photos by PSquared Photography

Meat Puppets @ Mercury Lounge, 4/3/2013

Legender cowpunkers Meat Puppets will release their new album, Rat Farm, this month (4/16) and are currently on tour in support of it. The tour stopped in NYC last night (4/3) for their first of two consecutive sold-out nights at Mercury Lounge. While the tour is promoting the new record, the Kirkwood brothers hit many of the high points of their 30-year career. Openers The World Takes (who also play with them again tonight) may be an unfamiliar name to some, but you may recognize their drummer as DJ Bonebrake of X.

More pictures from Mercury Lounge, including one of Meat Puppets' setlist, below...

Continue reading "Meat Puppets played the first of two sold-out shows at Mercury Lounge with The World Takes (pics, setlist)"

photos by PSquared Photography

X guitarist Billy Zoom at Irving Plaza, 11/30/2012

Los Angeles (punk) rock legends X are currently celebrating their 35th year as a band and still boast the same line-up that gave us their essential 1980 debut album (and others). John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom and DJ Bonebrake were in NYC this weekend for two nights at Irving Plaza (11/30 - 12/1) and we've got pictures from Friday's show in this post. There's a few more dates left on X's schedule and the band plays Washington, DC tonight.

More pics from Irving Plaza (none of openers Reverend Horton Heat or Not in The Face unfortunately) are below, along with the setlist.

Continue reading "X played two nights at Irving Plaza (Friday pics and setlist)"

X at Made in America Festival (more by Dana [distortion] Yavin)

Los Angeles rock legends X have a few scattered tour dates until late November, including stops in Orange County, CA and a pair of stops in Texas including Fun Fun Fun Fest. But then, look for the band to team with Reverend Horton Heat and Not in The Face for a string of dates that will kickoff on November 30 and December 1 at Irving Plaza and also include December 7 at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ. Tickets for all shows are currently on presale with a password of "soundcheck" with regular sale going down on 9/7 at 10AM.

Full X tour itinerary is below, along with video of their classic ode to their home town.

Continue reading "X touring with Reverend Horton Heat this fall (dates)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Run DMC / Pearl Jam / Drake at Made in America Fest 9/3/2012

A Run DMC reunion was one of the many highlights of the second day of the Jay-Z presented Made in America Festival which happened in Philadelphia over Labor Day Weekend. Monday's show also featured Pearl Jam, Drake, X, The Hives and others. Jay-Z joined Pearl Jam during their set for a performance of "99 Problems".

Pictures from day 1 are HERE and more pics from day 2 are below (along with Run DMC's setlist).

Continue reading "Made in America Fest: day 2 in pics (Run DMC, Pearl Jam, X, Santigold, Drake, The Hives, Jill Scott and more)"

Gary Clark Jr. at Coachella 2012 (more by David Andrako)

As mentioned, Philly's Made In America Festival goes down this weekend (9/1 - 9/2) on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Since we last spoke, the lineup was expanded and now includes Drake (who was rumored but not on the initial lineup announcement), Jill Scott, Chris Cornell, The Hives, and Run DMC, who are all playing the second day (9/2), in addition to blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr., who will be on the only performer on the bill playing both days, and others. Day 1 (9/1) will be headlined by festival head Jay-Z, and also includes Skrillex, Passion Pit, D'Angelo, Dirty Projectors, Janelle Monae, and others, and day 2 (9/2) will be headlined by Pearl Jam and also includes Odd Future, X, Santigold, and others. Tickets for the festival are still available.

If you're going to the fest, Philly is only about a two hour drive from NYC and this FAQ should help you find your way over (for directions use the address of Ben Franklin Parkway at Eakins Oval in Philadelphia or the Philadelphia Museum of Art). Once you're there, that FAQ will also help you find your way around, parking tips, and more. There will be a free filtered water service at the festival site, but you can't bring glowsticks (sorry Skrillex fans).

A #MadeInAmerica video for Gary Clark Jr. and the lineup for the festival are below.

Continue reading "Jay-Z's Made In America Festival is this weekend; Gary Clark Jr. playing both nights (full lineup, directions & more)"

After teasing folks with a few names here and there -- like Run DMC most recently -- Austin's annual Fun Fun Fun Fest (Nov 2 - 4) has revealed it's full line-up, including Public Image Ltd, De La Soul, Superchunk, Santigold, Refused, X peforming Los Angeles, and lots, lots more. 3-day passes go on sale at 10AM CST.

Full FFF Fest lineup is below.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest full lineup (De La Soul, Refused, Fucked Up, Public Image Ltd, Santigold, Sharon Van Etten, Rakim, X, Converge, Japandroids & more)"

by Tim Griffin

Eddie Vedder & Beth Ditto @ Rock Werchter 2012 - 6/29/2012

"Rock Werchter is a Belgian annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, since 1973. It is one of the five biggest annual rock music festivals in Europe (the other four being Exit, Sziget Festival, the Glastonbury Festival and Roskilde Festival). The 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 festivals received the Arthur award for best festival in the world at the International Live Music Conference (ILMC). It can host 85,000 guests daily, of which 67,000 combine all four days, to add up to a total maximum of 139,000 different attendees." [Wikipedia]

You saw pictures from day one. Here we go with day two..

