Week in Rock: Wolfe, Passion, Harps and Hall of Fame Edition
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Henry Wolfe SingsThe lovely Henry Wolfe stopped by our office yesterday afternoon to sing some tunes off his upcoming album. While you'll have to wait til May to pick up a hard copy of the songs, you can check Wolfe out tonight at Union Hall (702 Union Street in Park Slope), he's on at 8:30 p.m. And here's a sneak peek of the live session we recorded yesterday (look out for his sister Louisa's cameo, she plays harmonica holder).PS: We'll be hosting more of these Gothamist House sessions, so let us know what bands and musicians you'd like to see (we may even invite some readers to come by!) â Jen Carlson
<strong>Passion Pit Headline at Governor's Island</strong><p>Passion Pit, the Cambridge, Mass. indie band who first came to our attention <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/08/22/gothamists_week_in_rock_dog_days_ed.php">nearly two years ago</a>, are headlining an outdoor show at Governor's Island on June 30th. The show is the first announced of a <a href="http://www.thebeachconcerts.com/">new summer outdoor concert series</a> taking place at Colonel's Row (and also South Island Field) on the island. Tokyo Police Club will be opening, and tickets, which are <a href="http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0000446DC4945870?artistid=1270455&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1">$32.50 a pop</a>, go on sale today at 12pm.</p>
<strong>Joanna Newsom at Town Hall</strong><p>It seems like many <a href="http://gothamist.com/2004/07/14/wednesday_wager.php">more than six years</a> since Joanna Newsom first plucked her harp and warbled her way into indie rock. She was back in town last night, enthralling a sold out crowd (that included Lou Reed, her boyfriend Andy Samberg, Antony, Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss) at Town Hall, touring behind her newest release, the triple album <em>Have One on Me</em>.</p><p>She has evolved generously over the past six years, particularly her ragingly fluctuous voice; when once she squeaked and scraped along notes, now she has a warm intimate tone with shades of Joni Mitchell. Joined by a five-piece band (drums, guitar, horns, violin), who added textures and colors previously undiscovered in her music, she performed songs from all three of her releases, including band-augmented, revelatory takes on "Inflammatory Writ," "The Book of Right-On" and "Peace, Plum, Pear." </p><p></p>While the night started with Newsom alone at her harp, wincing and cracking smiles on "Jackrabbits," she also performed several songs at the piano, and ended with an encore of one of the long, simmering jewels of <em>Have One On Me</em>, "Baby Birch." Between the electric guitar swoons, the cascades of harp and delicate tom work, Newsom was engrossed in the lament, reliving each precarious word: "I will never know you/And at the back of what we've done/there is the knowledge of you."