With air travel out of the UK and Europe still at a standstill, and conditions predicted to deteriorate further due to the huge cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull, the members of Bad Lieutenant and their management have come to the disappointing decision to cancel their Chicago and New York dates that had been set to take place on Monday, April 19 and Wednesday, April 21, respectively.

"We're stuck in Manchester," said Bad Lieutenant's Bernard Sumner. "We were hoping that conditions might change at the last minute and we'd be able to come and play for our fans. Obviously, this is a situation out of everyone's control, and we are crushed that we won't be coming to America for these dates."

Since British air space was closed on Thursday morning, the band also canceled their planned appearances in San Francisco last night and today at the Coachella festival near Palm Springs, CA.

Refunds will be available for ticket holder at the point of purchase.

Bummer, and the second time the band were unable to play for us here in the US.

Deer Tick on stage @ Coachella now (BlurtMagazine)

Coachella 2010 is underway, and Deer Tick have the honor of being one of the first bands to play the fest this year. In fact they're playing the Outdoor Theatre stage as I type this, complete with frontman John McCauley in a sun dress (see above). You'll be able to watch the performance later on the not-live stream. Hopefully they cover a Sex Pistols song in tribute to Malcolm Mclaren, and to Johnny Rotten who plays with Public Image Ltd on the same nine hours later (p.s. tickets went on sale today for the recently added PiL show at Terminal 5).

After Deer Tick (who went on after Alana Grace) comes The Avett Brothers and then not The Cribs, though the website still has them listed there.

Speaking of not playing, Frightened Rabbit won't be there on Saturday, and now CNN confirms that Bad Lieutenant, who already cancelled tonight's San Francisco show, won't make it to Coachella on Saturday either. "Bad Lieutenant will not be able to play Coachella tomorrow," a spokesperson for the band told CNN. "They are stuck in the UK and unable to get a flight out. Everyone is very bummed about it." Damn volcano. It remains to be seen if the band will still come to the U.S. just for Chicago and NYC (if they even have the choice).

Coachella headliners tonight/Friday also include Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Them Crooked Vultures, and The Specials. Fever Ray, Echo & The Bunnymen, Gil Scott-Heron, Grizzly Bear, Lucero, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Yeasayer are other highlights on today's schedule. Full reviews and picture sets coming later.

UPDATE: The stream is happening now.

Bernard Sumner's Bad Lieutenant hasn't had a lot of luck when it comes to playing in the US. They cancelled their first scheduled trip here which included a NYC show at Webster Hall and slots opening for the Pixies in November of 2009. Then they rescheduled their North American debut to take place in conjunction with an appearance at Coachella. In total, they were set to play four US shows with April 21st at Webster Hall being the last one on this trip. So far, thanks to the Icelandic volcano, that number is now down to at most three...

Continue reading "Bad Lieutenant cancel pre-Coachella San Francisco show"

Still Life Still @ Mercury Lounge in 2009 (more by Vincent Cornelli)

tonight in NYC
* Surfer Blood @ Other Music
* Robyn Hitchcock @ City Winery
* Teeth Mountain, Living Days @ Death By Audio
* Jonathan Kane's February @ Issue Project Room
* Ha Ha Tonka, Daniel Wayne, Josh Mease @ Pianos
* Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, Bizi Gara, Asa Ransom @ The Cameo
* Wild Beasts, Violens, Still Life Still @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Surfer Blood, Turbo Fruits, We Are Country Mice, Radical Sons @ Mercury Lounge
* Kidz in the Hall, 88 Keys, Izza Kizza, Donnis, DJ K-Salaam @ Highline Ballroom
* Shooting Spires, Pterodactyl, Summer Recreation Camp, Unstoppable Death Machines @ Union Pool
* Brooklyn Psych Fest w/ Madam Robot and The Lust Brigade, Traveling Circle, The Runaway Suns, Heavy Hands, La Otracina, Naam, Asteroid #4, Sounds of Kaleidoscope @ Glasslands

Surfer Blood is playing a free-instore @ Other Music today (6:30pm) before their sold out show at Mercury Lounge. They played to a packed house at Market Hotel last night.

A poster for the BK psych Fest, at Glasslands today, is below.

Today is also the Brooklyn Record Riot at Warsaw.

Bad Lieutenant's video for "Sink or Swim" below...

The Hidden Cameras' video for "Underage", below...

Mumford & Sons' video for "The Cave", below...

A Place To Bury Strangers' video for "Keep Slipping Away", below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

Bernard Sumner of Bad Lieutenant/New Order/Joy Division

After canceling their four US shows last November because of visa issues, Bad Lieutenant aimed to reschedule for the spring. They've confirmed those dates, one of which is at Coachella. Another is NYC's Webster Hall, the last of their four stateside shows, on Wednesday, April 21st. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 12th.

