Double-Stop Music

Wilco: Too Hip to Fail?

2009-08-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

With the roar of critical applause for Wilco’s latest studio effort still echoing, a simple yet profound reality seems to have fallen by the wayside: Wilco (The Album) isn’t as white-hot as the hype surrounding it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad album, but listening with an honest ear, it isn’t even in the same league as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born, and is an easy step or two down from Sky Blue Sky. And yet the response from the press has been almost positive, as critics now used to heaping praise on Wilco go through the motions once more. But why are they doing this? And to what end? Is the album really the shining success it’s been painted to be? Or is it possible that the band’s past triumphs have generated a nefarious inertia that silences those who would voice anything but unmitigated praise? This year’s economic doom and the judging of certain economic institutions as too big to fail got me thinking about whether Wilco has attained a level of cachet where it is now too hip to fail.

Let’s take a moment to examine the trajectory of the band and how it got to its seemingly unassailable position. While Wilco released two notable albums in the late nineties—Summerteeth and A.M.—it wasn’t until the 2001 release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot that the band exploded onto the national consciousness. Bolstered by filmmaker Sam Jones’ excellent biopic I am Trying to Break Your Heart, which chronicled the making of the album, and ultimate firing of co-producer and band-member Jay Bennett, the album was lauded as the sonic and lyrical masterpiece that it is, and achieved a surprising degree of commercial success. The band’s next studio production A Ghost is Born followed in 2004, and was also celebrated for catchy and compelling songs like Theologians, Handshake Drugs and Hummingbird, and a slew of other great tunes. 2007’s Sky Blue Sky was a departure, showcasing songs that were alternately sing-songy (What Light) and challenging to the listener’s ear (Side with the Seeds). The album seems to reflect Tweedy’s uneasy past (Sky Blue Sky/Hate it Here) as he strives to find contentedness in the present (Either Way / What Light). While the album definitely takes some time to grow on the listener, it is a fine work and an interesting evolution of the band’s sound. Sky Blue Sky greatly benefits from veteran guitarist Nels Cline, who positively soars on tracks like Impossible Germany.

Wilco {The Album}, seems to reflect Jeff Tweedy’s attaining the sort of solace he has been seeking all along, and inviting all of his fans to come and join him. At its best, this dynamic produces songs like Wilco. The album’s eponymous track—itself eponymous—is a rock-solid tune with a driving beat and great lyrics. Tweedy asks the listener, “Do you dabble in depression?” as he offers Wilco up as a “Sonic shoulder for you to cry on,” repeating the refrain “Wilco’ll love ya, baby.”

Contentedness has its price, however. “You and I,” which makes an appearance about halfway in, is the sonic equivalent of air-popped popcorn—no butter, no salt, but instead a sickening slurry of syrup and cheese. Defying the heft of these heart-stopping ingredients, the song is a breezy number, featuring the unsteady vocal accompaniment of Canadian singer-songwriter Feist, of Broken Social Scene fame. I find my head bouncing easily from side to side, almost automatically. Nels’ guitar sounds like the synth from an old video game, and the meandering backwards guitar-outro serves no other purpose than to be a meandering backwards guitar-outro. It’s easy listening, pure and simple, and it scares the shit out of me.

The antidote comes a few songs later in the form of I’ll Fight. An unapologetic and driving testament to love, the song features a forward-leaning beat and Dylanesque organ. The lyrics are darkly sweet, featuring lines that grab you by the shirt-neck: “You’ll wake with a start from a dream and you will know that I am gone.” The song’s pedal-steel guitar flourishes root the song in Wilco’s Alt-country past, and the number comes off as both emphatic and laid-back at the same time.

Unfortunately, that is the last notable song on the album. And while the tune Bull Black Nova (which comes earlier) is actually a very interesting and elegant song about post homicide paranoia, it's pulsing one-note piano tap is a shameless re-hash of an already released Wilco song, Spiders.