Day two of Belgium festival Rock Werchter kicked off for me with the still-reunited, classic California punk band X playing on the main stage. I stayed for their entire, great set which means I missed Belgium band School is Cool who were playing on the other side of the park. Judging by the bubbles seen on several attendees leaving that stage though, it looked like missed a fun time. Other bands on the second day, of this festival that featured so many big names, included Pearl Jam, Lana Del Rey, Jack White, Deadmau5, The Gossip, Beirut and many others

I couldn't make it to every band on all three stages each day, obviously, but I at least have a good excuse for missing Mastodon: I was getting a behind-the-scenes tour of the fest (many thanks to FIAF and Rock Werchter for the hospitality - and WAFFLES!). They took me behind the fences and gateways, to get a glimpse all that goes on to keep things moving. The scale and logistics were pretty mind-expanding. Some bullets:

• Rock Werchter goes for 4 days at the end on June, but initial setup begins in early May.
• More than 8000 are directly employed by the festival, with thousands more as subcontractors.
• More than 25% of the staff are directly engaged in security and safety of the venue and audience.
• Most staff are sourced locally to ensure direct local benefits from the festival.
• Rock Werchter is practically a small town, with everything but a school system on site (medical services, residences, offices, supply depots, repair stations, food services (including storage and preparation), and even on site garbage sorting and recycling.
• Thousands of large steel road plates are used throughout the facilities to protect the ground from vehicle traffic, and thousands of square meters of field and audience areas are also similarly protected using plastic and wood flooring.

There's a lot more to go on about, but you get the idea. The scale of bringing a large show like this to life is immense... and Rock Werchter seems to do it with ease.

No pictures from backstage, but more from who was playing on the stages, along with Pearl Jam's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Rock Werchter 2012 - day 2 pics (Pearl Jam, Jack White, Gossip, X, Lana Del Rey, Katy B, Kreayshawn, Bat for Lashes, Wiz Khalifa, more)"

Levon Helm at Summerstage in Central Park (more by Chris La Putt)

The Band's Levon Helm will step outside of his weekly Midnight Ramble for a show at Wellmont Theatre on February 10th with Peter Wolf. Tickets are currently on AMEX presale and go on regular sale Friday 11/18 at noon. The show, along with a pair of dates that he has lined up at Ulster Performing Arts Center in Kingston, NY (11/18 and 5/25) are his only non-Midnight Ramble dates announced thus far. Full tour schedule is below.

Meanwhile, the Midnight Ramble continues this weekend with special guest Hook Herrera and on 12/3 Helm will welcome Jimmy Vivino (of Conan's Basic Cable band) and Dawes. Tickets for that show, and all others are still available (either seated or Standing Room Only).

Dawes will also head down to NYC & NJ that same week. Both Maxwell's shows, which Robert Ellis is opening, are now sold out though. You can catch Robert Ellis though during a tour with John Doe that hits City Winery on December 4th. For the X man, it's one of many gigs that will be keeping him busy through New Year's Eve.

All Levon and Dawes and Robert Ellis and X dates and a video below...

Continue reading "Levon Helm, Dawes, Robert Ellis & John Doe shows (dates)"

photos by Devan Council

X is for extreme, which is the only way I can describe Friday night's sold-out performance of X's 1980 debut album, Los Angeles, in its entirety. The show began with the viewing of X's 1986 documentary film, X: The Unheard Music, followed by the LA based band band taking the stage a little before 10pm....

In front of a sold out crowd of some 1200 fans, X kicked off the set by playing "Your Phone's Off the Hook, But You're Not." As the masters on stage played each song with pure raw energy, the audience with all their pent up anticipation burst into excitement. X's version of The Doors' "Soul Kitchen" was just as an exciting rendition of the original. "Los Angeles," the title track from the album of the same name had a strong delivery propelled by guitarist, Billy Zoom's mastery of his Gretsch guitar. Besides playing the entire Los Angeles album, X played songs from their albums Wild Gift, Under the Big Black Sun and More Fun in the New World -[Concert Log]

X played all of their landmark LP Los Angeles at Irving Plaza on 9/30, a feat they repeated the next night (10/1) at the same NYC venue, and the night before at Maxwell's. The band is currently touring and will hit Chicago for Riot Fest this week. An updated set of dates, and more pictures from Irving Plaza, below...

Continue reading "X played 'Los Angeles' & more @ Irving Plaza (pics)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Anika - Yang Yang (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Anika - Terry (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Soft Moon - "Total Decay" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Soft Moon - Breath the Fire (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mikal Cronin - Get Along (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mikal Cronin - Apathy (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Howler - I Told You Once (MP3)

Anika

Hello and welcome to the ATP Runoff edition of This Week in Indie. (Aka ATPTWII.) Yes the big news is the Portishead-curated All Tomorrow's Parties which is happening this year in Asbury Park, NJ which looks to be super cool. (I would like to see The Pop Group.) There are still tickets available for most of it -- it gets a little confusing what with "Three Day Jeff Magnum" passes and other variations but this column will not get into that. We're talking bands/artists who are also playing NYC shows while here. And some other stuff too.

