This past Saturday night, the Cuban Club Bandshell played host to a long awaited and twice-delayed show by the Avett Brothers. Once for the birth of Scott Avett’s daughter, the other due to a scheduling conflict as the North Carolina foursome opened for the Dave Mathews Band earlier in the summer. Accordingly, fans packed into the charmingly-neglected Cuban Club awaiting a trademark, knock-you-on-your-ass Avett Brothers’ performance — and they delivered.
The Avetts opened with a track from their upcoming release, I and Love and You (September 29, American Recordings) — “Laundry Room,” an entrancing song with a refrain I still can’t get out of my head. Then the band traversed through their entire catalog, with highlights that included “Distraction #74,” “Gimmeakiss,” “I and Love and You” and “Shame.”
As NPR’s Bob Boilen recently pointed out, Scott Avett sings as if he swallowed an amplifier. The long-haired, banjo thrashing hillbilly yells love songs at the top of his lungs. It’s a sweaty mess, but still ends up being captivating, raw and beautiful. The younger (and only other brother), Seth Avett, plays George to Scott’s John, Paul and Ringo, as the older Avett will sometimes take to the drum kit and keyboard. Often when drums are interspersed within a set, the music lacks punch and suffers inconsistencies — but the energy of Avetts made up for it. Not to mention the brothers, along with Bob Crawford on upright and electric bass and Joe Kwon on cello, pound the hell out of the back of their respective instruments. (Setlist and more after the jump…) Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been many weeks since I’ve made it out to a show in Tampa. I blame travels, nonspecific busyness and a lack of excitable summer concerts in the Tampa Bay area. It took Georgia’s Perpetual Groove (pictured, photo by Phil Bardi) — a band I’ve always somehow managed to miss even though they play the area frequently — to get me out of the house.
By the time the four-piece (drums, bass, guitar, synth/keys) took the stage just after 10 pm on Friday, July 10, a few hundred of Tampa’s finest heady brahs and chicks in sundresses crowded Ybor’s Crowbar Friday night. PGroove’s first set held true to their name — flowing from one disco rock groove to the next. It worked for most of the set, but I grew bored, craving more interplay, energy and stronger melodies. Read the rest of this entry »
Based on sheer numbers, Bonnaroo is a beast. 70,000 people invade Manchester, Tennessee, making it the 6th largest city in the state for over three days. Now your average Bonnarooian is quite a bit different than your typical Tennessean — full of booze, THC and god knows what else. It’s a crazy place.
Where else could you find Jimmy Buffett, Ani Difranco, Snoop Dog, Al Green and Bruce Springsteen? For better or worse, Bonnaroo is biggest and baddest of the American music festivals. With 13 stages and tents, hundreds of vendors, and a pretend Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the well-oiled machine of Roo is now in it’s 7th year and going strong.
Simultaneously a radiant clusterfuck and glorious throwdown, it’s hard to imagine a bigger party. And with any party, there’s always the good, the bad and the ugly. For our purposes here, let’s focus on…
What’s probably the coolest electronic show of the summer is going down tonight at the Crowbar in Ybor. Soft Rock Renegades, CL’s Best of the Bay winner for Best DJ Night, are celebrating their one-year anniversary with live performances from two well-respected electronic artists — The Juan Maclean (DFA/NYC) and The Field (Kompakt/Sweden).
The Juan Maclean are touring in support of their new album, The Future Will Come. You can expect a full-on live show, somewhat reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem (and not just because Nancy Whang is also in the band). With The Field it’ll be a little different as Axel Willner creates huge soundscapes via a minimalist approach from behind his set-up. The Field just released a new album, Yesterday and Today, though hopefully, Willner won’t forget about material from the standout 2007 release, From Here We Go Sublime.
As always, the price is right for Tuesday nights at Crowbar: $5 liters, $10 cover, all ages kids; showtime is 9 p.m.
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 »
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.
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 »
Don’t give stoners an excuse to stay home, they’ll take you up on it just about every time. Exams approaching, play-off basketball, a sluggish economy and, well, it was Monday night on 4/20 after all. Those who ventured out to New World Brewery Monday night were treated to the awesomeness that is The Show Is The Rainbow.
TSITR’s compact set was comprised entirely from his new album Wet Fist, including “Made of Cardboard,” “Roar Means Run,” “Who He Say He Is” (with Kurt Cobain and Slash video), “Come Dry Your Flower” and “Whisper At Once.” Darren Keen is the one man, tour-de-force behind TSITR. He grew up on classic rock and Frank Zappa, moving onto punk rock and gangster rap as a teen. Now, he’s making an exhilarating mix of tripped-out, indie hip-hop. His shows — often just him with a guitar, computer and video projector — are a captivating, sweaty solo dance party. Shirtless, uncut and sporting long locks, Keen refuses to submit to the unspoken line between performer and fan. Running up and down the covered porch of New World, Keen spent most of his time directly in the faces of the sparse crowd, encouraging dancing, banter and on-your-knees guitar and/or air guitar solo’s that stretch your belly flat. (Photo by Phil Bardi.)
Fellow Nebraskans Beep Beep followed, with Keen (also a member of Beep Beep) taking up duties on bass and keys. Seeing Beep Beep was like watching my new favorite blog — lookatthisfuckinghipster — coming to life. They were good enough, but if they were as good as they were awkward, then their set could have been special.
This Monday, April 20 (yes stoners, it’s 420), AES and New World Brewery welcome Omaha’s Beep Beep and The Show is The Rainbow along with Tampa’s own Win Win Winter and DJs Mini Horse and 2C opening. The electro-rock of Beep Beep alone is worth a trip to Ybor, which is now touring in support of its second album Enchanted Islands. Hell, Win Win Winter and the NWB bartenders are worth the drive.
