Posted by Eric Snider on May. 19, 2009, at 4:23 pm
He was the bespectacled white kid from the suburbs trying to sit in with musical legends in New Orleans. But instead of getting the cold shoulder, drummer Stanton Moore was welcomed on the bandstand by any number of prominent players. And the crowd dug him, too.
Stanton Moore Trio, Thurs., May 28, 8 p.m., Crowbar, Ybor City. $10.
“To tell you the truth, when I was coming up and they’d let me sit in, the regulars at the bar would be, ‘Listen to the white kid,’” Moore says by cell phone on his way to a recording session in the Crescent City. “They’d be dancing and egging me on. They were real supportive.”
It probably wouldn’t have gone quite so well if young Stanton had sucked. But from an early age, he committed to learning the distinctive, tricky and at times peculiar nuances of the New Orleans drumming style. (See his video demonstrations at the bottom of this post.)
“I had a great guy who taught me the basic rudiments,” Moore says. “But it was a real challenge to go from that to learning from [storied NOLA drummer Johnny Vidacovich] to loosen up. But I was determined. I really worked on how to loosen it up and apply it to my drum set.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Leilani Polk on May. 18, 2009, at 2:55 pm
Dozens and dozens of acts will make it onto Tampa Bay area concert stages this summer. Here’s our best bets, in a wide range of genres.
Stanton Moore The bespectacled founder of NOLA funk purveyors Galactic is widely regarded as one of the best drummers currently drawing air. This show has him in a trio setting with estimable guitarist Will Bernard and keyboardist Robert Walter. The small ensemble allows room for Moore to strut his Crescent City-honed skills. Expect expansive jamming and finely honed interplay. (Video: Stanton Moore Trio performing at Emerald Lounge in Asheville, N.C., Sept. 10, 2008.) (May 28, Crowbar, Ybor City)—Eric Snider
Sunday, May 31 WMNF Jazz Jam feat. Sam Rivers/PBS/World Afro-Cuban Ensemble/Infinite Groove Orchestra/Impromptu/Trio Vibe/others TBA Tampa Bay’s community radio station has been putting together more jazz events of late — thank you for that — this being one of the more ambitious. Saxophonist Sam Rivers, 83, was once a front-rank player on the New York (and thus international) avant-garde scene. He’s settled into legendhood well, living in Orlando and taking gigs as he pleases. A potpourri of locally-based acts rounds out the bill. (May 31, Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) —ESRead the rest of this entry »
One of the best things about being one of the hosts of The Merry Andrews Show is having the opportunity to introduce listeners to new music — but being introduced to new music by my fellow co-hosts is the real treat. For the hour that we record the show, we get to not only play the role of “host” but also the role of “listener” as we all surprise each other with our music choices.
On Episode 8, Ashley featured the song “Mystical” by Philadelphia based goddess, Birdie Busch, and I was hooked. She is the perfect combination of Ingrid Michaelson, Feist, and Jaymay mixed with some sprinkles and home made whipped cream.
Ashley recently asked Birdie about her influences and she explained, “I guess it would be best to say that ‘the time’ I spent with my grandmother was a huge influence. When I began to hang with her on a more regular basis, only then did I start to realize and open myself to the art of true chillin’.” She went on to add, “Not necessarily the chillin’ you think with a beer and a beach, but more like sitting by the kitchen window so you could look at the leaves outside. Since my grandmother was quite old and immobile when we came to develop this friendship, we would spend a lot of time in seats and I started to have to think of life as something I wasn’t going towards but something that was right there with me. She’d show me old photos, or we’d organize her handkerchief drawer, which was pretty impressive.” Birdie continued, “I cherished the importance of bringing joy and peace to someone who very simply adored the friendship. There was a moment where I realized she could very well spend her last years alone on a couch watching TV and I wasn’t going to allow that to happen to her. I really believe the best songs come from just letting life in at all sides and then the thoughts, stories, and songs come along like gifts.” (MUSIC AFTER THE JUMP)Read the rest of this entry »
Camera in hand, I gently elbowed my way to the front of the crowd as Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa were setting up in the Cuban Club Cantina. If it wasn’t for the camera I probably would not have made it that close to the stage ’cause so many had already staked out that prime real estate, for what one woman informed me was, “the most cultural,” band at this year’s Tropical Heatwave.
