GIG PREVIEW — Spiritualized, Sonic Youth, Black Keys
This week's shows in NYC kick off with The Flaming Lips this very evening
There’s a whole load of legends rolling into town this week. Like neo-psychedelia and watching Wayne Coyne trample the crowd in a huge hamster ball? Then go see The Flaming Lips at Central Park Summerstage tonight or Terminal 5 tomorrow (27th). Prefer wigging out to stoned cosmic rock? Spiritualized will be floating in space at Radio City Music Hall on Friday (30th). Or are you more au fait with cortex-crushing noise? Sonic Youth at the Prospect Park Bandshell on Saturday (31st) might be for you. That same venue is playing host to The National and Beach House tomorrow (27th) too.
One band you really shouldn’t miss (and shouldn’t have to as they hit town three times this week) are blues rockers The Black Keys, who play Central Park Summerstage on Tue and Wed and a second show on Wed at Terminal 5. The band will be giving recent album Brothers a decent airing alongside no doubt the likes of I Got Mine (one of Rolling Stone’s top tracks of 2008) and reminding us all where The White Stripes get a lot of their ideas from. So get out there and get to some shows; you can always rest next week (unlikely, but the excuse will do for the time being…).
Tim Chester is assistant editor at NME.com