CMJ Skewer 2k7
Pianos, NYC Oct. 19th
By Rusty Roberts
It was a cloudy and muggy New York afternoon as the bands loaded in their gear and the bags were set up on some tables upstairs at Piano’s, a permanent fixture of the Lower East Side. As the newest edition of Stranded In Stereo was placed in multiples of 5’s and 7’s on tables and loveseats, the bartenders readied their taps for the rock and roll show that was about to take place.
There were people upstairs and downstairs, planting themselves firmly in front of one of the two stages. While Everything Is Energy plugs in to electrify the crowd that fills in, up the steps by some windows you find David Wingo of Ola Podrida fame, trying out old songs and new, banjo included. I was overjoyed with The Wildbirds set; after seeing them twice this year, it was nice to see them break out the acoustic guitars and break out songs from this year’s Golden Daze that normally don’t get played on a nightly basis.
Later in the afternoon, the Scottish duo of Oppenheimer took a break from the ongoing tour with They Might Be Giants to play a quick set without the aide of monitors. They closed their set with the handclap happy “Saturday Looks Bad To Me” and I don’t think there wasn’t a pair of hands not participating.
Mink brought their brand of 70s rock, via Brooklyn and Australia, to a nearly packed downstairs room. But it was almost over packed by the time Bang Camaro took the stage; not just because of the crowd, but because of their infamous 20+ choir, which included SNL alum Jimmy Fallon when they last played New York at Bowery Ballroom.
For more pictures of bands and candids alike, check out the SiS Blog.
|
