by
Brian Slattery |
Jan 31, 2020 4:34 pm
|
Comments
(0)
“Here Comes The Killers/Snake Oil,” the first song on Killer Kin’s Bad, Bad, Minds! starts with a grinding, strutting guitar, ominous enough already. Then the drums crash in, a distortion-drenched tremolo guitar, somewhere between punk and surf.
Even before the singer starts chanting out the first lines of the first verse — “here comes the killers / here comes the kin” — it promises danger. But it also promises something else: fun.
by
Karen Ponzio |
Jan 22, 2020 8:37 am
|
Comments
(0)
Karen Ponzio Photo
Konrad Dziemian and Eric Porcheddu.
“We’re trying something new here,” said Konrad Dziemian from the Cafe Nine stage Monday night. He and Eric Porcheddu played the inaugural show for Blue Note Mondays, a new series presented by the New Haven Jazz Underground.
by
Karen Ponzio |
Jan 10, 2020 1:01 pm
|
Comments
(0)
Karen Ponzio Photo
JanaeSound
“How about FaTE?” said Janay Woodruff — vocalist for JanaeSound — at beginning of her band’s set Thursday night at Cafe Nine. “We were destined to be together!”
It was a play on words, but also words of wisdom as these two acts with two powerful and enigmatic vocalists came together for one incredible evening of goosebump-inducing music.
by
Brian Slattery |
Jan 8, 2020 8:45 am
|
Comments
(1)
Brian Slattery
Serenita.
Singer-songwriter Steph Serenita announced that she would start her set at Cafe Nine on Tuesday night like she always did, and proceeded to pound out a beat on her guitar and belt out Janis Joplin’s “Lord Won’t You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz.” Her voice filled the room and ears of the audience who had come to see her on a triple bill with Hatfield and Outside Reality that proved to be a night of strong voices and reverence for the dead.
by
Allison Hadley |
Jan 2, 2020 1:11 pm
|
Comments
(0)
Allison Hadley Photos
Hintz.
Cafe Nine rang in the new year Wednesday with a tribute concert to Hank Williams, curated, emceed, and finished out by Nathaniel Hintz, himself decked out in a partial nudie suit and bolo tie, helping to channel the country legend in spirit — and in spirits.
An enthusiastic crowd from throughout Connecticut gathered at Cafe Nine for one final Manic Monday this week. For over three years, the series — promoted by Manic Presents and hosted by Cafe Nine — welcomed national touring musicians and paired them with local artists, hot on the heels of Manic’s previous long-running free events at BAR on Crown Street.
by
Brian Slattery |
Dec 12, 2019 12:59 pm
|
Comments
(1)
Brian Slattery Photo
Blurr.
Mickey Blurr turned out to have a wicked deadpan. “The Beatles are next,” he said to the audience at Cafe Nine on Wednesday night. “I’m so happy to open for the Beatles.”
“Not a lot of pressure,” an audience member deadpanned back.
by
Karen Ponzio |
Dec 2, 2019 8:42 am
|
Comments
(0)
Karen Ponzio Photo
Bella’s Bartok
“Did anyone get any good deals today?” asked Joey Mains, drummer for Sean Henry, right before the band’s opening set at The State House this past Friday. He was referring to Black Friday and its holiday sales, though perhaps the best deal going was this two-band bill that also included Bella’s Bartok — the Northampton, Mass.-based group known for their theatrically ecstatic dance-party shows — who had also played at this venue last year on this same day.
by
Allison Hadley |
Nov 29, 2019 9:38 am
|
Comments
(0)
Everyone on stage smiled when they locked eyes, mid-groove, almost as if they were getting away with something. But bathed in the cool purple light of the State House’s stage, the musicians in The Jam — musicians Jeremiah Fuller’s and Paul Bryant Hudson’s monthly gathering of the best of New Haven’s homegrown R&B talent — weren’t getting away. They were getting down.
by
Karen Ponzio |
Nov 25, 2019 8:32 am
|
Comments
(0)
Karen Ponzio Photo
Big Fat Combo.
“This song is about all of you,” said Tom Hearn of Big Fat Combo as he introduced the song “The ‘In’ Crowd.” By the look of the packed house at Cafe Nine Sunday afternoon, “all of you” meant a sizable portion of New Haven’s music community and fans. Which made sense: The bill of this particular Cygnus Radio Sunday Buzz matinee was made up of two beloved local bands, the aforementioned Combo and The Furors.
by
Brian Slattery |
Nov 24, 2019 10:14 pm
|
Comments
(0)
Brian Slattery Photos
Ceschi.
Julio Ramos, a.k.a. Ceschi, beamed from the stage at the State House at a floor dense with cheering people on Friday night.
“Feel like I haven’t been home,” he said. Over the next two and a half hours, he and Anonymous Inc. — David Ramos on drums, Max Heath on keyboards, and Jane Boxall on vibraphone — rekindled their roots in the Elm City and proved that they remain a vital force in New Haven’s music scene.
by
Karen Ponzio |
Nov 20, 2019 8:51 am
|
Comments
(0)
Anna Luther Photo
Madame Thalia performing at Lyric Hall.
