Jason DeBord's Rock Subculture Journal

The Psychedelic Furs | James at Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort & Casino | Reno, Nevada | 8/3/2019 (Concert Review + Photos)

by

“…hopefulness and lifting up and then deep, deep grief and then lifting up… because that seems to be the human experience right now, doesn’t it?”  Tim Booth of James, part of their co-headlining tour across North America with The Psychedelic Furs this summer, with one of their last stops in Reno at the Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort & Casino.  When the band first came out on the stage, he commented that they had just changed up their set list in reaction to the news coming out of Texas.  Both bands put on stellar shows and each seemed to have their own respective hardcore fans as the audiences seemed to change up in-between sets.  I really enjoyed seeing James for the first time and The Psychedelic Furs play at one of my favorite venues with a massive stage and stellar lighting.

[Read more…]

Dido at The Masonic | San Francisco, California | 6/26/2019 (Concert Review + Photos) (Bonus Portland + Seattle Mini Reviews/Photos)

by

“…one of the reasons it passed so quickly for me was actually – I had a kid.  He’s magic.  And I’ve basically wanted to hang out with him so I’m sorry I disappeared.” Dido offering some explanation of why she’s not done a world tour for the past 15 years, and as an introduction to one of two encore songs – her very personal “Have To Stay” – in her performance at The Masonic in San Francisco on Wednesday night.  I’m actually one of those people who have waited to see her for the past 15 years, so it was an amazing experience.  Supporting her brilliant new album, Still On My Mind, Dido played many hits and lots of new music, and still left us all wanting more, even with a 20-song set.  This was actually show #1 of 3 for me and Shelley (Mrs. Rock Subculture), as we took time to also catch the subsequent shows in both Portland and Seattle (mini reviews included below) as Dido wrapped up the U.S. leg of her tour in California and the Pacific Northwest.  Hopefully it won’t be another 15 years for her to come around again, but it was well worth the wait. [Read more…]

Long Awaited Dido World Tour Begins, Supporting New Album “Still On My Mind”

by

Dido’s first world tour in many, many years kicked off in Prague this week.  Supporting her amazing new album, Still On My Mind, this is her first global tour in 15 years.  The tour reaches North America in Chicago in mid-June, and their are opportunities for fans to also buy tickets for a premium experience including meet and greet and an invite to the soundcheck.  It’s been twenty years since Dido’s multi-platinum debut in 1999, No Angel (ultimately selling 21 million copies!). [Read more…]

Notes & Words 2019: Benefit For UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland at Fox Theater (feat. Ryan Tedder & Drew Brown from OneRepublic) | Oakland, California | 4/27/2019

by

“This next song is the first song that we put out… that anybody really cared about.  Ironically, I was making a joke on MySpace earlier, but this is the song that we put onto MySpace back when it was a thing [laughs/cheers].  Yeah.  Just put the Millennial tag on us right now.  We did break on social media, it is true.  But it can be used for good regardless.”  Ryan Tedder, in preface to the hit OneRepublic song, “Apologize”.  A highlight of the 10th Anniversary of the annual Notes & Words: Benefit For UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland event that took place at Fox Theater Oakland on Saturday, April 27th. As per tradition, it featured both writers and musicians on stage, this year with Ryan Tedder & Drew Brown of OneRepublic, Jazz Mafia, Katy Stephan, and the Oakland School for the Arts handling the “notes” side of the show and Oscar winner, Helen Hunt, and Pulitzer Prize winning writer, Andrew Sean Greer, joining the stage with one of the key creative forces behind the event, Kelly Corrigan, taking care of the “words” side of the programming.  Notes & Words is an annual benefit concert created to support the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, which provides the highest quality medical care to children throughout California.  They announced that in the last 9 years, they’ve raised $12,150,000 with this event!  I have heard that this year’s event on Saturday raised more than $3 million dollars.