I will spare you dictonary.com’s definition of the word cultural. But the comment made me smile, after a few songs I headed upstairs to the ballroom to check out Blair Carman and the Bellview Boys. In less than two minutes, three flights of stairs, I had gone from the rapt attention of beautiful laid back African jams to piano pounding swing dancing rockabilly. That variety is why I love Heatwave, and why it cracks me up when one person will tell me that one band is more, “cultural,” than another.
Posted by Leilani Polk on May. 17, 2009, at 6:52 pm
Last night, Photographer Phil and I played Heatwave Hopscotch, skipping from stage to stage, pausing longer at some than at others though never staying long enough to get comfortable in any one place, and having a grand old time all along the way.
We cruised into Heatwave around 9 p.m., missing the monsoon and arriving just in time to catch a snatch of blues guitarist Michael Burks at the Bandshell before we landed in the Cantina for Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa. (Kinobe pictured, photo by Phil Bardi.)
We were in our spot two seconds and one sip into our drinks before we were befriended by a pair of jolly 40ish Bradenton gals (I nicknamed them Angel and Curly), who immediately pushed a few Ace’s Lounge cards on us, then admitted to being friends with the owner. Angel went on to extol all Ace’s virtues (she called it the “Skipper’s Smokehouse of Bradenton”) and about the hotel conveniently located right across the street, the Jimmy Buffett-themed Parrot Inn. You could virtually make a night of it – see a show at the famed Ace’s, stumble over to the Parrot and get a room, hit Bradenton Beach the next day if your head’s still attached. (Angel admitted she’d already booked a room for Red Elvises in October.) Then she and Phil started chatting about photography and her husband’s new hobby of taking pics of the sky through his mega-high tech telescope, and how Saturn was so clear right now that you could see its moons. When Phil ducked away to take pics, Angel latched onto me, and told me about how excited she was to see some world music, the greatness of what we were seeing while we were seeing it, the lady who scooted into the huge spot in front of us and whether she was a temporary or permanent stopper. I ran into Van, spotted a dude who was a deadringer for Donald Sutherland, enjoyed a few songs worth of the warm and buoyant Ugandan music, then snagged Phil and dragged him to the Ballroom. (Many more pics and tidbits after the jump.)Read the rest of this entry »
The early evening monsoon that struck Saturday had the bands at New World Brewery running late. No worries, the music never really stopped, and though the rains would let up, the crowd would not. Packed in on the porch, those in attendance witnessed some of the best central Florida music.
The first set I caught was by the so-called “folk experimental” threesome of Lauris Vidal. The instruments may have been experimental and folk based — Vidal played everything from a homemade, wooden slide guitar to an electric banjo — but these guys are a crisp, blues-rock band. What sets them apart, though, is their use of dub & reggae influences to create a more syncopated sound.
Roppongi’s Ace rocked the mustaches off faces with their style of southern rock. I missed Ted Lukas and the Misled for some Cuban Club acts, but got back to catch the start of Will Quinlan and the Diviners’ set. These guys — simply put — are good shit. GreyMarket changed the pace, breaking out a light show & laptops to turn in a quite excellent guitar & drum driven electro rock set. (Pictured: GreyMarket guitarist Cave McCoy; photo by Phil Bardi, no glow added.)
The Sheiks played a solid, but ultimately unmemorable post-rock set giving way to a surprise late-night show featuring Johnny Cakes and the Four Horsemen of the Apacolypso. They opened up Heatwave at the Ballroom stage — I’m not sure how that set went over, but 1:30 a.m. at a still raging New World felt like a better time slot for the high-energy — and highly dirty — ska band. Read the rest of this entry »
@autopsy4:Made it to Ybor. Have I mentioned how much I hate driving to Tampa?
