2.29 A wknd w/ Obleek
The band on shopping sprees, hiring (+ firing) Salvatore and their leap-year show TONIGHT at Our Wicked Lady
Tell the Ides, the Madness and the official commemoration of women’s history to TAKE A SEAT, PAL—because it’s not March quite yet.
Once every four years, whoever at some point decided how calendars work blesses us with a BONUS DAY—which means, of course, a BONUS NIGHT. So it’s only fitting we celebrate with a very, very stacked bill.
Meet us THIS EVENING at OWL for the last show of the BdBK x Our Wicked Lady February residency—an event featuring The Resonaters, Short Porch, Real Burn, samkae and, your weekend organizers of this here leap year, OBLEEK!
The band known as Obleek doesn’t have much music out — just one song, if we’re being specific — which makes it even more impressive that after seeing/hearing them for the first time last year (and in August — Q3, nonetheless!), the group still managed to snag a spot on our 2023 Spotify Wrapped.
That all said, we’ve got good news for Obleek fans old n new (we n u?) because according to THE SETLIST below—a very accurate representation of an average weekend in the life of frontman Charlie McEvily—there’s a new single coming from the group this April. Which means plenty of time to be wowed n wrapped by the band once more.
In the meantime, please spin “Whirligig” on repeat whilst buying your ticket (the band is very fun live, btw) and enjoying a custom itinerary for a super standard… really not remarkable whatsoever… weekend below.
NO! LEAP! TIL BROOKLYN!
We’ll catch you at OWL <3
[BUT FIRST: PRESS PLAY]
THURSDAY
Wake up boo! it's a brand new day! you can be whatever/whoever you want! just kidding. for this long weekend you're Charlie McEvily, singer/guitarist for your next favorite band Obleek. Let's get started:
It's Leap Day/Leap Weekend (the first leap day before the weekend since 1996), and you're closing out the BandsDoBK Thursday residency at OUR WICKED LADY w/ The Resonaters, Short Porch, Real Burn & Samkae. You haven't played at OWL before so you're excited.
You head to you're fav small lil indie stimulant peddler DUNKIN DONUTS to get your signature combo:: med coffee w skim/sugar & old fashioned donut. you eat the donut before you get back upstairs so you don't have to share it w your girlfriend Julia. you drop off her coffee and head to rehearsal.
You get to your rehearsal space (which you share with siqq bands like Le Boss, Mary Shelley, Rosso Rosso, Wakelee, DIIV, etc.). Max (aka Muck <drums>) is getting jazzy, and Morgan (aka Morgpie <bassboi>) is stuck in a phantom subway tunnel somewhere between purgatory and bushwick. he'll be here in an hour. the only BleekBro you're missing is lead guitarist/teen idol Jack. he left the band last month to commit full time to a youth group he leads (check out his band Guy Blue now). we rehearse the 5 neu songs we're debuting tonight then head to soundczech.
After checking sound, you have a coupla hours till the show starts, so you & morg go to OTHER PEOPLE'S CLOTHES near the Jefferson L stop and get some groovy threads, while muck goes home and does his pre-show transcendental meditation.
After 4 awesome sets by 4 totally tubular bands, you take the stage. you blow the roof off the rooftop. you look into the crowd and realize that it's filled with A&R major label bigwigs. not again!!! all the record label execs are choking & bludgeoning each other with their Hermes ties and calfskin loafers. another show prematurely halted due to the bloody record label war ignited over your band. you decide once and for all to end this brutal violence and selflessly sign with the label willing to take you and the boiz on a shopping spree tomorrow. we sign with some label (you didn't read the contract because why) and bounce.
The A&R guy wants to take us to some fancy club called Studio 54, but we want something a little more cozy and quiet :: CARMELO'S
FRIDAY
The A&R guy made lunch reservations at some place all the way in Tribeca called THE ODEON. you guess they're a "Bright Lights, Big City"-themed restaurant. there was a really long line for the interactive exhibition in the stalls of the powder room. you and morg have to pee and can't wait any longer so you drop trough and let loose on line. 2 big security guards hoist you up by the collars and slam your heads together like in a cartoon.
As promised, the label has to take your band on a shopping spree, so you make the A&R fella take us to the GUITAR CENTER in Union Square. you stop by there pretty much once a week and use the synths to work out melodies, or you play on the expensive guitars since all the guitars you own are bleh. normally you're too anxious to ask to test pedals, but being rich cures anxiety, so you try em all.
Once you make a dent in the record companies Amex, you head a few blocks over to THE STRAND bookstore. you can always find some niche music bio/oral history/etc. in the muzak section in the basement (read Bobby Gillespie's Tenement Kid).
The A&R guy's pissed because his company card got maxed out and he had to pay for all your boox with his own hard-earned cash. he gets a call from his wife asking why he has a low balance alert from Chase. he snaps and chases us around NYC with a cattle-prod for the rest of the day.
SATURDAY
Rise / shine friend. the dream is real. you're a boner-fied rock n roll star. they send a new A&R guy who kept you up all night recording demos for a couple of producers (Brian Eno, Butch Vig etc.) interested in working with you on Obleek's debut LP.
