Kurt Vile hid behind his hair but stood center stage firmly and confidently. He had nothing to lose, nothing to fear. His Matador release, Childish Prodigy, just came out, he’s been on the positive side of the blog-buzz for many, many months and the Mercury Lounge was sold out.

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Evan Dando is a complicated man. What are his motives? I’m not sure. Does he enjoy playing nearly 20-year-old songs year after year? I can’t tell. The only thing I know for sure is that his fans love him.

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It’s time I learned that I simply cannot go to shows all day AND all night anymore. I am no longer young and sprightly. Or maybe I am and what really bugged me and dragged me down Saturday night was the long wait at SOB’s.

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The first time I saw the Religious Knives was at the No Fun Fest, May 2007 in Red Hook. Religious Knives stood out that night: its music was more on the side of rock ‘n’ roll than the other acts at the Fest. The band played traditional instruments and didn’t scream or play feedback on tape decks or laptops. But there was something experimental about its: guitar drones and manipulated noise were a part of the sound, as was the mystical keyboard playing and echo-ey vocals from Maya Miller. 

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There are some bands that are cool for a moment, and the type of fans that go to their shows are fans looking for something fun, something new or something different. Then there are bands like Mogwai, from Glasgow, which have been around for years and have die-hard fans.

Mogwai only comes to America occasionally, and three dates at the Music Hall of Williamsburg sold out easily. The first performance of the three-show run was dramatic, epic and certainly fulfilling.

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Part ’90s grunge, part early ’80s punk and part J Mascis wattage, Wavves kills it.

Nathan Daniel Williams walked onto the stage at Mercury Lounge last night in a wool patchwork jacket. His black hair flopped from side to side as he set up his guitar and amp. The amp, a Marshall full stack, said it all. This kid, man, guitarist, isn’t interested in understatement. He wants to play fucking loud. 

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Despite the seemingly endless flow of bad economic news people are still going out to see rock bands in Manhattan. Last Thursday was the first of two sold out shows on the NME Tour. I was there to see The Soft Pack, the opener for White Lies and Friendly Fires.

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Two bands fronted by females, one from Brooklyn and the other from Baltimore. And they couldn’t be more different.

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Three girls took the stage at Union Pool on Saturday looking way too cute. I thought to myself, if this is another girl band that looks stylish and cool but sounds generic or like ABC bubblegum, I’ll be very upset.

For any music fan, one of the greatest pleasures of a show is when the opening band is better than the band you went to see. I can only remember a couple of times when this has happened to me. In 2002 I went to see the Conor Oberst’s side project Desaparecidos and the opener was Rilo Kiley, a band that changed my life and then let me down. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again!

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Kay Hanley of Letters to Cleo is a back-up singer in Hannah Montana’s band. Stacy Jones, Letters to Cleo’s drummer, is the music director of the whole Miley Cyrus shebang. And I have to say, after seeing the Letters to Cleo 20-year reunion last night at the Bowery Ballroom, I understand why Cyrus/Montana is so big. She’s backed by a couple of the best musicians around.

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