Folk punk singer/songwriter Frank Turner, who would probably not join At The Drive-In, is currently on a North American tour which includes some dates with Social Distortion and others with Dropkick Murphys, who are both working on new albums. He doesn't hit NYC with either of those bands but he'll stop by Brooklyn during the tour for a small headlining show on March 12 at Knitting Factory. Tickets for that show are on sale now. All dates are listed below.

Punk News points to a tweet that Frank posted last month, "Long day of demoing. 15 new songs of varying quality down. Time for a curry and a pint." As they also mention, it's not clear if he means he is working on a new Frank Turner album or if he is referring to his hardcore side project, which he announced towards the end of last year. He also talked about that project in an interview with NME last week, which you can watch the video of below.

All dates and video below...

Continue reading "Frank Turner announces tour, Knitting Factory show (dates)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Dave Grohl & Madison Square Garden

Last night at NYC's Madison Square Garden, Dave Grohl and the boys not only played past midnight -- a rarity given the venue's typical 11 p.m. curfew -- but during the encore, they brought out Joan Jett and Husker Du leader Bob Mould for rip-roaring covers of "Bad Reputation" and Tom Petty's "Breakdown," respectively.

Before all that, however, the band was doing fine on its own. F-bombs were flying from Grohl's mouth, shred-heavy solos coming from his fingers, and laps through the audience kept him running (via an extended stage that spanned the distance of general admission). It was an inspiring bit of frontman badassery -- a universal truth to those in attendance at the packed arena, which has recently undergone a makeover.

The Foos' 24-song set, which was preceded by openers Social Distortion and the Joy Formidable, kicked off around 9:30, led by "Bridge Burning" and a handful of other standouts off the band's latest, "Wasting Light." Grohl's standard "it's going to be a looooong night" line was met by hearty cheers, as was his "Guitar Hero" rant, in which Grohl urged parents to buy their kids "a real one [guitar]... they might write something like this ['Monkey Wrench']."..; [Billboard]

Continue reading "Foo Fighters, Social Distortion, Joy Formidable (and Bob Mould & Joan Jett) played MSG (pics, video & setlist)"

photos by Jason House

Agnostic Front @ Santos Party House

Agnostic Front are currently out on tour with Mongoloids in support of a somewhat new record...

"My Life My Way was released on March 22, 2011. The album features 13 new powerful and anthemic songs laid down by Erik Rutan (MADBALL, GOATWHORE, CANNIBAL CORPSE, etc.) at his Mana Recording Studio in Tampa, FL under the watchful guide of producer Freddy Cricien of MADBALL. The record was mastered by Alan Douches (NILE, MASTODON, etc.)."

Fellow DMS crew band H2O also has a new record coming out, but not of their own songs. As their own press release reads...

"H2O has been a mainstay in hardcore and punk since their inception back in 1995 and have had many influences along the way. The band is thrilled to pay homage to those influential artists by covering their songs on the forthcoming album, Don't Forget Your Roots, which will be available November 15th from Bridge Nine Records.

Additionally, H2O will be playing the Gramercy Theater on November 19th [with Killing Time], with a special set consisting of cover songs and originals- both new and old. This show will be a celebration of H2O's covers album available just three days prior, as well as a re-release of their self-titled album, available on LP also on November 15th. Vocalist Toby Morse had this to say: "NYC is H2O's roots - where we started - and couldn't think of a more perfect place to release our covers album and the re-issue of our first record. We'll be playing old songs, new songs and cover songs for our fans there! They'll also be able to pick up copies of our self-titled album on vinyl - Bridge Nine is re-pressing that and we couldn't be more excited. It was originally released back in 1996 and has been out of print for a long, long time. Also Don't Forget Your Roots will be available as well!" He continued, "Our covers album is a big personal accomplishment for us - being able to pay homage to the bands that have influenced us so much since we got into punk rock and helped get us where we are today is an amazing thing. We think we've done them justice!"

Continue reading "Agnostic Front played Santos (pics & more dates), H2O releasing tribute album, playing shows too (dates) "

photos by Tim Griffin

Arcade Fire / The Walkmen

The 10th annual Austin City Limits festival came to a close on Sunday with a headlining set by Arcade Fire (who also taped an edition of Austin City Limits the TV show one day earlier). It was a rough year for some attendees. I'm talking about smokers. Austin Statesman posted the following before the weekend:

We welcome all the people and music artists attending this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival. It's a special year for the music festival, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The talent this year is incredible, with headliners Kanye West, Stevie Wonder and Arcade Fire, as well as local favorites such as Asleep at the Wheel.

