Mardi Gras with NYC downtown music legends at Glasslands

Saturday, February 2: NYNT Mardi Gras w/Five Dollar Priest (ex-Sonic Youth, Swans, Pussy Galore, etc.), Jerry Teel and the Big City Stompers (ex-Honeymoon Killers, Boss Hog, Knoxville Girls, etc.), Tex Napalm and Demi Dero (from Paris and Berlin + 1 Bellmer Doll), Woman, and DJ Goofy AKA Jim Sclavunos (Grinderman, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, etc.), Glasslands Gallery, 9pm sharp - 4am, $7

While New York Night Train’s Conductor Jonathan Toubin will be away on business, the Glasslands will host one of the most exciting NYNT parties yet – an evil Mardi Gras celebration featuring a veritable who’s who of important figures in NYC underground rock/noise history.

Headliners Five Dollar Priest, whose last two shows were opening for friends Mudhoney and Gogol Bordello, is NYC’s latest and greatest subterranean supergroup. Fronted by the actor/poet/drummer/singer/all-around entertainer, the mighty Speedball Baby’s Ron Ward, the Priest also includes legends like the star of “Death Valley 69,” Sonic Youth/Pussy Galore drummer Bob Bert, the gargantuan guitar monster that defined the classic 1980s Swans sound (not to mention his infinitely innovative work with the likes of Foetus, Lydia Lunch, and Heroine Sheiks), without a doubt one of New York Night Train’s favorite guitarists of all time, Norman Westberg, the fat dirty bounce of Heroine Sheiks/Molotov Cocktail’s bassist George Porifiris, and Texas avant-jazz clarinetist Mr. Patrick Holmes. Together these Size Queens conjure a noirish, playful, weird rock with no shortage of experimentalism that, while a step beyond, remains consistent to the rough individualistic post-No Wave downtown aesthetic that the members have continuously been a primary force redefining since the 1980s.

Jerry Teel, who leads the Big City Stompers, wasn’t only the driving force behind the seminal 1980s NYC punk-a-billies Honeymoon Killers (though best remembered as the band that fathered Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, were important in their own right long before - check out the career-spanning Sing Sing comp Sympathy for the Record Industry put out a few years back), Little Pork Chop, and Knoxville Girls, and a member of Boss Hog, Workdogs, Chrome Cranks, and many more, but also, before moving to New Orleans, recorded everyone from the Oblivians to Yeah Yeah Yeahs at his longstanding East Village institution, Funhouse Studios. While Jerry sings and plays guitar, and was for a time backed by the Sadies, his Stompers now include his lovely and talented wife Pauline on vocals, long-time house bassist for the entire Lower East Side, Pink Monkey Bird Jerome O’Brien on the low strings, Main Drag wiz JJ Jenkins on guitar, and Heavy Creatures’ Patrick Kauffman on drums. While Jerry has a killer voice, writes solid rootsy songs, and selects choice covers, the Stompers lay it down with a lively no bullshit American a style with both Basement Tapes breadth and plenty of grit(s).

Tex Napalm and Demi Dero, an unholy international trinity Berlinner Tex Napalm of Iron Cobra Orchstra and Motorcyclo Sadisto, Parisian Dimi Dero of Dimi Dero Inc, and New Yorker Anthony S. Malat, currently of Bellmer Dolls and formerly of Love Life (with Celebration’s Katrina Ford). These fellas create a dark creepy clang that will appeal to fans of the post-Birthday Party lineage.

Woman, led by the twin vocal/guitar towers of Australian native Kristian Brenchley and Mexico City’s Brett W Schultz, and featuring the skinniest and coolest looking rhythm section in town, the black-clad Skeleton Boy and Alex Velasquez, remain one of the rawest, most brutal, and least compromised ensembles in the tri-state area. But don’t be frightened, its only rock’n’roll….

Finally, this ain’t just a show but a dance party that rolls ‘til 4am featuring the tastefully eclectic party selections of none other than DJ Goofy AKA Jim “Big Cheif” Sclavunos - the current drummer for Grinderman, percussionist for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and leader of the Vanity Set, and a former member of the likes of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, 8-Eyed Spy, Sonic Youth, Tav Falco and the Panther Burns, Alex Chilton, The Cramps, Congo Norvell, Gunga Din, and at least a few dozen more. Anyone who got down with Jim at Ants In Yr Pants Dance Party a few weeks ago knows that the man can and will bring the goods. And anyone who went to his Mardi Gras gig last year knows Big Chief will bring the beads.

Plus, as always, expect plenty of distinguished special guests.

Not to be missed! And stay all night! Dance a little longer….