Crib Notes

The flier don’t lie. The Scion Rock Fest at the Masquerade’s outdoor Music Park on Sat., Feb. 28th is going to be a free, ticketed show and the line-up is truly astounding.

There’s a lot of clamor clogging up the blog world right now from people who are wondering where they can get tickets. Criminal Records and Decatur CD both have them for sure. A more comprehensive list of where to get tickets will be made a available at LambGoat.com on Thurs., Jan. 22.

Earlier this afternoon I was waiting in line at Criminal Records when a couple of kids asked about tickets. The clerk said that they are limited to two per customer and the recipients had to leave their e-mail address on file with them…

The Masquerade is located at 695 North Ave. 404-577-8178. Doors open at noon and close at midnight.

***Update***

According to Criminal Records’ weekly newsletter:

Go to the Scion Rock Fest website and give them your e-mail address (yep, that’s the catch!). And then, Scion will send you a confirmation e-mail on 1/28 (or some date thereabouts). You print out that e-mail and bring it in for your tickets. For reals.

Bookmark to:

Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher (pictured second from left) has been hospitalized in London as of Nov. 3. while embarking on the bands current European Unholy Alliance Chapter 3 tour. Doctors continue monitoring his condition which is said to be improving.

For the time being Mastodon is continuing on as a trio and are hopeful that Kelliher will rejoin the group in time for their headlining tour of Europe which begins Nov 30, in Utrecht, Holland.

Details as to why he was hospitalized are sketchy at best, though Spin.com reports that a spokesperson for the band says “At this point all we know is that Bill was not feeling well upon arrival to the UK and went to the hospital where doctors are running tests now.”

More details will be reported as they develop.

Photo courtesy of Mastodon

Bookmark to:

This weekend Pitchfork posted a short video documentary that features Brann Dailor and Troy Sanders from Mastodon discussing the ins and outs of life on the road and their forthcoming album, Crack the Skye. The video ends with a  short video of their Halloween show at the Hammersmith Apollo in London.

Bookmark to:

Mastodon announced today that the tile for their forthcoming full-length is Crack the Skye, which is due for an early 2009 release.

The seven-song album is the follow-up to 2006’s Blood Mountain, and will clock in at 50-minute. The songs were recorded at Southern Tracks Studios in Atlanta  with producer Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC) at the controls.

The group will once again join forces with artist Paul Romano for the album’s cover art which is reportedly epic and involves an eyeball. Multiple packaging formats are expected to be lavish. Details are forthcoming.

Crack the Skye track listing:

1. Oblivion
2. Divinations
3. Quintessence
4. The Czar
I. Usurper
II. Escape
III. Martyr
IV. Spiral
5. Ghost of Karelia
6. Crack The Skye
7. The Last Baron

In the meantime Mastodon is gearing up to head over to Europe to share the spotlight with Metallica for their summer 2009 tour.

Tour dates include:

6/14 – Hartwall Arena – Helsinki, FIN
6/15 – Hartwall Arena – Helsinki, FIN
6/17 – Spektrum – Oslo, NOR
6/22 – Datch Forum – Milan, ITA
6/24 – Palalottomatica – Rome, ITA
7/13 – Palacio de Deportes – Madrid, Spain
7/16 – Hallenstadion – Zurich, SWITZ
7/20 – Copenhagen Forum – Copenhagen, DEN
7/22 – Copenhagen Forum – Copenhagen, DEN
7/23 – Copenhagen Forum – Copenhagen, DEN
7/27 – Copenhagen Forum – Copenhagen, DEN

More dates to be announced soon.

Photo by Jimmy Hubbard

Bookmark to:

Last week Rolling Stone’s “Rock and Roll Daily” blog posted an interview with Mastodon’s guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds. In the interview Hinds explains how the head injuries he incurred as the result of being attacked at the VMA’s in Las Vegas last year pushed Mastodon to pursue a more melodic direction with their forthcoming album.

According to the story:

“I was dizzy for eight months… During those months, I just sat with my acoustic and a little marijuana, and wrote all the music. I wanted a more melodic, easy-listening situation, and that definitely came from having head trauma.”

From there the group sought out producer Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, AC/DC) to help flesh out the reportedly melodic but heavy as hell sound of Mastodon’s next record.

Read the full story here.

