Legendary songwriter Chip Taylor headed up to the Bronx today to tape a live performance chat at WFUV in front of an audience of FUV members. Chip brought along in-demand guitarist John Platania (fresh off a tour with Van Morrison), talked about his book ‘Songs From A Dutch Tour,’ and performed songs, including his timeless classics “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning.”

Here’s a shot of Chip and John with WFUV’s Claudia Marshall

Left to Right: Chip, Claudia, John

I’m a big fan of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. So much always going on, and a mere 10 minute walk from my apartment make it one of my favorite places to see a show, movie, cultural event, etc.

This past week I made 2 separate treks to BAM to check out Thursday nights Bell Orchestre/Clogs show and Saturdays Final Fantasy/Grizzly Bear show, both nights accompanied by the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

While I’ve never listened to Bell Orchestre or Clogs before, I do love both Arcade Fire and the National, of whom both groups share members. The show was done in a sort of “in the round” style, with Bell Orchestre, Clogs and the Brooklyn Phil taking turns performing. You could hear the slow build to borderline spastic freakout of Arcade Fire in Bell Orchestre’s pieces, while Clogs definitely had the stateliness of the National. Sufjan Stevens and Shara Worden aka My Brightest Diamond guested with Clogs, and I also ran in to Shore Fire friend Holly Schomann from Sirius XM.

Saturday night was a packed house for the highly anticipated Final Fantasy/Grizzly Bear show, and Shore Fire’s own Nora Lyons was also in attendance. Final Fantasy opened, and according to FF mastermind Owen Pallett it was an “exercise in trust” to hand over the reigns to the Brooklyn Phil, as he usually performs solo with just his violin and computer looping different parts together.

Grizzly Bear arrived to rapturous applause and did not disappoint. They played songs old and new, working with the Brooklyn Phil on many tracks, but also performing a few songs as their usual four piece. Personal favorites “Colorado” and “Little Brother” were worth the price of admission for me, and encore closing cover of “He Hit Me” ended the night on a haunting note (and I swear that song is one hundred times creepier live).

All in all a great night. If you squint at the crappy iPhone photo below you can sort of see Grizzly Bear after their first song, but there are much better photos and reviews of both nights on the old interwebs.

That handsome devil on the screen is none other than Mr. Paul Thorn. The pic is one of the in studio monitor screens in the Late Night with Conan O’Brien studios during Paul’s soundcheck for his appearance on the show last night. Boy did he and the band kill.

They ripped through the title track from Paul’s latest ‘A Long Way From Tupelo.’ Conan liked him so much he had Paul out to the couch for a handshake as the show ended.

It was a whirlwind 2 days for Paul and his band in NYC. Not only did they tape Conan, they recorded an in-studio at WFUV and got the crowd going at a raucous Living Room show on Tuesday night.

Can’t wait to have ‘em back soon.

It’s been quite a week for Mr. Rob Krauser. I saw Joanna Newsom at BAM on Thursday night (which was mesmerizing), saw past Shore Fire client Neko Case at the beautiful Calvin Theatre in Northampton, MA on Saturday night (stunning voice in a great setting) and I settled on a menu for my wedding rehearsal dinner (chicken and fish, WOO!), but the best thing I saw all week was THE GIANTS SUPER BOWL VICTORY LAST NIGHT!

What a freakin game. If you like sports in any way, shape or form, that has to sit atop your top 10 games ever (more likely top 5, and for me numero uno right now). I take back all the bad words I ever said about Eli Manning over the past 4 years (and there were many). I still can’t believe the Giants pulled off the biggest upset in the history of sports last night. Just ridiculous.

Thanks for completely blowing my mind last night. A truly mesmerizing performance. I am in no way exaggerating when I say that the show at Radio City last night was one of the best I’ve ever seen.

Photo from BrooklynVegan (sorry for borrowing it, but I forgot my camera)

A few months ago Nick Baily and I went to the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center to check at a possible new client. Cherryholmes pretty much blew me away. Not in the “oh my god could Radiohead be any better live?!!!!!!” kind of way, but in the “oh my god that is the best collection of matching rhinestone suits, familial harmonies and choreographed mike sharing I’ve ever seen!!!!!!!” kind of way. The Cherryholmes clan has it together, and I was grinning ear to ear the entire show, even as they sang songs about broken hearts and murder ballads. They are ENTERTAINERS, from the outfits to the on stage moves. They brought the crowd in with the flash, but held us with incredible musicianship, great songs and the best harmonies this side of the Gibb brothers. Needless to say I’m psyched to be working with them. And then I saw this……

Could this band be any better?!!! I think not.