Square Zeros Show Listings, Wednesday–Saturday, April 15–18

Square Zeros Show Listings, Wednesday–Saturday, April 15–18

This is Greg Hanson with a face that says "Come on, go to all the shows, babycakes."

Greg Hanson here, not Bettina. That's right, this is a guest intro from King Pizza's own Big Cheese, Greg Hanson. Well, that part was actually Bettina but this is really The Big Cheese. Whattaguy. We have a week of shows to smoke banana peels and roll hard, babycakes! Strap into your jet pack booster seat and grab a slice, wink at the heavens and, most importantly, melt your stupid face off.

Ok, back to Bettina for all the boooooring (awesome) details...

Square Zeros #33: Jamie Frey (NO ICE, The Brooklyn What, The Jesus Fish Evolution, The Banana Milkshakes)

Few musicians tell a story like Jamie Frey. His attitude and honesty make him a true pleasure to listen to, and as a native Brooklynite he offers a rare perspective on the city's music scene. In this episode, we talk with Jamie about how his experiences as a kid in Kensington informed the music he makes now as the frontman of NO ICE and The Brooklyn What. (This episode opens with "Summer Bummer" by NO ICE and closes with "We Are The Only Ones" by The Brooklyn What.)

Square Zeros Show Listings, Wednesday–Saturday, April 8–11

Square Zeros Show Listings, Wednesday–Saturday, April 8–11

Can you see yourself in that crowd, or a very similar one? Good. 

You know what's time consuming? Having a big kid job that doesn't allow you to write about all the rock and roll things that are happening. It takes up a lot of time! There are spreadsheets! Not to fear, the skill of time management is only somewhat lost on me and you'll get your show listings.

TL;DR;SHUT UP BETTINA - SHOW LISTINGS FOR THIS WEEK ARE HERE. Let's get to it...

Pictures: ZeroFest 2, Nights 1 And 2

ZeroFest 2 — night one at Cake Shop, night two at Nola Darling.

Bands and people featured here are free to use any of these for any purpose. Just attribute to Square Zeros, and link back if possible.

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Square Zeros Show Listings, Weds–Sun, March 11-15

Square Zeros Show Listings, Wednesday–Sunday, March 11-15

Jon liked ZeroFest 2. Jon likes sun and rock and roll. Photo by Seth Applebaum.

If you're like me, then you saw a big ol' butt-ton (that's an exact measurement) of bands last weekend, and it KICKED YOUR ASS. Like, maybe you still have the sniffles and a wee bit of the tinnitus. And what do I have to say to that? YOU HAD 4 DAYS. PUT YOUR PARTY PANTS ON. The sun is beating you to all the fun. Don't let it beat you! Join in on the party! Here's where you can kick it this weekend...

The Only Show Listings That Matter This Weekend

This weekend! ZeroFest 2: Infernal Equinox is THIS WEEKEND! So we could post about all the other shows that are happening all over New York but...but, well, why? This is where you shoud be and we are ready for it!


THE DATES and VENUES:

Cake Shop, Thurs., March 5, 8pm–12:30am
Nola Darling, Fri., March 6, 8pm–1am
Pet Rescue, Sat., March 7, 8pm–12:30am
Silent Barn, Sun., March 8, 4pm–9pm (matinee show!)

The LINEUPS: Get stoked, cuz here we go...

ZeroFest 2: Infernal Equinox — Profile #3: Sat., March 7 @ Pet Rescue

Each Thursday until March 5, Square Zeros will profile one night of ZeroFest 2: Infernal Equinox, our four-day, twenty-plus-band festival running from March 5–8 across Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Heavy Birds, Pet Rescue, 3.08.2014

The venue: 
Pet Rescue is what you really mean when you use that all-too-overused term "DIY space." Christened as a multimedia punk utopian performance/exhibition/work space in the East Williamsburg Industrial Park by its impressario Brian LaRue (SZ #30), it immediately strikes visitors as an all-too-underused resource for Brooklyn rock and roll. Simply put, once you've gotten out there for a show, and met Brian, and hung out with his crew, and met somebody you like, and dropped your cigarette butt into your beer can on the roof and chucked it into the recycling on your way out for a post-show drink, you want to get out there every night for a show, and meet Brian, and hang out with his crew, and meet somebody you like, and drop your cigarette butt into your beer can on the roof and chuck it into the recycling on your way out for a post-show drink.

It's just that fun, all-inclusive atmosphere that Brian's so damn good at cultivating. And you maybe don't show up every night, because people live there, dammit, and have to sleep sometimes. But when you do go to 346 Morgan Avenue, and you walk through that unevenly lit loading dock and climb the concrete stairs to Pet Rescue — it's right when you think "this might not be the right place" that you discover you're in the exact right place. God, I'm making it sound like Narnia, but you get the point, which is that it might be Narnia.

So without further ado, we cordially invite you to celebrate the shit out of life with us and some great bands at Pet Rescue* on Saturday, March 7 for night three of ZeroFest 2: Infernal Equinox.