First and foremost, for me, is Anika who is making her North American live debut tonight (9/27) at Le Poisson Rouge and tickets still seem to be available. Her debut album snuck in late last year but made my Best of 2011 with it's mix of post-punk and dub, and I've been waiting to see her live ever since.  As I wrote before:

Recorded in 12 days, live with no overdubs, it sounds like the missing link between The Slits and Lilliput. Portishead's Geoff Barrow -- his other band BEAK> is the backing band here -- gets the claustrophobic vibe just right. A lot of people have tried and failed to recreate that Martin Hannett Sound... Barrow nails it. And the material -- a mix of girl group covers and politically-charged originals -- suits Anika's Nico-esque delivery perfectly.

You can download two tracks at the top of this post, cover's of Yoko Ono's "Yang Yang" and obscure British girl group singer Twinkle's "Terry." Anika is here on a limited North American tour and all her dates are at the bottom of this post. Anika's live band is a 5-piece that includes two of the three members of BEAK> (Geoff Barrow is the one who doesn't play with her live).

Opening for Anika is local act Slowdance who you may remember made L Magazine's "8 Bands You Need to Hear" list and whose debut EP, Light & Color, was just released last week. It's a "name your price" download at their Bandcamp site. The whole thing is pretty good but I especially dig the opening track "Cake" which is kind of like early B-52's minus Fred Schneider but in French.

DD/MM/YYYY

I mentioned BEAK> who, in addition to sharing members with Anika, will also be performing their own set at ATP and have also just released a split EP with Toronto's proggy, mathy DD/MM/YYYY who are playing Friday night at Cameo with like-minded noisemakers Yvette and Bambara. DD/MM/YY are on short East Coast tour while here for ATP and all dates are at the bottom of this post.

If you like DD/MM/YY or have been curious about seeing them live, you should go to this show... because they're breaking up at the end of October and the Cameo show is their last NYC show before doing so. I last saw them at M for Montreal two years ago, where I wrote:

Also impressive live are Toronto's DD/MM/YYYY who have clearly gotten much tighter than the last time I saw them (Don Pedro's, like three years ago). It's proggy-mathy, but bordering on chaos too. I'm not that crazy about their records -- a little too much going on at one time for my poppier tastes -- but I'd go see them again, no question.

Don't get too sad about them calling it quits, as four of the five are regrouping under the name Absolutely Free and will make their live debut at M for Montreal this year.

Factory Floor

More ATPTWII action: London trio Factory Floor play two NYC shows this week: tomorrow (9/28) at Knitting Factory with Apache Beat and FAN-TAN, and then Thursday (9/29) at Mercury Lounge with fellow Londoners Walls.

Factory Floor get a lot of Joy Division comparisons and JD/New Order drummer Stephen Morris is a fan, remixing last year's "Wooden Box" single. But apart from looking sad in their press shots, Factory Floor are more in the minimal wave camp with drone and repetition being their weapons of choice. Their new single "(R E A L L O V E)" is basically a goth/industrial/techno/Krautrock ode to Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder's "I Feel Love" and is pretty awesome.

The band's next release will be on DFA in November. Judging from live clips on YouTube (like them performing "(R E A L L O V E)" at Rough Trade which you can watch below), Factory Floor are intense live and you might want to rearrange your show schedule to see them.

The Soft Moon

And rounding out the ATP-related shows are San Francisco's The Soft Moon who were supposed to be opening for Mogwai (who had to cancel) but will now play 285 Kent on Saturday (10/1) with White Ring and Beige (video flyer below), and the Wierd Party next Wednesday (10/5). Their new EP, Total Decay, is out on Halloween via Captured Tracks and you can download a track from it (and one from their debut album) at the top of this post. If you like '80s 4AD goth (Clan of Xymox, Xmal Deutchland) you're probably already going.

Veronica Falls

Speaking of goth, in a totally different way we've got Veronica Falls in town for two shows: tonight (9/27) at Glasslands and tomorrow (9/28) at Pianos. Their debut, out last week on Slumberland, is one of my favorite albums of the year so far. I wrote about it over at Sound Bites which I will quote here:

The band get the C-86 tag a lot but, apart from The Velvet Underground (which has inspired 95% of all indiepop), New Zealand seems to be a bigger influence anyway. "Misery" and current single "Bad Feeling" could both be Bats songs. (The Verlaines are a clear influence too, and I bet someone in the band loves The Chills' "Pink Frost.") But this is not a band you really sit around playing "spot the influence" to, as you're too busy swooning to the gorgeous melodies and Roxanne Clifford's truly lovely voice.

There's not a dud in Veronica Falls' 36 minute running time. New songs ("Misery," "Bad Feeling," the effervescent "The Box") are equals to early singles "Found Love in a Graveyard" and "Beachy Head" which appear here in newly recorded versions that might actually improve on the original versions.

When I said "goth" above, I mean more in an old school romance kind of way. Love and death, often intertwined. If you're on Spotify you can listen to the album here. They're great live, do go see them. Tonight's Glasslands show is with German Measles, Tanks Amigo and Darlings; the Pianos show is entirely TWII-endorsed, with McDonalds, Heaven's Gate and The Hairs.