Zohra Rawling — professional opera singer and the creative force guiding the troupe of performers in Madame Thalia — will be celebrating the heyday of radio and New Haven’s own role in it at Cafe Nine this weekend, even though she had her own tenuous but amusing experience with that medium about three years ago at WNHH, when she and fellow Madame Thalia member/musician Gretchen Frazier performed as a duo during the station’s annual fundraiser.
by
Pasquale Liuzzi |
Nov 18, 2019 9:04 am
|
Comments
(0)
Pasquale Liuzzi Photos
Fiction Kids.
The clock had not yet struck nine as familiar faces of New Haven’s music scene rambled into the State House. Karen Ponzio, one of the Independent’s arts reporters (off duty that evening) sat in the corner sipping a gin and tonic while Dani Capalbo occupied the merch booth and handed out slices of pizza from nearby Modern Apizza. In front of the bar, Alex Burnett, musician and frontman of Laundry Day, loudly explained to fellow bandmate Sam Carlson why the “H” in Jesus H. Christ stands for Herman.
They were all there to celebrate the release of new music from two of the city’s musical acts, The Fiction Kids and Daniprobably, with Spit-Take opening.
by
Karen Ponzio |
Nov 12, 2019 1:13 pm
|
Comments
(0)
Karen Ponzio Photos
Scruffy Pearls
“You know, 11/11 is supposed to be some kind of magical number,” said Laini Marenick from behind her keyboard on the stage at Cafe Nine last night. “I feel like playing here on this date is a cosmic event.”
It was definitely a manic event — Manic Monday to be precise — and Marenick’s New Haven-based band Laini and The Wildfire were the first on a two-act bill that also included the New York-based Scruffy Pearls. Whether it was the moon or the stars or just plain old connection, both bands grabbed the audience’s attention from the very start.
“Boy, it’s nice to play for such a quiet room,” folksinger Alexa Rose commented between songs on Friday night at Café Nine.
The club was full, but the patrons were more interested in hearing from her than from each other. The only real noise was the hoots and wolf whistles every time she finished a song or one of her musicians stuck the landing of a solo.
by
Brian Slattery |
Oct 28, 2019 11:52 am
|
Comments
(0)
Brian Slattery Photos
Christoph Whitbeck of the MacGuffins howled into the microphone, blood streaming down his chest. A man in a white plastic mask played the saxophone. Someone caught the “man flu.” And crowd members learned to do the squid.
by
Karen Ponzio |
Oct 22, 2019 8:04 am
|
Comments
(0)
Greg Gutbezahl
Flamin’ Groovies - Left to right - Chris von Sneidern,
Cyril Jordan and Tony Sales (not pictured: Atom Ellis)
“I’ve never been one of those people who can think about life 20 years ahead,” said Cyril Jordan, founder of Flamin’ Groovies, the legendary rock ‘n’ roll band that continues to make its way through the world of music on its own terms since originating in San Francisco back in 1965 — and will make its way to Cafe Nine this week.
by
Allison Hadley |
Oct 11, 2019 7:47 am
|
Comments
(0)
Alison Hadley Photos
From the front man to They and the Children, to employees of Wallingford’s Redscroll Records, to many a jean-jacketed, patch-adorned holder of the proverbial ‘gansett tallboy, all came out to the State House to see Les Filles de Illighadad. “So many people from so many parts of my life are talking about this band!” exclaimed Sarah Prown, citing figures from celebrated fiddler Bruce Molsky to New Haven-based friends on Facebook. On tour from Niger, Les Filles were in New Haven for the first time, and a very broad swath of the Elm City’s musical community came out to greet them.
by
Brian Slattery |
Sep 25, 2019 7:41 am
|
Comments
(0)
Facebook
Justin Bencivengo.
Chad Browne-Springer of Phat A$tronaut held the microphone in his hand and looked out across the crowded house at Cafe Nine on Tuesday night. People were laughing and chatting, but Browne-Springer had something to say.
“Tonight I feel heavy,” he said. The room began to quiet down. “A lot of members of this band and a lot of people in this audience lost a friend. So if we could, just raise a glass for Justin.”
At a recent La Chamba show at the State House there were two distinct senses: the sight of many smiling faces, and the faint scent of tequila.
The crowd went from Tuesday tepid to a party resplendent with a dance circle. And La Chamba, purveying the sound of Peruvian chicha, served as the mover and shaker of the evening.
by
Brian Slattery |
Sep 18, 2019 8:13 am
|
Comments
(0)
Brian Slattery Photos
The musicians were laying down grooves on Tuesday night before anyone arrived or the house lights went down. They settled into something nice and mellow that still let every player take a turn. They stopped when the State House’s doors opened and joined the first few people who came in. For a time they chatted with the audience members. Then they started for real.
by
Thomas Breen |
Sep 17, 2019 9:31 pm
|
Comments
(2)
Thomas Breen photos
Spinnaker Director of Development Frank Caico. Below: The empty former Coliseum site.
A Norwalk-based developer kicked off an anticipated year-long community design process for the mix of residential, commercial, and office buildings that might soon fill the former Coliseum site by introducing the key dates, and key players, behind the project.
“This is a reunion” said Richard Colado, also known as rickoLus, after shouting out the emcee of the night — Ceschi Ramos — who put together a four-act bill of four friends and fellow songwriters that made Cafe Nine on a Sunday night feel like not just a musician’s living room, but an old friend’s one as well.
