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 Black Bubblegum

Jonah Matranga & Ian Love at Gershwin Hotel (more by Tim Griffin)

Jonah Matranga of Far/onelinedrawing/New End Original fame has scheduled a solo show at Mercury Lounge on May 21st. Tickets are on sale.

Jonah might be playing that and a few more shows (listed below) solo, but - even more than before - Far is back...

Vagrant Records is proud to announce that Far has signed to the label. The recently reunited quartet is currently wrapping up their fifth full-length release in The Airport studio in Southern California with producer and guitarist Shaun Lopez at the helm and an early spring release date is expected.

"We had no idea all this would happen," says vocalist Jonah Matranga. "We were just planning on getting to know each other again and playing a few shows... all of a sudden, the songs are coming, and it feels really good."

Far has added a few new West Coast shows in May and June, including one opening for Kings of Leon in Santa Barbara, CA. All dates below, but nothing on the east coast yet.

In the tail end of last year (while he was here for that Gershwin Hotel show), we caught up with Jonah Matranga and asked him about Far, his solo venture(s), and what it means to be back in lock-step with the guys again. Check out that interview below.

Meanwhile, some of Jonah's bandmates in New End Original are getting their old band back together as well. Split Lip, which became Chamberlain in 1995, will reunite with all original members to play a handful of shows in their native midwest, and eventually, the east coast. Tour dates are below.

The dates coincide with the re-issue of Chamberlain's emo-influential Fate's Got A Driver LP on color vinyl with bonus tracks.

Chamberlain's Fate's Got a Driver delivers more emotion in its 30 minutes than most bands do over the course of a career. The record is thought provoking and musically adventurous, a rare feat for a band whose members were barely past twenty when it was recorded. With nods to the Everyman side of Sunny Day Real Estate and the insistent melodicism of Fugazi, Fate's Got a Driver consistently impresses. It's all the product of lead guitarist Adam Rubenstein's thick, Fugazi-style progressions and David Moore's highly poetic lyrics... An amazing achievement by such a relatively young band. -[allmusic]

Jonah discusses Lupe Fiasco, Sepultura, Fort Minor, Radiohead, and more, in the interview below...

Continue reading "an interview w/ Jonah Matranga of Far (who are back with more tour dates & a new album on Vagrant Records)"

Vagrant Records and The Hold Steady announce an April 7 release date for A Positive Rage, a double disc package featuring a documentary on DVD and their first-ever live album. The set will be released on April 6 on Rough Trade Records in the UK and Europe.

A Positive Rage captures the excitement and high spirits of both the band and their fans in the days surrounding the release of their third full-length, Boys and Girls in America, (Vagrant) and ensuing world tour in 2006.

The 53-minute documentary begins with The Hold Steady's first ever London performances with never-before-seen live footage, back stage interviews with the band members, fan commentary and the original, raw audio. Cameras follow the band as they return to the US for a 24-date tour that culminates on screen with an especially poignant performance at First Avenue in Minneapolis.

The live album was recorded on October 31, 2007 and includes seventeen songs that Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, Galen Polivka, Franz Nicolay, and Bobby Drake performed on the second of their two-night sold-out stand at the Metro in Chicago. The enhanced album will also feature five bonus studio tracks: "Ask Her For Adderall," "Cheyenne Sunrise," "Two Handed Handshake," and the previously unreleased tracks "Spectres" and "40 Bucks."

The booklet features personal photos and the band's memories of the tour, including this excerpt from Craig Finn... "It ended up being a fantastic suburban blow out with band and audience on the floor, Frisbee and tailgating in the adjoining parking lot, and everyone singing along to every song.... It reminded me of the hardcore shows I loved as a kid, everyone sweating and screaming together in a rented hall. And drinking in the parking lot, of course. The next night worlds converged.... "

The Hold Steady, in addition to appearing at SXSW in mid-March, will kick off their late-March-into-April tour at Irving Plaza in NYC on March 30th. $25.00 tickets to the "WRXP Anniverary Show" will go on sale Friday February 20th at 10AM via LiveNation.com. Openers TBA.

In related Vagrant news, they just announced that they signed the UK's Olivia Broadfield. "I have been blown away by how well things have been going for me over the past year and signing with Vagrant is quite simply the cherry on top," said Broadfield. "I am so excited to be working with Vagrant, they have shown such faith and belief in me as an artist and I know that my album will be in good hands. It's taken a lot of hard work to get this far and I can't wait to take things to the next level with Vagrant by my side."

In related Hold Steady news, the band covered Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City" for the new "War Child Heroes" charity comp. "A Postive Rage" tracklist, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Hold Steady tour dates (Irving Plaza, SXSW) & a documentary"