At the end of the day, there are three good songs on Wilco {The Album), a few not worthy of mention, and one or two real stinkers. And yet all I've heard in the press is exuberant praise and adulation for the band and it's album.

I empathize with Tweedy and the band in having to endure this over-emphatic praise. It’s not unlike getting a haircut that you know isn’t great and having everyone you run into tell you how “super” it is, as you turn your chin down into your chest and mutter “Thanks…” just wishing they’d change the subject.

But I don’t get the sense that Tweedy is too reluctant in accepting this praise. For one, he’s a master observer and might get something by gauging the fawner’s sincerity. Or perhaps he feels that for so long he and his bands did not receive their due, and so what if they get a little extra right now---a balancing out of sorts of the cosmic scale. But what the hell do I know? This is all sheer speculation…latrine psychology, one might say.

So to return to my original question, is Wilco to hip to fail, and can they even be said to have failed here? The answer on both counts is no. While this album does not stretch the boundaries of the musical terrain they have already covered, it does have a few good songs on it, which is more than most albums these days. And you cannot say a great band has failed simply because they have not produced an album that is as jaw-droppingly good as the last few. My point is this: Wilco (the album) is NOT a bad album. It’s just not as good as everyone says it is. Furthermore,it is thiscozy critical unanimity and group-think is exactly the sort of bullshit that Tweedy & Co seem to disdain.

So it is fair to say that by ignoring the album's shortcomings and over-emphasizing its successes, the tenured music critics with their cool shoes and quaffed hair have failed us...which is a very nice and easy place to end this article. After all, how does that saying go about the critics? No, not "Duck the critics," but something similar. I'll think of it in a second......ah, well, it doesn't really matter, anyway.

Steven Tyler Falls Offstage Amid Vanity Conniption

2009-08-08T14:15:00.001-07:00

This video captures the moment better than I could ever hope to, so I'll just let it speak for itself and proffer one small piece of advice: If Steven Tyler ever tells you to "Walk this Way," say "After You."

The Dave Brubeck Quartet and Amir ElSaffar's Two Rivers Large Ensemble Play

2009-08-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

Legendary pianist Dave Brubeck, who has incorporated Middle Eastern influences for a half century, returns to Out of Doors to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his landmark album Time Out, plus debuts a first-time collaboration with famed oud virtuoso Simon Shaheen.

Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar’s expanded jazz-cum-Arabic music ensemble unveils a hauntingly beautiful avant-blend that infuses ancient Iraqi maqams with a contemporary intensity.

WHEN:

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 7:30 pm

WHERE:
Damrosch Park Bandshell

Here's a clip of Take Five from 1965, which is likely to make an appearance tonight as it was the hit track of Brubeck's Time Out album, and of Brubeck's career.

Bang on a Can's Asphalt Orchestra to Debut at Lincoln Center Out of Doors

2009-08-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

An iconoclastic 12-piece marching band conceived by Bang on a Can premieres ambitious processional music from every corner of the music world, works that coax funk from the funereal and would make a halftime show sparkle with sophistication.

Choreographer Susan Marshall weds parade spectacle to new pieces by Tyondai Braxton (of Battles), Goran Bregovic, and Stew and Heidi Rodewald, and arrangements of songs by Björk, Meshuggah, Mingus, Nancarrow, and Zappa.

WHEN:
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 7:00 pm

WHERE:
Broadway Plaza

Levon Helm "Ramble at the Ryman" to Air on PBS in August

2009-07-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

Legendary drummer and American treasure Levon Helm is coming to a TV screen near you. Helm's September 2008 performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium will be airing on PBS stations nationwide this August.

At his Ryman performance, Helm tears into classics from The Band's catalog, along with numbers from his Grammy Award winning 2008 release, Dirt Farmer. The concert, shot in stunning high definition, features guest performances by mandolin virtuoso Sam Bush, Buddy Miller, John Hiatt and Sheryl Crow.

