tjo presents – News on Shuffle

The Great Big CMJ Post

Hi all! A week later and the dust has finally settled on a crazy/productive CMJ experience. Some band discoveries for me worth mentioning this year were Multimagic, Wild Sun, and Brother Valiant. Def go check them out. Here’s one of my favorite shots from seeing Multimagic at Arlene’s Grocery.

I also went to a couple networking events, including one on the roof of The Delancey that gave us free beer (and one of my favorite shots I think I’ve ever taken).

There were a lot of great new acts I was introduced to over the week, but my favorite show (that I wasn’t working) was getting to see The So So Glos at Baby’s All Right for the BrooklynVegan party on Saturday.

With all the running around I did last week, the highlight was documenting a showcase by my friend from TJO Presents at Our Wicked Lady in Brooklyn.

Besides having a sick lineup of bands (which I’ll get to in a moment) there were also drink specials for Coney Island beer!

*check out those great options ^

Everyone seemed to enjoy the delicious brews, both audience and bands alike flocked to get a taste.

*thanks to Jon Good of Out of System Transfer for the photo opportunity

Beverages in hand, it’s time to start the show. Like I said, I really enjoyed this lineup and had a lot of fun photographing everyone. First up was Dreams of June.

Next up, my buddies from Out of System Transfer, one of which has already been featured with tasty beer in hand.

Moving right along to Bree and the Whatevers, which I also took video that can be viewed on my YouTube page.

Brook Pridemore:

Slim Wray (who you can see again on Wednesday as part of Grundle Thunder‘s EP release)

Jamie Register & the Damn Thang:

And finally, we closed out the night with Bushwick Hotel:

Overall the night was a lot of fun with a solid lineup and equally awesome crowd. Congrats to TJO Presents for putting on such a great show. Thanks to Coney Island for the beer specials and everyone who showed up and rocked out with us. Thus ends my CMJ coverage for this year. Until next time, folks!

CMJ 2014 – The Final Post

Alright, time to buckle in folks, because I helped TJO Presents run not one but two monster shows as my CMJ finale. There are lots of pictures to share and a final message at the end to wrap everything up in a nice little bow. Also as a side note, I might not have loved everyone who played, but I at least enjoyed everyone I saw to some extent and don’t have anything bad to say about them, so unless there’s a story to share I’ll probably just post names and photos instead of repeating myself a lot. Without further ado, however, let’s go on with the show…

Our story starts at Rock Shop for a day show with 8 (!!!) different bands. First up was Brian Bonz, who I remember seeing several times before paired up with one of my favorite local artist, Kevin Devine. You know it’s going to be a good day when you can boast something like that.

I got to speak with Brian after the show and found him to be quite enjoyable to talk to. I look forward to seeing him again in the future.

Next up was Charles Ellsworth:

Next Bree and the Whatevers. One critique I have here is that Bree has always struck me more as a performer than just a singer. There’s always a lot of energy on stage and a feeling that she loves every minute of her time there. I love that about her and think it’s what makes this band more enjoyable than average.

Daniel Sage:

Hot Jam Factory:

These guys were a fun mix of a lot of different things, but the hint of Arcade Fire was what I think really sold it for me.

Next up, End of Love, which included members of a little band called “Wilco”…

Next act was Andre Obin, who offered an odd transition from the previous band but I enjoyed nonetheless.

Last band for the night was The Netherlands, but unfortunately we had to run to get two evening shows up and running. One of them was at Bar Matchless, but I was only really there for a few minutes to make sure things were running smoothly. The show I mainly was interested in was at Muchmores. Before I delve into all the bands who played that evening, I have to say at the end of the night I got a chance to chat with the owner and he is incredibly nice and bright and overall a great dude. I would love a chance to work with him in the future. Honestly the concept he has going for him now is one I’ve had for awhile and the fact he makes it work so well gives me hope that there’s still a chance I can too one day. In the meantime I wish Andy Muchmore great success. You will definitely see me hanging out in those parts again.

With that little bit of sidetracking done I will now continue to give you lots of pictures and stories from Saturday night.

First up were some very good friends, Out of System Transfer. This band always brings the fun in, so if you ever get the chance I definitely suggest checking them out.

