Archive
Celldweller *Wish Upon a Blackstar* Chapter 2
The pre-order for Celldweller‘s Wish Upon a Blackstar: Chapter 2 went live yesterday. The second chapter (of five total) will feature the songs “The Best It’s Gonna Get” and “Eon.”
Chapter 2 will be available for download in several bundles (including a deluxe edition for $4.99) on December 8th from Celldweller’s FiXT store. The deluxe edition features a remix from chapter one, “So Long Sentiment” mixed by Toksin’s Anhedonia…
After all five chapters are released, I expect there will be a full-length album (and hopefully CD) issue.
~Dan – np: Celldweller – Wish Upon a Blackstar Ch 1 (coincidence, I swear)
Doug Pinnick, 24-7 Spyz & Fishbone members form A.N.M.
As reported on Blabbermouth…
Jimi Hazel — guitarist, vocalist and producer of acclaimed heavy metal soul band 24-7 SPYZ — has announced the formation of what is now being billed as the “first black supergroup” called A.N.M. (a.k.a. ANTI N***ER MACHINE).
The band’s lineup is as follows:
- Doug Pinnick (KING’S X): Vocals
- Jimi Hazel (24-7 SPYZ): Guitar, Vocals
- Rick Skatore (24-7 SPYZ): Bass, Vocals
- Spacey T (SOUND BARRIER, FISBONE): Guitar, Vocals
- Greg Fulton (CYCLONE TEMPLE, RWA): Guitar, Vocals
- Phil D. Fish (FISHBONE, WICKED WISDOM): Drums, Percussion
Commented Jimi: “This is gonna be a beautiful thing and we will drop some of the heaviest, funkiest and crunchiest music heard in a long time! I’m honored to be a part of music making history with my brothers and I know that people will be more than happy when they hear what comes from us!”
A.N.M. is currently talking to labels in search of a home for what will become one of the highly anticipated releases of 2010. The band plans to spend the winter writing and recording and hopes to release a CD in late spring or early summer.
~*~*~*~*~*~
I dug the Doug collaboration with 24-7 Spyz (back in 1996) on Heavy Metal Soul By the Pound. With Doug on lead vocal duties and Fishbone members in the mix, this promises to be pretty damn good. I’m not too fond of their band name. I mean, I understand the meaning and where they’re coming from. I just don’t necessarily “prefer” their choice. Regardless, I bet the music will be great.
~Dan – np: Tegan and Sara – Sainthood thainthood
Ty Tabor (of King’s X) news…
posted on Ty Tabor‘s website…
Ty Tabor (King’s X), John Myung (Dream Theater), and Rod Morgenstein (tons of bands) are discussing the possibility of recording a new Jelly Jam album in 2010. This would be their third release as The Jelly Jam and their fifth overall release together. More news coming soon! [Editor’s note: yay! The Jelly Jam / Platypus / Jughead releases are some of my favorites from Ty]
Ty has some things on eBay at the moment and plans to sell some of Alien Beans Studio’s gear over the next month. Keep an eye out at eBay.
King’s X is still working on the live DVD shot in London earlier this year. Look for a 2010 release.
Ty’s new solo album is coming along nicely. The yet untitled album will also be released in 2010. [Editor’s note: double yay!]
~Dan – np: David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd) – Live in Gdańsk
REVIEW: Maynard James Keenan’s PUSCIFER 2nd night @ Roseland (Portland, OR – 11/16/09)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW are at the BOTTOM
Maynard’s voice shines on Night 2…
Saturday’s Puscifer show (review link) was fantastic, and I happened to be up in Portland for a work training session; so, what the hell… let’s do this again! I heart Maynard!
No wine tasting (for me) this time… in fact, for a more detailed review, definitely check out Saturday’s show review. Monday, I showed up around 8pm and got situated near the front of the general admission section.
Sweethead opened the show again. I switched up where I took in their music this time… I could definitely hear the guitars better, but the vocals were a little muddy until midway through their set. I liked them. Troy’s a good guitarist, and Serrina has some nice energy (ok, and nice legs, too). :)
This was their last night as support for Puscifer, and Troy took a dive into the drum set at the end… crash! buzz!
After Troy and Serrina got up, they left the stage – guitar still buzzing. As the crew pulled Sweethead’s gear and monitors off the stage, they lifted up a large black sheet to hide the stage (something new compared to Saturday night)…
I had seen on setlist.fm that the two nights in the same city had differing set lists, and Portland was no exception. Where Saturday was more of the blasphemy day to kick things off, Monday was… well… at 9pm, then the sheet came down, it looked like it was a camping theme (complete with fake fire). Maynard was inside the tent, and they had him projected on the screen behind him. After some bullshitting, he finally came out to start the show properly…
The stage seemed darker, but at least Maynard was out there for the two songs of which I was allowed to take photos. Both he and Carina were obfuscated again behind the video boxes, which is an oddity fitting of Maynard’s persona. Overall, I think Monday night’s show featured Maynard’s voice better – though the song selection wasn’t much different (other than order). The video breaks were completely different… comedic pitchmen trying to sell reality television concepts to Maynard – who wasn’t paying too well of attention and always got the concept wrong. Hilarity ensued, of course.
Here’s what they played among the campfire and sleeping bags…
Setlist: 90 minutes or so [compare sets with Night #1]
- Rev 22:20
- Drunk With Power
- (Video Break 1)
- Indigo Children
- Trekka
- Potions
- (Video Break 2)
- Momma Sed (with Tim Alexander as a Portland stripper)
- Vagina Mine
- Dozo
- The Undertaker
- (Video Break 3)
- Polar Bear
- Sour Grapes
- Queen B
- The Mission (featuring Carina Round)
- The Humbling River
- No Encore
Maynard’s voice sounded especially great on Indigo Children, Potions, Momma Sed (seemed slower/mellower than Saturday), Polar Bear, and The Humbling River. I’m really digging the new EP’s material… and I’m looking forward to more digital EPs, physical CDs, whatever Maynard wants to throw at us!
more pictures at the bottom
You can get Puscifer’s music via the pictures below:
You can grab some of Maynard’s wines (if you are lucky to be in the shipping area) via this:
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Puscifer’s Site
- Maynard / Puscifer on MySpace
- Caduceus Wine
- Carina Round’s Site
- Carina Round on MySpace
- Tool on MySpace
- Sweethead’s Site
- Sweethead on MySpace
- Spin‘s San Diego Review (Oct 31st)
- My review of Portland Night #1
- Roseland Theater
Check out the Puscifer tour dates below.
~Dan – np: The Swell Season – Strict Joy
PUSCIFER & SWEETHEAD PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Higher Resolution (9 pics)
Limited to 1200 pixels wide or tall (43 pics)
Tour Dates
- 10/29/09, 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)
- 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)
REVIEW: Maynard James Keenan’s PUSCIFER 1st night @ Roseland (Portland, OR – 11/14/09)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
Wine followed by Maynard’s blasphemous vaudeville show… Wow.
So, I’ve been a fan of Maynard James Keenan‘s vocal since the first utterances I heard from his “main band” TOOL. I loved his work with his first side-project, A Perfect Circle, especially the first album Mer de Noms. I was aware of Puscifer a while ago, as it started out as a “joke band” that debuted on a skit on Bob Odenkirk and David Cross’s Mr. Show on HBO (Maynard and Tool’s Adam Jones show up in a short clip). Never did I think that joke band name would turn into a real alter ego for Maynard himself, he’d release an album and a batch of remix EPs, and then hit the road!
