Photos: Matthew Siffert

Last week, Atlanta band The Constellations performed at Brooklyn Bowl, to promote its upcoming release, Southern Gothic. Using the ploy of free bowling and beer to draw in a crowd of music bloggers and fans, the band hung out and hit the lanes for a couple hours before taking the stage. Promising to look much stronger on stage then they did rolling at the pins, guitarist and keyboardist Ryan Davis vowed, “We’re much cooler than we seem.” And true to their word, they sounded great; there was a surprising hip-hop influence to a number of their cuts, and the new album will feature guest spots from Cee-Lo Green (Gnarls Barkley, Goodie Mob) and onetime Atlanta transplant Asher Roth. Check out the band when it makes its way back to New York March 15 at Bowery Ballroom, and download its new single, “Setback,” for free at theconstellationsmusic.com.

Photos by: Dan Dealy

On Friday night, Mr. Solo Dolo took the stage for the second consecutive night in front of a sold-out Irving Plaza. With a 16-plus crowd, Cudi let his inner child loose, pulling off his shirt and dancing his way through a high-energy set (so enthusiastically that his pants damn nearly fell down). Early opening act Consequence brought out Asher Roth to help perform its new track “Childish Games,” featured in last week’s Play Count, but it was the headliner who really shook the house. Cudi performed mostly material off of his major release, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, along with a couple throwbacks to his first (and only) mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi. Between songs, the young MC took the time to address recent issues (like punching fans) in a Kanye-esque rant—all while knocking back shots of Grey Goose, and later rolling one up with his Cleveland cohort, Chip tha Ripper, on their performance of “Hyyer.” Check out our photos from the show above, and get a glimpse of the action in our video recap after the jump.

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Anyone who’s rifled through a box of postcards at a vintage store, or found an issue of Life from the 1950s, will tell you that there’s a humor from that era that’s found rarely today. You only have to look at the shouty quotes on movie posters now (“I laughed my face off!”) or read a snipey message board to gauge the difference in what’s generally considered funny.

So for those seeking simpler, sweeter pleasures, the New York Guitar Fest’s “Silent Films/Live Guitars” series promised a lot; particularly given that its most starry composer is Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, who’s been keeping a very low profile since the crazy success of For Emma, Forever Ago in 2008.

Click past the jump for more.

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These are the shows that NYC has been waiting for since they were first announced last year: Lady Gaga’s sold-out, four-night run at Radio City Music Hall. Given that the avant-garde pop star has been tweaking and perfecting her show since it began in Montreal in November, it was obvious that by the time the Manhattanite hit her hometown, the show would be tuned to maximum-stun. And how. TONY photographer Lizz Kuehl caught the action in these stunning images. Our favorite moment? Gaga standing on her piano stool, mid–”Poker Face,” singing, “I love you, New York! Do you like my show? If you don’t, I don’t care—’cause you can fucking leave!” before machine-gunning the audience (to its obvious delight).

Video after the jump: The husky-voiced pop star tells stories and calls makes a surprise call to a fan in the audience. Nearby fans swear. Tears ensue.

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America’s biggest Latin band, Aventura, last night played the second of three shows at MSG, and welcomed onstage Wilson y Yandel and Akon (Wednesday’s guest was Marc Anthony). The crowd went nuts for the Bronx outfit’s reggaetón-flecked bachata, and singer Romeo Santos invited one fan onstage. TONY photographer Taso Hountas was there: Check out his pics above, to see the band, the guests and the lucky fan.

Photos: Thomas Hauner

Six standing ovations. That’s all you really need to know about the Swell Season’s concert at Radio City Music Hall last night. Or was it seven? Honestly, at a certain point I lost count. Interestingly, the audience was most frequently compelled to leap to its collective feet when just one half of the duo was onstage. That would be the solo presence of Irish guitarist-singer Glen Hansard, who is usually accompanied by Czech-born ex-sweetheart Markéta Irglova, a classically trained pianist with stirringly angelic voice pipes. Of course, hits like “Falling Slowly,” from the pair’s 2007 indie film, Once (which snagged the Oscar that year for Best Song), were serious crowd-pleasers. Ensemble pieces including “Low Rising”—backed by Hansard’s previous band, the Frames—were met with deafening applause as well. Hansard’s ferocity with an acoustic guitar cannot be ignored, and his presong banter, like the charming ramblings of that guy from Dublin on the next barstool, only added to the intimacy.

