Honne Standard Hotel Setlist

Review soon.

HONNE - 05.12.16 - STANDARD HOTEL (46 minutes)

SET -

Woman* / I Can Give You Heaven / Warm on a Cold Night / 3 AM / Gone Are the Days / Coastal Love / 'Til the Evening* / Someone That Loves You / The Night

Elvis Perkins Standard Hotel Setlist

Review to come.

ELVIS PERKINS - 02.24.15 - THE STANDARD HOTEL (49 minutes)

SET -

I Came for Fire / On Rotation Moses / It's Now or Never Loves / The Passage of the Black Gene / & Eveline / Gasolina / Wheel in the Morning/All Today / AM / Hogus Pogus / My 2$

The Postelles Dominate a Free Gig at the Standard Hotel

The Postelles played a free gig at the Standard Hotel's Chez André tonight to warm up for their ...And It Shook Me tour.  But you can hardly call it warming up when you're on fire.  The last time I saw the Manhattan group was in early March at Santos Party House.  The sound mix was unflattering and the band seemed tired until the encore.  Not the case tonight.  Daniel Balk coaxed the crowd forward with a "We don't bite," (Sure, but maybe that cavernous mouth behind you does.) and kicked off the set with an energized "Running Red Lights."  His soulfully shouted vocals toward the song's end were the best I've ever heard from him; not to mention some of the best I've heard this year.  They followed with two crowd faves, "123 Stop" and "Hey Little Sister."  "This song is called..." Balk said as he looked down at the setlist, scrawled on the back of a McSorely's postcard.  "It's called 'Sweet Water.'"  They played the delectable summer pop nugget, making a spur-of-the-moment decision to follow it with live debut of "Heavy Eyes," featuring some winsome harmonies from David Dargahi.  A small amount of crowd chatter rebounded off the muraled walls, but it was no match for John's punchy Rickenbacker and Billy's thumping drums.  The Postelles returned to the program for the rest of the set; not that there was any filler.  In fact, "Caught by Surprise" has been stuck in my head since the show, cemented there by one perfect "Your eyes!" that Daniel hit with an almost reggae lilt.  They wrapped up the short set with their frequent closer, "White Night," leaving everyone wanting more.  The tour begins next week in Santa Barbara and finishes in New York on June 11th at Webster Hall, so I guess we'll have to wait until then.  In the meantime, my fingers remain optimistically crossed for a vinyl release.

THE POSTELLES - 05.14.13 - STANDARD HOTEL (33 minutes, 25 seconds)

SET -

Running Red Lights / 123 Stop / Hey Little Sister / Sweet Water / Heavy Eyes / Can't Stand Still / Whole Wide World / Caught by Surprise / Tidal Wave / White Night

Ben Taylor & Grace Weber Encore Performance at Standard Hotel

In the basement of the Standard Hotel in the East Village, there is a strange little nightclub.  Its walls are covered in André Saraiva stick figures.  A large sculpture of a gaping mouth hangs over a stage.  Tiny wooden stools surround white wooden tables.  It was in this room that Ben Taylor played the second stop on his three-night mini-tour of Manhattan.  To read a review of night one, click here.

Grace Weber opened for him again, which was a pleasant surprise.  Three things first:

1. She only appeared tall from my vantage point last night.
2. That phenomenal voice is hers. She didn't have the blue water bottle tonight.
3. I didn't know that she'd be opening tonight as well, or that I'd meet her at the show, so I'm mildly embarrassed about asking that she date me. However, the offer still stands.

Backed only by her keyboardist, Julian Pollack, Grace performed a short set of four originals.  Accidentally thwacking her guitar out of its stand at the beginning of "Everything to Me," she displayed that same adorable clumsiness, offset by her powerful voice.  Her final two numbers were my favorites from last night, and I found myself singing along this second time.  Before leaving the stage to sell CDs of her album and a Christmas EP, she suggested, "You can find me at GraceWeber.com, Facebook.com... Match.com."  (Setlist help is appreciated.)


Billed as a private show for fans, Ben had initially said he was only doing a 30-minute set, but thankfully, he played for almost an hour.  Hobbling onto the stage in his boot and Stevie Wonder t-shirt, Ben opened things up with the only song he'd play that hadn't been played last night, "Boyfriend."  The funny song about falling for a girl's boyfriend because he's so cool warmed up the crowd nicely for Ben to introduce David Saw, saying, "A lot of these songs I don't know how they go without him."  They played yesterday's opener, Paul McCartney's "Dear Boy," followed by "Worlds Are Made of Paper," minus the whole apples thing.  Ben told the same stories between songs, but he relayed them so naturally, it never felt forced.  He's a little like a stand-up comic telling the same jokes every night, who must add or subtract parts for time or the feeling in the room.  At one point, that feeling developed into a lot of easily-reverberated bar chatter, and Ben took action. "People who are talking right now, you can talk for the rest of the evening, but just not for this song because it's brand new, and I'm excited about it," he said before the "Rocket to the Moon" song.  Taylor attempted all three John Forté collabos, and they grooved along smoothly enough that if you didn't know that John usually sings those parts, you'd never suspect anything different.  "Jolly Holiday" was also reprised, although this time it was dedicated to Ben's buddy, Cary.

Tomorrow, Ben plays a few blocks down at the Bowery Hotel.  Grace won't be opening, but definitely keep an eye out for her.

GRACE WEBER - 12.16.12 - STANDARD HOTEL (18 minutes, 34 seconds)

SET -
Someone / Everything to Me / The Architect* / Hurt You*

BEN TAYLOR - 12.16.12 - STANDARD HOTEL (55 minutes, 35 seconds)

SET -

Boyfriend / Dear Boy / Worlds Are Made of Paper / How Serious Can This Be > Lo & Behold / Rocket to the Moon* / Dirty / Hungry / Wicked Way / I'll Be Gone / You Must've Fallen / Jolly Holiday / Turn on the Lights