35 posts tagged “tour”
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Fellow Californians, Astra Heights, Monte Negro and The May Fire played at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis last night (AutoVaughn was also on the bill, but I didn't see them). It was a low turnout, which is understandable as it's a lazy Sunday. I was actually a little surprise to find out that Monte Negro and May Fire both had noticibly Spanish accents, I guess I thought Catty from May Fire was American based on her songs. It seems that Monte Negro sounds like a Spanish reggae/ska-influenced and the highlight of the show was a cover song (I couldn't figure out what the song was) with El Pipe from the May Fire.
Andrew reviewed The May Fire's latest EP on W♥M and I was impress with their sound that I requested to do coverage on this show. They didn't let me down with rocking out, and there wasn't a whole lot of talking inbetween the short list of seven songs. All their songs are like short punk songs and the keyboard was used only once by Rob, the bassist (all that setup for a 40 second use!) There was one moment of awkwardness when they asked someone in the audience if "they were sleeping over at Justin's mom". They are still in Minnesota and will be appearing at Eclipse Records in St Paul, tomorrow. Too bad I won't be able to make it. PS, yes, that is a tiger. |
Chicago, Illinois' Kill Hannah did not get their name from Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna, instead it's from singer Mat Devine's ex-girlfriend. Isn't it kind of weird that he hates her, but yet, the band name is a tribute to her, in some ways? She must really love it. They're currently on their "Hope for the Hopeless" tour, with three solid bands: The Medic Droid, Innerpartysystem & The White Tie Affair. Of the three support, I thought Innerpartysystem was outstanding, they look like a rave and their stage presence is tight. They even brought in their own lighting - as did the other bands, but not as detailed as Innerpartysystem. The venue they played at is Station 4, a long rectangular bar that's split in two sections: the bar and the concert area. It's divided by a wall, with two windows that people in the bar area can watch the show in comfort. It's been a while since I've been to Station 4. The last time it was for a metal band, so I've always been under the impression that it was a 'metal bar' - but having briefly talked to Steve, the owner, he said that it's now about only 25%. This 800 persons capacity venue didn't sell out, but there was enough young people squeezed together that it was unbearably hot on the dance floor. Kill Hannah kept talking about the heat (which makes it worst if you ask me), and they tried their best squeezing bottled water into the audience. His goal seems to be "Kill Hannah fans looks best when wet" as he puts it. The crowd was especially receptive to "Kennedy" and "Lips Like Morphine". "Kennedy"'s melody kind of reminds me of "I'm Only Happy When It Rains". I also noted that they changed their song "Chicago" to "St Paul, Minnesota" (I'm certain they do this at different towns). It's still pretty cool and the audience obviously loved it. "Acid Rain", as Devine introduced it, is a brand new song. It starts off like a Faint song, which wasn't bad at all. I don't normally travel to St Paul for concerts, but it looks like the scene here is thriving that I wouldn't mind travelling a little further to check out more shows in the future. Also, thanks to a photo badge, I was able to sneak around on the stage to avoid the crowd to take some decent photos. I should remember to request such badges on my next concert. The background image is a weird accident, but I love the hand shadows. |
Tour Dates
05/01/08 Help us out!! Omaha, NE
Discography
05/02/08 Old Curtis St. Bar Denver, CO 05/03/08 House Show Orem, UT 05/04/08 Boise, ID 05/05/08 Jules Maes Saloon Seattle, WA 05/06/08 KAOS live Olympia, CA 05/06/08 Valentine’s Portland, OR 06/07/08 TransAm at Club Eight San Francisco, CA
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I went to see Finest Dearest at the Terminal Bar in Minneapolis on April 30th.
They did a pretty short set, maybe six songs, and it was pretty obvious that no one was really there to see them. (Who booked this show anyway?)
They are actually more lively and aggressive on stage, very loud and more rock than I thought. You can hardly hear the vocals (see mic issues below).
I ended up picking up their new album on 10", it's nice and heavy and folds out to show Sina Grace's artwork of the band. The cover artwork is different than the promo CD I've got, the new cover is definitely much better than the old one.
So, I've never been here before, there is a bar section and a concert area, and from what I can hear, the sound on most of the mics are pretty bad, either too low or there was feedback.
The mic wasn't even turn on for the first few songs for USA Solid Golden Retrievers (myspace.com). They sounded totally different with the mic turned on.
I thought Subdivider (myspace.com/subdivider) was pretty decent. The keyboards was a bit loud, but other than that, it looks and sound like all the audience was there to see them. The best part was the Ween cover, "What Deaner Was Talking About".