So, for this 1st Portland show, I bought the VIP ticket which included a meet & greet and wine tasting (I didn’t do that for Portland show #2 as I didn’t know I was going to be able to go until a few days ago). For those not in the know, Maynard has gotten into wine making the past few years. Back in Ohio, I could order the wine to be shipped to me, and I still have a couple bottles of the 2005 Merkin Vineyards Chupacabra sitting in my utility closet… um… I mean in my “wine cellar.” I haven’t been able to taste any of Maynard’s recent Caduceus wines, as unfortunately, they don’t have the ability to ship to Oregon (argh, free the grapes!).
The meet & greet and wine tasting started a little after 5pm. We got shuffled into the back room of Roseland’s downstairs bar. Todd (I didn’t catch his last name) is Maynard’s wine guy, or at least he’s a touring member of Maynard’s crew who knows a lot about the wine. He mentioned several times about being involved in the last A Perfect Circle tour – right around the time Maynard was getting started with vineyard purchases / development. Todd talked for about an hour and fifteen about the various wines, including the one we were tasting – the 2006 Merkin Vineyards Chupacabra (limited to 5,000 cases). The Chupacabra vintages are designed to be different, similar to the folk legend of the chupacabra. The 2006 is a blend of 36% cabernet sauvignon, 13% petite verdot, 22% syrah, 14% petite sirah (all sourced from Paso Robles), and 15% of an unknown grape (yeah, I’m an accountant and noticed the missing % on their info sheet).
(click for larger picture with autograph)
The Chupacabra is Maynard’s most “mass produced” wine, and current batches are in the 10,000 case range. We obviously didn’t get to try any of Maynard’s 20 case batch of very special Judith wines (grown at 5,000+ feet altitude with land spread with his mother’s ashes). Todd also spoke a little bit about current discussions with Whole Foods to get the wines distributed into Portland. He also mentioned a documentary, Blood Into Wine, about Arizona wines with a little bit of Maynard, Fairuza Balk, Milla Jovavich, Patton Oswalt, Bob Odenkirk, and others in the footage. It is expected to hit the Sundance Festival and some select theatres in Feb 2010.
After Todd’s info and Q&A session, he went to go get Maynard, who had just finished sound check. Maynard came down and walked around the room and individually handed each one of us a signed copy of the Puscifer debut album (V is for Vagina). He only very briefly chatted with folks. He asked me if I learned anything from the wine talk, to which I replied “yes, thank you.” That’s about the extent of my interaction with Maynard, but I thought it was wicked cool to receive a signed copy of the album directly from his hands. :) Since he’s a busy guy, he took off shortly after making his tour around the room.
I had to leave after the meet & greet to get some grub; so I walked over to my favorite, close-by vegan restaurant (represent!) until show time.
When I got back to the venue, I went over to get my photo pass. I had free reign for the opener’s set, but only allowed to snap photos for the first two songs of Puscifer’s set (more on that later)…
Sweethead was the opener. Sweethead is guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen (Queens of the Stone Age, Failure, A Perfect Circle) and lead vocalist Serrina Sims with Norm Block and Eddie Nappi from the Mark Lanegan Band. 
They were a good rock group and played about a half of an hour. I was in a place in the venue (front / center) where the sound usually isn’t the best. My spot will be likely different for Monday’s show.
I think every time I’ve seen a Maynard band (three times for Tool and A Perfect Circle each), the opener has either been a Mike Patton-related band (Tomahawk, or on his label Ipecac – Isis & The Melvins) or a Ken Andrews-related band (Year of the Rabbit and now Sweethead is connected to Ken via one step with Troy and Failure). I’m not complaining, as I love Patton and Failure-related projects. I dug Sweethead… hopefully I’ll get a better feel for their sound on Monday.
Puscifer‘s set started with a video Maynard’s Major Douché character barking orders at us. Shortly thereafter, with band in place, Maynard wheeled out on a Segway in his horrible comb-overed, bedazzled sweat pants wearing preacher and kicked into “Sour Grapes.” This kick-off was a not-so-subtle hint that it was going to be a crude, blasphemous vaudeville experience – not your typical rock show.
As I only had photo privileges for the first two songs, I snapped away. Unfortunately, Maynard was off changing during the second song, “Rev 22:20” – so I resorted to snapping away at the band. I’m hoping Monday’s set, I get some more non-be-sweatpants‘ed Maynard. The security guards were quite adamant and nabbing people’s cellphones; so I’m definitely grateful to Maynard’s publicist for getting me the hook-up for these Portland shows.
I didn’t catch all of the band members’ names… but I do know that Carina Round covered the female vocals, and did a smash up job on “The Mission,” which model/actress Milla Jovavich sang on the studio version. Primus drummer Tim Alexander handled drums. Also in the band were two guitarists, an electronic & keyboards guy, and a percussionist. During the songs, if any individual band members wasn’t performing, they’d sit on the sofas or wander around and drink wine (which was laid out all over the stage) and munch on fruit, cheese and crackers. Also roaming around the stage was a cameraman dressed up as a ninja – which was later announced to be the one and only Meats Meier, Puscifer’s official CGI music video madman.
Here’s what they played…
Setlist: 90 minutes or so [compare sets with Night #2]
- Sour Grapes
- Rev 22:20
- (Video Break 1)
- Dozo
- The Undertaker
- Drunk With Power
- (Video Break 2)
- Momma Sed
- Indigo Children
- Vagina Mine
- (Video Break 3)
- Potions
- Polar Bear
- Trekka
- Queen B
- The Mission (featuring Carina Round)
- The Humbling River
- No Encore
I had heard some rumblings of people being disappointed in the past Puscifer shows. I think if you go in thinking it’s going to be a rock show (or a Tool show), you’re in it for the wrong reasons. I got to hear an hour and half of fun music and crazy ramblings, and I was thoroughly entertained. Monday promises to be different… I expect some country hee-haw may be on order…
more live photos at the bottom
You can get Puscifer’s music via the pictures below:
You can grab some of Maynard’s wines (if you are lucky to be in the shipping area) via this:
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Puscifer’s Site
- Maynard / Puscifer on MySpace
- Caduceus Wine
- Carina Round’s Site
- Carina Round on MySpace
- Tool on MySpace
- Sweethead’s Site
- Sweethead on MySpace
- Spin‘s San Diego Review (Oct 31st)
- My review of Portland Night #2 (Nov 16th)
- Roseland Theater
Check out the Puscifer tour dates below.
~Dan – np: The Swell Season – Once
PUSCIFER & SWEETHEAD PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Higher Resolution (10 pics)
Limited to 1200 pixels wide or tall (49 pics)
Tour Dates
- 10/29/09, 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)
- 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)
RAZR13 + Pinnick / Fear Factory
So, for Veteran’s Day, here’s some rock news from some… um… rock veterans?
First, in order of awesomest news… King’s X frontman Doug “dUg” Pinnick and the band that he lent vocal duties to, RAZR 13, is finally releasing their debut album. I wrote about this back in July, but now they’ve got the whole album done and streaming over at Rock Army Records.
