live music – Page 7 – 7th Level Music

Live: Ceu – June 24, 2016 – Chicago, IL

Barely anyone paid attention to the candles.

I showed up at Chicago’s City Winery in plenty of time to get a good free parking spot a block away and order a Right Bee cider before the show started. The City Winery is a nice, small venue not much bigger than a couple campground pavilions, and Brazilian siren Ceu was playing that night. I’ve been a fan of hers since stumbling onto her self-titled first record back in 2005. I’d missed all her previous Chicago dates, and now I was seeing her from about twenty feet from my table while I munched braised duck tacos.

Her opening band was an electro two-piece called Kauf from Los Angeles. They got the show off to a fine start with a groovy set that had people nodding their heads and drumming on their tables. One man behind me said, “They’re like an 80’s synth kind of thing.” That’s true, but a bit of a simplistic description. Add a bit of dark wave and Caribou and you’re there.

Kauf bringing fine electro to the City Winery.

By now I’d learned that the couple across from me (named, I kid you not, Tom and Jerry) were seeing Ceu for the fourth time and hadn’t missed one of her Chicago dates yet. This was the first time they’d seen her with a guitarist in the band. We had a great time being wowed by her and sharing flatbread pizza.

She came out in a dark orange dress with light sparkles throughout it and a pair of bad-ass silver sequined high heels. It was at this moment that I realized Ceu looks like Jane Russell, and I about fainted in my chair. I almost fainted again when she started singing and her gorgeous voice filled the room.

She played a lovely, intimate set with her sharp as a tack backing band. They played many cuts from her fine new album, Tropix, as well as cuts going all the way back to 2005. She was dancing by the second song, “Perfume Invisibel,” and people were already breaking the “candle rule” to stay quiet during the show (Tom, Jerry, and I included). They were dancing in one corner by the end of her main set and all through the encore.

She and her band spanned multiple music styles. They played stuff ranging from bossa nova, electro dance songs, reggae, and modern disco cuts to early 80’s synth tracks you might hear on a Berlin album.

As good as her voice is on her albums, it is even better live. I won’t miss her if she comes through the Midwest again, and neither should you.

Ceu’s set list for the night. Sadly, I didn’t get a physical copy of it, but thanks to the man who let me take this photo of his copy.

[Thanks to Andre Bourgeois for making press pass arrangements for me for this show. He rules.]

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Night Beats announce summer North America tour dates

Not taking time to rest on their laurels, Night Beats have announced a North American tour after completing their European dates with performances at the Glastonbury Music Festival.

The North American dates can be found at their website. See them if you get the chance. They are killing it live.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Bebel Gilberto – June 18, 2016 – Ann Arbor, MI

I’ve wanted to see the lovely Bebel Gilberto for many years. I’ve always missed her past Chicago dates due to work, but I finally got to see her in a great venue at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival – a nice summer arts and music festival that takes place over two weeks on the University of Michigan campus.

The show was at the Power Center theatre on campus, and the onstage set-up was simple.

“That’s an impressive [drum] kit,” I told my wife. It was a full kit combined with hand percussion instruments. There was an acoustic guitar, a laptop computer, and a microphone for Ms. Gilberto. That was all she and her two-piece band needed.

Ms. Gilberto owned the stage as soon as she walked onto it. She was full of pep and had the crowd in her hands within moments.

She sang a good number of songs from her latest album, Tudo, including the title track, “Nudo Nao,” a cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” and some of her classics like “So Nice,” “Bring Back the Love,” and “Aganju” (a personal favorite).

Ms. Gilberto and her band killing it on “Aganju.”

She closed with two cuts from Tanto Tiempo – the always stunning “Samba Da Bencao” and “Close Your Eyes.” She had every Brazilian woman in the audience (and a few kids) dancing in the aisles by then.

Ms. Gilberto getting her groove on during “Close Your Eyes.”

This show has gone to the top of my list on my favorite live performances of 2016 so far because it’s the first show to bring me to tears. Ms. Gilberto’s drummer left the stage for a few numbers and I gasped when her guitarist played some familiar chords on the second percussion-free song. They were the opening chords to Radiohead‘s “Creep.”

My eyes misted as soon as she sang the first line. A few people in the crowd cheered as they recognized the song, jaws dropped as she dropped the f-bomb in the chorus, and my wife and I were wiping tears from our eyes by the end. It was gorgeous. Bebel Gilberto’s voice is nothing short of hypnotizing, and hearing her sing this song about longing and heartbreak was an unexpected surprise.

Ms. Gilberto singing “Creep” while my wife and I cried.

The crowd cheered when they’d finished the song. She said, “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” I said loud enough for the whole auditorium to hear me.

She laughed and then said, “We’re thinking about recording that. Some people don’t like it, but we like it.”

Please do, Ms. Gilberto, and please come back to the Midwest soon.

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Vickie Starr for getting me a press pass to this show. She rules.]

