photos by James Richards IV

In the Masonic's cozy, comely Scottish Rite Cathedral, the returning Detroit native served up a fiery if quick 80-minute set in his first show here in his new solo-artist phase, joined by an agile five-piece band and a capacity crowd of 1,500.

It was an event we don't see much anymore: a matinee rock performance, with a sellout evening gig still to come.

In some quarters, 2 p.m. is rock 'n' roll wakeup time, and the event had an offbeat feel from the outset. With the sun blasting as fans streamed into the Masonic in shorts and tank tops, it felt like a playing-hooky sort of afternoon [Detroit Free Press].

White began the evening show with a number of songs from Blunderbuss, including the raucous "Sixteen Saltines," "Missing Pieces," "Freedom At 21," and the folky "Love Interruption." He and his all-female band, The Peacocks (all-male band Los Buzzardos played the matinee show), also played a number of White Stripes songs: "Hotel Yorba," "You're Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl)," "I'm Slowly Turning Into You," "Cannon," "My Doorbell," "Suzy Lee," and of course "Seven Nation Army." Raconteurs cuts including "Top Yourself," "Steady, As She Goes," and "Carolina Drama" made their way onto the setlist. White and co. closed the show with a cover of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene."

Reminder: Both Jack White and Alabama Shakes will be here for Lollapalooza.

A full set of pictures from Thursday night's show, both setlists, and some videos below...

Continue reading "Jack White & Alabama Shakes @ Scottish Rite Theater in Detroit (pics/setlist/video)"

photos by Sarah Frankie Linder

M. Ward @ the Vic on 5/22/2012

On Tuesday night (5/22), M. Ward brought his tour with the Lee Ranaldo Band to Chicago for a performance at the Vic Theatre. A full set of pictures from the show and a video of M. Ward playing Monsters of Folk's "Whole Lotta Losin'" are in this post.

As mentioned, the Lee Ranaldo Band will join Chicago's Disappears for a few European dates in late-July. They are currently overseas right now and are slated to play Primavera Sound Festival next week. A full list of tour dates can be found HERE.

Pictures from Tuesday night's show at the Vic continue below...

Continue reading "M. Ward & the Lee Ranaldo Band played the Vic (pics, video)"

photos by Aaron Joesph Maier, words & some photos by Rachel Angres

Here We Go Magic @ Empty Bottle on 5/17/2012

After releasing two folk albums under his own name in the mid-2000s, Luke Temple began working on the project that we now know as Here We Go Magic. Temple has since extended the project into a full band with members Michael Bloch, Jennifer Turner, and Peter Hale. Following last year's January EP, Here We Go Magic released their latest album, A Different Ship, earlier this month via Secretly Canadian. The LP was produced by longtime Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich and serves as the group's most intricate effort to date.

Current tour mates Hospitality took the stage after local band Dolphins' brief yet charismatic set. Hospitality has colossal energy and versatility, blending eerie charm with layered hints similar to the sounds of early Broadcast- or even a less abrasive version of The Breeders.

Midway through their headlining set, Temple broke a guitar string: a mild and frequent casualty that is easily remedied if given the right tools. Yet as he started to announce that he needed to get a new string or borrow a guitar, he dropped his own. The crowd's mixed reaction of boos and cheers did not discourage Temple as he stood there shell-shocked, waiting for a replacement. "Wait, stop, my guitar is broken. We are going to start this over. Is Hospitality here? We need another guitar." He did not need a new guitar, nor did he need to stop the song to announce his broken string, but eventually Hospitality hospitably lent him one of their axes and the show lingered on.

Here We Go Magic have what is undoubtedly a fresh, compelling assortment of catchy riffs and hooks, that have rightfully earned them mass praise over the years. Mistakes were made at the Empty Bottle, and their set was at times shaky, but they finished with a redeeming double encore, belting out the finale with a remarkable version of "Fangella," a fan-favorite off their debut LP. The crowd, needless to say- did not leave disappointed, laden in sweat from all of the dancing, the venue's attendee's quickly shimmied out, with LP's signed and held tight by the die-hard fans smiling ear to ear with satisfaction.

A full set of pictures from their Empty Bottle show continue below...

Continue reading "Here We Go Magic, Hospitality & Dolphins @ the Empty Bottle (pics, review)"

photos by Ben Rodig

Reggie Watts @ the Vic on 5/16/2012

Rolling Stone: There's always been this lingering question: is Reggie Watts a comedian or a musician?

Reggie Watts: I guess, in a weird way, I've never actually thought of this until now, which is really odd. I guess, in a way, I grew up mixed race: half white, half black. That question's always been on my mind: what are you? Are you this or that? Are you a white dude or are you a black dude? In a strange way, music and comedy is kind of the same thing. I'm both. They're just different modes of expression.

Rolling Stone: People always want things to fit into a nice, tidy box.

Reggie Watts: Everybody's got their take on it. That's the cool thing about art. Everyone gets their own opinions, which is awesome. For myself, I just think, "Oh yeah, this is what I've always done."

Continue reading "Reggie Watts & Cameron Esposito @ the Vic (pics)"

photos by John Yingling

DOWNLOAD: Redd Kross - "Researching the Blues" (MP3)

Redd Kross @ HoZac Blackout Fest on 5/19/2012

HoZac Blackout Fest 2012 took place this past weekend at the Empty Bottle. A set of pictures from Saturday (5/19) of the festival are in this post.