You can also download the song “4th of July” for free via the Rock Army Records store. The album comes out physically and digitally November 20th. Befriend them on MySpace… http://www.myspace.com/razr13
~*~*~*~*~*~
The band currently calling themselves Fear Factory (i.e.- they’re in a lawsuit now and might not make it out the other end with that name intact) released their album cover for Mechanize. It looks predictably like their former covers… but I bet I’ll still like its electronic-infused, stomp-rock, metal goodness about androids taking over the earth (or other topics that Burton C. Bell always writes about).
compare to some of their old album covers:
Burton’s track-by-track explanations are over at Blabbermouth. Let’s just say I didn’t read past the first one… “The title track describes our world as the soulless program that it is.” :rolleyes: Oh, Burton, I still love you… but, g-to-the-d, the theme is getting old. Read a new, non-sci-fi book! Get a different graphic artist! :)
~Dan – np: Puscifer – Rev 22:20 single
no free downloads, mp3, or torrents available here
REVIEW: My Oregon Weekend with Peter Mulvey (11/7 & 11/8/2009)
FYI… PHOTOS of both SHOWS at the BOTTOM
I’ve been into Peter Mulvey for the past 10 years, right around when The Trouble With Poets came out. I used to be able to see him at least twice a year in Southwest Ohio (Canal Street Tavern, Southgate House, etc). Since moving to Eugene, Oregon, I’ve only had one opportunity. It was a great show, but I needed more… hence the need to drive up to Portland to see him before he hit my hometown the next day. :)
Alberta Street Pub (Saturday in Portland) was packed when I got there. I didn’t know it was an early show and I showed up right when Krista was going on. The venue was long and narrow… most of the seating was church pews (a la Dayton’s Canal Street Tavern). Given that fact, I gladly stood in back (church pews are horrid on my back). The acoustics in the room were good. The light wasn’t all that great… but I still got a few shots that ended up being decent (see below).
Sam Bond’s Garage (Sunday in Eugene) is a place I’ve been to many times. It is also dark; so I usually don’t bring my camera for shows. I was able to get a few shots, though. The plus of SBG for the Peter Mulvey weekend is that it seems more spread out compared to Alberta Street Pub… plus their beer selection is tops (Alberta seemed to have half of theirs socked up/out of stock). So, as far as venue winner… Sam Bond’s. But I’ll definitely hit Alberta again if a show suits me.
Krista Detor played about a 20-30minute set on both nights. She mainly played piano, but also pulled out the accordion for a song of her own (and one of Peter’s). Her songs that I caught in Portland… “Steal Me A Car”, “100 Years More,” “Mudshow,” “Early Grave,” and “Waterline.”
In Eugene, Krista played the same songs except she threw in “All to Do with the Moon” in between “Mudshow” and “Early Grave.”
Peter Mulvey was in a great mood in Portland. He had a shorter set due to a different show going on after him, but he was a graceful and funny as usual. Some of the best parts of the set were his banter in between songs… his bit on Sean Connery had me cracking up. How can someone with a speech impediment be so well known for his speaking roles? It was schplendid. Peter also went off on a riff about Sting that was also pretty funny, surrounding a “wet t-shirt” promo for a recent Saturday Night Live appearance. I think if Peter’s guitar and voice weren’t so grand, he could be a stand-up comedian. :)
He played a lot from his new album, but also a few older tunes and covers. He had some limited edition The Bicycle EPs for sale, and I snagged one for me and a couple friends. He also mentioned that next September (2010) he might bring his bike tour out to Oregon. Yippie! Anyway, here’s what he played on Saturday night…
Setlist (Portland 11/7): about 80 minutes
- If Love Is Not Enough
- Some People
- Kids In The Square
- Here In The Going Going Gone [Greg Brown cover]
- Letter From A Flying Machine
- “Sean Connery”
- Windshield
- The Knuckleball Suite (with Krista Detor)
- Shirt (with KD)
- “Sting SNL”
- Shoulderbirds (You Know Me) (with KD)
- Bears
- Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad (And Far Away From Home)
- (I Don’t Know Why) But I Do [Bobby Charles cover]
- Mailman
- Vlad The Astrophysicist
- On A Wing And A Prayer
- Encore: Our Love Is Here To Stay [Nat King Cole cover]
One food-related add-on… close to the Alberta Street Pub was a place called Grilled Cheese Grill. Holy cow… excellent stuff. It does for grilled cheese what Eugene’s Off the Waffle does for waffles. Yummy!
~*~*~*~
Eugene’s set was similar – Peter seemed to be in a pretty great mood. The crowd was much smaller than Portland, but I figured smaller market to pull from and Sunday night were a factor in that. I will say that I’m disappointed in Eugene a lot for not coming out to some great shows (I made my best attempt for last night). We did conjure up a trio of friends to join us, and there were some other definitely Peter Mulvey fans in the crowd – including a couple of teddy bear loving peeps (that was interesting, to say the least). My friendJenny asked me if teddy bears were a theme with Peter’s fans, to which I blurted out, “noooooo.” And then Peter announced the spoken word piece “Bears.” :)
Setlist (Eugene 11/8): about 90 minutes
- I’m Beginning To See The Light [Duke Ellington cover]
- Kids In The Square
- “Time Machine”
- Some People
- Letter From A Flying Machine
- Abilene (The Eisenhower Waltz)
- The Knuckleball Suite (with Krista Detor)
- Shirt (with KD)
- Shoulderbirds (You Know Me) (with KD)
- …Plus The Many Inevitable Fragments / Dynamite Bill
- Bears
- Moonshiner [Uncle Tupelo cover]
- Vlad The Astrophysicist
- On A Wing And A Prayer
- Encore: Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad (And Far Away From Home)
(We also caught a snippet of “Brand New ’64 Dodge” and “A Better Way to Go” in soundcheck.)
All in all, I think the Alberta show was my fave of the two, but both were fantastic. I hope Peter ventures out this way more often. He promised again to head out this way next year – and possibly via bike. It’ll be earlier in the year (September vs November). If you want to check out some of his stuff… his latest record, Letters From a Flying Machine, is excellent. I think it’s his strongest since 2000’s The Trouble with Poets. You can listen to some samples at Petermulvey.com (one free download) or Amazon (samples of all songs):
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Peter Mulvey’s Site
- Peter Mulvey on MySpace
- Krista Detor’s Site
- Krista Detor on MySpace
- Alberta Street Pub
- Shining City Music (promoter for the PDX show, she’s rad!)
- Sam Bond’s Garage
Check out more tour dates below.
~Dan – np: Galactic Cowboys – Space In Your Face
PETER MULVEY & KRISTA DETOR PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Fall 2009 U.S. Tour Dates
- 11/7 PORTLAND, OR The Alberta Pub
- 11/8 EUGENE, OR Sam Bond’s Garage
- 11/10 ARCATA, CA Arcata Playhouse
- 11/11 BERKELEY, CA Freight & Salvage
- 11/12 FELTON, CA Don Quixote’s
- 11/13 SANTA MONICA, CA McCabe’s
- 11/14 SAN DIEGO, CA AcousticMusicSanDiego
- 11/20 BURLINGTON, VT UVM Recital Hall
- 11/21 FRAMINGHAM, MA Amazing Things Arts Center
- 12/1-2 FAIRBANKS, AK College Coffeehouse
- 12/3 TOK, AK Fast Eddy’s
- 12/4 TALKEEKTNA, AK Whole Wheat Radio
- 12/5 ANCHORAGE, AK Snow Goose Theatre
- 12/6 PALMER, AK Vagabond Blues
- 12/8 KODIAK, AK The Golden Anchor
- 12/10 CARBONDALE, CO Steve’s Guitars
- 12/11 DENVER, CO Swallow Hill
- 12/12 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO Friends House Concert
- 12/13 FORT COLLINS, CO Avogadro’s Number
- 12/15-19 FORT ATKINSON, WI Cafe Carpe
REVIEW: David Bazan Band @ Mississippi Studios (Portland, OR – 11/6/09)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
So, last night’s show could have been presented by “Keep Portland Beard.” Every member of both bands sported beards (which, to be fair, had some dual members). I think beards and indie rock are like eye shadow and goth. Except at least the women of indie rock don’t have beards (not that I know of at least).
