Tampa Calling

Ever since the phrase “pull a Radiohead” entered the music blogosphere’s lexicon, we’ve watched as a diverse list of acts such as Nine Inch Nails, Saul Williams, Pennywise, and Portishead explore ways to reinvent the music business wheel. One of the highest-profile free agents is Pearl Jam – a group unafraid to fight corporate giants like Ticketmaster head-on. But Eddie Vedder and company don’t fear partnering up with a big box store either.

Billboard reports:

[Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis] confirmed that deals were also finished or in the works with an online retailer, a mobile partner, a gaming company and with a network or possibly networks of indie retail stores. “Target ended up allowing us to have other partners. We’ll be able to take care of all levels of the Pearl Jam fan…We wish we could tell the whole story right now, but all the deals aren’t done. Target was cool enough to realize that little independent record stores are not their competition.”

Pearl Jam will follow in the footsteps of AC/DC, Prince, Guns n’ Roses, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, and many other famous names that granted exclusivity deals with big box retailers. But Pearl Jam’s deal with Target is not quite as odious. Details after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

As an addendum to my recent column, “Traveling to see music without losing your money (or your mind),” I’ve put together this small group of shows and fests that provide some good selections for music-motivated travel. If you haven’t already made travel plans this summer, here are some of your best bets.

Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio
Saturday, June 13, The Tabernacle, Atlanta
If you wanna go, get your tickets now — it’s a Saturday night co-headlining bill featuring of two of Brooklyn’s most hip and beloved bands, both with recent albums — Grizzly’s just-released Veckatimest, TVOTR’s fantastic Dear Science from last year — so the show will most definitely sell out. I would be at this show, front row, if I wasn’t just returning from a music-motivated vacation that same Thursday.

The Decemberists (pictured) with Andrew Bird and Blind Pilot
July 18-19, Edgefield, Portland, Oregon
The chamber rock quintet only comes as close as Atlanta and plays that date on Wednesday, June 3 — not at all convenient for a road trip unless you plan on taking that week off. But the tour also includes this appealing Saturday-Sunday run in Portland, and with whistling singer/songwriter Andrew Bird, and Portland’s own indie pop duo, Blind Pilot. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Ticketholders for the Nine Inch Nails/Jane’s Addiction tour (May 9 at Ford Amp), cross your fingers that Jane’s makes it that far. They’ve been fighting again. Perry Farrell isn’t concerned though. “I’m not going to tell you it’s been all smooches and hugs. But it shouldn’t be because that would be a bore … As long as they can handle it, I can handle it.”

Morrissey (pictured right) gave Coachella concertgoers a moment to remember last weekend. Midway through the set, he said, “I can smell burning flesh, and I hope to God it’s human.” A few minutes later, Moz left the stage! He would return, explaining, “The smell of burning animals is making me sick. I just couldn’t bear it.” The rest of his set concluded without incident. Moz, you may remember, is an outspoken vegetarian. One of The Smiths‘ albums is titled Meat Is Murder, after all.

More stories about Depeche Mode, The Cure, Pixies, Breeders, Pearl Jam, and Smashing Pumpkins after the jump.

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On Sunday, April 19, Skipper’s Smokehouse will host the 4th annual Alchemy Fest – an all-ages, family-friendly, outdoor event that’s like Easter, Earth Day and 4:20 all rolled into one.

This year, the concert will feature performances from Thomas Wynn and the Believers, Geri X, The Sheaks, Sons of Hippies and The Jim Morey Band.

There will also be face painting, tarot card reading by Natty Moss Bond, henna tattoos by Aleka Phoenix, arts and crafts activities for the kids and “many more surprises.”

The event starts at 2 p.m. and goes until 6 p.m. Admission is $10. Children 10 and under get in free. Skipper’s Smokehouse is also a restaurant that serves some of the best Florida/Cajun staples around such as hush puppies, crawfish and gator tail bites.

What: Alchemy Fest 4
When: Sunday, April 19
Where: Skipper’s Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Rd. Tampa
More: 2 – 6 p.m. | $10 | All Ages | 10 and under free

WIN TICKETS: Send MIXTAPE to 50618 for your chance to win a pair of tickets to Alchemy Fest 4.
Congratulations to our winners!

TWO VIDEOS AFTER THE JUMP …

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Pearl Jam
Ten [Deluxe Edition]
Over 18 years and eight studio albums, Pearl Jam has proven itself to be far and away the most durable band to come from the original grunge movement. (Also the best, I would argue.) Nirvana trumps them on mystique and cultural impact, mostly because Kurt Cobain blew his brains out, but Pearl Jam had the courage to experiment, to risk failure, to grow up and shed the voice-of-a-generation pressure, to persevere.

