photos by Benjamin Lozovsky, words by Andrew Frisicano

Devo will be performing at the Olympic medal ceremony tonight (2/22) in Whistler, BC, at 10:30pm. They aren't the only band to play the daily ceremonies - Feist and Stars and Wilco already performed and there is still a full schedule of performances through Feb. 27th (The Roots and Burton Cummings both play on February 25).

The Akron band will be putting new song "Fresh" up on its website as a free download after their performance. The site is currently hosting a "color study," which is a survey that asks you to match colors with various scenarios ("What color is this neglected step-child's hair?" is one). It's part of a larger market/faux marketing campaign by the band that's connected to their forthcoming album. They'll also be unveiling new costumes and songs at the Olympic performance.

After conferring with Warner Bros. Records and Mother LA we have decided to permit Devo to debut some new songs and a new look at their Olympics concert. We couldn't have wished for a better testing ground from such a fantastically diverse crowd.

Shortly there after Devo will have the opportunity to adjust their set and songs driven by the Olympics crowd input so they can present a truly "kick ass" show (pardon me) as they say, at Coachella. Their desert show will also coincide with the pre-release of new, focus group approved songs from their forthcoming 12 song CD.

There's one problem however. Right now, Devo is committed to more songs than the new release allows. Word from on high is that songs must be removed from the new CD. 12 is the target number. Help DEVO Inc. and its corporate partners to determine the outcome of the album by participating in the proven system of focus-group testing at the Devolution tent. Your involvement is essential and will grant you a free Energy Dome for your efforts.

Devo played two shows at Irving Plaza on November 20th and 21st. The second night they performed Freedom of Choice in full, photographed here. The first night was Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! , which is pictured in this post. More pictures, videos and dates are below...

Continue reading "Devo posting free song after they play the Olympics (tonight), playing Coachella & running surveys, + new album info, Irving Plaza pics & more "

The annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash at Irving Plaza is happening on May 19th. So far no artists have been announced for the festivities, but tickets are on sale. In related news, Joey Ramone could be heard rolling in his grave last night as Axl Rose performed a late night set in the former home of CBGB. Video of the Ramones playing there 33 years ago, below...

Continue reading "Joey Ramone Birthday Party returns to Irving Plaza in May"

DOWNLOAD: You Say Party! We Say Die! - Laura Palmer's Prom" (Los Campesinos Remix) (MP3)

Los Campesinos!

Los Campesinos just released their third record, Romance Is Boring, on Arts & Crafts at the end of January. It's their first LP since keyboardist Aleks left the band to go back to school last year. She's been replaced by frontman Gareth's sister Kim on keys and vocals. A video for the record's title track is below.

Speaking of Arts & Crafts, it seems like the Canadian label has been especially busy lately. Upcoming album releases for them include Jason Collett and Zeus, and most excitingly, Broken Social Scene.

Los Campesinos! plays the UK and Europe in February and March before coming stateside in April. They'll be in NYC for an April 22nd show at Irving Plaza. Tickets are on sale.

The above-linked MP3 is a new remix LC! did for Canadian band You Say Party! We Say Die! (that's a lot of !'s). YSP!WSD! has an upcoming tour as well. Dates (in full below) include SXSW and a March 29th show at Pianos in NYC. Speaking of SXSW!, it was just announced that !!! will actually be there too.

The LC! tracklist for their new record, new video and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Los Campesinos! released an album (video), remixed You Say Party! We Say Die! (MP3) - 2010 tour dates (for both bands)"

photos by Paul Birman

Audi of America today announced that it will advertise during Super Bowl XLIV, the brand's third consecutive time in the Super Bowl. The spot will highlight the Audi A3 TDI, recently named by Green Car Journal as the 2010 "Green Car of the Year" and will have a fun, tongue-in-cheek environmental theme. Rock legends Cheap Trick will reinterpret one of their classic pieces as the soundtrack to the commercial.

