Archive: 2006

On their debut album No Midnight, Birdmonster has succeeded in producing a work that ought to please fans of generic indie rock – while not particularly challenging them.

Having gone from being an unknown Brooklyn band playing in bowling alleys, to selling out major clubs in every corner of the country, the group has recently emerged with a new album that’s been listed in Rolling Stone as the number one college album in the country.

Both accompaniments encapsulate the ‘fledgling rock band sweating it out night after night’ motif, though this one leaves you with more than just potential. Rock ‘n’ Roll Band is a colorful chapter in what promises to be a grand career.

New Monsoon has announced that veteran bassist Ron Johnson will be joining the band, effective December 1. Johnson is best known for his work with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. This has been a busy year for Johnson, who is currently finishing a stint with Chris Berry and Pangea. He also toured and recorded with Mike […]

Welcome back to The B List — we’re glad you made it to Thursday. Last week we posted a Top 10 list. But this week, like a Frito-Lay product in a bigger bag, we are giving you “30% MORE” for free, just because we like the cut of your jib. Don’t take it for granted, for who knows what next week […]

Pardon my thinly veiled East Coast bias here, but there’s no better arena in the country that matches up to Madison Square Garden. The stench of history, the sheer electricity, the kinetic energy, the $23 personal pizza…the life. Good news: the friendly programming executives at the MSG Nework have brilliantly green-lighted a 10-episode series that […]

Charlie Hunter and his latest Trio brought the rock star flavor back to jazz in Richmond the other night. Despite a particularly vicious bout with tendonitis, Hunter displayed no signs of discomfort. It wasn’t until after completing the two sets of music that Hunter applied ice to his invisible wound, enjoying Black Sabbath’s "Sweet Leaf" over the speakers.

If you thought Johnny Colt joining Train was bad, don’t read any further.   Rock Star Supernova has drafted the former Black Crowes member to replace bassist Jason Newsted, who is out for up to nine months after tearing his bicep and rotator cuff. Colt will appear with the group when it makes it national TV […]

Since the dawn of rock and/or roll, bands have circled Halloween on their calendars as one of those special occasions. From the Grateful Dead routinely breaking out Werewolves of London to Zappa playing New York City to the popular rock band Phish covering a historical album for its second of three sets, Halloween traditions and enthusiasm can be found all over the scene.

That tradition continued last night and this past weekend, as many artists and groups played those special kinds of shows all across these United States. We’ll begin here with Widespread Panic, and read on after the jump for 11 more reports from around the country. And now, little man, we present this round-up to you…

Widespread Panic – MGM Grand, Las Vegas NV

One of the longest and strongest Halloween resumes belongs to Widespread Panic. The band gave some love to their fallen brother (Airplane), JerryBear (Morning Dew), and fellow Athens band REM (Can’t Get Here From There). I’m sure many Spreadnecks passed out at their computers when this setlist came rolling in.

Here’s your one reminder, then you’re on your own forever: Every Wednesday I scour the world wide web to bring you some of the best circulating torrents — both audio and video — that you may not have noticed floating around the information superhighway. Away we go with Vol. II:

The Breakfast – October 27^th, 2006
http://www.archive.org/details/breakfast2006-10-27.483.flac16

New Haven’s famed Toad’s Place on Friday hosted the 8^th Annual Fonghoulish Freakout. Recently The Breakfast parted ways with their keyboard player and became a trio, and at this show the band celebrated the great rock trios that came before them. Throughout the night they played Working Man (Rush), Angel (Hendrix), Welcome To This World (Primus), I Feel Free (Cream), We’re An American Band (Grand Funk Railroad), Synchronicity II (The Police), and Lithium (Nirvana). Stand-out originals include Gladys Pimp and Kangaroo With Me, as well as Taboo or Not Taboot.

