Fort Worth, Texas’ Fortress Festival has announced its lineup for 2017. Run the Jewels seem to be everywhere right now, and Slowdive are 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 Arkestra are fantastic live. I’d also like to see Survive and Dengue Fever.
Get your tickets soon. A two-day pass is only $105.00.
Keep your mind open.
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Living legends Radiohead have 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
Keep your mind open.
I was happy to learn just a couple weeks ago that Canadian pop-punk band Partner were 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).
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.
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.
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.”
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.
Keep your mind open.
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Good grief! Check out this first round lineup announcement from the VIVA PHX festival on March 11th. It’s one night in downtown Phoenix with 75 bands playing in 18 venues.
At first glance, my must-see bands are (reading from top to bottom on the list above) Girl Talk, Temples, the Reverend Horton Heat, X, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Yacht, Blackalicious, Deap Vally, Night Beats, Froth, and Death Valley Girls.
There will be many local area bands there I’m sure I’ll want to see by then. I already have my airfare and will be getting my tickets soon. Don’t wait too long. Tickets are only $25 bucks right now and will go up as the date gets closer.
Keep your mind open.
[Don’t wait too long to subscribe to us either.]
Psych-rockers Elephant Stone have released a big batch of tour dates across their home country and in the United Kingdom. Catch them if you can. You won’t regret it.
Feb. 08 – Grad Club – Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Feb. 09 – Starlight – Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Feb. 10 – Adelaide Hall – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Feb. 14 – Casbah – Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Feb. 15 – E-Bar – Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Feb. 16 – Red Dog – Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Feb. 17 – Zaphods – Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Feb. 18 – Theatre Fairmount – Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Mar. 24 – Trou de Diables – Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada
Mar. 31 – Petite Boite Noire – Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Apr. 01 – La Sainte Paix – Drummondville, Quebec, Canada
May 26 – The Moth Club – London, UK
May 27 – The Moon Club – Cardiff, UK
May 28 – Eiger Studios – Leeds, UK
May 29 – Mono – Glasgow, UK
May 30 – Picture House Social – Sheffield, UK
May 31 – Hope & Ruin – Brighton, UK
BTW check out this live in-studio performance they did of Ship of Fools sitar track “Silence Can Say So Much”. Listen to Ship of Fools HERE.
Keep your mind open.
[Your subscription to us would say so much.]
I guess it was thirty years ago when I saw U2 on their Joshua Tree tour in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena (which no longer exists). The band recently announced they will be playing the album in full during an upcoming anniversary tour that will stretch from Vancouver to Brussels. There are plenty of U.S. dates, but you’ll have to get your tickets from the resale market if you missed the sale. The tour sold out in minutes.
Keep your mind open.
A Perfect Circle had announced earlier this year that they’d perform four tour days, but lo and behold they confirmed everyone’s hopes by announcing a full North American tour for 2017. Catch them if you can if you’re in the west or south (or Missouri). They don’t tour often.
April 7 – Las Vegas, Nevada @ The Pearl
April 8 – Las Vegas, Nevada @ The Pearl
April 10 – Phoenix, Arizona @ Comerica Theatre
April 11 – San Diego, California @ Open Air Theatre
April 13 – San Francisco, California @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
April 14 – Reno, Nevada @ Reno Event Center
April 15 – Sal Lake City, Utah @ Maverik Center
April 17 – Denver, Colorado @ 1st Bank Center
April 19 – Kansas City, Missouri @ Starlight Amphitheatre
April 20 – St. Louis, Missouri @ Chafietz Arena
April 22 – Tusla, Oklahoma @ BOK Center
April 23 – Grand Prairie, Texas @ Verizon Theatre
April 25 – Austin, Texas @ HEB Center at Cedar Park
April 26 – San Antonio, Texas @ Freeman Coliseum
April 27 – Houston, Texas @ Smart Financial Center
April 29 – Jacksonville, Florida @ Welcome to Rockville
April 30 – Fort Meyers, Florida @ Fort Rock Festival
May 2 – Atlanta, Georgia @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
May 3 – Nashville, Tennessee @ Bridgestone Arena
May 5 – Concord, North Carolina @ Carolina Rebellion
May 7 – Los Angeles, California @ Hollywood Bowl
Keep your mind open.