I also wanted to say hi to PC Smith (myspace.com/wakwakmusic), a man and his keyboard. He was performing Beatles and Van Morrison tunes prior to the show... and I think he's playing all month at the Terminal.
05/01/2008 02:45:50
vu
my♥posts
finestdearest.com
myspace.com
♥ Set List 
♥ Martin Noble, ahead of his time. Picture courtesy of britrockatthetop.com |
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03/22/08
Canopy Club Urbana, Illinois
Sounds Like
03/24/08 Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois 03/25/08 Eagle Theatre Pontiac, MI 03/26/08 Grog Shop Cleveland, Ohio 03/27/08 Basement Columbus, Ohio 03/28/08 Phoenix Hill Tavern Louisville,KY 03/29/08 Billiken Club St. Louis, MO 04/12/08 Club Deville Austin, Texas 04/13/08 Engine Room Houston, TX 04/15/08 Spanish Moon Baton Rouge, LA 04/16/08 One Eyed Jack’s New Orleans, LA 04/17/08 Tallahassee - FL State Uni, FL 04/18/08 The Social Orlando, Florida 04/19/08 Jack Rabbit’s Jacksonville, FL 04/20/08 Village Tavern Mt Pleasant, SC 04/21/08 Earl @ Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 04/22/08 Bottletree Birmingham, AL 04/23/08 Hi Tone Memphis, TN 05/01/08 Mojo’s Columbia, Missouri 05/02/08 Proud Larry’s Oxford, MI 05/03/08 Mercy Lounge Nashville, TN 05/04/08 Grey Eagle Asheville, NC 05/06/08 Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, NC 05/07/08 Satelite BllrmCharlottesville, VA 05/08/08 Black Cat, Washington DC 05/09/08 Johnny Brenda’s Philly, PA 05/10/08 Bowery Ballroom New York 05/11/08 Music Hall Brooklyn, NY 05/13/08 Paradise Boston, MA 05/15/08 La Sala Rossa Montreal, PQ 05/16/08 Lee’s Palace Toronto, Ontario 05/17/08 The Tralf Buffalo, New York |
British Sea Power are quite famous, so I won't spend too much time talking about them. They played here in Minneapolis yesterday (March 21st) at the Triple Rock Social Club.
They certainly "like the rock music" and their set ended with a wacky destructo free-for-all rock out encore.
There were great moment during the show, including guitarist Martin Noble climbing and playing on the shoulders of an audience member and later just climbing on various people. The guy's pretty tall too, so it's quite funny to see.
The bassist (Hamilton) and guitarist (Yan) both switch back and forth to sing. I'm having a hard time remember who was playing what, but I believe the bassist's singing style wasn't really meant as rock and rolly as I get the impression his lyrics are more sensitive. It's really too bad because everything was really noisy and you could barely hear what he was saying. Perhaps it's the Triple Rock sound system, perhaps I'm going deaf in my old age.
While I'm complaining - why bother with Abi Fry, the violin player, as it sounds to me that all the notes she played ended up being drowned by two guitars, a bass, drums and a brass cornet (yes, it's true). There was a shining moment when no one was playing and all you could hear was Fry's violin being played.
The other two opening band was Minneapolis' One for the Team (myspace.com), who I was told was recently signed to The Miltia Group. A few other bands in the group's camp includes Tahiti 80 and The Appleseed Cast[W♥M] so you may probably hear more about One for the Team in the future.
They didn't have quite the showmanship of the second band called Colourmusic (colourmusic.net), who were dressed in all white down to their instruments.
I was pretty impressed with Colourmusic's style, which emphasised on drumming, bass, and acting like goofballs.
The highlight of their set was when the rhythm guitarist took up a second drum.
Overall, a pretty enjoyable show, despite a very tired me having been awake since 6am.
03/22/2008 11:36:52
vu
my♥posts
britishseapower.co.uk
myspace.com
Just as there were a ton of album releases yesterday, there was also a ton of news. Here's your roundup:
Punk rock band Face to Face announced that they are reforming.
We miss playing these songs live. That's the only reason. We don't plan on writing any new material or releasing new records as FACE TO FACE, but we are looking forward to getting out there and playing for people. The live shows have always been the best part of this band so why not continue to do something we love to do.
- Trever Keith (singer/founder)
Although Face to Face will not be recording new material, Keith's recorded a solo album. The press material points to www.treverkeith.com, but at of this writing, there was practically nothing on that page.
