As mentioned, the Greg Ginn/Ron Reyes incarnation of "Black Flag" are coming to NYC for Northside shows on June 14 and 15 at Warsaw in Brooklyn. Both shows are sold out, but the band have now added a third Brooklyn show happening on June 16 at a secret Williamsburg venue. Like the 6/15 show, the openers are Ginn's other band, Good For You, and Cinema Cinema. Tickets for the secret show are on sale now (password: "buckwild"). Updated Black Flag dates are listed below.

Meanwhile, the other Black Flag band, FLAG (aka Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena, Bill Stevenson, and Stephen Egerton) just played Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas and also have upcoming dates, including a NYC show on September 19 at Irving Plaza. Tickets for that show are still available.

All Ginn/Reyes Black Flag dates are listed, along with a stream of their new song, below...

Continue reading "Black Flag adds 3rd Brooklyn show to tour (updated dates)"

The impossible has happened. Black Flag will reunite with their second vocalist Ron Reyes (Keith Morris was the first) for a show at Hevy Fest in the UK, roping in Greg Ginn as part of the lineup. The show will be the first official Black Flag show in many years, and the first outside of the US in more than 30.

UPDATE:Neither Chuck Dukowski nor Robo are part of this lineup. Enter FLAG.

So far the remainder of the Hevy Fest lineup, which goes down on August 2-4 at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent, has yet to be announced. Expect an additional 80 bands to round out the lineup.

Head below for some Black Flag videos featuring Ron on vocals, including a video from Ron Reyes's 50th birthday party, where he joined Greg Ginn on stage for Black Flag covers.

Continue reading "Black Flag's 1979 lineup reuniting for a UK festival UPDATED"

Cheetah Chrome w/ RFTT at Maxwell's in 2011 (more by Greg Cristman)

The CBGB Festival kicks off on Thursday (7/5) and continues through Sunday (7/8). We've mentioned a bunch of the festival's shows like the free Central Park show with Guided by Voices, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Cloud Nothings, and the War on Drugs, the Webster Hall show with Agnostic Front, Madball, and Murphy's Law (who also play a Rocks Off Cruise), Fishbone at Brooklyn Bowl, the Webster Hall show with Cro-Mags and Sick of it All, and many others. However, if you're looking for others artists that helped define punk and/or make CBGB the legendary venue it is, there are plenty of options for that too.

On Thursday (7/5), The Bowery Electric is hosting a huge show with Tommy Ramone (who drummed on and co-produced the first three Ramones albums), Cheetah Chrome (of Dead Boys/Rocket from the Tombs), The Waldos (ft. Walter Lure of Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers), Bear 54 (ft. Ernie Brooks of The Modern Lovers), Andy Shernoff (of The Dictators), Richard Lloyd (of Television), The Miamis, The Sic Fucks, and many more. Tickets for that show are available.

That same day (7/5), David Johansen (of New York Dolls) will be playing Sullivan Hall with Daddy Long Legs, Liza Colby & The Sound Machine, Andy & the Rattles, and a late night set by Strawberry Jam. Tickets for that show are available.

Also on Thursday (7/5), you can catch Glen Matlock (of The Sex Pistols) at, wait for it... singer-songwrter mainstay The Living Room with California, Jaymay, Lou-is, and Aurical.

Check the CBGB Festival site for more.

Hilly Kristal entering CBGB on its final night (more)

The CBGB Festival isn't the only place to catch CBGB legends though. Like they've done in the past, Bowery Electric (a venue very close to where CBGB was) will host Johnny Thunders Birthday Bash, a celebration of the late musician, on July 15, when he would have turned 60 (he passed away in 1991). That show features Walter Lure, Alison Gordy, Andy Shernoff, and many more. Tickets are on sale.

Patti Smith will be touring with Neil Young later this year, which hits NYC for two shows (MSG on 11/27 and Barclays Center on 12/3). Patti also plays a sold out show at the Met, on September 28 (a tribute to Andy Warhol).

Blondie will be touring with Devo later this year. Unfortunately, that tour does not come to NYC.

