May 8, 2008
The Union Forever | 'I'm Not There' DVD
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This past Tuesday, Todd Haynes' film inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan, I'm Not There, was released on DVD and I got a chance to relive the excellent experiment in narrative filmmaking. Not to mention a couple of hours of Dylan songs. Most of us know Dylan as everyone knows Dylan, as the freewheeling young man singing songs of protest and rock and roll, but for those who have been on the festival circuit long enough you also know Dylan the stage performer. This reclusive, re-worked songwriter is one of the least interactive people to still get sell out crowds. It can be frustrating to watch an entire concert where the man of the hour never looks once at the audience. But, this is the point of the film, that Dylan is a man of many men and not all are pleasant. Let us examine the possibilities of music and film through the voice on Bob Dylan.
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SXSW 2009 | Music Dates Finalized
SXSW Music - March 17 - 22, 2009
Mark your calendars!
Newport Folk Fest 2008 | Trey Added to Lineup
Hot off his recent live release, Original Boardwalk Style and a solid performance last night at Jammys, it looks like Trey Anastasio will be attempting a bit of a comeback this summer:
Trey will make his debut appearance at the Newport Folk Festival this August as part of the 49th annual festival in Newport, RI. Playing a full acoustic set, it will be his first full performance in 17 months.
We briefly touched on the Newport Folk Fest lineup last week, but a comeback performance from Big Red certainly adds a bit of a twist to an already-interesting lineup.
My Morning Jacket | 2008 Tour Dates
My Morning Jacket just announced their fall tour dates. Sickness.
My Morning Jacket 2008 Tour Dates
6/13 - Bonnaroo Music Festival Manchester, TN
6/16 - Kool Haus Toronto, ON
6/17 - Le National Montreal, QC
6/20 - Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
6/25 - Leadmill Sheffield, UK
6/26 - Bristol Academy Bristol, UK
6/27 - Manchester Academy Manchester, UK
6/29 - Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury, UK
7/01 - Gruenspan Hamburg, GER
7/02 - Gebaude 9 Cologne, GER
7/04 - Rock Werchter Festival Werchter, BEL
7/06 - The Hop Farm Kent, UK
7/08 - Melkweg Amsterdam, NL
7/09 - Trabendo Paris, FRA
7/11 - The Rescue Rooms Nottingham, UK
7/13 - T in the Park Kinross, UK
7/15 - The Forum London, UK
7/19 - Benicassim Festival Valencia, SPA
7/26 - Pemberton Festival Pemberton, BC
8/16 - Waterfront Park Louisville, KY
8/18 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
8/19 - Council Bluffs, IA - Stir Cove
8/21 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater*
8/23 - Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
8/24 - Austin, TX - Stubb's
8/27 - Atlanta, GA - Fox Theater
8/29 - Miami, FL - The Fillmore Miami Beach
8/30 - Orlando, FL - House of Blues
8/31 - Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
9/2 - Charlottesville, VA - Charlottesville Pavilion
9/3 - Washington, DC - Constitution Hall
9/5 - Philadelphia, PA - Festival Pier at Penn's Landing
9/6 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion
9/19 - San Francisco, CA - Greek Theatre
9/21 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
9/23 - Phoenix, AZ - Marquee Theatre
9/24 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint
9/25 - San Diego, CA - SDSU Open Air Theatre
9/27 - Portland, OR - McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater
9/28 - Seattle, WA - McCaw Hall
10/2 - Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre
10/3 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater
10/4 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore
10/9 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
10/10 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
* with the Black Keys
Jammys Quick Highlights
The 7th Jammy Awards hit the WaMu Theater last night where everyone in attendance was treated to a Phish reunion. That reunion did not include music, however. All four members stood together to receive the Lifetime Achievement Jammy for their contributions to the scene. Although the theater was buzzing with the anticipation of Phish playing together again, it didn't happen.
The night did end with some Phish music, though. The HeadCount All-Stars - a super group made up of Jon Gutwillig and Mark Brownstein of the Disco Biscuits, Jake Cinninger of Umphrey's McGee, Kyle Hollingsworth of String Cheese Incident and Joe Russo of The Duo - ended the night with a set dedicated to the band. The set looked something like this: Wilson, Run Like An Antelope > 2001, Maze (via gadiel's twitters).
Other highlights included Leslie West jamming out with Rose Hill Drive on "MIssissippi Queen," Doug E. Fresh beat boxing and getting the crowd moving with Galactic as his backing band, and Trey Anastasio making faces during "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" with the Fab Faux.
