Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players join North American tour
Kate Nash is set to be joined on the US NME Awards Tour by support band The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, NME.COM can announce.
The self-styled "indie-vaudeville conceptual art-rock pop band" will join Nash as the British touring fixture – which has given breaks to the likes of Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand in the past – heads to North America for the first time.
See Slideshowplayers.com for more information on the band.
The tour is taking place to celebrate the NME Awards moving across the Atlantic for the first time, with this year's ceremony to be held at Los Angeles' El Ray Theatre on April 23.
More information on the NME Awards 2008 can be found in NME.COM's dedicated US Awards section.
Kate Nash’s NME Awards Tour visits the following venues:
Wednesday April 30, 2008 07:00 PM Detroit St Andrew’s Hall US $17.00
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Monday, April 28 Toronto The Phoenix
Tickets: $17.50
Available at
TICKETMASTER: online @ ticketmaster.ca or by phone 416-870-8000
ROTATE THIS: By phone: 416-504-8447. 620 Queen St. West
THE HORSESHOE TAVERN: By phone: 416-598-4753 . 368 Queen St. W.
Doors open @ 8:00 pm ALL AGES
review here
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Wednesday 23 & Thursday 24 April New York City Webster Hall Doors 7pm $20.00
review & pics
The felt board from the Kate Nash Tour Theme!
The most successful Family Slideshow band in history did not disappoint tonight! They were quirky, funny, & brilliant and once again delivered a great set and left me definitely wanting more. They are 100% worth showing up early for and they have a bunch of cool merch that you should check out if you go see one of the shows as it's not available anywhere else!
couple more pics from here
Another (Wednesday) review here
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Monday, April 21 Boston Paradise Rock Club 08:00 PM $20.00
Saturday, April 19 Philadelphia Trocadero 08:00 PM $15.00
All tickets are general admission standing room only -- NO chairs !!
full review here
another review from here
Anyway, The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players opened up for Ms. Nash.
I consider myself a fairly open-minded guy. But I have no idea what the hell is wrong with the Trachtenburg Family.
The band is made up of three non-related members playing the parts of a family. The drummer is a 14-year-old girl named Rachel. The "mother" operates a slideshow while "daddy" plays guitar and keyboard.
The band takes photo albums from the 1960s, '70s, and writes songs based on these pictures of random strangers. Then, while playing live, the slideshow matches up with the lyrics in the song.
And the lyrics are quite literal. If we see a picture of a fish, we're hearing a fish lyric.
I have no idea what the hell is wrong with the Trachtenburg Family.
I guess this is art, right? Like, if I ever wanted to look smart in front of someone, a future employer, a scientist, a foreign dignitary, I absolutely plan on casually mentioning I listen to the Trachtenburg Family.
And then I casually plan on accepting their kudos.
Here's "Look at Me" by The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players and "Pigeons" by the girl-wonder drummer, Rachel T.
Friday, April 18 Towson Recher Theatre 08:00 PM $15.00
Thursday, April 17 Washington DC 9:30 Club 7:30PM
Wednesday, April 16, 9:00 PM EDT (8:00 PM Doors)$15.00 9:00 PM EDT Asheville The Orange Peel
Tuesday, April 15, 8pm $15.00 Atlanta Variety Playhouse Atlanta
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Saturday 5th April 2008 8:00PM
GLUBDUB anniversary party with art show and SPECIAL GUEST,
The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players & Anna Copacabanna Asbury Lanes ASBURY PARK, NJ
"MR. ROGERS" GONE WILD
Trachtenburg Family show is a sight to see
The term "alternative" usually is a misnomer in rock 'n' roll, but that's not the case when it comes to the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players.
The theatrical, quirky, creative unit of singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist Jason Trachtenburg, his wife, Tina, and their 14-year-old daughter, drummer Rachel, is unlike most other rock acts, especially when it comes to live performance.
Jason Trachtenburg, who writes songs inspired by offbeat slides his spouse finds at estate sales or flea markets, views all of the critical praise as left-handed compliments.
"To call us great onstage is nice, but it doesn't mean as much as it could because there is no showmanship in rock 'n' roll anymore," he said while calling from his Manhattan apartment. "We're more entertaining than all of the other bands in rock combined. We're different (from) any other band."
The group, which will make its Asbury Park debut Saturday at Asbury Lanes, is unusual but above all, a family.
"You can't forget about that," Tina Trachtenburg said.
The Trachtenburg parents formed the group eight years ago in Seattle. Daughter Rachel is the act's evolving wildcard. She has morphed from a novelty to a respected entity.
"It's about time that that's happening," Jason Trachtenburg said. "She's not a little kid anymore. She's a musician."
The Trachtenburgs' lone child is learning to make art for arts sake.
"I just think you need to make the best music that you can and realize that it's unlikely that it's going to be a hit," Jason Trachtenburg said. "Rachel understands that. The bully wins out in entertainment. Intellectuals are marginalized in this business. That's something that hasn't changed and won't change, but you can't stop making music. I know we're not going to be a huge success, but I'm having as much fun as I can doing this."
Part of the fun for the Trachtenburgs is that there always seems to be a filmmaker documenting their music.
"I think there's been at least six documentaries shot about us," Tina Trachtenburg said. "We just can't say no to anyone who wants to make a movie about us."
The most important visual production involving the Trachtenburgs is "Rachel Trachtenburg's Homemade World." The show, which is in production, will run on the band's Web site and is being shopped to networks.
"It's a wild variety show/"Mr. Rogers'-type program for those (age 2) and up," Tina Trachtenburg said. "It's Rachel's venture, and it's so entertaining. There (are) puppets who come to life, and it's just all-around entertaining."