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The problem, I’ll wager, that some people have with Vampire Weekend is charm. Vampire Weekend is a deeply charming band, and charm is rarely equated with rock & roll (I’m not sure that Vampire Weekend would call itself a rock & roll band, but anyway…). Those who disliked the group’s debut album will probably avoid listening to the second—which is a shame, because while Contra is certainly a charming, clever, sweet record, it’s a far fuller emotional statement than the first, in turns emotional, gutsy, rowdy, articulate, contemplative… Playing songs from both albums at last night’s knockout Bowery show, Vampire Weekend has absolutely come into its own as a band in terms of confidence, capability and musicality. But more than that, the show was a joy, from start to finish.

More after the jump.

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Not just one of the best albums of 2009, Dinosaur Jr.’s Farm is one of finest reunion efforts we’ve ever heard (see our album review here and 2009 best-ofs, here). This weekend, the band’s original lineup—J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph—played Music Hall of Williamsburg. See above for pics of the show by Alvaro Saavedra.

Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas made his local debut as a solo artist last night at Terminal 5. See above for pics from the show by Laal Shams, and click past the jump for a review by Hank Shteamer and a set list. Casablancas plays again tonight.

The lead Stroke’s stage manner charmed for the same reason as Phrazes for the Young, Casablancas’s excellent 2009 debut under his own name: It demonstrated that this seemingly morose, disaffected rocker was much loopier than we thought.

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Photos by Abbey Braden. Review by Carter Maness.

The Bowery Ballroom was buzzing Wednesday night as the young and hip piled into the beer-soaked venue to witness the Drums, Surfer Blood and Depreciation Guild. While the room might have featured too many caribou sweaters, chin dimples and Rivers Cuomo glasses, the Drums and Surfer Blood brought enough melodic, influence-hugging rock & roll to keep everyone warm and sedated throughout the evening. Read on for a full review.

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Norah Jones played a secret 40-minute show for 200 fans last night at the P.C. Richard & Sons Theater, a teaser for her MSG show in March. TONY photographer Taso Hountas was there to catch the velvet-voiced star in action.

When Nick Jonas walks onstage at the Beacon Theatre, the sound is pure white noise, the sound of 3,000 tween screams ringing around the venue. Theoretically, the crowd is here to see the youngest Jonas’s new project, the Administration—the manifestation of his abiding affection for Minneapolis funk (“Love the funk,” sighed Jonas, in our TONY interview in April). But the reality, of course, is that the girls are here to see their teen idol; it probably wouldn’t make much difference if Jonas strode onstage dressed as Carmen Miranda and launched into a thrash-metal set.

Or would it? While the Administration is certainly a legit funk outfit, comprising members of Prince’s New Power Generation, the band’s sound is still fairly poppy (see our “Bold Questions: Nick Jonas” for a full rundown). There’s some great guitar solo-ing, from both NPG man Sonny Thompson and Jonas himself, but it’s nothing too difficult to digest for JoBros fans. If Jonas wants to move on, he’s making no sudden moves.

Click past the jump for the full recap.

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Photographs: Jolie Ruben

Gogol Bordello graced the Webster Hall stage December 27 for the first night of its annual end-of-year Gypsy punk blowout. Eugene Hütz and his crew roused their moshing and crowd-surfing followers into an all-out stompfest with crowd favorites such as “Start Wearing Purple” and “Wonderlust King.” Halfway through the set, Hütz began drinking from a bottle of red wine, which he graciously shared with the audience by pouring it all over the first few rows. If those folks hadn’t come to the show wearing purple, they certainly were when they left.

