Re-Pete: Day 4

14th Sep 09 (Mon) Leave a comment

You’ve heard of re-tweeting, right?  Well, here’s my re-posting of the lovely YouTube documentary unfolding real-time surrounding Peter Mulvey‘s Long Haul Bike TourRe-Peteing, as it were.  The original blog (with words and video edited by Kathy Wittman):

Day 4: Andy and the Ark (Kathy’s blog)

Peter’s tour route is HERE (map).  He is riding with his show opener Brianna Lane.  Check out Peter’s new record, Letters from a Flying Machine:

Keep up with Kathy’s road blog at:
http://www.kathywittman.com/mulvey/long_haul_blog/
Or via RSS at:
http://www.kathywittman.com/mulvey/long_haul_blog/rss.xml

~Dan – np: That1GuyThe Moon is Disgusting


REVIEW: Patton Oswalt @ Newmark Theatre (Portland, OR – 9/13/09)

14th Sep 09 (Mon) 2 comments

OK, so you may have heard of Patton Oswalt from Pixar’s Ratatouille.  He was the leading… um… rat.  You may also know him from the newly hitting the cinemas flick called Big Fan, and well… tons of other stuff.  He just released a new CD/DVD of his Comedy Central special, My Weakness is Strong.

(available on the Amazons)

This was my second time in the Newmark Theatre.  It suits a comedian as well as a 9-piece jazz band.  The show started right on time (7:30pm), and it was general admission, and I showed up at about 7:29pm… but I lucked out with a decent spot in the 2nd balcony.  The opener was really funny… a guy formerly from Portland, but who now lives in Seattle and writes trivia questions for an XBox game company or something.  I didn’t catch his name… Andy something (any help to fellow comedy-goers?).  Anyway, he was good, did 15 solid minutes and handed the mic directly to Patton…

Patton was really funny.  He has some bits canned, but he seems to wing it more than other comedians that I’ve seen (i.e.- Seinfeld & Carlin don’t tend to stray from their “script”).  Based on looking at the track titles from My Weakness is Strong, he did Sky Cake, The Oswalt Family Crest, Rats, Orgy, Treadmill, Obama…And Time Travel…And Coolness…And The Last Racist, and The Magician.  He also did the KFC Famous Bowl bit with a newly added bit about an upcoming “Double Down” sandwich that sounded dreadful to eat.  We got to witness a spontaneous song written for the Double Down when an audience member asked if there’d be a song…

♪♫ fuck you heart, fuck you liver, I’m gonna double down ♪♫

He ended the 90 minute set with the Christmas Song (Newsong) bit and a bit about Stella Dora breakfast treats.

Favorite bits from Patton…  hmm… Sky Cake (YouTube below) is a great bit and right up my alley.  Obama/Time Travel was great.  The Magician who was pissed about $5 was great.  KFC Famous Bowl / Double Down was classic, especially as we got to witness a new song formulated on-stage.  And Patton’s random interaction with a kid in a band from Eugene called Busket for about 5 minutes was pretty hilarious, too.  Good ol’ Motorized Vinyl Rhino!

Sky Cake is a Lie!

The Appropriate Linkage:

~Dan – np: Porcupine TreeThe Incident

REVIEW: Erik Friedlander @ Winningstad Theatre (Portland, OR – 9/12/09)

13th Sep 09 (Sun) 3 comments

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

Erik Friedlander grew up spending many of his summers on the road with his family due to his photographer father, Lee Friedlander.  I knew his dad was a photographer with some notoriety, but I hadn’t known about the long, cross-country summer road trips – which were the basis for Erik’s 3-day run of Block Ice and Propane at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA)’s TBA Festival (aka T:BA:09).  More about T:BA:09 later…

I have been into Erik for a while… basically contemporaneously with my immersion into John Zorn, as Erik is a mainstay in the Downtown NYC jazz scene and finds his way on maaaaany of the Tzadik releases that I love.  He’s a part of the Masada String Trio & Bar Kokhba Sextet, and has played with Dave Douglas, Ikue Mori, Wadada Leo Smith, severalk of Zorn’s Filmworks series, et cetera.

When I showed up for the event, I was caught off guard by the vast amount of people milling about the lobby.  “Does Erik have this big of a draw in Portland?”

Well, the answer to that question is, now he does.” This was the third night of his three-night run as part of the T:BA:09 festival put on by PICA.  The entire 10-day festival was also coming to a crescendo on the 12th… needless to say, the program looked amazing, full of art of all kinds, not just music.  I’m definitely putting T:BA:10 on my radar for next year.

Erik’s solo chair, laptop stand, and microphone in front of a projector screen was nicely lit with a blue light as the herd of an audience entered the Dolores Winningstad Theatre.  I’d never been to the Winningstad Theatre, but it’s in the same complex as the Newmark Theatre (where I saw the SF Jazz Collective in ’08 and where I’ll see Patton Oswalt tonight), and it’s right next door to the Arlene Schnitzer Hall (where I’ve seen many shows).  “The Winny” was a great venue… small & intimate, but seemingly able to fit in a large amount of people, including 2 tiers of balcony seating.  Luckily I was solo; so I found a stray seat right up front-left.

As mentioned prior, the show was Erik playing solo cello in front of a backdrop of photos from his childhood, primarily taken by his father Lee Friedlander.  The performance, specifically the backdrop, had a very “Americana” feel set to non-“Americana music.”  Or perhaps it was Americana music set through the filter of the cello.  It wasn’t Woody Guthrie-esque, but it had that dirty, road weary, wow-look-at-this-wonderful-country feel to it.  Amongst the photos were also some videos shot by Bill Morrison.

Outside of photographing the country on big summer roadtrips, Erik’s father Lee also photographed many musicians… Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane… even up to the current era like a famous Madonna photo.  Lee’s love of music spilled over to Erik, who found a love for music early in his life.  He started on guitar and eventually moved to cello.  However, his basis in guitar drove much of the style of playing last night.  Only a few times did Erik pull out a bow – rather he plucked and strummed his cello like one would with a guitar… well, a guitar that you were holding like a cello. :)

Setlist:

  • Block Ice & Propane
  • Road Weary
  • King Rig
  • I’m Not Here
  • Cold Chicken
  • Yakima
  • Pressure Cooking
  • Winking at Highway 7
  • Rusting in Honeysuckle
  • Dream Song
  • Airstream Envy
  • Night White

Some of my favorite pieces were the lead-in, title track (to the 2007 CD of the same name), as well as “Pressure Cooking” and “Night White” (nice harmonics).  The story about “Cold Chicken” was great, about how at a diner they were served very slowly and Lee stormed into the kitchen to complain about “who wants to eat cold chicken!?” while the family scurried away.  The music, which I’ve heard several times before on the CD, totally made sense now.  Nice…

Block Ice and Propane (the 2007 CD) can be purchased directly from Erik HERE.

The Appropriate Linkage:

~Dan – np: Porcupine TreeThe Incident

ERIK FRIEDLANDER PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)

Re-Pete: Day 3

13th Sep 09 (Sun) Leave a comment

You’ve heard of re-tweeting, right?  Well, here’s my re-posting of the lovely YouTube documentary unfolding real-time surrounding Peter Mulvey‘s Long Haul Bike TourRe-Peteing, as it were.  The original blog (with words and video edited by Kathy Wittman):

Day 3: Brianna bonus (Kathy’s blog)

Peter’s tour route is HERE (map).  He is riding with his show opener Brianna Lane.  Check out Peter’s new record, Letters from a Flying Machine:

Keep up with Kathy’s road blog at:
http://www.kathywittman.com/mulvey/long_haul_blog/
Or via RSS at:
http://www.kathywittman.com/mulvey/long_haul_blog/rss.xml

~Dan – np: Elysian FieldsDreams That Breathe Your Name

Re-Pete: Day 1 & 2

12th Sep 09 (Sat) Leave a comment

You’ve heard of re-tweeting, right?  Well, here’s my re-posting of the lovely YouTube documentary unfolding real-time surrounding Peter Mulvey‘s Long Haul Bike TourRe-Peteing, as it were.  The original blog (with words and video edited by Kathy Wittman):

The Day Before (video link)

Day 1: Long Haul Tour (Kathy’s blog)

Day 2: To Kalamazoo (Kathy’s blog)

Peter’s tour route is HERE (map).  He is riding with his show opener Brianna Lane.  Check out Peter’s new record, Letters from a Flying Machine:

Keep up with Kathy’s road blog at:
http://www.kathywittman.com/mulvey/long_haul_blog/
Or via RSS at:
http://www.kathywittman.com/mulvey/long_haul_blog/rss.xml

~Dan – np: The BeatlesRevolver {mono}

no free downloads of torrents

bike ride tours, any speed vinyl, the bqe, a van & streaming ‘deth

11th Sep 09 (Fri) Leave a comment

5 music news stories… Peter Mulvey, Holy Fuck, Sufjan Stevens, David Bazan/Pedro the Lion and Megadeth…

So, Peter Mulvey has toured all over the world.  A few years back, he started also doing some bike tours within his own state.  Well, he just embarked on his “Long Haul” Tour in support of his new, fantastic record Letters from a Flying Machine.

He’s riding 1,100 miles from Grand Rapids, MI to Northampton, MA on The Long Haul Tour, September 9 – 26.  His friend, and presumably co-rider, Kathy Wittman will be blogging about it as it goes on.  The daily blog will be HERE.  Here’s his tour path, created via the Google based on his gigs along the route:

(click for larger)

He’ll be in Oregon (Portland and Eugene) in early November.  Not part of the bike tour, but I’ll be glad to see him nonetheless.  In fact, he might be less worn out from riding so much.  Getting to see him twice in one weekend is gonna be fantastic… PS- go to PeterMulvey.com for info on the new record.  Seriously, it’s good, folks!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Next up… a vinyl you can play at either 33 1/3 or 45 rpm…

This one from Off the International Radar including a remix by fellow Toronto’ans Holy Fuck.  I don’t know about the rest of the songs on “Hot Lips,” but the Holy Fuck collaboration features “Holy Radar” – which is a reworking of OTIR’s “E bowl of Iris.”  Holy Fuck sped up the original recording on a record player in studio and then played along and added their own layers.  So, at 33 1/3, you’ll hear OTIR with a slowed down HF; and on 45 rpm, you’ll hear HF with a sped-up OTIR.  You can listen to the “as normally played” version of the song on OITR‘s MySpace page.  There is also ordering links there as well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Sufjan StevensThe BQE (as reported here) is coming out in limited edition vinyl (in addition to the CD/DVD combo).  It’s now up for pre-order at the Asthmatic Kitty store and over at Amazon.  Also, in the news, Sufjan will be playing his 2004 album Seven Swans in its entirety at ATP NYC this weekend. ATP = All Tomorrow’s Parties (festival).

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Help (Pedro the Lion) David Bazan buy a tour van… click the picture for more info…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And to round it out with some metal… Megadeth‘s latest record, Endgame, is out next week (9/15/09).  It’s streaming in its entirety on the MySpaces

out 9/15

~Dan – np: The BeatlesSgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band {mono}

no torrents or free downloads here

REVIEW: Bad Veins @ Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR – 9/8/09)

9th Sep 09 (Wed) Leave a comment

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

Bad Veins were only one of the openers last night, but my main draw for the evening. The main band was Division Day, with additional support from Love Like Fire. I knew Bad Veins from kicking around the Cincinnati rock scene a few years ago. I’d seen them once prior in Cincinnati, then shortly thereafter that I moved to Oregon… but I’ve kept up with them on Woxy, Daytrotter, et cetera. This is their first trip out West.  They’re also coming back, and playing in my town (Eugene) on October 16th (Sam Bond’s Garage). Yay!

Bad Veins is a two man wrecking crew: Benjamin Davis on vocals & guitar and Sebastien Schultz on drums. They also employ a reel-to-reel for backup music. And by “employ,” I mean, they plug it in… I’m pretty sure a W-2 is not involved.  It’s part of the lo-fi charm of Bad Veins.  They were pretty true to form, and busted through a solid set from their debut album (out on Dangerbird Records).  It was a pretty good wall of sound coming from these two gents.  Here’s what they played…

Setlist:

  • Found
  • Gold and Warm
  • Crosseyed
  • Afraid
  • Dry Out
  • Falling Tide
  • The Lie

Sebastien cut his finger on the drumkit the last song of their set, and bled on the drums.  Oh, the joys of D.I.Y. rock!  Seeing as it was a “school night,” and I had two hours of driving to do, I bailed shortly after Bad Veins’ set.  (Sorry to both Love Like Fire who played before and Division Day who played after.)  I look forward to seeing Bad Veins play again when they’re in Eugene next month.