Returning to the Super Bowl after a nearly 20-year hiatus, the 2008 Audi spot delivered a parody of the movie "The Godfather" and signaled that the brand was ready to challenge the perceived luxury leaders. The 2009 effort featured actor Jason Statham in a series of high-speed chase scenes involving recent luxury models, sending the dual message that some things are best left in the past and luxury is evolving, with Audi at the forefront. This year, Audi will demonstrate its leadership position within the luxury segment with a brand spot that delivers the message that being environmentally conscious might not be easy, but the Audi A3 TDI clean diesel is now a proven environmental solution. [press release]

Monday night (1/25), Cheap Trick played a show at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza here in NYC (they also played a private/taped shows at St Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn the night after that). More pictures from Irving along with the setlist and all future tour dates (they have a gig coming in Atlantic City soon), below...

Continue reading "Cheap Trick played Irving Plaza (pics, setlist), rewrote song for Superbowl commercial, performed Sgt Pepper, tour dates"

by BBG

Mayhem at Irving Plaza (more by Paul Birman)

Mayhem. Krallice. Tombs. Ludicra. Each one of these four bands have delivered some of my favorite records and performances of the past few years. And now, all FOUR bands will team up for a tour and a NYC show TOGETHER! BrooklynVegan is beyond proud to present the return of Norwegian black metal legends Mayhem with Ludicra, Krallice, and Tombs at Irving Plaza on April 8th, one show of an overall US campaign to level the musical landscape of all suckas. NYC tickets will be on sale soon. Must.... calm... down..... excitement.... overtaking.....

In addition, we are happy to announce that Tombs honcho Mike Hill will pen a tour diary for BV along the way. You can see his prior dispatches from the road on his website or on Decibel's blog.

Of the participating bands, Ludicra is the only one with a new album imminent; make sure and pick up The Tenant via Profound Lore on 3/2 and dig on an interview that drummer Aesop Dekker did with Brandon Stosuy. Mayhem's last release was 2007's Ordo Ad Chao and both Krallice and Tombs released great LPs in 2009.

Many show going New Yorkers can attest to the greatness of this lineup, as all of these bands have played shows recently. Tombs played Union Pool on 1/22 with Rosetta, City of Ships and Battlefields (pics are on the way). Krallice just decimated the Knit with Crucifist. Ludicra beatdown Santos with John Cobbett's other project, Hammers of Misfortune. And of course Mayhem famously toured sans Marduk, but with Withered, Cephalic Carnage and others. That NYC show was also at Irving Plaza.

Ludicra is one of many bands on board for Scion Rock Fest 2010 in Columbus Ohio. Look for Tombs at SXSW this year.

Some videos of all bands, including a Tombs video from Union Pool, and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Krallice, Ludicra & Tombs touring w/ Mayhem - 2010 dates (BV Presents the NYC show at Irving Plaza) "

photos by Jen Mazer

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

ModernGhana: Afrobeat musician, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti speaks with ADEOLA BALOGUN about his recent nomination for a Grammy and sundry issues. How does it feel like to be nominated in the Grammy awards?

Femi: I am so glad. It shows that I have been working very hard outside Nigeria. The fact that the Nigerian music industry has failed me does not mean that the rest of the world has done the same thing. I signed a contract six months ago for the same album to be released here in Nigeria, but the records company has not released it. It is the problem that I have been having in my career. It shows that the music industry in Nigeria still has a very long way to go.

When do you think the company will release your album?

Femi: I do not know. The album was released in America in January. It was released in Europe in November last year and the rest of the world has been dancing to it. The Grammy is not about Nigeria. It is an American award. So it is the American establishment that is nominating me for the award.

Continue reading "Femi Kuti @ Irving Plaza in NYC - pics "

NYC photos by Chris La Putt, Philly photos by Diana Zadlo

Gwar @ Irving Plaza in NYC Sunday

At most metal shows, the dress code is "none more black." At GWAR shows, however, if your shirt isn't covered in blue blood and green bile, you weren't really at a GWAR show, were you? The group of intergalactic badasses, led by vocalist and Fox News' Red Eye's interplanetary correspondent Oderus Urungus, always bring a hellishly good show with them, where no human goes unsacrificed. GWAR brought their freak show to the Gothic Theatre on November 11 in support of Lust in Space, and global destruction almost materialized.

