January 7, 2008

With apologies to Chris Harford, it’s Chris Robinson that fronts the real Band of Changes. And today the oft-evolving Black Crowes — with Luther Dickinson affixed in the latest incarnation of the lineup surrounding the Brothers Robinson — announced they’ll be playing smaller venues for a run of one-time engagements.

Was the end of that last sentence oxymoronic enough for ya? Regardless of semantics, the Black Crowes sent out a note that they’ll be playing the new album, Warpaint, in its entirety on stage during a special run of “One Night Only” shows. The Crowes will play the material from its first new album in seven years (due out March 4th) at smaller theaters before moving on to “songs from their catalog and selected surprises.” That whole deal sounds pretty sweet to us.

“One Night Only” tour dates:

Mar. 02 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
Mar. 04 – New York, NY – The Fillmore @ Irving Plaza
Mar. 05 – Boston, MA – Somerville Theatre
Mar. 07 – Chicago, IL – Park West
Mar. 09 – Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle
Mar. 15 – Austin, TX – SXSW @ Stubb’s BBQ (not part of the “One Night Only” shows)
Mar. 19 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
Mar. 20 – Los Angeles, CA – The Avalon

Check out the full press release after the jump…but we summed it up fine.

We’re anxiously awaiting the late-Spring album release from the band whose namesake may or may not have bedded Mike Piazza. One month ago we linked to Sam Champion’s first downloadable

New Year’s Eve is always a unique gig for both a band and its rabid fan base, but Umphrey’s McGee’s December 31 concert at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom took on special meaning — the occasion also marked a celebration of UM’s 10th anniversary as a band. Burdened with the lofty expectations of dual celebrations, the scene was set for a letdown, or even a disaster. But, instead, Umphrey’s delivered a fine performance and experience that satisfied even the most jaded of fans.

Photos by Matt Ziegler

Umphrey’s inaugural Black and White Ball capped off a three-night run at an Aragon Ballroom, a fine room that’s quickly becoming the band’s home venue. Each show featured non-stop music from the band, supporting acts and a dynamic lineup of DJs spinning vinyl. To augment the music, Umphrey’s spared no expense setting up a massive[ly awesome] light rig, including a meshed screen that the band used to display all sorts of mind-blowing images.

One of the cool things about Umphrey’s NYE show is that they eschewed an opening act in favor of their showing a 30-minute video profiling their first 10 years as a band. The documentary was extremely well-created, giving the fans behind-the-scenes footage, as well as clips from many of the most important concerts in the band’s history. My favorite part of the film was when they showed guitarist Jake Cinninger shredding a guitar solo worthy of Eddie Van Halen at age 14. That only helps to prove my theory that the guy is an alien put on this earth to rip face-melters. Read on for much more from Umphrey’s NYE show…

I tried my best to attend my college classes as frequently as possible. Far too often, however, those efforts suffered drastically from a lethal combination of Chicago’s notorious inclement weather,

In one of the first big shocks of 2008, French house duo Justice will be headlining a gig at MSG on March 11th. Can somebody explain to us how a band [not named Hannah Montana] with one album under its belt expects to fill the Garden? Justice’s show is part of the MySpace Music tour, with Chromeo, Busy P. and Fancy supporting the duo; in other words, the opening acts can’t be counted on to sell tickets. You can buy your tickets now using the password edbanger.

Let’s start off the week by seeing what’s goin’ on around the nets:

• Did you know Mike Huckabee once pardoned Keith Richards?
• Marty Crandall of The Shins allegedly likes to beat women
• A massive collection of old reggae recordings was stolen from the archives of the Jamaican Broadcasting Network
• Guitarist Hubert Sumlin continues to shine at age 76
• The Times asks whether musicians are any good at blogging?
• The Foo Fighters are looking for an unsigned instrumentalists
• Big Head Todd and the Monsters are trying something completely different by giving out their new album
• Uncle Neddy runs down the NYC shows of the week

Finally, for our friends in New York, watch out for the striking Ninja Bandit.