We've been watching Jeff Mangum play Neutral Milk Hotel songs live for a bit now, which has been crazy and great enough, but now on the same date that Boards of Canada announce a new album, Neutral Milk Hotel have announced an actual reunion with an initial set of tour dates! Those dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Neutral Milk Hotel reunite, announce tour dates!"

Billy Gibbons's psychedelic project from before his ZZ Top days, The Moving Sidewalks, have reunited and will play two shows in celebration of a new discography due on Rockbeat Records. For the unaware, their history is as follows:

Gibbons founded the Texas psychedelic group in the mid-1960s and quickly drew a large following, especially in the Houston "teen scene". They recorded several singles and one full-length album, Flash. Their single "99th Floor" was a hit and topped the charts at No. 1 in Houston for six weeks. The success of this record led the Sidewalks to sign with Wand Records which then released "Need Me" which also became a Top 10 Hit. The group was asked to open for many rock tours, including Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.

After Tom Moore and Don Summers were drafted into the United States Army, Gibbons and Mitchell added Lanier Greig and formed the original ZZ Top.-[Wiki]

A full stream of the band's lone LP, Flash, is below.

Continue reading "Pre ZZ-Top project Moving Sidewalks reunites, playing Austin Psych Fest and NYC"

I have to admit I did wonder a bit if enough people actually knew who Blur and The Stone Roses were when I saw them placed very prominently on top of this year's Coachella lineup. Then we just came across this Tumblr which reinforces the idea that maybe the Stone Roses, like Arcade Fire (at the Grammys) and Bonny Bear before them, are not exactly part of the mainstream consciousness.

P.S., as the above-pictured tweet reinforces, The Rolling Stones did not end up being a part of this year's Coachella lineup, despite that weird date that showed up momentarily on their app.

Postal Service

We mentioned that Blur and The Stone Roses are reuniting for Coachella 2013, and as usual there some other interesting reunions at the festival too.

Violent Femmes, who called it quits in 2009, appeared on the lineup announcement. Unlike Blur or The Stone Roses, this is the first we're hearing about them getting back together, so hopefully we'll get some more shows from them. They last played NYC in 2007. Some classic Violent Femmes videos are below.

As promised, The Postal Service are in fact confirmed for Coachella. They recently confirmed their 2013 reunion, and are also part of the Primavera Sound lineup.

It wasn't even two full years ago that Nick Cave said he was done with his Grinderman project for a while, and we know that The Bad Seeds are back this year (and also playing Coachella), but he's got Grinderman on the lineup too. Grinderman plays day 1 and the Bad Seeds play day 3.

One of Ian Svenonius' many bands, The Make-Up, reunited last year and played ATP NYC, and they're also included on this year's Coachella lineup. Meanwhile, you can catch Ian in NYC on his book tour tonight (1/25) at LPR and Monday (1/28) at WORD Bookstore.

New Order (without Peter Hook) made their live return last year, and after releasing their "lost" album, Lost Sirens, this year, they were announced for Coachella as well. The way things have been going, we probably can't count on Hook being there, but like Ian Svenonius, you can catch him in NYC on Monday (1/28) for his book talk.

Fellow new wave icons Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (aka OMD) returned in 2010 and they're promising a new album out on April 9, just before Coachella begins. They've also talked about a North American tour, which presumably will be announced soon with dates surrounding the festival.

Descendents have been back for a little while at this point, but a reunion show from them is always exciting, and this year's Coachella should be no exception.

Dead Can Dance have been back for a bit too, having released a new album, Anastasis, and gone on a tour last year, and they'll be at Coachella this year as well. They're also playing Primavera Sound and just launched a video competition.

Two-Tone legends The Selector (they shared a side of the label's first-ever 7") will play as well. The band have reformed a few times over the years, with different members offer rival versions of the band. Singer Pauline Black and Gaps Hendrickson feature in the line-up coming to Coachella.

