Now we really know what's going on. The CBGB Festival is happening July 5 - 8 at some 30 venues across the city, with over 300 bands participating, including the previously mentioned free Guided by Voices, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Cloud Nothings show at Summerstage (which now also includes The War on Drugs), the The Baseball Project and Craig Finn at City Winery, L.A. Guns at Highline, the Cro Mags, Sick of it All, Vision of Disorder, Absolution, and Sal Naim show at Webster Hall, and D Generation's Bowery Electric show. Newly added artists include Rocket from the Tombs, MEN, PS I Love You, Reggie Watts, Gary Lucas, Weekend, and more TBA. The full list of currently confirmed artists is below.

It's also a film festival with both new and classic rock films/docs, including the world premiere of The Rise and Fall of The Clash, plus American Hardcore, Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements, The Dead Boys - Live at CBGB/OMFUG 1977, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Kurt Cobain About a Son, The Sacred Triangle: Bowie, Iggy & Lou 1971-1973 and more.

In addition, they've added a CMJ/SXSW-like music industry conference with panels/workshops concerning the music industry, independent artists, and a CBGB "Tales from the Club" panel each day. All conferences take place at the Sunshine Cinema and East Village Cinema. The festival also closes with the "distilled spirits fest" at Beekman Beer Garden on July 8.

There are variety of badges available too, from music and film showcase badges to one that get you into everything (or potentially at least...badges don't guarantee admission). The press release we got claims badges have been on sale since May 7 but this is the first we've heard about it. Regardless, early bird prices on music showcase badges is $69 and runs through May 31. It jumps to $79 if you buy before July 4 and walk-up badges once the fest starts are $89. Film fest badges are $99/$159/$219 for earlybird/regular/walk-up. You can also get a music conference badge which gains you entry to the showcases, workshops, and panels, and a music/film combo badge which gains you entry to all of that plus the film screenings. Full details on the vast array of CBGB Festival badge options are at their website. What this means to people who already bought tickets to individual shows already but want a badge too, we're not sure.

A list of all confirmed bands, films, conferences, and participating venues is below.

Continue reading "CBGB Festival announces details: badges, bands, films, industry conference, and booze"

photos by Greg Cristman

DOWNLOAD: Rocket From the Tombs - Ain't it Fun (MP3)

Rocket From The Tombs played The Bell House on 12/12 and Maxwell's last night (12/13), concluding a string of dates for the protopunk legends. The band, who famously splintered into Pere Ubu and Dead Boys (with songs divided amongst the two), was joined by Abstract Artimus at The Bell House and The Ribeye Bros. at Maxwell's. Pictures from the Brookln show adorn this post.

Rocket From The Tombs performed favorites like "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", "The Final Solution", "Sonic Reducer" and others with a touring lineup featuring David Thomas, Cheetah Chrome, Craig Bell, Steve Mehlman and guitarist Gary Siperko, who sat in for the great Richard Lloyd. Lloyd (Television) did not partake in the dates due to scheduling conflicts, but you can hear Richard Lloyd with the gang on Barfly, their new LP released this past September.

The band also just reissued The Day The Earth Met The Rocket From The Tombs via Fire Records. Download the great "Ain't it Fun", which they also performed at the Bell House, from that album above.

More pictures from the show, below...

Continue reading "Rocket From The Tombs played Maxwell's & Bell House (pics)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Rocket from the Tombs - "I Sell Soul" (MP3)

Cleveland proto-punks Rocket from the Tombs formed in 1974, and without ever having released a record or playing more than a few shows, they broke up in 1975. Members went on to form the art punk wizards Pere Ubu and the young, loud, and snotty punks Dead Boys. Both groups appropriated some of RFTT's tracks for their own albums, including the Dead Boys classic, "Sonic Reducer." In 2002, the compilation The Day the Earth Met Rocket from the Tombs was released, featuring rehearsal demos and live recordings. In the wake of the album's success, the band reformed with original vocalist David Thomas, guitarist Cheetah Chrome, and bassist Craig Bell. They were also joined by Pere Ubu drummer Steve Mehlman and Television guitarist Richard Lloyd to replace their original guitarist Peter Laughner, who unfortunately passed away in 1977. In 2004, the band officially went into the studio for the first time to record twelve of the original tracks that appeared on the 2002 compilation. This past September, they released their first album of newly written material, Barfly. The album feels a little focused more on the artier sounds Pere Ubu experimented with than the boogie rock direction Dead Boys went in. Check out the oddly catchy "I Sell Soul," which you can download above, and if you like what you hear, the album is available at RFTT's website. Artwork and tracklist below.