Defying his age-worn frame, Helm absolutely shines at his Ryman performance, peppering the audience throughout with his tumbling drum runs and pranging Arkansas drawl.

The performance airs at different times in different markets, so check your local listing here: http://www.pbs.org/tvschedules/

The setlist from the Ryman show includes:

· Ophelia · Back to Memphis · Fannie Mae · Baby Scratch My Back · Evangeline · No Depression in Heaven · Wide River to Cross · Deep Elem Blues · Rag Mama Rag · Time Out for the Blues · The Shape I'm In · The Weight

Bruce Springsteen and E-Street Band to Perform Born To Run Album in Chicago

2009-07-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

The rumors are true: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform Springsteen’s classicBorn to Run album in its entirely when the group lands in Chicago in September.

According to Rollingstone.com, a source close to Springsteen has confirmed the news, which was previously reported by the Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. The show will take place Sept. 20 at the city’s United Center.

It’s uncertain, however, whether Springsteen will stage other full-album shows during the tour. Last year the veteran rocker performed Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town at a fundraiser event at New Jersey’s Count Basie Theater. In a Rollingstone.com interview earlier this year, E Street guitarist Steve Van Zandt said he would like to perform the double-disc classic The River from start to finish, including the outtakes that appeared on the Tracks collection.

Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that Springsteen will perform a different album each night when he and his E Street bandmates stage a five-night run at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., in September and October.

Springsteen, who turns 60 in September, recently told Italian Vanity Fair that while the E Street Band will likely “take a rest” following the tour, they are “lifers” who will “go on forever.”

(Source: Gibson)

Wu-Tang Brings the Ruckus with New Iphone App

2009-07-29T10:12:00.001-07:00

Wu Music Group and multi-faceted entertainment partner The Orchard have released Wu Tang Radio, an iPhone application that allows users to stream music by Wu-Tang and related artists.

The application is available for download at iTunes for $1.99, and features music by artists like Raekwon, Method Man, GZA, Ghostface, RZA, Masta Killa, O.D.B. and others. Wu Tang Radio is available here.

The company that developed the application is NYC-based The Orchard, which offers entertainment/music companies and artists a full array of business services. The Orchard specializes in digital distribution and licensing, but also recently expanded its scope by partnering with A&R veteran Michael Caplan and his company One Haven Music to develop new talent.

A Divergent Pairing: Steve Kimock and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon Play Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin at New York Guitar Festival this January

2009-07-27T14:35:00.001-07:00

Who needs talkies when you can watch two classic silent films set to live performances by two of contemporary music's more interesting musicians?

On January 21st, New York Guitar Festival presents veteran guitarist Steve Kimock playing to Buster Keaton's classic film Cops, and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon providing the sonic backdrop to Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush.

The double-bill of Kimock and Vernon is at once at odds and perfectly logical: Kimock, who co-founded the Jazz/Rock fusion band Zero, is widely embraced by fans of the Grateful Dead and bands who wield their free-form torch, while Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, who breached the surface of popular consciousness with his 2008 release of For Emma, Forever Ago, is identified with the contemporary indie music scene that is generally dismissive of improvisation-driven rock.

Still, Kimock's variegated brand of guitar--alternately muted and aggressive--defies easy categorization, at times prog rock/jazz-inflected, at others gypsy-straightaway.

Meanwhile, Vernon's ploddingly ambient guitar and cavernously melancholy vocals paint their own rich scenescapes, unbesmirched by the bubble-gum lyrics and trite hand clapping all too prevalent in the Hipster favored Indie music scene.

Ultimately, the odd pairing of Kimmock/Vernon to score Keaton/Chaplin is befitting of an occasion that will celebrate the stylistically and methodically divergent legacies of the featured film-makers. Chaplin's wry sentimentality will be matched with Vernon's irrepresible candor, while Keaton's forward-leaning futurism will take flight with Kimock's own tendency for transcendence.