And maybe most surprsingly on this list of Coachella reunions is The Three O'Clock who were intregral in the '80s "paisley underground" scene in Los Angeles. Fronted by bassist Michael Querico, the band made 1985's cult classic Arrive Without Traveling, ended up signed to Prince's Paisley Park records where they made one album before breaking up in 1988.

LA hip hop collective Jurassic 5 are also reuniting for Coachella. More on that and other hip hop at this year's festival coming later.

Violent Femmes videos below...

Continue reading "Violent Femmes, Postal Service, Grinderman, New Order, Three O'Clock, and other reunited bands at Coachella 2013"

by Bill Pearis

Ahhhooohooh! The Breeders' classic second album, Last Splash, will be 20 years old in 2013 and they are celebrating with a deluxe reissue and play-the-album tour. Not only will they play Last Splash front-to-back, but it'll be the line-up of The Breeders that made the album, too, which means original bassist Josephine Wiggs and drummer Jim MacPherson in addition to the Deal sisters who have kept the Breeders' flame alive with different rhythm sections.

No dates have been announced yet other than the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Camber Sands, U.K. which happens June 21 - 23, 2013 which is curated by Deerhunter. They are promising dates in Europe and the U.S. so stay tuned.

As for the reissue, it's being dubbed LSXX and will be out in April. No tracklisting yet. A couple Last Splash videos are below.

Continue reading "The Breeders celebrating 20 years of 'Last Splash' with deluxe reissue and tour with that LP's line-up"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Rocket From The Crypt have posted the above image on their official Facebook page, leading to specualtion that the John Reis project, which called it quits in 2005, will apparently rise from the grave for more shows or recorded output next year. Reis recently reunited with Hot Snakes to play shows, so a RFTC reunion can't come as much of a surprise, but it is still very, very welcome.

Check out some RFTC video below, including one of Speedo with Petey X playing the RFTC favorites "Young Livers" with The Aquabats at ComicCon in San Diego this year.

Continue reading "Rocket from the Crypt reunites?"

Royal Trux's 'Twin Infinitives'

Do you ever hear your influence on new bands? Do you often hear something and say, "Oh!"

Yeah, I have. And people from other bands have told me that. But I think it's more signifiers than people being able to get the sounds that we got. Because nobody has my voice, nobody can play the guitar like Neil, nobody can write songs like we can. But I think a lot of signifiers have been utilized in the spirit of Royal Trux, for sure. A lot of bands have been really vocal about us influencing them, and then there's been a lot of people who don't talk about it because...they don't like giving props, or whatever. (laughs)

Do you listen to a lot of new rock bands?

I've definitely heard some cool stuff. I like the new Blues Control album that came out. I think we played with them once. I don't remember what they were all about live, but I liked the record. We played a show with friends of ours, Wild Yaks. I like their show, but I never heard any of their recorded stuff.

As far as big, big records mostly rap. I'm just kind of stoked for the new Bones Thugs n' Harmony. - [L Mag]

Meanwhile, if this can be believed, Royal Trux will perform their 1992 album, Twin Infinitives, in full at Saint Vitus on December 8 with openers Pigeons. It's their only live date currently and, of course, the real question is, is this an actual Royal Trux reunion with Herrema and Neil Hagerty or just one of them. Hagerty has been making music under The Howling Hex moniker; Herrema carried on as RTX but now fronts Black Bananas. One thing we do know for sure: tickets are on sale.

UPDATE (10/13): Mystery solved. Saint Vitus' ticket page now reads "Neil Michael Hagerty performing Royal Trux - 'Twin Infinitives.'" This post's title has been changed to reflect this too.

In other news, Black Bananas have a new video for "It's Cool," the lead track from their album, Rad Times Xpress IV, which came out early this year. Watch it below.

Continue reading "Neil Michael Hagerty performing Royal Trux's 'Twin Infinitives' at Saint Vitus; Black Bananas have a new video"

In an interview with Herald Sun (via FACT), Morrissey claims that Coachella offered to go "100% vegetarian" if he would reunite with Johnny Marr and headline the festival as The Smiths:

At Coachella a few years you complained about the waft of burning flesh from a nearby barbeque. Has that been a problem since at outdoor shows?

Not at all, and interestingly the agents for Coachella offered a 100-per-cent vegetarian event for the following year if I would agree to headline with Johnny Marr as the Smiths. Fascinatingly they made it clear that they would 'not require' the Smiths' bass player or drummer ... which I thought certainly said something.

Mike Love of The Beach Boys at Jones Beach, June 2012 (more by Greg Cristman)

We knew this was coming, but now, as the Beach Boy's reunion tour comes to its scheduled end in the UK, it's official:

The reunion of founding members of the Beach Boys will not continue beyond this week, according to the band's frontman Mike Love.

Brian Wilson and Al Jardine - both founding members of the legendary Californian pop group - have been told their involvement in the band's touring commitments will cease after this week.

David Marks, who originally joined the band as a replacement for Jardine in 1962, is also to be relieved of his touring duties.

Singer Mike Love, who owns the rights the band's name following a series of legal battles, released a statement which said:

"The post-50th anniversary configuration will not include Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks. The 50th Reunion Tour was designed to be a set tour with a beginning and an end to mark a special 50-year milestone for the band." -[Telegraph]

They recently toured the US and played Jones Beach, PNC Bank Arts Center, Bonnaroo, and Beacon Theater twice. They also released a new LP  together.

The Rascals' original lineup--Felix Cavaliere, Gene Cornish, Eddie Brigati and Dino Danelli--will reunite for their first public performances in over 40 years with "Once Upon A Dream," a combination concert/theatrical event produced and directed by Steven Van Zandt and lighting/projection wizard Marc Brickman. It's a Rock N Soul dance party meets The Jersey Boys.

In addition to the concert experience, the history of The Rascals, and the history of the '60's through their music, will be dramaticized by a combination of narration, filmed scenes of actors acting out key moments in the band's history, news footage, and archival footage of the band.

There will elements of the staging and light design never seen before just as Marc Brickman has done in his previous groundbreaking work with Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Blue Man Group, the Olympics, and Roger Waters' recent 'The Wall' tour. [Kickstarter].

Slowdive back in the '90s

Shoegaze nerds, time to get stoked.

"There's a chance that we'll get back together... It's definitely possible at some point." Halstead added that the band [Slowdive] never swore off a reformation. "No one has ever really said, 'I never want to do it.' We've never really talked about it much."

Though Slowdive haven't performed or recorded together in its complete lineup since penning their final album, 1995's Pygmalion, Halstead maintains that they've all kept in touch and remain on good terms. "We haven't been in the same room together for a really long time," he said, "We're all in contact through email. We sort of have these email conversations and we're all friendly, but we haven't actually been together as the whole Slowdive unit in years, unfortunately."

What will it take for the UK shoegaze pioneers, then, to finally reunite? "Just shitloads of money, you know" Halstead said, laughing. "It's crazy how in vogue it is for bands to get back together these days. It's almost like you're not allowed not to get back together. So, I'm sure that we will get back together -- because we won't be allowed not to." -[MTV Hive]

In the meantime, you can pester Neil Halstead in person at a set of US tour dates scheduled in Sept/Oct. Look for Halstead to hit NYC twice in that timeframe: Oct 4 at The Slipper Room (167 Orchard in Manhattan) and Oct 5 at Union Hall (tickets). The shows are in support of Halstead's latest solo venture, Palindrome Hunches, due on 9/11.

All tour dates and song stream from Neil's new album are below.

Continue reading "Slowdive reunion "definitely possible"; Neil Halstead on tour, playing two NYC shows (dates)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

In the wake of tickets disappearing at the speed of light from their Bowery Ballroom show, Quicksand will reportedly add another NYC date before they split to the West Coast to play FYF. Details on said show are on the way, but I wouldn't be shocked at a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg or another date with Bowery.

