How’s this for a bombshell? Australian rock legends Midnight Oil announced not long ago that they had some big news coming soon. Most of us figured it would be a new album, but they’ve announced a globe-spanning world tour instead.
The Great Circle tour is going to be a celebration of the band’s work and will start and end in their home country. The band will play everywhere from Brazil to the Czech Republic in-between those dates, so catch them if you can. I plan to catch them in Chicago.
BURGER BOOGALOO, JULY 1-2 IN OAKLAND, ANNOUNCE 2017 LINE-UP!
IGGY POP, JOHN WATERS, X, BUZZCOCKS, GUITAR WOLF, AND MORE!
“I’ve been a punk at heart even before there was such a thing and hosting Burger Boogaloo always ups my street cred. I’m the oldest juvenile delinquent there.”
– John Waters
Today, Oakland’s favorite music festival (as voted by the readers of the East Bay Express), Burger Boogaloo, which happens July 1st & 2nd at Mosswood Park, announces its line-up for 2017, and whoo-boy it’s a doozy. The most ambitious lineup yet, Burger Boogaloo is celebrating its 5th year at Mosswood by announcing Iggy Pop, Buzzcocks, X, Guitar Wolf, and many more will be joining this year’s festivities. And naturally, the event will be hosted by the inimitable John Waters yet again (his third year as host! If that’s not a seal of approval, we don’t know what is!). Every year the Burger Boogaloo surprises the audience with its unique, over-the-top stage sets and productions. Last year the Mummies drove in to the park in their 1966 Pontiac Bonneville Mummies Mobile, and played their headlining set on top of the car. What surprises are in store this year? Who the hell knows?
Because Mosswood Park has always been so generous to the Boogaloo, this year, the festival donated 100% of the first week of early bird ticket sales to the park to help rebuild their recreation center, which burned down last year. If you’d like to contribute to Mosswood Park’s Rec Center fund, you can do so here. Burger Boogaloo would like to thank all who purchased those tickets for their donations to Mosswood.
Tickets go on sale at 10 AM PST/1PM EST, with 2-day general admission passes for $129 and VIP 2-day passes for $199 (includes a swag bag with mixtape, a college diploma, and more, as well as unlimited exit/reentry privileges!). Single-day tickets can be purchased for Saturday and Sunday at $99 and $69, respectively. Tickets can be purchased here: http://burgerboogaloo.com/.
SATURDAY, JULY 1ST
Iggy Pop
Guitar Wolf
NoBunny
Baby Shakes
Bloodshot Bill
Personal & The Pizzas
Wounded Lion
Car Crash
SUNDAY, JULY 2ND
Buzzcocks
X
NRBQ
Roy Loney (Flamin’ Groovies)
Shannon & The Clams
Quintron & Ms. Pussycat
La Luz
Jacuzzi Boys
Glitter Wizard
Austin, Texas’ psych-rock wizards The Black Angelsare dropping their newest album, Death Song, on April 21st and have announced a spring tour starting in Nashville and ending in Austin. The first single off the new album, “Currency,” is already out and a great listen.
You can find all the tour dates, album pre-sale bundles that include things like T-shirts and posters, and the lyric video for “Currency” here.
CLUTCH ANNOUNCE MAY HEADLINE TOUR DATES ALONG WITH FIRST ANNUAL EARTH ROCKER FESTIVAL AT SHILEY ACRES IN INWOOD, WV
February 8th, 2017 – Clutch has just announced a string of headline tour dates for May. Supporting the tour will be Lucero and The Sword. The band is also pleased to announce their first annual Earth Rocker Festival at Shiley Acres in Inwood, WV on May 20th. Full line-up to be announced soon. Pre-sale tickets will start at 10am ET today, public stale starts 10am ETon Friday.
“We did a whole bunch of touring in 2016” states the band’s front man Neil Fallon. “Right now, we’re cooling our heels and starting to kick around some riffs for the next record. We hope to be recording the LP come the end of the year. Where and with whom is yet TBD. At the moment though, we’re really just at the beginning phase of writing and we already have a surplus of ideas.”
“In other news, this Spring we will be hosting the first annual Earth Rocker Festival. It’ll take place in Shiley Acres, West Virginia. We played at Shiley Acres last year and it was a real blast. Our intent is to have a really diverse bill. If all goes as planned, Earth Rocker Festival will continue as an annual event, hopefully growing in scope over the years.”
