photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin; words by Bill Pearis

BMRC @ T5, 5/4/2013

I saw Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at Brownies around the time of their first record and the thing I remember most about that show was the band playing, basically, in sillouhette thanks to some airport-runway-grade lights backlighting their stage setup. Deaf and blind, that's how they wanted us. But it was a very effective visual element. A dozen years or so on and the band are playing much bigger places -- Saturday (5/4) at Terminal 5 on this tour that also hit Austin Psych Fest -- but BRMC still keep things relatively simple: black leather and demin, crunchy VU-inspired tunes, and lights aimed out.

Bass Drum of Death, who opened the show and played Death by Audio later that night, will be back in July. More pictures from T5 are below.

Continue reading "Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Bass Drum of Death played Terminal 5 (pics)"

by Tim Griffin

BRMC / Acid Mothers Temple / Warpaint at Austin Psych Fest - 4/26/2013

Last year Austin Psych Fest was held at Emo's East and Beauty Ballroom (RIP), the year before at the Seaholm Power Plant, and this year APF, which happened last weekend (4/26 - 4/28) has found what might be a permanent home at Carson Creek Ranch. The two seemed to fit well; open skies, trees, and a river (just minutes from downtown Austin) made for a great new location. Pictures of the ranch, and many of Day 1's bands (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Warpaint, Raveonettes, Tamaryn, Acid Mothers Temple, Tinariwen and more) and other goings-on are in this post.

BMRC play NYC on Saturday (5/4) at Terminal 5 with fellow Psych Fest vets Bass Drum of Death and tickets are still available.

Sailor Jerry invited me along for the ride and hired me to take some pictures for them as well. They had an AirStream back stage where much ink was dispensed (in the form of tattoos) as well as happiness (in the form of rum). Austin Tattoo artists Keith Underwood and Philip LaRocca manned the needles for those who stopped by for some permanent souvenirs. Pictures of some of that in the set, too.

Over at BV Austin, you can check out portraits taken at the fest by photographer Natasha Ryan. More pics from Day 1 of Austin Psych Fest below...

Continue reading "Austin Psych Fest: Day 1 in pics (BRMC, Acid Mothers Temple, Tinariwen, Tamaryn, Raveonettes, Warpaint ++ more)"

Tamaryn is DJing at New York's Museum of Modern Art on Sunday evening (4/7) as part of a PopRally event called "Abstract Currents." Against projections of one-minute videos submitted by the public, Tamryn will provide a "hypnotic soundtrack to the collectively built abstract videoscape." It's in conjunction with MoMA's Abstraction, 1910-1925 and Abstract Generation: Now in Print exhibition and tickets are still available.

Later this month, Tamaryn will be in Texas' state capital for Austin Psych Fest (Apr. 26 - 28), which features a pretty amazing line-up that runs the gammut of "psychedelic," including Deerhunter, Spectrum, Black Mountain, OS Mutantes, The Moving Sidewalks, Clinic, Besnard Lakes, Elephant Stone, Roky Erickson, Sweden's GOAT and a bunch more. The fest just announced the day-by-day line-ups which are listed below.

Continue reading "Tamaryn DJing MoMA; Austin Psych Fest finalizes lineup"

Says the PR

On the heels of a highly successful, critically acclaimed sold-out 2012 festival, the Sasquatch! Music Festival unveils its 2013 lineup, which once again features 4 days of music. The festival, hailed as "a model of well-paced programming...in a four-day schedule as efficient and natural feeling as an expertly built algorithm" by NPR Music while Wired notes, "leave the landscape out of it and Sasquatch! has a lineup to kill for," runs May 24-27 (Memorial Day Weekend) at The
Gorge, the internationally acclaimed concert venue carved in the basalt cliffs high above the Columbia River Gorge in Quincy, WA.

Continue reading "Sasquatch! Music Festival 2013 lineup is here"

Bass Drum of Death in Austin in 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Garage rock duo Bass Drum of Death have been added as an opener to the late April/early May Black Rebel Motorcycle Club tour, which includes the NYC show happening on May 4 at Terminal 5. Tickets for that show are still available.

While they're here, BDOD will play their own smaller (and probably sweatier) show later that night (5/4) at Death by Audio. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Openers for the other legs on BRMC's tour (The Big Pink and thenewno2) were announced too, and an updated list of tour dates (openers included) is below...

Continue reading "Bass Drum of Death opening for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, playing their own NYC show too (dates)"

As mentioned, Black Rebel Motorcyle Club will release their seventh album, Specter at the Feast, on March 19 via Vagrant. The band have just released the first track from the album, a cover of The Call's 1989 single "Let the Day Begin," which was a minor U.S. hit. Some of you may know that BRMC bassist Robert Levon Been's father is the late Michael Been who fronted The Call (and died in 2010). You can watch the video for The Call's original below as well.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's upcoming tour hits NYC on May 4 at Terminal 5 and tickets are still available.