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Clutch announce 2016 US fall tour with Zakk Sabbath and Kyng

June 15th, 2016 – Clutch continues their Psychic Warfare World Tour 2016. Headline tour dates for September-October are in. The group will be heading back on the road this Fall headlining another leg of their US tour. Supporting the tour will be Zakk Sabbath and Los Angeles based metal band Kyng. Including 2 festival appearances, the trek will begin in Buffalo, NY at the The Town Ballroom on September 28th and conclude in Worcester, MA at The Palladium on October 30th.

Clutch lead vocalist Neil Fallon commented “We are pleased to announce that this Fall Clutch will be hitting the road again in the U.S.. This time with Zakk Sabbath and Kyng. Clutch toured with Black Label Society a few years back and it was a blast – and no doubt, this one will be a blast as well. We hope to see you all there!”

Psychic Warfare is the latest and eleventh studio effort from Clutch. The disc debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, No. 2 on the Billboard Independent, No. 1 on the Billboard Hard Rock and Billboard Rock charts. On Record Store Day this past April 16th Clutch released a limited edition numbered etched vinyl 12 inch that included two previously unreleased tracks from the Psychic Warfare sessions: “Mad Sidewinder” and “Outland Special Clearance“. Psychic Warfare was produced by longtime producer Machine (Lamb Of God, Every Time I Die).

Zakk Sabbath, bring their take on Black Sabbath songs on the road for the first time ever. The band features guitarist/vocalist Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), bassist Rob “Blasko” Nicholson (Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie) and drummer Joey Castillo (Danzig, Queens Of The Stone Age). Kyng, the Los Angeles based metal trio, will be supporting their 3rd release and follow up to 2014’s Burn The Serum.

Pre-sale tickets will be on sale today (June 15th) at 12PM local time with public on sale beginning Friday, June 17 at 10AM local time. Pre-sale tickets are available here: Tickets.artistarena.com/clutch

For all other information, visit the Clutch website (www.pro-rock.com).

Clutch, Zakk Sabbath, Kyng 2016 Tour Dates

09/28 – Buffalo, NY @ The Town Ballroom

09/30 – Lakewood, NJ @ First Energy Park – Rock Carnival *

10/01 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE

10/02 – Louisville, KY @ Champions Park – Louder Than Life *

10/04 – Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues

10/05 – Atlanta, GA @ The Buckhead Theatre

10/07 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre Street Stage

10/08 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live

10/10 – Little Rock, AR @ Metroplex

10/11 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom

10/12 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater

10/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo

10/15 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl

10/16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom

10/18 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater

10/20 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater

10/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue

10/22 – Sioux City, IA @ Anthem at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

10/24 – Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note ** NO Zakk Sabbath

10/25 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues

10/27 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater

10/28 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore

10/29 – Clifton Park, NY @Upstate Concert Hall

10/30 – Worcester, MA @ The Palladium

* festival appearance

CLUTCH:

Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar

Tim Sult – Guitar

Dan Maines – Bass

Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion

For more information, check out the band’s website:

www.pro-rock.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/clutchband

Instagram: www.instagram.com/clutchofficial

Twitter: www.twitter.com/clutchofficial

Official: www.pro-rock.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/officialclutch

Live: Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, and Valkyrie – June 10, 2016 – Ft. Wayne, Indiana

Sadly, I could find none of these lying around to snag while I was there.

I will see Clutch at any opportunity, so I wouldn’t pass up the chance to see them a little over an hour’s drive from my house and in my old punk rock stomping grounds of Fort Wayne, Indiana. We got to the Pierre’s entertainment complex in time to hear the last two songs of Valkyrie’s set. They reminded me a bit of Sleep – heavy stoner riffs and Black Sabbath-like vocals.

Legendary metal rockers Corrosion of Conformity were up next. My wife asked, “This is going to be a blast of metal, isn’t it? With a name like Corrosion of Conformity, I imagine it’s going to be pretty loud.”

She was right, of course. They dropped more metal in the place than a crane at a scrapyard. “Who’s Got the Fire?”, “Broken Man,” “Albatross,” “Seven Days,” “My Grain,” and “The Door” were all big hits with the crowd. It was no surprise that the band played “Vote with a Bullet” in an election year show, and even less of a surprise that the crowd went nuts for it.

A tall man in a trucker cap and sleeves shirt stood next to me with his right arm raised to throw devil horns for almost the entire COC set. He was the type of guy who’d worked all week at a truck parts factory in the summer heat knowing it would all be worth it because he was going to see Corrosion of Conformity that weekend. It was a metal set for a metal crowd, and that guy next to me was Midwest metal all the way. I’m sure he was pleased as punch when COC announced they’d have a new album in 2017.

Clutch, as is customary whenever I’ve seen them, opened with two fast rockers. “X-Ray Visions” and “Firebids,” both off Psychic Warfare. They had the crowd in their hands within the first verse of “X-Ray Visions.” I heard my first Jean-Paul Gaster drum solo that led into a powerful rendition of “Immortal.” “A Shogun Named Marcus” was an unexpected surprise from their first record before they jumped forward more than two decades to blast out “Sucker for the Witch” and then slow down for “Son of Virginia” off the new record.