I arrived to Ybor late and famished due to the traffic jam the rest of the world refers to as Tampa. After getting my access secured and a whiskey inside of me I started to settle down and headed to the Cantina for some of the Southern rock sounds of Mojo Gurus. I only managed to catch their last 3 songs but that was all I needed. The blistering rock mixed with the whiskey were getting me where I need it to be and all I needed at this point was a hot dog and I was gonna be fixed.
@autopsy4: Mojo Gurus crushed. Thomas Wynn next.
On my way out of the Cantina I bumped into some old friends and decided a double whiskey and catching up was gonna have to suffice as food. While the double put a beating on my wallet, it was exactly what the head was wanting and I was exactly where I needed to be as Thomas Wynn & The Believers took the stage. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Van McCourt on May. 17, 2009, at 11:53 am
So — right off the bat I wasn’t there on time to see the Mojo Gurus. Sorry gurus. Then, as the rain poured down, the next band went on. That band was Thomas Wynn & the Believers, and they had a real good time at Tropical Heatwave. I didn’t get to see them have that good time because the fire Marshall wouldn’t let me in.
Sigh. But Mr. Wynn said the folks at WMNF were nothing but nice, the crowd was responsive & “wonderful”, and that it was really great to be able to play in an environment that was so supportive of the occassional 7-minute-long version of a regularly 3-minute song. Sure wish I would have caught ‘em. Actually, this is the second time in as many months that I have accidentally missed them. Lucky for me they’ll be back on June 5 at New World Brewery with the Beauvilles & Shawn Fisher. Read the rest of this entry »
Sunday night rock ‘n’ roll shows: difficult to book, annoying to promote and hard to get people to leave their comfortable homes and come out for bands they may not have heard about. My band Blast and the Detergents last played a Sunday night show a couple months ago at Crowbar opening for amazing touring band, Pontiak, and “gets more Tampa shows than I do” Orlando band Kingsbury.
(Another band played and I can’t remember their name — kind of Hootie and the Blowfish-sounding singer songwritery stuff… not my bag). Anyway, the show turned out great because the DJ played some really great classic punk and rock ‘n’ roll junk, Pontiak owned and I got to play, which I always enjoy regardless of crowd size or reception.
However, I always feel bad when I fail to deliver the promise of beer drinkers for these dive bars that put up with my crazy sound. Sundays, this memorable Crowbar night included, challenge the notion of profit for these beer holes.
On the other hand, touring band always need a place to play on Sundays, and with the notorious Atlanta tour cutoff we usually cry about down here, I am satisfied when a band I like plays any night of the week down this way in our chatty little twin cities.
Chapel Hill underground rockers Americans in France destroyed the Emerald last year (I think it was a Thursday) with one-man garage-rock band Pinche Gringo (he covered The Gories, for Christ’s sake) and now they are returning to our fair sprawl. I am bringing them into bombed-out downtown Tampa’s little bar/venue Kelly’s Pub this Sunday, May 17 around 8 or 9 p.m. (you know how these things go).
Posted by Nick Truden on May. 16, 2009, at 3:00 am
A while back I had heard vague and unsubstantiated rumors that Danger Mouse (one half of Gnarls Barkley) and Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) were collaborating on an album. My first reaction was something near to a cliched Napolean Dynamite “YESSSSSSSS!” The project was to be called Dark Night Of The Soul. Read the rest of this entry »
Homemade Music Symposium - This a mini-SXSW in Ybor City. That’s what we are going for. We say we have the talent. Now, let’s see the support.
The second annual symposium is offered free of charge to all Tampa Bay area musicians and the general public. The numerous seminars and workshops are focused on the business of music making and will provide area musicians assistance on how to nurture and develop careers in the modern commercial environment. Woven through the two-day schedule are a number of special live performances and showcases.
What: Homemade Music Symposium
When: June 13-14, 2009
Where: HCC-Performing Arts Building-Ybor City Campus, located at the corner of Palm Avenue and 14th Street.
Cost: Conference is free to the public. We will soon have information on a multi-venue wristband for the Night Showcases.
Audience: Panels geared towards musicians and music business issues, Night Showcases for all! (18+).