Indio Days, Indio Nights...

2009-07-24T14:24:00.000-07:00

After much speculation—and confusion, frankly—it turns out that Phish’s Halloween weekend get-down will be held at the Coachella grounds after all.

The announcement was made in the dawn hours this morning via the band’s homepage and Facebook—where else, right?

Indio had been the odds-on favorite since rumors about the upcoming festival started swirling out of Bonnaroo. And now it’s official. Be sure to line up your flights and sleeping arrangements now, ‘cause they won’t be getting any more plentiful—or affordable.

Tickets for the festival go on sale this Monday at 10:00 AM Pacific Time---that’s 1:00 PM for all you East Coasters--and are $199 a pop. Unlike the on-sales for every show since their return, you probably don’t have to worry about syncing your computer to the National Atomic Clock, or trying to place your order in broken Spanish to beat the masses. The festival grounds are enormous and should accommodate one and all. That said, don’t come knocking down my door when you wait until the last moment and somehow they're all sold out.

As postulated in my last post on the festival, the band has confirmed it will continue the Halloween tradition of “donning a musical costume” and covering another band's seminal album.

So what’s it gonna be? That of course is the question on everybody’s mind, and with the location now locked-up, it seems to be the only one still up in the air. That, and whether Fishman’s attire will be donut or designer. Personally, I'm going donuts...

John Fogerty to release new album "Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again"

2009-07-24T10:17:00.001-07:00

This September, Fortunate Son/Verve Forecast will release The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again from John Fogerty. On this album, Fogerty brings back the concept behind his solo debut, 1973's The Blue Ridge Rangers. Fogerty dusts off a collection of his favorite classic songs, such as John Prine's "Paradise," Buck Owens' "I Don't Care," Delaney and Bonnie's "Never Ending Song of Love" and John Denver's "Back Home Again," as well as his own "Change in the Weather."

With the release of The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again, Fogerty joyfully resurrects his mythical group. After Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up in 1972, Fogerty released his first solo album under the name The Blue Ridge Rangers. He played all the instruments on this album of gospel and country covers, which earned critical accolades and produced two Top 40 hits, "Jambalaya" and "Hearts of Stone." Fogerty said, "The songs on The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again are mostly songs I have carried with me for a lifetime. They are songs that influenced me and helped form who I am as a musician and certainly as a songwriter. There is something very American about all these songs and the original arrangements and also their musical setting here, on this album. That musical place where these songs reside is where I go to create my own music."

Fogerty decided to enlist an all-star band to participate, including Kenny Aronoff, Buddy Miller, Greg Leisz, Hunter Perrin, Jason Mowery, Chris Chaney, Jay Bellerose, Dennis Crouch, Jodie Kennedy, Herb Pedersen and Oren Waters. The album, arranged and produced by Fogerty, features both well-known and esoteric song choices. Fogerty received special help from his friends on "Garden Party" and "When Will I Be Loved." The Eagles' Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit are featured on the Rick Nelson chestnut; and Bruce Springsteen, an avowed Fogerty fan, duets on the Everly Brothers' "When Will I Be Loved," putting a new spin on a treasured classic. Of The Blue Ridge Rangers, Rolling Stone called The Blue Ridge Rangers "a fine, fine record," continuing, "Each cut seems to flow into a river of feeling in which country and city, western and blues, gospel and secular blend together in a complete body of indigenous American music."

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to Release 'Speed Of Life' Album this September

2009-07-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, long-time keepers of the Americana flame, are set to release their new studio album, Speed of Life, in late September.

"The music of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band articulates the American story, its values, experiences and collective soul" says legendary producer George Massenburg, co-producer of the band's upcoming album, which is being released on NGDB Records. "The depth of their musical roots and the richness in which it flows out of them is truly Americana," Massenburg says.

