The Bowery Presents

The Stay in Bloom festival triumphantly returned to Under the K Bridge Park on Saturday, highlighted by ILLENIUM and Dabin performing back-to-back to close out a stacked lineup.

Photos courtesy of Toby Tenenbaum | @tobytenenbaum

Touring North America in support of his new album, Who Are You Really?, Los Angeles producer and DJ Le Youth brought his latest to Terminal 5 on Saturday night.

(Le Youth plays The Sinclair in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday.)

Photos courtesy of Elissa Mentesana | elissarosephotography.com

@elissarose15

Singer and multi-instrumentalist John Linnell and singer-guitarist John Flansburgh have been making sweet, melodic music as They Might Be Giants for nearly 45 years. They put out their 26th EP, Eyeball, in January, and their 24th LP, The World Is to Dig, in April. On Friday, they played the second of three nights at Brooklyn Steel.

Photos courtesy of Edwina Hay | thisisnotaphotograph.com

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On Friday night Dillon Francis and Flosstradamus had everyone at Terminal 5 dancing into the weekend with back-to-back sets.

Photos courtesy of Toby Tenenbaum | @tobytenenbaum

With a new album out today, Brooklyn hardcore rapper Young M.A rocked locally last night, headlining Music Hall of Williamsburg. 

Photos courtesy of Anthony Grant | instagram.com/gallerybytm

Brooklyn synth-pop singer-songwriter Grace Ives came home to close out the tour in support of her excellent third studio album, Girlfriend — which, according to the Guardian, “abandons caution in windswept, hyperdetailed songs that streak by like big city streetlights and shimmer with cosmic awe” — with a sold-out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday night.

Photos courtesy of Adela Loconte | www.adelaloconte.com

Out on their biggest headlining North American tour yet, Melbourne, Australia, metalcore four-piece THORNHILL cut loose at a sold-out Webster Hall on Wednesday night.

Photos courtesy of DeShaun Craddock | dac.photography

L.A. dance-pop trio MUNA landed in Brooklyn on Saturday to launch a four-night record-release party, celebrating the recent arrival of the band’s fourth LP, Dancing on the Wall, “an unwavering celebration of pop,” per Clash magazine.

(MUNA play Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight.)

(MUNA play Roadrunner in Boston on 10/1-2.)

Photos courtesy of Andrew Pintado | @drooshotya

AllMusic calls French space-rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Melody Prochet’s fourth Melody’s Echo Chamber album, Unclouded, a “record that is just as impressively crafted as anything Prochet has done. That is high praise indeed, considering she's made some of the most inventive and pleasing neo-psychedelic-adjacent albums of the previous decade or so.” And on Friday night, Prochet and Co. dazzled Webster Hall.

Photos courtesy of Ellen Qbertplaya | instagram.com/qbertplaya

CMAT – Brooklyn Steel – May 15, 2026

“We have her for like five seconds, and then she will be untouchable to all of us,” declared CMAT fan Brandi Carlile on a recent guest spot on the Las Culturaistas podcast. Irish pop-songstress Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (CMAT) has been steadily releasing music from her 2021 debut EP, Diet Baby, to last year’s third studio album, Euro-Country. In a recent Track Star appearance, Thompson admitted that she didn’t listen to much contemporary music and added, “I’m very stuck in, I would say between the 1940s to the 1970s predominantly. Actually, recently this week, I decided to move into the future, and I started getting into ’80s power ballads. They are mind-blowingly well-made.” One would argue that she can craft a powerful ballad in her own right. Thompson landed at a nearly sold-out Brooklyn Steel filled with adoring fans to support her country-tinged album.

Illuminated by the spotlight with her back to the audience, the redheaded siren turned to face her devoted followers with a cowbell primed for “Tree Six Foive,” and an interlude of the “Theme from New York, New York” delighted the room. She was accompanied by the Very Sexy CMAT Band, and the nearly two-hour set included interpretive dance, theatrics and plenty of good ol’ fun. For an extra-special treat, Euro-Country producer Oli Deakin sat in on pedal steel, making the evening a full-circle moment as that album was recorded just steps away in Greenpoint. Songs from it plus favorites from CMAT’s back catalog — including “I Don’t Really Care for You,” off Diet Baby and recently re-released Record Store Day single — fueled consistent swaying across the floor. 

