Lo-Down Presents | The Lo-Down : News from the Lower East Side

Scenes From CMJ at Fontana’s

Desert Sharks, winner of our CMJ Open Call Contest 2011 - photo by thelodownny.com

It was a fun night at Fontana’s on Tuesday. We kicked off the CMJ Music Festival with a Lower East Side-centric event featuring four very talented bands. Here are some shots from the evening.

TLD’s CMJ Music Showcase: Saadi

We hope you’ll be able to make it to The Lo-Down’s CMJ Music Showcase at Fontana’s tomorrow night. It’s going to be a fun and eclectic evening featuring Andrew Vladeck, Less The Band, the Desert Sharks and Boshra al Saadi.

The Lo-Down Presents: CMJ Showcase at Fontana’s

Saadi, "Bad Seeds" (The Soundmen Remix); Redbud Records.

We’re getting excited for The Lo-Down’s CMJ Showcase at Fontana’s October 18th — and you’re all invited! We’ll be kicking off the annual music festival with a great Lower East Side-centric evening curated by Ken Beasley, TLD’s music editor. One of the things we’re passionate about is supporting this neighborhood’s amazing creative community. Our CMJ Showcase is a great opportunity to celebrate their artistic contributions. Here’s the lineup:

Just this week, IFC called LES resident Boshra al Saadi an “indie electro goddess.” A CMJ veteran, this Syrian-born singer-songwriter has been part of the downtown music scene for 15 years — since she was 17. The eccentric, experimental artist says her diverse influences include: Bob Dylan, classic 80′s synth pop, traditional Arabic music, punk rock, Nigerian music and Brian Eno. Check out Saadi’s new video – “Bad Seeds” (The Soundmen Remix).

Come See Our CMJ LES Showcase Winner Tonight!

DESERT SHARKS - Photo: Karen Seifert

The LoDown’s upcoming CMJ showcase is shaping up nicely. We have some outstanding bands set to perform on Oct 18^th at Fontana’s, including Less, Andrew Vladeck, and Saadi. PLUS, following a great response from our open call for LES based groups, we’ve made our pick for the show’s opener:

Kicking things off that night will be guitar crunching, heavy rock band DESERT SHARKS. The all-girl, 4-piece rock assemblage holds true to the movement started way back by groups like the Runaways, and furthered through the 90’s by the likes of Veruca Salt and the Breeders. That being said, it’s 2011, and make no mistake Desert Sharks are doing it their way.

Come to Fontana’s on the 18^th, and see what we’re talking about!

$10 // 8pm // 105 Eldridge St.