During the band’s four-song encore, Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers joined Hütz for a highly inebriated rendition of “I Don’t Give a Fuck,” during which the two men smacked each other around and Hütz somehow ended up inside Haynes’s T-shirt with him. All in the name of Gypsy fun.—Jolie Ruben

Ah, the delight of a well-matched concert bill. Friday at Webster Hall, support act Freelance Whales put on a fantastic opening set: For a band balancing their first major crowd while playing every “instrument” they could get their hands on (including the watering can), they were able to rev up show-goers with a healthy dose of feel good indie-pop. London’s Fanfarlo—not to be outdone—took the stage beneath the suspended magician Michael Lee. They launched into their opening song, “The Walls Are Coming Down,” while Lee tried a Houdini-style escape from a straight jacket (he made it out by the end of the song).

Click past the jump for more pics

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Photos: Diana Sonis

Wu-Tang member Raekwon lit it up—literally—at the Fillmore New York last night. We recently spoke to the man in advance of this show (which came on the heels of this year’s knockout, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt. II). That record made two of our top-ten lists this year, but Raekwon got an even better gift last night when he was given a cake and an appearance from his old pal, Busta Rhymes. Throw your ws up!

“Can you imagine/Weight of the world/Placed on your shoulders?” growls Chris Brown on his new disc, Graffiti. Last night the troubled R&B star gave NYC a taste of that angst, as he performed here for the first time since his February assault on then-girlfriend Rihanna. Here’s a slide show of pics from the concert, which went down at Nokia Theatre Times Square, courtesy of photographer Diana Sonis. For the other side of the story, check out a review and pics from Rihanna’s own local show a few weeks back.

They came, they saw, they charmed (we had a feeling they might). An overheard conversation at the Brooklyn Bowl bar before Dr. Dog’s Friday night bonanza suggested that the band had spent the night’s entire earnings on stage props for the show. A glance at the stage confirmed this was probably the case: Besides Christmas garlands and sparkles, there were huge stuffed animal heads, feathers, reeds, fake flowers and a gaudy piñata. Dr. Dog’s five members arrived (to squeals of delight) wearing their usual old-timey garb, plus custom-made Dr. Dog shades and woolly hats. Time had been spent on this show. It was going to be special.

Click past the jump for more.

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The photo pit barricade collapsed thirty seconds into GWAR’s show at the Fillmore, and fans responded to the band’s raucous set in kind (while covered in red and green goo.) TONY photographer Taso Hountas braved the fray to catch the theatrical thrash metallers in action.

Photos: Lizz Kuehl

Squee! If you’d never heard of Canadian tween sensation Justin Bieber—and we’ll forgive you if you haven’t—then the idol worship at Friday night’s Z100 Jingle Ball was murder on the eardrums. Bieber, a protégé of Usher (who himself appeared to far less fanfare), was the clear fan favorite over touted acts Taylor Swift and John Mayer, even as the 15-year-old maneuvered the stage in a walkable leg cast. (Perhaps he fell out of a tree fort before heading over to Madison Square Garden?) He received the kind of ecstatic ovations usually reserved for the Beatles or the Jonas Brothers—you know, ancient old bands like that.

The teen-focused Jingle Ball was enough to make anyone who could legally drink feel like Andy Rooney. John Mayer, with humor and maybe just a touch of resigned bitterness, introduced himself by saying, “My name is John Mayer, and I’m 52 years old…get the old dude off the stage!” He duly sang his recent “Say” and “Who Says” and indulged in only a brief guitar solo, picking up a paycheck and passing the stage back to the prepubescents.
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Photos: Lizz Kuehl

Last night, everybody’s favorite Hasidic reggae star, Matisyahu, kicked off his fourth annual string of Hanukkah shows at Webster Hall. You have plenty of chances to catch him—and his awesome disco dreidel— at Webster Hall and the Music Hall of Williamsburg from tonight through Sunday, December 20.