Fiddle player Holly Carpenter, keyboardist Colm Conlan and guitarist Jack Wolter (aka “Skirt Cobain”) joined Thompson for a hearty line dance, leading into “When a Good Man Cries.” Face-planting on Hannah Morgan’s drum riser, the singer laid down for “Have Fun!,” from 2023’s Crazymad, for Me, while Wolter and bassist Willy Bishop worked their skirts. Sawyer, an 11-year-old up front, asked for a song request as a stand-in for everyone else who was too lazy to make a song-request sign (digital signs were not accepted). She only had songs already on the setlist, but a very animated blonde fan made a clear plea for “Can’t Make Up My Mind,” another off the 2023 sophomore album. (Don’t worry about Sawyer, she got her favorite, “Running/Planning,” later in the show.) Needless to say, everyone left happy Friday night with closer “Stay for Something,” in which Thompson parted the floor to serenade them up close, marching down to the sound booth and back. —Sharlene Chiu | @shar0ck

Photos courtesy of Ken Grand-Pierre | www.kenamiphoto.com

Before heading to Europe this week, beloved acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela were back in NYC on Friday, closing out the American tour in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their eponymous debut LP, playing the album in full at the Beacon Theatre.

Photos courtesy of Andrew Pintado | @drooshotya

With the North American leg of the world tour in support of her second studio album, Smoochies, coming to a close, genre-bending singer and rapper Ashnikko sold out the Hammerstein Ballroom on Friday night.

Photos courtesy of Lexi Yob | @lexiyob

Claire Rosinkranz’s second long-player, My Lover, — about personal growth: “a beautifully raw reckoning” — arrived in February. Just back from Europe, she launched the North American leg of her headlining tour on Tuesday, and on Thursday night, the L.A. pop singer-songwriter filled up Webster Hall.

Photos courtesy of Lexi Yob | @lexiyob

Iron & Wine – Brooklyn Steel – May 13, 2026

There was a piece of art hanging over the stage for the Iron & Wine show at Brooklyn Steel on Wednesday night, a massive kinetic sculpture of some sort that was some combination of folk art, found object art and modern art. In many ways, Sam Beam and his band matched the energy of the artwork with their music: Playing a lengthy set that was part folk, part modern and part sounding like unearthed repurposed relics from the past.

They opened with “Sweet Talk,” off the 2024 LP Light Verse, Beam harmonizing with violinist Abby Swidler, bassist Katie Ernst and drummer Beth Goodfellow, imploring the crowd, “Let’s get underneath the skin / Of a wonderful life.” The set featured several songs off his latest release, Hen’s Teeth, many showing off a more modern-day complexity, like the orchestral pop of “Roses” with intricate piano melodies from Rob Burger, shifting rhythms and dissonant harmonies.

Older songs evoked the revelatory lo-fi roots of the early Iron & Wine two-plus-decades past: “Upward Over the Mountain,” with slow, moody mallet-drums, the creaky wail of a fiddle and lyrics like “Sons are like birds / Flying always over the mountain” feeling like ancient poetry. In between there was plenty of folk-centric music like the organ-heavy near-gospel of “All in Good Time” and the rootsy storytelling of “Jesus the Mexican Boy.” 

Between (and occasionally in the middle of) songs, Beam was in a joking mood, riffing on New York City and New Yorkers from as many angles as he approached his music. For the show-closer, they invited up members of opening band Improvement Movement to beef up the vocal harmonies on “Robin’s Egg,” as I’m With Her do on the new record. The communal spirit transcending past vs. present vs. future, a work of art in itself. —A. Stein | @Neddyo

(Iron & Wine play The NorVa in Norfolk, Va., tomorrow night.)

Photos courtesy of Ellen Qbertplaya | instagram.com/qbertplaya

Singer-songwriter-producer and multi-instrumentalist James K makes a lush, celestial kind of electronic music that gets the people moving. And on Wednesday night, she was back in New York City for a tour-closing hometown show at Webster Hall.

Photos courtesy of Toby Tenenbaum | @tobytenenbaum