Showcase Info: Mohawk Bomb Records is hosting a showcase on June 13 at Crowbar (1812 N. 17th St., Ybor City, FL 33605) featuring Mohawk Bomb Records bands and choice local talent.
Posted by Leilani Polk on May. 15, 2009, at 4:31 pm
Just got a news release announcing the premiere of six albums on MySpace over the course of the weekend, before the albums hit stores. Here’s more info (click the links to hear the albums): Read the rest of this entry »
One of the best kept secrets in the Tampa Bay music scene is the fact that an extremely talented on-the-rise band plays semi-regularly at one of the area’s coolest locaI hotspots. I’m referring to Ft. Lauderdale fivesome The Heavy Pets and Pinellas watering hole/live music venue, Dunedin Brewery.
I cringe every time I use the term ‘jamband’ — it’s a descriptor that implies audiences full of happy wigglin’ hippies and sets full of stretched-out songs. Jambands are, in essence, those band that fuse rock, funk, jazz and weird – and like most music involving heavy mixing, sometimes the result is muddy crap. But when done right — like a suicide fountain drink — it’s the sweetest shit around.
The Heavy Pets have shuffled a few members around, notably in the rhythm section, which now features Jaco Pastorius’ son Felix on bass. (No shit!) The band is gaining some real notoriety in the jam scene, playing huge festivals like South by Southwest, Bonnaroo, Langerado and Wakarusa.
Tonight’s show is only $5; Dunedin Brewery has a heady special to go along with the heady tunes: $3 pints of IPA and Cask brews. Showtime: 11:30 pm.
NOTE: I originally posted this on ninebullets.net last month. Eilen will be on the Cuban Club Cantina stage at Tropical Heatwave tomorrow. Her set time is 7:45 to 8:45. She gets the ninebullets.net seal of approval.
When I started ninebullets.net I really didn’t listen to too many woman singers. It wasn’t a conscious decision, really, just how it played out. Eilen Jewell was one of the singers who helped break that habit with her 2008 effort, Letters From Sinners And Strangers.
When I read on songs:illinois that she was changing her sound on Sea Of Tears I got a little worried. Why mess with a good thing, I wondered. Her last CD was perfect for damned near every mood and occasion.
Posted by Eric Snider on May. 15, 2009, at 12:09 pm
Green Day 21st Century Breakdown
Reprise
It may be a quaint notion in the download era, but I still think of the Album as a distinct artistic statement. Green Day obviously agrees, because 2004’s American Idiot was a rock opera and their new one, 21st Century Breakdown, out today, is a 70-minute, three-part song cycle.
And therein lies the problem. 21st Century Breakdown, as an artistic statement, is ultimately too much of a good thing. Listening to all 18 songs becomes, at some point, burdensome — an exercise in pop-punk overload.
That the disc is essentially a big slab of agitprop set to catchy hooks and big guitars only compounds the problem. As if the title “Know Your Enemy” wasn’t evidence enough, here’s a sample lyric: “Bringing on the fury/ The choir infantry/ Revolt against the honor to obey.”
Angry, alienated sick-and-tired Green Day rail against religion, conformism, complacency, consumerism, media overload, all the usual tropes. Americans are little more than zombies. Did you know, for instance, that according to Green Day, “You’re the victim of the system/ You are your own worst enemy?”
Maybe I’m cranky, maybe I’ve heard it all, but I’m not of a mind to be preached to and berated by Billie Joe Armstrong and his wingmen. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Eric Snider on May. 15, 2009, at 9:04 am
My sleeper concert of the weekend is War, the Southern California band, formed in the late 1960s that blends flowing funk, Latin, Afrobeat and rock into a sound that has held up extremely well over the years. Case in point: Who doesn’t get a little kick in their step when they hear “Low Rider.”
