James Blake @ The Bowery Ballroom (5.11.2011)

Britain's James Blake released his self-titled debut album this year and it was well received in the U.S. upon its emergence.  Resulting from this high acclaim, Blake extended his live shows and made his live American debut in March of 2011 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn.  Tickets sold out incredibly fast and unfortunately, Evan and I got shut out of the show.  Tickets for the event were selling for over $100 each on Ebay and StubHub which was completely out of our budget.  Luckily enough, he announced another set of U.S. dates for the spring/early summer, two of which were to occur in New York.  We attended his performance on May 11th at the Bowery Ballroom.

Gang Gang Dance @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg (5.4.2011)

Gang Gang Dance has always been a blast to see live.  We caught them at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in January of 2009 and then again opening for Grizzly Bear at Governor's Island in August 2010 (check out the recording!).  They released their new album Eye Contact this month which leaked a few weeks prior to its release date and was sold a week before its official release at this show.  The mood for the evening was set almost immediately upon arriving outside of the Music Hall of Williamsburg.  Paper lined the street with the phrase "It's Everything Time," a spoken line from the beginning of "Glass Jar," the opening track to Gang Gang Dance's new album Eye Contact.  The sheets of paper also formed a giant GGD on a wall across from the venue.  By the time we arrived at the venue, one of the papers in the second "G" was missing so I'm using a photo taken by Collected Animals member Carradio.