Plugged in & tuned up

A winter weekend trip + shows by Wet Leg, LCD Soundsystem and More

Thanks for joining me here for another dispatch of my (mostly) twice-weekly music and menswear newsletter, which is different (but somewhat the same) as my daily style blog from which it gets its name. Thanks for reading!

My friends, to say that a lot has happened since my last newsletter dispatch
(on “The Beatles: Get Back”) is an understatement, and the fact that much of it is music-related is only a positive in my book. After my return from a two-week jaunt that took me to both Mexico and Florida for Thanksgiving, I quickly turned right around and hopped back into the NYC music scene, taking in two raucous and wildly fun shows in two nights by a band dubbed “America’s Best Bar Band,” The Hold Steady. That they played at a massive bowling alley/bar is pretty spot-on, and that’s a show that I can’t help but recommend you take in the next time they play a “Massive Nights” residency, as they’ve dubbed them.

I stayed plenty busy from there with both style writing (including my debut at SPY.com covering all things gear and beer!), plus a show by another favorite of mine: The long-awaited return of LCD Soundsystem to the city’s best venue, Brooklyn Steel. It’s part of a 20-show residency the famed, groundbreaking band is playing (as previewed in the photo at the top of this newsletter). Again, if you’ve seen them play live, you know that it’s a show worth seeing, without a doubt. To cap off the week and really round out the versatility and opportunity that awaits around every corner in the best city for live music in the world (yes, I said what I said!), I caught a show at the famed Union Pool by up-and-coming British post-punk band Wet Leg, set to release its debut album next March. You can catch them on late-night TV with Seth Meyers, and believe me when I say the songs they played off the as-yet-unreleased album are exceptional, wildly fun and both somehow modern and classic.

My weekend doesn’t quite revolve around live music this time around, but I am indeed set to stay busy, as I’m trekking back to Pure Michigan to celebrate the 30th birthday of a man I met on the first day of kindergarten, the one and only Mr. Chris Spyke! You can bet that in a city like Beer City USA, there’ll be plenty of fun and plenty of great beer this weekend (follow me on Instagram for the full breakdown!). In the meantime, I’m going to recommend you listen to Wet Leg, LCD Soundsystem and The Hold Steady to kickstart your weekend. Let’s make it a great one, my friends. Cheers!