What’s Playing (May 2023)


Sofiane Pamart | May 5 (SOLD OUT)

Sofiane Pamart is one of the top 10 most streamed classical music artists in the world in 2022.

Accustomed to prestigious stages in France and abroad, Sofiane Pamart is the first pianist in history to perform at the Accor Arena Bercy and to make Sold Out of the legendary hall in its maximum capacity. A huge feat, achieved during the first solo tour of his career.

His musical universe is halfway between great film music and adventure stories. His work, both dark and poetic, embodies an emotional accuracy that allows him to reach a very wide audience, a great work accessible to all.

Paco Versailles | May 6

Paco Versailles is a collaboration between guitarist/composer Vahagni and songwriter/producer Ryan Merchant (Capital Cities).

Their sound is a mix of flamenco guitar rhythms with disco-leaning electronic production and captivating vocals, a new genre they call Dancemenco.

The name Paco Versailles was conceived while imagining a collaboration between their biggest influences, the legendary Spanish guitarist Paco De Lucia and French electronic artists Daft Punk and Air, both products of the Parisian suburb of Versailles.

a captivating night

Jordan Ward | May 12 (SOLD OUT)

Raised in St. Louis, Jordan Ward is emerging as one of R&B’s rising stars.

Ward’s silky croons and elevated songwriting abilities are at peak form as he readies debut studio album, Forward.

FORWARD showcases Jordan exploring sounds and pushing his creativity forward.

Forward is about evolving and breaking generational cycles.

Forward is For Ward, a tribute to the Ward family, past and present.

Ward’s performances have themes of togetherness, hardship, and triumph.

Tow’rs | May 13

The five member band is comprised of two brothers as well as a married couple.

The two shared their love for music as well as deep spiritual beliefs. Their religious faith is one of the many reasons that inspires the couple to write music together.

The couple decided to ask their closest friends and family to join in creating the indie-funk music collaboration they now call Tow’rs.

The band mixes roots of indie, alternative, folk, funk, and rock into their material.

honesty and perfection

Lisa O’Neill | May 13

Delicate Irish singer that makes every performance feels like a piece of artwork that transcends space and time, only at our historic and iconic venue.

threading delicately

Nick Waterhouse | May 15

Filtered through the lens of a unique artistic perspective, you will hear rhythm and blues, garage rock, radio soul and wee-small-hours balladry in Waterhouse’s music!

sound is classic yet unclassifiable.

Tim Bernardes | May 16

Songs of love, of sofrência, and change from one of the shining hearts of São Paulo: Tim Bernardes.

Bernardes remained mindful that the music –with its symbolism and multiple layers– transmitted in a way that remained beautiful, intimate, and emotionally evocative for his audience.

In that way, he paid proper tribute to his own musical idols: “Brazilian music in the 70s had this quality, writing directly about feelings, love, reflections, beauty, music in a personal/ relatable way, anything that would be truly moving me at the time.”

verdant musical heritage

Sam MacPherson | May 16

Sam MacPherson is a singer-songwriter from Red Bank, NJ whose writing is as honest as it is clever. Sam’s relentless attention to detail and soulful delivery stems from growing up listening to the sounds of The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and Bruce Springsteen

delicate and soulful

Ganser | 5.17

Ganser is back with a couple of tunes that will anchor spring through fall, a project called Nothing You Do Matters (Produced by Liars’ Angus Andrew) and the songs are full, biting, sweet and relentlessly tongue-in-cheek.

What propels Ganser as a band is what shines here: their performance of joyful apathy so often has many other moving parts underneath that suggest that they are a band of deep caring, simply unsatisfied with the hands they’ve been dealt by the world.

The dark humor seeped into the apathy is the central and most visual part of the magic trick, but it isn’t the trick itself. It is the disappearing bird or rabbit, that which returns safely to the open palm in order to distract an audience from everything else unfolding during its disappearance.

into the rabbit hole

Rav | May 19

Born in the USSR a few weeks before it was dissolved, Rav ended up spending many of his formative years in the post-Soviet Union slums, raised by a single, young mother.

Since that corner of the world was suddenly no longer shielded from the outside world of arts and entertainment, Rav’s exposure to media consisted of a lot of mostly weird Soviet cartoons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Sailor Moon.

Rav experienced his first dose of Hip-Hop in his pre-teens, falling in love with Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest.

“My whole world changed the moment I heard ‘Electric Relaxation’ – I no longer wanted to be a comic book character, or Donatello from the TMNT, I wanted to be Q-Tip, and so I started rapping.”

LEAP marks the latest – and most personal – release from the prolific Rav.

Created while traveling the world, Rav recorded LEAP during the most arduous time of his life. With his path awash with loss and regret, Rav has spent much of the past year trying to find his footing.

bangers and aesthetics

Beach Weather | May 25

Beach Weather catch a vibe somewhere between the most disparate of extremes.

They write hooks universal enough for even the biggest arena full of people, yet introspective enough for even the most introverted wallflower to ponder.

Their breezy guitars and sun-soaked choruses barely veil an honest exploration of emotional tumult, anxiety, and loneliness… teeter on an axis of nostalgic melodies and future-facing provocation.

the future is now

Danielle Ponder | May 26 (SOLD OUT)

American soul singer Danielle Ponder is both empowering and a powerhouse.

In 2020, NPR described her music as anthemic while compassionate; soulful, while bold and strong. She reverberates with a goosebump-inducing passion,.”

Danielle attended Northeastern University where she received her Juris Doctorate. For 5 years, Danielle worked as a public defender where she provided criminal defense to the indigent community.

While working as a public defender, Danielle also toured Europe and scored an opening spot with George Clinton.

In 2018, after five years as a public defender, she made the gutsy decision to pursue her No.1 passion — music. In 2021, Danielle performed at the Newport Jazz Festival where her performance was hailed as one of the stand out performances of the event.

2022 has been a banner year for Danielle with appearances on Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS This Morning, tours with Marcus Mumford, Amos Lee, St. Paul and the Broken Bones and Leon Bridges. Danielle’s debut album, Some of Us Are Brave, is out September 16th on Future Classic.

Danielle continues to advocate for criminal justice reform and has been an influential leader in the Black Lives Matter movement in Rochester, NY.

GARZA | May 28

Best known as one-half of the internationally acclaimed Thievery Corporation, Rob Garza’s career includes over two decades of pushing conceptual boundaries to the forefront of a flourishing electronic music movement.

Ready now for another new chapter of musical discovery and exploration, Rob has conjured up a new experience called GARZA, which builds upon his legacy with Thievery Corporation, but with a bit more of a modern edge. Born out of a desire to push his sonic boundaries, GARZA incorporates new sounds with featured artists and collaborators plus an emphasis on incorporating current electronic music styles with new sounds and textures.

pioneering electronic music

Brick + Mortar | 5.31

It’s not quite a punk band or completely polished pop act: B+M are organic.

Their shows are ridiculous, but their songs have a message.

Brandon Asraf is the man behind the music, drawing inspiration from his youth filled with anxiety, depression, and the social complexities of being the son of a con man, smuggler & international fugitive.

He has lived a life stranger than most, his songs painting a picture of his journey through every lyric.

Brick + Mortar was born on Brandon’s little brother’s couch, with his buddy John Tacon; a big experiment with small expectations

Brick +Mortar have perfected the art of blending the authenticity and emotion of a one on one living room performance with an over the top, The Flaming Lips-esque visual performance.

music to their hearts