The Appropriate Linkage:

~Dan – np: Marty Ehrlich’s Dark Woods EnsembleSojourn

BAD VEINS PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)

Mini-REVIEW: Extra Golden @ Celebration (Eugene, OR – 9/5/09)

7th Sep 09 (Mon) Leave a comment

So, Eugene Celebration is one of the many good things going in Eugene every fall.  We went down on Saturday and caught the tail end of Thomas Mapfumo, Extra Golden, and much later in the evening Gift of Gab.  Both Gift of Gab and Thomas Mapfumo were good, but the highlight of the evening for me was Extra Golden…

I was introduced by my friend Aaron to Extra Golden only a few hours prior, and the sound samples I heard online were “OK,” but I really only listened to a few songs for a little bit.  I’m up for anything and was already planning on going to Eugene Celebration; so I was game.

Well, let’s just say that their live show was fantastic.  Really fun groove, tight musicianship, and a very energetic frontman (who likes our yogurt here in Eugene).  Extra Golden were formed in Kenya by two Americans and one Kenyan.  I think their live set was made up of three Americans with a Kenyan singer and Kenyan drummer.  They played for a solid hour plus.  For the last song, their singer, Otieno Jagwasi, joined us in the crowd and danced up a storm.

I snapped a few crappy iPhone pictures.  Kinda fuzzy… anyway… here are some pics from their show:

Note how one of their guitarists looks like John Locke from Lost… :)

Check out Extra Golden on the MySpaces.

~Dan – np: Extra GoldenThank You Very Quickly Vol 3

PUSCIFER’s Fall 2009 West Coast Tour

1st Sep 09 (Tue) 9 comments

Update: I’ll be at both Portland shows. Go HERE for the review and photos from Night #1 (11/14/09)… and HERE for the review and photos from Night #2 (11/16/09).

 

Tool & A Perfect Circle frontman (and winemaker) Maynard James Keenan‘s Puscifer project hit Las Vegas and Los Angeles this past Winter & Spring.  Now, Puscifer’s hitting the road, or at least the road on the Western side of the States (aka “good enough for me).  I shall hit one of the Seattle or Portland dates, assuming I’m able to score a ticket…

Puscifer Tour Dates:

  • 10/29, Las Vegas, NV (The Pearl, Palms Casino)
  • 10/31, San Diego, CA (Spreckels Theatre)
  • 11/1, San Diego, CA (Spreckels Theatre)
  • 11/4, Oakland, CA (Fox Oakland Theater)
  • 11/5, Oakland, CA (Fox Oakland Theater)
  • 11/7, Stockton, CA (Bob Hope Theatre)
  • 11/10, Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
  • 11/11, Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
  • 11/13, Vancouver, BC (Centre For the Performing Arts)
  • 11/14, Portland, OR (Roseland Ballroom)
  • 11/16, Portland, OR (Roseland Ballroom) *new, 21+ show*
  • 11/17, Salt Lake City, UT (Capitol Theatre)
  • 11/18, Salt Lake City, UT (Capitol Theatre)
  • 11/20, Denver, CO (Paramount Theatre)
  • 11/21, Denver, CO (Paramount Theatre)
  • 11/24, Dallas, TX (McFarlin Memorial Auditorium)
  • 11/25, Dallas, TX (McFarlin Memorial Auditorium)
  • 11/27, Houston, TX (Jones Hall for the Performing Arts)
  • 11/28, San Antonio, TX (Majestic Theatre)
  • 12/1, El Paso, TX (Abraham Chavez Theatre)
  • 12/3, Phoenix, AZ (Orpheum Theatre)
  • 12/4, Phoenix, AZ (Orpheum Theatre)

Puscifer tickets onsale… soon?  September 11th for most of the dates.  I don’t know any details, and suffice to say, I’m not blogging about pre-sale info until I’ve secured one for myself. :P :)

~Dan – np: Eyal Maoz’s EdomHope and Destruction

The Concert T-Shirt Etiquette Guide

1st Sep 09 (Tue) 6 comments

My brother and I always had these rules as we went to shows… I’m glad we aren’t the only ones…

Reposted from Each Note Secure blog:

1. When wearing another bands t-shirt, try to keep the same genre or influence.

ex. a) David Bowie @ NIN

ex. b) Placebo @ Futureheads

2. The ironic concert t-shirt is the big exception. if you wear a Culture Club or Michael Bolton t-shirt to a Cure show you will get many compliments.

