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Johnette Napolitano Embarks on Series of Special Solo Shows with U.S. Concert Dates

January 12, 2014 by Jason DeBord Leave a Comment

Johnette Napolitano, singer-songwriter well known as the vocalist/bassist for Concrete Blonde, is scheduled to play a handful of special, one-off solo shows in the first quarter of 2014. It is anticipated that Johnette will perform acoustic versions of Concrete Blonde songs, works from her own Sketchbook albums, as well as read extracts from her book, Rough Mix, the first of her series of memoirs, stories, poetry, lyrics and essays. A prolific artist in many disciplines and with a number of different collaborations with other artists, it should prove interesting to see what she brings to the stage with these special shows. [Read more…]

X Kick Off 2014 with Shows at Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles and The Casbah in San Diego

January 12, 2014 by Jason DeBord Leave a Comment

X, the pioneering punk band formed in 1977 in Los Angeles, will be starting 2014 out with two special shows this week – one of the 50th Anniversary gigs at the world famous Whiskey A Go Go in their hometown on January 15th and another show at The Casbah in San Diego on January 16th. [Read more…]

Pet Shop Boys “Electric Tour 2013” at Copley Symphony Hall | San Diego, California | 10/8/2013 (Concert Review)

October 9, 2013 by Jason DeBord 8 Comments

I had really high expectations for this, the latest Pet Shop Boys tour… yet somehow, as I sit down to write my thoughts about their show in San Diego at the Copely Symphony Hall last night, I am left a bit speechless… Not because I have nothing to say about it, but because I have this swirling flood of thoughts in my mind, and can’t seem to form a coherent approach to the whole thing. Maybe it was the overpowering strobe lights that disrupted the circuitry in my brain. Maybe it’s because they put on one of the most brilliant shows of the year. The cover of the tour program reads, “TURN IT ON”. Not a mere concert, it was a full blown, avant-garde stage production of the highest order, with credit also due to Stuart Price with his music production and programming, Creative Director/Designer Es Devlin and Stage Director/Choreographer Lynne Page, the two colorful dancers (Merry Holden and Tom Herron) with their interesting costumes and stage presence, and many others behind the scenes. Just when you expect that they should have peaked by now, they keep blazing new paths in music and life. Real artists, they create new work (in the studio and on stage) with a palette featuring colors all their own. They obviously put a lot of thought into not just sharing their music (old and new, hits and deep cuts), but creating a captivating and memorable experience. Though the visuals were mind blowing, the arrangements were amazing, Neil’s voice sounded better than ever, and the sound quality within the venue was superb.

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GROUPLOVE “Seesaw Tour” (Night 1 “Heavy”) at The Independent & (Night 2 “Light”) at The Chapel | San Francisco, California | 9/14/2013 & 9/15/2013 (Concert Review)

September 16, 2013 by Jason DeBord 3 Comments

“We do it for love, sweet love…” Fittingly, the final words sung on stage both Saturday and Sunday night in San Francisco by GROUPLOVE, from their hit song, “Colours”. Playing back-to-back shows as part of their special run of their “Seesaw Tour”, performing at two small venues in select cities, doing one traditional show and one acoustic-style show, each night featured a different kind of show, almost as if seen, heard, and felt through a kaleidoscope that shifted not just night to night, but within each show. GROUPLOVE is a band with probably the best energy of anyone playing today – such joy and positivity beaming not just from the speakers at the venues, but from the artists themselves – their expressions and jumping around, and interactions with the audience. The funny thing is that the audiences and shows kind of played counter to expectations, with the “heavy” night at The Independent skewing older and more mellow and the “light” night at The Chapel being much more youthful and boundless, which seemed to fuel the band into rocking their acoustic instruments on the tiny stage, which could barely contain them. Two incredible shows that delivered well beyond expectations.

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The Rewind Festival Featuring Regeneration Tour 2013 (Howard Jones, Erasure’s Andy Bell, Berlin with Terri Nunn, Men Without Hats) at Thunder Valley Casino Resort | Lincoln, California | 8/24/2013 (Concert Review)

August 25, 2013 by Jason DeBord 22 Comments

Readers of The Rock Subculture Journal know that my favorite decade of music is the 80s, so a multi-headliner concert like The Rewind Festival Featuring Regeneration Tour 2013 at Thunder Valley Casino Resort’s Outdoor Amphitheater is an event I’ve been anticipating for months. With a stellar line-up of some of my favorite artists, it was certainly a night to remember. The Regeneration Tour is in the midst of a 9-date tour across the U.S. with a final show in Mexico City, with a varying line-up as it goes along. Music fans lucky enough to attend the show in Lincoln, California last night got to see a show which included Men Without Hats, Berlin with Terri Nunn, Erasure’s Andy Bell, and Howard Jones, as well as local talent Larisa Bryski kicking things off as part of the World One Presents and 93.7 Jack FM promotion. All of the artists were in top form, the sound system was excellent, and things moved along briskly, offering a non-stop show of hits from the 80s and beyond. It was a stellar show, and definitely one to catch if you are able to with the remaining dates on the tour.