These guys were followed by another good friend, Brook Pridemore. You might know him from the band Brook Pridemore. You might also know him as the guy who does that song about building a death ray. However you know him, be glad that you do, because your musical library probably thanks you.

Moving right along, we have Manic Pixi. This female fronted band had a ton of energy. I really dug their lead singer, and had a fun chat with her later in the night. I have to say I usually hate the color pink, but this girl had matching dress and boots that somehow was awesome and not infuriating to me. Props to you on that one.

Up next we have Fancy Balloons. For a bit of trivia I’ll tell you that this band shares a member with one of the bands from the day show, Bree and the Whatevers. While I might be partial to Bree, I still found Fancy Balloons enjoyable.

At this point I was dealing with a dying camera and a room that was starting to get packed, both signs we were having too much fun and total first world problems, but it did make it harder to keep getting good shots throughout the night. In quick succession let’s break down the next few bands.

The Shackletons:

Grundle Thunder (made up of a bunch of friends from my local bar AND voted one of the best band names this CMJ):

Cosmonaut:

And finally, Great Caesar:

I didn’t know anything about this last band going in, but it was a nice surprise hearing some horns to close out my night. Also was glad I got a final burst of energy both from myself and my camera to enjoy their set.

Thus concludes a very successful CMJ Music Marathon. Shout out to the man in charge of TJO Presents, TJ Olsen. He’s a very good friend, and I was beyond proud of how well his marathon Saturday turned out. Much success to you in the future, good sir. Anyone wishing to follow all the great shows this guy is doing can check out Facebook and Twitter. And if you come out to a show perhaps I will see you there.

CMJ Day 5 in Photos

This morning I gave you my recap of the final day of CMJ, thinking I would not be able to get around to posting photos until earliest tomorrow morning. Well, folks, I was kinda wrong there (alright, technically it’s 12:30am, but I wrote most of this before going to Muse. Just had to add labels). I’ve gotta say, I am really impressed with how on top of things I’ve been this week. The version of me that first started this blog would have just done a very short post at the end of CMJ instead of the daily recaps I ended up doing. I have enjoyed getting more of an opportunity to write about the things I love the most, and only hope I can keep doing it in the long term. So – without further ado – here is the final installment of my continuing coverage of CMJ from this week.

Brooklyn Vegan party @ Public Assembly

Wild Nothing

Titus Andronicus

Say hello to an unbelievable crowd

A Million Years @ Spike Hill

TJO Presents showcase

Sydney Wayser

Matt Koziol

Endway

In Cadeo

Like Trains and Taxis

Alyson Greenfield

Hank and Cupcakes

CMJ Day 5 – The Conclusion

The last day of CMJ for me began with another Brooklyn Vegan party at Public Assembly. Unfortunately I arrived too late for Ted Leo, but I heard the line for that was out the door. Saw Wild Nothing for the second day in a row this week, and they were really good. I knew I liked them from the first time I saw them at Pianos, but I wasn’t sure how much until I heard them here again. After they finished, Titus Andronicus began to set up to play to a very packed house. It’s amazing to me how far they’ve come this year. Between this and headlining Webster Hall, I am very impressed. The band was possibly the biggest draw on the line-up, at least in my opinion. This is why it surprised me when the band was given an incredibly short set of approximately 20 minutes. They weren’t even really given much of a warning, simply told they were done and had to get off the stage. I thought the whole situation could have been handled much better, but I’m just a humble blogger…

I lost my interest in the BV party after the Titus incident, so I didn’t stay for the whole thing as originally planned. Instead, I hung out in Spike Hill for a bit to see this band called A Million Years. I couldn’t stay for their whole set, but what I heard I really liked.

The final act of my CMJ experience was the TJO Present showcase at Bar Matchless. This is the one I mentioned before that my friend was running. The turnout for this one was really good, as was the response from audience members about certain bands. I was the photographer for the evening, so I have a ton of pictures to sort through before I post anything.

Yesterday was a great end to a fantastic week. Pictures from the final day will be posted (hopefully) soon. Tonight I’m going to see Muse at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, so look for a review of that soon as well.