NYC Show Obsessive

 Bill: Silkworm/Come Venue: Elsewhere , 599 Johnson Ave ., Brooklyn, NY Date: Monday 5/11/26 Door: $30 9pm Silkworm Active: 1987 (Seattle, WA via Missoula, MT) Latest Release: Chokes EP (12XU, 2006)  Bandcamp Facebook Instagram Discog s Setlist AllMusic Wiki YouTube Spotify 8pm Come Active: 1990 (Boston, MA) Latest Release: AKA The Come Club (Chunklet Industries, 2021), Gently Down The Stream (Matador, 1998) Bandcamp Facebook I nstagram Discogs Setlist AllMusic Wiki YouTube Spotify There was a hint of 90's nostalgia in the march of the grays Monday night at Elsewhere.  Silkworm started in the later 80's but really hit their stride around 1998 with Firewater and put records out until their drummer Michael Dahlquist was killed in a car accident in 2005.  They took time off,  but reformed in 2024 to tribute Steve Albini.  There isn't any new releases yet, just archival stuff, but you know how that goes.  Interestingly, Joel R.L. Phelps, who...

  Bill: The Messthetics/Brandon Seabrook/Trinary System Venue: Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St., New York, NY Date: Wednesday 5/6/26 Ticket: Door $27 (had a +1) 9:30pm The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis Affiliated: Fugazi Active: Messthetics: 2016 (Washington, DC), James Brandon Lewis: 2010 (New York, NY via Buffalo, NY) Latest Release: Deface The Currency (Impulse, 2026) Messthetics: Bandcamp Facebook Instagram Discogs Setlist AllMusic Wiki YouTube Spotify James Brandon Lewis: Bandcamp Facebook Instagram Discogs Setlist    AllMusic Wiki YouTube Spotify 8:30 Brandon Seabrook Active: 2011 (Brooklyn, NY) Latest Release: Hellbent Daydream (Pyroclastic, 2024) Bandcamp Instagram Discog s Setlist AllMusic WIk i YouTube Spotif y 7:30 Trinary System Active: 2016 (Boston, MA) Affiliated: Roger Miller (Mission of Burma) Latest Release: The Hard Machine (Cunieform, 2025) Bandcamp Facebook I nstagram Discog s Setlist AllMusic Wiki YouTub e Spotify This...

  Bill: Sugar Venue: Webster Hall , 125 E. 11 St. , New York, NY Date: Sunday 5/3/26 Ticket: $59 50 Face plus fees (got a friends ticket for $40) 8:30pm Sugar Active: 1992 (Brooklyn, NY via Minneapolis, MN/Boston, MA/Athens, GA) Affiliated: Bob Mould ( Hüsker Dü ), David Barbe ( Mercyland ), Malcolm Travis ( Human Sexual Response ) Latest Release: " Long Live Love " (BMG Rights Management, 2026), ' House of Dead Memories " (BMG Rights Management, 2025) Bandcamp Facebook Instagram Discogs Setlist AllMusic Wiki YouTube Spotify While Sugar didn't carry the deep nostalgic impact that  Hüsker Dü  or even Human Sexual Response has for me, I did have a residual desire to check in on their reformation on a slightl y greater urge in comparison to seeing Bob solo.  I guess that is because it guaranteed I was going to see a full band vs Bob alone with guitar, which I last went to at Iridium .  No dig on that, I enjoy Bob Mould in any format, but I prefer him with a...

  Bill: Uli Jon Roth Venue: Iridium , 1650 Broadway, New York, NY Date: Sunday 4/26/26 Door: $75 preferred seating  8:15pm Uli Jon Roth Active: 1968 (Duseldorf, Germany) Latest Release: Tokyo Tapes Revisited Live In Japan (UDO, 2016) Affiliated: Scorpions, Electric Sun Featured: Scorpions Virgin Killer (RCA, 1976) Facebook Instagram Discog s Setlist Wiki AllMusic YouTube Spotify NYC has a double dose of Uli Jon Roth last night and tonight.  Originally I won tickets at Sony Hall but that got canceled and replaced at Les Paul's retirement club.  Uli gets a Monday night just like Les did, although I doubt Paul's backup band with make a cameo for Uli.  Not a joke--they used to! Uli is touring on a book, In Search of the Alpha Law , which is a heavy tomb.  The screen backdrop at Iridium wasn't as sharp as venues Uli was used to so he couldn't read an example.  The other big event was the 50th anniversary of the Scorpions Virgin Killer.  The se...

Bill: The Innocence Mission Venue: Sony Hall , 235 W 46 St., New York, NY Date: Friday 4/24/26 Door: $35 (had free pair via DoNYC) 8pm The Innocence Mission Active: 1985 (Lancaster, PA) Latest Release: The Raindrop Cars (Therese, 2025) Midwinter Swimmers (Therese/Bella Union, 2024) Bandcamp Facebook Instagram Discogs Setlist AllMusic Wiki YouTube Spotify A decade into the Innocence Mission's existence I heard their album Glow on recommendation and I liked it quite a bit.  Somehow that didn't translate into hearing other albums or seeing them live until now.  Sony Hall was pretty packed out when I got there right before they went on so a corner at end of the back bar was commandeered.  Unfortunately the floor was annoyingly sticky to the point that it was driving me nuts until I couldn't take it anymore and flagged a waitress for a mop.  The supervisor gave me a couple wet rags which quickly got the job done and restored my sanity even as the workers chatte...

  Bill: Luciano/Mesha Steele/DJ Roy Venue: Le Poisson Rouge , 1 58 Bleecker St. , New York, NY Date: Sunday 4/19/26 Door: $69 (had friends +1) 9pm Luciano Active: 1993 (Davyton, Jamaica) Latest Release: Return of the Chronicles (Island, 2022), The Answer (Oneness, 2020) Bandcamp Facebook Instagram Discogs Setlist AllMusic Wiki YouTube Spotify It was a long running legend in the mind of a friend that brought me to Jamaican Reggae Roots artist Luciano AKA Luciano Messenjah.  He won tickets and Luciano had been on the bucket list for him since the late 90's.  The story goes that he saw Sizzla in Los Angeles and was raving about it to a friend of his who said to him "you think he is good, you should see Luciano he is better."  I may be paraphrasing a bit but you get the idea.  So my concert buddy had an itch to scratch going back decades.  As for me, I figured anyone ever on RAS Records or VP Records doing Roots Reggae is someone worth checking out, s...