Posted by Leilani Polk on May. 14, 2009, at 3:04 pm
David Hasselhoff was once unbelievably popular in Europe, especially in Germany, when his single, “Looking for Freedom,” hit number one right around the fall of the Berlin Wall. He hasn’t done much since aside from the odd acting gig and alcoholic video embarassments, though he’s done several self-satire appearances in films ranging from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movieto Dodgeball: A True Underdog Storyto Eurotrip; appeared in a parody of Baywatch in Wildboyz with David, Steve-O, and Chris Pontius. He’s even had a stage comedy made of his life in Australia, David Hasselhoff: The Musical.
Now, to the real matter of this post: the Hoff’s music video for “Jump in My Car.” According to WikiPedia, the single “…demonstrates a penchant for self-parody, this time of his performance as Michael Knight in Knight Rider. The car in the video was a black Pontiac Trans Am with a pulsing LED and an interior nearly identical to that of K.I.T.T. (this video was shot in Sydney, Australia and used a right hand drive KITT replica), including an aptly-timed use of K.I.T.T.’s seat ejection system. The video plays to a skit where he asks one of three girls to “jump in his car” to take her home. The girl initially refuses but then gets in so long as he behaves politely. She suggests that he should drive quickly, because she lives down south, “about 84 miles”. When she insists she is not joking, he asks her to leave the vehicle, but she refuses, so he resorts to using the ejector seat to cause her to exit.” Unfortunately, I wrote this post before realizing that pretty much every vid of this online has a “removed by request” in the spot where the embed code should be. So if you’re real interested, check it out here.
Posted by Leilani Polk on May. 14, 2009, at 12:58 pm
You know the economy’s bad when musicians get robbed, and the two recent occurrences in what seems to be a new trend are Jeff Ament and Gliss vocalist/guitarist Martin Klingman.
A few weeks ago, some assholes broke into the van of LA psyche rockers Gliss (who stopped here a few weeks ago) and made off with all manner of gear, including a flight case, microphones, tour shirts, several copies of their new album, Devotion Implosion, and most importantly, vocalist Martin Klingman ’70s Fender P Bass, an instrument he got from his grandfather when he was a kid.
The latest musician to suffer caught it first hand. According to reports from DeKalb County Police, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament was leaving Atlanta’s Southern Tracks recording studio on April 27 when he and another man were jumped by three masked goons with knives who’d been lurking in the nearby woods. Ament was cleaned out — the robbers took $3,000, his passport and $4,320 worth of goods. When Ament attempted escape, he was knocked down and split his head open, but didn’t require hospitalization. The robbers fled the scene in a black Nissan Maxima.
Luckily for Ament, he was only injured, not kilt. That would’ve sucked.
Posted by Leilani Polk on May. 13, 2009, at 2:39 pm
Wilco is currently streaming their new self-titled album. Check it out here.
And for your viewing pleasure, after the jump, see a video of Wilco performing “Wilco,” from the album Wilco on the Colbert Report. (Thanks, Stephen!) Read the rest of this entry »
Oklahoma is cooler than Florida! At least as far as official state rock songs are concerned. Residents declared The Flaming Lips‘ “Do You Realize?” the rock anthem of Oklahoma via an online vote. However, the Oklahoma state House rejected the resolution. Some representatives, inclined against all things cool, protested the vote, citing the band’s profanity and provocative wardrobe. A bandmember once wore a hammer & sickle t-shirt? Say it ain’t so! When all was thought lost, Gov. Brad Henry, part-time rock savior, overruled the legislature via executive order and threw his support behind the people’s choice. Oklahoma is now cool despite the best efforts of certain politicians. As for the Lips (pictured right), they are currently prepping a double album.
Posted by Vinyl Fever on May. 13, 2009, at 1:10 am
By Vinyl Fever’s Gabe Echazabal
A young music lover whose taste I respect and admire told me something shocking the other day. The kid is in his late teens and listens to some pretty cool stuff — vintage
Bowie, freaked-out Zappa and some other worthwhile contemporary artists as well. I see myself in this person … when I was 18. I couldn’t get enough music. I read about it, listened to it, tried to play it … You get the idea.
