Category: Live music

LCD Soundsystem announce Beach Vibes music festival in Mexico.

BVfest

Not ones to rest on their laurels during their triumphant return, LCD Soundsystem have created the Beach Vibes music festival in Riviera Maya, Mexico.  Tickets go on sale to the general public July 11th, but you can get early sales on July 8th if you register for their mailing list.  A word of caution for your wallet: The only way to attend is to buy a three-day package at one of the host resorts, and packages for even one person cost upward of three grand.  You can put 30% down on a package and then pay it off over five months to make it a little easier.

Some of the resorts are all-inclusive, however, so that helps a bit.  Airfare is not included in your price, but cheap airfare to Mexico from the U.S. isn’t hard to find.

LCD Soundsystem have announced they will headline two nights of the festival, and the lineup is already good.  Hot Chip, Holy Ghost!, Juan MacLean, and Shit Robot are personal favorites, and more are to be announced.

Start planning now.  This would be a great winter getaway.

Keep your mind open.

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Screaming Females announce first Australian tour.

screaming-females-australian-tour

Screaming Females are taking a month off from their tour of the U.S. and Canada and are then off for six dates Down Under for the first time.  Fans are already excited for their first shows in the land of Oz, so don’t miss them if you’re there.  They put on a fantastic show and might not get back to the land that gave us Mad Max and Razorback soon.

Keep your mind open.

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Sound on Sound 2016 announces lineup.

SOSAustin, Texas continues its tradition of being the music festival capital of the U.S.  The latest is the Sound on Sound festival November 4-6th, which is located in McDade, Texas and a short eastbound drive from Austin.

The lineup is impressive.  Phantogram, the Descendents, Guided by Voices, the Dead Milkmen, Thee Oh Sees, Bob Mould, and Metz are all worth seeing.  It would be a great way to spend a couple fall afternoons.  A three-day pass will cost you less than $200.00.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation France 2016 announces first lineup artists.

LFThe final Levitation festival of 2016, Levitation France, has announced the first batch of bands playing in Angers September 16th and 17th.

It’s a great lineup so far.  Thee Oh Sees are psych-fuzz giants, La Femme puts on a great, trippy show, Dead Meadow are a great psychedelic outfit, Zombie Zombie make horror-electro, and Golden Dawn Arkestra are a funk band from another dimension.

Get to Angers if you can.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Screaming Females, the Dead Records, Ron Gallo – June 26, 2016 – Ft. Wayne, IN

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L-R: “King” Mike Abbate, yours truly, Marissa Paternoster, Jarrett Dougherty

I’ve wanted to see Screaming Females live since 2012 (when I discovered them while working for WSND), and was delighted to see they were playing barely over an hour’s drive from my house last Sunday at the Brass Rail in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  They were gracious with their time and kind enough to let me interview them while sitting in their touring van.  I’ll have a full transcript of that interview soon, and I’m working on an audio version that I’ll play on a future show on WSND.

The night started with the Ron Gallo 3, a fun punk trio who played a loud set of songs like “Kill the Medicine Man,” “All the Punks Are Domesticated,” and “Why Do You Have Kids?”

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The Ron Gallo 3.

Up next were Ft. Wayne’s own Dead Records, who dropped a loud, fast, screaming set on the crowd of friends and new fans.

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The Dead Records.

Screaming Females then got on stage for their first gig in Ft. Wayne.  I’m not sure how many people there knew who was about to play, but I saw a few of us singing along within moments.  Everyone else stood dumbfounded for the first three songs because Marissa Paternoster, Jarrett Dougherty, and “King” Mike Abbate almost flattened the place.

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I’d seen videos of their performances, so I had a slight idea of how powerful they are live (especially in a small venue like the Brass Rail).  The videos don’t do them justice.  They have a chemistry that can only be created through lots of performances and deep friendships.  Paternoster, who is without question one of the best guitarists today, emotes power through her vocals as well as her axe (which she straps around her waist instead of over her shoulder, giving her even more of a gunslinger presence).

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As much as Paternoster wields her guitar like Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars, Dougherty hits his drums like Franco Nero blasts a Gatling gun in Django and Abbate drops his bass riffs like James Coburn drops dynamite in Duck You Sucker.  The two guys in the band get into heavy grooves that make Abbate break into grins and Dougherty to go into what appears to be Zen-like meditative trances.