3. There is a sliding scale of the obscurity of the band vs. the genre.

for example: A Tapes ‘n Tapes shirt could be worn to any rock show.

4. When wearing a old concert t-shirt to a newer tour by the same band, it is prefered to wait at least eight years. too soon will show you to be lame, but to follow this guide will give you street cred as a long time fan.

~It should also be noted that a shirt purchased off EBay can break this rule, therefore a stain or hole of some sort is required. (YANP Matt)

5. It is also a violation to wear any shirt of any band members former band or side project to the current incarnation of that band members show.

6. It is a violation to wear the shirt you just bought at that same concert. Especially when it is over whatever you had on before.

7. You may not wear a new concert t-shirt for 2 weeks (especially the next day)

~The exception to this is when you saw a show out of town and wear the shirt at home the next day.

8. It is a violation to wear a concert t-shirt you purchased from the band at a second show on the same tour.

9. No Beatles, Bob Marley or Jimi Hendrix t-shirts, unless you actually went to one of their concerts.

10. It is a violation to wear a concert t-shirt that has been signed by any member of the band.

~Dan – np: On Ka’a DavisDjoukoujou!

Get Cross…

27th Aug 09 (Thu) Leave a comment

David Cross was playing at the Newmark Theatre in Portland, OR, on a day that I already had local Eugene plans (Th, Sep 24 – Raquy and the Cavemen).  Well, David’s show sold out so fast that they added a 2nd show the next night (Fri, Sep 25)… yay!  Needless to say, I already blue my tickets this morning.

For your own 2nd Portland David Cross show tickets… GO HERE.

This is going to be two weeks in a row with four shows on consecutive nights… batch 1 (Sept 15-19): Porcupine Tree & That1Guy / Wynton Marsalis / Sunny Day Real Estate / Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (well, JFJO is a maybe as it’s the same day as PDX VegFest and we’re volunteering there early in the day), and then batch 2 (Sep 24-27): Raquy & the Cavemen / David Cross / Alice in Chains / Works Progress Administration (with Glen Phillips & Nickelcreek folks).

I wouldn’t have it any… other… way.  I do have a feeling that my concert reviews will suffer a backlog.  Anyway, I’ll take photos on shows I am able…

~Dan – np: Duran DuranAstronaut

Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks (by Gabe Askew)

23rd Aug 09 (Sun) Leave a comment

Someone should have a job at Pixar really soon… here is Gabe Askew‘s fan-made video for Grizzly Bear‘s “Two Weeks.”  It’s very Michel Gondry-esque, but I think all done in the computer… it’s pretty damn amazing…

http://vimeo.com/5904993

~Dan – np: Trevor Dunn’s Trio-ConvulsantSister Phantom Owl Fish

Miles Davis’ Kind of Bloop

22nd Aug 09 (Sat) Leave a comment

Not entirely sacrilegious.  A new tribute to Miles DavisKind of Blue called Kind of Bloop just came out… it’s an 8-bit tribute album.  There are samples of the 5 songs on http://www.kindofbloop.com/, and it’s available via Amazon digital (mp3 & FLAC) for only $5.

  1. So What by Ast0r [9:24]
  2. Freddie Freeloader by Virt [9:40]
  3. Blue in Green by Sergeeo [4:14]
  4. All Blues by Shnabubula [10:45]
  5. Flamenco Sketches by Disasterpeace [7:06]

I wonder if Bitches Bloop, Birth of the Bloop, or a Charlie Parker Bloopland are in the works. :)

~Dan – np: Dub TrioAnother Sound is Dying

Nellie McKay / Zappa Plays Zappa

21st Aug 09 (Fri) Leave a comment

More information about Nellie McKay‘s upcoming album… Normal As Blueberry Pie – A Tribute To Doris Day (out October 13th). 13 songs, one new McKay song:

Tracklist:

