Archive: 2008

Nada  Surf’s has announced plans for their Spring  2008 tour.  Starting  at  SXSW,  the  tour  will  see   the  band  supporting theirforthcoming full-length release "Lucky" due out on  February  5th, 2008. Nada Surf  have  already  sold  out  a short   five-date   run   in late January/early February that will take them down the west  coast  and end in […]

Taylor Hicks might have won "American Idol," but he doesn’t have his record deal anymore. Taylor Hicks was boosted by his "Soul Patrol" on "American Idol." The soul singer, who claimed the "Idol" title in 2006, has apparently been dropped by J Records, a label within Sony-BMG, which signs the show’s singers. "Taylor is going […]

The Shotgun is a monthly series of shotgun album reviews by Glide contributor Eric Saeger.

There’s no dates or venues yet, but Radiohead has confirmed the cities for its North American summer tour. The first leg will come prior to the band’s summer European jaunt, which begins June 6 in Dublin, while the second leg will start after the European dates end July 8 in Berlin. Radiohead last toured in […]

The fine folks at Brooklyn Vegan certainly caught our attention today when they posted this mind-blowing potential lineup for Thursday night’s Jimmy Vivino/Bill Graham birthday celebration at BB King’s in Times Square.

Thursday Jan 10th at BB KIng’s. “Return To The Fillmore East” With….. THE PRISONERS OF 2ND AVE Featuring: JIMMY VIVINO, RICH PAGANO + JOHN CONTE

Bill Graham Birthday Show!
-and-
A Jimmy Vivino Birthday Celebration!

With special guests and special friends …

THE FAB FAUX, LEVON HELM, WILLIE NILE, AL KOOPER, WARREN HAYNES, PAUL SHAFFER, JOHN SEBASTIAN, DAVID JOHANSEN, HUBERT SUMLIN, ROBERT GORDON, CATHERINE RUSSELL, LARRY CAMPBELL

All of these legendary performers has a long history with Vivino, so this certainly isn’t beyond the realm of possibilities. The BB King website listing for the show is playing coy, but a recent press release we received may prove it’s worth: “The evening promises to be colorful and it would be beneath us to advertise the names of current and former lineups who want to celebrate and play.”

Tickets are still available at the moment (half-price with the code ‘OFFER’). Do any of our readers out there have any inside information about this show?

Face it, hipsters: Nothing beats the peak of a red-hot jam. But many of the jambands left on the scene just don’t do it for Some Dude of Hits from the Blog, so he’s here to coach us on which bands we should turn to for greatness…

Let’s face it, folks, the jamband scene is dead and decomposing. The Fat Man isn’t walking through that door; pre-hiatus Big Red isn’t walking through that door. The bands left in the wake of the once-thriving scene of the late ’90s/early aughts have either hit their ceiling, called it quits or are currently cashing in as glorified cover bands. So as we all wait for the next big thing to violently shake up the scene and make it relevant again, it’s time to broaden our horizons.

While some have resorted to labeling bands “post jam” — sorry, I almost threw up in my mouth after typing that — to sugarcoat it, I’m here to tell you there is no such thing (apologies, Mr. Greenhaus). For something to be post-anything it has have been influenced by its predecessor, and I doubt the members of bands like Wilco and My Morning Jacket were slinging veggie burritos and selling homemade blown glass out of a 1987 Chevy Shitbox in the Phish tour lot.

There are, however, exciting bands out there that should appeal to those of us rooted in classic rock and improvised jamming, groups that have opted to jump head-first into the indie-rock pool like the two mentioned above. So without any further posturing, I’d like to introduce you to the musical stylings of Portland’s own Blitzen Trapper. Read on for less lecturing and more music…

So just how awesome is Microsoft founder Bill Gates? This guy can apparently pick up a phone and get Slash to play some Guns ‘N Roses licks any time, anywhere. That’s what happened during Gates’ last-ever keynote address at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Check out the video, four minutes into it. […]

New York Indie artist Ari Hest will launch an ambitious new project titled "52," a web-based subscription service designed to deliver a new song each week throughout 2008 to all registrants, with his first single titled "One Two." At the end of the year, Hest will compile the top tracks as voted by fans on […]

This Mardi Gras (February 5th), OK Go and Bonerama will release You’re Not Alone, a five-song digital EP. OK Go spent the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina recording with the New Orleans soul trombone band at Piety Street Studios deep in the city’s Upper 9th Ward. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the EP […]

They don’t like to show their faces, they don’t do many interviews but Toronto duo, Crystal Castles are going to get in front of a lot of people on their 6 week tour they’ve just announced. The tour is book-ended by 2 "secret location" shows.  The dates, which kick off February 21 in Toronto ON, […]

The bottom line is that There Will Be Blood is not only possibly Anderson's best, but one of the best films of the last twenty years. 

Jose Gonzales has announced an upcoming tour of North America, and revealed plans to make it an environmentally-friendly excursion. Gonzales will tour in partnership with Reverb, “a non-profit organization designed to educate and engage music fans and promote environmental sustainability”, and every effort will be made to be eco-conscious throughout. His plans include biodegradable catering […]

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 song off that forthcoming album, Heavenly Bender, and now we’ve got our first sniff of the second: Check out the newly released single, So Good […]

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, a considerable distance to most of my classrooms and the insatiable urge to sit around and get high all the time. Most of my lectures […]

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.

We’ll look back fondly on our first full year in action, a period that saw us publish 1,127 posts — not bad for two guys draped in business casual collecting fortnightly pay-stubs. We tried to inform and entertain and stay up with the ridiculous nature of the music business that so often frustrates but makes […]

Bi-coastal Danish transplants The Raveonettes will embark on a North American tour (dates below) in Februrary in support of their VICE Records debut, Lust Lust Lust.  The jaunt will be preceded by a lone stop alongside Blonde Redhead at New York’s Terminal 5 later this month. Set to kick off ten days after the record’s […]

Japan’s legendary underground group Boredoms are returning to the US in 2008 for a rare and very special series of dates this Spring.  More relevant now than ever, Boredoms have recently been heralded for their 77 BOADRUM event in 2007 in New York City, where band leader Eye directed a phalanx of 77 drummers playing […]