Rocket from the Tombs are going on tour in support of the album this fall. That tour hasn't been announced in full yet but we know that it hits the NYC-area on December 12 at The Bell House and December 13 at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ. Tickets are on sale now for both shows (at the links). There's also a couple of other shows announced.

All dates, artwork and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Rocket From The Tombs released an album, scheduling shows (MP3 & dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Black Francis - All in My Mind (Love & Rockets) (MP3)

I would like to apologize to the Breeders for saying they would not sell out. I was a jerk about it and am truly sorry. I also apologize to their fans I may have offended with my stupid insensitive comments. Hope you liked the show.-Anonymous

The Breeders @ The Paradise in Boston 8/17 (more by Bryan Bruchman)

"Come one come all-I'm work shopping new introductions bare with me-Welcome to the 18th installment of the Jay Porks Never Ending concert series. Tonight brings us to the 'Sold Out' Bowery Ballroom at 6 Delancey St. in New York City. The Bowery is a venue that's been on my radar for a while, considering that the Bowery owns(or at least sponsors) most of the venues I attend for concerts in the city. Tonight the headliner, the band I'm here to see is the one, the only, THE BREEDERS." [The Jay Porks Blog]

The Breeders completed their two-night run at Bowery Ballroom in NYC last night (8/19). More on that soon.

On the horizon, Kim & Kelley Deal will be singing as part of The Long Count at BAM this fall, and Kim will be playing with her other band the Pixies, when they play NYC on their Doolittle tour this November.

Co-Pixie Frank Black recently contributed a track to New Tales To Tell: A Tribute to Love and Rockets, which came out Tuesday (Aug 18th) on Justice Records. Frank's track from that, "All in My Mind", off L&R's 1986 album Express, is posted above for your downloading pleasure.

He didn't appear at the release party/show on August 18th at the Ben Sherman store in Soho, but he will be at the show for, another tribute comp, Ciao My Shining Star - The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, which happens Sunday, September 20th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Also appearing at the concert will be Joseph Arthur, David Berkeley and more. Non-musical guests (of sorts) include the premiere of the Thom Yorke video "All For The Best" and a reading by graphic novelist Ben Katchor. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 21st at noon.

Joseph Arthur also has a series of shows coming up at City Winery.

That Mulcahy comp also has a slightly more personal story, via FrankBlack.net...

We have some sad news from a friend of our website and of FBF, Mark Mulcahy. Some of you might recognize the name as the singer/songwriter behind Miracle Legion and Polaris [of the soundtrack to Pete & Pete among other things], both of which featured Catholics David McCafferey and Scott Boutier, or perhaps you recognize the name from the liner notes of Christmass, as Mark provided backing vocals for both "Radio Lizards" and "Don't Get Me Wrong." Or maybe, like me, you saw Mark open for the Pixies in Atlantic City in 2005. Regardless, Mark's wife recently passed away, leaving him as a single dad to two small children. Some friends and admirers, including our Frank Black Francis, have recorded some of Mark's songs for a tribute record called Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy.

That record comes out September 29th on Shout! Factory records, and includes contributions from The National, Thom Yorke, Michael Stipe, Dinosaur Jr., Vic Chesnutt and Elvis Perkins. In addition to the names on the tracklist, below, 20 additional cuts will be released digitally. Look for a London concert to be announced as well.

Radiohead has a new song out now (two actually).

The tracklist and art work for both tribute albums are posted below...

Continue reading "Breeders played Bowery, Frank Black playing Mark Mulcahy show @ MHOW (tix), on Love & Rockets tribute comp (MP3) "