StereoactiveNYC/Hot Rocks Official CMJ Showcase - 20 October 2007 @ The Delancey

On Saturday night Stereoactive NYC and Hot Rocks took over The Delancey for their Official CMJ Music Marathon Showcase. It was an amazing night full of NINE awesome bands. I played the part of guest DJ during the first four hours of the evening, spinning some of my favorite songs from 1956-1964 and doing my best to keep people dancing - not exactly an easy task without some of my go-to songs from the '80s and '90s.

Sadly, I had to leave early and missed seeing Up the Empire, El Jezel, and The Vandelles - all of which are bands I enjoy very much. Still, the six bands I did get to see truly rocked that basement stage. Highlights from the evening for me were, without a doubt, The Secret Life of Sofia and A Place to Bury Strangers. Both of these two sets ended up being two of my favorites from all of CMJ.

You can find a few links, pictures, MP3s, and two LIVE videos I took of A Place to Bury Strangers below.

Chop Shop (above) kicked things off with a bang. They brought with them a nice sized crowd of fans and perfectly set the tone for the rest of the night with their charisma and energy.

Listen:
"Crickets"

Visit Chop Shop on MySpace.

The Secret Life of Sofia (above) delivered their best performance to date. At least, for the shows I've seen them play - this was it. The band is truly finding themselves within their new songs and I literally got chills at one point. Sounds silly? It's the truth. I love this band. When their new album comes out, watch out world.

Listen:
"Hospital Inside Me"

See more pictures of The Secret Life of Sofia (from this show and others) HERE.

Visit The Secret Life of Sofia on MySpace.

Gold Streets (above) hit the stage with their trademark groovy bass and split male/female vocals and got many people shaking and moving along with their Cocteau Twins meets Veruca Salt vibe. God how I love a Rickenbacker bass.

Listen:
"Funny Cry Happy”

Visit Gold Streets on MySpace.

Mancino (above) was playing a second show in a week without a drummer. That is, until Jeremiah from Man in Gray stepped in and kicked out beats for about four songs. Lots of fun, and even more people dancing and shaking and moving.

See Mancino live:
31 October - EAR FARM's Super Spooky Halloween Show @ Europa w/ Goes Cube, Hopewell and the Giraffes

Listen:
"Five Blades"

See more pictures of Mancino (from this show and many others) HERE.

Visit Mancino on MySpace.

Man in Gray (above) burst onto the stage with even more energy than usual. No really, and that's saying a lot. Not knocking on their set earlier in the week, but on Saturday night they killed it. Apologies for some of these bad pics, but I was stuck in the DJ booth most of the night.

Listen:
"Stranded"

See more pictures of Man In Gray (from another show) HERE.

Visit Man In Gray on MySpace.

A Place to Bury Strangers (above) simply dominated. There was a palpable sense of anticipation in the room before they went on. People were excited to see this band, and for good reason: they're one of New York's top live bands. Though this wasn't the loudest I've ever heard them, it was one of my most favorite sets of all of CMJ. I'd see them again and again and again and again, if only my ears would let me.

Listen:
"To Fix The Gash In Your Head"

Watch:
"To Fix The Gash In Your Head" live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT
"I Know I'll See You" live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT

See more pictures of A Place to Bury Strangers (from this show) HERE.

Visit A Place to Bury Strangers on MySpace.