Category — Concerts

Halloween is a pretty cool night to see a show, people are usually dressed up in costume and drinking a lot, this year will be especially cool because Halloween is on a Friday.

The only problem is what show should you go to? I just recently did a search on Ticketmaster.com for Halloween concerts happening in the LA area. There are a lot. There are some shows I was really surprised at. For example, Hoobastank, (remember them?), are playing at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, thats just kind of sad. From the top of the pop charts to a dinner club in suburban Agoura Hills. I guess the pay is good.

There is also Rise Against at the Hollywood Palladium. Indie 103.1 Horrorpops at the Anaheim House of Blues. Cypress Hill at The Wiltern, billed as “Haunted Hill” and even All-Star spook comedy at the Laugh Factory. There are too many concerts to list, so check it out for yourself. And if you don’t like any of them, have your own Halloween party and have your own band play it (if you have one).

Metallica is set to begin production rehearsals for their latest tour on Monday in San Francisco, the tour kicks off on October 21st in Arizona. According to drummer Lars Ulrich the band will play “a lot of new songs” from “Death Magnetic” on this tour.

The band has not toured the US for quite some time. When they’ve toured on new albums in the past they’ve been pretty conservative when playing new songs. Ulrich explains…

“These new songs are a lot of fun to play,” Ulrich tells Billboard.com. “Traditionally I think we’ve been a little conservative when we’ve started off with two songs, three songs (from the new album). We’re going to hit the ground running here. We’re probably gonna learn all of them and play, I hope, at least five a night and probably rotate ‘em so we get a lot of new songs in. That’s one thing I’m definite about.”

One of the reasons the band is so keen to play the new material is because its been heralded by fans and critics as a return to form. “Death Magnetic” has already sold almost 3 million copies worldwide and over 1 million in the US alone.

“It’s just an overwhelming, positive thing,”. “You couldn’t have told me a month ago or six months ago that we would have a record that would be this well-received. It seems like it’s so universal this time and it’s all over the world and everybody’s so into it on so many different levels — the fans, press, the peers … everybody.”

The band’s stage setup will be “in the round” once again but different from previous tours, involving a huge, moving lighting rig above the band.

I remember seeing footage of the band during the Black Album era and I believe they’ve been playing “in the round” since then. I recently checked out even older Metallica videos on YouTube and was surprised to see Kirk Hammett playing a lot of Ibanez guitars. Regardless of what guitars they’re playing this time around, its the first time I’ve personally wanted to see a Metallica concert in a long while because I think some of the new material is great.

Source.

My Bloody Valentine closed out its 7 date U.S. reunion tour last night in Santa Monica, CA, which generated more than $1 million dollars in gross.

Billboard has an excellent piece on the band, detailing the specifics of the tour and showing how much of an ordeal it really is to plan and execute a successful tour. The tour was in the works for a long time and the band were heavily rumored to be reuniting for last year’s Coachella Festival, but they weren’t ready just yet.

“Tollett came in with an enormous offer for the band to play the 2008 festival, which would have made it financially feasible for Shields to re-form and properly equip MBV. But the band wasn’t ready to take the stage by late April, so Shields opted instead to team with All Tomorrow’s Parties co-founder Barry Hogan for an opening salvo of U.K. dates starting in June, followed by some international festival appearances. MBV also agreed to headline the New York ATP show and then build a short North American tour around it.”

“Playing for a guarantee sources say was six figures not counting sizable merch sales, MBV laid waste to audiences with crushingly loud 90-minute sets, each of which ended with the wall-rattling feedback barrage “You Made Me Realise.”

It’s great to see that the band has set the stage for another tour and that they will most likely continue on with new album plans. A lot of people are going to be happy about this.

Source.

A lot of artists are performing in support of Obama, the list keeps growing but includes Bruce Springsteen, Vampire Weekend, The National, The Breeders and many more.

Now I know that Jay-Z is a hip-hop artist and not really guitar-centric in any way. However, he did come on stage as the headliner of Glastonbury 2008 with a Fender guitar over his shoulder, which he used to make fun of Oasis with. Also, I think its really cool that he’s doing these free shows, because not only does it give people a fun evening, but younger fans of his are more likely to listen to Jay-Z than anyone else when it comes to voting.

The free concerts will be taking place in Detroit, MI and Miami, FL.

Ticket info for the shows:

(October 4th) Detroit MI, Cobo Arena

(October 5th) Miami, FL Bayfront Park Amphitheater

Source.

Lately, the internet has been abuzz with rumors of a Led Zeppelin reunion tour and possibly an album. The rumors seemed to suggest that the reunion lineup would include vocalist Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham (John Bonham’s son).

Now, Robert Plant (via his website) has spoken out about the rumors, stating that he “has no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years.”

Since Led Zeppelin reunited for a show at London’s 02 Arena there have been rumors that they would do a tour, with or without Robert Plant, if they found that he didn’t want to participate. This appears to be untrue, although it is worth noting that he mentions he has no intention of “touring with anyone for at least the next two years.” So does this mean there is a possibility in two years? We know he has been very busy with Alison Krauss, and has gotten critical acclaim for their recent release. Only time will tell I guess.

