Pomp Does CMJ

CMJ has come to an end-- and I'm glad. Don't get me wrong, I <3 music. And who doesn't love a live show, even if for nothing more than the close proximity of a sexy stranger's breath on your neck as inaudible questions are asked over a blaring bass line. But this past week, my head has been spinning with RSVPs, not to mention keeping track of everything in my mental calendar. Being as disorganized as I am, I missed about 70% of the shows I wanted to see, and about 60% of the shows I was on the list for, but some bands I did see made it all worth it:

Dovecote Records & Sneak Attack Media hosted a basement showcase at Rehab in Alphabet City. I arrived just as scene newbie Matt Duke kicked off his set, surrounded by tables of pill bottles filled with M&Ms and CD Samplers. As the crowd shoved to capacity, Tim Williams, who will be back at this Ave B venue on Nov. 21st, tugged on my heartstrings. Mason Proper delivered. Halfway through 'Point A to Point B', my mom (yes- I brought my mom to a CMJ party) turned to me and said, 'These drinks are strong, but they're fantastic'.




After putting my mom in a cab, I headed to the Brooklyn Vegan party in Williamsburg to catch the midnight show of The Phenomenal Handclap Band. I got there at the tail end of Ponytail-- luckily I'll be catching them on Halloween at Danbro. After 6 tequila shots in 3 minutes, I was super excited to spot Kurt Loder. “He 'molded my musical childhood!” I screamed to a friend, only to realize in a sober state a few days later that it was, in fact, fellow MTV News dude John Norris.

The next stand out event took place at Pete's Candy Store the night after the Black Seal party, where Wisconsin boy Cory Chisel performed in cozy quarters. Cory, accompanied by sweet songstress Adriel Harris, said 'if I hit her with this guitar, I'll feel really bad'. 'So will I', Adriel quipped. I was sitting towards the back of the room surrounded by proud sing-a-longs The Wandering Sons, who joined Cory & Adriel on stage for a few tunes, including an enchanting cover of Loudon Wainwright's 'I'm a One Man Guy'. This is the kind of music that makes me wanna smoke in bed, especially new jam 'Sex to Sleep.' If you feel like swooning, I suggest you keep your eyes open for Chisel repping his new gig as one of the Lucky Few.






From here I hopped in a car and headed back into the LES. A quick pit stop at Mercury Lounge and then straight to the The Annex, where NME was throwing a bash headlined by The Whip. The first and last time I saw these folks was at McCarren Park Pool and I loved them. I took a little too much advantage of the free Dewar's then, making me dance happy-- and this time wasn't much different. I mean, it was in a dark club and not in the overexposure of the summer sun, but I chugged enough to not realize that the DJ I was shaking my thang to was Mattie Safer of The Rapture.





A few days out of the madness and my concealer can finally go back to its home at the bottom of my make-up bag. Wait, who am I kidding? Figuratively speaking, it's always CMJ in NYC.


** Disclaimer: Sometimes I tend to forget to take photos-- OR, as in the case of The Whip show, I just take photos of myself dancing with friends in front of the speakers (which I REFUSE to share, by the way). I'm a classy broad, let me tell you....

--Nicole Wasilewicz