I drove by the venue around “doors” time… and the line was part way down the block. Yikes. As I parked my car and walked to the venue, I spotted David Bazan and some of his posse hanging out by the nearby burrito cart. He was on his mobile; so I opted not to bug him.
After a delicious hummus plate washed down by a McTarnahan’s Amber, SAY HI started… I found my seat at the awesomely cozy Mississippi Studios.
Say Hi is a trio, and they played what I’d call “power pop indie rock.” I mean, that’s my best explanation… very catchy, hooky – yet retaining that gristle and DIY charm of a touring group of guys. While Say Hi didn’t have the one-two writing & vocal punch of Neil Gust & Elliott Smith’s Heatmiser, I think Heatmiser is my closest comparison to Say Hi. Great pop songs in a rock setting, definitely enjoyable. They played about 40 minutes and, unfortunately, it flew by. But… they’re from Seattle; so they’re totally on my “auto notify” Pollstar radar now.
After a very short set break (5 minutes, maybe)… David Bazan (plus band) hit the stage…
The first time I saw David Bazan (December 2003 with Over the Rhine) was the only time I’ve seen him with a “band.” Even that time, it was a stripped down Pedro the Lion set with just David and T.W. Walsh (drummer). The singer of Say Hi joined David on guitar, the Say Hi bassist traded bass duties for guitar / keyboards / percussion. Blake Wescott joined on guitar, there was a new drummer, and David took care of bass (and guitar during the encore).
The set was a heavy David Bazan “solo albums” set, as expected. I’ve really been digging his latest album, Curse Your Branches; so I picked it up on vinyl last night. Most of the set was CYB stuff and Fewer Moving Parts material. He did throw in a few expected Pedro the Lions and Headphones songs as well…
Setlist: about 90 minutes
- Hard To Be
- Please, Baby, Please
- I Do (Pedro the Lion tune)
- Bless This Mess
- Q&A #1
- I Never Wanted You (Headphones tune)
- Magazine (Pedro the Lion tune)
- Heavy Breath
- Q&A #2
- Cold Beer And Cigarettes
- When We Fell
- Lost My Shape
- Curse Your Branches
- Q&A #3
- Fewer Broken Pieces (aka Fewer Moving Parts)
- Bearing Witness
- Q&A #4
- Keep Swinging (Pedro the Lion tune)
- How I Remember
- In Stitches
- Encore (David solo): Priests and Paramedics (Pedro the Lion tune)
- Will You Still Love Me In December (Julie Doiran cover)
- Q&A #5
- Harmless Sparks
Best David Bazan line of the night… “Infants are necessary, but they’re kinda bullshit.”
I loved David with a band. I think the highlight of the night for me, though, was Say Hi. I usually don’t expect to like an opener, and I like being pleasantly surprised. I didn’t have enough coin to get some Say Hi music last night, but I plan to in the near future.
Another highlight… David’s Q&A sessions are also usually a fun aspect of his shows – it really makes a Bazan show more personal and intimate. Most of the questions surrounded his recent “coming out” as an atheist-leaning agnostic after many years in the Christian indie rock scene. I always loved his candor and questioning of things in religion, even when he considered himself to be a Christian and I had moved out of that camp. I, honestly, don’t think his lyrical themes changed all that much. His Q&A answers last night were more along the lines around around tolerance, regardless of religious beliefs or non-beliefs. Personally, I’m glad to have him in the more doubtful camp. However, above that, I’m glad that he’s not trying to be divisive with things like faith and his “falling from faith.” We should move towards being different than the prior generations who don’t know tolerance.
The Appropriate Linkage:
- David Bazan’s Site
- David Bazan on MySpace
- Pedro the Lion on MySpace
- Say Hi’s Site
- Say Hi on MySpace
- BrooklynVegan’s NYC 10/18 Review
- Fan videos from the Chicago show: video #1 – video #2
- Mississippi Studios
Check out more tour dates below.
~Dan – np: Lowell Brams, Sufjan Stevens & Bryce Dessner – Library Catalog Music Series: Music for Insomnia
DAVID BAZAN & SAY HI PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Recent/Upcoming Tour Dates
- 10/01 – San Francisco CA – Independent
- 10/02 – Costa Mesa CA – Detroit Bar
- 10/03 – San Diego CA – Casbah
- 10/04 – Los Angeles CA – Troubadour
- 10/05 – Tucson AZ – Solar Culture
- 10/07 – Austin TX – Mohawk
- 10/08 – Denton TX – Dan’s Silverleaf
- 10/09 – Memphis TN – Hi-Tone Café
- 10/10 – Murray KY – Lovett Auditorium / Murray State
- 10/11 – Birmingham AL – Bottletree
- 10/13 – Orlando FL – The Social
- 10/14 – Atlanta GA – Drunken Unicorn
- 10/15 – Chapel Hill NC – Cat’s Cradle
- 10/16 – Washington DC – Black Cat
- 10/17 – Philadelphia PA – Kung Fu Necktie
- 10/18 – New York NY – Bowery Ballroom
- 10/20 – Cambridge MA – TT the Bear’s +
- 10/21 – Montreal QC – Il Motore
- 10/22 – Toronto ON – Lee’s Palace
- 10/23 – Pontiac MI – Pike Room
- 10/24 – Chicago IL – TBA
- 10/25 – Champaign IL – Highdive
- 10/27 – Madison WI High – Noon Saloon
- 10/28 – Minneapolis MN – Turf Club
- 10/29 – Iowa City IA – The Picador
- 10/30 – Lawrence KS – Jackpot Saloon
- 10/31 – Omaha NE – Slowdown
- 11/01 – Denver CO – Hi Dive
- 11/02 – Salt Lake City UT – Kilby Court
- 11/05 – Vancouver BC – Media Club
- 11/06 – Portland OR – Mississippi Studios
- 11/07 – Seattle WA – Neumos
House Shows - 12/9 – Detroit, MI – 8pm – tickets available on db.com
- 12/10 – Cleveland, OH – 8pm – tickets available
- 12/11 – Columbus, OH – 8pm – SOLD OUT
- 12/12 – Indianapolis, IN – 5pm – tickets available
- 12/12 – Indianapolis, IN – 8pm – SOLD OUT
- 12/13 – New Haven, IN – 5pm – tickets available
- 12/13 – Ft. Wayne, IN – 8pm – SOLD OUT
- 12/14 – Goshen, IN – 8pm – SOLD OUT
- 12/15 – Lansing, MI – 8pm – tickets available
U2 360° Tour 2010
Not that I need to add anything to the U2 internet coverage rockpile… but the fact that they’re playing a PacNW date (in 2010) is happiness for me…
- 6 June, 2010 – Anaheim, CA – Angel Stadium
- 12 June, 2010 – Denver, CO – Invesco Field
- 16 June, 2010 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Coliseum
- 20 June, 2010 – Seattle, WA – Qwest Field
- 23 June, 2010 – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – Commonwealth Stadium
- 30 June, 2010 – East Lansing, MI – Spartan Stadium
- 3 July, 2010 – Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Rogers Centre
- 6 July, 2010 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field
- 9 July, 2010 – Miami, FL – Land Shark Stadium
- 12 July, 2010 – Philadelphia, PA – Lincoln Financial Field
- 16 July, 2010 – Montreal, QC – Venue TBA
- 19 July, 2010 – New York, NY – New Meadowlands Stadium
~Dan – np: Kneebody – Kneebody
REVIEW: Bad Veins @ Sam Bond’s (Eugene, OR – 10/16/09)
Rarely do elements of the Cincinnati music scene tromp through Oregon. I got the opportunity to see Bad Veins about 5 weeks ago up in Portland, and now they’re back through Oregon, but this time in my lovely city of Eugene. They received a nice write-up in the 10/15/09 Eugene Weekly, too…
We showed up late but before anyone started yet; so we moseyed over to One Cup for some delicious coffee. On the way back to Sam Bond’s, we could hear the opener (Blue Horns from Portland) blaring through the door & windows… and we were about 2 blocks away. “Oh, crap, I forgot my earplugs!” Blue Horns were a good rock band. Really loud, though (and I don’t think it was their fault). They had a nice vibe, but it was hard to tell what the guy was singing most of the time. Listening to them on MySpace now, they’re kinda jangly & bouncy indie rock. Maybe I should write a letter to SB’s soundguy to turn it down from 17 to 11. I mean, come on… 11 is enough.
