Swet Shop Boys, Russ, Nicolas Jaar: 6 Webster Hall Concerts Not to Miss This Month

EAST VILLAGE, NY — Webster Hall has a packed line-up to get us through the November blues with all kinds of break-out indie, rap, and DIY songwriters, record producers, instrumentalists, and musicians. Here are a few you shouldn't miss:

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 8 p.m. (7 p.m. doors): Russ

Russ, or Russ Vitale, is a hip hop record producer and recording artist with over 40 million listens on his Soundcloud page. He was born in New Jersey and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where he formed a rap group called DIEMON collective. He signed with Columbia Records in 2016 where he released the hit single "What They Want."

Friday, Nov. 11, 8 p.m. (7 p.m. doors): SoMo

SoMo, or Joseph Anthony Somers-Morales, is a Texas-born singer and songwriter who got his start covering Drake and Chris Brown songs on YouTube. His self-titled album SoMo was released on April 8, 2014. His R&B crooner hit, "Ride," has more than 40 million views on YouTube.

Friday, Nov. 11, 11 p.m. (10 p.m. doors):

Saved by the 90s With the Bayside Tigers

Only 90s kids will get this Webster Hall party with live music from The Bayside Tigers and DJ Suga Ray. There will be glow sticks, makeup, games, props, and flashback tunes. This happens every Friday in the Marlin Room.

Saturday, Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m. (7:00 doors): Wet Leather and Obliques

Wet Leather is a five-man indie pop band who went to Wesleyan together and formed in 2013. They are based in Brooklyn and each have a creative day job like cartooning for the New Yorker or bartending, according to this cute feature of them in Method Magazine. They play wistful, optimistic bangers with vocals reminiscent of a happier Hot Chip.

Obliques is a duo of two men, Zach Van Hoozer and Ben Flesch, who met each other by chance at a New York and a Berlin bar. According to Stereogum, the pair plays music only between the hours of 2 AM and 6 AM. Their single, "Cut Me Loose (Ill Feeling)" has the feel of Elvis Costello with a little less retro punk.

Friday, Nov. 18, 8 p.m. (7 p.m. doors): Swet Shop Boys

You've probably seen the break-out video for "T5," the Swet Shop Boys' latest single addressing racism and social injustice. Riz MC and Heems, the rappers that make up the duo, are Pakistani and Indian-American, respectively.

From NPR:

Though separated by religion, nationality and the Atlantic Ocean, the two find common ground in hip-hop and engage head-on with a post-9/11 world that's fraught with government surveillance, Islamophobia, xenophobia, police violence and racism. Swet Shop Boys' album, Cashmere, is political and poignant at times, but it's never heavy-handed, thanks to a healthy dose of humor and the Desi-inflected sonic palette of the album's sole producer, Redinho.

Friday, Nov. 18, 9 p.m. (8 p.m. doors): Nicolas Jaar

Jaar is a Chilean-American composer and recording artist in New York City who got his start in the club world for dance EPs he released from 2008 to 2011. He performed a 5-hour improvisational concert at PS1 in 2012 and performs in the band, Darkside.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons/Public domain