After canceling their Stateside visit that was planned around Lollapalooza, UK blue-loving neo-folkies Noah and the Whale have finally figured out their first U.S. tour with ten dates in the usual places, including three NYC dates. One of those is at, believe it or not, the Sidewalk Cafe -- birthplace of the '90s antifolk scene that gave us Jeffrey Lewis, Cindy Lee Berryhill and Beck. It's a tiny venue for a band with a current UK Top Ten Hit, the lovely "5 Years Time" which is actually playing in a Saturn car commercial as I type this. (True!) They are admitted Jeffrey Lewis fans so I wonder if they didn't ask to play there specifically the way some singers used to want to play The Bitter End or the Bottom Line because Dylan did.
The band's very good debut album, Peaceful the World Lays Me Down, was supposed to come out over here at the end of last month but is now scheduled for September 16, the day before their first U.S. show at Union Pool which will be a lovely place to see them. Hopefully they will sell advance tickets to that one.
MP3: Noah and the Whale - Shape Of My Heart
Those tour dates:
9/17 Union Pool, Brooklyn
9/18 Sidewalk Cafe, NYC
9/19 Mercury Lounge, NYC
9/20 TOAD, Boston MA
9/26 Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
9/29 The Sunset, Seattle, WA
9/30 Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
10/02 Pop Scene, San Francisco, CA
10/04 Detour Festival, Los Angeles
10/06 Spaceland, Los Angeles
That whole scene seems to be consciously passing through the Sidewalk Cafe. Emmy, Marling, now Noah.
Posted by: J | Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at 12:14 AM