We were talking music in the aisles of Vinyl Fever and he asked me for some suggestions. Everything came to a screeching halt when, totally unprovoked, he told me he did NOT want anything by the Ramones. My jaw was still mid-drop when he twisted the knife in my soul a little deeper. “All their music sounds the same!” he announced. I don’t know if I was more shocked, saddened or confused. I mean, I just assumed, based on his level of music knowledge, that he’d already been converted to the clan from Queens. I felt like he was cheating himself out of a vital part of his adolescence by denouncing the “bruddahs” who fueled the passion and fire for music for so many teenage boys (and lots of girls too) for so long. It was as if he were telling me that he hated candy, cartoons and videogames, too.
Posted by Leilani Polk on May. 12, 2009, at 2:20 pm
Here’s the release with a few minor modifications.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
CANCELS DATES AT CRUZAN & FORD AMPHITHEATRES
Due to unforeseen production delays (lack of desire of anyone in FLA wanting them to see them — what, did we suddenly develop good taste down here?), the summer New Kids On The Block tour has made necessary changes to the tour dates and venues. Unfortunately, the concerts at Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm on Sunday May 31st and Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa on Saturday, May 30th have been cancelled. Refunds are available through point of purchase (and if you purchased them in the first place, you don’t deserve to have your convenience charges refunded). We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused (none at all, in fact, we are relieved).
Posted by Van McCourt on May. 12, 2009, at 1:20 pm
The Pack A.D. (yes, the A.D. is for After Death) is not a blues band. Sure, they probably listen to blues music (don’t a lot of people?), and they met at a gas station, but they are not a blues band. How do I know? Because I hear them rocking out my iPod right now. I think I am supposed to call them garage rock. I wish I had a garage and some money because they are coming to Tropical Heatwave and I would pay whatever for them to show up the day before, plug their equipment into my washer/dryer outlet, and play a while.
They are a duo, just guitar and drums, which I know is becoming more common now. It seems like a good idea, good band mates are hard to find. Plus reduce the number of people in the band and you can reduce some of the drama, and split the gig money in two instead of three or four. So why don’t more bands do it? Because it’s freakin’ hard! Do it wrong and you’ll just sound like you are overplaying and trying to fill empty space. Do it like The Pack A.D. and you sound like you don’t need no stinkin’ bass player. (Video and interview after the jump)
Posted by Vinyl Fever on May. 12, 2009, at 10:58 am
New Releases on VINYL:
Apostle of Hustle – Eats Darkness
Bonnie Prince Billy & Cheyenne Mize 10” – Among The Gold Cheyenne Mize and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy update six classic parlor songs from 1873-1915 by the likes of Hart Pease Banks, J.L. Molloy and Stephen C. Foster, who wrote Kentucky’s anthem, ‘My Old Kentucky Home’.
Boxcutter – Arecibo Message
Easy Star All-Stars – Lonely Hearts Dub Band LP + 7”
Los Straitjackets – Further Adventures of Los Straitjackets
NOFX – Frisbee
Overkill – Feel The Fire F*#! You and Then Limited edition colored vinyl
Rise Against – Rise Against 7”
T.I. – Dead and Gone 12” Featuring Justin Timberlake.
Various Artists – Designer Records Presents TogetherThis is the first release from this classic soul gospel catalog. It features tracks by the Jubilee Humming Birds, Union Gospel Singers, Madam Andrews and the Heavenly Echoes, and The Mosby Family Singers.Read the rest of this entry »
Cuban Club Bandshell on the Patio
This is the hallowed stage where so much Heatwave history has been made — including the mammoth Sun Ra orchestra’s landmark set in the late ’80s. I think of singer/songwriter Chuck Prophet (10:05), a WMNF and Heatwave (this is his fourth appearance) favorite, as making avant-roots music — he injects agreeable amounts of weirdness and wry humor into his grabby tunes.