The shows will be the band's first in the United States. Their debut album, Never Cry Another Tear, came out last October on Original Signal Recordings.

Bad Lieutenant is: Bernard Sumner (guitar, vocals) and Phil Cunningham (guitar), along with Jake Evans (guitar, vocals).

The core members of Bad Lieutenant - Sumner, Cunningham, and Evans - will be joined on these dates by former Joy Division/New Order drummer Stephen Morris (who also played on the new album) and bassist Tom Chapman. According to Sumner, "The bulk of the set will be Bad Lieutenant songs, but we'll also play some songs from my past, some New Order songs, some Joy Division, and a few other surprises."

All tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Bad Lieutenant reschedule US dates (Coachella, NYC, more)"

Sonic Youth @ United Palace Theatre in July (more by Bao Nguyen)

tonight in NYC
* The Feelies @ Maxwell's
* Devo, JP Inc @ Irving Plaza
* Yo Gabba Gabba @ Beacon Theatre
* Nader Sadek @ Santos Party House
* Meat Puppets @ Mexicali Live (NJ)
* Tim Berne's Los Totopos @ Roulette
* Star Wars Concert @ Nassau Coliseum
* Vision Fest Benefit @ CSV Cultural Center
* Cinema 16 w/ These Are Powers @ Galapagos
* Dawes, Langhorne Slim @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Boy Crisis, Annie (DJ Set) @ Tribeca Grand Hotel
* The Ballet, MKNG FRNDZ, My Gay Bingo @ Union Hall
* Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Cold Cave @ Terminal 5
* Negative Approach, Guilt Trip, Black SS @ Southpaw
* Eli Paperboy Reed & The True Lovers @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Jad Fair, Lumberob, Orba Squara @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Pop. 1280, Manikin, Liquor Store, Foster Care @ Bruar Falls
* Bishop Allen, Throw Me the Statue, Darwin Deez @ The Bell House
* Performa 09/A Select History of Experimental Music @ Gramercy Theatre
* Mode Records Marathon w/ Philip Glass, John Zorn @ Abrons Arts Center
* Carsick Cars, Aa, PK 14, Knyfe Hyts 81, XIAO HE @ Secret Project Robot
* Trouble & Bass, Joker & Nomad, Bok Bok, L Vis 1990 @ Santos Party House
* Blowfly, NinjaSonik, Anal Cunt, The Stalkers @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Fluffy Lumbers, Average Girl, Family Portrait, Liam the Younger @ Cake Shop
* Dirty Projectors, tUnE-YaRds, The Tony Castles @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Little Dragon, Reredux, Body Language, Crystal Fighters @ (le) poisson rouge
* Land of Talk, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, North Highlands, Linfinity @ Mercury Lounge
* The Bloodsugars, Project Jenny/Project Jan, Savoir Adore @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Julia Wolfes Steel Hammer w/ Bang on a Can All-Stars @ Zankel Hall @ Carnegie
* Graffiti Monsters, Starscream, Nullsleep, The Blue & Red 3D Spectacular @ Shea Stadium
* The Beets, Beachniks, She Keeps Bees, McDonalds, Missionaries On Vacation @ Death By Audio
* Jaguar Club, Veil Veil Vanish, Religious To Damn, The Art of Shooting, Telltale @ Cameo

Bad Lieutenant was supposed to play Webster Hall tonight. Instead, they'll be here in the spring. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, with Nic Cage/Coppola & directed by Werner Herzog, is opening though. Its trailer is below.

Two classic bands play shows in NJ tonight. Feelies perform all of Crazy Rhythms at Maxwell's (like they did at ATP) while the Meat Puppets visit Teaneck for a show at Mexicali Live.

Sonic Youth play Terminal 5 tonight and two shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg during the week.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

"It is with frustration and regret that Bad Lieutenant reluctantly announces the cancellation of the band's four U.S. dates set to commence next week. The more stringent immigration laws and changing visa parameters resulted in an inability to process the necessary paperwork.

"We were all so very excited about coming to the States to play our new music for our American fans," said Bad Lieutenant's Bernard Sumner, "and are extremely disappointed that on this occasion, we won't have the opportunity to do so. We plan to reschedule the Chicago and New York shows along with some additional U.S. dates in Spring.""

Black Gold, whose credits include touring with Panic at the Disco, are replacing Bad Lieutenant as the opener for the Pixies at Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on November 19th and at Hammerstein Ballroom on November 23rd.

