Asaf Avidan Irving Plaza concert in New York on Thursday, February 4th, 2015. Photos by Mae Krell
Asaf Avidan Irving Plaza Concert
Asaf Avidan Biography
Asaf Avidan is an Israeli singer-songwriter and musician. He is also the creative force and front-man of Asaf Avidan & the Mojos, a folk rock band that he established in 2006 in Jerusalem. The band released three albums, The Reckoning in 2008, Poor Boy / Lucky Man in 2009 and Through the Gale in 2010.
Starting in 2012, the Mojos band project was shelved so that Avidan would concentrate on a solo career. In 2012, he released Avidan in a Box, an acoustic live album which covers older songs by him, digital copies only. He also launched his solo studio album Different Pulses in Israel, to be made available internationally in 2013.
Asaf Avidan also had an international hit with “One Day / Reckoning Song (Wankelmut Rmx)”.
In July 2011, following another summer tour that saw them sharing the stage with Robert Plant, Ben Harper and Lou Reed among others, Asaf Avidan & the Mojos announced that they are taking an indefinite creative break.
Avidan had continuously played solo and duo acoustic shows throughout the band’s career, including “regular” venue shows as well as a TED Global Conference performance, supporting Bob Dylan, playing a tribute concert for The Who at Carnegie Hall and many radio and TV performances.
In 2012, Asaf Avidan announced that he was leaving Sony to join Polydor (Universal Music), and that he was abandoning the Mojos for a solo career. He released the track “Different Pulses” in preparation for a solo international album in 2013 but to be made available in Israel in September 2012.
Prior to his first expected solo album, Avidan toured Israel with a guitar, harmonica and added vocals. The response of the crowds to these intimate, acoustic shows were tremendous. Encouraged by this, Avidan agreed to perform in a series of low key events spread on 48 hours renditions of some of his earlier stuff in a small rented space in south Tel Aviv. The sessions were done with no rehearsals, with just simple guitar accompaniment and in presence of a select few friends attending. His acoustic performances were accordingly recorded without much studio production with the result being the limited release Avidan in a Box.
On February 13, 2013 Avidan performed a piano vocal version of his hit “Reckoning Song” at the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy.
Plain White T’s Gramercy Theatre, New York City PHOTOS