Experiencing the Rock

In between watching episodes of The Deadliest Warrior while trying to get over my stupid cold I went to see a band from Baltimore called Ponytail with my friend Michael Azerrad at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.



Neither one of us had been to the venue but understood it might look a little something like the Bowery Ballroom. Ponytail hit the stage sometime around 11pm and by that time my cold was really starting to work a number on me so I didn’t know what to expect, if I could have a genuine reaction to the music given my unfriendly sinuses.

Of course when a serious authority in music tells you that a live performance is a “thing,” it’s a good idea to listen. For the record, Ponytail blew me and my nasty little cold away. The experimental guitar work is phenomenal and Jeremy Hyman’s drums are larger than life and Molly Siegel’s garbled, maniacal, feisty, jarring, cotton candy, make no sense voice is impossible to contain. She had me at, uh, well, she doesn’t really sing with words but here she is crowd surfing!

And what would a rock concert be without a little carnage? I think guitarist Ken Seeno got this little bloody number while shredding onstage.

But that didn’t stop him from smiling as it’s all in the name of ROCK AND ROLL!


Overall, it was well worth the effort it took to peel my eyes away from Spike TV for a night while coughing up “lung butter” as my esteemed colleague Chris likes to call it. The battle between the Spartans and the Ninjas, who both sport ponytails, couldn't hold a handle to the awesome performance by the real Ponytail at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday. Here are a few more photos.




All photos taken courtesy of the iphone.