...Most GWAR concerts and albums are based around a story, and this time, GWAR are forced to once again combat Cardinal Syn, from the Ragnarock album. Cardinal Syn is an evil Catholic robot on a quest to homogenize the universe and turn GWAR into a Christian rock band. Complicating matters was that Oderus Urungus has lost the Cuttlefish of Cthulhu, either because he left it in the ass of a transvestite or a clerical error in Tulsa, Oklahoma (crack affects your memory, you know.) As a result, he was forced to use a human penis to perform such daily tasks as raping babies and forcing members of the audience to give fellate him. In the end, however, Cardinal Syn went down and GWAR scored themselves a boulder of crack. Overall, the story wasn't as tight-knit as the stories from the Beyond Hell and election tours ("Hilary Clinton" getting her tits ripped off is still one of my favorite GWAR moments), but it was still entertaining to see a Catholic robot get his ass kicked. -[Crustcake]

Tons more pics and some video from the band when they hit Fuel TV are below...

Continue reading "Gwar played Irving Plaza (NYC) & the Electric Factory (Philly) - pics from both shows "

photos by Tim Griffin

Devo performed two nights in a row at Irving Plaza in NYC over the weekend. And like they did on their whole current tour, they played a diffferent full album each night. Not coincdentally, those two albums were both just reissued as deluxe editions and just in time for the holidays...

Devo, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and Freedom of Choice Deluxe Editions
Depending on who you ask, art-rock godfathers Devo are either one of the greatest and most innovative bands of all time, or just one of New Wave's most memorable one-hit wonders. Both camps will be satisfied with the band's reissues of the two records that best of exemplify both aspects of their legacy--their quirky 1978 debut Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and 1980's classic Freedom of Choice. The cherry on top: a "Mongoloid"/"Jocko Homo" 7-inch that accompanies the limited edition color vinyl version of ...Are We Not Men?. [Nashville Scene]

Continue reading "Devo played 'Freedom of Choice' @ Irving Plaza in NYC - pics"

photos by Lori Baily

"How can it be that in the wake of the ten year absence of this band, there's really yet to be a front man as captivating, ferocious, unnerving and entertaining? Sure there's Matt Korvette of PISSED JEANS and Eugene from OXBOW as current torch bearers, and I'm not sure that the world needs another GG Allin. Actually, scratch that...I am sure we don't need another GG. But those bands can't hold a 5W bulb to the music of the Jesus Lizard, and Yow's the propellant that gets it all going. He spent probably as much time in/on the crowd as on stage, and never missed a note while singing propped up by the hands of strangers. Highlights? Truly, there were no lulls. How can there be when you've got the mutated hybrid of "Chrome" coming at you, or the manic "Bloody Mary," or the insistent throbbing of "Gladiator"?" [Big Takeover]

Continue reading "Jesus Lizard & Noveller @ Irving Plaza (night 2) in NYC - pics "

photos by Justina Villanueva

""I had not seen the Jesus Lizard since Lollapalooza 1995 - the last year I choose to think of as being remotely true to what that festival was about. As hard as it is to believe that was 14 years ago, it is even harder to understand how frontman David Yow & Co. have managed to bring back this band - essentially dormant since 1999 - with this much ferocity. Yow may be 14 years older and a bit worse for wear, but the man caterwauls with an intensity that most 20 year old pretty boys will never match. The Irving crowd - a good portion of whom, at this 16+ show, were not even born when this band began in 1987 - remained in a frenzy throughout the set, turning the Irving floor into a thrashing sea of bodies, flying beers and more than a few sets of broken eyeglasses. While Yow stage-dove, mic in hand, the band delivered their tightly wound hardcore like the experts they are. Covering a range of the band's catalog and with two encores, the 23-song set gave audience members a lot to scream about."
[acidjack @ NYCTaper where you can download a recording of the show]

Continue reading "the Jesus Lizard @ Irving Plaza - night 1 pics & live recording"

Gwar's new album "Lust in Space" was released in August, and theyre' now on tour to support it. That tour ends in NYC with a show at Irving Plaza on December 13th. Tickets are on sale. All dates and some videos of Oderus appearing on Fox and Sirius, below...

