The Bowery Presents

Music Hall of Williamsburg upcoming shows

The Prom You Were Promised
After years of raised expectations and inevitable disappointment, after Pretty in Pink and Saved By The Bell season 4 (we remember it, too), 826NYC and Bowery Presents are happy to finally present THE PROM YOU WERE PROMISED, a night of formal wear, amazing dance music, and a chance to re-live prom the way you always wanted.

The night will feature rare DJ sets by VAMPIRE WEEKEND, PAT MAHONEY (of LCD Soundsystem), and HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR, and will be hosted by one of our favorite comedians (and 826NYC advisory board member!) LEO ALLEN. So fire up the limo, dust off that tux (or not), break out the hairspray, and get ready to dance!

PROM BASICS:

Who: You, and a date. (Date not required)

Dress code: Prom attire (Your old gown/tux/suit, or the jeans and sneakers you wished you'd worn.)

What: The prom night you’ve been waiting for.

When: Thursday, May 21, 2009, at 9 p.m.

Where: Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 North 6th Street, Brooklyn

Why:
1) For the kids - all proceeds benefit 826NYC
2) For the music - three killer DJ sets, each of them worth the price of admission
3) For the replacement memories, made to last a lifetime
Vampire Weekend
official website
myspace
In the fall of 2005, Ezra Koenig was wondering about the origins of preppiness. What was khaki and where had it come from He had spent the previous summer traveling through India and touring across America as a member of The Dirty Projectors. That same summer, Rostam Batmanglij interned at the Oxford English Dictionary and managed to obtain the key to the harpsichord room at Columbia University. He studied film scoring downtown and rented an apartment in Morningside Heights. At Columbia, Ezra majored in English and Rostam majored in Music. As their time at school was coming to an end, they formed Vampire Weekend in the spring of 2006 with drummer Christopher Tomson and bassist Chris Baio.

With a distinct vibe in mind, they began recording and performing around New York City. Drawing on their diverse backgrounds and interests, they began experimenting and exploring the intersections of the things they loved: African guitar music, the Western classical canon, hazy memories of summers in Cape Cod, winters in upper Manhattan, reggaeton and everything else that would become a part of Vampire Weekend.

Their first album came together over the course of 18 months, beginning in an undersized practice room on the Columbia University campus and ending in a newly christened storage space-cum-studio called the Treefort in DUMBO, Brooklyn. During this time, the band went from playing at the literary houses of their Alma Mater to selling out shows in New York at The Bowery Ballroom and the Music Hall of Williamsburg, and opening for Animal Collective at Webster Hall.

In the spring of 2007, Chris Baio began booking the band's first national tour as he finished a degree in Russian Regional Studies (the remaining members of the band graduated in May of 2006). Ezra Koenig was preparing his eighth graders in Bed-Stuy for the city-wide English exams. Chris Tomson was ending his nine-month stay on a windowless fourth floor of a major label archive in midtown Manhattan. Rostam Batmanglij was wrapping up what will likely be his last film score for the foreseeable future. The band went in four ways on a 2004 Honda Odyssey. When they returned from their July tour they had signed to XL Recordings and seen America from coast to coast.

Their self-titled debut was released on January 29, 2008 to worldwide critical acclaim. They have graced magazine covers, played numerous sold-out shows across the world, performed on Saturday Night Live, The Late Show With David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Late Night With Conan O'Brien. They are one of the biggest success stories of 2008.
LCD Soundsystem
official website
myspace
Founded in 2002 by downtown NYC music scene fixture and DFA label co-owner James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem has risen to international prominence as one of the most critically acclaimed live and recording acts currently in existence. The band released its self-titled debut album in 2005, which featured the underground classics “Losing My Edge” and “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House,” and received two Grammy nominations. Preceded by the 45:33 EP, the second LCD Soundsystem album Sound of Silver was the single best reviewed album of 2007, topping the Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, and scoring another two Grammy nominations. Sound of Silver featured the Uncut song of the year “North American Scum,” the Entertainment Weekly and Pitchfork top 10 of 2007 track “Someone Great,” and “All My Friends”--which Time magazine ranked as #4 in its Best Songs of 2007 and Mojo named track of the year. In 2008, LCD Soundsystem contributed the track “Big Ideas” to the soundtrack of the hit movie 21. The band has since released the 45:33: The Remixes EP and a cover of Alan Vega’s “Bye Bye Bayou,” issued to commemorate Record Store Day 2009 and earning LCD its fifth NME single of the week. This Is Happening, the third and final LCD Soundsystem record, will be released May 18 2010, its arrival having been heralded by original James Murphy and LCD material on the soundtrack to Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg, as well as the recently leaked viral sensation “Drunk Girls.”
Hercules and Love Affair
official website
myspace
Hercules and Love Affair is a collective of likeminded disco/electroclash/glam artists led by DFA Records DJ Andy Butler. The band’s 2008 song ‘Blind’ was named Song of the Year by Pitchfork. The band’s eponymous freshman album was critically regaled both in the US and abroad with prominent electronic/dance critic Philip Sherburne calling it "lush, melancholic, gregarious, generous, both precise and a little bit unhinged… the most original American dance album in a long while.” Now they return to the live circuit with a brand new line up of vocalists and fresh material.
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