february 1999: NYC NIGHTLIFE 10 YEARS AGO

february 1999: NYC NIGHTLIFE 10 YEARS AGO
february 1999: NYC NIGHTLIFE 10 YEARS AGO

Jan. 29, 1999 Sasha & Digweed headlined Twilo in their legendary monthly progresive trance residency. the only way to describe S&D's sets at Twilo circa 98-2000 is legendary - all the tiesto & armin van buuren sets in nyc in 2008 are a joke compared to S&D at their very VERY peak best.


sadly, sasha has gone all bleepy/ableton and diggers is like minimal tech now, but I understand some nights Digs still reminds us he is among the 10-15 best djs of this century.
* The Realistics headlined Arlene's Grocery. the realistics. remember when they had a Levi's ad in PAPER & were 'friends with the Strokes."? that's a pretty sad legacy.

Jan. 30, 1999 Tiswas at Don hill's featured bands Ultrafine, Thomas James, and The Every Other, recently known as The Everyothers- America's best rock & roll band circa 2000-2007. Top tunes from Nick Marc incl. Pink Floyd "See Emily Play," Byrds "Feel a whole lot better," The Farm "Groovy Train," Stones' "Shes a Rainbow." Nick Marc was an outstanding dj in 1999. tiswasw just moved to webster hall?? the everyothers were the best nyc band of the last 10 years, but owen mccarthy's solo aspirations seem to have ended both of their careers. c'mon lads.

Feb. 4, 1999 BeavHer moved to Coney Island High for a few months. top tunes from Frank incl. 'funkytown,' ashes to ashes, burning down the house, & donna summer's 'bad girls.' the tunes & the crowds were pretty good at coney but beavher magic just doesnt translate outside don hill's imo. beavher was my fave party circa 1994-95. frank lives in LA now. its sad.
* also Fictura headlined Arlene's Grocery. mike lamorte was a brilliant songwriter with a midas touch. unfortunately neither fictura or grupo miguelito ever released a commercial CD. the 'nyc/strokes 2001-02 rock revolution' sure left a lot of fallen soldiers in the dust ...

Feb. 6, 1999 the Mirror People [now known as WhiteLight Motorcade] headlined Tiswas alongside Splendor. whitelight motorcade became harley & the night & I still think harley kicks ass !!!!!!!

Feb. 11, 1999 Johnny Fayva was back at coney island high beavher, featuring a nude photo of fayva & ricky on the pass. fayva's set included zep's 'rain song,' "taking things down a notch," as johnny observed in his always-technicolour between songs patter. hits from frankie incl. emotional rescue, d'ya think m sexy, mirror in the bathroom & wake me up before you go-go. attendees incl. tessa benson, tatiana von furstenberg, dave gardner from electric chair, and sam kripalani from browning. like I say, fayva & frank moved to LA : enjoy the sunshine boys, that aint living compared to manhattan, even in 2009.
* we started the night at arlene's grocery where the realistics played another frat-worthy garage rock set, tailored to the staten island teen scene.

Feb. 12, 1999 Fuzzy headlined Mercury Lounge with support from Brillantine & Pout. If you can find Fuzzy's "Electric Juices" its one of the best US alternative LPs of the 90s!! wow the lemonheads, juliana hatfield, fuzzy alt-rock scene in 1999- it was great, but forgotten now :(((( the "Nuggets" of our time haha

Feb. 13, 1999 Tiswas with bands Bender & Tidewater Grain. top tunes from Nick incl. the Stones' Gimme Shelter & Under My Thumb, the Roses' Mersey Paradise, the kids are alright, blur's turn it on, and dandy warhols' not if you were the last junkie on earth.' ace faces in the crowd incl janet guss, jenna from LI, anna from NJ, & keith & chris from staten. tiswas may be a ?? , but sorted at the barbary is a GREAT BritPop monthly - nick u shld visit Phila sometime.
* the same night steve & pedro from Shout! hosted the Bounce at the cooler, with sets from bianca, optic nerve & the probes. [who?] . shout! was great in 99 but steve & pedro couldnt make it in ny & moved back to florida. sorry lads

Feb. 14, 1999 valentine's day at shout! with top tunes JB's 'there was a time,' grazing in the grass by friends of distinction, floyd's arnold layne, and classics IV spooky. in the house: kat & kathleen #2, melanie, jenna from LI, fernando & nanci from staten and a cyber-delic 60's flavoured light show- freak out. for real. none of these people go clubbing anymore in nyc in 2009. amateurs !!!!

Feb. 18, 1999 BeavHer at Coney feat. isleys whos that lady 1&2, ziggy, night fever & surrender. coney was a brilliant st marks place rock venue- closed by rudy giuliani. fuck him.

Feb. 20, 1999 Tiswas with NancyBoy headlining & support from bianca. nancy boy. what exactly is it that donno leitch does/did?? another guy who moved to LA. NYs a tough city kids.