Bad Veins got all set up and ready to go by 11pm… based on the poster (above), they seem to be the main band for this Daytrotter sponsored tour (I ♥ Daytrotter), yet they went on before The Subjects. This was fine with me. Nothing against The Subjects, but I was done after BV’s set. Tired after a long week’s work and ears practically in tears.
Sebastien and Benjamin rocked us out for about a half hour. As they like to say in the industry, Sebastien was “killing the fuck out of his drums.” OK, maybe they don’t say that in the “industry.” He was doing it regardless. Maybe his drums slept with his girlfriend or ate the last breakfast burrito… or… or… both. Regardless, he was going nuts. :)
After about the first song, we moved outside to help shelter our ears (again, Mr. Soundman… 11 is loud enough). I was able to find a good spot on SB’s patio and watch through the window. No pictures this show, as I rarely get any good shots at Sam Bond’s (even with a good camera). For recent Bad Veins concert photos, check my last month’s review (click picture below)…
Setlist:
- Found
- Gold and Warm
- Crosseyed
- Afraid
- Dry Out
- Falling Tide
- The Lie
Their set was identical to the time prior, and my wife made a good comment… “well, they use that reel-to-reel so they have to keep things in the same order.” Duh on my part. Anyway, it was still a really good set, despite the extreme loudness of it all. I think Sam Bond’s is not the place to see rock music (prior to this, I’ve only seen Skerik/ jazz, Talkdemonic/ acoustic post-rock, and various singer-songwriters). Hopefully The Subjects got better sound treatment.
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Bad Veins Official Webpage
- Bad Veins on MySpace
- Blue Horns on MySpace
- The Subjects on MySpace
- Sam Bond’s Garage
~Dan – np: Foo Fighters – In Your Honor
dredg & Salmon Rushdie
One of my favorite rock bands around right now is dredg. I’ve seen them twice this year, and their 2009 album The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion is at this time the easiest pick for album of the year for me. Easiest. It’s fantastic. The aforementioned album is a concept album inspired by Salmon Rushdie‘s “Imagine There’s No Heaven: A Letter to the Sixth Billionth Citizen.”
Well, SPIN just put out an article with a review, live videos, and music downloads from a joint performance by dredg & Salmon Rushdie at Manhattan’s Housing Works’ Bookstore Café (click the picture below).
The videos included are Salmon reading his essay and then dredg performing “The Pariah,” “The Ornament,” and”Information.” Also available for download on the site are mp3’s of three dredg songs:
DOWNLOAD (free music):
~Dan – np: Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters
REVIEW: Aimee Mann @ Aladdin (Portland, OR – 10/6/09)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
I got into Aimee Mann after several promptings by my friend Bruce, and then eventually via her quite powerful role in the P.T. Anderson movie, Magnolia (1999). Her spot in that movie and her pervasiveness on that soundtrack made me pay attention. I’ve stuck with her through some great albums, including a doozy of holiday album (but I don’t blame her, I blame the general holiday music content). Her albums are always pretty damn consistent… consistently good. I just never got the chance to see her until now. I happened to be up in Portland for work; so I naturally found my way to the venue. :)
I really like the Aladdin Theater… it’s a classy theater, and every show I’ve seen here has been great (Jude and Yael Naim), and I plan on hitting the Aladdin at least 2 or three more times this year (Múm, the Swell Season, and maybe Stryper… but mainly for the humor aspect of that show).
The opener was Nick Lowe, who I didn’t know. Apparently I knew some of his songs, specifically “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding” (he wrote for Elvis Costello, and I’ve heard the A Perfect Circle version). Nick played about 50 minutes, and probably 15 songs. He had some very good, short pop songs. I can see why people like him. I mean, he kinda blended into the background to me, but he had a charm and lyricism that I can admire.
Aimee Mann came on around 9:20pm with two keyboardists. Throughout the set, they both swapped around many instruments… mainly keys, but also guitar, shakers, drums, recorder. She played a short 40 minute pre-determined set before breaking out into the audience request portion of the show…
Setlist: 2 hours
- The Moth
- Nightmare Girl
- Momentum *a fave of the night*
- Build That Wall
- Par For The Course
- Amateur *a fave of the night*
- This Is How It Goes
- Wise Up *a fave of the night*
- Save Me [false start – see comments below]
——————— - Real Bad News [start to the audience requests]
- Long Shot
- Looking For Nothing
- Freeway *a fave of the night*
- Jacob Marley’s Chain
- 4th Of July
- Mr. Harris
- Video *a fave of the night*
- Ghost World
- You Could Make A Killing *a fave of the night*
- Red Vines
- Invisible Ink
- Susan
- One (Harry Nilsson cover)
- Encore: Save Me *a fave of the night*
- Voices Carry
So, the first attempt at “Save Me” got an odd response from a few ladies… almost like the cheering as you’re going up a rollercoaster. Aimee pointed that out and countered it with how depressing and co-dependent-y the song was. Then she went into some really depressing (but funny) new lyrics for the song… which led into the giggles; so she couldn’t even finish the real version of the song. She came back to it later for the encore.
Aimee was really fun… much more fun than I thought she’d be. I mean, her songs really meander on the line of depressed, melancholic disappointment; however, she was quite bubbly, and giddy in spots. Her three-piece band really worked well together in a pinch. Great, long show… check her out if she swings by!!! She’s only a short West Coast tour this fall; see the remaining handful of dates below…
The Appropriate Linkage:
~Dan – np: Finger Eleven – Finger Eleven
Aimee Mann West Coast Tour 2009
- 10/2/09 UC Santa Barbara CA
- 10/3/09 Santa Cruz, CA Rio Theatre
- 10/4/09 San Francisco, CA Hardly Strictly Bluegrass FREE
- 10/6/09 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater …with Nick Lowe
- 10/7/09 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre with Nick Lowe
- 10/8/09 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
- 10/10/09 Coeur D’Alene, ID The Kroc Center
- 10/11/09 Boise, ID EgyptianTheatre with Fountains of Wayne
- 10/12/09 Salt Lake City, UT The State Room with Fountains of Wayne
- 10/14/09 Boulder, CO Boulder Theater with Fountains of Wayne
- 10/16/09 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern with Fountains of Wayne
AIMEE MANN & NICK LOWE PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Higher Resolution (7 pics)
Limited to 1200 pixels wide or tall (24 Aimee pics, 6 Nick pics)
REVIEW: Bad Veins @ Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR – 9/8/09)
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:
- Bad Veins Official Webpage
- Bad Veins on MySpace
- Division Day on MySpace
- Love Like Fire on MySpace
- Doug Fir Lounge
~Dan – np: Marty Ehrlich’s Dark Woods Ensemble – Sojourn
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)
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 Golden – Thank You Very Quickly Vol 3
Copeland – Daytrotter Session
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: echolyn – Suffocating the Bloom
REVIEW: dredg @ Wonder Ballroom (Portland, OR – 8/15/09)
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:
- http://www.dredg.com/
- http://www.myspace.com/dredg
- http://www.myspace.com/rxbandits
- http://www.myspace.com/astallaslions
- http://www.wonderballroom.com/
~Dan – np: Dub Trio – New 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)
REVIEW: The Melvins @ John Henry’s (Eugene, OR – 8/9/09)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
I hear that King Buzzo has three dogs.