But enough about NYC punks -- California's late 70s/early 80s hardcore scene is getting some pretty solid representation in NYC this summer too. The current version of Dead Kennedys (who no longer count frontman Jello Biafra as a member) will be playing a show at Santos Party House on July 31 with Cerebral Ballzy. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Cali punks Agent Orange will be heading out on an east coast tour with The Queers, which comes to NYC for a Rocks Off Cruise on August 18. Tickets for that show are available. All dates on this tour are listed below.

Greg Ginn at Issue Project Room in 2010 (more by Lori Bally)

Black Flag founder/guitarist and SST Records founder Greg Ginn will be in NYC for two shows (early and late) with his new project Greg Ginn and the Royal We at The Iridium on July 29, and two more shows at the venue the next night (7/30) with the Les Paul Trio. Tickets for all four Iridium shows are on sale now.

Long-running Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins is heading out on a spoken word tour which hits the capitals of all 50 states. That means the NY show is in Albany and not too close to NYC, but you might have better luck checking out the Trenton, NJ show. The Trenton show is at the Jersey State Museum Auditorium and unfortunately not City Gardens, which is now closed, but during its existence had seen tons of great tours come through including multiple Henry Rollins appearances. A City Gardens documentary is in the works and due in 2013. The other tri-state area date on Henry's tour is Hartford, CT's Webster Theater.

Meanwhile, Keith Morris, who was a Black Flag frontman before Rollins joined, will be in NYC with his band OFF!, when their tour with Refused comes to Williamsburg Park on July 18. Tickets for that show are still available.

While we're on the topic of punk shows in Williamsburg Park, as mentioned, Riot Fest Brooklyn goes down at the outdoor venue on September 8 with Descendents, Hot Water Music, Gogol Bordello, The Bronx, Screaming Females, The Menzingers, and Larry and His Flask. Tickets for Riot Fest Brooklyn are still available.

Speaking of The Menzingers, they have a new live acoustic video for "Ava House" off their 2012 LP, On the Impossible Past, which you can check out below. You can catch them on their tour with The Bouncing Souls, which hits NYC for a show at Brooklyn Bowl on August 5. Tickets for that show are still available.

In other punk news, as mentioned, H2O, 7 Seconds, and Tournament play House of Vans on July 12. 7 Seconds frontman Kevin Seconds is working on a new album which is due out this year. You can check out the album's closing track, "Oh, Rhonda," at the bottom of this post. The entire 2012 House of Vans schedule was also just announced, Turbonegro included. UPDATE: you can also now RSVP for the 7 Seconds show.

Street Dogs will be in NYC for a show at Highline Ballroom on September 15 with Koffin Kats and special guests. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

As mentioned, the Fat Wreck/Rocks Off CMJ showcase happens on October 19 at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Lagwagon, Dead To Me, Flatliners, and Useless ID. Tickets for that show are still available. That same lineup also plays a Rocks Off Cruise the next day (10/20). Tickets for the boat show are available. And Lagwagon are also one of the bands currently announced for this year's Fun Fun Fun Fest.

As mentioned, Leftover Crack plays Warsaw on Sunday (7/8) with Crackbox and more TBA. That show appears to now be sold out (though we are waiting on confirmation of that). UPDATE: this is CANCELLED.

Another anarcho-punk option for Williamsburg this weekend is NYHC band Reagan Youth who are playing The Grand Victory (245 Grand St.) on Friday (7/6) with Dust Angel (ft. Reagan Youth guitarist Paul Cripple), Geek Skull, Lords of Death, and Empty Vessel.

As mentioned, crossover thrashers D.R.I. and Mucky Pup are teaming up for a tour which hits NYC on December 8 at The Studio at Webster Hall with support from No Redeeming Social Value, Undivided, and Blackout Shoppers. TIckets for that show are still available.

There's also a number of punk shows at Acheron this week.

Before we wrap this up, a bit more about classic UK punk making its way to NYC this summer/early fall. In addition to Sex Pistol Glen Matlock, who's here this week for CBGB Fest, The Vibrators will be in NYC for a show at The Bowery Electric on September 29. Tickets for that are on sale now.

Wreckless Eric, who veers a bit more on the new wave/power pop side of punk, will play Bowery Electric on September 7 as part of a duo with his wife Amy Rigby. They also play September 13 at The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ. If the name doesn't ring a bell, his song "(I'd Go) The Whole Wide World" probably does. It's seen some revived popularity in recent years due to Will Ferrell singing it in Stranger than Fiction. Tickets for both NYC area shows are on sale now.

Did we miss anything good?

Videos and lists of tour dates below...

Continue reading "punk roundup: CBGB Fest, Greg Ginn, Rollins, Off!, Dead Kennedys, Menzingers, Vibrators, Wreckless Eric & more"

photos by David Andrako

Wild Flag's Carrie Brownstein & the Hives @ Coachella Sunday - 4/22/2012

"The second weekend brought record heat. Festival-goers jockeyed for patches of grass around the shaded perimeters. They pounded frozen lemonade at $6 a cup.

"It feels like a different world from last weekend," The Shins frontman James Mercer said. "It was Iceland last week."

While the weather forced some practical fashion choices, Coachella's sartorial influence was noted well beyond Indio. Joan Rivers and Kelly Osbourne debated Coachella-inspired fashion trends, and the wider cultural significance of the festival, on the E! Channel program, "The Fashion Police."

Osbourne, a Coachella regular, proclaimed, "When you go to Coachella, all the girls are half-naked and 22." Rivers, who joked that she goes to Coachella, too, quipped, "If David Hasselhoff was there, this means officially Coachella is no longer cool."" [MYDesert.com]

How was your Coachella?

After DJing a party on Friday night and headlining with his band Radiohead on Saturday, Thom Yorke kept busy on Sunday by DJing a Rolling Stone pool party with Nigel Godrich, and then showing up as a not-so-surprise, special guest during Modeselektor's Sunday night set in the Mojave tent while Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg headlined the main Coachella stage.

Modeselektor (pre-Thom) @ Coachella Sunday - 4/22/2012

You saw pictures from Friday and Saturday, all of last week, and of Dre & Snoop from yesterday (Sunday, 4/22/12). Here are the rest from yesterday, Coachella 2012's final day. More below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2012 Week 2 - Day 3 pics (Modeselektor, Hives, Wild Flag, At the Drive-In, Le Butcherettes, Gotye, Beirut, more)"

Radiohead @ Roseland Ballroom in 2011 (more by Bao Nguyen)

Coachella which is taking place over the course of two weekends this year (April 13-15 and 20-22) revealed their 2012 lineup. Last week, Azealia Banks was the first artist confirmed, and earlier today they confirmed The Weeknd (maybe he found a band?), and before that, Jimmy Cliff, Breakbot, and Housse De Racket. The reunited Pulp then announced itself. The full lineup also includes headliners The Black Keys, Radiohead, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, not to mention, as predicted, the reunited At the Drive In and the reunited Mazzy Star (!), and Madness and Refused (!) and Jeff Mangum and many, many more that you can see below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2012 lineup announced (two weekends worth)"

photos by Lori Baily, words by Andrew Frisicano

Ginn & Co. + CSC Funk Band @ Issue Project Room...

Greg Ginn and the Texas Corrugators joined CSC Funk Band for a night of music at Issue Project Room on April 19th, one of a several shows the groups played together in April. If you check out the pics, you'll notice Ginn & the Corrugators sitting in with the NYC funk band too. Greg Ginn's current tour continues through May 7th.

CSC Funk Band is a project headed by ex-USAISAMONSTER's Colin L and Matt Mottel of Talibam!. Mottel, an artist in residence at Issue Project Room, curated the show. He'll also bring Talibam!/"solo amplified piano and synthesizers" to the venue on June 9th. Before then, Talibam! play May 8th show at Death By Audio with PC Worship and Skeletons. More dates are below.

CSC has a live five-song session recorded in April up on the Free Music Archive. They play again on May 17th at Zebulon and May 22nd at Coco 66.

Mottel's Talibam! bandmate Kevin Shea has dates with his various other projects (like jazz band Mostly Other People Do The Killing) coming up too. All tour dates for then, and the rest of the Issue Project Room pictures, below...

