Daily Loaf

A weekly bulletin about who’s playing on late night TV; set your TIVOs or DVRs if you’ve got an early bedtime. See a day missing? No musical guest that night…

The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Monday, August 31: Dirty Projectors
Tuesday, September 1: Black Crowes (which plays Ruth Eckerd Hall October 7)
Thursday, September 3: John Fogerty
Friday, September 4: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (pictured)

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, NBC
Monday, August 31: Pitbull (the Miami rap artist plays The Ritz this Friday, September 4)
Tuesday, September 1: Cheap Trick (read Gabe’s write up and see Mike Wilson’s pics from their August 14 show with Poison and Def Leppard at Ford Amp) Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s recommended releases as well as a breakdown of other worthy albums available now.

Vinyl:

Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
The band’s third album is a set of songs both heavier and lush than in previous efforts but still full of the Monkeys’ punch and vitality.

Jeff Beck – Beck-Ola
Jeff Beck – Truth
Exact replicas now available on pristine HQ-180 vinyl. Taken from the original analog master tapes.

Chocolate Watch Band – No Way Out
Chocolate Watch Band – Inner Mystique
Hailing from San Jose, Calif., the Watch Band — featuring the pouting, Mick Jagger-influenced lead vocals of Dave Aguilar, the thrilling guitars of Sean Tolby and Mark Loomis, the solid bass of Bill Flores and the thumping drums of Gary Andrijasevich — made all the right scenes in San Jose, including appearances with the Syndicate of Sound and Count Five.

John Fogerty – Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again
Among the special guests are Bruce Springsteen.

Fugazi – 3 Songs 7″
Remastered.

Woody Guthrie – Woody, Cisco And Sonny
Woody Guthrie – Woody The Agitator
Woody Guthrie – Woody’s Roots
Woody Guthrie – Woody’s Greatest Hits
Classic Guthrie vinyl reissues — now available.

Jet – Shaka Rock
bass, drums, guitars and vocals.

Willie Nelson – American Classic

Pearl Jam – The Fixer 7″
Two new tracks from their upcoming album on white vinyl with glow-in-the-dark ink on the label!

Chuck Ragan/Brian Fallon split 7″
They of Hot Water Music and Gaslight Anthem fame, respectively.

Reigning Sound – Love and Curses
New release — now available on vinyl.

The Smiths – The Smiths
The Smiths – Meat Is Murder
The Smiths – Queen is Dead
The Smiths – Strangeways Here We Come
180 gram vinyl reissues. Remastering supervised by Johnny Marr. Read the rest of this entry »

All photos by Mike Wilson.

Remember the days when you, a wide-eyed high school student, were starved for entertainment? Remember when going to a “rock concert” (a phrase that’s sadly, never really heard anymore) was a real event? The crowd at the Ford Amphitheatre sure remembered those days. And they got to relive them for one night this past Friday.

The mostly 35-plus crowd that packed Ford Amp to near-sellout capacity all seem to be there for the same reason: to re-live their youths and to cheer on bands that have dominated their CD collections for over two decades. The rare chance to see three bands on the same bill, each with the the ability to headline arenas in their own right was a real treat. Is it a sign of the lagging economy? Or a truly righteous move on the part of the bands to treat us, the concertgoers, to plenty of bang for our buck? In any case, what was promised was surely delivered on this hot, steamy summer night.

In a noticeable and welcome change of pace from the typical 1980’s multi-act bill, this show got off to a punctual and precise start. Tickets listed the showtime as 7 p.m., and lo-and-behold, the first band on the bill, Cheap Trick, hit the stage at 6:59. (Robin Zander pictured, more photos after the jump) Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s dispense with the gripping opening paragraph and cut to the chase, shall we? This is the text message that greeted me this otherwise lovely Saturday morning:

“I had a dream about you.”

That’s a good start. I like me them kind of text messages.

“You were mean to me in it.”

Fuck.

“You shouldn’t be mean to me in my dreams. I don’t like it.”

Well, now.

Read the rest of this entry »