Psychic Warfare is the latest and eleventh studio effort from Clutch. The disc debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, No. 2 on the Billboard Independent, No. 1 on the Billboard Hard Rock and Billboard Rock charts. On Record Store Day this past April 16thClutch released a limited edition numbered etched vinyl 12 inch that included two previously unreleased tracks from the Psychic Warfare sessions: “Mad Sidewinder” and “Outland Special Clearance“. Psychic Warfare was produced by longtime producer Machine (Lamb Of God, Every Time I Die).
Clutch, Lucero and The Sword May Tour Dates:
05-10-17 in Asheville, NC at Highland Brewing Company
05-12-17 in Louisville, KY at Palace Theatre
05-13-17 in Grand Rapids, MI at 20 Monroe Live
05-15-17 in Brooklyn, NY at Brooklyn Steel
05-16-17 in Providence, RI at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel
05-17-17 in Port Chester, NY at The Capitol Theatre
05-19-17 in Norfolk, VA at The NorVa
05-20-17 in Inwood, WV at “Earth Rocker Festival” at Shiley Acres
CLUTCH:
Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar
Tim Sult – Guitar
Dan Maines – Bass
Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion
For more information, check out the band’s website:
The Desert Daze Caravan tour, featuring Night Beats, Temples, Deap Vally, Froth, and Jjuujjuu has announced its full U.S. schedule. Beginning in San Francisco February 22nd, the tour winds through the west and southwest until March 17th in San Antonio. Don’t miss your chance to see this tour. It’s sure to be outstanding. I’m catching it at the Phoenix stop. See you there!
Live in Brussels by psychedelic blues rockers All Them Witches (Ben McLeod – guitars, Charlie Michael Parks, Jr. – vocals, bass, and guitar, Robby Staebler – drums, Allan Van Cleve – keyboards and violin) is one of those rare live records that pulls off a double feat. It makes you want to see them live and it makes you want to hear their new record as soon as possible.
I mean, the album opens with “The Death of Coyote Woman,” (in which Charlie Parks apologizes for the band “not being the best at being on time”), over ten minutes of stunning, fuzzy psych-rock that would make the MC5 and Pink Floyd proud. “Funeral for a Great Drunken Bird” keeps the guitar distortion on thick, which is all right with me. It flows into the stunning “When God Comes Back” that has both blues and metal fans nodding in time.
“Dirt Preachers” (from their excellent album Dying Surfer Meets His Maker) takes on a cool new tone with the excellent keyboard work by Van Cleve on it. “The Marriage of Coyote Woman” is a slick blues jam. The keyboards on “Elk.Blood.Heart” are like something from an early Peter Frampton record. The guitars on “Open Passageways” are a bit Middle Eastern, which is a nice touch. “Talisman” is a gritty folk ballad and a favorite among the crowd, especially when it transforms into an early Pink Floyd-like jam.
Speaking of epic jams, wait until you hear “Blood and Sand – Milk and Endless Waters,” which clocks in at 14:40. It’s a stunner with a lot of great keyboard work from Van Cleve. “Mountain” is a great blend of Americana and pysch-rock. “Heavy – Like a Witch” is another trippy rocker, and “Charles William” is a solid close to the set…until the encore when they play their version of a blues classic – “My Last Name Is the Blues.” It’s over eleven minutes of psych-blues freak-out and was worth the price of admission for the Brussels crowd.
You can get this whole album for free, by the way. I suggest you leave a tip to be nice. They suggest six bucks on their Noisetrade page, and that’s a steal for something this good.
Fort Worth, Texas’ Fortress Festivalhas announced its lineup for 2017. Run the Jewels seem to be everywhere right now, and Slowdiveare touring to support their first album in more than twenty years. Peter Hook and the Light would be well worth seeing, and I can tell you from personal experience that Golden Dawn Arkestraare fantastic live. I’d also like to see Surviveand Dengue Fever.
Get your tickets soon. A two-day pass is only $105.00.