Kind of Like Spitting is back, full band, with a whole new line up... and the same old Ben Barnett you've all come to love. We will be using this blog to release any news, info, events, photos, videos, and all inanities that shall ensue.

The Portland, OR band originally existed from the mid-'90s to mid-'00s and have releases on Barsuk, Hush Records, and other labels. The tour that they recently finished up was their first since 2005. The band is the brainchild of singer/songwriter Ben Barnett and for the reunion he's joined by Kyle Paton (Lemuria), Adam Ciresi, and Sonia Weber.

Kind of Like Spitting have four more upcoming shows scheduled at the moment, which happen this month. One of those brings the band back to Brooklyn for a show at Knitting Factory on July 25. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

A list of all dates, those videos, and the flier from the first leg of their reunion tour is below...

Continue reading "Kind of Like Spitting reunited, played Brooklyn's Suburbia (videos), playing more shows, including Knitting Factory (dates)"

One of the greatest hip hop crews of all time will reunite to play Fun Fun Fun Fest (Nov 2 - 4) in Austin, Texas! Darryl McDaniels (more commonly known as DMC) and Joseph Simmons (Run or Reverend Run) will reunite Run DMC to play the Austin Festival. The show will be their first in ten+ years, since the tragic passing of the great Jam Master Jay.

The festival goes down on November 2nd-4th in Austin, TX and features previously announced names like Atlas Sound, Baroness, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Starfucker, Rakim, Lagwagon, The Head and The Heart, Danny Brown, David Cross, Bob Mould, Tomahawk, Against Me!, and many that will be announced with the full lineup on Thursday (7/12), the same day weekend 3-day passes go on sale. A few PIP Passes are still available now. A portion of the proceeds from the ticket goes towards Jam Master Jay's JMJ Foundation for Music "which is dedicated to providing access to the arts, regardless of socio-economic status, for children and young adults."

Some classic Run DMC tracks are below.

Continue reading "Run DMC reuniting for Fun Fun Fest in Austin"

by BBG

"The VSS began in Boulder, Colorado in January 1995 and ended unceremoniously in July 1997. In that time the band relocated to San Francisco, toured the U.S. twice and Europe/UK once, released a series of 7-inch EPs and issued Nervous Circuits, its only full length album. It was recorded and mixed over the course of one week of sessions (usually lasting upwards of 16-hours per day) in October 1996 at the same Denver studio in which The VSS recorded its debut EP... To this day, The VSS is commonly known for two things, 1) its inventive use of horror-film keyboards, angular guitar, unusual rhythmic shifts and vocal effects in creating a dark, jarring sound that merged punk, goth, psychedelia and experimental rock, and 2) its "crazy" light show, an unprecedented notion for the underground basement show set."

Nervous Circuits was originally released on Honey Bear Records in 1997 and subsequently reissued via Hydra Head in 2008. Members of The VSS went on to join bands like Pleasure Forever, Red Sparowes, and Rabbits.

Check out some video of The VSS in action, along with a stream of some tracks from Nervous Circuits below.

Continue reading "The VSS reunite, planning dates and reissues"

by BBG

According to a source close to the festival, the previously rumored Chain of Strength will indeed headline two of the four nights of the Revelation Records East Coast four-day celebration. The band will appear at both the October 12th and 13th shows, though still no word on additional bands slated for the gala. We do know that Quicksand isn't one of them though (at the moment anyway). Ticketing info is still forthcoming.

Chain of Strength split 21 years ago, leaving a lasting impression with their True Till Death 7" and The One Thing That Still Holds True full length, both of which hit via Revelation Records. The LP's catalog number was REV-010, could that (and a straight edge reference) be the significance of the "X" in the flyer?