Before we get this party started, we must advise attendees that the Austin Parks Department has banned smoking at all Austin parks, greenbelts, trails and golf courses. That includes Zilker Park, site of the festival.

We realize that a smoking ban might be an inconvenience for some. But it is necessary to keep everyone safe. So please have fun at the events, which run today through Sunday, but leave the cigarettes, cigars, pipes -- or whatever else one might be smoking -- behind. (The ban also prohibits wood or charcoal grilling in Zilker and other parks.)

Smoking was allowed at previous ACL festivals, but this year is different. This year, Central Texas is dealing with wildfires that have killed two people, destroyed about 1,500 homes and burned tens of thousands of acres in Bastrop County, Steiner Ranch, Pflugerville and other Central Texas communities. In Austin, city firefighters responded to 469 brush fires from January through July. Cigarettes caused about a fourth of those fires, officials said. [Austin Statesman]

Continue reading "Austin City Limits 2011 -- Day 3 in pics (Arcade Fire, Walkmen, DFA1979, Manu Chao & more)"

Foo Fighters, who just headlined the final night of Lollapalooza, and who previously scheduled two dates in NJ, will return to NYC to play Madison Square Garden on November 13 with Social Distortion and The Joy Formidable. Internet Presale (password: ROCK) starts today (8/10) at 10 AM and general sale starts Friday at 10 AM. Rock on.

Tickets go on AmEx presale today at 10 AM for the Smokers Club Tour.

Underground rapper Wax plays Mercury Lounge on September 21. Tickets go on AmEx presale today (8/10) at noon.

Tickets go on sale today at noon, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm for the four Beyonce shows at Roseland Ballroom.

The Kooks just announed a tour that includes two NYC shows: Webster Hall on November 16 and 17. Internet Presale starts today at 10 AM (password might be "electric"), AmEx presale starts at noon, and general sale starts Friday at noon. All dates are listed below.

Fang Island play Glasslands on October 5. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets go on AmEx presale today at noon for the Austra shows at Bowery Ballroom and MHOW. At the MHOW show they open for James Blake.

Tickets go on AmEx presale today at noon for the Nurses and Dominant Legs Mercury Lounge show. Tickets are on sale now for the Glasslands show.

Tickets go on AmEx presale today at noon for the SBTRKT shows at Bowery Ballroom and MHOW.

TIckets go on AmEx presale today at noon for The Rapture's Webster Hall show.

Tickets are on sale now for the Pictureplane show at Cameo Gallery.

Tickets are still on sale for Chelsea Wolfe at Saint Vitus.

Tickets are still on sale for Ted Leo at The Rock Shop.

Tickets for Cat Power's second Webster Hall show go on sale Friday at noon.

Feist tickets go on sale Monday (as written in the previous post, though sorry if the title made you think it was this past Monday which I thought it was at first despite the correct date written in the post).

Win a pair of tickets to tonight's Band of Horses/J Mascis show on our Facebook.

Kooks dates below...

Continue reading "Foo Fighters @ MSG, James Blake, Kooks, SBTRKT, Beyonce, Austra, Fang Island & other tickets & presales"

We previously discussed Phily's Riot Fest East that will feature an appearance from the mighty Descendents and The Suicide Machines who they also play with in NYC. Riot Fest East, an offshoot of the Chicago festival, happens on September 24th.

The Chicago version of the festival, October 5-9, previously announced that Weezer, Social Distortion, Descendents, 7 Seconds, ALL (two different eras!), Helmet, and X (playing Los Angeles) were all on the lineup, but left one big announcement for today...

On Friday October 7, 2011 Danzig will headline Riot Fest and perform a career spanning show featuring sets of Danzig, Samhain and Misfits songs with none other than Doyle joining on guitar the Misfits set. We've waited years for this and we can't wait to see the inside of the Congress Theater turn into a churning sea of humanity.

Tickets are now also on sale for the Descendents show at Roseland Ballroom that Suicide Machines and H20 are opening.

X are performing Los Angeles at both Riot Fests AND on two nights at Irving Plaza in NYC. Tickets are on sale for those shows too.

Riot Fest show flyers and some videos is below.

Continue reading "Riot Fest Chicago completes lineup with "Danzig Legacy"! Descendents East Coast shows on sale too"

The 10th Anniversary ACL Festival line-up is on the books. Stevie Wonder, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Coldplay, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Nas & Damian "Jr Gong" Marley and Cee Lo top the bill of the over 130 bands. Bright Eyes, Social Distortion, Empire of the Sun, Santigold, Pretty Lights, TV On The Radio, Skrillex, Big Boi and Randy Newman are also on tap to rock September 16-18.

Continue reading "Austin City Limits 2011 festival lineup is here, tickets on sale"

photos by Tim Griffin

Lucero are currently on the road. Tonight, 10/11, will be their third Texas show in a row. The run started on Saturday at Austin City Limits where they played a 2:30pm set in direct competition with The Gaslight Anthem (which is unfortunate since they definitely share fans). On Thursday Lucero link up with Social Distortion and Frank Turner for that previously mentioned tour that stops at NYC's Roseland Ballroom on November 4th. Tickets are still on sale.

All dates and some more pictures from ACL, below...

Continue reading "Lucero played ACL (pics), kicking off tour w/ Social Distortion & Frank Turner (updated dates) "

photos by Vincent Cornelli

"You ready for some Grateful Dead action after this?" asked singer Julian Casablancas early in the Stokes set, referring to Furthur, the band led by the Dead's Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, already in progress at the eastern edge of the polo field. The uncertain response suggested fans were staying put - just as others were for Furthur. The Strokes sounded exceptionally muscular in the park's expansive setting. Fabrizio Moretti contributed heavy beats to "Vision of Division" and "Reptilia," as Casablancas eased his vocals from deadpan to excited and back again. "This is It" slowly built to a sing-along as Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi created an intricate overlap of guitars. "I remember playing these songs in front of four people," Casablancas said, looking out on the tens of thousands of fans. "It's really surreal." Even, apparently, after all the year's of the band's success. -[Rolling Stone]

"...At about 5:50 PM, one of the day's best acts appeared at the Outside Lands Festival.

The music was thumping, adrenaline pumping, the sun shining, and many in the crowd -- tapping into a singular energy -- could hold back no longer. They put their inhibitions aside and let themselves be drawn to the beats blasting from the Twin Peaks Stage. Some ran, jumped and moved like they never had before, heading toward a common purpose.

Of course, I'm referring to the bum rush of fans that managed to scramble past the guards and bust down part of the fence along John F. Kennedy Drive, allowing scores of people to hustle in before the riot control guards on horsies and the rent-a-guard dudes in orange t-shirts could stop the inflow." - [San Francisco Chronicle]

Videos of the incident, with the rest of our pictures from the 2010 Outside Lands Festival, below...

Continue reading "more pics from Outside Lands (where fans crashed through a fence to get in) (videos of that too) "

DOWNLOAD: Dan Sartain - Atheist Funeral (MP3)

Lucero @ BV SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Lucero, J Roddy Walston and The Business, and the just-added Jonny Corndawg will be playing the Beach at Governors Island on Saturday, July 10th for the next show in the Gone to Governors series. That evening show is free, though you'll want to get there early to make sure you get a ticket...

Governors Island Ferry Information Update for the Saturday July 10th show (Lucero featuring J-Roddy Walston and The Business)

We encourage everyone to come early and enjoy the beach. The Beach is open at 10am. Governors Island ferries will run from the Battery Maritime Building until 5:30PM. If you are on the island early, please make sure to get yourself to the Beach venue by 5:30PM, as concert wristbands will be distributed early.

There will be no boats to the concert departing from the Battery Maritime Building after 5:30PM.

Dedicated concert ferries will depart after 5:30PM from Manhattan:
Pier 11, located at the corner of South Street and Wall Street in lower Manhattan.

Show time is 8:00PM.

Wristbands will be distributed at the Beach (prior to 5:30) and at the Pier 11 Manhattan ferry departure point (after 5:30) on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Following that, J Roddy Walston and The Business have a gig coming up at Brooklyn Bowl on July 26th with the Static Jacks. Tickets are on sale for that.

