#15 – Death from Above 1979 at the Chicago House of Blues October 13th
Yeah, the whole show was this crazy. It was a rough pit, but worth a couple spins through it to feed off the energy DFA1979 were throwing at us.
#14 – Buzzcocksat the Vic Theatre in Chicago September 22nd
Speaking of rough mosh pits, I helped break up a fight in this one. I’d been waiting a long time to see Buzzcocks, and it was well worth it.
#13 – Clutchat Pierre’s in Fort Wayne, Indiana June 10th
“Hottest show of the tour. No question,” said Clutch lead singer Neal Fallon. It was indeed damn hot in there, and Clutch seemed to use the heat like a furnace to create some sort of alchemical spell.
My wife and I were front and center for the funkiest show we saw all year. The crowd was bonkers by the end of their set. “I almost left,” said one woman as we were leaving the show. “I’m glad I stayed.” Shame on you if you missed it.
This was a beautiful show in an intimate venue, and Brazilian bossa nova / eletro siren Ceu had the whole room in the palm of her hand by the end of it. I couldn’t stop grinning through the whole performance.
Let’s keep rollin’ with this countdown of great live shows from 2016!
#20 – Sealat Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, MI August 27th.
It was just him, a DJ / synth player, and a guitarist, and they knocked it out of the park. He even dabbled in some dark wave versions of some of his songs and he knows how to work a crowd.
#19 – Wolfmother at the Double Door in Chicago, IL July 10th
The whole show was this crazy. It was probably the sweatiest show I attended all year as well, and completely worth it.
#18 – Jeff the Brotherhoodat Middle Waves Festival in Ft. Wayne, IN September 17th
That photo, taken by yours truly, pretty much says it all. They hammered out a loud set in the post-rain sunlight that won over many new fans. They played a lot of new material that was quite good. I need to get their new album soon.
#17 – Bullyat Middle Waves Festival in Ft. Wayne, IN September 16th
They closed one of the Middle Waves stages on the first night of the festival and had everyone roaring by the end of their set. They were the best act that night.
BRMC always puts on a good show, and this one was no exception. They played a shorter than normal set due to some equipment malfunction (I think it was a screwed-up monitor.), but they worked around it by playing songs they hadn’t planned on playing and altering some guitar parts. It was a great example of a band on top of their game and able to improvise if things get weird.
Who’s in the top 15? Check back tomorrow to see!
Keep your mind open.
[Our eyes are red with tears if you don’t subscribe.]
I had a blast at live shows this year, seeing nearly 50 different bands. I hope I can match or beat that in 2017. I’m going to highlight the top 50% of the bunch, five at a time.
Levitation Austin always brings in at least one Tuareg artist, and Imarhan played a packed house at the Empire in downtown Austin. It was early in their first U.S. tour and they put on a fine show of uplifting music.
These two maestros of their respective instruments (Gourisankar on tabla and Indrajit Banerjee on sitar) wowed the crowd at the Stoop Inn. My wife and I were right in front and their energy had us and the whole crowd buzzing.
They were the first band we saw at Levitation Austin in 2016, and they had to play an abbreviated set due to showing up a bit late (Thanks, Austin traffic.). As a result, they played a wham-bam-thank you ma’am set of all their rockers. They threw down the gauntlet early.
#22 – Bleachedat the Grog Shop in Cleveland, Ohio October 21st.
They were a blast, the venue was great, and the crowd was appreciative. They were even better live than I thought they would be and friendly to anyone who stopped by their merch table after their set.
I saw Night Beats three times in 2016. This was the second time, and the third time I saw them came in at #26 on my list of live shows and was only two days later at San Marcos’ MR Fest. They closed the first night of Levitation Austin, after nearly everyone had learned the festival had been cancelled, and they made everyone forget their blues for a little while. It was a raucous set, and we all needed it.
Which shows made my top 20 for 2016? Come back tomorrow to find out.
