On a Friday night of December 2004, at Manhattan venue Sin-e' in Attorney Street, an emerging NYC band with a home recorded debut album played The Deli's launch party. It was a packed crowd and everyone was holding the first issue of The Deli, whose cover these upstarts were gracing. That band was Grizzly Bear. It remains one of the most exciting nights of my life, the night I understood that this magazine had a shot at being here to stay.

Now, this ten-year anniversary issue hopes to be a(nother) celebration of this great scene, in a less cluttered, more narratorial and visually appealing form thanks to art critic Brian Chidester's work as a guest editor. This issue also comes with my deep hope for NYC to keep churning out exceptional music of all kinds for the foreseeable future.

FIND THE PAPER ISSUE OF THE DELI IN MANHATTAN AND BROOKLYN, READ IT IN PDF HERE, OR BUY IT HERE FOR JUST $5.

Paolo De Gregorio,
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

The cover of the 1st Issue of The Deli (December 2004)

Normally, The Deli New England only covers actual New England-based bands, but I went to a show a week ago at Charlie’s Kitchen in Cambridge, MA and saw a band from Philly called Push Ups, and these guys kicked enough ass to justify getting themselves on a “New England” blog. The four-piece played a short set (only about 20 minutes), but I’ll be hard-pressed to find more local bands who play with that kind of intensity. Lead singer Zac Beaver was all over the place—literally. He ran up and down the room: jumping in the air, crashing to the floor; he even laid the mic down at one point to do a cartwheel. These guys play straight-up raucous punk and it rules.

After the show, they gave me a CD, Grow Up or Try Dying (the background music to this very review), and I was impressed that their recording holds up to their live performance. The opening track on the record, "College Ruined My Life", sounds like a Bronx B-side and it is glorious. For more info about the band, check out their Facebook page.

-Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn)

 Photo Credit: Dan Cohoon

For the third time in almost a year, tens of thousands of eager concert-goers gathered in downtown Boston for one of the newest (and arguably most well-received) New England-based musical events in recent memory. Nearly 60,000 people showed up over three days for this spring’s Boston Calling festival, giving locals Magic Man and Tigerman WOAH quite an impressive welcome to the big stage. Click here to read the rest of the review (and view additional show photos).

Lynn-based Tigerman, WOAH! will be the second local act to play at this year’s spring installment of the Boston Calling music festival series. One might expect the band's sound to come out of the Deep South, rather than the suburbs of Boston. Lead singer Adam Kaz brings a refreshing blend of gritty, raw lyrics steeped in a quart of whiskey. The band seems to draw from a wide variety of influences, but tends to gravitate towards genres and ideas that emphasize the messages of strength and overcoming obstacles. “Gospel is so good because of it’s message, ‘we see hope, we see light,’” says Kaz.

"We try to make our music as organic as possible," echoes drummer Adam Lentine. "We feel that as long as we play the music, if we get a response, then that’s great. [But the beliefs of] solidarity, brotherhood ... music should be used to get that message across.”

Be sure to catch Tigerman, WOAH! at 1:45PM on the final day of the festival, Sunday, May 25. For more information about the band, check out Tigerman, WOAH!'s Facebook page. For continued updates about the Boston Calling festival, visit the Boston Calling website.

-Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn)

Photo Credit: Alyssa Webster (@xRaeCash)