sevensevenseven #6 - the gospel according to dba James
featuring dba james, long, half day, dirt buyer, annika bennett, richie quake, liv.e, omerta, miss grit, momma, hello mary, lava gulls, rosa pajaro, mamalarky, imp net plus, white reaper, and more
Hello hello hello - wake up from your post-SXSW slumber and get back to the real world of New York City. There’s so much going on, I’m overwhelmed. Yesterday I wore a t-shirt on a walk but last week I was wearing a scarf and gloves. The world could end any day now so we might as well go out and see some music. You might as well come to Heaven Can Wait tomorrow night and hang out with me at dba’s Day Off. It’s the first of (hopefully) many sevensevenseven events and I can’t wait to see you there. It’s sold out, but you can get on the waitlist here and if any space frees up we’ll let you know.
This is a very special edition of sevensevenseven, dba’s Day Off’s very own dba James has shared what he’s looking forward to and listening to lately ahead of our show tomorrow. Let’s dig into what James has been into lately and what I’ve been up to lately.
SEVEN SHOWS YOU NEED TO SEE - according to dba James!
3/23 dba James at Heaven Can Wait - Tomorrow night I’m playing my first headline show at Heaven Can Wait. We’ve got Lucca Dohr and my favorite person in New York, Jackie aka uCarly, on the bill. I’m pumped to celebrate my new single “45” which comes out at midnight and also play a bunch of new unreleased music. Come early, space is super limited.
3/30 Annika Bennett at Baby’s All Right - My friend Brandon just put me onto Annika Bennett the other night and when I was looking for upcoming shows, I saw that she was playing a headline at Baby’s. Check out her new single “Lose a Friend.”
3/31 Richie Quake at Heaven Can Wait - Richie’s got a bunch of really cool acts on the bill but I especially love Scarlet Rae who I went on tour with back in 2018 when she was playing for MILLY. I hope Richie plays some of the new music he’s been working on, all of his new stuff is so good.
4/1 Dirt Buyer at Union Pool - I went to school with Joe from Dirt Buyer and they’ve always had some of my favorite guitar riffs of any band. I saw them last year at Baby’s for the first time since living in Boston and Joe’s performance is so captivating and honestly transcendent. If you haven’t been to a Dirt Buyer show before, this is a must-see.
4/3 Liv.e at Baby’s All Right - I started listening to Liv.e when I heard their song “Lessons From My Mistakes…but I Lost Your Number” and the new record doesn’t disappoint. I’ve never seen them live before (no pun intended) but with all of the different sonic textures on the new LP, I bet the show is going to be quite the performance.
4/6 Long at The Broadway - My guitarist Blake also plays in a band called Long which is doing the grunge revival the right way. I just saw them at NuBlu the other night for their single-release show and they killed it. There was even a little mosh pit going.
4/7 Omerta at Bowery Ballroom - I started listening to Omerta over the pandemic when they put out their first EP Hyperviolence. It’s some of the most innovative hardcore that’s happening right now. I saw them at St. Vitus last year and it was one of the craziest shows I’ve been to in recent memory. They also have the best merch in the game and it’s the only band t-shirt that I own. If you like heavy music, check them out before they blow the fuck up.
SEVEN SHOWS YOU WISH YOU WENT TO
2/22 Miss Grit at Baby’s All Right - In an effort to go to more shows instead of being lazy I accompanied Lindsay and Alicia to Miss Grit. I was familiar with them from the dawg Aron KR posting the singles he mixed. amid technical difficulties, Margaret was cool and kind and is the exact type of person you’d want to see become a star. Not many are brave enough to shred like that. Listen to “Like You”!!!! - Jade Alcantara
3/4 Momma, Hello Mary, Taxidermists at Baby’s All Right - Another night at Baby’s hosted by You Missed It! Seeing Momma play as a duo stripped back was something I’ll remember forever, especially their cover of “Christian Brothers” which led me to listen to that song on repeat after. Hello Mary was awesome too, so great to see some of the new songs off their debut record Hello Mary live. Their bassist is absolutely mystifying, it’s hard not to watch everything she does on stage. Unfortunately, I was fucking around and I missed Taxidermists set, but I’ve been addicted to their cover album which dropped last week.
3/8 We Take Manhattan at Old Flings - Is We Take Manhattan a show? Technically not really, but I want to tell you about it so here we go. First of all, Old Flings as a space is sexy and cool. It’s not somewhere I personally realized existed but now that I know about it, I want to go back. It’s nestled right above Berlin, so New Colussus was going on downstairs while Shallowhalo and The Dare were killing it upstairs DJing. It was the most fun I’ve had dancing completely sober, they played everything from Sky Ferreira to The Beatles. I got recognized as the girl in Jackie’s show (shoutout Maisy), which was crazy as Jackie’s Show was being projected on the building across the street along with Shallowhalo’s music video for “Renaissance Affair,” which is a major track. They’re throwing another party at Old Flings tonight (3/22) and you should go.
3/14 Long at NuBlu - I haven’t had the chance to go to too many shows recently but I had to come out and see Blake’s band play for their single release show. I’ve seen Long a handful of times before but this was by far their best show to date. Blake’s got crazy moves on stage and Kyle had the coolest CDG pants on. - dba James
3/14 Half Day, Rosa Pajaro, Imp Net Plus, Lava Gulls at Berlin - I need to do more of this. This being I go into a show blindly after listening to a few songs on Spotify and decide it’s worth checking out. Berlin was so cozy on this cold and rainy Tuesday night and it was so nice to just listen to the bands. I loved Half Day, they are such a cohesive and tight band; a perfect headliner. I really loved Rosa’s set too and I have been meaning to sit down with her album Night Dances, which was mixed and mastered by Lava Gulls. I like when the bands on the bill aren’t really similar, which was the case here and I want to see more of that!
3/17 White Reaper, Mamalarky at Irving Plaza - I talk a lot about White Reaper in this newsletter for a band that’s signed to a major label. And you know what? Good for them! It was so cool to see a packed-out Irving Plaza for White Reaper on St. Patricks Day. That was the show they were born to play and I haven’t been to a show like that in a while. There was a huge pit the whole time, which was started by the girlies of course. So crazy to hear everybody know the words to “Might Be Right.” Even better to see people jamming to Mamalarky and specifically Bénet special guesting for “Will I See U?” He has the best voice in Brooklyn. In all of New York actually.
3/18 White Reaper, Mamalarky at Underground Arts - Another day, another White Reaper show. This time in Philly, which is always a crazy place to see a show. It was all of our first times at Underground Arts and it was another packed-out crowd. I can’t say this one was better than the New York show, especially when they didn’t play “Daisies,” but they still brought the energy. Something beautiful is that truly everyone of all ages, backgrounds, interests, and styles can like White Reaper. I love them the way my mom loves Van Halen; eternally. Mamalarky killed it again. Livvy absolutely shreds, it’s so epic to watch. Their harmonies, especially on “You Know I Know” give me chills.
“45” - dba James (out tomorrow! - pre-save here)
“Christening” - Long
“Holly” - Anna Shoemaker
“daisy chain “ - chinapoet
“Pinking Sheers” - Mandy, Indiana
“Audemar” - User2222
“Bad” - Local Weatherman
So are you coming to Heaven Can Wait tomorrow? Thought so, see you there!
Love,
Kenzie