Continue reading "Gwar - 2009 Tour Dates w/ The Red Chord (Irving Plaza)"

Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin - Nov 7, 2009 (by Chad Wadsworth)

There have been plenty of chances to catch The Jesus Lizard since they reunited. They've played Europe and a bunch of festivals. They played the Pitchfork Festival, Fun Fun Fun Fun Fest, and even ATP NY just a short drive north of the city. They even played in NYC on Halloween at a Vice party. They have not however yet played a completely public show as a reunited band in NYC. That is until tonight, 11/16, at Irving Plaza with Skeleton Key (and tomorrow at the same venue with Noveller). Tickets are still available for both shows (though only a "handful" left for tonight at the door).

If you stand close to the stage, be ready to catch David Yow. He is known to jump the second they hit the stage. Above picture from Day One of Fun Fun Fun Fest. Video and all dates below...

Continue reading "Jesus Lizard are here! See David Yow jump (at Irving Plaza Monday & Tuesday night) (and other tour dates) "

"Lenny Kravitz has unfortunately been forced to cancel his performance tonight (Thursday, October 15th) in New York City. The artist's performance this evening was to be the fourth in a five show residency series at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza.

Said Lenny Kravitz "I'm sorry to make this announcement so late in the evening but there will be no show tonight. For those who were at my concert last night, you know that I blew my voice out. I have been working all day trying to get it to work but it is just too fatigued. I will reschedule this show immediately. New York has been so good to me. These shows have been a phenomenal experience for me. Being so close to my fans here has brought me back home!! I can't wait to get back on stage this Sunday.""

Gogol Bordello @ All Points West on August 1st (more by Tim Griffin)

In what's becoming an annual thing, Gogol Bordello will be playing a series of NYC shows around New Year's Eve. This year's gigs will be at Webster Hall from December 27th to Dec. 29th. A Fan Club presale is happening now. Regular tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon, and then general sale begins October 9th at noon.

Before then, Gogol Bordello will play a packed schedule of shows in North & South America, Europe and Asia. Full dates are below.

The group released today (10/6) a live CD/DVD Live From Axis Mundi on SideOneDummy Records.

The set features footage from two sold-out nights at Irving Plaza in New York City filmed in 2007. The package features live performances of "Start Wearing Purple," "Ultimate," "Not A Crime" and "Baro Foro" as well as music videos for "Start Wearing Purple," "Not A Crime," "Wonderlust King," "American Wedding," bonus chronicles and extra tracks.

It will also feature a CD of previously unreleased tracks including "Stivali E Colbacco" from the Super Taranta! sessions, the "Troubled Friends" from the Gypsy Punk sessions, "Roumania," a demo of "60 Revolutions" and an instrumental version of "Immigrant Punk." The CD also features six tracks from the band's BBC sessions, recorded on BBC-Radio 1's "In The Company Of (with Colin Murray)" in March 2008.

Continue reading "Gogol Bordello announce pre-New Year's Eve shows at Webster Hall (dates), release DVD filmed at Irving Plaza "

The Jesus Lizard @ ATP NY 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

Tickets are now on sale for a November 17th Jesus Lizard show at Irving Plaza in NYC. November 16th is sold out.

PREVIOUSLY: The Jesus Lizard - reissues & 2009 tour dates (2 NYC shows!)

photos by Tim Griffin

Ladyhawke

"New Zealand rocker Ladyhawke may sing about Paris burning, but on Wednesday it was New York City that was on fire. At the headliner of the "Perez Hilton Presents" concert at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza, Ladyhawke was well-worth her witching-hour performance, featuring crowd-friendly renditions of "Back of the Van" and "My Delirium." Unfortunately, fellow co-headliner Ida Maria was a no-show because of illness. No matter. The two surprises Hilton pulled out of his sleeve certainly made up for it.

"I'm marveling that I was able to pull it off, because I've never put on a tour before," Hilton told MTV News. "The reason why I'm doing the tour, the reason I have a record label, the reason why I write about music on my Web site is because I think music lovers like sharing good music with other music lovers."...

...Last-minute surprise act Little Boots hit the stage sans her band mates (they were stuck across town) and performed solo with only a piano to accompany her. She thanked Hilton with a run through a haunting cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" and was followed by another surprise in Kat DeLuna, whose high-octane hip-swirling show made the walls sweat." [MTV]

Friday, September 18, 2009

Ida Maria will not be finishing the current Perez Hilton Presents Tour. She is suffering from total exhaustion and will be heading home to Norway to rest and be under Doctor's care. Her personal statement to everyone is:

Dear Friends and Fans. I am so very sorry but I cannot finish this tour. After touring in Scandinavia, Europe, the UK, Australia, Japan and the USA for 3 years straight I am just completely exhausted. I have learned that I am not a superwoman.