I bet he walks them really slow.
So, The Melvins have been around for… ever. First album in 1986, but I didn’t get turned onto them until Melvins’ guitarist King Buzzo joined Mike Patton’s avant-noise metal supergroup Fantômas on the 1999 debut (along with Mr Bungle’s Trevor Dunn & Slayer’s Dave Lombardo). I saw The Melvins in 2003 play with Skeleton Key & Mike Patton’s Tomahawk in Columbus, Ohio (Tomahawk’s Mit Gas tour). I found a new respect for a mainstay on Patton’s Ipecac Recordings… The Melvins are a major force in heavy music.
Some history… they’re from Seattle and were considered an early founder of grunge (Kurt Cobain listed them as a major influence). The Melvins have since moved into what could be best called “sludge metal“… which spurred Earth, and subsequently Sunn O))), in the drone & doom metal sub-genres. All that to say, The Melvins have been around for a long time and have been an artistic force in music.
I haven’t had a solid chance of seeing them in 6 years. They swung through Eugene last year, but I was out of town. Last time, they played a bigger venue (WOW Hall), but this time, they played two full sets (with no opener)… so I’ll take it. :) This was only their 2nd date of their 2009 U.S. Summer tour (see dates at the bottom), but they were pretty tight regardless.
They took the stage right at 7:30 and played six songs as a duo, just Buzz Osborne on guitars and Dale Crover on drums. They were then joined by Jarred Warren on bass and Coady Willis on a 2nd set of drums. Their first set started with more of the grunge/punk but had plenty of the sludge to go around. It was a powerful 40-45 minute set.
They came back on 20 minutes later and belted out another 50 minute set without stopping. “Hooch” was the highlight for me, but it was an amazing show all around. No banter, barely stopping to tune… just a full force, heavy wave of music.
Setlist:
- 1st set ~ Dale drum intro -> Ballad of Dwight Fry [Alice Cooper cover]
- It’s Shoved
- Let Me Roll It [McCartney cover]
- Suicide in Progress
- Oven
- Black Bock
- Let God Be Your Gardener
- Pigs of the Roman Empire [Jared & Coady join]
- The Talking Horse
- The Bloated Pope
- Dog Island
- Dies Iraea
- 2nd set ~ Dies Iraea (cont’d)
- Billy Fish
- Mr. DNA [Devo cover]
- Anaconda
- Zodiac
- The Kicking Machine
- Civilized Drums
- Blood Witch
- Hooch
- Smiling Cobra
- With Teeth
- Night Goat
- The Bit
*- from Buzzo’s setlist, corrections by Ryan (Idlehanz)
Overall… bloody brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it, and I don’t know half of their songs… :) I’m definitely seeing them anytime they come through town. A great band with 2 great sets!!
Their latest CD, 2008’s Nude With Boots, is great. And the concept behind their upcoming CD, Chicken Switch, is intriguing. It’s a remix album, but not a normal remix album. Each song is a remix of an entire Melvins’ album (boiled into one song). Some of the remixers included are Matmos, Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, Eye Yamatsuka, and Merzbow (Masami Akita). It’s out on September 29th on Ipecac. Read more over at themelvins.net. I’m looking forward to it…
The Appropriate Linkage:
- The Melvins Official Page
- The Melvins dot net (the premiere fan page)
- The Melvins on MySpace
- Ipecac Recordings
- John Henry’s MySpace
- Brooklyn Vegan’s kick ass pictures (from May 2009)
~Dan – np: dredg – El Cielo no torrent or free download here
THE MELVINS 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 (46 pics)
2009 U.S. Summer Tour
- August 7, 2009 – San Jose, CA – The Blank Club
- August 9, 2009 – Eugene, OR – John Henry’s
- August 11, 2009 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox SoDo w/ Down
- August 12, 2009 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theatre w/ Down
- August 14, 2009 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom w/ Down
- August 15, 2009 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater w/ Down
- August 16, 2009 – San Diego, CA – House Of Blues w/ Down
- August 18, 2009 – Anaheim, CA – House Of Blues w/ Down
- August 19, 2009 – Las Vegas, NV – House Of Blues w/ Down
- August 21, 2009 – Salt Lake City, UT – In The Venue w/ Down
- August 22, 2009 – Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre w/ Down
- August 24, 2009 – Tulsa, OK – The Marquee
- August 25, 2009 – Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
- August 26, 2009 – Dallas, TX – House Of Blues Pontiac Garage
- August 27, 2009 – San Antonio, TX – The White Rabbit
- August 28, 2009 – Houston, TX – Meridian Red Room
- August 29, 2009 – Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon
- September 1, 2009 – Atlanta, GA – CW Center Stage w/ Down
- September 2, 2009 – Orlando, FL – House Of Blues w/ Down
- September 4, 2009 – North Myrtle Beach, SC – House Of Blues w/ Down
- September 5, 2009 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore Charlotte w/ Down
- September 6, 2009 – Knoxville, TN – The Valarium w/ Down
- September 8, 2009 – Baltimore, MD – Sonar w/ Down
- September 9, 2009 – Clifton Park, NY – Northern Lights w/ Down
- September 11, 2009 – New York, NY – NOKIA Theatre Times Square w/ Down
- September 12, 2009 – Monticello, NY – Kutshers Country Club – ATP NEW YORK 2009 CURATED BY THE FLAMING LIPS
- September 13, 2009 – Boston, MA – House Of Blues w/ Down
- September 15, 2009 – Hartford, CT – Webster Theatre w/ Down
- September 16, 2009 – Rochster, NY – Main Street Armory w/ Down
- September 17, 2009 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
- September 18, 2009 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre
- September 19, 2009 – Detroit, MI – Emerald Theatre w/ Down
- September 21, 2009 – Indianapolis, IN – Vogue Theatre w/ Down
- September 22, 2009 – Cleveland, OH – House Of Blues w/ Down
- September 24, 2009 – Omaha, NE – Sokol Auditorium w/ Down
- September 25, 2009 – Sauget, IL – Pop’s Nightclub w/ Down
- September 26, 2009 – Mokena, IL – The Pearl Room w/ Down
- September 28, 2009 – Louisville, KY – Expo Five w/ Down
McKay, Porcupine Tree, Mulvey & Bazan news
Music news that I care about seems to be hitting often lately…