Lucero, who have more summer shows, have another NYC gig coming up too, but not till the fall, when they'll be on tour with Social Distortion (who have a new disc coming out around the same time) and Frank Turner. All three acts play Roseland Ballroom on November 4th. Tickets, on Citi presale now, go on general sale Friday at 10am. They'll also be playing a few NY-area venues like House of Blues in Atlantic City. All dates for the tour are below.

Before then Social D tour with the Action Design and bluesman Dan Sartain. That tour hits regional stops like The Chance in Poughkeepsie on July 27th, Starland Ballroom on August 1st, and Mulcahy's on Long Island on August 3rd. Tickets for those shows are at ticketmaster.

Dan Sartain, whose Lives LP comes out July 20th One Little Indian, has a NYC show of his own at Mercury Lounge on July 29th (no ticket info is posted anywhere). His song "Atheist Funeral" off that is posted above, with the video below.

All Social D tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Social Distortion touring w/ Dan Sartain & Lucero who play a free NYC show Saturday w/ J-Roddy Walston & J-Corndawg"

Outside Lands 2009 (more by Chris Graham)

San Francisco's Outside Lands Festival 2010 takes place in Golden Gate Park from August 14th-15th. Headlining acts for the fest include Kings of Leon, Furthur featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, The Strokes, My Morning Jacket, Phoenix, Social Distortion, Levon Helm and Al Green. Other acts include Nas & Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, The Budos Band, Dawes, Gogol Bordello, Cat Power Janelle Monáe and Tokyo Police Club. The full lineup (which will be added to) is below.

Two-day passes go on sale Tuesday, June 2nd at 1pm EST. Single day tickets go on sale Sunday, June 6th.

Check out pictures from all three days of Outside Lands 2009 (which as you may have figured out was one day longer than this year's).

A video trailer for this year's fest and the lineup is below...

Continue reading "Outside Lands 2010 lineup announced"

"The 2010 Lollapalooza line-up is official: Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, and Phoenix will headline, joined by Social Distortion, MGMT, Jimmy Cliff, Hot Chip, and The Black Keys. With 130 bands on this year's bill, its sure to be a weekend long feast for the ears.

It's a monumental year for Lollapalooza, filled with homecomings, reunions, and first-times. Soundgarden, 1992 and 1996 Lollapalooza alumni, return to the Lollapalooza stage for their first performance since 1997. Green Day will rock Grant Park sixteen years after their first Lollapalooza appearance. While Lady Gaga will headline the festival only three short years after playing the BMI stage at Lollapalooza 2007.

Arcade Fire returns to Grant Park, having played the reincarnated Lollapalooza in 2005. This is the first Lollapalooza for The Strokes - and also their first show in four years. And making their Lollapalooza debut: Phoenix." - Lollapalooza

Continue reading "Lollapalooza actually announces 2010 lineup "

Mike Ness of Social Distortion is going on a tour that hits Irving Plaza, The Stone Pony, and a bunch of other places in May (and July).....

Continue reading "Mike Ness (Social Distortion) - 2008 Tour Dates"

DOWNLOAD: Bloc Party - Banquet (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bloc Party - Say it Right (Nelly Furtado) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bloc Party vs. Gwen Stefani "What You Hunting For?" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bloc Party vs. Coldplay "Hunting For Witches In My Place" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bloc Party - I Still Remember (live @ FNX) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bloc Party - Sunday (live @ FNX) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bloc Party vs. Madonna "Groovecopter" (MP3)

Bloc Party continue their current U.S. tour (with the Maccabees) in Kansas City, Missouri tonight (Jun 11, 2007). They played the Stone Pony (moved from the Convention Hall) in Asbury Park, NJ on Thursday (June 7), and on Saturday (June 9) they played Live 105's BFD 2007 at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California.

Bloc Party @ Shoreline Amphitheater - June 9, 2007 (CRED)

Interpol, Queens of the Stone Age, Social Distortion, CSS, The Faint, The Bravery, Kaiser Chiefs, Silversun Pickups, Cold War Kids, and CSS were also on the relatively cheap bill. More BFD pics & BP tour dates below....

Continue reading "BFD 2007, BLOC PARTY, MP3's, pics, tour dates"