I love all the bands, musicians and crew on this tour. Go see these bands! I will be back and look forward to playing you my music both new and old. The new music is in forefront of my mind. Thank you all again. See you soon. I wish you peace.

Ida Maria

Continue reading "Ladyhawke, Little Boots, Semi-Precious Weapons & friends @ Irving Plaza in NYC (the Perez Hilton show) - pics (NSFW)"

'New York City concert was hotter than a whore in heat! So amazing!' - Perez Hilton

'Ida Maria appeared to be drunk and phoning it in' in DC, Sep 12 (Francis Chung)

"So, you'd assume that the self-proclaimed "queen of all media" would have been tweeting the crap out of Ida Maria walking off stage at her Boston show on Monday night. Perhaps a few scathing blog posts on his 20-million-hits-per-day web site and maybe some speculation -- totally unwarranted and without any actual, factual reporting -- that drugs and/or alcohol are to blame for the rising star's troubled performance.

But, no. Not one word was uttered, tweeted, typed or mentioned on any of the multiple social-networking sites to which Perez Hilton regularly contributes and certainly nothing on his astronomically famous web site, PerezHilton.com.

The gossip blogger and frenemy to the stars, has recently been toting his "Perez Presents" tour all over the internet, giving him even further bragging rights (in the past, Perez has taken credit for the successes of Lady GaGa and Mika) for "discovering" new talents Ladyhawke, FrankMusik, Eric Hutchinson, Sliimy, Semi Precious Weapons, and Ida Maria.

Despite the fact that most, if not all of the artists have been touring their home countries -- most artists are from overseas -- for the past year, and anyone who reads any sort of music news would know some of their names, Perez continues to promote his gig as a musical experience worth the $30plus price tag, because it will expose you to a whole "new" world or music.

I'd beg to differ. And I'm sure the mere 250 people who attended the event at the House of Blues [in Boston on Monday, September 14th] would agree, especially once co-headliner Ida Maria had a melt-down during song one-and-a-half, rendering her unable to perform the rest of her set.

The Norwegian rocker seemed less-than-impressed by the dwindling crowd as she took the stage (the three-story music venue can hold more than 2,400 people). She pouted her way through her first tune, refusing to sing the last two lines on the song, and opting, instead, to have a pow-wow with her guitarist, who pleaded with her to continue the performance under hushed mics.

As she led into her second song, the singer put down her own guitar and stood facing the audience folding her arms with an un-entertained, unenthusiastic, "I could care less" look written all over her face, before storming off mid-song leaving her band clueless. After a brief period of confusion, the stage managers reeled out a screen from which the audience could watch music videos. Already angry concert goers booed as Kanye graced the screen. Management were quick to replace his video with Janet, Madonna and of course, Taylor Swift.

Later, Maria would return from her fit back stage to apologize in broken English..." [Boston Daily Free Press]

Two nights earlier at the DC show, things weren't much better...

Continue reading "Ida Maria was drunk in DC, had a meltdown in Boston (video), was replaced by Kat DeLuna @ Perez Hilton show in NYC "

photo by Tim Griffin

UPDATE: Ida Maria had a breakdown two nights earlier in Boston, and was replaced by Kat DeLuna in NYC.

PREVIOUSLY: Little Boots is playing Irving Plaza tonight

DOWNLOAD: Little Boots - "Earthquake" (Yes Giantess remix) (MP3)

Little Boots' Tenori-On @ LPR (more by Chris La Putt)

Little Boots is in town to play a sold out show at Bowery Ballroom tonight (9/16) with Plasticines and Yes Giantess. The latter is responsible for the remix you can download on top of this post. The show goes right up against the Perez Hilton tour stop which is happening not that far away at Irving Plaza.