Speaking of solo album, Peter Morén (you know him as Peter from Peter, Bjorn and John) will also be releasing a solo album through Quarterstick Records.
Apparently the album was "several years in the making". I suppose, because PB&J exploded last year and they were constantly touring and promoting Writer's Block that it's no wonder his solo album was set on the backburner until now.
According to the press release, the acoustic, low-key album is called The Last Tycoon and will be available on April 8, 2008.
| Tour
02/12/08 Chicago, IL - The Co-Prosperity Sphere
02/14/08 New York, NY - NY University 02/15/08 Cambridge, MA - The Lily Pad 02/16/08 Providence, RI - Underground 02/17/08 New York, NY - Bowery Poetry Club 02/18/08 Brooklyn, NY - Lutheran Church 02/23/08 Grinnell, IA - Grinnell College 02/24/08 Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room 02/26/08 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge 02/27/08 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court 02/28/08 Boise, ID - Neurolux 02/29/08 Seattle, WA - The Vera Project 03/02/08 Olympia, WA - Capitol Theater |
Calvin Johnson announces his tour dates with fellow K Records artist, Mahjongg.
I did check out Johnson's biography page which allows two free songs for download (which I'll include one of them here).
Apparently when not hanging out with Beat Happening, The Go Team, Dub Narcotic Sound System, and The Halo Benders, he founded and runs K Records since 1982!
Random Trivia: There is a football player also named Calvin Johnson.
Bonus Random Trivia: Kurt Cobain has a tattoo of the K logo on his arm.
Story of the Year's third studio album is called The Black Swan, to be release on April 22nd through Epitaph (the band was previously on Maverick).
Not much to add to the announcement, except that you can hear the new single, "Wake Up" on armyoftheblackswan.com, where fans are encouraged to sign up for "updates and exclusive opportunities."
Musically, we've grown so much. We have some very unique, timeless, face melting guitar riffs and solos that have come to define our sound, without compromising the idea of a classic song.
- guitarist Ryan Phillips.
The Donnas teams up with The Hives for a major tour, per their press release.
Their promise of "quality, ass-kicking performances" made me smile... and the two bands would compliment each other as their sound are similar.
I always think these girls are a lot of fun, with a lot of humor. Remember when they were underage and when they finally became adults, they released The Donnas Turn 21 in 2001.
They've been in the music industry for 15 years now - something about the rock n roll that keeps these girls going!
01/30/2008 06:52:46
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
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02/19/08 ATLANTA, GA - Drunken Unicorn 02/20/08 CHAPEL HILL, NC - Local 506 02/21/08 WASHINGTON DC - Black Cat 02/22/08PHILADELPHIA,PA-Johnny Brendas 02/23/08 NEW YORK, NY - Mercury Lounge 02/24/08 BROOKLYN, NY - Music Hall 02/26/08 BOSTON, MA - Middle East 02/27/08 MONTREAL, QC - Casa del Popolo 02/28/08 TORONTO, ON - Horseshoe Tavern 02/29/08 DETROIT, MI - Magic Stick 03/01/08 CHICAGO, IL - Empty Bottle 03/02/08 MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Triple Rock 03/05/08 VANCOUVER, BC - Pat's Pub 03/06/08 SEATTLE, WA - Crocodile 03/07/08 PORTLAND, OR - Holocene 03/08/08 SF, CA - Bottom of the Hill 03/11/08 LOS ANGELES, CA - Echo
Press Release
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Bradford Cox, singer of Deerhunter, has a solo project: Atlas Sound. Based out of Atlanta, Georgia, this singer suffers from Marfan Syndrome (which, according to wikipedia, is a genetic disorder "characterized by disproportionately long limbs, long thin fingers and a typically tall stature").
I've actually never heard of Deerhunter before today, so I am assuming the sound of Atlas Sound is not too dissimilar. Deerhunter is described as "ambient punk", and judging from their debut album title, Turn It Up Faggot, they may not be too far off from the press release's description of being "true queer art punks".
Speaking of art, the album art is a photograph of a painting in a medical journal. Cox liked the unintentional flash from the camera, resulting in obscuring the boy's face, that he used this as the cover art.
Regarding the flash:
I found that romantic, the idea that there was so much emotion in the face that it got whited out.
There are two songs that I really enjoyed off his debut album, Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel: "A Ghost Story", "Ativan", and "Cold as Ice".
