Live Music

I've always said that live music is one of my favorite things ever, but it's always nice to be reminded of it through a great show. Now I don't get out to nearly as many shows as I would like to, partially due to currently living in the NJ suburbs instead of NYC where I would like to be, but I've been trying to make more of an effort recently and it has certainly been paying off. Two weeks ago I went to see The Parlor Mob play at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. The Parlor Mob are a really good rock band, who have gained a decent amount of more-than-just-local attention recently. They played well, but one of the opening acts really stole the show in my opinion--Scott Liss and the Sixty Six. They had really good energy on stage and their set was very tight. I really enjoyed their original blend of folk, rock, and psychadelic sounds; they definitely pull it off. I talked to Scott after the show briefly and he gave me a CD. He's a good dude and I wish the band lots of luck. I will definitely be checking them out again next time they have a local show, and if anyone ever reads this and happens to be in an area where they play, I suggest you do the same.

What really inspired this post though, happened this past Friday at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC. The internet start-up I co-founded last year, Kicknote.com, hosted a battle of the bands in the city this past summer (which was a bit of a disaster, but that's another story), and one of our favorite acts from the contest, Cloud 9, was having a CD release party, which they were cool enough to invite us to. I knew it was going to be a good show, and I was not disappointed. These guys are one of my favorite live acts ever. They have so much energy and have such a good time on stage that it really gets the crowd going and everybody just ends up having a great time rocking out to some awesome music. The guy I'm most familiar with in the band is one of the two lead vocalists, Mike Tangney. He's a really good guy and is truly passionate about his music--and it shows. Their new album is available on iTunes, and is excellent, but if you really want to be blown away, I highly suggests grabbing some friends and getting to a live Cloud 9 show.

Hopefully I'll be able to move to NYC soon and find new awesome local bands to write about...