Mikal Cronin

Ty Segall plays Bowery Ballroom on Thursday (9/29) and we've given him a lot of love over the last few years. He's awesome. If you're going, do get there early and see opener Mikal Cronin who plays in Ty's band and used to front Charlie & the Moonhearts. I liked the Moonhearts just fine, but playing with Ty seems to have done wonders. Mikal's self-titled LP on Trouble in Mind (produced by Ty) is far and away the best thing he's ever done, is one of my albums of the year, and I like it more than Segall's Goodbye Bread to be honest.

The album has great song after great song, killer hooks and harmonies -- SoCal garagey surf-pop at it's finest. You can download two tracks from the album at the top of this post.

Total Slacker

Friday is the last night of Monster Island Basement and the DIY venue is going out a big show featuring Regal Degal, Total Slacker, La Big Vic, Hume and Royal Baths. It's the record release party for Total Slacker's debut album, Thrashin', which got a 6.7 on Pitchfork today:

Total Slacker's sense of humor is the album's driving force, and it's both overt and weirdly specific. The lyrics, for the most part, are a goofy celebration of the slacker caricature. Between the references to weed and various snack foods, and the record's languid pace, Rountree perpetuates the archetypal slacker character with his nasal whine. The track "Thyme Traveling High School Dropout", for example, is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-style branding for a guy who goes back to the 18th century because marijuana isn't illegal then. And the title "Stealing From Salvation Army" says it all-- he plans on doing just that after he wakes up in the afternoon. That's pretty much the whole album. Thrashin' largely depends on buying into that character and thinking it's funny, or at least interesting, for 40 minutes.

With Total Slacker's propensity for instrument-destroying, this last night at Monster Island could be a doozy.

Howler

And finally, Minneapolis band Howler are playing their first NYC shows this week: Thursday (9/29) at Glasslands and Friday opening for Tapes n' Tapes at Bowery Ballroom. The band just signed with Rough Trade who put out their EP, This One's Different, not too long ago. They're getting more UK press than here in the States. NME gave the EP 8/10 saying:

Howler are musical pizza. They're not a band you define yourself by. They're a band you dance to. Which is not to say that Howler are stupid, or people who like Howler are stupid. They just don't feel the need to prove that they're clever.

The title of this first EP by Rough Trade's most recent signings is both misleading and spot on. There's nothing much different about these Minneapolis boys at all, with their sexy bedhead hair, skinny limbs and small-child-romping-at-a-family-wedding goofy energy. Their bratty guitar pop is as familiar as skin, but also as warm and lovable. But then, how many flat, formulaic takes on this same sound are also-running around out there? Howler are different because they make commonplace components fly with a brilliant nonchalance.

Everybody likes Pizza, right? The review goes on to make a Razorlight comparison, so this pie must have extra cheese. You can download a Howler track at the top of this post.

And that's the big stuff for this week. Slightly smaller stuff is below, day-by day:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

Portland duo Viva Voce are at Mercury Lounge tonight. They don't get enough attention -- apart from just being two of them there's no "angle" per se, besides good songs and great musicianship -- and their new album The Future Will Destroy You is pretty good.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

Reptar, Savoir Adore at the Neon Gold TV launch party at Tammany Hall. Tickets are $5 in advance, $10 at the door.

Somebody is playing Roseland tonight, can't remember who.

continued below...

Continue reading "Anika, DD/MM/YYYY, Factory Floor, Veronica Falls, Howler, Mikal Cronin & much more in This Week in Indie (ATP edition)"

OMD @ Terminal 5 in March (more by Dana (Distortion) Yavin)

As Tune-Yards starts her second of two NYC shows at LPR tonight (9/20), OMD will be beginning their first of two shows at Irving Plaza. And I don't know what is about right now and two-night stands, but Wedneday and Thursday have two Beirut shows (both shows with Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier) and two Opeth shows.Thursday and Friday bring two Wilco shows (tickets went back on sale today) and two Girls shows (who also play Other Music while they're here). Old school East Coast punks (sort of) Blondie (who cover Beirut on their new album) just played two shows at Highline Ballroom. Old school West Coast punks X begin a two night run at Irving Plaza soon, but not before the two Radiohead shows at Roseland Ballroom with Four Tet and friends go on sale, sell out and happen (though Radiohead does overlap with X's Maxwell's show). Megafaun also play two NYC shows next week, as do Mogwai with the Soft Moon. Jay-Z & Kanye West will spend 9/27 & 9/28 11/5 & 11/6 at the Izod Center in NJ. Portishead and Jeff Mangum help end September and begin October with two shows each as part of ATP in NJ. Portishead follow it up with two more shows at Hammerstein Ballroom. I think that's a good place to stop. What else?

X's John Doe is in NYC to to promote his new album "Keeper" which follows his release from earlier this year, a collaboration with Jill Sobule. John will make three live/tv appearances while he's here. Tonight (9/7), catch a free performance at 7pm at Soundfix Records in Brooklyn. Thursday (9/8) catch John at Rockwood Music Hall where he'll probably play a longer show. Thursday night watch him on Letterman!

If you miss him, John won't be gone long, but when he returns it will be the more punk rock version of himself. X just announced a show at Maxwell's that happens on their fall tour that also includes two NYC shows and a gig in Asbury Park.