For the new album, producers George Massenburg and Jon Randall Stewart set out to make a no-frills, live studio recording that would let the group's raw sound shine. "The NGDB are pioneers of recording live in the studio and I couldn't imagine a better way to capture their legendary sound," says Stewart. It is these collaborative and spontaneous studio sessions that celebrate the freewheeling sound that is unmistakably theirs.

Wilco Sell ya' Baby

2009-07-22T08:34:00.001-07:00

Long considered to be at the vanguard of rock music innovation, particularly since their storied 2001 release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco is now distinguishing itself for its marketing savvy. The band has adopted an octopus-like strategy whose tentacles wrap around every available consumer touch point. For their current tour, Wilco has run television ads on late night TV, full-page newspaper ads in the New York Times and banner ads on Facebook.

And while the advertising component has been strong, it is only one facet of the band’s layered marketing approach, which has a decidedly digital bent. Indeed, in May the band became only one of about two-dozen bands to launch a dedicated iPhone application. The application serves as a sort of one-stop shop for everything Wilco, and features the band's entire discography in streaming audio, a calendar of upcoming performances and a podcast, among other things. Chicago-based Roundarch Labs developed the application. According to Roundarch’s Jeff Bierly, “The project was such an exciting opportunity for Roundarch because so many on the team are Wilco fans. What better than to be working on a mobile app for one of your favorite Grammy Award winning bands?”

When the band released its last two studio albums, Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (The Album), it streamed them for free on their website before they hit the racks or were available on iTunes. The band has also been quite consumer conscious in pricing its merchandise. The band’s acclaimed Ashes of American Flags DVD was available for a meager $9.99 at most stores.

Indicating a level of comfort with its image—dare I say brand—Wilco has embraced new media like Facebook and Twitter with open arms, with official pages on both.

And while front man Jeff Tweedy seems to be a more contented individual these days, with the flurry of media and marketing surrounding the band and its success, he could be excused for feeling “there’s a company in [his] back.”

Sufjan Stevens to Release "The BQE" In October

2009-07-21T20:31:00.000-07:00

To know it is to drive it---for most people, anyway. But the widely reviled Brooklyn Queens Expressway was the inspiration for singer/songwriter/quirky composer Sufjan Stevens.

In November of 2007, Stevens debuted his BQE opus to a packed house at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The multimedia performance involved 26 performers in all, including a band, brass and wind section, percussion and a troupe of professional Hula-hoopers. Yeah, I didn't know there was such a thing, either.

On October 20, Asthmatic Kitty Records will release The BQE in the USA (also available via Rough Trade in the UK, P-Vine in Japan, Spunk in Australia).

The release will include a DVD of the original performance, the CD Soundtrack, a 40-page booklet of liner notes and a stereoscopic 3-D Viewmaster reel.

Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch Diagnosed with Cancer

2009-07-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

Adam Yauch, better known as MCA, of the seminal hip-hop group Beastie Boys, released a video announcement on the band's website saying that he has been diagnosed with "a form of cancer" in his throat.

Laughing nervously before delivering what he described as "heavy news," Yauch apologized to fans for having to cancel a string of upcoming tour dates and delaying the release of their upcoming album so that he may undergo surgery to remove the cancer. The surgery is scheduled to happen sometime next week.

The announcement comes amid a busy summer of concerts and festival appearances. The band is scheduled to headline the All Points West Festival this weekend in New Jersey, and as of the time of this post has not officially canceled their performance.

Click here to view the video announcement

Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough

2009-07-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

That’s not the late, great Michael Jackson talking—it’s Phish. Fresh off the roundly lauded first leg of their Summer tour, the band has announced the revival of two time-honored Phish traditions: The 3- day festival and the Halloween concert, both wrapped into one long Halloween weekend.

The cryptic announcement on the band’s homepage features only the dates of the shows—October 30, 31, and Nov 1st—and a map of our United States of America. The mystery surrounding the actual location of the event will be slowly lifted as the map on the homepage blacks out individual states, ultimately revealing where the festival will be held. One thing is for sure: it ain’t gonna be in the Northeast!