You quietly leave the space (don't wanna wake my sweet angels), and head to BROOKLYN STANDARD, off the Grand St L. it's your fav place for sammies and baygees. you like "The Classic" & "Fresh Mozzarella" sammitches. if you're lucky they'll have christian contemporary radio like KLOVE on. since you're feeling fancy, you get the boys NYC's finest delicacy: BEC on an everything bagel. you wake the beautiful babes from their astral slumber.
Fully charged w natural nutrients & synthetic stimulants, you work on some newer songs and rehearse some old ones.
Today you're holding tryouts for a new guitarist today. morg and muck leave while you hold the interviews. the line for try-outs is all the way out the door and around the block, as expected. you're new assistant Salvatore hands out all the release forms and confiscates their phones. you do this before they can even strap that strat on. you look at each candidate's Spotify wrapped over the last few years, banishing anyone with Strokes and Arctic Monkeys. unfortunately, this left you with zero guitarists. in a fit of disappointment, despair & rage, you fire Salvatore.
Curled up in a fetal position and crying, you hear a strange knock at the door... somehow it unlocks, and 4 glowing figures walk in and kneel beside you. you're awestruck and amazed. Billy Corgan (smashing pkns), Courtney Love (hole), Anton Newcombe (bjonestwn msscre), & Nick Hexum (311), your 4 guardian angels, have been sent by God herself to heal you. they help you up, wipe the tears from your eyes, and agree to go see Parquet Courts at this cool DIY venue SHEA STADIUM a couple blocks down the road. Billy writes a lullaby just for you and sings it as you drift to sleep.
SUNDAY
Wake up! you're back to life. Leap weekends only happen every 28 years and can get a little out of hand.
You go to NOOK and work on mixing you new single (coming out April) that you recorded at LIVINGROOMS studio with Eamon Ford in Queens.
You take the Metro North to Hastings-on-Hudson and walk up the hill to get Mike Lorenzo's record store CLOCKWORK RECORDS. you used to work there, and you probably talk to Mike for awhile before you get interrupted by some guy with a box of old Springsteen & Dylan records who won't take anything less than $200 because what do you mean these records aren't worth anything?
You take the Metro North back to NYC, and go pick your gf up at work, then you take the L to Bedford Ave and have a cheap amazing Mexican dinner at TACOMBI, then you stop by SPOONBILL & SUGARTOWN BOOKS, located inside a mini mall that feels like a mini mall you'd find in a secluded upstate NY town. you buy Lush singer/guitarist Miki Berenyi's new memoir.
You have a couple of unused drink tokens from your (sold out) UNION POOL show last month, so you go there and get a cheap beer or well drink.
You go home and watch Oz till you fall asweep.
Itinerary above written + submitted by Obleek. Follow the band at @obleek.muzak and add songs to your Spotify playlists!
Feature image provided by the band.
MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS
C U AT SXSW! Stoked to be partnering with Our Wicked Lady and Austin Eastciders on a freeeee showcase featuring — much like New Colossus Fest — local faves n friends from around the world. Tell your Texas friends. For once, this exclamation is actually appropriate: YEEHAW!
Congrats to BdBK BFFs SKORTS for taking home FIRST PLACE in Our Wicked Lady’s WINTER MADNESS tournament! If you’ve caught them live (maybe at a BdBK show?!), you know how well deserved this is. If you haven’t, well, consider this your cue….
FRIDAY EVENING! The weekly New Colossus happy hours at Baker Falls continue with a DJ set from GIFT + buy-one-get-one-free Super Bock cans and well drinks! Downstairs, 5-9 pm. Let’s mix n mingle, baby! (And remember, just ONE WEEK til the BdBK x New Colossus showcase at that very venue. Grab your passes now <3)
RELEASE RADAR
New(ish) stuff from local (+ occasionally, once-local) artists we love, listed in no particular order whatsoever:
“Perfectly Imperfect” // Brandi and the Alexanders
“Holding On, Together” // Savoir Adore
Buried/Daydream”// Glimmer
“Mary Ann Leaves The Band” // Wifey
“passing judgment” // been stellar
“Midnight” // The Gasoline
IT’S HAPPENIN’
BANDS DO BK does OUR WICKED LADY
2.29 Obleek, The Resonaters, Real Burn, Short Porch, samkae - tix here
PLUS…
3.3 Book/Spirit, Short Porch, Onesie, Good Time Mystery Vision @ Arlene’s Grocery- tix here
3.4 Nancy Whitaker, Roon, Anna Altman, Loser Cruiser @ Our Wicked Lady - tix here
3.11 Bands do BK x New Colossus Showcase w/ Nino Disco, Chavez Cartel, CURRLS, Mary Shelley, Los Premios, Hause Plants, partygirl, Nara’s Room @ Baker Falls - passes here and tix avail for sale at the door
ICYMI
From the blog and around the archives
THE SETLIST by Bands do BK is a reader-supported publication that’s freeeee. BUT! If you want to become a paid subscriber to show some love and support the work BdBK is doing… well, hey. That’d be pretty rad of you. <3