Nellie McKay‘s album that was supposed to be out “last fall,” will finally be out “this fall.” No album name, but we at least have a street date – October 13th. There’s not much more content over at the Direct Current Music website; so I hope they are right on this one… .COM, .NET, and .ORG have failed to provide any corroboration. I hope “this fall” doesn’t turn into “next fall“… yet again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Porcupine Tree just put their newest one, The Incident (due out 9/15 in the U.S.), up for pre-order. Much like Steven Wilson’s Insurgentes, this one has a deluxe edition that would make the Pope curse. It looks freakin’ gorgeous (and huge)…
On the pre-order page there’s a video of PT frontman Steven Wilson talking about what’s to be included. Oh, it’s a’spensive, but it makes sense if you’ve ever read this “1,000 True Fans” article by Kevin Kelly. Not to say that only the “true fans” will buy it, but, well… anyway, the article is a good read…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
One of my favorite singer-songwriters Peter Mulvey is coming through the PacNW in November. One Portland date that I may try to make, and one Eugene date that I will make. He’s also got a new one coming out (in September on Signature Sounds). It’s called Letters from a Flying Machine…
(click for larger)
Here are his 2009 tourdates (as of now):
- Mon 08/10/09 – Saugatuck, MI – Saugatuck Center For The Arts
- Wed 09/09/09 – Grand Rapids, MI – Wealthy Street Theatre
- Thu 09/10/09 – Kalamazoo, MI – The Strutt
- Fri 09/11/09 – Lansing, MI – Creole Gallery
- Sat 09/12/09 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark
- Tue 09/15/09 – Buffalo, NY – 9th Ward
- Sun 09/20/09 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Caffe Lena
- Thu 09/24/09 – Cambridge, MA – Lizard Lounge
- Fri 09/25/09 – Cambridge, MA – Passim Folk Music & Cultural Center
- Sat 09/26/09 – Northampton, MA – Iron Horse Music Hall
- Sun 09/27/09 – Norfolk, CT – Infinity Hall
- Fri 10/09/09 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
- Sat 10/10/09 – Evanston, IL – SPACE
- Thu 10/22/09 – The Hague, Netherlands – Transvaria
- Fri 10/23/09 – Bakkeveen, Netherlands – De Slotplaats
- Sat 10/24/09 – Bemmel, Netherlands – Top
- Wed 11/04/09 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
- Sat 11/07/09 – Portland, OR – Alberta Street Pub
- Sun 11/08/09 – Eugene, OR – Sam Bond’s Garage
- Thu 11/12/09 – Felton, CA – Don Quixote’s Int’l Music Hall
- Sat 11/14/09 – San Diego, CA – Acoustic Music San Diego
- Fri 11/20/09 – Burlington, VT – UVM Recital Hall
- Sat 11/21/09 – Framingham, MA – Amazing Things Art Center
- Tue 12/01/09 – Fairbanks, AK – College Coffeehouse
- Wed 12/02/09 – Fairbanks, AK – College Coffeehouse
- Thu 12/03/09 – Tok, AK – Fast Eddy’s
- Sat 12/05/09 – Anchorage, AK – Snow Goose Theatre
- Sun 12/06/09 – Palmer, AK – Vagabond Blues
- Tue 12/08/09 – Kodiak, AK – Golden Anchor
- Fri 12/11/09 – Denver, CO – Swallow Hill Music Association
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(photo by Ryan Russell)
no, the Office’s Jon Krasinski is not hitting the road with Mr Bazan
And as reported earlier, indie-rocker David Bazan is hitting the road with a band (but not to be mistaken as a “Pedro the Lion reunion”). Announced yesterday on db.com (but unofficially announced at the Eugene house show the other day), he’ll be in Portland in November (the day before Peter Mulvey, actually). Anyway, here are the Bazan band members and tour dates. Eric Elbogen: guitar (Say Hi), Andy Fitts: keyboards + guitar (Aqueduct), Casey Foubert: drums (Richard Swift, Sufjan Stevens), and Blake Wescott: guitar (long-time Bazan collaborator).
- 10/01 – San Francisco CA – Independent
- 10/02 – Costa Mesa CA – Detroit Bar
- 10/03 – San Diego CA – Casbah
- 10/04 – Los Angeles CA – Troubadour
- 10/05 – Tucson AZ – Solar Culture
- 10/07 – Austin TX – Mohawk
- 10/08 – Denton TX – Dan’s Silverleaf
- 10/09 – Memphis TN – Hi-Tone Café
- 10/10 – Murray KY – Lovett Auditorium / Murray State
- 10/11 – Birmingham AL – Bottletree
- 10/13 – Orlando FL – The Social
- 10/14 – Atlanta GA – Drunken Unicorn
- 10/15 – Chapel Hill NC – Cat’s Cradle
- 10/16 – Washington DC – Black Cat
- 10/17 – Philadelphia PA – Kung Fu Necktie
- 10/18 – New York NY – Bowery Ballroom
- 10/20 – Cambridge MA – TT the Bear’s +
- 10/21 – Montreal QC – Il Motore
- 10/22 – Toronto ON – Lee’s Palace
- 10/23 – Pontiac MI – Pike Room
- 10/24 – Chicago IL – TBA
- 10/25 – Champaign IL – Highdive
- 10/27 – Madison WI High – Noon Saloon
- 10/28 – Minneapolis MN – Turf Club
- 10/29 – Iowa City IA – The Picador
- 10/30 – Lawrence KS – Jackpot Saloon
- 10/31 – Omaha NE – Slowdown
- 11/01 – Denver CO – Hi Dive
- 11/02 – Salt Lake City UT – Kilby Court
- 11/05 – Vancouver BC – Media Club
- 11/06 – Portland OR – Mississippi Studios
- 11/07 – Seattle WA – Neumos
all dates with Say Hi
+ TW Walsh in Boston
Yep… this is gonna be one packed fall of music for me. Yippie!
~Dan – np: Drain STH – Freaks of Nature
The Bad Veins – CD release, Daytrotter & WOXY sessions, U.S. Tour…
News from Cincinnati indie-rock duo Bad Veins… (1) debut CD out now, (2) WOXY in-studio session posted on Tuesday, (3) 2nd Daytrotter session posted yesterday, and (4) they’re hitting the road (including PORTLAND!!!)…
First… their long-awaited debut CD is finally out. It was released on Tuesday (7/20/09) on Dangerbird Records. It’s on iTunes, Amazon, your local indie record store, and Bad Veins’ shows.
Second… WOXY‘s great podcast… go subscribe now (iTunes / other podcatchers)!!! They have great indie rock acts (Wussy being another fave). They have a 26-minute in-studio session of Bad Veins…
http://www.woxy.com/music/loungeacts/index.php?id=399
Third… the few websites that aren’t RSS feed-able that made it to my “must check every day” list… Daytrotter is great, and they’ve hit us again with a live in the studio session with Bad Veins…
Go here for the free music:
http://tinyurl.com/badveins-daytrotter2
1) Gold and Warm 2) Afraid 3) The Ending 4) Go Home
http://www.badveins.net/
http://www.myspace.com/badveins
A bunch of interview vlogs on Uncensored Interviews
Past Daytrotter Sessions I’ve blogged about and dug (links and free music not guaranteed on these old blogs): 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.