Here we are at my top five live shows of 2016.
#5 – Earthless at Levitation Chicago March 12th
Earthless are the only band to be in my top 10 concerts of 2016 twice. This was the second time I’d seen them and the first time I’d been close to the stage. It was a stunning performance that nearly left me speechless. They were also cool cats who were happy to sign my concert poster after their performance.
#4 – Night Beats at Levitation Chicago March 12th
Night Beats are the only band to be in the top 30 concerts of 2016 three times. Their Levitation Chicago performance was downright dangerous and established the swagger and tight chops I’d see from them all year. They, too, were also cool cats who signed my copy of their new album Who Sold My Generation for me after their set.
#3 – Deap Vally at the Chicago House of Blues October 13th
They were first on a bill with Death from Above 1979 and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and they set the bar so high that the other two bands couldn’t match it. They came to kick ass and take names…and they were all out of names. They, too, were cool cats who chatted with me after their set. Everyone was still talking about their performance as we were walking out of the venue.
#2 – Gary Wilson at Levitation Chicago March 10th
I didn’t know much about Gary Wilson before seeing him at Levitation Chicago. I walked out a devoted fan. His show was part-lounge act, part-psychedelic freak-out, and part-performance art piece. He creeped out a woman next to me, made others laugh, others cheers, and others stand there with a “What the hell am I seeing and hearing?” look on their face. I couldn’t stop talking about his performance for weeks and haven’t stopped recommending him to everyone since.
#1 – Bebel Gilberto at Ann Arbor Summer Fest June 18th
Only one concert had a moment that made me cry in 2016, and that was when Bebel Gilberto and her guitarist performed a cover of Radiohead‘s “Creep.” Seeing this member of bossa nova royalty in a great venue (The acoustics in Ann Arbor’s Powerhouse Theatre are sublime.) was a dream come true, as I’ve had a serious crush on her and her music for many years. It was also the first show I attended on a press pass thanks to this blog, so it will always hold a special place in my memory.
Thanks for reading. I hope to get to just as many shows in 2017. Wish me luck and let me know about bands I need to see this year.
Keep your mind open.
[I might get misty if you subscribe to my blog.]
We’re in the top ten of the my favorite live shows of 2016.
#10 – The Flaming Lips at Middle Waves Fest in Ft. Wayne, Indiana September 17th
It was a triumphant return to Fort Wayne after nearly 30 years for them. The show was big, bright, and full of love. It was in the middle of the election season and just what we all needed at the time.
#9 – Earthless at the Empty Bottle in Chicago December 2nd
Earthless is easily one of the best live acts out there right now, and this was my first time seeing them in a small venue. I don’t know how the Empty Bottle was still standing by the time they were done because it was among the loudest and heaviest sets I’ve seen there.
#8 – John Carpenter at the Masonic Temple Theatre in Detroit July 15th
“I got a movie and a concert,” my wife said after seeing a screening of Escape from New York and then John Carpenter, his son, his godson, and the rest of his band play a fantastic retrospective of his film score music. It was also in a huge gothic structure, so that made it all the better.
#7 – Screaming Females at the Brass Rail in Ft. Wayne, Indiana June 26th
I’d wanted to see them for a couple years, and seeing them an hour’s drive away with my best friend in a venue not much bigger than the bottom floor of my house was one of my favorite memories of 2016. They were even kind enough to let me interview in their tour van. They crushed it, leaving most of the crowd dumbstruck.
#6 – L7 at the Metro in Chicago August 6th
Another band I’d waited years, even decades, to see was L7 and their sold-out reunion tour show in Chicago was one of the best performances I’d seen from any band in years. They hadn’t lost a thing and showed pretenders how it’s done.
Good grief! If these shows were so good, who’s in the top five? Come back tomorrow and see!
Keep your mind open.
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