But I have a feeling the second act is going to steal the show. For a sneak peek and some wicked videos, check out TSiTR’s YouTube channel. Last fall, The Show is The Rainbow came to St. Pete and opened for The Faint at Jannus Landing. Here’s what I to say about that particular performance: Read the rest of this entry »
Friday night saw the return of Diplo — the DJ also known as Thomas Wesley Printz — to Ybor’s Czar Bar. Friday nights at Czar are better known as Pulp the Party, an electro hip-hop dance party hosted by the Orlando-based DJ Pauly Crush. It’s a quite the scene, though not your typical Ybor douchebag nightclub. Czar Bar has some style and every 30 minutes or so, it’s open bar. When you hear a horn and see the yellow sirens going off above the bar, it’s drink time on them.
Diplo — who spent time at UCF and had the unfortunate duty of dating M.I.A. for awhile — took the stage just after 1 a.m. His more than two-hour set had the packed dancefloor in a non-stop, booty-shaking throw down. Only a few cuts from Top Ranking , his ‘08 release that prominently featured Santigold, were played. Highlights from the night were a remix of the Beastie Boys’ “So Watcha Want,” a tease of the melody from Santigold’s killer track, “Creator,” and a remix of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes.”
Ybor’s Czar bar is set to host a promising indie rock show tonight with Atlanta’s stellar Deerhunter headlining. Also on the bill are the highly underrated Orlando band Summerbirds in the Cellar and the final show for local faves Giddy-up, Helicopter!
Deerhunter was all over the best-of lists with 2008’s wonderful Microcastle – an often ambient, but gorgeous indie/post-rock album.
It’s a shame that Giddy-up Helicopter! is ending. They just released an album (see the review here) and truly have an authentic style hard to come by in so many local bands.
The last time Dr. Dog played Tampa was Halloween ‘07 to a light crowd with only a few fans singing along.Though it was only a year-and-a-half ago, it was must have felt like a small lifetime for the Philly fivesome. Since then, the band has been on several “Best of” lists, put out a well-received album, ’08’s Fate, and eevn appeared on NPR a few times, too.
Just before midnight last night, Dr. Dog returned to the stage at Ybor City’s Crowbar and played to a packed house, tearing into “The Ark” first, following it up with an excellent rendition of “The Way the Lazy Do,” then filling the room with warm melodies and three- and four-part harmonies as they performed almost all the tracks from Fate as well as a few cuts from 2005’s Easy Beat, like the grating “Fools Life.”
A guy in a dog costume replete with lab coat and stethoscope joined Dr. Dog for some dancing and clapping during “Oh No,” the the band closing the set shortly after with a haunting rendition of “The Beach” and “The Rabbit, The Bat and The Reindeer.”The crowd roused the band for a two-song encore, “Say Something” and “My Old Ways.” The show ended somewhere around 1 a.m.
New Zealand acoustic guitar-playing comedy duo Flight of the Conchords will no doubt be decked out in a slick new pair of business socks when they land at Orlando’s UCF Arena on Wednesday, April 4. These socks (I’m picturing argyle) will run you upwards of $50 a ticket after all the charges and tax. That’s steep. I’m a big fan of their HBO show and last year’s album, but it’s hard to rationalize paying that much to see two guys and no light show.
The internet pre-sale started up today at Ticketbastard via the password: SUGALUMPS
TV on the Radio appears to have leaked the line-up a few hours early. Best festival line-up ever. Schedule conflicts of mammoth proportions brewing. Check out the leak, official announcement due tomorrow.
Superfly Productions and A.C. Entertainment are excited to announce the initial lineup for the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The eighth annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 11 – 14 on the same beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. Every year Bonnaroo seeks to make history by offering unique and exclusive performances by rock’s greatest legends as well as its most significant newcomers. A full list of confirmed acts follows, and more will be announced in the coming weeks. The final Bonnaroo 2009 lineup will total over 120 bands and over 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days. Tickets go on sale exclusively through www.bonnaroo.com on Saturday, February 7 at 12:00 PM Eastern.
2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Confirmed Artists:
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Phish (2 Shows)
Beastie Boys
Nine Inch Nails
David Byrne
Wilco
Al Green
Snoop Dogg
Elvis Costello Solo
Erykah Badu Read the rest of this entry »
As Leilani posted last week, tickets for Animal Collective’s June 8 visit to State Theatre in St. Pete went on sale on Friday. Evidently, the band has already sold 50 of the 700 available tickets; a sell-out looks likely. If the show is a fraction as cool as their “My Girls” video (or in HD here), then we’ll definitely be in for a treat.
Comfortably packed and full of sweet hipster coats, the Orpheum hosted a Tuesday night show with New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus (see Gabe’s review and pics below) and from across the Atlantic, the Welsh band Los Campesinos!.
Two lead singers, Gareth and Aleksandra, each played a small glockenspiel and microKorg synths – Gareth’s with a floor tom and snare. Neil and Tom shared guitar duties, volleying chords, leads and noise in a Pavement-inspired ethos, though Ollie, the bare-chested and pasty Ron Weasley look-a-like behind the drum kit, kept the tempos faster than typical ’90s indie rock. Read the rest of this entry »
Carolina foursome opened for the Dave Mathews Band earlier in the summer. Accordingly, fans packed into the charmingly-neglected Cuban Club awaiting a trademark, knock-you-on-your-ass Avett Brothers’ performance — and they delivered.
