Warped Reality Magazine – HI-FI, LO-FI, NO-FI and everything in between

The Feelies play White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey, to celebrate 50 years as a band.

Night of the Living Feelies

On May 27, 2026

The Feelies
White Eagle Hall, Jersey City
May 23, 2026

Last Saturday, I saw the Feelies play for roughly 3-and-a-half hours to an enraptured audience (me included) to celebrate 50 years of the band. The show was at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City — a favorite spot of the band to play now that Maxwell’s, the center of the Hoboken scene that spawned them, is no more. Rumors circulated that it would be their last show.

For a long time, I never thought I’d see the Feelies. I first read about them when I started to get into music, around 1988 or 1989. Spin was, at the time, an early Bible for discovering important bands to investigate. For example, I first read about No Wave in Spin, thanks to Byron Coley’s unmissable “Underground” column. I can’t recall who wrote about the Feelies, but I remember that bassist Brenda Sauter was quoted as recommending choline for touring bands to keep fatigue at bay. I’ve never toured but the advice has stayed with me ever since.

Clem Burke drink specials at the Bowery Palace, March 25, 2026.

Rock n’ Roll Heart: A Tribute to Blondie Drummer Clem Burke

By andrea

On March 31, 2026

In In Memoriam, Uncategorized

The history of rock n’ roll is littered with broken hearts and betrayals. Less common are those who leave their music community better off than they found it. Clem Burke, who died last year after a cancer battle, was one of those rare birds: An indefatigable and soulful drummer who quietly, effortlessly, made it his mission to elevate and support his fellow musicians. And he didn’t do it to score points – he just did it.

Clem’s friends and comrades-in-arms put together a tribute to him this past week at Jesse Malin’s Bowery Palace, a two-night affair filled to the brim with great songs and stories of Clem’s humble largesse. (The below is only applicable to Wednesday night, as Thursday sold out in five minutes flat.) Malin and Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s got out the old Rolodex and rounded up a who’s who of Clem’s tour mates and admirers to give him a proper Bowery send-off, from his Blondie bandmate Glen Matlock to Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate), Gail Greenwood (Belly, L7, Gang of Four) and Tommy Stinson (Replacements).

Upstairs at the Palace, there were Clem-themed drink specials like the X-Offender (vodka, St. Germain, lemon juice, simple syrup and soda) and Empty Heart (a prosecco-and-strawberry vodka affair). The small downstairs space was crammed with well-wishers, fans, and musicians with their own fond memories of Clem.

Communing with Derek Jarman & Other UK Highlights

By andrea

On October 17, 2024

In Travelogue

View of the stunning Dungeness shingle facing the white cliffs of Dover. — Dungeness facing the white cliffs of Dover.

My recent trip to the United Kingdom was so incredible that hearing Viv Albertine speak wasn’t even the greatest moment of my trip. Viv Albertine! Of the Slits!

I am going to jump around a bit in the timeline of the trip to highlight my favorite moments. I was in the UK from Sunday to Sunday, September 22 to September 29. On my first day, I saw Steve Wynn at the Walthamstow Rock n’ Roll Book Festival and Viv Albertine at the George Tavern in Shadwell. From Monday to Wednesday, I visited my friends Mick and Anne in Edinburgh ( my first ever visit to the city). On Thursday, I visited my dear friend Sarra in lovely Muswell Hill, then headed to Finsbury Park to see the first of two Prolapse shows. Friday, I headed to Brighton to see Prolapse again, and Saturday our group road-tripped to Dungeness to visit Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage. Sunday I was back in London for a last day of good food and an extensive Tate Modern visit. Oh, and I witnessed the debut of Widget, a band featuring members of Big Joanie and All Cats Are Beautiful.

A Day in Dungeness

I think of Derek Jarman as a worldbuilder extraordinaire. Before his life was cut tragically and horrifically short by AIDS in 1994, he never stopped creating films, books, poems, and paintings— his last film, Blue, came out the year before he died — and he was equally adept at transforming raw spaces.

From 1969 until 1979, he lived in a succession of rudimentary studio spaces, all of which were situated on the Thames riverside. (Now fully gentrified, the neighborhood was then a warren of crumbling warehouses and disused wharfs, with less than 5,000 residents.)