Feb. 27, 1999 Tiswas with Fictura & release opening up.

Other favourites in Feb. 1999 incl: singles like Blur's "tender," the new radicals "you get what you give," and Lloyd Cole's "That Boy" 45. all 3 still sounmd awesome 10 years on.

CDs like a JB's compilation, a mix CD by Terry Mullen on Sm:)e, an Essential selection 98 by carl Cox & paul oakenfold; and 2 mixtapes by carlos the SF house DJ. keeping it underground at the end of the century! I still listen to cox & JB every week, every day !!!

karen kilimnick had a great painting show at 303 gallery on west 22nd street. I met the late leo castelli & his wife barbara bertozzi on east 79th street, and we discussed roy lichtenstein's 70s abstracted still-lifes. lichtenstein, kilimnick, castelli - that's some all-time hot stuff, baby !!!!

the best film that month was the rave comedy "GO!"

and a marvelous time was had by one and all......

** and 20 years before, 2/17/79 the single greatest concert Ive ever seen, the clash's 1st nyc show. Repeat: Ive seen concerets since 1971, 38 years, and the clashy's debut show in 2/79 was THE SINGLE GREATEST CONCERT Ive ever seen. better than springsteen 76. stones 78. echo bunnymen 1983-84. PiL 80. Zep 77. aerosmith 76. smiths 85. morrissey 92, 2000, 2004.


THE greatest concert Ive ever ever seen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


setlist:


:I'm So Bored with the USA
Guns On the Roof
Jail Guitar Doors
Tommy Gun
City Of the Dead
Hate and War
Clash City Rockers
White Man In Ham Palais
Safe European Home
English Civil War
Stay Free
Police and Thieves
Capital Radio
Janie Jones
Garageland
Julie's / Drug Squad
Complete Control
London's Burning
White Riot
What's My Name
Career Opportunities

* Pearl Harbour Tour supported by Bo Diddley & The Cramps

Also, Harley from the Stimulators was at the NY show but they didn't play. (Scratchy)
* A highly significant concert in the history of The Clash, particularly in terms of breaking the band in the USA. There was a buzz about the band in the US before the Pearl Harbour Tour but here at the Palladium were the key players in US rock journalism (not to mention the New York glitterati of De Niro, Andy Warhol, Springsteen ,Paul Simon). The band were fully aware this was the big one that could really break the band in the States, and they did not fail putting in a superb charged but professional performance.
* a night of nights - Strummer

Strummer remembers it now, still as one of the greatest and most significant Clash concerts, “a night of nights”. Joe had said, “Rock’n’roll changed the way I look at society” The Clash were attempting to make the US do the same. They had come to the USA, not to bury rock’n’roll but to reclaim and re-energise it.

They won important converts to their cause at this concert. Journalists previously sympathetic were now bowled over: the now legendary Lester Bangs declared it one of the best concerts he’d seen in his life; “They launched into I’m So Bored With The USA with a surge of energy that surpassed any band we’d ever seen and just built and built, leaving us all drained and ecstatic”. Tom Carson in Rolling Stone wrote, “The Clash unleashed one of the most staggering performances I’ve ever seen. It was music of heroic grandeur, epic sweep and visceral force; each song was faster and meaner than on record and had twice the impact”
* The equally influential Robert Christgau, wrote the Palladium crowd was on its feet before a single note was played and 2 hours later were still on their feet. Christgau eloquently described the visual and aural impact of The Clash; Mick and Paul leapt around as if no stage could hold them, Topper’s drums cracked through the music with the authority of machine gun fire, Mick’s ethereal, incantatory back up vocals filled the gaps in Joe’s harsh leads. “Strummer his eyes alight and staring as he snarled and screamed his message, looked like a man who’d just seen everything he loved destroyed, unsure whether to explode with rage or run for his life. His extraordinarily expressive face conveyed as much wit as passion.”
* "3000 of us waited for the Clash to take the stage. It was their first performance in America and many of us wondered whether these punkers from England could deliver the goods, many had their doubts. The lights came down. Beams of light started searching the stage, like prison spotlights. Suddenly a huge roar, a machinegun-like volley of raw guitars and drums. The Clash tear into 'I'm So Bored With The U.S.A.' The power and glory of rock and roll had never sounded so urgent and furious. Joe Strummer leaned into the mike like he was about to rip it from the stand with his teeth. His voice, a cry, a scream, a call to arms, a liberating burst of human anger and rock and roll voodoo. The Clash were the sound and fury of a new generation of rockers ready to riot and ride out on strings of steel and thundering drums. This was more than music, this was the human heart, the gut, the soul, electrified, amplified, bonafide!


* Currently listening:
You Get What You Give
By The New Radicals



Currently listening:
Raw Like Sushi
By Neneh Cherry
Release date: By 29 June, 1992