Back when we last posted X tour dates, which were then updated to include Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, there was a "Thursday, September 29 @ TBA". Ends up that show, which is one day before the band plays its first of two shows at Irving Plaza, is taking place at Maxwell's in Hoboken. $40 tickets go on sale Thursday, 9/1 at noon. The NJ show, like all shows on the tour, will include a performance of Los Angeles in its entirety and a screening of The Unheard Music.

Fun Fun Fun Fest sort of revealed five of the artists playing the festival this year. The fest will take place from November 4-6 at Waterloo Park Auditorium Shores in Austin, TX. Watch this video to figure out who the five artists are, though You may want to use this guide for help. If you don't have the time to figure it out, we've listed the artists along with the embedded video below.

Also, all of Brian Posehn's (hint) tour dates are listed below, including a NJ show on September 30 at Starland Ballroom with Big Jay Oakerson and Bonnie McFarlane. Tickets are on sale now.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 'leaks' part of the 2011 lineup, comedian Brian Posehn schedules dates"

DOWNLOAD: X - Fourth of July (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Early Winters - Fourth of July (X cover) (MP3)

NOFX at Bonnaroo (more by Dana (Distortion) Yavin)

The Bouncing Souls ended their 4-night run at Highline Ballroom last night (7/9). They played all 8 of their albums over the course of the four nights in NYC. A full report and pictures are coming soon. If you missed it, the Souls will now do the same for Philly starting on July 13th. Tickets are still on sale for one of the nights. They also do it in London, Vienna, Denver, and LA. LA tickets go on sale... in September. Bouncing Souls have also added some new US dates in October before the Denver and LA runs too, including a few shows with NOFX.

The NOFX shows are part of a longer North American tour that NOFX headlines in October with Anti-Flag and Old Man Markley. That tour includes two nights at Irving Plaza, 10/7 & 10/8. Tickets for both shows are on sale now. NOFX also tour Europe in August.

Speaking of Los Angeles punk bands playing 2 nights at Irving Plaza, as previously mentioned, X are doing that too. They will head out on tour in September and October, playing "Los Angeles" in full at each show along the way. As previously mentioned that includes Riot Fest East in Philly, Riot Fest in Chicago and two nights at Irving Plaza in NYC. But it also includes September 25th in Asbury Park, NJ and a bunch of other dates which are listed below. Tickets are available for the two NYC shows and the NJ show.

X released "Los Angeles" in 1980. Seven years later the Dave Alvin-written song "Fourth of July" appeared on their album "See How We Are" (which was reissued in 2002). Grab that song, and a recently made cover of it (in honor of last week's holiday), above.

In somewhat related news, Kid Dynamite will, as mentioned, reunite at FYF Fest in LA with Descendents, The Dead Milkmen and many others this September. While we await another east coast reunion, Kid Dynamite frontman Jason Chevchuk's other band None More Black will play some shows to tide us over. They'll play on October 25 at Knitting Factory Brooklyn and November 2 at Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park, NJ. Dig It Up, TheCore and Polygon open both shows as part of a tour down to the Fest 10. Tickets for the Knitting Factory show are on sale now.

To bring things full circle, TheCore covered The Bouncing Souls "True Believers" with Chuck Ragan at their show together on February 26 in Las Vegas. Video of that and all tour dates and other videos below....

Continue reading "Bouncing Souls, NOFX, X, None More Black, other punk shows"

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 for both Riot Fest Chicago and Riot Fest East are now on sale, and more band announcements are stil to come(!).

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"

Dead Milkmen @ Fun Fun Fun Fest 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

The NYC Descendents / Suicide Machines show is one day before both bands descend upon the first-ever Riot Fest East at Festival Pier in Philly on 9/24! The killer lineup also includes Dead Milkmen, Naked Raygun, X (playing Los Angeles in full like they'll do two nights in NYC), Hot Water Music, Weston, Samiam, Plow United, The Menzingers (who play Santos on 6/24), Excitebike, Shot Baker, Larry and His Flask, The Holy Mess and more. Tickets for the Philly festival go on sale Friday (6/24) at 10 AM. A Flier and more info below.

Riot Fest East is also one day of the 2nd annual Philly F/M Festival: "A Four Day Event To Promote Music and Film In The City of Brotherly Love To Occur Thursday, Sept 22nd - Sunday, Sept 25th 2011."

The second annual festival will take place over four days, largely in the Fishtown / Northern Liberties neighborhoods of Philadelphia, which in recent years have become a cultural center for music and arts in the city. This year's festival will feature over 15 indoor and outdoor venues with capacities between 100-5,000. Participating venues include: The Festival Pier, Trocadero Theater, TLA, World Café Live and The Ukie Club.

Modeled after successful long-standing events such as SXSW and CMJ, Philly F/M looks to establish itself as the premiere multi-venue music and film festival for the U.S. East Coast entertainment and tourism market. Last year's festival took place in 30 venues with 300 artists and over 60 films from around the world. Philly F/M 2010 attracted 13,000 visitors across all events with little or no "headline" artists. This year the festival will host at least fifteen 'headline-level' artists of all music genres, more than 100 artists total. Attendance projections for the festival is more than 25,000 paid attendees, which will include a core group of at least 5,000 all-access badge holders.

The whole initial F/M lineup and Riot Fest too, below...