Saturday night was headlined by Redd Kross, serving as one of the group's two recent US shows. As mentioned, their first album in over 15-years, Researching the Blues, hits stores in August via Merge. Download the album's title track at the top of this post and/or listen below. Along with the pictures, we've also got a few videos of their headlining set.

Gentleman Jesse & His Men, Homostupids, Fungi Girls, Teledrome, Pleasure Leftists, Far Out Fangtooth, Ketamines, Barreracudas, and White Mystery all played the Bottle on Saturday as well.

A full set of pictures from Saturday of Blackout Fest, some Redd Kross videos, and a stream of their new single below...

Continue reading "Saturday of HoZac Blackout Fest in pictures (Redd Kross, Gentleman Jesse, Fungi Girls, White Mystery & more)"

photos by Zach Pollack, words by Milos Markicevic

Xiu Xiu @ Lincoln Hall on 5/17/2012

Last Thursday (5/17), Xiu Xiu toured through Chicago, playing Lincoln Hall in support of their newest album Always. They were accompanied by Italian impending-doom rockers, Father Murphy, and the Canadian surf-tinged Dirty Beaches.

Father Murphy, a three-piece, took the stage first and had an eerie screen-projected visual that reminded me of the woods in The Blair Witch Project. It was unsettling yet a perfect fit for Father Murphy's dark sound. If people thought Nick Cave's first band, The Birthday Party, was one of the darkest and heaviest post-punk bands around, Father Murphy would like a word with you. The group used what looked like a synth as well as a beaten up drum set (one of cymbals was half cracked) and a guitar to create layers of droning sonic textures that built up steadily alongside desperate vocals. Out of all three members in the band, I found Father Murphy's drummer the most interesting. He fashioned super-drum sticks, by taping together three pairs, and proceeded to crash his kit with them. Later on he used a standard pair of drum sticks but held them in fashion that looked as if he were about to perform some ritualistic sacrifice. Out of relief or awe (maybe a bit of both), the crowd cheered as Father Murphy profusely thanked everyone for coming out early.

After Father Murphy had cleared the stage, it was time for Dirty Beaches. Alex Zhang Hungtai, who usually performs solo, was joined by a second guitarist. Hungtai's vocals sounded like a cross between Elvis and Chris Issak (and he even played the part with his slicked back hair). I really enjoyed the song "Horses," a jumpy, surf rock-influenced number.

After about 40-minutes from Dirty Beaches, Xiu Xiu (aka Jamie Stewart and full-time member Angela Seo) took the stage. Before they got started, Jamie and Angela performed a little ceremony. A fan seeing them for the third time told me it was a tradition they practiced before every show and that they were wishing each other good luck in sign language. Xiu Xiu opened their set with "Fabulous Muscles" and then jumped into "Beauty Town." During the song Jamie's guitar string popped and he momentarily had a painful expression on his face. He quickly brought his finger to his mouth but continued playing and finished the song without a hint of pain. Afterward, he quickly restrung his guitar and apologized to the crowd for cutting his finger. "We love you Jamie!" screamed a fan.

During one song, Angela struck one of the cymbals with such intensity that her stick went flying into the crowd. She burst out laughing and couldn't seem to locate it, but luckily had a bag of spares tied next to her keyboards. The duo were clearly having a good time (minus Jamie cutting his finger). The audience was devoutly silent in between songs, probably holding their breaths in anticipation that one of their favorites would be played. What makes Xiu Xiu so great live is that the majority of their songs are reinterpretations of the album originals. It is fascinating to see how they mix it up live and some songs even sounded better to me. They finished off their set with "Hi" and quickly returned to the stage to play a cover of Suicide's "Frankie Teardrop."

A full set of pictures and the setlist from their Lincoln Hall show are below...

Continue reading "Xiu Xiu, Dirty Beaches & Father Murphy played Lincoln Hall (pics/review/setlist)"

photos by James Richards IV

On Thursday night (5/17), Mayer Hawthorne & The County played Park West with their Stones Throw labelmates The Stepkids. A full set of pictures from Thursday night's show (including one of the setlist) below...

Continue reading "Mayer Hawthorne & The County and The Stepkids @ Park West (pics)"

photos by Grant MacAllister

While St. Vincent and Shearwater were playing the Vic on Friday night (5/11), Maps & Atlases played a hometown show at Metro with support from So Many Dynamos and Sister Crayon. A full set of pictures from the show and the headliner's setlist below...

Continue reading "Maps & Atlases, So Many Dynamos & Sister Crayon @ Metro (pics, setlist)"

photos by James Richards IV

On Saturday night (May 12), Andrew Bird played a sold-out hometown show at the Auditorium Theatre with support from locals Mucca Pazza. A full set of pictures from the show and the headliner's setlist below...

Continue reading "Andrew Bird & Mucca Pazza played the Auditorium Theatre (pics, setlist)"

photos by Jimmy Farabi

Tampa's Merchandise have a hell of an achievement with their new LP Children of Desire (out now via Katorga Works), and the band recently wrapped up a set of dates in celebration of the release with a show in Atlanta. The dates also included a stop at Mousetrap on April 25th, where the band teamed with Cold Lovers, Den, Wild Injuns and Scoundrel.

Children of Desire is on sale now. Download a copy of the digital version for FREE.

Check out pictures from all the bands who played that Mousetrap show below.

Continue reading "Merchandise played Mousetrap with Cold Lovers, Den, Wild Injuns, Scoundrel (pics)"