On Saturday night, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour played a free set at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. Part of a party thrown by GBH and advertised on Going.com, the house was packed and the energy was high. Alex English and other DJs warmed up the room until the band took the stage around 11:40 pm.

The crowd was a collection of beautiful people, Manhattan’s hip elite (many of whom seemed to be imports from other parts of the world judging by the diverse accents heard chatting about the Danish band), and they were going nuts for the show. If they noticed the sound and technical problems that the band complained of which eventually caused them to cut the set slightly short (at around 40 minutes), they didn’t show it. Crammed in with barely room to breathe, the happy partiers still found a way to throw hands in the air and groove as the jams kept on coming. At one point a rapper even joined the band onstage (White Slug? White Squall?? It was hard to tell but White something for sure)…Most of the band’s album Fruit saw airtime during the set and one-song encore, including favorites like The Sun Ain’t Shining No More, Lady Jesus (see video), The Golden Age, and of course iPod shiller and huge crowd pleaser  Around The Bend. When people are shouting lyrics into my ears, I know we’re onto something special here!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrQRJEHvq-M

Lady Jesus live at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, 11/14/09

Last week I headed down to the Bowery with Pete and Maxine from PRO MOTION to meet the Rock Ridge music team and check out organicArma who played an official CMJ showcase here in New York. The Miami based band is one of our LIFT artists and we recently serviced Fear of Demente to college DJs. Check out on their high energy performance of Demente below!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMZxkY9Nkq8

Friday night I headed down to Terminal 5 in NYC to see Gossip live for the first time! I had heard amazing things about their live performance but was still not prepared for the in the flesh experience! After claiming our spot at the front and starting the night with two great opening bands, Apache Beat and MEN we fired up and ready to go. Gossip finally took the stage and thrilled us with tracks from their third album “Standing In The Way Of Control” and the outstanding recently released “Music for Men”

If you think they pack a punch on the records, in the flesh words can’t even describe it, Beth’s voice is just so powerful. Every song was amazing! There was a point where people were screaming for Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody?” (which they have covered before) and just as I was thinking that would be great, they rolled out a cover -- not Aaliyah, but Tina Turner! A fantastic performance of “What’s Love Got To Do With It” for which the whole audience went crazy for and I found myself in front row screeching along.

Soon after that it was time for their monster hit “Standing In The Way Of Control” to close the show, and before I knew what was going on Beth had jumped over the rail and into the audience! No she didn’t crowd surf, but she walked around for most of the song in the audience amongst a very excited crowded, up at the front we ended up thrown around in a mosh pit and loving every minute of it! It was a perfect end to the night!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtR7SHtFpxg

YR Mangled Heart

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzy6Z-arwBA

Heavy Cross

On Saturday the PRO MOTION team was lucky enough to be able to attend the Smokey Robinson concert at A&E Recovery Rally. We were all excited to see this legend perform, and he certainly delivered. Many of these songs were written long before most of the team were even born, but the fact that we knew many of them, and enjoyed them all, is a testament to the spectacular and timeless body of work he has.

In addition to the old classics, Smokey also performed some new songs from his recently released album “Time Flies When You’re Having Fun,”which we here at PRO MOTION are thrilled to be involved in, providing remixes and promotion!  I particularly enjoyed his soulful rendition of Norah Jones’s classic song “I Don’t Know Why.”  Then after the performance we had the chance to meet and take professional pictures with the man himself, which was a great experience given that he was so nice!  We are yet to see them but hope they came out well!

Thanks to the A&E team and Smokey’s management for providing the team with an unforgettable experience!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYCE7IVsaAM

I Don’t Know Why

The Pet Shop Boys had always been a staple in my household growing up -- my father being a huge fan.  I was too involved with my obsession with Madonna, Paula Abdul and Taylor Dayne at the time to even deal with more pop songs, but as I got older I began to appreciate the catchy synth-pop that only these boys can produce.  That being said, I was excited to see them live a few days ago on the NYC stop of the Pandemonium Tour at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Neil and Chris, the latter of which we just had an exclusive interview with -- performed through a solid set list of their old hits and new favorites from 2009′s Yes. The audience welcomed their return to the states and the stage design/concept of the show kept us itching for more!  A cover of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida smashed up with hits Discoteca and Domino Dancing brought the show to a rousing close -- but not before the encore, which made sure we did not go home without hearing West End Girls and It’s a Sin.

SETLIST
1. More Than A Dream (Instrumental)
2. Did You See Me Coming?
3. Pandemonium / Can You Forgive Her?
4. Love Etc.
5. Building A Wall (“Integral”)/ Go West (“Paninaro” and “Opportunites (Let’s Make Lots Of Money)”)
6. Two Divided By Zero
7. Why Don’t We Live Together?
8. Always On My Mind
9. New York City Boy
10. Closer to heaven / Left to my own devices
11. Do I Have To?
12. King’s Cross
13. The Way It Used To Be Play
14. Jealousy
15. Suburbia
16. All Over The World
17. Se A Vida É (That’s The Way Life Is)
18. Viva La Vida (“Discoteca” and “Domino Dancing”)
19. It’s A Sin

ENCORE
20. Being Boring
21. West End Girls

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtfL0F8Hpdo

Viva La Vida (Coldplay Cover) at Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC