What can you say about The Trews? They are a solid four-piece rock band. They write good tunes. They are from Canada. They are again 'down here' playing shows in modest-sized venues. They warmed-up for Kiss (among others). They are lead by brothers Colin and John Angus McDoanld. They employ no gimmicks (see my review of their new CD No Time For Later). I happened to speak to one of those brothers, Colin and got to ask him all about things in Trews land.

You're in town to play the Mercury Lounge, have you guys played NYC before?

Yes, we played the Bowery Ballroom, Nokia when we warmed up for Ace Frehley.

Thanks for the segue; tell me about warming-up for Kiss. What was that like?

It was amazing, we had a great night. We just got added to the bill, but we got to meet the guys, they seemed to like what we were doing. They are doing the Kiss Alive 35th anniversary show; I just sat there and watched it all with a big grin on my face. It's really great that we get these opportunities to play with these legendary bands.

There's been a few rock bands with brothers in them, Black Crowes, The Kinks, come to mind. Do you and John have the cliché’ volatile rock and roll relationship or do you guys get along better than that?

We're pretty good. I think since we haven’t really broken out internationally, we're not really famous; there's not that extra pressure on us. We all really have spent a lot of time together over the years, the entire band, so we're all close, like four bothers. Usually all that fighting is an ego thing, but when you're working uphill, trying to make it work, that brings you together. We keep our own council basically.

This is my 'state of the music business' question but…what do you feel about the music business nowadays?

It's difficult, it's changing all the time. It hasn't been easy to keep up honestly, with the internet and the business shrinking, all those bands out there trying to make it. But we're just moving straight ahead, being honest with what we do, and communicating with people. It's a tough business, but we've chosen to do it, no one is holding a gun to our heads. We want to keep going, tour America, we've already seen some towns starting to turn around. We just go out and deliver 120 percent, hope for the best, no gimmicks, best served honestly.

About No Time For Later you guys are quoted as saying you feel this is a record of 'Two minds.’ Tell me what you mean.

We started out in the fall of ‘06 after a long tour, wanting to put out something with a heavy impact. We had opened for Guns and Roses and I guess that influenced us wanting to make a hard rock album. Then the album took longer, we started to change gears a bit, we hired a new production team, and they came in and heard some of the CCR-type stuff we were writing and they said they liked that side of us too. So we got into both worlds, well rounded, kind of eclectic…but still us with our guitar sounds, vocal harmonies. You can't predict when you make a record where the songs are going, and if you try to control it, people will hear the manipulation. It's all got to be organic.

Canadian band in the U.S., discuss…

It seems to me that if you are a Canadian band and you come down here and get success first in America, then you can go back up to Canada and it is easier then to enjoy success in both places. Nickleback ended up like that and now they are a huge band. For a band to have success first in Canada, like we do, then come down here and try to break America is harder. Traditionally, Canadian acts can get a ton of success at home, radio, T.V. outlets but then you come to the states and you don’t exist. But Canadian bands usually do very well in border towns, places like Buffalo, Detroit, they get Canadian radio, so for us that's where we hope to break down that barrier for American fans. And when people latch-on here they do go out of their way to see it. American fans are very loyal.

And the state of economy, has it touched you guys 'up there'?

Yeah, we all feel it. But you know, when times get tough people turn to entertainment, they go to movies more often, shows, looking for an escape.

In your press you mention Rockpile, among other bands who influenced you, and I really heard this in "Dark Highway" especially, but then I heard shades of Nazareth in a tune like "Hold Me in Your Arms."

Well Rockpile was one of my most favorite bands. But I think the differences you hear in the songs come from the fact that we have always liked bands that had diversity, like Queen, they did a lot of different stuff but it always was Queen. No matter where the songs go I think we always stay in the rock and roll genre and you know it's us.

And did you write the songs or you and your brother?

The best ones were written in jams, four of us jamming on ideas, working it over, and then coming up with good lyrics.

So what's in the future for The Trews?

We're releasing an acoustic album from a live acoustic club date we did (title and street date not set yet) In the fall we're plan to begin writing, but we are out playing here in the U.S til' 8/16. We're getting some play on 'Alternate Nation' (on Sirus/XM) so we'll probably do more acoustic and electric shows both, keep it going, revisit the cities where we seem to be doing alright

Any plans on attacking Europe?

Europe is expensive to get over to tour in. Here we can just drive down, 7-8 hours we're here in the north east, we're cool with that. We all live in South Ontario so eight hours we're in New York, ten we're in Chicago.

So you just basically keep planning and recording.