*Again, possibly Narnia. I don't think I'm overselling this. — JM

The bands:

ZeroFest 2: Infernal Equinox — Profile #2: Fri., March 6 @ Nola, Darling

Each Thursday until March 5, Square Zeros will profile one night of ZeroFest 2: Infernal Equinox, our four-day, twenty-plus-band festival running from March 5–8 across Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Performance at Nola, Darling. Photo credit: Rafael Grafals.

The venue: 
Let's face it: 2014 left a lot of musicians and music lovers eulogizing the Brooklyn scene. A number of iconic venues announced that they'd be closing their doors last year, and the list of options for putting on a show — especially in North Brooklyn — took a major hit. But as Death By Audio, 285 Kent, and the rest of them were hosting farewell shows, Win Scarlett (SZ #18), host of the slackgaze project, pushed back against the tide and landed a vibrant new DIY art and music space across the river in Chelsea, of all places.

At 161 W. 22nd Street (at 7th Avenue), Nola, Darling is the new home base for slackgaze's many operations, from artist's residencies and installations to independent research and publishing to DJ sets and rock and roll shows. That creative, experimental attitude toward programming ensures that a trip to Nola is never a boring experience. At Square Zeros, we're longtime fans of Win's curatorial ideas and attitudes toward music and the arts, not to mention his band Chimes, who are playing night four of the festival.

So before you decide to give up the ghost on the whole New York City music scene, remember: it's 2015, and you belong with us at Nola, Darling on Friday, March 6.

The bands:

Square Zeros Show Listings, Weds–Sun, February 18–22

Square Zeros Show Listings, Wednesday–Sunday, February 18–22

This is Josh from The Mad Doctors and The Rizzos. He's really excited.

My my, look at that. It's already Wednesday (how?). The sun is shining, and it feels almost balmy out (or at least balmy as compared to the bone chill we've been experiencing, but let's try to put that behind us). 

But enough about the weather! Please, please no more. More about the music. This weekend is stacked (which, clearly, every week seems to be), but that shouldn't stop you from getting off your bum and heading on out to catch something tasty. 

ZeroFest 2: Infernal Equinox — Profile #1: Thurs., March 5 @ Cake Shop

Each Thursday until March 5, Square Zeros will profile one night of ZeroFest 2: Infernal Equinox, our four-day, twenty-plus-band festival running from March 5–8 across Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The venue:
If you know Cake Shop owner Andy Bodor, you know that Cake Shop is perhaps Manhattan's least-likely music institution. In 2005, Andy opened the venue to house all kinds of fun, scrappy, lo-fi rock and roll in his combination bar/coffee and pastry shop/record store. When more and more of those fledgling bands started making it big, Andy found himself in the position of unlikely tastemaker, to the point that — now, ten years later — Cake Shop is typically known as the last great venue in the Lower East Side, and to be a musician in New York City is to have the address 152 Ludlow Street (between Stanton and Rivington) ingrained on the softest tissue in your brain. Cake Shop supports NYC musicians by carrying their records and hosts bands from across the globe. What starts in the ears and mouths of the underground rarely makes it into the tour books, but Cake Shop has done it without compromise, and we're particularly pleased to kick off the festival at one of our favorite venues.

The bands:

Square Zeros Show Listings, Thurs–Sat, February 12–14

Square Zeros Show Listings, Thursday–Saturday, February 12–14

These faces (Big Huge) say love to me.

The way I see it, there are two ways to look at this weekend.
Option 1: It's a weekend to celebrate love or the lack of it. The time to hold someone (or a whiskey bottle) close and profess your love (not mutually exclusive — the human/whiskey bottle thing — Pro Tip: you've got two hands). It can be one of those where we celebrate fake holiday with real people and chocolate (please).
Option 2: It's going to be fucking cold.
Don't let PDA and the freeze disturb you! There's some cool shit happening.

Picture Dump 2.10.2015: Paper Fleet, Best Behavior, Sic Tic, Jupiter Boys

The Show: Paper Fleet (Jon Mann, SZ #10) and Best Behavior (Alex Gruenberg and Alex Heigl, SZ #17) w/ Sic Tic, Jupiter Boys at Gutter — Friday, February 6, 2015

Depicted below: Paper Fleet, Sic Tic, Best Behavior, Jupiter Boys

Enjoy.

— DJH, BW, + JM

Paper Fleet. Photo credit: Chris Jimenez

Picture Dump: A One-Year Anniversary Recap

Here at Square Zeros, we're celebrating a full year of documenting, participating in, and — we sincerely hope — supporting the music scene in Brooklyn and beyond. 

Though we didn't start dumping pictures on the site until August, we've been actively photographing shows since the site began. Jon Mann, who takes most of the photographs that make it into the Picture Dump, got out to eighty-six shows that he can document (read: triple digits), and we don't always go to the exact same shows as a team every time. Add Derek and Bettina's known show calendar to that, and it gets pretty out of control.

So to commemorate our first year in the business of interviewing musicians, listing shows, publishing articles, and posting pictures, we've dredged the archives for some of our favorite shots from the past year. They're not always perfect, but they document the music we love. We hope you'll enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed getting up in people's faces to take them.

— DJH, BW, + JM

WE'D LIKE TO PROPOSE A TOAST. Crazy Pills, Don Pedro, 9.26.2014