  1. “The Very Thought of You” (Ray Noble)
  2. “Do Do Do” (George & Ira Gershwin)
  3. “Wonderful Guy” (Richard Rodgers / Oscar Hammerstein II)
  4. “Meditation” (Antonio Carlos Jobim / Norman Gimbel)
  5. “Mean to Me” (Fred E. Ahlert / Roy Turk)
  6. “Crazy Rhythm” (Joseph Meyer & Roger Wolfe Kahn / Irving Cesear)
  7. “Sentimental Journey” (Les Brown & Ben Homer / Bud Green)
  8. “If I Ever Had a Dream” (Nellie McKay)
  9. “Black Hills of Dakota” (Sammy Fain / Paul Francis Webster)
  10. “Dig It” (Hal Bourne, Johnny Mercer)
  11. “Send Me No Flowers” (Burt Bacharach / Hal David)
  12. “Close Your Eyes” (Bernice Petkere)
  13. “I Remember You” (Victor Schertzinger / Johnny Mercer)

It’ll be out on Verve Music Group.  No cover art that I could find, yet…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dweezil & Co are hitting the road again.  It’ll be my fourth time seeing them, once for each Zappa Plays Zappa tour.  This time, yay, a Eugene date!!  No official dates released yet on zappa.com (or on Pollstar as of now),  but it looks like after the Progressive Nation tour with Dream Theater, they’re at least hitting Eugene (Saturday, November 28 at McDonald Theatre).

~Dan – np: Peter MulveyLetters from a Flying Machine

Dirty Car Art Gallery

20th Aug 09 (Thu) 2 comments

Copeland – Daytrotter Session

18th Aug 09 (Tue) 1 comment

The few websites that aren’t RSS feed-able that made it to my “must check every day” list… Daytrotter is great, and they hit us on Saturday with a live in the studio session with Copeland

Go here for the free music:
http://tinyurl.com/copeland-daytrotter

1) The Grey Man 2) On the Safest Ledge 3) The Day I Lost My Voice (The Suitcase Song) 4) Eat, Sleep, Repeat

http://www.copelandmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/copeland

Past Daytrotter Sessions I’ve blogged about and dug (links and free music not guaranteed on  these old blogs): Bad Veins, Nellie McKay, Clare and the Reasons, My Brightest Diamond #2, Damien Jurado, Talkdemonic, Aimee Mann, Ani DiFranco, Bad Veins #1, Kaki King, Holy Fuck… and David Bazan, My Brightest Diamond, Erin McKeown.

~Dan – np: echolynSuffocating the Bloom

REVIEW: dredg @ Wonder Ballroom (Portland, OR – 8/15/09)

16th Aug 09 (Sun) 5 comments

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

This was my third time seeing dredg, and the second time this year.  Their latest record (The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion) is an amazing album… a definite front runner for album of the year for me.  It is inspired by Salman Rushdie’s essay “Imagine There’s No Heaven: A Letter to the Sixth Billionth Citizen.”  I gladly made the trek up to Portland, and now that I’d been able to soak in their latest album (it wasn’t out when I saw them in April), I knew much more of the material being played.  I was also able to bring my camera… yay!

The first opener As Tall As Lions were really good. The first song, the bassist was acting a bit goofy.  I thought it seemed weird, or that he was “overacting.”  However, throughout their whole 5-6 song set (35 minutes), he kept it up.  Maybe it grew on me, or maybe I changed my mind and felt he really was into it that much (plus he’s got some backing vocal chops).  :) Anyway, As Tall As Lions were a 6-piece in this live setting.  They’re from New York, and had a good indie rock vibe – nice vocals, nice groove, and good use of horns.  The band was way forward on the stage; so my only downside was that I was right next to the drums, which drowned out a lot of their vocals.  But, all in all, a very good opener.

The second opener Rx Bandits may as well have been a co-headliner (maybe they were billed as such).  It seemed as if tons of the crowd were there to see RxB.  They started the set with all four members on drums, which was fun.  One of the highlights of their 70 minute set was their lead guitarist and their drummer.  Their drummer had a dirty Daniel Johns (of Silverchair) look, and was kicking the crap out of his drumkit.  And their lead guitarist didn’t have the most “rock” stage presence, but he seemed like he could fit in a really into a shredder band… he played some really complex underlying scales, all while having a nonchalant look on his face. :)  Their vocalist reminded me physically as Brett McKenzie (from Flight of the Conchords).  And vocally, he seemed like he could fit in a jamband meets reggae/punk band.  Their bassist looked like he also fit in a jamband, and he had a very nice groove and bounced around the stage a lot.  It was an odd mix for a group, but it worked.  I’ll definitely see them if they swing through Eugene.  I took a few pics of RxB, but they didn’t turn out… oh well… next time…