A stunning tour will hit the west coast beginning in February. The Desert Daze Caravan will bring Temples, Night Beats, Deap Vally, Froth, and Jjuujjuu to California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, and even Canada. Don’t miss this tour if you’re out west. I’m tempted to buy airfare to Phoenix just to see this lineup.
2/22/17 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
2/24/17 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
2/25/17 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
2/26/17 – Vancouver, BC – The Rickshaw Theatre
2/28/17 – Felton, CA – Don Quixote’s Music Hall
3/1/17 – Nevada City, CA – Miner’s Foundry Cultural Center
3/2/17 – Pomona, CA – The Glass House Concert Hall
3/3/17 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace
3/4/17 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater
3/5/17 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up
3/10/17 – Las Vegas, NV – Neon Reverb Festival
3/11/17 – Phoenix, AZ – VIVA PHX – Downtown Phoenix
3/17/17 – Dallas,TX – Not So Fun Weekend @ Trees
Keep your mind open.
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Recorded at Tilburg, Holland’s annual Roadburn festival dedicated to rock and metal, Live at Roadburn is probably the closest you can get to an Earthless (Mike Eginton – bass, Isaiah Mitchell – guitar, Mario Rubalcaba – drums) concert without being there. It might not entirely melt your face, but it will certainly heat it up and warp your mind.
The double-disc CD version has two songs on each disc. A four-song set is average for an Earthless show, because most songs are at least fifteen minutes long. The performance starts off with “Blue,” which is not only a stoner rock gem, but it also has elements of prog-rock sprinkled throughout (the way Mitchell’s guitar and Rubalcaba’s drums bounce off each other, for instance). Mitchell’s guitar hits definite Cream territory around the ten-minute mark.
The song rolls into the epic “From the Ages” with Rubalcaba’s near-manic drumming and Eginton’s rock solid bass. The groove they hit around the 24-minute mark is outstanding. All three of them click so well that they make it sound easy. They drop into almost a blues-rock groove around the 31-minute mark (with Eginton’s mantra-like bass). They get cosmic around minute 38 and slowly build into re-entry burn rock fury.
Disc 2 features “Godspeed” and “Sonic Prayer.” “Godspeed” begins with fuzzy distortion and rolling cymbals before bursting forth like a platoon of orcs smashing down a fortress wall. Your mind is almost in your shoes by the 16-minute mark because the song becomes a psychedelic freak-out at that point. The band is racing like a nitro-burning funny car about four minutes later when they’re into “Sonic Prayer.” It’s jaw-dropping by then (like any Earthless show).
Pick up this album if you can’t make it to an Earthless concert. It will get you into orbit. A live show will send you to the next solar system, but Live at Roadburn will at least help you circle the planet.
Keep your mind open.
[We’re issuing a sonic prayer that you’ll subscribe to us.]
Just so we’re clear, you won’t see political-themed posts here unless they somehow relate to good news about music. This is a music blog, after all.
And this post is about music. President Obama yesterday signed into law the Better Online Ticket Sales Act (the BOTS Act), which makes it illegal for secondary ticket sales markets (i.e., StubHub, Live Nation) to use robot programs to snatch up massive amounts of tickets for shows and then resell them to fans at ludicrous rates. It’s also now illegal for secondary ticket sellers to not stop “bot” programs they have in place or claim ignorance of “bot” programs being used by their company when evidence shows otherwise.
This is great news for those of us who enjoy live music or theatre. The stories of bands like Radiohead seeing tickets to their shows going to scalpers rather than fans are commonplace by now. Lin Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame has decried such ticket scalping methods as “killing Broadway.”
I don’t know when this law will start being enforced, but it should change the ticket buying game in time for the 2017 music festival and MLB seasons, let alone the remainder of this year’s NFL, NHL, and NBA seasons next year. Granted, many resellers will risk or gladly pay the fine as a simple cost of business since they’re making millions off inflated ticket prices, but some will think twice.