[Read more…]

Pixies at Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort & Casino | Reno, Nevada | 4/11/2019 (Concert Review + Photos)

by

Black Francis usually doesn’t have much to say on stage, and with the latest show by Pixies at the Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort & Casino on Thursday night, it was mostly to introduce the titles of new songs that will be on their upcoming album expected later this year.  Hearing these songs for the first time myself, I’d honestly say that this as yet untitled new album may be their best since their original quadrilogy.  Which got me thinking, as I took in the show and had fleeting memories of high school (where I counted Pixies and Depeche Mode as my favorite bands)…  all four of their original albums were literally all released while I was in high school (Surfer Rosa in 1988, Doolittle in 1989, Bossanova in 1990 and then Trompe le Monde in 1991) and I saw them quite a few times in concert back in the day (even opening for U2 once).  In any event, I love every song released during those formative four years (except the two I hated), so seeing them jam live is always such a joy, as their music was made to be performed. [Read more…]

Pixies & Weezer North American Concert Dates in April

by

Pixies’ North American tour comes west in April, with shows in Oregon, California, Oakland, Reno and Las Vegas.  Currently co-headlining with Weezer, the band also have some solo dates mixed in as well. [Read more…]

The Psychedelic Furs & James Announce Summer Co-Headlining Tour Across North America

by

This Summer, The Psychedelic Furs and James will embark on a co-headlining tour across North America from early July through early August.  I’ve been fortunate enough to see The Furs a number of times in recent years (one of my favorite artists to see live) but I’ve never had a chance to see James, who have been to the U.S. much less frequently.  Supporting the tour will be L.A.’s Dear Boy. [Read more…]

K.Flay’s “Bad Vibes” Out Everywhere; Intimate Shows in San Francisco and Seattle

by

One of my favorite emerging artists, K.Flay, has put out a new song, “Bad Vibes” produced by Tommy English (Ariana Grande, Kacey Musgraves).  With Night Street/Interscope Records, the two-time Grammy® Award-nominated artist also put out a music video for the new song which was directed by Lorraine Nicholson and co-stars actress Kathryn Gallagher (“Annika” from the Netflix series You).  In conjunction with these releases, K.Flay has announced a handful of shows for fans in intimate venues. This includes shows on April 15th in San Francisco at Bottom of the Hill and on April 17th in Seattle at Columbia City Center. K.Flay will also appear at this year’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee as well as Dan Reynolds’ (of Imagine Dragons) LOVELOUD Festival in Salt Lake City, UT.

You can keep up with all the latest with K.Flay on her official website at:

Upcoming Dates

  • 04/15 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom Of The Hill
  • 04/17 – Seattle, WA – Columbia City Center
  • 06/14 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
  • 06/29 – West Valley City, UT – LOVELOUD Festival

For ticket info and additional the latest tour dates visit: www.kflay.com/tour

You can check out my concert review of K.Flay at The Fillmore in San Francisco from last year here: LINK

Click on the image below for the latest and up to date full Rock Subculture Journal schedule of pop and rock music concerts/tours coming up for review (2019 Rock Subculture Schedule):

Jason DeBord

Ryan Tedder to Headline Notes & Words 10th Anniversary Benefit For UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland at Fox Theater on April 27th

by

The 10th Anniversary of the annual Notes & Words: Benefit For UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland event will be held at Fox Theater Oakland on Saturday, April 27th. As per tradition, it will feature both writers and musicians on stage, this year featuring Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic) and the Oakland School for the Arts as well as Oscar winner Helen Hunt (actor/writer/producer) and Pulitzer Prize winning writer, Andrew Sean Greer as well as the creative force behind the event, Kelly Corrigan.  Notes & Words is an annual benefit concert created to support the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland; the Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland provides the highest quality medical care to children throughout California. [Read more…]

Metric & Zoé at Hollywood Palladium | Hollywood, California | 3/6/2019 (Concert Review + Photos)

by

“You happy? It’s really a trip putting this set list together, as you can imagine, seven records, right?  The past, the future…  You know?  So we kinda want your help at this point; this is the time traveling section of this set… We’re going backwards because we can’t go forward…  So here’s the dilemma and here’s the choice we want you to make…  Do we go back old world and do “Dead Disco” right? That whole thing, right?  Or do we go Fantasies… butterflies, optimism, and do “Give Me Sympathy”?  It’s tricky, it’s tricky… So let’s vote…” Emily Haines of Metric, giving the audience a chance to vote for the next song late in their set at the Hollywood Palladium on Wednesday night.  Going by the audience reaction, it was pretty close, but Emily heard a larger reaction for “Give Me Sympathy”.  However, once they finished that fan favorite song, she said “fuck it” and they played “Dead Disco” as well.  It was really a fantastic evening of music with Metric and Zoé taking their co-headlining tour across the U.S., along with special guest July Talk supporting.  Going by that set list, Metric went in deep with their latest album, Art of Doubt (one of my favorite albums of 2018), while Zoé celebrated their Grammy win for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Music Album for Aztlán.  The massive tour is running through May, with some festival appearances to follow.  It will definitely go down as one of my favorite shows of 2019.

[Read more…]