Jason DeBord's Rock Subculture Journal

“Not So Silent Night” by Live 105 (Night 1, #NSSN) at Oracle Arena | Oakland, California | 12/7/2012 (Concert Review)

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Not So Silent Night (NSSN) is Live 105’s “Annual Holiday Rock Show”, with 2012 being the first year it spans two consecutive nights.  This first night featured headliner Jack White, along with The Shins, Metric, Of Monsters and Men, The Gaslight Anthem, Two Door Cinema Club, and Our Vinyl Vows.  I’ve never been a fan of traditional, outdoor festivals (for a variety of reasons), but this was an extremely well organized multi-artist event that can serve as a model for how to do them right, and comprised an excellent line-up of artists.  The packed Oracle Arena was treated to seven great acts in under seven hours.  It was a really fantastic evening celebrating the work of some really great bands, with Jack White closing things out with a really amazing performance.

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No Doubt at Gibson Amphitheatre (Night 6, #NDnight6) | Universal City, California | 12/04/2012 (Concert Review)

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“You’re singing the words to the new songs…  I can’t express… how happy I am that it touched you and connected to you… thank you for that… it’s the greatest feeling ever.”  Gwen Stefani taking a moment (one of many) to chat with her fans at the sold out show at the 6,200 capacity Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City – the sixth of their “Seven Night Stand” special residency shows running late November through tomorrow.  Having recently released their first new album in 11 years, Push and Shove, the audience of mostly dedicated fans flocked from all over the U.S. and beyond to see this amazing band perform live truly better than ever.  In addition to putting on a phenomenal show, front woman Stefani took many moments to reach out to fans – sometimes literally – and all the members of the Anaheim band (Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Adrian Young, Stephen Bradley, and Gabriel McNair) seemed to be having the time of their lives on stage.  Hopefully this will serve as a prelude to a full tour next year, given the reception of these shows and the strength of the new album, which is fantastic.  Truly an epic night that will not be forgotten by those lucky enough to have attended this show or one of the others.

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Fleetwood Mac Announce 2013 World Tour, Starting in the U.S.

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Launching in April in Ohio, Fleetwood Mac has announced their 2013 world tour, the first since 2009. The tour will begin with 34 dates in the U.S., with tickets going on sale December 14th.   Co-founders Mick Fleetwood and John McVie will join Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham (Christine McVie is no longer performing with the band). [Read more…]

Contest To Win Exclusive Perry Farrell Photography Book by Danny Cinch; Also Download Jane’s Addiction’s Latest Album “The Great Escape Artist” for Free

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As reported in my review of the Jane’s Addiction concert in Davis, California last month, Maestro Dobel Tequila has partnered with Perry Farrell to give away the latest Jane’s Addiction album, The Great Escape, via download from their official site.  In addition, they have produced a new video featuring Perry Farrell talking about the end of their latest tour, and are sponsoring the give-away of some free swag, including the new book from photographer Danny Clinch.  Follow the jump for details on all of the above, including a chance to win the exclusive book (not on sale anywhere) with photos of Perry Farrell. [Read more…]

Alicia Keys European/UK Summer 2013 Tour Announced, To Support New Album “Girl On Fire”

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Tickets for an Alicia Keys 2013 Summer tour of Europe and England have gone on pre-sale this week, all in support of her latest and fifth studio album, Girl On Fire, which went on sale this week.  The Grammy Award-winning artist will play more than 20 arenas during this 2013 European tour, which will launch on May 18 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. [Read more…]

Bon Jovi “Because We Can – The Tour” Hits North America in 2013

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Bon Jovi will be touring North America starting in February, March, and April 2013.  Tickets officially go on sale tomorrow, November 30, though there is a special pre-sale from promoter AEG that starts today, and special VIP packages are also on sale.  This will be the first tour showcasing songs from the upcoming album, What About Now, due in the spring.  The concerts are comprised of special, multi-tiered pricing, including some tickets offered for under $20, with frontman Jon Bon Jovi wanting to make sure that everyone who wants to see them has an opportunity to buy tickets. [Read more…]