My night unofficially ended at 2:40 am, when I stood outside my Bleecker Street apartment wondering if the spins would ever stop. At that moment, an Eastern European man in his late 20s approached me and said, “Excuse me, sir. You have toilet?” He held out two dollars, his face looked pained and he was definitely not in costume or character. “No. Dude, just no,” I managed to blurt out, and I headed upstairs to crash harder than Billy Joel. Ho, snap, girlfriend, a Billy Joel joke! I’m so fresh. What’s next, something about Paris Hilton?

My night officially began before 8 pm, when I stood bare-chested inside my Bleecker Street apartment wondering how drunk I could possibly get on a weeknight and still wake up in time for work. Kenny Alias was the first to arrive, “fresh from Deer Creek.” He had just wandered the West Village streets whispering “doses” and looking for a sixer of “phatty Sammy Smiths,” making his way up to my place early to tell me what a disaster the current crop of Tweezers have been. “Things were way better before the hiatus,” he lamented, never breaking his jaded vet character once.

The party had yet to start in earnest, but guests began to trickle in. “Hey, you wanna hit a bowl before more people get here?” I offered Kenny.

Without missing a beat, Kenny responded, “Nah, I’ve gotta work on an insane Motion for Reconsideration tomorrow.” You can take the wook out of the federal judge clerkship, but you can’t take the federal judge clerkship out of the wook.

If you are a fan of Citizen Cope’s music, and don’t require more than an artist to run flawlessly through their catalogue, Citizen Cope may be exactly the show for you. If you want to see an artist that will challenge, engage, or even simply entertain you, think about buying his admittedly good CDs.

The 19-day tour will kick off January 4th at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall and wraps up January 23rd at the El Rey in Los Angeles.

Before most people ever heard of Pete Yorn there was one single drumbeat and one quirky movie, Me, Myself and Irene. The drumbeat evolved into an opener for the track, “Strange Condition” and as for the drummer…six years later and a full trilogy released, this singer-songwriter continues to hold listeners captive.

We don’t have any poisoned Three Musketeers or Syphilis-infested Twix bars, but we are doling out a heaping handful of old Halloween shows today. Enjoy the free streams, and remember to stay out of Old Man Bernstein’s house… Black Crowes – 10/31/05, Riviera Theater Bob Marley – 10/31/73, The Record Plant Bruce Hornsby – 10/31/98, Yoshi’s […]

It’s Tuesday, time for another exciting edition of Pullin’ ‘Tubes. Now if you would please, let’s all turn to the music section of your hymnals, and let’s begin on three with the Chairman of the Board: I know Sinatra’s supposed to be this great untouchable force, but I can’t watch him sing without bursting into […]

Our man on the inside of Sunday night’s much-discussed, oft-Googled Rolling Stones concert bartered Injun-style with a member of Scorsese’s thugs for this copy of an annotated setlist. Interestingly enough, Brown Sugar is listed on this dually notarized document, but the band omitted it from the actual performance. Racism? I sure as shit wouldn’t rule it out.

Anyway, Hal Hansen’s a Friend of the Program here, and he so graciously offered to submit us a full review of the evening’s festivities. What follows is probably the most comprehensive review of anything ever, but it’ll also serve as the best eyewitness recap from the perspective of That Random Guy Just Like You that you’ll find anywhere on the information superhighway. So read on after the jump, or else Hal will surely cut you…job well done, sir.

The Iceland Airwaves festival is a unique thing. Take SXSW, keep the sunshine but transfer all that heat to the ground where it comes up in massive hot pools of swirling steam and add a larger selection of emerging European bands.

Umphrey’s McGee played the first night of a two-show quasi-homestand at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom on December 30th, 2005, and that evening Brett Saul captured a great picture from the stage that has made it all around the world wide web.

Judging from the front rail alone, you can probably guess that this particular UM concert was an all ages show. We know, that’s not new, you’ve seen this photo before. But there’s plenty more to the story…

Our friend and unofficial photographer/videographer Hal Hansen went down to the Beacon Theater last night for the first of two Scorsese-filmed Rolling Stones shows, and he’ll weigh in with an update soon. As a preview, here’s what he’s got: “That Loving Cup was far and away the musical highlight. Other highlights included high-fiving Keith Olberman, […]