“Listening to Slowdive is like watching the sunrise and sunset at once — an awe-inspiring chorus of the galaxy.” — NPR Music on “Star Roving”
“The mix is even denser and more diffuse than Slowdive’s albums from the 1990s, reveling in the analog blur and sounding glad to be back.” – The New York Times on “Star Roving” Slowdive recently made their return with new single, “Star Roving,” their first new material in 22 years. It was released to a flurry of excitement, even taking the band to No. 1 on theBillboard + Twitter Trending 140. Comprised of Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Christian Savill (guitar), Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (vocals) and Simon Scott (drums, electronics), Slowdive is now announcing a North American tour, their first since fall 2014. They’ll play select cities throughout the Midwest and East Coast. Japanese Breakfast will support on all dates. Tickets will be on sale on Jan. 27th.
Slowdive Tour Dates: Tue. May 2 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre # [TIX] Wed. May 3 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theater # [TIX] Fri. May 5 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall # [TIX] Sun. May 7 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club # [TIX] Mon. May 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel # [TIX]
Living legends Radioheadhave announced a spring and summer tour that starts in the U.S. and ends in England. It takes them to Poland, Ireland, Italy, and even two dates at the Coachella Music Festival. Their U.S. dates are in the west and south, so catch them if you can.
03-30 Miami, FL – American Airlines Arena
04-01 Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena
04-03 New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
04-05 Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
04-08 Seattle, WA – Key Arena
04-09 Portland, OR – Moda Center
04-11 Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
o4-14 Indio, CA – Coachella
04-17-18 Berkely, CA – Greek Theatre
04-21 Indio, CA – Coachella
06-06-07 Oslo, Norway – Spektrum
06-09 Stockholm, Sweden – Ericsson Globe
06-11 Aarhus, Denmark – Northside Festival
06-14 Florence, Italy – Visarno Arena @ Parco Delle Cascine
06-16 Milan, Italy – I-Days @ Parco di Monza
06-18 Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands – Best Kept Secret Festival
06-20 Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
06-23 Pilton, England – Glastonbury Festival
06-28 Gdynia, Poland – Open’er Festival
06-30 Werchter, Belgium – Rock Werchter
07-02 Arras, France – Main Square Festival
07-04-05 Manchester, England – Manchester Arena
I was happy to learn just a couple weeks ago that Canadian pop-punk band Partnerwere playing at Schuba’s. I wanted to see Partner at Chicago’s Riot Fest last year, but my plans (and theirs) to attend fell through and I couldn’t make the festival.
I was still able to catch them on only the third show they’ve played in the U.S., however, and shame on you if you weren’t there.
First up were local post-punks So Pretty, who were like a combination of X-Ray Spex, Witch Mountain, and Bikini Kill. Guitarist / co-lead vocalist Rachel Manter unleashed vocal fury at our new President on “Progress,” lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist Ashley Holman screamed about wanting to be “punk rock royalty” on “Blueberry Blues,” and they got funky on “Limbo” (with bassist James Seminara on vocals).
So Pretty
Next up was another local band – Faux Furrs. They played a neat mix of shoegaze, surf, Americana, and dream pop. There were songs about everything from robots falling in love to building a colony on the moon. They had a clean, crisp sound that’s hard to pull off live.
Faux Furrs
Partner closed the show, and told me before their set that they hoped everyone would like it. Kevin, their bassist for the tour, said they were very happy about the number of people there. The people there were happy they showed up because Partner knocked their first Chicago show out of the park. Seriously. You will be upset that you missed this show when Partner become the Next Big Thing out of Canada.
Partner
Opening with “Born to Rock,” and proceeding to blast Schuba’s harder than a New Brunswick blizzard, Partner ripped through soon-to-be big hits like “Personal Weekend” and “Hot Knives.” “The ‘Ellen’ Page” is better live than you can imagine. Other fun moments were “Gross Secret,” “Everybody Knows You’re High,” and “Sex Thing.”
A typical day at the office for Josee Caron and Lucy Niles.
One of the best parts of Partner’s set was their reaction when it was finished. They were humbled at the outpouring of praise from everyone afterwards and elated that their first foray into the States had been full of great audiences.
“That wasn’t even the full album (which, hopefully, is coming this fall),” Josee Caron told me after their set. “We’ve got about fifty songs.”
Let’s hope for more stuff soon. They’ve whet our appetites and left us craving more. Again, you’re going to regret missing this show.
There are enough power chords in this photo to jump start a Ford F250 pick-up.
Keep your mind open.
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