TEMPLES TO HEADLINE DESERT DAZE CARAVAN, FEBRUARY 22-MARCH 17
FIRST NORTH AMERICAN TOUR IN SUPPORT OF NEW ALBUM, VOLCANO,
OUT MARCH 3RD ON FAT POSSUM
(photo credit: Ed Miles) Temples, the English four-piece consisting of JamesBagshaw (vocals, guitar), TomWalmsley (bass, backing vocals), SamToms (drums) and AdamSmith (keys), will release their new album, Volcano, on March 3rd via FatPossum. Today, they’re excited to announce they’ll be headlining the 2017DesertDazeCaravan, kicking off Wed. Feb. 22nd in SanFrancisco and taking them all over the west coast, south, and south west before the tour wraps up Fri. March 17th in Dallas. This is Temples’ first North American tour in support of Volcano after selling out multiple venues stateside this past fall where they previewed new material for the first time. All new dates are listed below, with tickets available for purchase herethis Friday. Watch/Listen/Share:
“Certainty” video — https://youtu.be/h6zdVaAe0OE
“Certainty” stream — https://soundcloud.com/templesofficial/temples-certainty/
Temples perform “Certainty” on Last Call With Carson Daly — http://bit.ly/2gX2nkr
“Certainty” (Franz Ferdinand Remix) — http://bit.ly/2gDdiAn
Temples Tour Dates (new dates in bold): Sun. Jan. 22 – Hebden Bridge, UK @ The Trades Club, Heavenly Weekend Wed. Feb. 22 — San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel (Desert Daze Caravan) Fri. Feb. 24 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom (Desert Daze Caravan) Sat. Feb. 25 — Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s (Desert Daze Caravan) Sun. Feb. 26 — Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre (Desert Daze Caravan) Tue. Feb. 28 — Felton, CA @ Don Quixote’s (Desert Daze Caravan) Wed. March 1 — Nevada City, CA @ Miners Foundry Cultural Center (Desert Daze Caravan) Thu. March 2 — Pomona, CA @ Glass House (Desert Daze Caravan) Fri. March 3 — Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriet’s (Desert Daze Caravan) Sat. March 4 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent (Desert Daze Caravan) Sun. March 5 — Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern (Desert Daze Caravan) Sat. March 11 — Phoenix, AZ @ Downtown Phoenix [VIVA PHX] (Desert Daze Caravan) Fri. March 17 — Dallas, TX @ Trees (Desert Daze Caravan) Thu. March 30 – London, UK @ The Electric
Alt / grunge rock legends Dinosaur Jr. have announced tour dates for 2017 in support of their new album Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not. Catch ’em if you can!
DINOSAUR JR. TOUR DATES (new dates in bold) Sat. Dec 10 – North Adams, MA @ MASS MoCA Thu. Jan. 12 – Sydney, Australia @ The Metro w/ Luluc Fri. Jan. 13 – Newstead, Australia @ The Triffid Sat. Jan. 14 – Miami, Australia @ Miami Tavern Sun. Jan. 15 – Byron Bay Nsw, Australia @ The Northern Wed. Jan. 18 – Perth, Australia @ The Capitol Thu. Jan. 19 – Adelaide, Australia @ The Gov Fri. Jan. 20 – Thornbury, Australia @ The Croxton Sat. Jan. 21 – Thornbury, Australia @ The Croxton Mon. Jan. 23 – Auckland, NZ @ The Studio Thu. Jan. 26 – Nagoya-Shi, Japan @ Club Quattro Nagoya Fri. Jan. 27 – Tokyo, Japan @ EX Theater Rappongi Mon. Jan. 30 – Osaka-Shi, Japan @ Club Quattro Osaka Thu. Mar. 9 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre Fri. Mar. 10 – Toronto, ON @ The Danforth Music Hall Sat. Mar. 11 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall Sun. Mar. 12 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom Mon. Mar. 13 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall Thu. Mar. 16 – Bloomington, IN @ Bluebird Fri. Mar. 17 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre Sat. Mar. 18 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room Sun. Mar. 19 – St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall Wed. Mar. 22 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall Thu. Mar 23 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom Fri. Mar. 24 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre Sat. Mar. 25 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse Tue. Mar. 28 – St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theatre Wed. Mar. 29 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room Thu. Mar. 30 – Orlando, FL @ The Beacham Theatre Fri. Mar. 31 – Jacksonville, FL @ Mavericks Sat. Apr. 1 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
Imagine you flew from Guatemala to Chicago to see a band and they only played four songs (including the encore), but you were ecstatic by the end of the show. This is what happens at Earthlessshows.