Also rootsy, but more poppy, is Boston-based Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles(video below) (6:35). Her best stuff reminds me of Joan Jett with the slightest touch of twang. And if her photos are any indication, she’s easy on the eyes. Bluesman Michael Burks (8:10) hails from Little Rock and brings plenty of muscle and a wild hair. The bandshell is bookended by a couple of reggae/ska/Caribbean-style acts from Tampa Bay: Johukames Posse (5:10) and Magadog (11:55), which reconstituted not all that long ago and has greeted with open arms by the locals. —Eric Snider Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s put this in perspective: when Jane’s Addiction and Nine Inch Nails toured together for the first Lollapalooza in 1991, current high-school seniors were just being born, crying for their momma’s milk. Now NIN and Jane’s have returned to milk the cash cow one more time. Though never officially declared a reunion tour, the fact that the original four members of Jane’s Addiction – singer Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Steven Perkins – have only occasionally been in the same room together, let alone played a show, certainly made it feel like one. And that’s OK by me. Jane’s pulled the plug at the peak of their success, leaving many fans and soon-to-be-fans craving a live show.
Trent Reznor is a different story. The reclusive god of goth has been releasing albums once every five years or so and touring about the same. Then he dropped the news that this tour would be NIN’s last. Maybe that’s so, but rock stars have a penchant for breaking such promises.
So, what can you expect when two powerhouse bands schedule a big reunion/farewell tour? Overworked fog machines? Yep. Tons of faded black t-shirts? Yep. Power-packed shows filled with the greatest hits? Err.. Not so much, at least for the NIN set.
Catching many of the crowd off guard, a four-piece NIN took the stage rather early, just before 8 p.m. Reznor – dressed in a green t-shirt, black jorts and combat boots — led the band through a spirited five-song run to open to the set: “Now I’m Nothing,” “Terrible Lie,” “SIN,” “March of the Pigs” and “Piggy.” The performance lost steam as the band trudged through tracks from all over the NIN catalog. It seemed like most of the crowd — many attending their one concert of the year — were waiting for “Closer.” They didn’t get it, and seemed to be even more confused that the band chose to play an Adam Ant cover so late in the set. Reznor finally won the crowd back when he ended the set with great nostalgia (but no tripped out video) with “Head Like a Hole” and “Hurt.” (More text, pictures, setlists, and video after the jump)Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Eric Snider on May. 11, 2009, at 10:24 am
As elusive as the concept of African unity may be, Kinobe Herbert is doing his part to realize it. The 25-year-old singer/multi-instrumentalist from Uganda rejects the fragmentation of the continent’s often tradition-bound musical landscape, and instead actively seeks to incorporate influences and instruments from throughout Africa and beyond. Kinobe his band, Soul Beat Africa, play the Cuban Club Cantina Stage at Tropical Heatwave, 9:05 p.m., Saturday.(Video clips below)
“Most people in Uganda know more about America than even countries next door to them in Africa,” Kinobe (pronounced Chi-no-BAY) says by phone from a tour stop in North Carolina. “It’s because that’s what they see on TV. Ugandan education does not teach about other African cultures. And not many of the musicians are into the pan-African thing.”
Uganda is a smallish, landlocked country in east central Africa probably best known to Westerners as the one time killing grounds for dictator Idi Amin, whose brutal regime lasted most of the 1970s. The country has been relatively stable since the mid ’80s, but has not established the musical identity of countries like Nigeria, Kenya and Mali. While Kinobe employs the traditional styles of his homeland, he is by no means a nationalist. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Leilani Polk on May. 11, 2009, at 12:44 am
A weekly bulletin on musical guests playing late night TV; set your TIVOs or DVRs if you’ve got an early bedtime.
The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Monday, May 11: The Killers
Tuesday, May 12: Chrisette Michele (Def Jam’s latest neo-soul pop singer, pictured)
Wednesday, May 13: Wynton Marsalis
Thursday, May 14: Rick Ross with Magazeen (Do I not get “Yacht Club” or is it really like a serious version of, “I’m on a Boat,” and, awful? I mean, really awful, maybe because it’s not tongue-in-cheek?)
