CMJ Music Marathon has ended and with it’s end, the event has left me feeling sad and empty. There were many amazing moments, as well was hilarious ones. There were moments of pure joy in discovering an amazing band, with mind blown, and heart melted. There were moments of great annoyance, thankfully few and far between, as well as moments of witnessing a few disturbing events, for instance:
A crazy lady on ‘something’ erratically yelling at people to move out of the way, in a crowded Delancey.
A guy on a motorcycle snatching a woman’s iPhone outside of the Bowery Ballroom, sadly failing to catch him as he sped off.
A broken guitar string.
And so, with all the adventures that come and go with CMJ, so come the memories of some of my favorite shows for your viewing. But before that, here’s my BEST OF and (least of) list from CMJ 2012.
Best live show I saw:
Wild Nothing at the Bowery Ballroom.
Best live show I couldn’t actually see, because I was too short, but could still dance too in the back of the room (Best show to dance at):
Gold Fields at the Aussie BBQ at The Delancey
Favorite new discoveries who I plan to see next time they play (in NYC):
Tom Lark (aka Luke Fork, because I can’t seem to ever remember his name, so I have decided to call him Luke Fork) and Popstrangers at the New Zealand Showcase at Le Poisson Rouge
Most Inspiring, almost gospel-like experience:
Apollo Run on a rooftop singing ‘Love Song’. Can I get a hallelujah?!!
Most Shoot-worthy performance:
Z Berg of JJAMZ, she’s quite the coquette on stage.
Most impressive showcase, a country I’ll be following more closely in the future:
New Zealand, because I like those sweaters. The music’s not bad either.
Best Swag:
Tote bag at the Pop Montreal Showcase. Second place-laundry bag at the Aussie BBQ, even though I use a basket, I plan to turn this bag into a dress or something.
Most shocking discovery:
Taiwanese people love music and will line up for it in droves at the Taiwan Music Showcase.
Most disappointing discovery:
British Music is becoming majorly hit or miss lately. This is a tragedy for me personally. They all seem to want to sound American. Oh how I long for my 90s Britpop days.
Best promotional method to get people to your showcase:
Give away free stuff, especially totes.
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And now that the hard part is over with, here are a few videos for your viewing of some of the bands that performed during CMJ. I hope you’ll fall in love with a few of these bands as well! And remember, a setlist is not just a list of songs from that show’s set…it’s a piece of paper. I think only two people in this world will ever appreciate this joke.
Enjoy!
Wild Nothing at the Bowery Ballroom:
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Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders at The Delancey:
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Apollo Run at Engine Room Studios:
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Old Time Machine at Engine Room Studios:
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Alvarez Kings at Music is GREAT Britain Showcase at the CMJ Union:
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Dignan Porch at Music is GREAT Britain Showcase at the CMJ Union:
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831 at the Taiwan Music Showcase at the CMJ Union:
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Tom Lark at the New Zealand Showcase at Le Poisson Rouge:
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UK’s 12 Dirty Bullets at the Lit Lounge:
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The TEAR-N TAN Files 