My friend, Paul, and I went to see Earthless, Ruby the Hatchet, and Marmora at the Empty Bottle. It was my third time seeing Earthless and Paul’s first. We hadn’t seen either of the opening acts. Paul and I are big fans of Earthless and their mostly instrumental cosmic rock, and the Empty Bottle (which was sold out) would be the smallest venue in which I’d seen them so far.
We met a couple who drove in from Wisconsin to see them for the first time. We all talked about the number of songs we’d get to hear from Earthless. They played four the first two times I saw them, so Paul and I were betting on at least three. The couple from Wisconsin hoped for four, and they were correct.
First up were Marmora – a Chicago four-piece that blended stoner rock with punk. Paul knew we were in for something groovy when their lead guitarist came out wearing a “Got blunt?” T-shirt.
Marmora – rocking hard despite having a rough day at the office.
Marmora had been through a rough day. The lead singer had screwed up his ankle, they mentioned having some sort of vehicle trouble earlier, they accidentally set their gear in dog poop while loading the van, the drummer’s foot pedal broke (thankfully, they had another), and the lead singer broke a string on his guitar. They put on a good set despite all that, and their rhythm section is particularly good.
Ruby the Hatchet put on a fine set of witchcraft rock with song titles like “Pagan Ritual” and “The Unholy.” They have a great organ player who brings a cool 1960’s vibe to their power. Their lead singer commands a room and her hand gestures as she soaks in the band’s sound might as well have been learned from Dr. Strange.
Ruby the Hatchet casting spells on all of us.
Earthless walked on stage with no muss or fuss. They said hello and then unleashed. A brother-sister duo from Guatemala were next to me and told me how they’d come to the States to follow Earthless on their current tour. They were big fans of stoner / doom metal. The brother, David, told me he’s been reaching out to stoner metal bands in hopes of convincing them to tour in Guatemala, where there is no stoner metal scene according to him. He and his sister had a great time, although his sister couldn’t understand why the audience wasn’t dancing more. “American audiences are so fucking stiff,” she told me.
She probably changed her mind by the time a fight broke out in a mosh pit started by some dude high and / or drunk out of his mind. I saw her grab the guy by the face while he was being dragged out by fans and security. Earthless, meanwhile, were too busy detaching the roof from the Empty Bottle and rocketing into space to notice or care. All three of them were on fire, but I must mention that this was the hardest I’ve seen drummer Mario Rubalcaba play so far. He beat his kit like it stole his skateboard.
That’s not a disco ball above Earthless. It’s a small moon they pulled down from the heavy gravity of their set.
Their first song, “Uluru Rock,” was 25 minutes long. The second, “Violence of the Red Sea,” was 15. The third, “Sonic Prayer,” was a half-hour. They came back on for a quick encore – a blazing cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Communication Breakdown” that lasted under five minutes and left everyone stunned. “I liked them before,” Paul said. “I like them even more now.”
Walking back out into the low 30’s weather after getting our faces melted was jarring, but it felt great. We’d been elevated. I’ve always said that Earthless chose that name for their band because their music can’t be confined to this planet. They proved that again in Chicago.
1990’s shoegaze / alt-rock maestros Failure have begun a PledgeMusic campaign to offer a live album from their October 2016 tour (which, sadly, I missed). They played their outstanding album Fantastic Planet in its entirety and chose the best versions of each song from the tour for this live record.
In case you don’t know, Fantastic Planet is one of the best records of the 1990’s and a masterpiece of engineering. You deserve to hear it, so jump on this campaign before all the signed stuff is gone.