Friday, May 15: Mastodon
Posted by Joel Weiss on May. 10, 2009, at 10:54 pm
I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into Friday’s concert at Mahaffey Theater featuring an un-costumed, un-amplified-to-11 Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer. Maybe I was thinking too hard about it? After all, when you go see a band, they play their songs. When you go see a comedian, he does his material. With Guest, McKean, and Shearer, reality lay in between — a hilarious, two-hour multimedia jaunt down memory lane complete with stories, clips, and songs predominantly from two classic film satires about seemingly disparate genres of music. Read the rest of this entry »
One thing is certain: Americana fans are a committed group. From the moment the music started, the outside patio emptied, people practically sprinting inside. The audience actually watched Red Cortez, unusual for a relatively unknown opening act. As soon as Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit started setting up, people rushed the stage so they could be assured a spot up front. Read the rest of this entry »
A dear friend of mine is in the midst of the arduous, exhilerating, terrifying and liberating process of coming out. She recently wrote to me about the central role certain music has played in helping her to interpret and cope with her whirlwind emotions. I’ve combined her suggestions with a few of my own favorites to create a soundtrack that is guaranteed to make anyone’s coming out possible, bearable and even totally awesome.
Prince, Cream:I’ve chosen this raunchy classic primarily for the obvious reason, but also for its subtext of affirmation and empowerment: “Do your dance / Why should you wait any longer? / Take your chance / It can only make you stronger.” So true.
Bruce Springsteen, Rosalita (Come Out Tonight): I don’t think Bruce knew he was writing the following lines for me and gay people everywhere, but we should still thank him for them: “Closets are for hangers. Winners use the door / So use it, Rosie, that’s what its there for!”Although set in a fairly cliche heterosexual context, this song is all about sexual defiance, transgression and freedom. It resonates with queer audiences in a profound way.
Ani DiFranco, Shameless: This spunky jam about a clandestine same-sex love affair was critical in my own coming out journey. Ani communicates the experience of being closeted in characteristically clunky couplets like “We’re in a room without a door and I am sure without a doubt / They’re gonna wanna know how we got in here and they’re gonna wanna know how we plan to get out.” Check out a rousing performance (complete with a full-throttle audience sing-along) after the jump.
When I introduced myself to Aubrey Debauchery she was just … Aubrey Debauchery. She won my heart with the lyrics “’Cause two months is too long for anyone to keep strong so I’m gonna jump your bones the second I get home, and love you through and through.” Since October, little Miss Aubrey has become Aubrey Debauchery and the Puke Boots, and has released a new album. Tell me you wouldn’t be drawn in if you saw a flier with that band name on it. Come on — tell me you wouldn’t. YOU CAN’T.
Aubrey recently told me that she never really wanted to be a solo artist. She has been in bands since she was 15 years old, but just never knew who would want to play with her. “Luckily Marc Anderson [Lap Steel and best friend] encouraged me enough to finally get something together,” she explained, “so we teamed up with our friends Adrian Hammons and Tino Marrufo for the new album. Tino is a busy man and gigging all over Chico doing jazz or shows with his band MuteWitness so when Casey Schmidt signed up to be a puke boot — the band came about.”
When I asked how the “puke boots” name was born, Aubrey said, “There’s a bar here [in Chico] that pays the bands in liquor all night long, and I’m a thirsty gal. In short, I didn’t feel so good the next morning.” Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve struck gold. Well actually my friend and colleague Wayne Garcia struck gold and passed it along to me.
It’s a full concert by Stevie Wonder — easily downloadable online — from Jan. 31, 1974 at the Rainbow Theatre in London, recorded after Inner Visions came out, but before Fulfillingness’ First Finale. Allegedly, the show was taped for official release, but scrapped, which gives this bootleg remarkably good sound quality.
It’s easy to hear why the tapes were filed away. Stevie’s set is sloppy, random and unfocused — and that much more interesting for it.
The 23-year-old, in the early stages of a hot streak that made him probably the most important artist of the ’70s, is backed by the three-piece rhythm section of guitarist Michael Sembello, bassist Reggie McBride and drummer Ollie Brown, along with a couple of woman background singers.
@autopsy4: 
Homemade Music Symposium - This a mini-SXSW in Ybor City. That’s what we are going for. We say we have the talent. Now, let’s see the support.
Oklahoma is cooler than Florida! At least as far as official state rock songs are concerned. Residents declared 