It was widely-rumored that the festival will take place in Indio, California, home to the Coachella festival in year’s past. Just a stone’s throw from LAX, the site is not only centrally located, but pretty safe from the mud that has plagued previous festivals. However, California has been blacked out on the map, so it is again anyone's guess. Perhaps Florida's Seminole Indian Reservation, which hosted the band's epic Millennium festival?

Location aside, the announcement of this festival has taken many by surprise. With the band’s recent headlining at Bonnaroo, it was widely believed that the era of the marquee Phish festival was a thing of the past. Following the band’s break-up in 2003, its production company, Dionysian Productions, was dismantled. When the band returned to the stage this past spring, it did so under the auspices of Virginia-based Red Light Management. Sources close to the band were quoted as saying that with the outsourcing of production tasks came a new operating paradigm in which Phish would immerse itself in the larger music community by participating in festivals like Bonnaroo, as opposed to holding it’s own production-intensive festivals. With the announcement of Phish’s very own Halloween festival, the conventional wisdom seems to be thrown out the window.

Also creating quite a stir is the fact that the second night of the festival falls on Halloween, which in the past has been cause for the foursome to cover another band’s iconic rock and roll album. The albums were decided by fans, who voted for top choice among a list of options presented by the band. Past Halloween covers have included The Beatles’ White Album in 1994, The Who’s Quadrophenia in 1995, The Talking Heads’ Remain in the Light in 1996, and The Velvet Underground’s Loaded in 1998, which marked the last Halloween concert the band performed. While speculation over which album the band will cover this year is already gaining steam, Michael Jackson’s Thriller has been a past contender, and given the latest turn of events, would not be a total surprise. And while it would indeed be riveting to hear the band tackle classics like the Billie Jean, P.Y.T., and the album’s title track, it is somewhat harder to imagine compelling renditions of songs like Human Nature and the Lady in My Life.

So for the moment it’s probably best to focus on the rest of Summer tour, which, as the band attacks its sprawling repertoire with renewed vigor, is bound to get only more interesting. And while a full cover of M.J.’s classic album might be too problematic for a full Halloween rendering, don’t be surprised if you hear that unmistakable opening bass-line cut through the night to raucous applause and jubilation at a pavilion near you.

If You Build it, They Will Bowl

2009-07-16T11:16:00.001-07:00

In Brooklyn Bowl---Williamsburg's newly-opened 16-lane bowling/rock music venue---Peter Shapiro, former owner of Tribeca’s iconic Wetlands Preserve, and Charley Ryan, who operated the landmark venue, have realized a truly singular establishment. The operation keeps the Wetlands’ torch lit by combining an environmentally conscientious paradigm, a unique space and state-of-the-art sound system, all under one very large roof.

And while the folks running the show have taken great pains to continue the Wetlands’ legacy of environmental stewardship, they are trying just as hard to avoid being pigeonholed as a jam-band enclave. “A common misperception about the Wetlands is that it was all about jam music, when in fact it featured all kinds of different talent,” says Brooklyn Bowl Media Director Justin Bolognino. “We don’t want to be pegged in the same way. We’re featuring all kinds of different entertainment, as well as world-class bowling.”

A natural concern about a bowling alley/live music venue would be the competing sounds of tumbling pins and the music. Somehow, from the stage and floor areas, the sound from the crashing pins is indiscernible. An endearing quality of the space is that through the wall of the men's room one flight up, the muffled report of rolling thunder is quite audible as the balls make their way down-lane.

Let’s Get it On

To the layman’s eye everything on the technical side is in perfect working order: the flat-panel scoring screens are crisp, the ball return quick, and the pitcher beer is cold and wet. Eight large screens playing high-definition concert footage hover above the foot of the lanes, creating an atmosphere hinging on fortune and musical circumstance: Have you ever seen someone throw a laser-beam strike to Thriller? Or groan over a gutter-ball to the wail of David Gilmour’s Telecaster?