Continue reading "Philly gets a Riot Fest (which is part of the F/M Festival) -- lineup announcements"

Much like the Damned (who will perform Damned Damned Damned and The Black Album on their upcoming tour), legendary punk band X will perform all of Los Angeles at some upcoming shows. They'll also host a screening of the classic documentary The Unheard Music when they hit Irving Plaza in NYC on September 30th and October 1st. Tickets for both shows, also available as a 2-day pass, went on Live Nation / Mobile App / Music Geeks presale today (6/14). General sale begins Friday.

Speaking of Los Angeles, the LA band is currently on tour in California where they're playing with the entire original lineup. That includes Exene who announced she was suffering from MS in 2009. That may be partly be because....

Nearly two years later, she reports that she may have been misdiagnosed.

"My doctor doesn't think I have MS anymore. He thought I had a virus, like a killer virus, then he decided I don't have that either. All I do is get tested - blood tests all the time. I go to a different doctor and they tell you something different, go to another one and they'll tell you something different. I've had so many doctors tell me I have MS, then some say I don't ... I don't even care anymore."

Yet she believes her diagnosis was a godsend: "I learned so much about people that are sick, people that are generous, people that share, people that give you advice, people that care about you and love you. It changed my life completely," she says.

"It made me a better person, made me take care of myself, whether I'm sick or I'm not. I've learned that everyone is sick with something. Our immune systems are failing, especially women. I know so many women with fibromyalgia, lupus, MS, cancer -- breast cancer, primarily -- chronic fatigue syndrome, depression ... we're falling apart. We can't do the work of five people."

Cervenka takes vitamins every day, exercises, keeps busy and spends time with her companion Minnie, a four-year-old miniature pincher. She's known she's been sick for a long time, she admits, but given the runaround so many receive from the medical community, she simply tries to tend to herself and not think about it.

"I've taken care of myself my whole life or I wouldn't be alive now. Look at the people who were in the early punk scene or the L.A. scene -- so many have passed away. A lot of that was misfortune and accidents, and some of it was just youth, suicide and drugs. The people that are around now that I've grown up with, we take pretty good care of ourselves. I mean we'll go out and have a drink or smoke a cigarette, but we take our vitamins." [OC Register]

Well, that's great news!

John Doe also has some upcoming solo dates, many of which are with Jill Sobule who he's been recording with.

"A Day at the Pass finally captures an ongoing collaboration between Jill Sobule & John Doe. It was funded entirely by their fans & w/ an all-star band, recorded live at The Pass studio on one fine day in Los Angeles.

It's available now as a digital download while a CD version, featuring 2 extra tracks, will be sold exclusively as part of Record Store Day beginning April 16th.

Included in both releases, for the hell of it, is a new garagey rockin' version of the "original" I Kissed a Girl."

You can listen to the CD with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "X on tour & playing Los Angeles in NY (dates), Exene doesn't have MS!!, John Doe did release a CD with Jill Sobule"

Best Coast @ Knitting Factory in April (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Greetings from Toronto. NXNE, the Toronto music/film/interactive fest is happening this week. It kicked off its music programming last night, Wednesday, June 16th, and runs through Sunday with shows at 50+ venues (here's a map of the spots). The festival also coincides with the now-affliated Broken Social Scene-helmed Toronto Island concert that features Pavement, Band of Horses, Beach House and others on Saturday, June 19th.

There weren't many Wednesday night shows. The official kick off party was just Eagles of Death Metal (sadly, without their normal bass player) at The Phoenix. And there was a gig or two with Canada's Hollerado (who have at least six shows at the fest lined up). One of them was up in the CN Tower.Still Life Still played the Mod Club with Denmark's The Blue Van.

One of the main hubs will be the free-to-anyone outdoor stage at Yonge-Dundas Square with headliners Thursday night X and Mudhoney, Friday night Sloan and k-os, Saturday night Iggy and the Stooges preceded by The Raveonettes, Wavves, Surfer Blood and others, and Sunday's De La Soul, Kid Sister, Phenomenal Handclap Band and NOLA rapper Big Freedia.

continued below...

Continue reading "NXNE is underway in Toronto -- a quick guide to the music "

The NXNE music festival (650 bands, 7 days, 40 films, 50 venues) happens in Toronto from June 14th-20th. The 2010 lineup for that fest so far includes Iggy & the Stooges, X, Les Savy Fav, Sloan, The Raveonettes, De La Soul, Man or Astroman, Thee Oh Sees and many more. The full list is posted below. Tickets are on sale.

Continue reading "NXNE 2010 - initial lineup, dates & tickets"

The Blind Boys of Alabama will curate a three-night series at Lincoln Center on July 12, 14 & 16. The events start with an opening night concert featuring rock artists Yo La Tengo, Lambchop, Exene Cervenka of X and Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket [plus Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra Horns]. On July 14 the focus shifts to country music, with performances by Yonder Mountain String Band, Ralph Stanley, Alison Moorer and Randy Travis, plus Ray Benson and Jason Roberts of Asleep at the Wheel. The final evening, The Blind Boys' Family Revival, will feature songs from all of the group's Grammy Award-winning albums and includes collaborations with Aaron Neville, Joan Osborne, Hot 8 Brass Band, Dan Zanes, John Hammond, and Charlie Musselwhite, among others.