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The fans had snapped out of their stunned state by the time the band played “Empty Head” from Rose Mountain.  Paternoster thanked everyone for coming to their first Ft. Wayne gig.  “Please move here!” A man yelled, echoing the thoughts of everyone in the room.

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“Leave It All Up to Me” and “Ripe” were other crowd favorites, and they were cooking with gas by that point.

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They closed with the powerful, stunning “Triumph,” which is a fitting end for such a set.  It was a triumphant debut for them in a town they hadn’t played in before then.

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A friend of former bandmate of mine, Chad, saw the show with me, and he’d only heard one song (“Hopeless”) by the band before seeing them live.  He was shaking his head in a bit of disbelief by the end of their set.

“She’s not fucking around, is she?” Chad said.

“No, she’s not,” I told him.

And now I’m telling you.  Screaming Females aren’t fucking around.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jarrett for getting me a press pass to the show, and to him, Marissa, and Mike for being such groovy cats.]

Mamby on the Beach festival offers 25% off tickets through Groupon.

Mamby

Get it while you can.  Chicago’s Mamby on the Beach festival is offering 25% off single day, weekend, and VIP passes to the festival through a Groupon deal that will be gone by the end of the month.  Discounted tickets to see Santigold are alone worth your consideration.

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Live: Ceu – June 24, 2016 – Chicago, IL

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Barely anyone paid attention to the candles.

I showed up at Chicago’s City Winery in plenty of time to get a good free parking spot a block away and order a Right Bee cider before the show started.  The City Winery is a nice, small venue not much bigger than a couple campground pavilions, and Brazilian siren Ceu was playing that night.  I’ve been a fan of hers since stumbling onto her self-titled first record back in 2005.  I’d missed all her previous Chicago dates, and now I was seeing her from about twenty feet from my table while I munched braised duck tacos.

Her opening band was an electro two-piece called Kauf from Los Angeles.  They got the show off to a fine start with a groovy set that had people nodding their heads and drumming on their tables.  One man behind me said, “They’re like an 80’s synth kind of thing.”  That’s true, but a bit of a simplistic description.  Add a bit of dark wave and Caribou and you’re there.

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Kauf bringing fine electro to the City Winery.

By now I’d learned that the couple across from me (named, I kid you not, Tom and Jerry) were seeing Ceu for the fourth time and hadn’t missed one of her Chicago dates yet.  This was the first time they’d seen her with a guitarist in the band.  We had a great time being wowed by her and sharing flatbread pizza.

She came out in a dark orange dress with light sparkles throughout it and a pair of bad-ass silver sequined high heels.  It was at this moment that I realized Ceu looks like Jane Russell, and I about fainted in my chair.  I almost fainted again when she started singing and her gorgeous voice filled the room.

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“Wow! She looks like Jane Russell!”

She played a lovely, intimate set with her sharp as a tack backing band.  They played many cuts from her fine new album, Tropix, as well as cuts going all the way back to 2005.  She was dancing by the second song, “Perfume Invisibel,” and people were already breaking the “candle rule” to stay quiet during the show (Tom, Jerry, and I included).  They were dancing in one corner by the end of her main set and all through the encore.

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She and her band spanned multiple music styles.  They played stuff ranging from bossa nova, electro dance songs, reggae, and modern disco cuts to early 80’s synth tracks you might hear on a Berlin album.

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Ceu rocking those sequined high heels.

As good as her voice is on her albums, it is even better live.  I won’t miss her if she comes through the Midwest again, and neither should you.

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Ceu’s set list for the night. Sadly, I didn’t get a physical copy of it, but thanks to the man who let me take this photo of his copy.

[Thanks to Andre Bourgeois for making press pass arrangements for me for this show.  He rules.]

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Night Beats announce summer North America tour dates

Night-Beats-18-1024x684Not taking time to rest on their laurels, Night Beats have announced a North American tour after completing their European dates with performances at the Glastonbury Music Festival.

The North American dates can be found at their website.  See them if you get the chance.  They are killing it live.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Bebel Gilberto – June 18, 2016 – Ann Arbor, MI

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I’ve wanted to see the lovely Bebel Gilberto for many years.  I’ve always missed her past Chicago dates due to work, but I finally got to see her in a great venue at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival – a nice summer arts and music festival that takes place over two weeks on the University of Michigan campus.

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The show was at the Power Center theatre on campus, and the onstage set-up was simple.