Photos © Paul Kanterman
Jam Cruise 7 | Lineup Announced
The seventh annual Jam Cruise will set sail January 4-9, 2009, and they've announced the 2009 lineup:
Les Claypool
Medeski, Martin & Wood
Michael Franti feat. Jay Bowman
Keller Williams with Moseley, Droll and Sipe
Galactic Cruise Crewe (featuring Big Sam, Walter "Wolfman" Washington & Trombone Shorty)
Leftover Salmon
Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
Martin Sexton
the New Deal
Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk
Emmitt-Nershi Band
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Garage A Trois
Lettuce
Porter, Batiste & Stoltz
New Mastersounds
Bonerama
The Lee Boys
The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker
DJ Rekha
Brock Butler
We've always heard great things about the party that the Jam Cruise folks throw each year on this big old boat. This lineup looks very solid, with some pretty typical heavy hitters from the festival scene, and many bands leaning towards jazzy/funky territory. If you're curious about what the heck goes on during the voyage, they've add a cool video module to their site to give you a taste.
Good stuff, but it's tough for me to plan even one month in advance, let alone nearly 8 months. Anybody already got Jam Cruise 7 in their vacation plans for next year?
May 7, 2008
Blog PSA: Register to Vote
We're going to take a moment from our regularly scheduled programming to drop a little call-to-action that I'd hope our whole audience can really get behind.
Have you registered to vote yet? I still need to fill out my paperwork considering I just made the move out West, but I've at least started the process. Sadly, I still know some people that don't ever vote or don't ever care to get involved in this process. You can bet that all of these same people have certainly complained about our current standing President at some point over the past seven years, and rather than let it irk me I'm using that as motivation to help spread the good word that this is something that's easier than people assume it to be. You can even signup when you go see your favorite band on tour this summer, thanks to HeadCount's latest artist partnerships...
My Morning Jacket, Santana, Wilco, Ani DiFranco and The Decemberists have also become aligned with the organization, joining longtime supporters such as Dave Matthews Band, The Allman Brothers Band and members of The Grateful Dead and Phish. HeadCount’s army of volunteers will stage voter registration drives at over 1,000 concerts this year, with a goal or registering at least 100,000 voters.
If you haven't already, please sign up to vote and stop bitching about not being able to do anything with your voice and how you never get your way. You can vote...and then you can complain that the system sucks! Then, at least you can say that you're participating.
Previously: A Call to Action, Live Music and Charity
The Police Announce Final Show Ever in NYC
The Police have announced that final concert they will play as a band will be in New York City, the same city that hosted the band's first state-side concert back in 1978.
The Police and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today (May 6) announced at a press conference in Times Square the band's final concert ever, to be held in New York on a date still to be revealed in August.
It's all for a good cause, as the band is hoping the concert will help raise money for the local public programming affiliates. They're also planning on donating $1 million to the MillionTreesNYC initative to help plant trees around the city, with the Mayor agreeing to match their $1 million with the same contribution themselves.
I wonder what the ticket prices are going to look like, but more importantly, I wonder what the Craigslist/Ebay ticket prices are going to skyrocket to after the tickets are sold-out of the box office. All for a good cause, right?
May 6, 2008
Coachella, Jazz Fest Recaps
Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav climbing the rafters during their set at Coachella 2008. Awesome.
Our site was bugging out a bit this morning and we lost our comments for a bit, so if you tried to leave us some comments early this morning you may have noticed. Or maybe you were just looking for photos and other stuff from Coachella this year, the annual indie fest that absolutely killed it this year to wide critical acclaim (yet again). The dudes at Hidden Track did a fantastic job of rounding everything up, which I completely forgot to link to until now. So there's the link, better late than never.
Somewhat related to that -- we didn't roundup the end of Jazzfest 2008 either, the annual gumbo, mud-bug, and music celebration down in New Orleans. I really only read what the NY Times had going, including a great mention of the set by The Bad Plus.
“That was a song called ‘Mint,’” said Ethan Iverson at the Jazz tent not long into the afternoon set by the Bad Plus. “It’s in perfect condition.”
He made that exact same joke when I saw the band last year at Old Town School of Folk Music. He probably wore the exact same suit, too.
On the festival itself, I keep hearing good things about this but I just can't bring myself to get down there for the entire thing. I'm already finding myself booked on vacation and other personal fun time, so until we can do this blog thing full-time, we'll just have to live vicariously through other blogs living vicariously through the music fans.