Very few people get into this to be international stars. You just got to go and do it, and it might be Madison Square Garden, it might the Mercury Lounge, either way you do your best every night to entertain whoever is there. You can't base your entire life on making it huge, you just got to make ends meet and consider yourself fortunate that you get to do something you love and make a living at it. It’s hard to keep perspective in such a fickle business, one percent of groups are as big as Kiss. I just hope that when people see The Trews live they have a good time.

Ralph Greco Jr.

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Band: The Rural Alberta Advantage
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Music Hall of Williamsburg
Food: Dumont Burger
Drink: Radegast Hall & Biergarten
Miscellaneous: Verb Cafe

Canadian indie rockers The Rural Alberta Advantage make poppy songs that are contagious and fun. Joining them are The Dig and Hollerado. With one of the best burgers in Williamsburg, Dumont Burger offers theirs with gourmet toppings, sandwiches, salads, and their amazing mac & cheese. So you consider yourself a beer connoisseur and like to party. You can do all that and eat at Radegast Hall & Biergarten. The Austrian/German menu perfectly compliments the 12 beers on tap and more than 30 German and Austrian bottles at this large beer hall. One of the oldest and best hipster hangout coffee shops, The Verb Cafe offers up excellent coffee and baked goods, a boho vibe, and big windows to watch the days pass while collecting unemployment!

With Memorial Day barbeques now distant memories, it is no longer necessary to declare that despite an unusual extension of April showers into these recent June and July days, summer is indeed here. Although this season is the second-most anticipated, second only to the unmatchable winter holidays, summer is no doubt the most relevant season to celebrate skin. And I am not talking about the anxiety-ridden, fashion-magazine-favored “bathing suit season.” I’m talking skincare!

In “light” of a recent surge of concern for healthy ways to still enjoy the sun, I am pleased to inform all skin-cancer wary sunbathers to check out the latest offerings at their nearest Clinique counter.

SPF 30 and SPF 50 Face Cream

This SPF 30 formulation, like most of the other products in this line, comes in a “sunny” yellow tube guaranteed to stand out on even the most toiletry-ridden of countertops. Standing out is important, because many experts are inclined to agree that of all the rituals a makeup-savvy New Yorker may incorporate in face-maintenance, sun protection is top on the list.

Fancy formulations aside, Clinique’s SolarSmar face cream appears not all that different from the other SPF-ridden concoctions I’ve encountered. As a very experienced beach-goer, I consider myself rather familiar with the various concerns surrounding sunscreen options. This face cream is pleasantly absent of any offensively strong coconut aromas touted by others in the sun-protection industry, yet unfortunately it inherits the viscosity of similar products. That being said, I cannot fault the industry for having yet to discover the secret agent that detracts from the stickiness that is sunscreen. Bearing in mind the product’s much more important inherent defense system, a small degree of tackiness is clearly a small, worthwhile price to pay.

Much like it’s SPF 30 counterpart, the SPF 50 version is that much more protective for those inclined to play it just a tad bit more safe. Other common properties shared by both products are their oil-free, water-resistant, PABA-free, non-acnegenic, sweat-resistant formulas deemed appropriate for sensitive skin.

SPF 45 Targeted Protection Stick

As a young beachgoer always impatient with the sunscreen application process, it was easy to overlook some of the most key skin areas, including the tops of my feet and undoubtedly the tops of my ears. Alas, I would like to alert all mothers to Clinique’s easy-to-apply, easier to carry Targeted Protection Stick.

The practicality of this product trumps any need to find flaws in this portable, non-spillable stick of sun-resistant splendor. And, speaking of flaws, its Vitamin E-ridden formula is meant to prevent just that: flaws otherwise created in hard-to-reach or extra-sensitive areas, including lips, under eyes and, quite importantly, ears!

Furthermore, the ingenious formulation also includes Jojoba esters, which help condition the skin, along with “photostable sunscreens” such as avobenzone to help ensure UVA protection.

Jessica Stein

Location: Chelsea, NYC
Band: Depeche Mode Get Tickets Here
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Madison Square Garden
Food GoGo Curry
Drink Stitch
Miscellaneous Leisure Time Bowl

Playing this first of two nights, Depeche Mode have a new album out Sounds of the Universe and still do what the do best, pump out great electronic infused dance rock songs and this new album proves it. Openers are Peter Bjorn & John who make some great upbeat music. The owner of GoGo Curry is obsessed with the Yankees Hideki Matsui and his Jersey (55). The menu’s theme is baseball and katsu, a fried meat, chicken, or shrimp cutlet served in a curry sauce is the specialty here. Portion sizes are Walk (small), Single (Med.), Double (L), and Triple (XL) and are inexpensive. The mascot, a gorilla for some reason, is plastered everywhere, making this place even quirkier. In the heart of the garment district, Stitch, a cozy after-work bar/lounge, stocks a cocktail menu with a design theme. If you still have energy and are in the mood to bowl, check out Leisure Time Bowl. Located in the Port Authority, this place is stylish and fun.