Fourth… TOUR!!! Dates as follows (as of now per Pollstar):
- Fri 07/24/09 Cincinnati, OH – Fountain Square
- Fri 07/31/09 Chicago, IL – Abbey Pub
- Sat 08/01/09 Pontiac, MI – The Crofoot
- Sun 08/02/09 Toronto, ON – El Mocambo
- Tue 08/04/09 Danbury, CT – Heirloom Arts Theatre
- Wed 08/05/09 Philadelphia, PA – North Star Bar
- Thu 08/06/09 New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
- Fri 08/07/09 Pittsburgh, PA – Garfield Artworks
- Sat 08/08/09 Newport, KY – Southgate House
- Sun 08/09/09 Iowa City, IA – The Picador
- Fri 08/28/09 Austin, TX – Emo’s Indoor Stage
- Sat 08/29/09 Dallas, TX – The Cavern
- Mon 08/31/09 Phoenix, AZ – Modified
- Tue 09/01/09 San Diego, CA – The Casbah
- Wed 09/02/09 Los Angeles, CA – Spaceland
- Thu 09/03/09 Costa Mesa, CA – Detroit Bar
- Fri 09/04/09 San Francisco, CA – Cafe Du Nord
- Sat 09/05/09 San Jose, CA – Nickel City
- Tue 09/08/09 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
- Sat 09/12/09 Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
- Sun 09/13/09 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
- Mon 09/14/09 Lawrence, KS – Replay Lounge
- Tue 09/15/09 Chicago, IL – Subterranean
I am soooooooo there.
~Dan – np: Bad Veins – WOXY sessions 7/20/09
REVIEW: Tori Amos @ Arlene Schnitzer Hall (Portland, OR – 7/11/09)
Tori Amos has been a big part of my musical fanaticism for a long time. I first heard of her my freshman year of college, got Little Earthquakes & Under the Pink from BMG, got Boys for Pele right when it came out, and I’ve been a fan ever since. There was a period of time where, if I could, I’d drive all over the Midwest to go see her. This show was going on the 6 year mark since I’d seen her, and let’s just say that I was itching for some classic Tori live… but first up, the opener:
One Eskimo hit the stage right about 8pm, and played 4-5 songs (about a half hour’s worth of material). I liked their sound… sort of a singer-songwriter blown up into a pop group (sort of if Maroon 5 had more interesting musicians). Their drummer had a nice style, sitting on a box-type drum and using that as the kick drum. Their guitarist and bassist/trumpet player were also fun to watch. They played “Kandi,” “UFO,” and “Astronauts” for sure, as those songs are on the EP that I picked up for only $5. They’re working on wrapping up their full-length debut now…
I was too far away to take any good concert photos;
so the marquee is all you get this time.
Tori hit the stage with her band (Matt Chamberlain on drums & John Evans on bass) at around 8:50pm and played for a solid two hours without much stopping. I forget how much I love her live shows. Great lights, great mix of tunes from her whole career, fun stage presence, pretty energetic crowd… she played a lot more older songs than I would have thought, and only four songs from her latest record.
Setlist:
- Give (a fave of the night)
- Caught a Lite Sneeze (a fave of the night)
- Welcome to England – John’s bass intro was very Tool-y… as if Justin Chancellor was in a pop band
- Graveyard
- Cornflake Girl (a fave of the night)
- Icicle (a fave of the night)
- Little Amsterdam
- Siren
- Starling
- Black Dove (January)
- 1,000 Oceans
- Joni Mitchell’s River (solo – Lizard Lounge)
- Winter (solo – Lizard Lounge)
- Playboy Mommy
- Little Earthquakes (a fave of the night)
- Fast Horse (a fave of the night)
- Take to the Sky (a mega fave of the night)
- Carbon
- Honey
- Precious Things (a fave of the night)
- Strong Black Vine – crowd floods front part of theatre, much to the “oh crap, what do I do?” of the security guys
- Encore: Big Wheel (a fave of the night)
- Tombigbee
Fantastic show… prior to this show, I was kind of in a “cooling” phase with Tori. I hadn’t seen her since the Scarlet’s Walk tour (2003), and I’d only been slightly fond of The Beekeeper and American Doll Posse albums. Forcing myself recently to dig into her newest one, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, and then seeing it live was great. It was a much warranted end to the break from being a big time Tori fan. Sure, Abnormally isn’t going back to the Little Earthquake through Boys of Pele days, but it’s still good music and she still puts on a great show, full of songs from her vast catalogue.
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Official Tori Amos Webpage
- Tori Amos on MySpace
- Undented – a Tori fansite
- Official One Eskimo Webpage
- One Eskimo on MySpace
- Arlene Schnitzer Hall in Portland, OR
~Dan – np: Riceboys Sleeps – All Animals -EP-
no torrent or free download available
The rest of the Abnormally Attracted to Sin tour dates (as of now)
- Mon 07/13/09 Oakland, CA – Paramount Theatre
- Tue 07/14/09 Oakland, CA – Paramount Theatre
- Thu 07/16/09 San Diego, CA – Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay
- Fri 07/17/09 Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre
- Sat 07/18/09 Phoenix, AZ – Dodge Theatre
- Mon 07/20/09 Salt Lake City, UT – Abravanel Hall
- Tue 07/21/09 Denver, CO – Paramount Theatre
- Thu 07/23/09 Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre
- Fri 07/24/09 Grand Prairie, TX – Nokia Theatre At Grand Prairie
- Sat 07/25/09 Austin, TX – The Long Center For The Performing Arts
- Mon 07/27/09 Atlanta, GA – Chastain Park Amphitheatre
- Tue 07/28/09 Orlando, FL – Bob Carr Perf. Arts Centre
- Wed 07/29/09 Miami Beach, FL – Fillmore Miami Beach At Jackie Gleason Theater
- Fri 07/31/09 Durham, NC – Durham Performing Arts Center
- Sat 08/01/09 Washington, DC DAR – Constitution Hall
- Mon 08/03/09 Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre
- Tue 08/04/09 Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theatre
- Wed 08/05/09 Minneapolis, MN – The State Theatre
- Fri 08/07/09 Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre
- Sat 08/08/09 Detroit, MI – Detroit Opera House
- Mon 08/10/09 Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
- Tue 08/11/09 Montreal, QC – St. Denis Theatre
- Thu 08/13/09 New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
- Fri 08/14/09 Red Bank, NJ – Count Basie Theatre
- Sat 08/15/09 Upper Darby, PA – Tower Theatre
- Mon 08/17/09 Boston, MA – Bank Of America Pavilion
- Sun 09/06/09 Manchester, United Kingdom – Apollo Manchester
- Mon 09/07/09 Birmingham, United Kingdom – Symphony Hall
- Tue 09/08/09 Glasgow, United Kingdom – Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
- Thu 09/10/09 London, United Kingdom – Apollo Hammersmith
- Fri 09/11/09 London, United Kingdom – Apollo Hammersmith
- Sun 09/13/09 Basel, Switzerland – Festsaal Messe Basel
- Mon 09/14/09 Munich, Germany – Circus Krone Bau
- Tue 09/15/09 Zurich, Switzerland – Kongresshaus Zurich
- Thu 09/17/09 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Heineken Music Hall
- Sun 09/20/09 Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Theatre
- Mon 09/21/09 Oslo, Norway – Sentrum Scene
- Thu 09/24/09 Prague, Czech Republic – Prague Congress Centre
- Fri 09/25/09 Vienna, Austria – Wiener Stadthalle
- Sun 09/27/09 Hamburg, Germany – Laeiszhalle
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
Amazon.com mp3 downloads
Creative Commons
This blog and concert photos therein are licensed under a Creative Commons License. Available with Attribution for Non-Commercial, Non-Derivative Use.
pacificlectic : concert reviews & eclectic music news 