Tickets for all three are on sale now.

More details on the gospel group's Lincoln Center shows, their full upcoming schedule, a video of their performance on Letterman earlier this year with Lou Reed (they also visited Daytrotter in March) and more are below...

Continue reading "Blind Boys of Alabama touring, curated 3 shows @ Lincoln Center w/ many guests (Yo La Tengo, Jim James, more)"

by BBG

Rorschach at The Charleston (more by Ryan Muir)

Last year's jaw-dropping lineup at Chaos In Tejas was sick, and 2010 is proving to be no different. For four days across four different Austin venues, May 27th to the 30th at Emo's, Mohawk, Red 7 and Beerland, the festival will offer some of the most impressive names in the independent/underground scene including the indestructible Rorschach, the first ever US appearance from Australian punk greats X, a one-time reunion of Japanese crust-core band Bastard, the quirky cutesy indie pop-punk of Grass Widow, Gehenna (who just played A389), Subhumans, Bastard Noise (who have a new record), Bone Awl, BV faves Jeff The Brotherhood, The Spits, Psychedelic Horseshit, Ty Segall, The Ponys, Iron Lung (who recently played Cake Shop), Poison Idea, Inquisition, and many many many others.

In addition to the obvious mayhem that will ensue over the four days, Chaos in Tejas will also showcase art from some of the scene's most interesting names including Tim Kerr (of Big Boys), Winston Smith (responsible for tons of collage work, including the Dead Kennedys best album art), and Bryan Ray Turcotte (best known for his book Fucked Up and Photocopied).

The full (and intimidating) list is below...

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas 2010 (May 27-30) - intial lineup (Rorschach, Bastard reunion, Spits, Bone Awl, Ty Segall, much more)"

Exene Cervenka @ Bowery Ballroom - May 29, 2009 (more by Jacob Blickenstaff)

STATEMENT FROM EXENE CERVENKA OF X:

After some months of not feeling 100% healthy, I recently had some medical tests run and the prognosis is that I am suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. Apparently, it has been affecting me for quite some time.

Although this is obviously unfortunate news, I am choosing to see the positive in it. I, and X as a band, have supported the Sweet Relief charity since the mid-1990's; the irony of this is not lost on any of us. Sweet Relief was started as an aide to uninsured artists by musician Victoria Williams when she herself was diagnosed with MS in 1992.

While this diagnosis will most certainly mean some changes for me, personally, it will not affect my commitments to the current X U.S. tour, nor will it affect my solo album that is slated for release this fall on Bloodshot Records.

My focus will certainly be on maintaining my health--many people remain strong and continue to live their lives as productively as they had before an MS diagnosis and I plan to be one of those people.

To find out more about Sweet Relief please visit: www.sweetrelief.org
To find out more about X please visit: www.xtheband.com

This sad news comes just after the completion of X's 3-night, fan-driven-setlist, run at Bowery Ballroom in NYC (May 29-31). The above picture comes from Night One. A picture of the the setlist from Night Two, below..

Continue reading "X's Exene Cervenka announces she has multiple sclerosis"

photos & review by Jacob Blickenstaff w/ contributions by T-Bone Caruthers

LA Punk legends X, with the full original lineup, played their first of 3 nights at the Bowery Ballroom doing a 'greatest jukebox hits' TRL presentation of fan-voted favorites. X was and still is a great band who did something with punk that was well beyond the genre's narrow parameters. They combined rock-a-billy mutant guitar riffs, vocal hamonies, deceptively simple structures and poetic lyrics into a fully integrated and unique sound.

I knew this show would be interesting as 18 year-old punk-nouveaus and 50-something survivors filed into the venue side by side. A trio of youngins did something to draw the ire of the head bouncer who then served up some military justice demanding "Drop and give me 40" before allowing entry. "This sucks!" one of 'em griped before submitting to Drill Sergeant, who then made them jog through the line into the club- "Hustle! Hustle!"

Steve Soto (of Agent Orange and The Adolescents) and the Twisted Hearts opened the show with an energetic but generic set of country punk.

A gaggle of teens gathered behind this tired and wary photographer, one of them was heard to remark, "OMG there is a girl here with braces! ... maybe they are adult braces." Some highly devout fans were spotted with home-made X t-shirts, handfulls of ticket stubs from other shows and obsessively cribbed set lists. T-Bone watched from the back with photographer Terry Richardson.

X played songs that ranked high on their listener poll.

They opened with "Some Other Time" following up with "Los Angeles" (#2 Ranked). John Doe joked that the crowd had voted for nothing but slow ballads before kicking in to "Hot House". Other X gems included "The Have Nots" (a drinking song), "Nausea" (framed as 'the morning after song'), "We're Desperate", "Soul Kitchen" and "Breathless" (the Jerry Lee Lewis classic from the soundtrack of the 1983 Richard Gere film of the same name).

Billy Zoom occupied his own little world, with trademark frozen smile, winking eyes and ken-doll rockabilly looks. Exene just looked pissed and disapproving of the whole spectacle (as usual) pressing her hand to her ear to hear the harmonies. John Doe and DJ Bonebreak pushed the show on with sweaty, pounding energy.