Song stream and Call video below...

Continue reading "Black Rebel Motorcycle Club cover The Call on new LP (stream)"

Rock n' roll true believers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are gearing up to release their seventh album, Specter At The Feast, which will be out March 19. While no music from the record has been released yet, BMRC have been releasing a series of album teasers -- directed by filmmaker (and Dum Dum Girl) Malia James -- and you can watch the first three of those below.

The band will be touring this spring in support of the new record, including a stop in NYC at Terminal 5 on May 4. No word on advance tickets just yet but you can keep checking Ticketmaster.

A list of all tour dates, plus Specter at the Feast album art, tracklisting and teaser videos, are below.

Continue reading "Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ready new album and tour (dates)"

Sasquatch! 2012 (more by Chris Graham and Rae Graham)

Quincy, WA music festival Sasquatch! has announced that it will return for its 12th installment to The Gorge over Memorial Day Weekend (5/24 - 5/27) in 2013. A limited number of discounted four-day festival passes will go on sale Friday (11/23) at 9 AM PST at the Sasquatch! website. The lineup will be announced in February.

In other US festival news, as recently mentioned on BV Austin, Austin Psych Fest will go down in Carson Creek Ranch from April 26 to 28 with Deerhunter, The Black Angels, Boris, Spectrum, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Clinic, Warpaint, DIIV, and many more. More info HERE.

This press release went out this morning...

QUIKSILVER PRO NEW YORK SURF CONTEST WILL RUN: Update from Long Beach

An important update from Long Beach - Quiksilver is working closely with the City of Long Beach to preserve the heart of the professional surf contest scheduled to start on Sunday, September 4 in light of the impact of Hurricane Irene and concerns for the Long Beach community, which suffered significant damage from the storm. The Quiksilver Pro is scheduled to start its 11-day "holding period" on Monday, September 5. The Quiksilver Pro Trials presented by Unsound Surf will run on Sunday, September 4.

The situation has been changing daily, and we recognize that City resources are focused on hurricane restoration and clean up as first priority. In that context, we have been informed by the City that the festival and music components of the event are no longer achievable.

The Quiksilver Pro NY is first and foremost about the surf contest and Long Beach has an incredible surfing tradition and spirit. We are committed to holding the ASP tour event at Long Beach so that together we can promote the sport by bringing together the best surfers in the world to this terrific community.

Continue reading "free Quiksilver concerts in Long Beach are cancelled (surfing still on) (or something like that)"

Watch out House of Vans, it looks like yeat another corporate-sponsored show-series is vying for contender of "best free shows" in NY this year. Taking place over fifteen days in Long Beach, NY (and finally explaining that mysterious Flaming Lips date), The Quiksilver Pro New York series ("the first-ever ASP World Championship Tour stop on the East Coast of the United States") will feature surfing, skating, and BMX demos from some of the biggest names out there (Kelly Slater, Tony Hawk, etc).... not to mention some major music acts like The Flaming Lips, Girl Talk, Interpol, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Q-Tip, Neon Indian, Wavves, Taking Back Sunday, Saves The Day, and many more. Best of all, admission to everything is FREE.

All dates with the full lineups are below, but the music portion kicks off on Saturday, 9/3 with Girl Talk, Saves The Day, "a special surprise performance" & more. Sunday has Interpol, Portugal. The Man, The Ettes (who play NYC tonight), and more. Monday (Labor Day) will see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Civil Twilight, and more. 9/9 is probably the most impressive show with The Flaming Lips, Q-Tip, Neon Indian, Wavves and Charlotte O'Connor. Saturday 9/10 will play host to a "Benefit Concert Hosted By Kelly Slater & Friends + The Max Weinberg Experience" with Taking Back Sunday, The Sounds and SLUNT. More details on the benefit show are TBA.

If you can't make it to Long Island, "The Quiksilver Pro New York will be broadcast from September 3-15 by MSG and Fuse, with programming that will feature some of the biggest artists, athletes and live performances from the event."

More details and lineups below...

Continue reading "Quiksilver hosting free shows in Long Island (Girl Talk, Flaming Lips, Interpol, Q-Tip, Neon Indian, Wavves, more)"

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club played the Fashion Week party at Don Hill's on Thursday. Iggy Pop and The Stooges played there Friday, and according to the above Tweet by Eli Mizrahi, Courtney Love is playing there tonight.

Eli's Tweet also reminds us that tonight is the John Varvatos's 10th Anniversary party in the store previously known as CBGB. There will be a concert from: 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. Supposedly confirmed performers include Alejandro Escovedo, Alice Cooper, Wayne Kramer, Ian Hunter, ZZ Top, Black Country Communion, Camp Freddy, Cherie Currie, Darling Stillettos, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Jesse Malin & The St. Marks Social, and Perry Farrell . Rumored performers include Iggy Pop and (thanks John) Robert Plant (who plays Bowery Ballroom Sunday).