On opening night, the music coming from the DJ booth was a heady mix of new and old rock, trending 70’s-ward as the night wore on. Here’s a sampling of what they spun while I was there:

Michael Jackson—Thriller

MGMT—Time To Pretend

Neville Brothers—Streets are Callin’

The Pixies—Debaser

My Morning Jacket—The Way that He Sings

Doobie Brothers—Listen to the Music

Heart—Crazy on You

Marvin Gaye—Let's Get it on

Van Morrison—Domino

James Brown—The Big Payback

“The Big Payback” came at about 1:26 AM in response to a gruff plea from the bar for some James Brown. When I elbowed the supplicant jovially as his request was granted, he shrugged, “Well, I did throw him five bucks.” Suddenly the song choice was apparent and I had a newfound respect for the elegantly mustached DJ.

Seeing Green

Returning to the bathroom—as I did many times during my beer-fueled visit to Brooklyn Bowl—a few eco-friendly features present themselves. Brooklyn Bowl is in the process of seeking LEED accreditation, which it hopes to receive soon, pending a full audit of the facilities.

The toilets are rigged to operate efficiently with minimal water usage, and the sinks shut off automatically when one’s hands are removed. But what is truly remarkable is the hand dryer in the bathroom, powerful enough to send the skin rippling under its warm blast. “It’s like the Porsche of hand dryers,” Bolognini muses.

Cutting down on all of the waste associated with the production, transportation and processing of beer bottles, Brooklyn Bowl serves only beer on-tap. The LED stage lights in place use 75% less energy than traditional stage lighting, and while a comfortable, ambient lighting scheme is present throughout the venue, it is by no means over-lit.

Nouveau Kitsch

The style of Brooklyn Bowl is best approximated as Neo-Rustic Industrial with a good-humored touch of kitsch: A chicken-wire fence separating the entryway from the lanes is lined with what appear to be stuffed cloth bowling pins with painted faces. A couple of vintage carnival duck-in-a-row shooting targets serve as the backdrop for the bar facing the stage. Thick, dark wooden beams run throughout, and there is certainly no shortage of brick, adding to the industrial feel.

Adjacent to the lanes against one wall of the venue is the stage area, which although it was vacant for the soft-launch on opening night, was bathed in red and purple from the LED lights overhead. Measuring approximately 18’ x 34’ in length, and flanked by an elevated aisle separating the floor from the lanes, the stage is pretty substantial, and was designed to accommodate easy off-loading of band equipment from the backstage loading zone. As veterans of staging live performances, the folks at Brooklyn Bowl clearly took special care to get both the production and blocking aspects just right. The stage-view from the elevated aisle is unobstructed and at eye-level with the performers.

A red, white and blue light-up arrow hangs as a shining testament to bowling’s golden era, an amorphous period sandwiched somewhere between the 1950’s and 1970’s. In sober retrospect, I realize that the sign directs well-watered patrons to their respective restrooms. And unlike the inconstant popularity of the sport itself, restrooms have enjoyed a steady demand since their inception. But I digress...

It does bear mentioning that Brooklyn Bowl shares a wall with the Brooklyn Brewery, and has arranged for fresh kegs to be delivered regularly. While fresh keg beer is a virtue in its own right, an added benefit is that in case of a complete catastrophe—some sort of nuclear attack or state-mandated lockdown—this shared wall could likely be breached, with subsequent hops and mirth assured for all.

“Mark it, Dude…”

All told, the new Brooklyn Bowl is phenomenal, a real outlier in a city of cramped bars, quasi-Irish pubs and jacket-lounges. The bowling alone would be enough to warrant a visit, as would the bar and live music areas. That Brooklyn Bowl combines all of these elements leaves one grasping for a good reason not to go—unless you happen to hold a natural contempt for live music, good food and the sport of bowling, in which case you’ve got more pressing concerns to address.