March 26, 2007

If you’ve been following the harrowing immigration saga of the male half of the most impressive acoustic thrash metal guitar duo on the planet, we’re happy to report Rodrigo Sanchez has been cleared for entry into the United States. I guess my wire-cutter and ten-gallon jug of water won’t be necessary after all.

Here’s the latest piece of news from the duo’s website:

Rodrigo Sanchez, half of the ATO Recording artists Rodrigo Y Gabriela, has successfully procured his Entertainment Working Visa from the American Embassy in Mexico City on Friday March 23, 2007. Mr. Sanchez is officially clear to continue Rodrigo Y Gabriela’s highly-anticipated U.S. tour beginning on April 14 in Los Angeles, CA. The band will also perform live on The Jimmy Kimmel Show on April 13.

And the band played on…Good to know this tour will proceed as planned. Read on for some cool Rodrigo Y Gabriela videos and the full spring tour dates.

One of Canada’s finest exports is returning to these United States.

Legendary rock trio Rush today announced a monstrous 62-show, five-month Snakes & Arrows World Tour that’ll take them through North America and Europe, with tickets for most shows going on sale later this week.

I’m excited to hit one of these shows, just to see Geddy Lee and Neil Peart in person and on stage before I die (well, actually, before they die). Relatedly, outside of big Rush fans, is guitarist Alex Lifeson the most unknown third member of a rock trio in the history of music? I vote yes, but I’ll open it up for discussion.

It’s nice to see Geddy Lee get time away from ESPN’s Baseball Tonight studio for this tour. Read on for the full tour dates, which follow after the jump…

Gene Ween isn’t dead, even though he finished Friday night’s show at the Gramercy Theater by eulogizing himself in an awkwardly funny version of Gener’s Gone. The gentleman who entered life as Aaron Freeman played an entertaining 80-minute set that featured forgotten album tracks, a cover of Space Oddity, and a few Ween classics. Ween‘s principal singer was even joined at parts of the show by his band’s bass player “Diamond” Dave Dreiwitz and drummer Claude Coleman.

Read on for a full review, some more photos and a couple of videos from Friday’s fantastic show at the Gramercy Theater in New York…

It was Friday afternoon, and all of the sudden the impact of a long work week had me doubting my decision to spend my weekend seeing multiple concerts. The moment