Who else is playing fashion week parties tonight?

by BBG

Good news, good news. If you don't already have tickets to 4/8 at Webster Hall, some tickets are still available. In addition, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have added a second NYC show at Webster Hall on 4/9 with Alberta Cross (who just opened for Guns n Roses at the Varvatos Store). Tickets are on Artist presale (or will be soon), and the Ticketmaster AMEX presale blasts off at noon tomorrow (2/17) with regular folks getting a crack at the tix on Friday (2/19) at noon.

In addition to the previously mentioned tour dates in support of the forthcoming Beat The Devil's Tattoo, BRMC have also confirmed an appearance at the Vagrant Records SXSW showcase with School of Seven Bells, J Roddy Walston & The Business and Murder By Death on March 19th at La Zona Rosa.

Updated tour dates below...

Continue reading "Black Rebel Motorcycle Club add 2nd NYC show (w/ Alberta Cross), playing Vagrant SXSW showcase - updated Tour Dates "

by BBG

BRMC 2009

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is revving up [pun!] to unleash their fifth studio album, Beat The Devil's Tattoo, on March 9, 2010, signifying the band's first full-length on their own Abstract Dragon, in partnership with Vagrant Records. ...The trio returned to the familiar setting of Philly to pen this record... in the very studio that produced their widely acclaimed third LP, Howl, before returning to hometown L.A. to add the finishing touches.

BMRC recently released a three disc DVD/CD set entitled Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Live. Fans of blatantly literal titles are stoked. Featuring "two hours of concert footage captured from three sold out shows in Berlin, Dublin and Glasgow, ...behind-the-scenes footage, glimpses into the making of 2005's Howl and is rounded out with a bonus live album featuring 14 songs", pick up a copy of that set at your nearest purveyor of fine records and tapes.

In addition, the band has also contributed a track to the New Moon soundtrack, along with Bon Iver, Death Cab for Cutie, Lykke Li, Muse, St Vincent, and others. ZOMG! Are you Team Jacob or Team Edward?

Full tour dates and a few videos are below.

Continue reading "Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - new albums & 2010 tour dates "

"Thom Yorke and Flea's new supergroup will play a Radiohead song at their upcoming debut gigs in Los Angeles., it's been revealed.

The as-yet-unnamed band's drummer Mauro Refosco told Brazilian website Abril.com they will play Thom Yorke's 'The Eraser' album in its entirety, four new songs and one Radiohead track at the shows on Sunday and Monday (October 4 & 5).

It's rumoured the band will air Thom Yorke's song he wrote for the Twilight New Moon soundtrack, 'Hearing Damage', as one of the "new" songs." [gigwise]

The new Twilight soundtrack, as you may have heard, also includes tracks by many familiar names including Death Cab For Cutie, Muse, Sea Wolf, Grizzly Bear & Beach House's Victoria Legrand, Bon Iver & St. Vincent, and Editors...

Speaking exclusively to Gigwise, Editors frontman Tom Smith said: "The films aren't aimed at people our age but I look at the bands that we're next to on that soundtrack and it's just a good thing.

"It's not selling out, it's not putting your song on an advert or selling a product.

"It's just being part of something that, to me, as collective seems like a pretty attractive thing."

New Moon is the second instalment of the vampire franchise, which stars British actor Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.

Continue reading "Thom Yorke's LA setlist, a secret show?, Twilight soundtrack"

Kanye West @ Lollapalooza 2008 (more by Bao Nguyen)

tonight in NYC & NJ
* FREE
* nothing @ Studo B
* Kanye West @ MSG
* Bob Log III @ Southpaw
* Eddie Vedder @ United Palace
* Brazilian Girls @ The Apple Store
* Keith Caputo (LOA) @ the Stone Pony
* Jungle Brothers in Bush Clinton Park
* 28 Days Later (movie) @ McCarren Pool
* Black Rebel Motorcyle Club @ Irving Plaza
* The Police & Elvis Costello @ Jones Beach
* Earth Wind and Fire @ Radio City Music Hall
* Fiasco, Ninja Sonik & The Homosexuals @ Market Hotel
* Flobots, People Under The Stairs, and Busdriver @ Bowery Ballroom
* Apollo Sunshine, Drug Rug and Sam Champion on a Rocks Off Cruise

Tonight was the night Sam Sparro was supposed to play Santos Party House.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club play Irving tonight, and then open for Stone Temple Pilots at Jones Beach tomorrow.

Spiritualized will be on Letterman tonight. They recently played a couple of NYC shows. Fleet Foxes played Letterman last night.

Help get Iggy Pop's gear back.

Sigur Ros' MoMA performance will be on Current TV tonight.

The Duke Spirit play the Apple Store on Thursday.

Video of Gnarls Barkley covering Radiohead @ Lollapalooza below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"