Thanks to a tip by Renaldo, I called Irving Plaza. In addition to a recording saying the show wasn't sold out, it listed these set times:

8:00 doors
9:00 Frankmusic
9:30 Little Boots
10:00 Semi Precious Weapons
10:45 Ida Maria
11:45 Ladyhawke

Continue reading "Little Boots is here (tour dates) -- playing Irving Plaza too? "

Meat Puppets

Meat Puppets have a slew of upcoming tour dates: In September, they go across the West Coast with Athens grunge-rock band Dead Confederate, who also joins them on on their October dates in the South (which include a Halloween-in-Houston show with Those Darlins). Meat Puppets then spend November touring the Midwest and East Coast before heading to NC & TN. They visit NYC on east coast leg of that tour for a show at Bowery Ballroom on November 25th. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 11th at noon.

In July, Meat Puppets opened some shows for Stone Temple Pilots which I think is as good a way as any to segue into a mention of "Alice in Chains" who played Irving Plaza in NYC last night (9/8)...

"New vocalist William DuVall (well at this point he's not really new anymore, but I guess he's new-ish) didn't just sing the phrase "Again and again and again" - he belted it, jumping up onto the monitors to give himself just a little extra boost in the rockstar god department. Then, as it came time for him to grunt and signal the start of the "Doo-doo, doo-doo" sing-along section (and sing along the crowd did), DuVall lept off the monitor and started pumping his fist in the air, prompting the audience to do the same. As he finally turned to face drummer Sean Kinney, Kinney started grinning; and then the grin spread across the stage like an infectious disease, and by the end of the song, guitarist Jerry Cantrell and bassist Mike Inez were smiling, too." [Metal Sucks

Continue reading "Meat Puppets touring (dates), 'Alice in Chains' played Irving "

DOWNLOAD: Death - Politicians In My Eyes (MP3)

Death of Detroit

Forgotten except by the most fervent punk rock record collectors... Death would likely have remained lost in obscurity if not for the discovery last year of a 1974 demo tape in [bassist] Bobby [Hackney]'s attic. Released [in February] by Drag City Records as "... For the Whole World to See," Death's newly unearthed recordings reveal a remarkable missing link between the high-energy hard rock of Detroit bands like the Stooges and MC5 from the late 1960s and early '70s and the high-velocity assault of punk from its breakthrough years of 1976 and '77. Death's songs "Politicians in My Eyes," "Keep On Knocking" and "Freakin Out" are scorching blasts of feral ur-punk, making the brothers unwitting artistic kin to their punk-pioneer contemporaries the Ramones, in New York; Rocket From the Tombs, in Cleveland; and the Saints, in Brisbane, Australia. They also preceded Bad Brains, the most celebrated African-American punk band, by almost five years. [NYTimes]

No word on who will fill the shoes of guitarist David Hackney (he passed from lung cancer in 2000), though odds are one of the Hackney's sons in Rough Francis will probably be elected. Rough Francis, who routinely cover material by Death, will provide support on all dates (minus Fun Fun Fun). Earlier this year they appeared with members of Death at Joey Ramone's 58th birthday show on May 19th at Irving Plaza. Videos of their performance are posted below.

Death's back story is an interesting one:

In 1975 at Detroit's United Sound Studios with engineer Jim Vitti, they recorded seven songs written by David and Bobby. According to the Hackney family, Columbia Records president Clive Davis funded the recording sessions, but asked the band to change its name to something more commercially palatable than Death. When the Hackneys refused, Davis ceased his support. The following year they self-released 500 copies from the session on the 7" single "Politicians in My Eyes" b/w "Keep on Knocking," on their Tryangle label, which eventually became a collectors' item.

Continue reading "Death played Ramones gig, playing FFFFest & other shows"

Three-time Grammy Award-winner, and Lost Highway recording artist Lucinda Williams announces a series of special performances to celebrate her 30th anniversary as a recording artist.

On October 3, 4 & 5 Williams will play a three night stand at New York's The Fillmore at Irving Plaza...The first set of the three-night runs will feature selections from specific periods of Williams celebrated career. The opening night will feature songs from 1979-1989, in which she recorded Ramblin', Happy Woman Blues and Lucinda Williams. The second night will cover music from 1992-2001, when Williams recorded Sweet Old World, and Grammy Award-winners Car Wheels On A Gravel Road and Essence. On the final night of each run, Williams will perform music from 2004-present, in which she recorded World Without Tears, West and her latest acclaimed album Little Honey. Following each opening set will be a full second set of songs from throughout Williams celebrated career...Additional multi-night shows will be added in early 2010.

