One of my favorite parts of Levitation Austin is discovering new bands, especially ones in genres I wasn’t exposed to much before I started attending the festival. One of those genres is stoner metal, and Virginia’s Windhand is my new favorite bands of that ilk playing at this year’s festival. They’re playing a sold-out show on April 26th at Barracuda with Ruby the Hatchet and Dead Meadow. The place will be shaking.
Keep your mind open.
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Perennial rock workhorse Ty Segall is playing two shows at Levitation Austin this year. The first is at the Stubb’s BBQ kick-off party on April 26th at 9:45pm and the second is the next night at Barracuda at 7pm. Both shows are sure to be loud and fun, as Mr. Segall is an energetic performer who can bounce around rock genres as easily as a kangaroo across the Australian outback. His new album, Freedom’s Goblin, is a great example of this as he blends fuzzed disco with songs about his dog.
Keep your mind open.
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Art punk Ron Gallo will be playing one of the first time slot at Levitation Austin this year – 6pm at Stubb’s on April 26th. He’s also playing the next day at 5:30pm on Barracuda, both times in support of Ty Segall. I caught Mr. Gallo and his crew in Fort Wayne a couple years ago and was immediately impressed with his chops on guitar and witty lyrics wrapped in punk attitude. His debut album, Heavy Meta, was one of my top picks of 2017. Check him out while tickets for him are still reasonably priced.
Keep your mind open.
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It’s a bit difficult for me to believe that it took me nearly three months to see some live music this year, but it’s true. January and February were filled with crazy work schedules that weren’t conducive to making a trip even an hour’s drive away to see any bands or performers.
That all changed with getting to see Shopping, Tyvek,and Ganser at Chicago’s Beat Kitchen two nights ago. I’d been keen on catching Shopping since hearing their newest album, The Official Body. I knew nothing about Tyvek and Ganser going in, apart from a few video clips and digital tracks here and there. Tyvek was loud and brash garage punk. Ganser was darker and local post-punk. This was also my first time at the Beat Kitchen. It’s a nice, small venue, and the food there looked pretty good.
One thing I’ve discovered about Chicago shows is that, for the most part, the set start times are rigid. Ganser kept up this tradition by starting at promptly 8:00pm. They played an impressive set to a hometown crowd that included multiple tracks from their upcoming album Odd Talk. Their stuff was sassy, jagged, and assertive. Odd Talk should be a fine record based on what I heard at the Beat Kitchen.
Up next were Detroit’s / Philadelphia’s Tyvek. They were as loud and hammering as I’d expected, and throwing saxophone riffs into the mix only made it better. Lead singer / guitarist Kevin Boyer‘s axe looked like it had been bounced off a few floors and used as a cutting board, and the blaring chords he drew out of it only seemed to confirm my suspicions.
Shopping had a large crowd by the time they took the stage. I was glad to see so many people for the U.K. band that had spent most of the last couple months zig-zagging across the U.S. They had the crowd jumping almost from the first note, and encouraged dancing throughout their entire set. They sounded great. Rachel Aggs‘ gets notes of her guitar that jump like water across a hot griddle. Every song had a bouncing energy to it that was inescapable. Highlights from the set included “The Hype,” “Wild Child,” and “My Dad’s a Dancer.”
The best way I can sum up their set is by what a woman yelled out from the crowd between songs: “You guys are so fun!” Bassist Billy Easter said, “Thanks. It’s fun being up here, too.”
Shopping set the bar high for live bands to follow this year. Catch them if you can. You need to get in on the fun they’re delivering.
Keep your mind open.
[Thanks to Sam McAllister from Pitch Perfect PR for hooking me up with a press pass for the show.]
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March 26th, 2018 – Clutch has now confirmed their second annual Earth Rocker Festival. The festival will take place on August 4th at Shiley Acres located in Inwood West Virginia. Joining Clutch on stage this year will be Black Label Society, Corrosion Of Conformity, EYEHATEGOD, and the Let There Be Rock School band. Tickets for the festival are $35 in advance and $45 at the gate the day of the show and are on sale now at this location: http://shileyacres.ticketleap.comAll “Earth Rocker Festival 18” ticket and general information is available at: http://earthrockerfest.comLike last year’s inaugural offering, Shiley Acres and Clutch have worked together to make Earth Rocker Festival18 a fan and band-friendly event. Earth Rocker Festival is a day time event. The gates open at noon and music runs all day, ending right before the sun sets. The festival has a designated camping location and will offer free camping on site the day and night of the show. Other fan-friendly elements include free parking starting at 9 am the day of the event, free admission for accompanied children under 12, and allows lawn chairs and pop up tents in designated areas. As Greg Shiley, owner of Shiley Acres puts it “There will be plenty of good food, beer choices and all at reasonable prices, so come spend a summer afternoon enjoying the great bands and open air. We’ll make that real easy for ya”.For more information on the directions, camping, on-site food and beverages available, hotel accommodations and all “Things You Should Know,” visit http://www.shileyacres.netFor more information, check out Earth Rocker Festival:@earthrockerfestFacebook: www.facebook.com/clutchbandInstagram: www.instagram.com/clutchofficialTwitter: www.twitter.com/clutchofficialOfficial: www.pro-rock.comYouTube: www.youtube.com/user/officialclutch
The annual Chicago lineup for Lollapalooza has been announced. It features some heavyweights and, as usual, a lot of upcoming bands. Bruno Mars is definitely a big score for the festival, as are Jack White, the Arctic Monkeys, the National, Portugal, the Man, Franz Ferdinand, and Chvrches.
Tickets are on sale and will go much faster now that the lineup has been released. A four-day general admission pass will cost you $335.00 plus taxes and fees, and VIP and Platinum packages will run you thousands of dollars.
Keep your mind open.
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Jane’s Addiction front man and Lollapalooza founder Perry Ferrell has announced that he’s working with a virtual reality technology developer / film studio to create an immersive entertainment experience in Las Vegas called Kind Heaven. Accord to a Spin article, Ferrell was inspired to create this by a vivid dream of him in some sort of futuristic Southeast Asian city. The experience will include VR pickpockets, markets, and maybe even a holographic version of himself having sex in his apartment.
He’s already planning to have several bands play there, both in person and through virtual reality. One of the biggest announcements in that department is that he’s reuniting Porno for Pyros – the band he founded after Jane’s Addiction broke up in the 1990’s. Ferrell mentions Coldplay in the Spin article, but doesn’t necessarily say they’ll be playing at Kind Heaven in 2019.
Keep your mind open.
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Radiohead front man Thom Yorke has announced solo tour dates for Europe and the United Kingdom. These dates are in May and June and land before Radiohead kicks off on a tour of North America. Tickets go on sale to the general public on March 23rd, so get them while you can. They were surely sell out.
May 2018
28th Teatro Verdi, Florence, Italy
29th Fabrique Milano, Milan, Italy
30th Halle 622, Zurich, Switzerland
June 2018
1st Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany
3rd Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
4th Royal Theatre Carré, Amsterdam, Netherlands
7th Usher Hall, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
8th Roundhouse, London, United Kingdom
10th Palace Theatre, Manchester, United Kingdom
12th L’Olympia, Paris, France
13th Le Transbordeur, Lyon, France
16th Fira de Barcelona – Sonar Festival, Barcelona, Spain
Keep your mind open.
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