Check out some video of Chain of Strength in the 90s below, alongside a video of Mouthpiece covering the band's "True Til Death" in Pomona for Revelation Records West Coast Anniversary show....

Continue reading "Chain of Strength to reunite for two shows as part of Revelation Records Anniversary on East Coast"

by BBG

Walter of Quicksand at Union Pool (more by Redboy)

According to trusted sources, NYC post-hardcore greats Quicksand will return to NYC to play a "free or cheap" show at the end of this summer and will NOT play the discussed Revelation Anniversary shows in NYC as previously speculated and rumored (though those shows are happening with other bands). The yet-to-be-announced NYC date will take place in the days leading up to their already confirmed appearance at FYF in Los Angeles. The band feels the need to make their return in their hometown before making the trek to LA, to ensure that they can "give back" to the city they call home.

It's probably worth noting that FYF, who are hosting Quicksand in LA, are also the presenters of the House of Vans shows in NYC, and that House of Vans still has four TBA lineups to announce (nothing is confirmed at the moment though). (The first House of Vans 2012 show happens this week with the Rapture).

Quicksand, which contains all original members (Walter Schreifels, Tom Capone, Alan Cage and Sergio Vega) has changed their band status from inactive to active after they made their return at Revelation Records' 25th anniversary spectacular on the West Coast. So far no additional plans are known, but reportedly the show went well enough that the band is considering additional dates through the end of 2012, schedule permitting.

More on this story as it develops, but I've already blocked off the month of August as "busy."

Reminder, Sergio of Quicksand is currently serving as bassist for Deftones, who'll tour this summer and play the NYC area twice.

Continue reading "Quicksand probably not playing Revelation Records party, scheduling a show somewhere else in NYC instead"

by BBG

Quicksand reunited at Revelation 25 (via)

It seemed somewhat inevitable, but Quicksand (Walter Schreifels, Tom Capone, Alan Cage, Sergio Vega), split since 1999, reunited last night, Sunday, June 10th, as part of the Revelation 25th Anniversary Celebration, a weekend of shows in Pomona, California at the Glass House from June 7-10. The stellar festival lineup featured names that graced and help shape the label's storied history, names like Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today, Into Another, Supertouch, Bold, Sick of It All, No For An Answer, Sense Field, Statue, Ignite, In My Eyes, Kiss it Goodbye, Gameface and Shai Hulud. Quicksand were not on the bill, though they did advertise "special guest".

Check out video below of the reunited Quicksand performing "Fazer" "Dine Alone" Omission" and their set closer "How Soon is Now?", The Smiths classic that graced the B-Side of the "Dine Alone" single. (Does anyone have the full setlist?) While you're down there, don't miss video of Underdog, Into Another, Gorilla Biscuits and more.

What does this mean? Is this their only appearance? I'm betting that someone has Terminal 5 on hold for a week (though someone wrote on Wikipedia that " It will be a one-time only reunion"). Videos below...

Continue reading "Quicksand reunited last night at Revelation Records' 25th anniversary! (videos)"

I feel sad to see the Sabbath reunion becoming a bit of a soap opera on the internet. It has been a very tough year for us as a band, having announced our reunion plans, only for Tony to be diagnosed with lymphoma, leaving us no choice but to postpone the proposed Sabbath tour, and then for Bill to go public on his site about an un-signable contract. None of us knew how Tony was going to respond to his intensive chemo therapy, and radiotherapy. Ozzy and myself flew to England to be with Tony, and on his "good" days, we'd meet at his home studio and put ideas together for the upcoming album, all sitting down together, no drummer involved, just 3 of us quietly putting together ideas. We thought that when we had enough songs together for a full band rehearsal, we'd move back to L.A and put the whole thing together with Bill. Unfortunately, to our surprise, Bill issued a statement on his site saying he'd been offered an un-signable contract. He hadn't told any one of us he was having contractual problems, and frankly those things are worked out between our representatives, and never between the four of us let alone in public. We had the idea of keeping just one show in this year, hoping that Tony would be well enough for that show, and that things with Bill would be sorted. As you may expect, a one off show at Donnington Festival (Download) costs an absolute fortune to stage, involving over 50 people, transport, air fares, hotels, meals, agents, promotors, accountants, lawyers etc, so none of us, expected to make much money from it- it was a one off Sabbath show for the fans, before we go into recording the new album. Apparently, this wasn't acceptable to Bill's representatives, they wanted an amount that was so unrealistic that it seemed to have been a joke. So we resigned ourselves to doing Download without Bill, hoping he'd change his mind and at least make a guest appearance. We started rehearsals a few weeks ago with Tommy Cluefetos, the drummer who will be on the Ozzy and Friends Tour. Brilliant drummer and good bloke. It was decided we'd better do a warm up show, to break the ice since we haven't played together live. The O2 Academy was available in Birmingham, where we were rehearsing, so we decided on that, and to make a donation to Help For Heroes Charity, since we'd be ironing out any glitches we may have. Then Bill put out a further statement saying he'd been ready to play the Birmingham show , but he was expected to have to do it "for free"- well, I think that's basically how you raise money from gigs for charity - you play them "for free".

All I am saying [again] is that there are two sides to everything. I do hope to play with Bill again some day. For whatever reason; it wasn't meant to be this time. Bill's made his decision, and I have to respect that. Hopefully this painful year will be worth the wait for the new Sabbath album and end in joy and happiness for all.
Stay frosty,
Geezer

It's official.

Dear Sabbath Fans and Fellow Musicians,

I sincerely regret to inform you that after a final effort to participate in the upcoming Sabbath shows a failure to agree has continued. At this time I have to inform you that I won't be playing with Black Sabbath at the Birmingham gig dated May 19th, 2012, nor will I be playing at Download on June 10th, 2012. Further, I will not be playing at Lollapalooza on August 3, 2012.

Continue reading "Bill Ward is officially out as drummer for at least part of the Black Sabbath tour"

Cedric takes a leap @ Coachella 2012 (via BrooklynVegan Instagram)

If you're not in California, hopefully you caught At the Drive-In's 5th reunion show streaming live from Coachella Sunday night (4/15). Previous shows happened in El Paso, Marfa, Dallas and Austin. More info at those links. The Coachella setlist, and a list of their upcoming (announced) dates, below...

Continue reading "At the Drive-In played (4 TX shows &) Coachella (setlist)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

M83 / The Black Keys / Refused

"Coachella's new dueling weekends have unwittingly started a bitter turf war between those at the festival now and those who plan to come next week.

In years past, if you were the socially adept, party-minded type, you could pretty much bank on the fact that all the cool kids in your social satellite system would be somewhere on the Empire Polo Field, in line for Spicy Pie pizza, or wearing next-to-nothing at the Ace pool party.

This year, however, a text bearing the age-old Coachella rallying cry, "Dude! VIP lounge, now. Shots!" has a 50% chance of being met with the reply, "Dude. I'm coming next weekend. Too bad for you cuz it's so cold there right now."" [LA Times]

Our first set of Coachella Friday pics is HERE. The rest, along with the Black Keys setlist, below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2012 Day 1 pics (part 2) -- Pulp, Mazzy Star, Refused, Black Keys, M83 & Amon Tobin)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo; words by Bill Pearis

"I feel like we're some weird meat stuck between two pieces of amazing bread." Small Factory drummer Phoebe Summerquash was referring to her band's placement on the bill between Versus and reformed indiepop legends Black Tambourine at Night One of CF*2012: for the love of pop! The three night event at The Bell House celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the '90s-era zine and co-founder Gail O'Hara has gotten a lot of bands to reform/come out of hiding just for the occasion. "Someone said I am like the mafia," she joked. "No one can say no to me!"

Small Factory haven't played in 17 years but, despite Pheobe's protests, the trio sounded like no time had passed whatsoever and were the clear highlight of night one for this reviewer, a justification of the entire three-day shindig. Songs like "Hopefully," "What to Want" and "Suggestions" haven't aged a bit and the band was together and rockin'. (They also played Cake Shop on Friday.) Small Factory are also in some ways the quintessential chickfactor band. The have a song called "Versus Tape" and their cover of Lois Maffeo's "Valentine" had the entire audience singing. If there was a snapshot of the whole night, that was it.

Lois Maffeo, whose 1993 album Strumpet is a Clinton-era indie rock classic, did her own set earlier in the night, playing a few songs solo before bringing out "The Lois Plus": original drummer Molly Neuman and Heavenly's Peter Momtchiloff on electric guitar. She was a real charmer and the Strumpet-era songs really hold up. Lois is also a very funny person. "I'm so glad I made music in the '90s," she said. "'Magazine' is easy to rhyme. I have trouble working 'Tumblr' into my lyrics."

Versus, who are still a highly functioning band with a recent album on Merge, gave, unsurprisingly the tightest set of the evening but I'll admit to not paying that close attention, as I've seen them probably eight times in the last four years. Richard Balyut looked very Easter Sunday dapper in suit and bowtie.

-
Black Tambourine @ the Bell House

Headliners Black Tambourine were fun but felt more like you were watching some friends' pick-up band at a party. Which was essentially what happened. The instrument switching between Archie Moore, Brian Nelson and Mike Schulman every few songs felt arbitrary, like the all wanted their turn on drums, bass and guitar.

Which isn't to say it was bad at all. It was fun, and clearly they were having a blast. Schulman, in particular, tore into what ever instrument he was playing. And when Moore was on drums -- usually the more gothy, tribal songs (okay maybe it wasn't totally arbitrary) -- they sounded pretty great. Singer Pam Berry seemed nervous, but her voice was clear and as pretty as ever. And, as chickfactor founder Gail O'Hara said in her introduction, you could actually hear the vocals this time around. I never saw them back in the day, so I'll take her word on that.

In addition to BT classics like "Throw Aggi Off the Bridge," "For Ex-Lovers Only" and "We Can't Be Friends," the band did a number of covers including Love's "Can't Explain," The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," and "Dream Baby Dream" by Suicide. Rose Melberg came out to sing Strawberry Switchblade's "Since Yesterday" which had the place dancing. It was a genuine party atmosphere.

The night, which was hosted wittily by Gaylord Fields, started with two unannounced guests. The first was James McNew's Dump who played a low-key set that included a great cover of Prince's "Pop Life." And then Mark Robinson came out to excited cheers to do solo electric versions of Unrest's "Yes She is My Skinhead Girl" and "Isabel".

The chickfactor anniversary party continued on Wednesday with headliners The Aislers Set, Pipas, personal faves The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group and Bridget St. John and more, and then ended Thursday night... but more about those nights later.

Lots more photos and some videos of the first night's fun are after the jump....

Continue reading "Chickfactor 20 @ the Bell House (night 1 pics/video/review) -- Small Factory, Black Tambourine, Dump, Versus & more"

Hole back together again @ Public Assembly last night (photo via silas howard)

To quote Hole superfan Greg Frederick:

Hole reunites after 15 yrs. at the after party for the release of rockumentary Hit So Hard. based on drummer Patty Schemel who played with past band members Melissa Auf der Maur, Eric Erlandson and Courtney Love as they hit the stage at Public Assembly in Williamsburg, BK. April 14, 2012, 15 Years after last playing music together.

Courtney jumps on stage to play Miss World after waiting for Eric to tune her guitar and Patty to find her a strap.

Spoiler alert:
Courtney jumps back on stage for Over The Edge

Continue reading "Courtney Love reunited with the classic Hole lineup @ Public Assembly (video)"