The Morning Benders @ Webster Hall, NYC – November 18, 2010


The Morning Benders are a band I first encountered at The Market Place Hotel (R.I.P.) in Brooklyn supporting Surfer Blood (also that evening playing alongside bands such as Grooms, Turbo Fruits, and Beach Fossils) and I’ll admit at first I wasn’t impressed, but there was a certain charm their stage presence put out that has stuck with me. The band not only seemed incredibly young but ripe for the journey most aspiring musicians cannot even comprehend, fast forward to where we are today, the bands sophomore record Big Echo is destined to make many top 10 list, they have already supported Ra Ra Riot, White Rabbits, MGMT, Yeasayer, and The Black Keys, and after all of that the band have set out on their first headlining tour. Not bad for the four little guys who played Market Hotel earlier this year.

The bands performance really surprised me. Its unbelievable how much a band can change in the span of a year but The Morning Benders make it a feat to show that they’ve been doing nothing but learning. Chris Chu fronts the band with a relaxed talent but isn’t afraid to get into his tunes, while his brother Jon Chu backs him up with a rhythm guitar which could be named precision. After the third track Chris Chu proclaimed “Earlier this year we released an album called Big Echo! We’re going to play a lot of tracks from it to thank all of you for the year we had!” I was lucky enough to capture their show at Webster Hall (along with photos of opening act Twin Sister).

Photos from the show can be viewed here.

CMJ 2010: Playtime! & Candid Band Photos


We have TONS of our Playtime! sessions to post in the coming days, but what we love to do is catching bands in the action of playing these private little performances. Yes catching the amazing shows of your favorite up and comers and old favorites is a highlight of CMJ, but there is nothing more thrilling than getting the inside scoop of your favorite artists straight from the source.

View the pictures RIGHT HERE!

….more to come…..

CMJ MEGA PHOTO RECAP


We have more amazing photos of CMJ 2010 for your pretty little eyes to gaze upon right here! From Phoenix to Two Door Cinema Club, we have it all…
Day 1:
Oh Land
Death On Two Wheels
River City Extension
Miniature Tigers
Kevin Devine & The God Damn Band

Day 2:
WAVVES
Dirty Projectors
Phoenix (With special guest Daft Punk)

Day 3:
Grouplove
Penguin Prison
Two Door Cinema Club

Day 4:
Porcelain Raft
Dominant Legs
Johnny Flynn
Chapel Club
Everything Everything
Blood Red Shoes

CMJ 2010 Photos: Neutral Uke Hotel & Golden Bloom @ Cameo Gallery


Golden Bloom and Neutral Uke Hotel, 2 bands made up of primarily of the same friendly fellows, took the stage at the Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn onm Thursday night and packed the room with diehard followers and new fans wanting to see what these guys are all about. We’re glad that we got caught up in this action. Take a look at photos from both sets HERE!