Bands we like: Puzzled Panther (plus Crazy & the Brains and Nabihah Iqbal)

Photos by Stacie Joy 

We finally got to see Puzzled Panther live last Sunday ... after hearing about them for the past 18 months or so. 

The NYC band was part of the latest Show Brain show in Tompkins Square Park. 

Victoria Espinoza and Kay Bontempo started PP as a duo. They continued to add firepower to their punky dance-floor tapestry with the addition of drummer Brian Chase, moonlighting from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs... and Eugene Hütz of Gogol Bordello, who signed PP to his Casa Gogol label. 

Hütz described last Sunday's set as a "psychosleaze spectacle," which is pretty accurate. 

Also with the band now: Ty from Genre Is Death and bassist Rob Mellinger, doing double duty this day from another band on the bill, Crazy & the Brains. 

Here are a few scenes from the inspired set featuring songs from their two EPs as well as a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs" and Sonic Youth's "Dirty Boots."

Puzzled Panther is off to Europe now for a tour. You can keep tabs on them via Instagram. 

It was an inspired afternoon of music with Bubbles, 95 Bulls, and Grace Begere. 

Crazy & the Brains, who got their start in the East Village, tore it up...

And there was headliner Nabihah Iqbal, who also played a sold-out show this past Monday at Night Club 101 on Avenue A, and delivered an atmospheric, genre-blurring set...

Faces in the crowd included Ty and Taylor from Genre Is Death, currently working on a new record...

... and East Village resident Alli Walls, lead singer of Skorts...

We're not sure if there's one last Show Brain show this year in Tompkins. Regardless, thanks to SB founder Ozzie for bringing so much music to the park this spring and summer.

Grace Bergere in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Local singer-songwriter Grace Bergere was part of a stellar Show Brain concert in Tompkins Square Park this past Sunday. 

She continues to make a name for herself, opening for acts this past summer such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Beacon Theater, Gogol Bordello on a California tour, and Jim Jarmusch and Jozef Van Wissem at Le Poisson Rouge. 

Bergere was one of Casa Gogol's first two signees (along with Puzzled Panther). Label head Eugene Hütz (Gogol Bordello) said of the two bands: "To me they are the new New York, which has a lot more in common with that magical old New York we know, and none of that bullshit in the middle." (To that end, she recorded a cover of "All Tomorrow's Parties" with Thurston Moore for Casa Gogol's NYContinuity Vol. 1 release.) 

Below is Bergere with her band on Sunday (from left): Bloody Rich Hutchins, Vern Woodhead, Eugene Hütz (not in the band!), and Robin Pahlman...

Check out Bergere's brand of hard-edged indie folk on her debut record, A Little Blood, here.

Here is the lineup for the free Show Brain show in Tompkins Square Park tomorrow

Show Brain returns to Tompkins Square Park tomorrow (Sunday) with another stacked lineup. (This free show is in collaboration with Casa Gogol Records.) 

Set times look like this:

• Bubbles, 1:40-2:10 

• Grace Bergere, 2:20-2:50 

• Crazy and the Brains, 3:05-3:35 

• 95 Bulls, 3:50-4:25 

• Puzzled Panther, 4:40-5:15 

• Nabihah Iqbal, 5:30-6:10

Somebody to love

 

Crazy and the Brains is one of the bands on the bill for the free Show Brain show on Sunday afternoon in Tompkins Square Park. Anticipated set time on Sunday: 3:50 to 4:25.

The video here is for the early summer release "Fantasy."

The band got its start playing at the late, great Sidewalk Cafe on Avenue A and Sixth Street (soon to be Corner Bistro).  

The lineup for Day 2 of the Show Brain Festival today in Tompkins Square Park

Chain reaction: Dion Lunadon yesterday in Tompkins 

Day 2 of Show Brain's free all-ages show takes place this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park.

The lineup with approximate set times:

  

• The Mystery Lights (5:20-6)

• Native Sun (4:20-4:55)

• Pons (3:30-4:05)

• Figure of Fun (2:40-3:15)

• Fine Mess (1:55-2:25)

You can follow Show Brain on Instagram for updates.

Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

The Thing today during Day 1 of the Show Brain Festival in Tompkins Square Park. 

There's another afternoon of free shows in the park tomorrow. Details here.

More portraits of bands playing the Show Brain stage in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Stacie Joy 

This summer, we've been taking portraits of some of the bands playing the free Show Brain-sponsored shows in Tompkins Square Park (here, here, and here). 

Going back to July 26 for this show... featuring Avishag Cohen Rodrigues ...

... and Two Man Giant Squid...

... and one of the most cinematic bands we've seen in the park — P.H.0. ...

Thanks to Show Brain's Ozzie (on the right) for organizing so many free, all-ages shows... including the Show Brain Festival this weekend.