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Martha Davis and The Motels Featuring Bow Wow Wow and Dramarama at Blu42 Sports Lounge | Walnut Creek, California | 8/23/2013 (Concert Review)

August 24, 2013 by Jason DeBord 3 Comments

It was a night of essentially a triple header line-up of bands that made their reputations with big hits in the 80s, and in the end, for those who stayed through to the end of the show that ended at about midnight, it closed out as a very intimate show of kindred spirits as Martha Davis from The Motels came down from the stage and gifted those fans all around her a very special rendition of “Only The Lonely”, which closed out an amazing evening at the Blu42 Sports Lounge in Walnut Creek, California. Also performing were Dramarama and a new line-up of Bow Wow Wow with original founding member and bass player Leigh Gorman.

[Read more…]

GROUPLOVE Announce Special “Seesaw Tour” Dates & Venues, Pre-Sale On Today, “Spreading Rumors” Due September 17th

July 30, 2013 by Jason DeBord 1 Comment

American alternative band GROUPLOVE today announced a special “Seesaw Tour” supporting their sophomore album, Spreading Rumors, due September 17th. The nine city tour will feature the band playing back-to-back gigs in each city, the first an all-rock set and the second at a non-traditional venue doing an all acoustic show (“one night heavy, one night light”). Special pre-sale packages went on sale this morning for the nine cities that are part of this special tour – Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Chicago. [Read more…]

Metallica (San Diego Comic Con “Secret” Concert) at Spreckels Theatre | San Diego, California | 7/19/2013 (Concert Review)

July 20, 2013 by Jason DeBord Leave a Comment

“What do you think? You’re scared… you want to know more, you want to see the whole thing”… Capping off “Metallica Day” at Comic Con International: San Diego (i.e. San Diego Comic Con) with a “secret” concert at Spreckels Theatre, the metal band’s front man James Hetfield makes a mid-gig reference to the IMAX 3D film, Metallica Through The Never. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band gave away tickets to the intimate 1,463 capacity concert venue during their Comic Con Hall H appearance earlier in the day (and funny enough, Hall H accommodates a much larger crowd of around 7,000. I know from picking up my own ticket at the special will call earlier in the day that many Fan Club members were also in attendance, so it was a pretty great energy from the crowd. Though the show was not too long (they came on an hour late at about 11 PM and finished up well before 12:30 AM), it was a fairly relentless onslaught of the metal music fans came to hear.

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Fleetwood Mac “Fleetwood Mac Live 2013 Tour” at Sleep Train Arena | Sacramento, California | 7/6/2013 (Concert Review)

July 8, 2013 by Jason DeBord 2 Comments

It isn’t often that real, genuine rock and roll legends come into my hometown of Sacramento to perform in concert, but after last night’s Fleetwood Mac show at Sleep Train Arena, they’ve set the bar quite high for any act to follow. Have loved this band since I was a kid, but have never seen them live, so this was an eagerly anticipated show for me. I did see Lindsay Buckingham on his own last year, and Stevie Nicks with Dave Grohl’s Sound City Players earlier this year, so have had bursts of greatness, which really fed my desire to see them together as Fleetwood Mac even more. As amazing as those other performances had been, they did not prepare me for the magic of having their best line-up (unfortunately sans Christine McVie) on stage together. I think it cements Lindsay Buckingham as the true rock God of the 70s/80s generation and Stevie Nicks, fittingly, as the rock Goddess. Mick Fleetwood is like Zeus (or maybe a mad pirate), with twin balls hanging (in a dangling/dancing sort of way) from his belt. John McVie is content to leave center stage to the others, throwing down his bassline and keeping everything on the tracks as much as possible. This is a band who know who they are, and haven’t strayed from their identity in sound or fashion. What really hit home is how much they appreciate their fans, which was expressed not just in the performance but in eloquent statements from Nicks and Fleetwood to close out the show, calling us their “Dreamcatchers”, and really articulating the music fan/musician dynamic better than I’ve ever heard before. This date closed out the U.S. leg of their tour, and certainly inspires one to start following them around Europe later this year…

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Cowboy Junkies at Yoshi’s San Francisco | San Francisco, California | 5/2/2013 (Concert Review)

May 3, 2013 by Jason DeBord 1 Comment

“I don’t know if you guys will get this song or not, being that you’re from California…” part of Margo Timmins’ introduction to the last song of the night, “Fuck, I Hate The Cold”, at Yoshi’s San Francisco last night. If music is the soundtrack to our lives, songs by the Cowboy Junkies must be intended for those more soul-searching and contemplative, raw moments. They slow things down a bit and make you feel more thoughtful and introspective. The band – a real family affair, together and producing new music and touring for more than 30 years – last year completed Volume 4 of the Nomad series… an ambitious four albums added to their catalog over a scant 18 months. The concluding work in that series, Wilderness, explored themes that included “fragility, emptiness, loneliness, beauty, chance, loss, desperation“; though timeless areas of focus, it all seems especially fitting for these times, with much of their music being a bit of post-modern Blues.

[Read more…]

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