Terence Blanchard returns to the place where it all began—as one of five working jazz musicians jamming in front of a crowd. Photo by G. Paul Burnett/The New York Times.








As four musicians walked onto the stage, with a tinge of trepidation, the fifth one slowly followed them—Terence Blanchard. The crowd began to applaud as each one gradually wandered over to their chosen instruments. To see Blanchard pick up his “ax,” the trumpet, in person is definitely a rare treat.

For over 20 years, Blanchard has worked as a musician and composer for filmmakers like Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou, Talk to Me) and Spike Lee (Clockers, Inside Man). The project most personal to Blanchard was his original score for Spike Lee’s 2006 HBO documentary, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. A native of New Orleans, Blanchard also appeared in the documentary alongside his mother. Like so many others in The Big Easy, they returned to find their home destroyed by the floods of Hurricane Katrina, their possessions ravaged and gone, and their once fond memories of home completely shattered. This certainly was the fuel for some of his finest work to date, including his 2007 album, A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina), a beautifully realized work that covers the spectrum of emotions—rage, sadness, empathy and hope.

Many of the musicians appearing with Blanchard tonight have worked with him on recent projects, notably Houston-born drummer Kendrick Scott. With musicians like Scott and Cuban-born pianist Fabian Almazan, Blanchard surrounds himself with his own crop of “Young Lions,” a term that was once used to describe Blanchard himself while he played with Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers in the 1980s. In between sets, Blanchard teased a few of his fellow musicians about their youth (especially Almazan being the youngest at 25) but added that these musicians were great players in their own right. And he was correct.

The first piece opened up with such a booming, confident trumpet. The other instruments soon followed, but Almazan’s piano was a little shy, lurking in the background. Blanchard soon allowed his tenor sax man, Walter Smith III, to completely take over the piece and that he did. For a few moments, it felt more like a recording session with the original The John Coltrane Quartet. During that “session,” the musicians were still working out the kinks or perhaps still warming up, which might explain why Blanchard allowed Smith’s tenor sax to dominate the piece. As it winds down, you hear a familiar voice saying things like “all imitation is suicide” and “find your voice.” You think, “That person sounds a lot like Cornel West.” If you watch Real Time with Bill Maher, then you know you’re right and then wonder if he’s going to walk out on the stage. Of course, he never does.

Blanchard explained that he taped a long conversation/interview with the venerated Princeton University professor about life choices and particularly how we need to take “new paths of expression,” especially in music. This theme of individuality tied in well with not only Blanchard’s eagerness to still perform, but also in his choice of emerging musicians to accompany him.

The musicians finally began to relax more by the second piece entitled “Him or Me,” a composition by Walter Smith III. Almazan definitely stepped up with his melodic take on the piece. Blanchard’s signature resonance and hard-bop lingering echoed all over the room with not only long notes, but such wonderful circular flourishes that really showed us that at heart, he too will forever be a “Young Lion.”

The third piece, “Touched by an Angel,” a composition by Kendrick Scott, was perhaps the standout of the evening. It is traditional hard-bop in that it’s much more contemplative; a great unison between the musicians and Almazan’s talent is really evident in his melodic trills alongside Scott’s military-style drums and Blanchard’s beautiful, lingering notes. Blanchard’s phrasing on this piece really summoned the spirit of the late trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.

The final piece closed out the show very nicely as the crowd was now fully engaged. The sound was a wonderful hybrid of hip-hop, James Brown, Bo Diddley, Sonny Rollins—this mash-up of different styles is none other than the sound of New Orleans. It was fun to actually see different people in the audience dancing in their chairs while the music played. There was a really fun ode to the “call and response” tradition between Blanchard’s trumpet and Smith’s tenor sax and no one wanted it to end.

Blanchard is really the spirit of New Orleans. He embraces the past (Louis Armstrong, gospel, the blues) and present influences and despite setbacks, he continues to look ahead.

Shannon J. Effinger

Friday's revelers at All Points West know full well that when it rains, it pours. The mini-monsoon began during the Fleet Foxes' jam at the Blue Comet main stage, continued to cool during The National and called it a wrap as Vampire Weekend crooned about commas. An eclectic crowd bedecked in mud and joviality featured middle-aged men shaking off their corporate skin, tipsy twentysomethings dancing about, and even a sprinkle of tiny tots sitting atop shoulders. Musical highlights aside, crowd goers appreciated that the lines at the multiple beer tents, or 'refueling stations' as deemed by some, were wildly shorter than last year.

