Jangula are opening for Fujiya & Miyagi at The Mercury Lounge on January 21st. Tickets are now sold out, but we got two tickets to giveaway courtesy of the kind folks of Jangula.
Jangula is also giving away copies of their new Strange Child EP (check out a music video of a song from the EP right here)
To enter the contest leave a comment below letting me know what your favorite show of 2011 was, and most importantly, why. Best three answers get prizes. If you didn’t go to any shows in 2011, just name the best show you’ve seen in the past few years.
Here’s how it will go down:
1st prize: album + 2 tickets
2nd prize: album + t-shirt
3rd prize: album
Good luck everyone! I’ll notify the winners asap.
William Bruder — 14 Jan 12
While I attended a number of shows in 2011, 2010 was hands down my favorite year for two reasons. First, I caught the final show in the final Sage Francis tour by for his “LI(F)E” album. It was great to see Sage with a full band backing and then after the show he walked through the audience givings huge hugs to anyone willing.
The second, and ultimate, reason 2010 was the year of my favorite concerts was the final Voxtrot show. Such a bittersweet ending. I discovered Voxtrot in 2006 and they quickly became the soundtrack to my high school years; from triumphs to heartbreak, Voxtrot had a song for me. I wound up missing the shows they would play around the tri-state area, either because I would have to work or because they were 18+ shows and the disappointment was harsh. So, it was only fitting that I finally made it to their final show ever, in NYC. I’ve been visiting this blog for a few years and so I recognized you there, on the opposite side of the front that I was on. Maybe I’ll say ‘hey’ if I see you at the Ramesh show in March.
Have a good one,
Will
Kum Asyar — 15 Jan 12
Hands down LCD Soundsystem – when I saw them in Chicago last year. It was just really… emotional, I guess. Since it was their last touring year, the finality of it made me feel like i was seeing a sliver of musical history. James Murphy is such a great performer.
I HOPE I WIN SOMETHING
Justin M. — 15 Jan 12
By far the best show in 2011 for me was The Head and the Heart at Mercury Lounge. The band were just starting to explode on the East Coast (it sold out in about 10-20 minutes I think) and I was fortunate enough to get tickets. The sound was clear and as any fan of them knows, they have three tremendous singers.
What made the show so incredible was the group’s obvious enthusiasm for being in New York. I believe it was their first show in the Big Apple and they played with a joyous enthusiasm that permeated all their songs. Down in the Valley was hauntingly beautiful and when they played Rivers and Roads, I doubt there was a person in the small audience not moved.
I’ve seen them once since, and hope to many more times, but nothing will compare to the excitement and feeling like I was witnessing a band on the cusp of greatness, for the last time ever in such a small venue, as that night at Mercury.
Ravi Prakriya — 15 Jan 12
The best show I went to in 2011 was hands down LCD Soundsystem’s 2nd to last show ever at the Terminal 5. I left my high school halfway through the day to cheers to everyone who I walked by because everyone had known for weeks how excited I was about it. Me and my best friend threw on black and white suits (as requested by James Murphy himself) and took the train up to NYC. Then we watched one of the greatest performers of this decade prove once again why we love him so much. At the end, my suit was destroyed, I had made several hundred new friends and got the set-list from the show. Definitely one for the ages…
Vincent B. Donadio — 16 Jan 12
I’ve been to too many shows to count in 2011, but I think my favorite so far was Lily Bee’s show at Boston College on December 3rd. Lily is a good friend of mine, and I had gone on a road trip up to Boston to do some photo and video of her show, and just hang out in Boston all weekend.. I met some pretty cool people while there who have become fast friends, and we had a blast the few days we were all together up there. The show itself was pretty mellow, but the setting was beautiful.
Second best show was probably Kina Grannis at the Canal Room. She’s another friend of mine, and that was the 21st show of hers I had been to. Every show I go to, I scream out the title of a song I always want her to play, but she never does. Mainly because it’s a very, very old song, and the guitar needs to be tuned down a lot for it, so it’s a pain in the butt. This time, though, a few friends of mine had collaborated to get her to play it. One brought a pre-tuned-down guitar, another brought his iPad with the lyrics and chords ready for her, in case she forgot, and we even had a bartender give her a stool (because the guitar had no strap). A member of the audience went up and held the iPad for her. She gave in, and played my favorite song for the first time in front of an audience, after 21 shows of me begging her to play it, and everyone loved it. She later thanked me for being so persistent, because she didn’t think any of her newer fans would like her old music. Wroooong! d:
natalia — 16 Jan 12
Wow, it’s really hard to pick a favorite. When I try to summon the best show I have been to in recent memory, the first thing that pops into my head is the Gossip show I went to in April of 2010. It was at Terminal 5 and it was packed like sardines – breeders, queers and everything in between. Beth Ditto was charming and talkative; she really connected. She was also the queen of ferocious dance energy, belting out song after song, full of soul and rock and roll. It was like Janis and Aretha had sexy southern baby, drenched her in whiskey and spandex and said, go on girl conquer the world and work that jelly. The energy in that room was at such a fever pitch I thought the roof would come off.
On the other end of the spectrum, I went to the Rock the Bells festival this summer and Erykah Badu absolutely stunned me.
Another performer who connected to the audience and somehow made a giant outdoor venue feel personal. She performed most of Baduizm and a few newer songs and absolutely hypnotized the audience. She brought powerful feminity into a rap concert that did not challenge the dominant masculine energy, but instead rose to meet it and elevate it to a level of beauty and conciousness. The conversation changed…it wasnt about rap, it was about Hip Hop, it was about the culture – not its product. She honored those shoulders on which the entire genre stands on. She honorned the founding principles and elements of Hip Hop. Her voice embodied creativity, peace, love, hope, groove, sex, family, and spirit. It was one of the most human performances I have ever seen; shockingly juxtaposed against the usual macho m.o. of rap shows I have come to know and love.
Reniazen — 16 Jan 12
I was lucky enough to see one of my favorite bands ever, Indian Jewelry perform with my newest favorite, Prince Rama not once but twice as we found out after a life altering musical experience that the bands scheduled a last minute show in our hometown! So technically my face show if 2011you’ll ended up being 2on shows:)
Nat — 20 Jan 12
2011 was an amazing year in concerts but nothing was quite as epic as seeing The Cure play their first three albums at Beacon Theatre in New York. It was a three hour long concert but to see, live for the first time, the band I had loved most growing up was unbelievable. Robert Smith is also a really funny endearing person, as far as I could tell from his banters. I think I almost cried when they started playing A Forest.