Tokyo Police Club @ Metro, Chicago 5/5/08
Poster by Nemo Design
I was a bit skeptical heading into the Metro last night to see Tokyo Police Club. The show wasn't sold out, so I didn't think the room would be full. The band has toured consistently since forming in 2005 with a few breaks to record a couple of EP's and their debut LP, so I thought they would run through the set and get out of town. Plus, they come with a lot of hype and hype usually ruins expectations, but I was trying to look past the fact that despite releasing their debut LP only a couple weeks ago, they are headlining the Metro. I came back to one question: How did I end up in the Metro with these guys from Canada? Well, at about 11PM, I submitted to the power of the internet, acknowledged my shortcomings as a jaded individual, and realized that Tokyo Police Club is a good band.
Print Tease | Arcade Fire - Burlesque of North America
In Drymount! and Print Tease I've looked at artists and bands who have had long productive relationships. Pearl Jam and Ames Bros. have been working together for over 10 years; Rob Jones shapes the White Stripe's image almost as much as Jack White does. Another really fruitful combination has been indie-favorite The Arcade Fire and Minneapolis printing outfit Burlesque of North America.
There were a lot of Print Tease worthy prints released this week, including some choice prints from Emek, Jermaine, Jay Ryan and others. But I went with this latest Arcade Fire print to show once again how an artist can shape a bands larger identity.
May 5, 2008
Jammys Are Coming!
This Wednesday night is the 7th Annual Jammy Awards and we're getting ready with team coverage. Beginning at 5pm, Justin and Whit will have exclusive coverage from the Red Carpet. Want to know who Warren Haynes is wearing? They're on it.
Um, no. However, Sam and I will be there to cover the entire evening's festivities.
As we noted in March, the lineup is crammed full of talent. As a photographer, what a great opportunity to shoot so many different people in one night.
As a fan, I'm looking most forward to seeing who plays with who. Sure, I'm excited to see The Fab Faux, Page McConnell, Warren Haynes, and Todd Mohr (of Big Head Todd). However, the hallmark of the Jammys has been the collaborations, seeing who plays with whom. Chevy Chase is playing with Keller Williams, that I do know. I'm curious to see who Leslie West and Doug E. Fresh end up with.
If you've got Sirius Satellite Radio, 17 JamON will have coverage beginning at 6pm.
If you're going to the show, drop us a line, let us know.
Tom Waits | Glitter and Doom Tour
One the most ineffable characters in music just announced a short summer tour with a "press conference" that is actually quite funny and was probably not attended by Fox News. According to the Anti-Records website, "Tom has just one word for you to know about his upcoming Glitter and Doom summer tour: PEHDTSCHJMBA." Check the video out below and follow the jump to the dates.
Tom Waits Press Conference Highlights [YouTube]
Vegoose Cancels Plans for 2008
In another sign (among many others) that the festival market in the US is quite oversaturated for 2008, the Vegoose Music Festival, the annual Halloween themed and timed event in Las Vegas, has announced that they will not be returning this year (via brooklynvegan).
Make other plans for Halloween in Las Vegas: The annual Vegoose Music Festival will not be presented this year. Not at the end of October or any other time.
That's a decent blow to the scene overall, if you ask me. This was a solid destination event that really seemed to have everything that should draw music festival patrons in, except maybe the lineup last year to really support traveling to the festival. Still, it's sad to see Superfly and A.C. Entertainment shutting down an event. Here's to hoping they're just going to take that energy and reinvest it in another event -- hopefully not a bigger Bonnaroo -- and we'll hope to hear more from that camp soon when they give us an official answer on why the decision was made to forgo the festival plans for 2008. For now, all we have is the guy in charge of the arena saying that it isn't happening there and that he doesn't know what the promoters want to do yet. Bummer.
Fleet Foxes | 2008 Tour Dates
One of my new favorite bands, Fleet Foxes, has been getting a lot of attention lately that I never really noticed until a friend recommended them to me. They've got a sound reminiscent of Band of Horses and My Morning Jacket; a bit folk, a bit rock, and a whole lotta vocal harmonies that pierce the soul.
They just finalized their summer tour dates, and they apparently just added a new member to the band, too. Maybe they're picking up the buzz that us blogs are putting down, because this definitely seems like a move towards confidence in the project continuing forward. I predict a big year for these guys above and beyond what other bloggers have already predicted. They've got a slot at the Pitchfork Music Fest this summer, which is always a vote of confidence from the scene that these guys have a bright future ahead of them.
I really dig the sound myself, and I really think it seems to transfer well live. I haven't seen them myself yet, but on the live recordings it comes off really well.
Read on for the tour dates. Who else is a fan like me?
Neil Diamond | 2008 Tour Dates
Forever in Blue Jeans [YouTube]
Weekly Roundup
The week is just about to begin, so it's time again for our roundup on all the stuff we posted this past week. Also, if you're around Cleveland, OH on Wednesday night, you might want to check this out...