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“That’s an impressive [drum] kit,” I told my wife.  It was a full kit combined with hand percussion instruments.  There was an acoustic guitar, a laptop computer, and a microphone for Ms. Gilberto.  That was all she and her two-piece band needed.

Ms. Gilberto owned the stage as soon as she walked onto it.  She was full of pep and had the crowd in her hands within moments.

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She sang a good number of songs from her latest album, Tudo, including the title track, “Nudo Nao,” a cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” and some of her classics like “So Nice,” “Bring Back the Love,” and “Aganju” (a personal favorite).

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Ms. Gilberto and her band killing it on “Aganju.”

She closed with two cuts from Tanto Tiempo – the always stunning “Samba Da Bencao” and “Close Your Eyes.”  She had every Brazilian woman in the audience (and a few kids) dancing in the aisles by then.

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Ms. Gilberto getting her groove on during “Close Your Eyes.”

This show has gone to the top of my list on my favorite live performances of 2016 so far because it’s the first show to bring me to tears.  Ms. Gilberto’s drummer left the stage for a few numbers and I gasped when her guitarist played some familiar chords on the second percussion-free song.  They were the opening chords to Radiohead‘s “Creep.”

My eyes misted as soon as she sang the first line.  A few people in the crowd cheered as they recognized the song, jaws dropped as she dropped the f-bomb in the chorus, and my wife and I were wiping tears from our eyes by the end.  It was gorgeous.  Bebel Gilberto’s voice is nothing short of hypnotizing, and hearing her sing this song about longing and heartbreak was an unexpected surprise.

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Ms. Gilberto singing “Creep” while my wife and I cried.

The crowd cheered when they’d finished the song.  She said, “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” I said loud enough for the whole auditorium to hear me.

She laughed and then said, “We’re thinking about recording that.  Some people don’t like it, but we like it.”

Please do, Ms. Gilberto, and please come back to the Midwest soon.

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Vickie Starr for getting me a press pass to this show.  She rules.]

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Clutch announce 2016 US fall tour with Zakk Sabbath and Kyng

clutch fall 2016 tour poster

June 15th, 2016 – Clutch continues their Psychic Warfare World Tour 2016.  Headline tour dates for September-October are in.  The group will be heading back on the road this Fall headlining another leg of their US tour. Supporting the tour will be Zakk Sabbath and Los Angeles based metal band Kyng. Including 2 festival appearances, the trek will begin in Buffalo, NY at the The Town Ballroom on September 28th and conclude in Worcester, MA at The Palladium on October 30th.
 
Clutch lead vocalist Neil Fallon commented “We are pleased to announce that this Fall Clutch will be hitting the road again in the U.S..  This time with Zakk Sabbath and Kyng. Clutch toured with Black Label Society a few years back and it was a blast –  and no doubt, this one will be a blast as well.  We hope to see you all there!”
 
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 16th Clutch 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).   
 
Zakk Sabbath, bring their take on Black Sabbath songs on the road for the first time ever.  The band features  guitarist/vocalist Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), bassist Rob “Blasko” Nicholson (Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie) and drummer Joey Castillo (Danzig, Queens Of The Stone Age).   Kyng, the Los Angeles based metal trio, will be supporting their 3rd release and follow up to 2014’s Burn The Serum.
 
Pre-sale tickets will be on sale today (June 15th) at 12PM local time with public on sale beginning Friday, June  17 at 10AM local time.  Pre-sale tickets are available here: Tickets.artistarena.com/clutch 
For all other information, visit the Clutch website (www.pro-rock.com).
 
Clutch, Zakk Sabbath, Kyng 2016 Tour Dates
 
09/28 – Buffalo, NY @ The Town Ballroom
09/30 – Lakewood, NJ @ First Energy Park – Rock Carnival *
10/01 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
10/02 – Louisville, KY @ Champions Park – Louder Than Life *
10/04 – Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
10/05 – Atlanta, GA @ The Buckhead Theatre
10/07 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre Street Stage
10/08 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live
10/10 – Little Rock, AR @ Metroplex
10/11 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
10/12 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
10/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
10/15 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
10/16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
10/18 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater
10/20 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
10/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
10/22 – Sioux City, IA @ Anthem at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
10/24 – Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note ** NO Zakk Sabbath
10/25 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
10/27 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater
10/28 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore
10/29 – Clifton Park, NY @Upstate Concert Hall
10/30 – Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
 
* festival appearance 
 
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:
 
Official: www.pro-rock.com