And now for the just desserts: A sprawling reissue program that leads up to their 20th anniversary in 2011, kicked off by an expanded re-release of the band’s mega-hit debut.

Ten [Deluxe Edition] includes the original album, plus another CD showcasing a remix by producer Brendan O’Brien that additionally includes previously unissued bonus tracks. Also part of the package is a DVD of PJ’s 1992 set on MTV Unplugged.

Pearl Jam has made plenty of terrific recorded music during its tenure, but no cluster is as perfect as the first six songs of their debut album, a visceral, revelatory sequence: “Once,” “Even Flow,” “Alive,” “Why Go,” “Black” and “Jeremy.” If Nirvana’s Nevermind told us that hair-band rock was on its last legs, the first half of Ten threw dirt on its grave. The album’s ensuing tracks are solid, but to these ears they represent a noticeable drop-off in songcraft.

Read the rest of this entry »

You may have heard that Pearl Jam is set to reissue its landmark Ten album on March 24 in four versions. Originally released in 1991, the album was a watershed of the grunge movement that pushed alternative rock into mainstream consciousness.

The band’s MySpace page is featuring an unreleased track, “Brother,” from the sessions.

Pearl Jam’s official website allows you to stream six songs from the reissue. Hear stuff from MTV Unplugged, a live concert and some remixed versions of songs from Ten.

Here’s some scoop on the components of the reissue packages:

• Remaster of original Ten album + remix by producer Brendan O’Brien
• DVD of previously unreleased 1992 Pearl Jam MTV Unplugged performance with 5.1 surround sound audio remix
• LP of the band’s 1992 “Drop in the Park” concert
• Replica of Pearl Jam three-song demo cassette with Eddie Vedder’s original vocal dubs
• Recreation of Eddie Vedder composition notebook
• Never before seen memorabilia
• Bonus tracks and more.

I’m stoked. The only grunge band that still matters, Pearl Jam, announced late yesterday an East Coast tour that will bring them, with Kings of Leon, to the the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, June 12. If you were a teen in the early ’90s, chances are Pearl Jam made an impression on you. At age 14, they were my favorites. In eighth grade I wore a black Pearl Jam Ten T-shirt — the one with the stick figure on the front and piece of legal-pad paper on the back — at least once a week. Pearl Jam and I had a falling out in my mid-20s; just wasn’t feeling the whole hard rock, introspection thing. But in recent years, I catch myself going back to their CDs quite often, perhaps it’s a nostalgia thing, perhaps it’s just that Pearl Jam is the best rock band to come along in the last two decades save for maybe Radiohead.

Anyway, the last time I saw Pearl Jam in concert was August of 2000 at the St. Pete Times Forum back when it was called the Ice Palace. That was during my wild college days and about three dozen of us met up for the show, swapped contraband and made our way into the venue just in time to catch the tail end of opener Sonic Youth’s set. A few of my friends were flopping around like fish by the end of the night thanks to all the pre-partying but I had a well-calibrated buzz. My memories of Vedder taking slugs from a wine bottle in between singing his ass off are vivid. Pearl Jam turned in a mighty performance that evening.

Before becoming a critic, I never checked set lists online before attending shows — which is really the best way to attend shows but not a viable option if you’re reviewing on deadline — so it was the Pearl Jam cover songs that night proved to be the most pleasant surprises. The band segued from “Daughter” into “Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2″ and me and the other 15,000-or so in attendance gleefully sang along to the infamous chorus of “We don’t need no education.” Pearl Jam returned for three encores with the final being a rabble-rousing rendition of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” a song I first became aware of when PJ and Young played it at the MTV Music Awards together in ‘93 (see clip below).

In 2000, Napster was alive and well. The day after the Pearl Jam show, I skipped class and went on a downloading frenzy, determined to find what other songs the band covered in concert. I still have burned CDs containing all those performances, which can be found on YouTube or the official “bootleg” discs Pearl Jam has released.

Top 10: Pearl Jam cover performances

1. “Rockin’ in the Free World,” Neil Young

2. “Baba O’Riley,” The Who

3. “I Won’t Back Down,” Tom Petty

4. “Redemption Song,” Bob Marley

5. “Let My Love Open the Door,” Pete Townshend

6. “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,” Otis Redding

7. “One Step Up,” Bruce Springsteen (I think the version I have is Vedder solo, pre-Pearl Jam, it’s killer.)

8. “Fucking Up,” Neil Young

9. “Everyday People,” Sly and the Family Stone

10. “All Along the Watchtower,” Bob Dylan

WHAT DID I MISS?