aged dads who no longer feel the need to impress an audience with theatrics.

Nothing ~ These guys must have felt pretty smart when they came up with the perfect band name to answer the question, “What do you want to play?” “Nothing,” you’d respond, if they’ve piqued your interest. But this band is not nothing; it is, in fact, something. Their name speaks to the 90’s culture of antagonistic wit, and their sound blends grunge and shoegaze, making them an ideal band to come right before the main headliner, Hum. Compared to Chapterhouse, though, they came across as significantly more theatrical.

Read more at the link in bio. taken in Brooklyn Paramount by @hotrockreview

4

0

5 months ago

Fri Jan 2 Pappy and Harriet’s, Pioneertown

Flat Worms ~ The sound of LA-based post-punk garage rock band Flat Worms melded nicely with the feeling of the California desert: vast, unrefined, and gritty. The lead vocalist, Will Ivy, looked like he belonged at Pappy and Harriet’s—the famous off-the-beaten-path restaurant and venue located in Old West-themed Pioneertown—with an embroidered western-style button-down and shaggy hair. He didn’t sing, but rather loudly exclaimed things like “silver steel,” “red tulip,” and “I can’t stop breathing” before gliding into a fuzzy, animated guitar solo.

Frankie and the Witch Fingers ~ This five-piece psych-punk band was a ball of energy. If the Flat Worms had awoken the crowd at Pappy and Harriet’s, Frankie and the Witch Fingers sent them into a raucous rampage. I attended this show with my dad, who immediately drew a comparison to King Gizzard, not just because they’re both quirky variations of “Insert Person’s Name and the Something Else,” but because of their eclectic sound—ranging from raw to polished—blending and combining genres. Frankie primarily played songs from their newest album, “Trash Classic,” which, ironically, lacks variation but maintains an intense, fast pace throughout (Gizzard’s Nonagon Infinity comes close).

Read more at the link in bio. taken in Pappy & Harriet's by @hotrockreview

6

0

9 months ago

Tue Sep 23 TV Eye, NYC

People I Love ~ When I think about it, his stage name is pretty witty. If I said to someone I saw “People I Love”—Brooklyn-based Dan Poppa’s solo project—they might think I literally went to see people I love, as I unconsciously admit to loving his music. Did I love People I Love? Like many of my favorite bands (and everything I’ve reviewed so far), they sounded like they came straight out of the 90’s with their simple, quiet-loud electric noise.

English Teacher ~ You know that one teacher you had in high school who made you feel seen and heard during a time in your life when you didn’t know who you were or what you wanted and nothing made sense? Seeing this band, English Teacher (for me it was always the English teacher) created that same sensation. Being in a room with this band in the middle of a chaotic city at the beginning of my 20's, hearing their heartfelt, vulnerable and consoling lyrics, their eclectic, genre-defying sound, and Lily Fontaine’s angelic voice, it felt like things made sense.

Read more at the link in bio. taken in TV Eye NYC by @hotrockreview

4

0

a year ago

Fri Sep 12 Union Pool, NYC

Zastava ~ A purely loud, angry, 90’s inspired rock band from Detroit, Zastava brought the passion and DIY ethos. Not anything essentially new, per se, but it’s always good to see a band like that totally in their element. Toward the beginning it was clear they seemed a little unsure of what to be doing with themselves onstage, but gradually they lost whatever it was holding them back and let go.

Radio Free Alice ~ Not only are they one of the most cohesive young bands I’ve heard both stylistically and musically, Radio Free Alice is doing something new to pop music that hasn’t been done in a while. One minute they sounded like a new wave band from the 80’s, and the next they were reminiscent of the early 2000’s rock revival, and the next they were on the edge of something new. All of it was irresistibly catchy, without nicely fitting into today’s classification of “indie” rock.

Read more at the link in bio. taken in Union Pool, Bklyn by @hotrockreview

6

0

a year ago

Thurs Sep 11 The Rooftop at Pier 17, NYC

Sports Team ~ This band was the perfect setup for Supergrass. They were fun, energetic, and distinctly pop-rock in a way that didn’t take themselves too seriously, echoing the spirit of the renowned 90’s britpop band. That’s not to say they didn’t put their own spin on things.

Supergrass ~ Thirty years after I Should CoCo, Supergrass is still going strong, playing the same songs but now with the wisdom of having gone through drug-filled stardom as 19-year-olds and coming out of it alive. While most of the songs they played were still about being young and on drugs, I can’t imagine they could have been any less exciting now than they were in 1995. They still lit up on stage and brought the verve, occasionally improvising and playing off one another.

Read more at the link in bio. taken in The Rooftop at Pier 17 by @hotrockreview

7

0

a year ago

Sun Aug 31 Union Pool, NYC

Tsunami ~ Jenny Toomey and Kristin Thompson took the stage with a commanding presence, wielding their instruments with a kind of grace that only comes with hard-earned expertise. Toomey’s voice has hardly changed since their first 1993 album, Deep End; it is just as sturdy and electrifying.

Chris Brokaw Rock Band ~ Perhaps I was too moved by the wave that was Tsunami, but Chris Brokaw by comparison was underwhelming. There’s always something to love about funky pedal sounds and fuzzy distortion—his songs were full of it—and that wasn’t the issue. I enjoyed the long, droning atmospheric static his guitar. It just didn’t feel like anything new.

Scrawl ~ Nailed it completely! Marcy Mays and Sue Harshe had the confidence of stand-up comedians, despite claiming on stage they could never do comedy. They were hilarious, tough, bold, snarky, and their songs were punchy and raw, with enough energy to start a whole other movement of girl bands (they were making music since 1985–Thompson told me beforehand that Tsunami wouldn’t exist without them).

Read more at the link in bio. taken in Union Pool, Bklyn by @hotrockreview

5

0

a year ago