Juice Newton Acoustic Trio at Yoshi’s San Francisco | San Francisco, California | 11/13/2012 (Concert Review)

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“We’d like for you guys to participate in this, because otherwise it just sits on its ass”.  Music legend Juice Newton’s typically blunt and modest preface to the tremendous 80s country/pop crossover hits “Queen of Hearts” mixed with “Love’s Been a Little Bit Hard on Me”, as performed flawlessly (with audience providing the “clap-clap, clap” beat) at Yoshi’s in San Francisco in probably the most intimate show I’ve been to all year.  The Juice Newton Trio, which was all acoustic strings with Jay Cawley and Danny Dugan both on guitars and providing backing vocals, Juice Newton stressed that this was a different sort of challenge and endeavor for her… a live concert sans the full band, which required the selection from of incredible songs from her catalog to be rearranged for a completely different result.  And that result – simply amazing songs with the most artful delivery by one of the best vocalists in the business – was very moving and definitely sets the bar for soulful live music performances in small, intimate venues.

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Billy Idol at Hult Center for the Performing Arts | Eugene, Oregon | 10/28/2012 (Concert Review)

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“Thank you, Eugene, Oregon, for making my life so fucking great!”  That’s Billy Idol for you.  Billy Idol connects with people, and appreciates his fans.  He connects with people via his music, of course, but in a live performance, he does more than that…  and just as his language is uncensored, so are his connections with people.  As soon as he comes out onto the stage, his eyes dart about the audience, and you see him make these connections.  He seems to have an innate ability to connect with fans, and give them something back that suits them – a grin, a smile, a point with his finger and nod, a wry look, wide open eyes, the famous lip curl…  [Read more…]

Billy Idol at Showbox SoDo | Seattle, Washington | 10/26/2012 (“Play My Birthday Billy Idol dot com” Concert) (Concert Review)

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The world needs Billy Idol.  The world needs cool, and it needs a bit of a rebel yell.  But it also needs dreamers.  And, sometimes, a crazy, impossible, outlandish dream can lead to great things.  And all of this was proven on an epic night in Seattle, as a young man with hope, ambition, persistence, and ingenuity leveraged the Internet in a way that lead to rock music legend and icon Billy Idol playing his 26th birthday party at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle last night.  I’ve seen Billy Idol many, many times over the years, but I can say without a doubt that last night’s special show featured the best audience I’ve ever been a part of at one of his concerts.  And in these challenging times we live in, it felt like everyone left their struggles and frustrations and all other negativity at the door, and embraced the awesome music and amazing live performance of Billy Idol and his band, as the put on a scorching show.  As just the second (by my count) U.S. date this year (with a third in Eugene tomorrow night), I believe it serves as evidence of the significant demand for fans to see Billy Idol play live.  He is one of my all-time favorite artist, has such a fantastic catalog of songs, and is one of the best live acts performing today accompanied by a peerless band and the incomparable Steve Stevens on lead guitar.  Cheers to Michael Henrichsen for having a dream and putting such effort into something that brings joy not just to himself, but everyone who loves Billy Idol who came to take part in it.  Michael certainly knows how to party, and he brought it to Seattle last night, in the form of the legendary Billy Idol.

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Crystal Castles at Shobox SoDo | Seattle, Washington | 10/25/2012 (Concert Review)

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Alice Glass may dispense with the audience chit chat you might find with other artists; for her and her bandmate Ethan Kath and their gigs as Crystal Castles, it certainly doesn’t make them any less interactive…  with a reputation for high energy shows, she spent a good portion of the concert diving into the audience and literally surfing the crowd at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle last night.  The Canadian duo, along with drummer Christopher Chartrand, rocked their unique and experimental lo-fi electronic synthpop/synthpunk sound with synthesizers including an Atari 5200-chip modded keyboard.  Their live act is definitely worth checking out, as the somewhat chaotic staging and delivery is somewhat in contrast with the electronic music, fusing raw energy with 8-bit retro sounds to bring something to life that felt and looked like raw rock and roll, but sounded like something altogether new and different.

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