Source.

This past weekend My Bloody Valentine took the stage in New York as the headliner of the All Tomorrow’s Parties music festival, their first show in the US in 16 years. Other artists performing included Shellac, OM, Dinosaur Jr, The Meat Puppets, Thurston Moore, Les Savy Fav, Built To Spill, Tortoise, Yo La Tengo, Mogwai and many others.

I wish I could’ve gone, but I couldn’t make it, so once again Stereogum saves the day with great coverage. Their coverage is worth checking out as they have amazing photos and video. Judging by the photo’s, MBV had their usual array of Fender guitars, including Jazzmasters and Mustangs. They also had a lot of Marshall stacks so I’m sure the show was deafeningly loud.

Regarding Stereogum’s review, its nice to see a music site that has honest writers (ahem…pitchfork). It’s not that I think pitchfork writers aren’t honest but it seems that their level of fan-boy excitement tends to leave out certain details. From Stereogum’s piece on the set…

“The Stardust Ballroom sound, which sounded flawless for Shellac and others, crapped out here/there: MBV’s vocals were occasionally too low, the bass fuzzed out, and it was a bummer that so many of the riffs and accents were pre-sampled (Kevin and Belinda often strummed power chords). But! It was undeniably great to hear “Only Shallow,” “Sue Is Fine,” and “When You Wake” at massive volumes.”

It is kind of a bummer that the band is using pre-sampled stuff, but I’m sure any MBV show would be a good time if you’re a fan. Maybe I’ll catch ATP NY next year.

Source.

This year in Minehead, UK, All Tomorrow’s Parties is hosting Nightmare Before Christmas, a festival curated by none other than The Melvins and Mike Patton.

The festival starts on Friday, December 5th and goes through Sunday the 7th. The lineup, (at least for my tastes), is awesome.

The Melvins, Fantomas, Isis, Squarepusher, Butthole Surfers, Big Business, Dalek, The Black Heart Procession, Mastodon, The Damned, The Meat Puppets, Os Mutantes, Joe Lally and Monotonix are all bands I would love to see, especially on one bill.

The only problem with the festival is that a lot of fans here in the states aren’t going to be able to make it. As soon as this event occurs and other sites start to get some coverage up I will try and compile it here.

ATP Official Site.

The Smashing Pumpkins are gearing up to release a double-disc DVD set entitled “If All Goes Wrong” on November 11th.

According to pitchforkmedia…”The first disc features the titular documentary, which chronicles the band’s reunion and live residencies in San Francisco and Asheville, North Carolina last year through interviews with band members, fans, journalists, and other musicians. Also on the disc: a featurette about Pumpkins fans called Voices of the Ghost Children and, inexplicably, an interview with the Who’s Pete Townshend.”

The 2nd disc features “The Fillmore Residency”, performances from the bands residency at The Fillmore in San Francisco. The 2nd disc also contains 5 bonus tracks from the Fillmore performances.

This seems like the perfect Christmas gift for Smashing Pumpkins fans. It is obvious at this point that former members James Iha and D’Arcy refused Billy Corgan’s reunion offer. To me, having them on board is what would truly have made it a Smashing Pumpkins reunion.

A while back info about the Fender Jazzmaster 50th Anniversary Concert in NYC was posted here, well the event took place and Pitchforkmedia.com managed to get some good photos up on their site.

It seems like somewhat of a big event to have for a Fender guitar but it’s an important one. The Fender Jazzmaster and Jaguar proved to be incredibly influential during the formative years of alternative rock. Bands like Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, My Bloody Valentine and countless others would go on to re-popularize the Jazzmaster and Jaguar.

During the early 90’s Jazzmasters and Jaguars were largely regarded as surf-music guitars by most players. As a result you could buy high-quality vintage versions of these guitars for around $200 or $300. As a result of their popularity vintage models now routinely sell for thousands of dollars. I’m pretty sure they’ll do a similar event for the 50th anniversary of the Fender Jaguar as well.

Dischord Records founder and Fugazi frontman Ian MacKaye participated in a debate/discussion with Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore at the Brooklyn Book Fair, yesterday. According to Billboard.com MacKaye and Moore discussed issues ranging from advertising and record sales to a packed audience. An excerpt from Billboard’s piece on the discussion…

“In response to the moderator’s use of the word “Google” as a verb, MacKaye began the panel with a rant about the danger of language being a branded commodity. He then discussed his band’s now-legendary $5 cover policy, saying that there are always ways for the music industry to be more efficient. At the same time, he encouraged the audience to support artists by buying their music and seeing their shows.”

“Finally, the pair addressed the hot-button issue of indie bands associating with brands. MacKaye claimed the notion that working with brands was the only way to expose music is a conceit created by advertisers, and that all bands have a choice as to whether or not to sell their songs.”

This event seems like it would’ve been really cool to attend, it doesn’t say whether or not the audience got a Q&A type setup with MacKaye or Moore but one would expect something like that to occur. It would be great to see a video or hear audio of the event, if I find out its been posted somewhere I will definitely re-post that here.