Williams has also posted a message on her website saying she knows how "tough it is out there during the current economic climate", so she is offering concert-goers discounted merchandise to offset ticket fees that "blatantly gouge" fans (thus giving people an incentive to spend even more money!). That message with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Lucinda Williams - 30th Anniversary tour (dates), 3 special NYC shows & discounts on merch to offset ticket fees"

To our Tristate Funkateers and Chromettes,

We'll be doing ONE SHOW in the NY area this fall. This is special...and just for our peeps in our, er, second hometown. This is the only show until the new album comes out -- more info on that in a bit, -- so who knows...maybe we'll test out a couple of the new songs too *cough cough*... [Chromeo]

In other news, Chromeo put together a new mix for !K7 Records' DJ-KiCKS series. Arists mixed and remixed on the disc include oldies Leo Sayer, France Joli and Alan Parsons Project, and new acts Lifelike and Chateau Marmont. Chromeo's contribution will be the first in the series since Booka Shade's Numbers in 2007.

Their cover of the Eagles' "I Can't Tell You Why," which appears on the mix, is currently available for free through Chromeo-DJKiCKS.com.

Before the Irving Plaza show, Chromeo's upcoming schedule brings them to L.A.'s Hard Fest in August (but not the NYC edition happening on October 10th) as well as Monolith Festival in September. They've been on the festival circuit this summer, most recently playing a set at Camp Bisco on July 17th (where it looks like the weather was not so nice). A video from their set at Rothbury Fest in June, which isn't the best quatlity but gives you a good idea of their live show, with a clip from their appearance on Yo Gabba Gabba (the song is about washing your hands), with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Chromeo - new DJ-KICKS album & an Irving Plaza show"

Live Nation santas outside Irving Plaza - 7/14/2009 (Jason DeCrow/AP Images)

Live Nation has been dealing with the recession, or at least their recession, by putting tickets on sale like crazy this summer. They've been continuing week after week with their No Service Fee Wednesdays (for lawn tickets at amphitheater shows). This past Tuesday they sent multiple Santa Clauses to give out tickets outside Irving Plaza here in NYC. And there are $5.00 ticket promotions running for both Citi Cardmember holders and Subway sub eaters (code = Subway$5tix). NYC show tickets you can get for $5.00 include Pinback, Bob Mould, Son Volt, Alice in Chains AND STRYPER, Suffocation (playing with Necrophagist on Sunday), Marduk, Obituary, Vader and KMFDM, Brian Wilson in Westbury, and Motorhead, Psychedelic Furs, Happy Mondays, and Islands. Supposedly Pet Shop Boys are $5.00 too, but I can't get that to work.

DOWNLOAD: Son Volt - Down To The Wire (MP3)

Aquarium Drunkard: The new record seems like it's a combination of everything within Son Volt, all the way back to Trace [the band's 1995 debut] - it seems like something that spans the 13 or 14 years of the band.

Jay Farrar (of Son Volt): That's interesting. Perhaps that's true. I'm not sure. [laughs] All I do know is that I follow wherever inspiration takes the writing and you have to get away from certain kinds of instrumentation, like violin, in order to really feel like starting to use it again.

AD: The new album has this prevalent dark feel to it - in a certain sense - even though there are songs that escape that. There's this sense of, as one of the songs says, that there's "no turning back." You talked about this being a more focused record, but can you explain how the album title ties in with that?

JF: Basically they are three words that were pulled from three different songs - "American," "central" and "dust." I've done that before, but it seems like that's the best way to come up with a representative title for all of the songs.

Tweedy & Co. are on tour this summer. So are Son Volt. They'll play a co-headlining tour with the Cowboy Junkies in July. Then, Son Volt picks up for a second leg in September. Those dates include a show at NYC's Irving Plaza on September 17th. Tickets are on sale now.

American Central Dust's twelve songs include "Down to the Wire," which is posted above, and "Cocaine and Ashes," a song allegedly about Keith Richards and that incident that happened a few years ago. Album art and tracklist are below with all tour dates...

Continue reading "Son Volt - new album, MP3, 2009 Tour Dates (Irving Plaza) "