Hello, this is Ticketmaster Customer Service with an important alert for your upcoming event. Bad Lieutenant, scheduled at Webster Hall on Saturday, November 21, 2009, at doors 7:00 pm, has been cancelled.
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Though nothing official has been announced by the band yet, I'm told it was due to visa issues which means their whole tour (aka 4 shows) must be cancelled. They were supposed to be opening for the Pixies at Hammerstein Ballroom and in Chicago.

This news comes exactly a week after we found out that fellow UK band Echo & The Bunnymen were cancelling their upcoming trip to the United States, though visas weren't blamed like they were for Speech Debelle and First Aid Kit in October. The Rakes cancelled their tour because they broke up. Charlatans blamed an injury.

All dates BL were supposed to play, below...

Continue reading "Bad Lieutenant cancel US dates (Webster Hall, Pixies shows)"

Bernard Sumner told Rolling Stone that his band Bad Lieutentant would be opening for the Pixies at Hammerstein Ballroom this year. That is true, but they're only opening the first one. Those with tickets to that sold out November 23rd show win the opener contest...

Pixies @ Hammerstein Ballroom
Nov 23 w/ Bad Lieutenant
Nov 24 w/ Jay Reatard
Nov 25 w/ Rain Machine
Nov 25 (late show) w/ no opener?

Tickets are still available to the last show (too bad they're over $60 each). Tickets are also still on sale to the Bad Lieutenant show happening at Webster Hall on November 21st (which is three days after they play Park West in Chicago).

Rain Machine is currently on tour and will play a CMJ show at Bowery Ballroom.

Jay Reatard is currently looking for a new band.

by Bill Pearis

Bad Lieutenant, the band Bernard Sumner formed after New Order officially split three years ago, will make their New York debut at Webster Hall on November 21 -- tickets are on American Express pre-sale Wednesday, with general sale starting Friday (10/9). And according to Sumner in a Rolling Stone interview, Bad Lieutenant will also open for all four of Pixies' Doolittle shows at Hammerstein Ballroom that same week, though there has yet to be any official confirmation.

The band's debut album, Never Cry Another Tear, is out this week digitally and will be available in physical form next week. The line-up includes guitarists Phil Cunningham, who replaced founding member Gillian Gilbert in 2001, and Jake Evans who sings lead on a few of Never Cry Another Tear's songs. Live, Bad Lieutenant also features New Order drummer Stephen Morris, with Thom Chapman on bass. Sumner talked to Pitchfork about the new group:

Continue reading "Bad Lieutenant (Bernard Sumner) playing Joy Division, New Order & other songs @ Webster Hall & at all 4 Pixies shows?"

by Black Bubblegum

Blur @ Rough Trade East

What happens when you take a recently disassembled New Order, subtract one, and add in a partial Blur. Apparently, you get an Abel Ferrara film starring Harvey Keitel. Confused?

Frontman Bernard Sumner, drummer Stephen Morris and guitarist Phil Cunningham have joined with Blur's Alex James for Bad Lieutenant's debut album, due in October. "I'm very proud of it, it's a very good album," Sumner told the BBC. "It's pretty guitary too because we've got three guitarists in the band." There may yet be more guitarists added - Sumner has promised that other Manchester musicians are to join the "collective" on tour. -[The Guardian]

Meanwhile Alex James's other gig, Blur, is officially BACK, and they played a pair of reunion gigs in the UK over the past few days including a "friends and family show" in Essex and last night (6/15) at Rough Trade East:

Around 10:42, Graham Coxon's Twitter page gave the game away, rallying the troops to Brixton Academy for eighteen minutes later. A mad dash over the river, through the market and into the unnervingly miniscule queue ensued and fifteen minutes later, wrists were endowed with shining green/ gold dust wristbands emblazoned with the band's now iconic freeform font. All that was left to do was wait.... Until eventually, ...phones and electronic inboxes alike were bombarded with conclusive info as to the wheres and then the whens; Rough Trade East, on stage at 7pm sharp, no arrivals before half six for fear of jeopardising the whole shebang.

...Rough Trade is transformed into the best garage gig never to entail smashed windscreens as involuntary feedback rasps through the murky humidity of an Amazonian rainforest. Invigorating, inspiring and utterly unmissable, the reunion never sounded so victorious. - [Virgin Blog]

Blur's Midlife: a Beginner's Guide To Blur is out now in the UK and due on July 28th domestically. No word on if the band will play on US soil to promote the release.

The recent shows in the UK are only a handful of their upcoming festival-heavy schedule. Check that out, as well as setlists from both nights and video from last night, below...

Continue reading "Blur played some shows (setlists, video, more dates) + Alex James & most of New Order form Bad Lieutenant "