Critically acclaimed band The Black Keys will perform a special intimate MySpace Secret Show, Wednesday, May 7 at the tiny, 170 person capacity Beachland Tavern in Cleveland Ohio.
Sick. I just got their latest album, Attack and Release, and it's pretty sweet all around.
May 4, 2008
Spoon @ Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale 4/16/08
Our man down in Florida, Drew Gerlach, is back with another review from a Spoon show he saw last month. Drop him some comments if you agree or disagree with his assessments -- Spoon live tends to be a topic of discussion with many live music enthusiasts.
I decided to kick off my “Endless” Concert summer a little early with Spoon at Revolution last week. Walking into Revolution, a 1,000 person capacity rock venue, I was transplanted into hipster heaven. Surrounded mostly by black t-shirts and tight jeans, I stuck out like a sore thumb with my white shirt proclaiming “Wilco Now." But any stereotypes were quickly thrown out the window and I rapidly made friends with my fellow Spoon lovers. The general sentiment seemed to be that people were just happy to get some quality indie bands in our neck of the woods.
CONCERT.TV
Even though Whit wrote about them a while back, I haven't really followed the live music world as shown through the eyes of CONCERT.TV. They're probably the biggest distribution channel out there right now (besides YouTube), considering they have cable and satellite provider partnerships that allow them to reach into the audiences that still only consume their media via television. But these guys don't really make a whole lot of noise or get any attention for a pretty decent web presence -- I'm surprised I don't see people linking to this stuff more often. Although I'm not too surprised considering the way the site was designed; it's mostly Flash-based (and therefore impossible to search for stuff) and none of the videos can be embedded on blogs or fan MySpace pages due to "exclusive" rights granted in the artist contracts.
So there you have it. A great site that doesn't really seem to be connecting with the community of people consuming its content, because people can't comment or embed this content elsewhere (where they might be commenting and engaging with the content already). It's great content and I shouldn't complain because I get to watch these videos for free, but it's just not going to make too many dents into the long-tail of highly engaged music audiences if you don't let us web users choose how we want to view this content. The key for these guys will be to start opening up their archives for free embedding while looking at the sponsor or ad-supported music model that would allow their content to get monetized while staying mobile. That's my wish, I guess.
Still, give it a look if you're sick of browsing your other online video outlets. I've been enjoying the Jammuary channel, especially this version of "Orch Theme" from the Disco Biscuits' latest live DVD, Progressions
Downloads | Fleet Foxes, Animal Collective, Coachella...
Happy weekend, folks. I've been sitting on a couple great download links for a while without sharing, so it's only fitting that I roundup a couple for your leisurely weekend downloading pleasure.
- STS9 @ METAMO.07.01, METAMO.07.02 - These two podcasts from STS9 are the uncut sets they performed on their last trek over to Japan. From start to finish, these are an amazing representation of the band's sound these days, one that is constantly pushing the boundaries of live, electronic music to more than just the Untz. [via STS9's Podcasts]
- Fleet Foxes @ The Hi-Dive, Denver 4/14/08 - If the only criticism I've ever read about these guys is that they sound too much like Band of Horses and/or Jim James and My Morning Jacket, well I really have no problem with that at all. [via Ohmpark]
- 2008 Coachella Live Music Downloads & Streams - As always, Largehearted Boy does a fantastic roundup of all the cool stuff you can download from Coachella. I'd nab the Holy Fuck and Animal Collective sets right away. [via Largehearted Boy]
- Animal Collective @ Coachella 2008 - This is a four-song powerhouse from AC, including a solid cover of "Comfy in Nautica," one of the tracks from the Panda Bear debut, Person Pitch. Even though this stuff is pushing on a year old by now, it still feels new and fresh to me. It's an approach to music that I hadn't otherwise considered but it has elements that feel familiar. The whole concept of flowing your songs into one giant concert sound is something you see the jambands do quite regularly, and the indie bands I relate to seem to get this concept as a tenet of performing live. [via Deaf Indie Elephants]
- Holy Fuck @ SXSW 2008, Brooklynvegan party - Sadly, I wasn't really able to pay as much attention during this set as I would have hoped for. Once I went back and gave this set a listen, I'm absolutely blown away by the sound these guys put out. During a headlining slot at the day party, they got the most room to stretch out and really show the crowd what they're sound is all about. Download now. [via Lullabyes.net]
On that last one mentioned above, I think my favorite track from the whole show was the third one in.
Give it a sample above or watch this clip from the show. The angle on the video is killer; you can only see a silhouette of the band based on the angle of the sun. And at about 2:00 minutes in, try and stop yourself from pumping your first and rockin' along with the tunes. So good.