“Pulaski Skyway” was another bit hit with the crowd thanks to its “Andy Warhol / CBGB’s” chant and jab at Donald Trump (“Chump Towers”). “Behold the Colossus” is a fine example of Clutch’s epic Dungeons and Dragons rock, and it was a fine combination that night with “Cypress Grove” and its lyrics about a cult of mysterious women. Where else but a Clutch show will you see hundreds of metalhead dudes pumping their fists and singing / chanting about women in wide brim hats? Plus, Tim Sult’s guitar solo on “Cypress Grove” was outstanding.

“Your Love Is Like Incarceration” led into another surprise (for me, at least) – “Strange Cousins from the West.” I hadn’t heard that live since I first saw Clutch in 2009 at a street fair in Chicago when they were promoting that record.

A great part of the set was when Neil Fallon acknowledged Corrosion of Conformity’s influence on the band and brought out COC front man Pepper Keenan to jam with them on “Spacegrass.” The crowd went nuts to the point of chanting “C-O-C” like they did at the end of COC’s set.

Clutch with Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity

“Noble Savage” was a strong way to end their main set, with the crowd chanting “Unapologetic lifer for rock and roll.” Their encore included “The House that Peterbuilt,” “Electric Worry” (a favorite of my wife), and “One Eye Dollar.”

“We started this tour in Florida,” Neil Fallon said at one point during the show. “Then we went to Mississippi, then to Arizona, and this is by far the hottest show of the tour. No contest.”

The crowd cheered for this, and the band showed no signs of fatigue. Neil Fallon even made sure to ask us if we had a second wind at one point and that getting tired was “unacceptable.” It had been in the low 90’s with tropical rainforest-like humidity in Fort Wayne all day, and the inside of Pierre’s (with its minimal air conditioning) was like a sweat lodge – perfect for a show meant to melt your face, perfect for Midwest metal lovers like the guy with the Clutch logo tattoo across his throat I saw at a convenience store after the show, and a perfect end to the work week.

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Doug Weber for getting me a press pass to this show and for being an all-around cool cat.]

Voodoo Music Festival announces lineup.

New Orleans’ annual Voodoo Music & Arts Festival has announced its 2016 lineup. Tool is a big catch, as they’re not playing as many live dates as they used to in the 00’s (and the same can be said for Arcade Fire) and Maynard Keenan’s side band, Puscifer, is also playing the festival.

Die Antwoord are nuts, as is Ghost. I’d love to see The Claypool Lennon Delirium and All Them Witches. The festival is Halloween weekend in New Orleans. You can’t miss, really. A three-day pass is only $140.00.

Keep your mind open.

LouFest announces lineup.

St. Louis’ LouFest has announced the lineup for their September 10-11th festival this year. I don’t know how they scored LCD Soundsystem so early after Lollapalooza, but kudos to them.

The Kills, Buddy Guy, The Heavy, and Caveman are also fine additions. This is LouFest’s seventh year, so shame on me for not knowing about it sooner. A two-day pass in only $95.00!

Keep your mind open.

Fort Wayne’s inaugural Middle Waves festival already has a killer lineup.

Fort Wayne, Indiana’s first alternative / psych / multi-genre music festival, Middle Waves, will be held in Headwaters Park in downtown Fort Wayne September 16-17, 2016.

The initial lineup announcement is stunning: The Flaming Lips, Jeff the Brotherhood, Beach House, Doomtree, Either/Or, Metavari, and Heaven’s Gateway Drugs. More bands will be announced as summer rolls along. There will be three stages, food trucks, art installments, and a host of all-ages events. Get your tickets now before early bird pricing sells out.

Keep your mind open.

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Riot Fest 2016 announces first wave of bands.

Riot Fest has announced it’s first wave of bands for their Denver and Chicago festivals. Both can boast a Misfits reunion, which is one of the biggest tickets of the year.

Denver comes first (Sept. 02-04) and has some excellent headliners. Jane’s Addiction, Sleater-Kinney, Bad Religion, Sleigh Bells, and Yo La Tengo are all excellent choices.

Chicago is two weeks later, and I’ll be attending. I’m not only keen on seeing the Misfits, but also The Specials, Bad Religion, The Hives, Bob Mould, Juliette Lewis and the Licks, and, yes, Morrissey. I have a lot of bands to research. The first one I’ve heard is Sleepy Kitty, and I think they’re already on my first-tier list.

Get your tickets before they sell out. They’ll go even quicker now that the first wave has been announced.

Keep your mind open.

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Firefly Music Festival 2016 lineup announced.

If you think there’s nothing to do in Delaware, you might want to check out the Firefly Music Festival June 16-19th. A four-day pass is less than $350.00 and they have a big lineup this year. Kings of Leon, Florence & the Machine, and Deadmau5 are big scores on the festival circuit this year. Tame Impala, Flogging Molly, M83, A$AP Rocky, Blink-182, Major Lazer, and The 1975 are also fine additions. Check it out.

Keep your mind open.

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