A fervent mosh pit of both the young and not-young-anymore slammed into a steadfastly stationary wall of an equally mixed demographic. I was caught in the middle, being knocked into a very pissed 50- something who wasn't familiar with Newton's laws of physics and blamed it all on me. Later her equally grumpy lady-friend elbowed one of the dancers in the face. A punk kid with about 30 piercing in his ears and an X tattoo on his hand meticulously scribbled down the set list and took pics with a point-and-shoot.

X did three encores that included "White Girl", "The Worlds A Mess", "Blue Spark", and "Your Phone's Off The Hook". John and Exene did "I must not think bad thoughts" as a duo with acoustic guitar. It was a great show.

An attempt at the complete setlist can be found in the comments of a previous post. X can be found again at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday and Sunday night. More pictures from Friday are below...

Continue reading "X @ Bowery Ballroom (night 1 of 3) in NYC - pics & review "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Drums - I Felt Stupid (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Drums - Instruct Me (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pelle Carlberg - Clever Girls Like Clever Boys More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pelle Carlberg - I Love You, You Imbecile (feat. Ida Maria) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pelle Carlberg - 1983 (Pelle & Sebastian) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pelle Carlberg - 51,3 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: I Was a King - Norman Bleik (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Rural Alberta Advantage - Don't Haunt This Place (MP3)

Those Dancing Days @ Spaceland in LA - 05/23/09 (Clap Your Mirror Say Yeah)

Those Dancing Days were in town this week and the Scandinavian invasion continues through the weekend. Stockholm resident Pelle Carlberg, fresh from playing San Francisco's Popfest, is here on Saturday (5/30) at Union Hall (tix). While his new album, The Lilac Time, isn't quite as strong as 2007's In a Nutshell, he's a great performer and wouldn't miss him for the world. If you like Belle & Sebastian type pop (even he acknowledges he sounds a bit like them, see the MP3 at the top of this post), funny stories, and suitcases used as drums, you shouldn't miss it either.

The other reason not to miss it is the second-ever show by NYC Popfest breakout stars The Drums. For a band who claimed to have had their first practice a mere two hours before the show, The Drums seemed to have it pretty together at Popfest, with a full band and backup singers. Their MySpace lists gloomy Manchester post punk as reference points - the main influence to me seems to be the beach. As in where the surf meets the sand. The music's a little twangy, with the most whistling heard since "Young Folks," and song titles include "The Saddest Summer," "Down by the Water" and "Let's Go Surfing." Perfect for Watusi-ing. They're a lot of fun. And they've got a June residency at the Annex and will be playing the Northside Festival if you can't make the show on Saturday.

The Rural Alberta Advantage

Also Saturday night, over at Mercury Lounge, are Norway's I Was a King playing their second of three NYC shows. Their first is earlier that day at Generation Records. I have friends who saw them in Chicago and said they were great so I'm really looking forward to catching them. As I wrote previously, if you like Teenage Fanclub-y, harmony-and-feedback style pop, definitely go see them. They also play Union Hall on Sunday (5/31).

The Saturday show (which is an early one) is with Canadian trio The Rural Alberta Advantage, who also headline tonight (5/29) at The Bell House. The band won over crowds at SXSW, including at least one Pitchfork writer:

The percussive, stripped down indie-folk trio plays acoustic everything, but there's nothing quiet about them. Frontman Nils Edenloff sings in a strained yelp and plays his guitar like he's mad at it. This is the kind of band you imagine would do just fine unplugged. And at the end of their set, they did just that, walking to the center of the room and making their voices do all the work...

Edenloff held everything together, but multi-instrumentalist Amy Cole did more to make this band fun to watch. She's a totally winning stage presence, grinning huge and clapping along when she didn't have anything to play. And her xylophone dings and backing vocals added warmth and stillness to the driving songs. Every one of those songs, according to Edenloff, concerns the Canadian province that gave the band their name. And every one of those songs just goes for it, in a racing-toward-the-sun kind of way. This band could be huge.

The band's excellent self-released 2008 debut, Hometowns, just got picked up by Saddle Creek who'll release it in July.

And if you need more earnest Canadians, Rock Plaza Central are in town, at Cake Shop on Monday (6/1) and the Bell House on Tuesday (6/2).

---

A few short bits:

Two great alt-rock icons are in town: X are at Bowery Ballroom all weekend (playing what you asked them to play). Tonight (5/29) and Saturday are sold out, as is but there are still tickets for Sunday's show. And former Husker Du drummer/singer Grant Hart will play Cake Shop tonight (5/29) and the Bell House on Monday (6/1).

Au Revoir Simone kick of their summer tour tonight at Music Hall of Williamsburg. If you haven't heard their new, critically-acclaimed album Still Night, Still Light (which I still have to look up to make sure I'm getting the title correct), it really is very good. Also on the bill and on the tour is The Antlers.

Did you get tickets for Art Brut Week? At this point, everything except the Monday (6/1) show is sold out and it's likely to go soon. If you haven't heard Art Brut Vs. Satan, maybe it's time rediscover the brilliance of Eddie Argos.

Select tour dates and videos after the jump...

Continue reading "Pelle Carlberg, X, The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Drums, Au Revoir Simone & more in This Week In Indie"