...and even shorter as the crowd rushed the main stage for The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The rain clouds parted and a feeble sun paled in comparison to Karen O as she towered tall in a black and white kimono-esque mini dress, multi-color marbled leggings, fringed kicks, and her iconic eye make-up, seemingly inspired by Jackson Pollock. With her team in tow, Miss O erupted with high notes and catchy crowd pleasers from the band's recent release It's Blitz! and other album Show Your Bones. The Yeah Yeah Yeah's latest hit single "Zero" had the crowd mashing Liberty State Park into a muddy swamp one minute and the next minute Karen O’s hypnotic vocals for "Soft Shock" morphed the Blue Comet crowd into one big noodle dance (cue wiggly arms and collective swaying).

The Yeah Yeah Yeah's ended their set with a sentimental shout to their stalwart and water-resistant fans. Then the band dedicated a pared down version of "Maps" to "Yeah Yeah Yeah's family and Yeah Yeah Yeah's loved ones!" Wait, they don't love you like we love you.

Ten days before the curtains were to be drawn, APW coordinators announced that Jay-Z would replace The Beastie Boys as Friday's headliner due to Adam Yauch's recent diagnosis of throat cancer and subsequent surgery plans. Though Beastie fans lamented, hip hop fans revved up for the stage return of HOVA on American soil thus answering the question, "Is he or is he not retired?" Always classy, Jay-Z paid tribute and opened his throwback set with The Beastie's "No Sleep Till Brooklyn." He followed with his rendition of "Brooklyn (Go Hard)."


Jay-Z's 80-minute set featured hits past and present; "99 Problems," "Can I Get a Wha What?, "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," and "DOA (Death of Autotune)." HOVA dripped lyrical gold backed by a full band and captivating visuals on the big screen behind him. In the middle of his rips of posers and declarations of personal greatness, Jay-Z delivered a resonant remix of "My President is Black." Images of Barack Obama and the phrase "Yes We Did" floated behind the fervent hip hop artist. After a short tease, the encore came and set the crowd over the top with "Big Pimpin'." Though many festival goers streamed out for the glacial ferry and the light rail, many more stayed and enjoyed Jay-Z's appreciation shouts to the crowd, "I see you over there in the yellow, jumping up and down. You in the Beyonce shirt! Brother over there in the blue, I see you!"

The night continued with a set from MSTRKRFT on the Queen of the Valley stage though most people poured out of the park, muddy and happy they didn't let a little water rain on their parade.

Nicole Velasco

Photo credit: Stephanie Kibbe




Apparently, you’re an idiot if you’re a fan of Black Moth Super Rainbow. Or at least that’s what the video displayed right before Black Moth took the stage at South Street Seaport would have you believe. The tongue-in-cheek, YouTube-like video of a disgruntled guy with a home video camera barraging insults towards a crowd of eager fans for their lack of music taste epitomizes the modus operandi of the band – clever, irreverent humor and the ability to just not care about anything but the music. Oddly reminiscent of the man behind the curtain, the most action on stage came from a guy in a gorilla suit and mask lip-synching to the songs while the real singer and mysterious mastermind behind Black Moth, a.k.a. TOBACCO sat on the floor with his synth and vocoder out of sight of the crowd. Even so, in the case of Black Moth Super Rainbow, the amazing psychedelic beats and other-worldly synthscapes of the songs provide no desire to pull back the curtain because the music speaks for itself.

Black Moth started off the show with the first track of their new album, “Eating Us,” produced by legendary record producer Dave Fridmann, who is known for his work with The Flaming Lips, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and MGMT. While the production is definitely a bit slicker on their new album, Dave Fridmann didn’t mess too much with a good thing, and Black Moth’s live performance retained a raw quality by seamlessly blending the new tracks with the rougher, lo-fi tracks of previous albums such as Dandelion Gum.

While the songs are composed mainly by one person in Black Moth, the remaining members of the band held their own with the bass player laying down hard grooves, the drummer masterfully duplicating the sometimes complicated, produced beats on the album, and the other members carefully adding layers of catchy riffs and melodies on synth keyboards. The South Street Seaport venue next to the water definitely added to the ethereal sounds of Black Moth, and it seemed as if even the boats in the background were swaying to the beat. Another highlight of the night was the amazing freak-out session on effects pedals and keyboard by the one and only Dan Friel from the band Parts and Labor.

Linh Truong