Hinds’ recent run-in with King Khan at the Highland Inn Ballroom in Atlanta (and ensuing witch hunt) hasn’t churned out any musical epiphanies or led to any fortuitous pairings with producers just yet, but give it time…

(Photo by Jimmy Hubbard)

Bookmark to:

Bearded and bespectacled comedian Brian Posehn has appeared everywhere from episodes of Seinfeld to the Sarah Silverman Program, and is an original fixture on the Comedians of Comedy tour. His stand-up routines draw from observations about things that most dudes don’t really like talking about in public.  His hulking, 6-foot. 6-in. frame, self-embraced nerd persona and unapologetic love of heavy metal and horror films make him all the more endearing and awkward. Posehn draws strength from his attributes with Samson-like finesse. His low-energy delivery and slow demeanor from joke-to-punch line make his skits all the more genius.

Chad Radford:  A lot of your material comes from observations about male insecurities regarding appearance, sex, drugs, Slayer, masturbation… Have you ever been in the middle of an act and noticed that the crowd stopped laughing at your jokes?

Brian Posehn:  Yeah, it happens. Now the trouble spots seem to be smaller and more isolated than in my early years where I would lose the whole crowd. Now it’s one lady with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face while her husband is losing his mind laughing at my fart and wiener jokes. Or it’s a Bachelorette party who thinks I’m gross. Or a dumb hammered guy with a brand new baseball cap who just decided to have a bad time. And now he’s daring me to make him laugh.

How do you save it?

I just have confidence in the material I save for the latter part of my act. Especially if it’s someone in a couple I know I’ve got some relatable relationship material. If that doesn’t get her, she sucks. Just kidding. And sometimes I never win them back. The guy in the baseball cap will hate me no matter what I say.

Where do you draw the line in terms of how far you push the limits each night?

I usually feel it out. If they are tight, I won’t do certain jokes. I’ll do bits that are proven crowd-pleasers. If it’s a rock club or a Comedians of Comedy show I usually have a little more room and can do whatever I want.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

The inimitable Arish “King” Khan made a surprise appearance at The Highland Inn Lounge last night for the weekly Kirkwood Ballers Club open mic night. The place was packed, spirits were high and Khan, who flew to Atlanta from Berlin, played guitar and sang in an impromptu set with Bobby Ubangi (vocals / tamborine), Frank Jenson (drums), Jessica Juggz (drums), and a guest appearance by Brent Hinds from Mastodon who also played guitar.

The legendary pairing of the king and the behemoth on one stage together seemed to be working just fine as they pounded their way through a few, sloppy garage rock numbers, including a cover of the song, “G–L–O–R–I–A.” The crowd loved it. The band was all smiles and at one point Arish even dumped a beer out on Brent’s head, but it all looked like it was in good fun.

However, the mood changed drastically when shortly after the set, Khan took a fist to the face from Brent, that resulted in a trip to the hospital.

The formerly amicable party atmosphere turned into somewhat of a witch hunt, but Brent had left the building.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

According to reports from the metal site Blabbermouth.net, a statement released from Mastodon’s management confirms that guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds sustained a serious head injury after the Atlanta band’s MTV VMA performance:

Mastodon guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds suffered a severe head injury after his performance on Sunday night’s [Sept. 9] MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas. He is being treated by a Las Vegas hospital where he remains hospitalized.

We have no credible source to confirm whether Hinds’ injury was the result of a physical assault, as has been rumored. The YouTube clip below features the Atlanta metal band’s VMA performance of “Colony of Birchmen” with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age making a guest appearance.

We’ll update you as reliable information becomes available.

Bookmark to:

Just as I thought I’d be plastered by guilt for not attending Corndogorama, I can truly say I enjoyed the show, even if I wasn’t actually there.

Around 10:35 p.m. last night, Mastodon’s “Colony of Birchmen” breezed into my open bedroom window — more than a mile away from Lenny’s.

The guys in the band can officially brag, “You could hear us all the way on Moreland!”

(Photo by Mike White, www.deadlydesigns.com)

Bookmark to:

Corndogorama 11: Stick to the Future opened with a bang last night at Lenny’s Bar. And even though there wasn’t a headlining act, the venue — and the parking lot — was filled with people. I only stayed for an hour, and when I left I could barely drive out of the lot because incoming cars kept blocking my path. It’s an early indication that festival founder David Railey will silence his doubters (admittedly, I was one of them) big time this weekend. For more information on this year’s Corndogorama, refer to Chad Radford’s story in this week’s issue here.

The highlight of the evening was a reunion set by Fiend Without a Face, the power-rock/punk-metal group that spawned Mastodon. The three band members took to the stage wearing red Masonic Temple hats and pantyhose over their heads, and unleashed a killer 45-minute set of hard rock. Great stuff. Mastodon will perform with considerably more fanfare Sunday, July 15, Corndogorama’s closing night.

Bookmark to: