It was Sir Elton John‘s first time playing in Chicago’s Soldier Field, but it would be his last time playing in Chicago or Illinois after scores of performances in the city and state. He’s on the “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour, which he has stated is his final one. As he told the packed stadium, he’s now seventy-six years old and wants to spend the rest of his time with his husband and sons.
So, he and his top-notch band, some of whom, like drummer Nigel Olsson, have been with him since his first record, played their hearts out and had a great time. The audience did, too, dancing and singing in the heavy humidity to “Tiny Dancer” and “Rocket Man.”
“Rocket Man”
He and the band (which, by the way, included Olsson behind a drum kit and two other percussionists) went nuts on “Levon,” which boomed through the entire stadium. “Candle in the Wind” was also a big hit with the crowd.
“Candle in the Wind”
They tore through “The Bitch Is Back,” “I’m Still Standing,” “Crocodile Rock,” and ended the main set with “Saturday Night’s All Right for Fighting” – any of which could’ve been a finale.
The encore started with his newest number one single, “Cold Heart,” and he followed it with his first number one hit – “Your Song,” which I must admit brought me to some brief tears. He ended, of course, with “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” to a standing ovation to the huge, sweaty crowd.
This was the middle of his North American tour before a short summer break. Don’t miss him if he comes near you. You won’t get another chance.
It had been two months to the day that I’d seen Death Valley Girls live, and that was at the Levitation France festival in Angers. They had recently returned from a tour of Europe and the United Kingdom and were now approaching the halfway point of a U.S. tour that would wrap up with appearances at this year’s Psycho Music Festival and Levitation Austin. They played The Empty Bottle with local garage-psych rockers Waltzer and Detroit 60s psych-pop trio Shadow Show.
Waltzer played a fun, solid rock set with a band who, if I heard the lead singer, Sophie, correctly had only been playing together for a short time and was made of members of many other cool Chicago bands. You wouldn’t have guessed they haven’t been together long, because everyone was in synch and had the audience moving. “They sound like Caroline Rose fronting L7, but with more psychedelia,” I thought at one point during their set.
Sophie of Waltzer
I was happy to hear from Shadow Show that they’re working on a new album, and equally delighted to hear their lovely psych-pop covered in lots of groovy fuzz in a live setting. They hadn’t played in Chicago since before the pandemic, so they were glad to be back on the road and playing a fun set. Afterward, I was stunned to learn that the father of bassist Kate Derringer was one of the driving forces behind the 7th Level music club I attended in Ft. Wayne, Indiana back in my high school days – and the inspiration for the name of this blog. Her father had seen my review of Shadow Show’s Silhouettes and asked her, “Who’s this guy who knows about the Level?” She’d read the review and was now just as floored to meet me in a weird “small world” moment.
Shadow Show (L-R: Ava East, Kerrigan Pearce, Kate Derringer)
Death Valley Girls came out and immediately got started with guitarist Larry Schemel and drummer Rikki Styxx creating a witch’s brew of beats and fuzz while lead singer / guitarist / keyboardist Bonnie Bloomgarden and bassist Sammy Westervelt shared a pre-set hug / meditation…and Ms. Westervelt rocked shoes that would make KISS envious.
Bonnie Bloomgarden (left) in Chuck Taylors, Sammy Westervelt (right) in shoes she might’ve stolen from Boots Collins or the David Bowie estate.
The creepy sounds soon transformed in “Abre Camino,” which only seems to get heavier every time I hear it live. They flowed right into “Street Justice” and stomped the gas pedal to the floor after that. Bonnie Bloomgarden was going into near-trances when she’d play keyboards by the time they got to “Disco.” New song “Magic Powers,” with Sammy Wetervelt on lead vocals, sounds better every time I hear it. Bloomgarden was prowling through and hugging many in the crowd as she sang “Disaster (Is What We’re After),” and they came back from the bottom of the stage stairs to play “Seis Seis Seis” as a sort-of encore.
They also hung out and chatted with anyone who wanted to chat after the show. Larry Schemel told me that this is the first tour in a long while for them for which they’ve been able to hand-pick their opening bands, so seeing them live right now gives you an insight into bands they also love.
Keep your mind open.
Death Valley Girls putting together spell components.
“One of the reasons we wanted to do this tour was to highlight this incredible band,” “Weird Al” Yankovic said at one point during the packed show at Elkhart, Indiana’s Lerner Theatre. The show consisted of all original material and style parodies from Yankovic’s huge catalogue. None of his parody hits were played until the encore, and even then in a medley.
Instead, he and his band (of over forty years) played a lot of lesser-known songs that had everyone rocking and / or laughing. Speaking of laughing, veteran stand-up comic Emo Philips opened the show with his odd and often dark humor in which he skewered everything from religion to dating. He had a joke about a banana that he set up within the first ten minutes of his set and then didn’t pay off until near the end – much to the delight of everyone.
Yankovic and his band soon showed everyone how well they can rock by playing hard tracks like “Young, Dumb & Ugly,” “My Own Eyes,” and the dark, twisted “Larry.” The theme to his film, UHF, was a bit hit with the crowd, and the lounge version of “Dare to Be Stupid” (their famous Devo style parody) was stunning. “He’s even parodying himself,” said a guy next to me about it after the show.
It was a great example of how he and his band can play multiple genres with high skill (and switch back and forth between them) with apparent ease. The Doors style parody, “Craigslist,” showed how well they can play psychedelic rock. The closer of the main set was “Albuquerque,” a wild track that has to be seen and heard to be believed. How Yankovic remembers all those multi-layered lyrics is beyond me.
After a fake encore, in which they went barely offstage and pretended to check their phones and tune a guitar while in full sight of everyone, they came “back on” to do a sharp cover of The Isley Brothers‘ “Nobody but Me” and then the parody medley that went from “Amish Paradise” to “Yoda” and included everything from calypso to acapella Afrobeat chanting. I missed a lot of the humorous lyrics because I was too stunned try their musicianship to notice them.
It was a fun show, and one you should catch if it’s anywhere close to you. Don’t go for the hits, go for the experience.
Fuzzed in Europe is a six-song live EP from Swedish psych-voodoo rockers, GOAT, that compiles some of their favorite tracks from a European tour in the autumn of 2016. The tracks were picked due to them being alternate versions of album releases or even “normal” live cuts. As a result, we get to hear GOAT further expanding their cosmic sound into new dimensions.
The opener, “Talk to God,” is over seven minutes of hypnotizing psychedelia that takes on a bit more drone than the album version. The same goes for “Time for Fun,” which practically turns into a mantra by the end of it. “I Sing in Silence” transforms from a blissful dance into a trance-inducing vision of something much like the album cover.
The guitars on “Gather of Ancient Tribes” (possibly also known as, you guessed it, “GOAT”) are almost like magic wands casting spells as the female duo lead singers keep singing / chanting, “Into the fire!” “The Sun the Moon” speeds up in this live version, becoming a frantic voodoo-disco track.
A ten-minute-plus version of “Run to Your Mama” ends the EP, being heavier than other versions and no less head-spinning. You might end up dancing around shirtless and seeing visions of Egyptian gods riding boats across the sky while listening to it. I didn’t, but the fact that the image came to mind while writing this suggests otherwise.
The whole EP is full of moments like this. Don’t let it slip by you.
Today, Girl Talk – aka Pittsburgh-based producer Gregg Gillis – announces a fall/winter 2022 North American tour. Tickets are on sale now. This announcement follows the release of Full Court Press, Girl Talk’s “timeless” (HYPEBEAST) collaborative album with Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T and Smoke DZA, released this past spring on Asylum/Taylor Gang. Gillis rose to prominence off his meticulous construction of genre-smashing sample-based music, and these breakneck-paced party jams are championed in his euphoric live shows. Girl Talk’s forthcoming tour will see him performing in Las Vegas, Houston, Sacramento and more, all cities he did not play on the spring 2022 tour. Full dates are listed below.
In conjunction with the tour announcement, Girl Talk releases a remix of Full Court Press’ “Ain’t No Fun,” which blends the vocals with elements of Harry Styles’ hit “As It Was.” Additionally, he’s released an acapella version of Full Court Press as a free download. This is an opportunity for other producers or music enthusiasts to be able to use the vocals from the album in their own remixes or DJ sets.
With each Girl Talk album, from his breakout Night Ripper (2006) to Feed The Animals (2008) and All Day(2010), Gillis’ work has become increasingly detailed and complex. The last several years have seen Gillis focusing on production work for some of his favorite rap artists, including Wiz Khalifa, T-Pain, Tory Lanez, Young Nudy, Bas, Cozz, Erick The Architect (from Flatbush Zombies), Smoke DZA, Don Q, and Freeway. This year’s Full Court Press was a culmination of friendships going back ten-plus years and a “unique intersection of all of our work,” says Gillis.
Girl Talk Tour Dates Fri. Sep. 16 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl Fri. Sep. 23 – Richmond, VA @ The National Sun. Sep. 25 – Dover, DE @ Firefly Music Festival Thu. Nov. 3 – Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! Fri. Nov. 4 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall Sat. Nov. 5 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue Thu. Nov. 10 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom Fri. Nov. 11- Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Thu. Nov. 17 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Fri. Nov. 18 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore Sat. Nov. 19 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades Fri. Dec. 9 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live Sat. Dec. 10 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Thu. Dec. 15 – Orlando, FL @ The Beacham Fri. Dec. 16 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre Sat. Dec. 17 – Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
Today, Halloween Meltdown – the spooky sister-festival to the beloved Mosswood Meltdown – announces the stacked lineup for their annual Halloween-themed event, taking place on Saturday, October 8th and Sunday, October 9th in Oakland’s Mosswood Park, featuring performances from Amyl & The Sniffers, Shannon & The Clams, Fuzz, Sheer Mag, The Spits, Lydia Lunch and more. Hosted by John Waters, the 2022 Halloween Meltdown will feature a costume contest with a $500 cash prize and a haunted house designed by East Bay musician and horror artist, Rob Fletcher.
“This place is like the Borg cube of music venues.”
That’s how my friend described the Andrew J. Bird Music Center in downtown Cincinnati. It’s an interesting performance space with good acoustics, but the interior “has no personality,” as she put it. It has a stark industrial feel, and hosting some industrial or goth shows in the place would be ideal. The only fixed seats are in the multiple balconies. The main floor is open, but rows of seats were added for The Psychedelic Furs and X.
This was the second time I’ve seen the Psychedelic Furs. The first was on their “Singles Tour” and this one was promoting their latest record, Made of Rain. First up, however, were L.A. punk legends X. Bassist John Doe mentioned how they’d been playing in a lot of beautiful theaters, but “I keep expecting Tina Turner to come out and tell us we’re in the Thunderdome in this place.” They put on a fun set, with Billy Zoom still shredding both guitar and saxophone, Exene Cervenka blessing the crowd, and D.J. Bonebrake playing both drums and xylophone. People were dancing in the aisles the whole time, and one guy was pogoing front and center for nearly their entire set. Billy Zoom came back out after their set and signed a few autographs.
I knew we were in for a good set from The Psychedelic Furs when they opened their show with “I Wanna Sleep with You” – one of my favorite tracks that I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear live. “Mr. Jones” followed and then the first of many great tracks from Made of Rain, “You’ll Be Mine.”
“Dumb Waiters”
Other sharp new tracks included Made of Rain‘s opener, “The Boy Who Invented Rock and Roll,” “Wrong Train,” “This’ll Never Be Like Love,” “No-One,” and “Ash Wednesday.” “Their new songs are beautiful,” my friend said. She’s right. Guitarist Rich Good puts more emphasis on the psychedelic part of the band’s sound on these new tracks.
They played plenty of classics, of course, with “The Ghost in You” being the loveliest and “Love My Way” being even more popular with the happy crowd than “Pretty in Pink.”
“Imitation of Christ”
The encore included a solid version of “Heartbreak Beat” that had everybody dancing and a stunning, beautifully chaotic (as they’d describe it) version of “India” – the first track on their first album. It was another song I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear live, and it was a killer end to a great show. Saxophonist Mars Williams played so hard and with such frenetic passion that we all thought he was going to pass out on stage at one point.
Another highlight is how Richard Butler‘s voice never seems to age, or perhaps it just gets better. He’s still on top of his game, as is the whole band. His brother, Tim Butler, still has that rockstar style and slight menace about him, and the bottom end of his bass is the band’s secret weapon. Keyboardist Amanda Kramer doesn’t go overboard with her playing, which means she’s secretly doing a lot of stuff you can barely comprehend – and she adds a mystery to the band’s stage presence behind her ever-present shades (as does Tim Butler). The band’s new drummer, Zack Alford, has serious chops and ups the volume with pure rock beats.
Recorded in Camden’s Electric Ballroom in London on July 27, 2013, GOAT‘s Live Ballroom Ritual is a ripping album that captures the band of Swedish voodoo psych-rockers blowing people’s minds and taking them to other planes of existence.
The show starts simply enough, with the calm, soothing guitar strumming on “Dirabi” for over three minutes before the drums and hand percussion come in to let everyone know that they’re in for a mystical journey. “Golden Dawn” continues this levitation into some kind of sacred space between funk and psychedelia. “People get ready under the rainbow,” the ladies of GOAT sing on “Disco Fever” – a swirling, pulsing track that probably had the whole place bouncing and sweating after just three songs in the set.
“Stonegoat” was their new single at the time, and it’s a stomper that contrasts well with the mellower (but no less funkier, especially with its ripping saxpohone solo) “Let It Bleed.” The instrumental “Dreambuilding” is absolutely hypnotic, leading us to the sweaty, heavy “Run to Your Mama” that I’m sure floored the one thousand-plus fans in the audience.
Three “goat songs” follow: The somehow heavier “Goathead,” with its percussive bass,” the trance (and possibly hallucination)-inducing “Goatman, and “Goatlord” – a slow sizzler that sets the table for the eleven-minute “Det som aldrig förändras – Kristallen den fina.” It’s a massive track that fills whichever space in which you hear it. Every part of it crushes. The performance ends with the massively fuzzy “The Sun the Moon,” combining chants with frenetic drumming and sawmill guitars.
I consider myself lucky to have seen GOAT live here in the United States. I hope they will return soon. They are doing some European shows these days, but their shows here have become somewhat legendary, like this stunning performance.
I hadn’t seen Failure live since 1997 – when Lollapalooza still toured. They played the second stage late in the date and put on a killer set – one of the best of the festival. I got to meet three of the (at the time) four lads – Ken Andrews, Kellii Scott, Greg Edwards, and Tory Van Leeuwen (who would later go on to join Queens of the Stone Age) – after their set, where they signed their photo in the festival program.
Fast forward twenty-five years later, and Failure were now back with three new albums of original material, a live album, four EPs, and numerous side projects. They’d also done a couple tours by now, and I missed one due to illness. I wasn’t going to miss this show at Chicago’s Bottom Lounge, and when they offered a VIP experience for a great price, I jumped on it.
There were twenty-three of us there for the VIP experience a full four and a half hours before Failure went on stage. We had early access to the merch table (and our own exclusive VIP merch), but even better – a meet and greet with the band and the opportunity to watch their three-song sound check.
Sound check. L-R: Greg Edwards, Kellii Scott, Ken Andrews
Afterward, we got to hang out with Failure for nearly two hours. They chatted with all of us, signed anything we asked them to sign (and some things they requested to sign – i.e., “Let me sign your VIP badge!”), and posed for a photo with each of us. We heard plenty of stories about the making of their new album Wild Type Droid (review coming soon), possible re-releases of side projects, and how the pandemic affected their touring schedule and everything else. They were extremely gracious and kind to everyone there. The highlight of the meet and greet for me was being able to tell each of them how much “Another Space Song” (from their 1995 masterpiece Fantastic Planet) has come to mean to me since my wife’s death in 2021. I choked up with each telling of the story, and all of them were thankful to hear how the song has become one of hope for me.
Best dressed at the VIP experience and the show. She hand-painted this, and the band loved it.Yours truly, still trying not to choke up while thanking Failure one more time.
We had time after the meet and greet to drop off our merch at our vehicles and come back for a bite and / or a drink at the Bottom Lounge’s restaurant before heading in for the main show – which was either a sell-out or a near sell-out. The place was packed.
Their opening act was a half-hour clip of the upcoming documentary about the band, which made even more eager to see it. The addition of the Ren & Stimpy episode “Space Madness” before their set was also a nice, fun touch – as a lot of the band’s music has themes of space, the cosmos, and the effects of both on one’s mind.
They came out gunning with tracks like “Submarines,” “Macaque,” and “Frogs,” spanning some of their earliest material to their newest. I’d forgotten how powerful they are live, and their sound engineers did a top-notch job. Greg Edwards’ guitar tones are like the sound of magic happening in front of you, Kellii Scott has some of the best chops of any drummer in all of rock, and Ken Andrews’ bass riffs were sometimes so heavy it sounded like Failure had become a doom metal band.
The crowd was bonkers by the time they were at “Counterfeit Sky.” The power they were generating could’ve lit up a Las Vegas casino marquee. They saved multiple tracks from Fantastic Planet for their encore – and, yes, I did cry when they played “Another Space Song.”
Greg Edwards and Ken Andrews would switch bass and lead guitar so many times that it was easy to lose count of them all.
Everyone left with a buzz pin their bodies and / or ears. This was the best show I’ve seen so far this year, and I will always be thankful to Failure for offering the VIP experience to us beforehand. Don’t miss them if they come near you.
Thanks to the kind lady who let me take this photo of the set list she scored.VIP stuff and everything Failure signed for me.
Keep your mind open.
[Thanks also to the mighty Rebecca, who ran the VIP experience and worked hard for everyone.]
Coming back after a cancelled show back in the spring, The Smithereens had an enthusiastic crowd to greet them in Fort Wayne on June 18, 2022.
Walking in with my daughter, my immediate reaction was, “That sounds like an R.E.M. cover.” Sure enough, the opening band was a local R.E.M. cover band called Driver 8 (named after the song from R.E.M.’s 1985 album Fables of the Reconstruction). I didn’t know who was going to open for The Smithereens, but a cover band wasn’t among my ideas. That being said, Driver 8 were solid. It was the singer’s first gig with the band, and he showed no signs of nerves and knew how to work a crowd. Hearing a live version of “Superman” was a treat, as I hadn’t heard that song in years.
Driver 8
Thanks to someone forgetting to put a microphone on the stand for lead singer Marshall Crenshaw, The Smithereens’ Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken, and Severo Incarnacion started the show with a drum solo by Diken (who has always been one of the steadiest rock drummers of the last few decades) and a Link Wray cover while Crenshaw found a microphone backstage. The first Smithereens song they played was “Behind the Wall of Sleep,” and, despite Crenshaw forgetting some of the first verse lyrics, they were off to the races.
Jim Babjak still shreds, and it was great to hear them play a lot of tracks from the Especially for You album and to just watch them remind everyone how they’re still America’s Rock Band after forty years. They closed with a couple Beatles covers, delighting my daughter and everyone else.
They still cook, and they still have many, many hits that you love to hear.