Continue reading "CSC Funk Band played shows w/ Greg Ginn (pics), playing more shows, Talibam! & Kevin Shea too (dates)"

The Whitest Boy Alive @ Coachella 2010 (more by Rachell Carr)

tonight in NYC
* The Luyas secret show
* The Specials @ Terminal 5
* Kings Go Forth, Rafter @ Mercury Lounge
* Micachu & the Shapes, Mon Khmer @ Mercury Lounge
* Sonos, Peter Bradley Adams @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Capstan Shafts, USVS, Lame Drivers @ Public Assembly
* Sunglasses, My Gold Mask, Lagoon, Neighbors @ Union Hall
* The Thermals, Past Lives, The Tony Castles @ Brooklyn Bowl
* The Whitest Boy Alive, Keepaway @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* The Midnight Sounds, Valleys, Sally Head, Psychic @ Glasslands
* Kelis, Maluca, Skeet Skeet, Sammy Bananas @ Santos Party House
* Apples in Stereo, Generationals, Laminated Cat @ Bowery Ballroom
* Mixel Pixel, Hosannas, Unicornicopia, Hermit Thrushes @ Cake Shop
* Jakob Dylan & Three Legs (with Neko Case & Kelly Hogan) @ Town Hall
* MATA Festival w/ Ensemble Pamplemousse, Lisa Moore @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Miniature Tigers, The Grates, The Stationary Set @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Amanda Diva, Apollo Heights, Black Thought, Styles P, Currensy @ Highline Ballroom
* Mastodon, Between The Buried And Me, Baroness, Valient Thorr @ Starland Ballroom
* Dusty & The Dreaming Spires, Atlantic/Pacific, The Oxygen Ponies, Cat Martino @ The Bell House

Miniature Tigers headline a show at Knitting Factory tonight, which is one night before they open for The Morning Benders at Knitting Factory which is four nights before they go out on tour with Free Energy and Jukebox the Ghost, which is three days before they are back in NYC with that tour to play Bowery Ballroom

The Grates open that show at Knitting Factory tonight. I guess the Australian band is still living in NYC.

The Luyas are playing a private/secret loft show tonight, so maybe check them out at one of their other three shows this week instead, while still getting your Canadian fix with Valleys who play Glasslands tonight.

The Capstan Shafts returns to town.

The Specials return to Terminal 5 (they played there last night).

Greg Ginn & The Texas Corrugators and Cinema Cinema were bumped from Maxwell's tonight by the rescheduled Los Campesinos!/Cymbals Eat Guitars show that's now canceled anyway.

Micachu and the Shapes will be replacing the volcano-canceled Mary Onettes at the Mercury Lounge tonight with Mon Khmer.

The Jarboe show at Union Pool tonight with Bezoar and Chaos Majik is cancelled because she is stuck in Italy.

Bad Lieutenant was scheduled to play Webster Hall tonight but the volcano made them cancel all US dates (including Coachella).

Real Estate and Family Portrait played a show at Monster Island the other night. Videos from that show by Ian Perlman are below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

by BBG

Gregory Regis Ginn (born June 8, 1954) is a guitarist, songwriter and singer. He is best known for being the leader of and primary songwriter for the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led from 1976 to 1986.
Since breaking up Black Flag, Ginn has recorded a few solo albums, and has performed with the bands HOR, Fastgato, October Faction, Gone, Confront James, EL BAD, Mojack, The Texas Corrugators, Jambang, and he also played bass with Tom Troccoli's Dog. He also owns the Texas-based, independent record label, SST, originally begun as an electronics company called Solid State Transmitters when he was a teenager in Long Beach, California. He remains very active in music; in a recent interview he states he still performs "about six nights a week."
...Ginn made it to 99th on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" -[Wiki]

Greg Ginn played all the instruments in the recorded output for Greg Ginn and The Taylor Texas Corrugators (downloadable for free), but he and a band are currently on the road through the beginning of May. Those dates include four NYC-area shows. Three are with the CSC Funk Band (ex-USAISAMONSTER) in the five boroughs. A fourth is at Maxwell's with Cinema Cinema. Black metal darkness from Malkuth will manifest the first date which goes down at Cake Shop on 4/13. After heading down as far as Charlottesville, the band will be back to haunt Issue Project Room with their jammy country influenced jazz on Mon 4/19, followed by Zebulon the following day, and finally Maxwell's to sew it all up on 4/21.

Full tour dates and some videos are below.

Continue reading "Greg Ginn touring - 2010 tour dates w/ CSC Funk Band & more (4 NYC-area shows) ++ free downloads"