Dredg came on right at 10:50pm and blasted into the trio of songs that kicks off The Pariah, The Parrott, The Delusion.  They seemed a little toured out (only compared to the last show in April).  They still put on a great show.  Gavin (singer/ lap steel), Dino (drums/ keyboard), Drew (bass) and Mark (guitars) were joined by a second guitarist for a few songs (I didn’t catch his name).  He played with them on Pariah, Drunk Slide, and Information.  Great 85 minute set.  Here’s what they played…

Setlist:

  • Pariah
  • Drunk Slide
  • Ireland
  • Ode to the Sun
  • Catch without Arms
  • Same Ol’ Road
  • Saviour
  • RUOK?
  • I Don’t Know
  • Δ
  • Bug Eyes
  • Information
  • Light Switch
  • Zebraskin
  • The Tanbark is Hot Lava
  • The Canyon Behind Her
  • Down to the Cellar
  • Cartoon Showroom

No encore (again), but perhaps that’s their M.O.  I’m not putting my usual “a fave of the night” notations by any song, because, quite frankly, it was all amazing.  At the end of Down the Cellar, the crew took Dino’s drum kit away one piece at a time at the end, with him ending on piano and no drums around him.  That was fun.

The only song I really wish they played but didn’t was “Gathering Pebbles” (from their new one).  I could play that song on repeat all day…

As much as I can get across in words, dredg is quickly becoming one of my favorite bands.  Rarely does an opener hit me, and ever since I saw dredg open for Coheed & Cambria (a few years back), I’ve been an immediate fan.  Their latest is their best yet, and their other albums are great as well.  I’d recommend picking The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion up on CD, vinyl (from the dredg store), or if you are silly… on mp3 (why go for the lower quality folks?). :)

dredg “Information

The Appropriate Linkage:

~Dan – np: Dub TrioNew Heavy

DREDG PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)

Higher Resolution (6 pics)

Limited to 1200 pixels wide or tall (31 pics)

Buckethead honors Michael Jackson

15th Aug 09 (Sat) 1 comment

Guitar phenom Buckethead has a free tribute mp3 to Michael Jackson on his webpage… it’s an acoustic number, not the usual shredding business.  Fits the gentler Colma or Electric Tears feel…

Go get it here: “The Homing Beacon” (aka The Landing Beacon)

~Dan – np: Drums & TubaMostly Ape

Radiohead – Wall of Ice EP

14th Aug 09 (Fri) 2 comments

UPDATE (8/17 pm): Regardless of the wallofice hoax
below, Jonny posted over on deadairspace a link to a
free download of “These Are My Twisted Words.”
Go here for the free download on WASTE.

UPDATE (8/17 am): I went to wallofice.com today. 
This appears to be a cruel hoax.  Lesson learned…
but whoever set up wallofice.com is a jackass.

Two new Radiohead songs in two weeks… last week’s “Harry Patch (In Memory Of)” and this week’s “These Are My Twisted Words“:

Now on atease

Since new Radiohead track ‘These are my twisted words’ leaked on the At Ease message board the other day, we were looking for more clues and found them. Here’s another one.

We were already pretty close to a rumoured EP (with four tracks?) entitled Wall Of Ice to be released on Monday (8/17). Now a url has seen the light. Pretty obvious really; www.wallofice.com. The site is directed to Radiohead’s online download shop. Now you do the math.

~Dan – np: dredgThe Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion

no torrent or free download here

Swell Season, Alice in Chains, Extreme

13th Aug 09 (Thu) 3 comments

The two singer-songwriters behind the movie ONCE, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (aka The Swell Season), are out and about promoting their new record, Strict Joy.  It’s available for pre-order on Amazon.  It is set to be released on September 29th.

They just did a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR.  Its available over here or as a podcast (do a search for “NPR Live Concerts” in iTunes).  They do some new songs in the NPR studio as well as some faves.

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Alice in Chains‘ new one, Black Gives Way to Blue, is also available for pre-order

It’s out September 29th as well…

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And rounding things out… Blabbermouth reports that Extreme recently recorded their August 8th show at the House of Blues in Boston for a DVD release later this year.

~Dan – np: Dream TheaterMaster of Puppets