Decmber 16th 07
New York, NY – The Enemies navigated ice storms, drove thousands of miles, subdued Eastern, Midwestern & Southern audiences with their patented numbing potion, and remain on surprisingly good terms.
Highlights of their Christmas tour included a magical evening in Claverack NY, ecstatic performances in Northampton and Cleveland, furious family support in Chicago, radio appearances in Bloomington and Louisville, mayhem in Nashville, a yuletide lovefest in Charlotte, laughter and tears in Ashland VA, and a triumphant Big Apple Christmas homecoming.
All that and a ton of great press everywhere.
November 18th 07
New York, NY – The Enemies have returned from their first weekend foray of regional touring in celebration of their tenth anniversary and their two new CDs.
And they have been receiving some very favorable press attention!
The Boston Phoenix marvels at Spottiswoode’s “moony, crooning voice, dripping with wasted elegance” and the band’s ability to “recall at various times the smoke-cured continental suavity of Serge Gainsbourg, the latter-day ethno-eclecticism of the Pogues, and the turbid moodiness of the Bad Seeds.”
The writer from the Portland Phoenix describes Spottiswoode as “one of the more commanding frontmen I’ve heard in a while,” and notes that “His Enemies are comfortable in cabaret, post-punk, soul, and any other mode – all but a backdrop for Spottiswoode’s sly, Nick Cave meets Stephen Merritt put-ons.”
The Washington Express, in a feature on the band, praises their two new releases, That’s What I Like and Salvation. “Both highlight Spottiswoode’s charmingly coarse baritone and conversational lyrics as well as a sparkling soundtrack from the dexterous Enemies, whose playing is technically cool but rife with embellishment and quirky colloquialism.”
And Washington’s NBC affiliate rhapsodizes about Spottiswoode’s “challenging, beautiful music” and “his incredibly talented Enemies.”
More articles and press will soon be forthcoming on the DOSSIER page.
Or go to the MISSIVES page and read Spott’s tour blog.
November 07
Clarendon, VA – Ten years ago, on November 14th 1997, the rock septet, Spottiswoode & His Enemies, performed their debut concert at Washington DC’s Black Cat.
At 10:30pm, on Saturday, November 17th 2007, Spottiswoode & His Enemies will return to the DC metropolitan area and take the stage at IOTA Club and Café.
They promise an uproarious anniversary celebration.
Most of the Enemies had been members of The Zimmermans, a cult 90s DC group that had disbanded a year earlier. Spottiswoode, a prolific English songwriter, had since moved to New York along with several of the others.
During the last ten years, the band has developed a cult following of its own. They have performed numerous residencies at New York’s best clubs; toured the country; played Lincoln Center, NPR, festivals from Texas to France; and released several critically acclaimed records.
And they remain a law unto themselves: a band packed with multi-instrumentalist personalities, fronted by an Englishman who is happy singing a neo-gospel lament, a cabaret ditty, a heartbreaking ballad and a balls-out rocker back to back without pausing for breath.
To capture at least some of the band’s range, the Enemies will play songs from their two new CDs.
Their first set will feature songs from Salvation, a collection of soulful ballads and upbeat folksy Americana. The second set will be a madcap cabaret retelling of their CD, That’s What I Like, as performed earlier this year to a sold-out crowd at Joe’s Pub in New York’s Public Theater.
Don Dilego opens at 9pm, Spouse at 9:30, Enemies from 10:30 till 1:00. Cover: $12. IOTA Club and Café, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201
The Enemies will also play shows this week in Boston (11/14), Portland (11/15) and New York (11/16).
October 5, 2007
New York, NY – Andrew Blackwell, a shadowy character with an ominous name, led seven musicians – resembling the fugitive band Spottiswoode & His Enemies – into a Chinatown dungeon on a recent weekend. They were followed by two dozen men in khaki.
Was it some kind of J. Crew orgy?
October 2007
New York, NY- This Friday, October 5th, Spottiswoode & His Enemies will perform two more late-night sets at the Living Room here in New York City. The show begins at 11pm.
Business as usual? Not quite. The whole show is being taped by XM Radio for future broadcast.
Spottiswoode promises to dig into the archive and play a medley of the band’s most radio-friendly hits. His Enemies have promised to sabotage the Englishman’s noble undertaking.
“Radio-friendly?” scoffs John Young (Enemy #1). “His songs aren’t even gyroscope friendly!”
“It’s just another excuse to rein us all in and play shallow three minute songs without ever letting the band stretch out,” said a pouty Tim Vaill (Enemy #2) to a lonely slice of vegetarian barbecue pizza here in the East Village.
The rest of the Enemies have declined to comment.
September 2007
New York, NY- Spottiswoode and His Enemies have threatened to hold hostage anyone who comes to the Living Room on Saturday, September 22nd.
“If they come at 11pm like they’re supposed to,” says Tim Vaill – band drummer and reportedly the gang’s most vicious member – “we won’t let them leave till well after their bedtime.”
Tony Lauria, band accordionist, followed Vaill’s threat with a statement of his own: “If these douchebags give a shit about good music why would they think about leaving anyway?”
An official statement from the band’s secret headquarters promised a “new and improved” Spottiswoode & His Enemies. This has been interpreted by certain experts as a message suggesting that a large number of brand new songs will be introduced into the repertoire at this particular performance.
In any event, we advise our readers to avoid the Living Room on the evening of Saturday, September 22nd. At all costs!
(An Editorial By The Reverend Farley Grilwell)
Libertyville, SC- I am an open-minded God-fearing man. I am happy to let my fellow citizens go about their business as they see fit. I am proud to live in a free country.
Now we all know that the original promise of this great country has been corrupted. Still, my feeling has always been to just let the sinners follow their own unrighteous path to hell. We have given them plenty of warnings. If they don’t care to listen, well so be it.
However, I can’t just sit on the sidelines when a tribe of devils posing as a musical group actively encourages fornication and disrespect for women. For yes, that is exactly what Spottswick and His Infamies are trying to do.
We all know their music is bad. (And if you don’t know that, I encourage you to listen. Do not bury your heads in the sand!) But the fact that they are now indulging in a music video of perhaps their very worst song is a graver danger to our young children than the unacceptable coitus we all witnessed between Janet Jefferson and Justin Fingerflake only a few years ago.
Folks, it is no less than the propaganda of the Devil himself.
Evidently, on the weekend of September 22nd and 23rd, they will be filming a phoney performance of their song, “That’s What I Like.” They have even asked for volunteers. Yes, all an unsuspecting soul has to do is to send a message to the contacts page on their website and they willl be recruited!
My friends, the worse it is the further it travels. And believe me, this is BAD. I suggest we boycott the whole of New York City until these sad people are forced up to Quebec.
The Reverend Farley Grilwell is the author of “Life of A Saint: Pat Robertson and the Affliction of Haemorhoids,” and “Unholy Sinner: The Truth About Mother Theresa.”