See some free live music this weekend in Tompkins Square Park at the Show Brain Festival

This weekend marks the third annual Show Brain Festival in Tompkins Square Park, two afternoons of free, all-ages concerts. 

Here's how the show is shaping up now (more bands are being added to the bill for Sunday): 

Saturday

• Daddy Long Legs 

• The Thing 

• Dion Lunadon 

• Dead Tooth

• 95 Bulls

Sunday 

• The Mystery Lights (5:20-6)

• Native Sun (4:20-4:55)

• Pons (3:30-4:05)

• Figure of Fun (2:40-3:15)

• Fine Mess (1:55-2:25)

You can follow Show Brain on Instagram for band updates and set times.

About tomorrow's Show Brain-sponsored concert in Tompkins Square Park

Tomorrow (Saturday!) afternoon, Show Brain is presenting another free show in Tompkins Square Park with the following bands (set times are approximate!):

• 1:55 to 2:25 — Torture and The Desert Spiders 

• 2:40 to 3:15 — Joudy 

• 3:30 to 4:05 — Two Man Giant Squid 

• 4:25 to 5:05 — Avishag Cohen Rodrigues 

• 5:20 to 6 — P.H.0. 

And next weekend (Aug. 2-3) — The free concerts commemorating the 37th anniversary of the Tompkins Square Police Riot of Aug. 6, 1988. Bands are scheduled for both days. We'll share more info in the days ahead.

Bands we like: Dead Tooth

Photos on July 13 by Stacie Joy 

This past Sunday, Dead Tooth was part of an afternoon of free music via Show Brain in Tompkins Square Park. 

Usually a five-piece, the Queens-based Dead Tooth played as a power trio, led by lead vocalist-guitarist Zach James...

... including special guest Ozzie, founder of Show Brain (on the left), joining the band on drums this day...

Meanwhile, Dead Tooth's debut record is out today on Trash Casual. 

As our friends at Magnet noted: "Dead Tooth has essentially fashioned its own subgenre: 'rodeo core,' a sound that borrows from post-punk, goth, hardcore and (in an oddly peripheral sense) country music." (They also once opened for GWAR.) 

Here are portraits of other bands from the day, starting with Jasno...

SORRYNOTSORRY...

... and Pinc Louds...

And to Tilt — sorry that we missed you!

About tomorrow's free show in Tompkins Square Park

Tomorrow (Sunday!) afternoon, Show Brain is presenting another solid free show in Tompkins Square Park.

On the bill:

• Pinc Louds

• Dead Tooth

• Tilt

• Jasno

There may be an additional act as well... we'll update if so... SORRYNOTSORRY has been added to the lineup.

Tetchy in Tompkins

Photos by Stacie Joy 

It was late Saturday night, after a show at Our Wicked Lady, that Tetchy knew they'd be playing in Tompkins Square Park the following day. 

The local band was a midnight-hour addition to Show Brain's free slate of music on Sunday. 

We were glad to experience their sinewy punch of punk (a band we really like), despite a hectic day that cut our afternoon at the show short. 

Below... lead singer-guitarist Maggie Denning...

Bassist Kaitlin Pelkey...

Guitarist Jesse French...

and drummer Ransom McCafferty...

Here's the band with Show Brain founder Ozzie on the right...

This was Tetchy's last live show until the end of the summer. They'll be in the recording studio this month.

Leaving you with their summer 2024 single "Mommy"...

 

[Updated]About the free live music tomorrow (Sunday) in Tompkins Square Park

The next Show Brain-sponsored free show in Tompkins Square Park features four bands from 2-6: 

• PINKLIDS 

• Big Girl 

• Abby Jeanne + the Shadowband 

• Surgeon General 

We don't have the set times just yet. 

Here's a taste of the headliners, PINKLIDS, who hail from Wareham, Mass.

 

Updated 6/29 

Tetchy has joined the bill... 

Approximate set times:

• Surgeon General: 2-2:35

• Tetchy: 2:50-3:25 

• Abby Jeanne: 3:40-4:15 

• PINKLIDS: 4:30-5:05 

• Big Girl: 5:20-6

Live from Tompkins Square Park with Um, Jennifer? and Vial

Photos by Stacie Joy 

We caught two of the bands on Saturday afternoon during the Show Brain-sponsored free concert in Tompkins Square Park. 

Despite the intermittent showers, Show Brain founder Ozzie and his volunteers had tents and tarps for the bands, and the show went on to an appreciative crowd.

We saw another playful set from endearing locals Um, Jennifer? ... (below) Eli, Fig, Carmen and Grayson...

And afterward (with Show Brain's Ozzie on the left)...

Then there was the headliner Vial, an indie punk trio from Minneapolis making a Tompkins tour stop...

You can sign up for a Show Brain mailing list here for news on upcoming shows in Tompkins and elsewhere. Previously on EV Grieve:

• A band to know: Um, Jennifer?