"A Ghost Story" features a 1983 recording from a 7 year old boy improvising a ghost story as founded on Freesound Project. The ambient sound equally interesting and provides a very haunting background.
I liked "Ativan" as well. It has some electric guitars, bass, and acoustic drums ... making it the most traditional and most accessible song off the album. Plus the lyrics are pretty good: "I slept til I threw up, gone are the days of wine and roses - they make me nauseous now."
As for the last of the three songs, "Cold as Ice", it features a lot of singing that sounds almost like it was sung by a woman. Not too much details on the liner notes about this song song, except that it lists Lockett Pundt as the person playing the Fender Jaguar guitar. I did read on wikipedia that it's about Cox and a woman that he was in love with.
Look for his album on Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel on February 19, 2008 from Kranky Records. Also, look for him on tour in February to support the album. You can read more details on the press release.
01/22/2008 20:42:53
vu
my♥posts
deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com
myspace
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Remember about our Podcast? I just finished editing a new one with the new mic, and I have to say the mic-thing isn't working out so hot. You can barely hear me, and I just realize how noisy my monster computer is (it has a ton of fans!)
There is only one topic on #17, which are excerpts from an interview with LittleHorse, a band that we featured a while back. The whole interview is quite long, and I apologize for cutting more than half of the interview, but I'm trying to keep the podcast to under 10 minutes.
Some of the interviews that I had to leave on the cutting floor was that they mentioned that Strangers In The Valley (2007) took them five years to record. Also that their first records were The Beatles and Mister B (boogie!)
They also really really love the band Jellyfish.
Let me know if you enjoy this new format, instead of having three topics, we're just focusing on one topic.
During the editing of the show, I fell in love with their song "Tell Me What You'd Say (2007 Remake)", which suspiciously sounds very Ben Folds-ish.
Anyroad, my next podcast, I'm trying to shoot for January 26th.
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Love in October's debut CD, Pontus, The Devil, And Me, which will be released on January 22nd. CMJ and Alternative Press have already weighed in on the album, and Kerrang!, Spin, and Paste will be publishing reviews soon, as well. The band was selected as Spin.com’s Band of the Day today. You can check it out at www.spin.com/features.
Saturday, January 26th 8:00 p.m. 7th Street Entry Ages 18+ $5 |
Speaking of January 26th, remember Love in October? They have a CD-release party on that date (you can find out more details on press.weheartmusic.com). Apparently their debut album is called Pontus, The Devil, And Me and it will be released tomorrow.
The album is getting some good press, but I'm kind of sad that I don't have the album to review :/
It's okay I'm really busy with many, many other albums and also harrassing my other writers to turn in their review assigments.
Here are some new tour dates (more details on loveinoctober.com)
- 01/26/08 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
02/01/08 Milwaukee, WI Art Bar
02/02/08 Chicago, IL Reggie's Rock Club
02/03/08 Grand Rapids, MI Tour
02/04/08 Cincinnati, OH Dirty Jack's
02/05/08 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
02/06/08 Buffalo, NY Broadway Joe's
02/07/08 Boston, MA All Asia Bar
02/08/08 Philadelphia, PA Dr. Watson's
02/09/08 New York, NY The Annex
02/10/08 Asbury Park, NJ Asbury Lanes
02/23/08 Burnsville, MN The Garage
02/29/08 Minneapolis, MN The 400 Bar
03/05/08 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock
03/28/08 Mankato, MN MNSU
PS, Tomorrow is also the release of and album called Some Things Seldom Heard Of by Aster.
01/22/2008 00:17:45 vu my♥posts www.littlehorse.net www.loveinoctober.com
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On Tour
01/22/08 Cleveland, OH, Beachland Tavern 01/23/08 Buffalo, NY Soundlab 01/24/08 Cambridge, MA T.T. the Bears 01/25/08 Providence, RI AS 220 01/26/08 Brooklyn, NY Southpaw 01/27/08 Baltimore, MD The Depot 01/28/08 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's 01/30/08 Columbus, OH Skully's Music Diner 01/31/08 Chicago, IL Subterranean 02/21/08 Milwaukee, WI Mad Planet 02/22/08 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry 02/23/08 Grinnell, IA Grinnell College 02/24/08 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room 02/26/08 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge 02/27/08 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court 02/28/08 Boise, ID Neurolux 03/06/08 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop 03/08/08 Los Angeles, CA The Echo 03/09/08 San Diego, CA Casbah 03/13/08 Denton, TX Rubber Gloves 03/15/08 Lawrence, KS Jackpot Saloon |