Archive - Jul 14, 2009

Guesting with Wilco seems to be the in thing for indie rockers to do as of late. First, Austin group Okkervil River joined the storied alt-rock band at Red Rocks, and now a few more friends have stepped into the inner Wilco circle. For their performance at Keyspan Park in the famed Coney Island district of Brooklyn, Wilco brought along Yo La Tengo, Leslie Feist and Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste to help them out on several songs throughout the set. Yo La Tengo served as the evening's opener, but also joined Wilco for a fuzzed-out version of "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" to close the extended first encore. Leslie Feist, who recently reunited with her old band, Broken Social Scene, also joined the Chicago sextet for several songs, including "You & I," a track she recorded with Wilco for their latest album. Already known for his friendship with Feist, Ed Droste was probably there just to hang out, but couldn't resist joining her in singing along on both "California Stars" and "You Never Know," as well as banging away on percussion during "Hoodoo Voodoo" to help finish out the second encore.

Wilco feat. Yo La Tengo - "Spiders (Kidsmoke)"

Check out clips of "California Stars," "You & I," "You Never Know" and "Hoodoo Voodoo," all of which feature Feist and/or Ed Droste on vocals and/or percussion after the jump.

I was recently lucky enough to catch Toronto-based indie-rock supergroup Broken Social Scene for the third time, and left even more satisfied with their live performance than ever before. There was once a time when BSS were even more of a supergroup, being fronted by three of Canada's best female vocalists, Leslie Feist, Emily Haines and Amy Millan. All three of those ladies have now moved on to projects of their own, each becoming quite successful in their own right (or for Feist's sake, even more successful). Last Saturday night, BSS performed a free show at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre, and were augmented by all three former frontwomen for the first time in several years. Millan guested with the group at the performance I caught at ROTHBURY, but the added vocal talents of Haines and Feist would've been quite the treat. All three ladies guested on a particularly stirring version of "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl," and Feist took over duties for a run of songs including "7/4 (Shorline)," as well as a duet with Kevin Drew on his "Safety Bricks" and her "I Feel It All." Thankfully, some diligent concert-goer decided to bring his HD camera along to capture the night's events.

Check out the rest of the clips after the jump