Special Events

“Not So Silent Night 2015” by Live 105 (#LIVE105NSSN) at Oracle Arena | Oakland, California | 12/11/2015 (Concert Review + Photos)

December 14, 2015 by Jason DeBord 0 Comments

Not So Silent Night (NSSN) is Live 105’s “Annual Holiday Rock Show”, with 2015 bringing it back from a two-night event to a one night show. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I tend to avoid the massive outdoor Summer-style festivals (too hot, dirty, sweaty and crowded, though I did cover Live 105’s BFD this year – see Part 1 & Part 2), so I really enjoy these indoor ones that happen in the colder weather. With this one being an annual event, they are extremely well organized and somehow improve upon their formula year after year. The night kicked off early at about 5:30 and ran up towards midnight, so it was a very long evening of excellent artists doing their thing (with scant 5-minute breaks in-between as the did quick stage rotations). It was also an interesting mix of artists, with newer bands as well as some that have put in a lot more years, with Weezer topping the billing. All in all, it was a great line-up that flowed well and all performers seemed to step up and deliver to their own fans as well as making some new ones.

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LIVE 105’s Not So Silent Night 2015 (#LIVE105NSSN) To Feature Weezer, Death Cab For Cutie, Bastille, Halsey, Silversun Pickups, Chvrches, Foals, and X Ambassadors

October 27, 2015 by Jason DeBord 0 Comments

The line-up and date for LIVE 105’s annual Not So Silent Night concert event has been announced, with a one-night show at Oracle Arena this year on Friday, December 11th. 2015 will feature Weezer, Death Cab For Cutie, Bastille, Halsey, Silversun Pickups, Chvrches, Foals, and X-Ambassadors. [Read more…]

21st Annual Live 105 BFD 2015 Line-Up & Details Announced, Concert Festival at Shoreline on June 6th

March 5, 2015 by Jason DeBord 0 Comments

Live 105 is holding BFD 2015 on June 6th this year at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. This will be the 21st annual event, and the day long festival event is expected to run from 11am to 11pm. Artists on the bill include Modest Mouse, Of Monsters And Men, Panic! At The Disco, Cold War Kids, Atlas Genius, and dozens more. [Read more…]

Information Society and Book of Love (“80’s Rewind Fest Presents: PURE ENERGY”) at Thunder Valley Casino Resort | Lincoln, California | 1/31/2015 (Concert Review + Photos)

February 2, 2015 by Jason DeBord 0 Comments

“Oh, somebody wants to hear, “What’s On Your Mind?”. Peer pressure him into letting it go… Dude. Or is he telling us to hurry the fuck up?” Kurt Harland, singer and front man for Information Society, displaying a mix of confidence and humor at their concert at Thunder Valley Casino Resort on Saturday night. Live shows from the New Wave/synthpop band are very rare these days, and the guy shouting out the name of the song that made them very famous with the masses circa 1988 didn’t have the same appreciation for the full spectacle and show they put on as the rest of the crowd, who couldn’t seem to get enough of their unique style of music, whether it was old favorites from the 80s and 90s or new songs from the newly released (and excellent) _hello World, which came out late last year. This concert event promoted by WorldOne Presents was marketed as “80’s Rewind Fest Presents: PURE ENERGY”, and it was a special winter edition of their “80’s Rewind Fest” series. This concert boasted additional special guests Book of Love as well as local opener, Self.Same. Though the three founding members of Information Society have gone off to create lives and careers outside of their band, you wouldn’t know if from this concert. They brought a ton of excitement and style on stage. Given their amazing new studio album and their ability to put on a fantastic live show, hopefully it represents more InSoc coming in our future.

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80s Rewind Music Fest 2014 / Retro Futura Tour (Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, Howard Jones, The English Beat, Katrina) at Thunder Valley Casino Resort | Lincoln, California | 8/31/2014 (Concert Review + Photos)

September 2, 2014 by Jason DeBord 13 Comments

The show at Thunder Valley Casino Resort’s Outdoor Amphitheater Sunday night was continuing on in WorldOne Presents’ tradition of their annual “80s Rewind Festival Music Fest”, and arrived in Lincoln, California with it’s own unique line-up and variation on the newly christened Retro Futura Tour 2014 (formerly Regeneration Tour). With this event, the same co-headliners – Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey and Howard Jones – shared the bill, as did Katrina Leskanich (formerly of Katrina and The Waves. But in place of Midge Ure and China Crisis was the incredible English Beat featuring Dave Wakeling. As usual, the show took on a character all it’s own, playing out to a large and enthusiastic crowd. I think the Katrina/English Beat/Howard Jones/Tom Bailey line-up featured artists that all have one thing in common: authentic optimism driving their music. Of course, the modern day ’10s are not the classic ’80s, and though the music played came from the past, it could also serve as a beacon of hope for the future. And, as with the show at Mountain Winery the night before, there seemed to be quite a reception for Tom Bailey, who stopped touring and performing live as Thompson Twins way back in 1987. It was another exceptional performance by all of the artists, and both shows are certainly on the short list for top concerts of the year for me personally.

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Retro Futura Tour 2014 / 80’s Rewind Music Fest Bringing Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, Howard Jones, and More to California

August 27, 2014 by Jason DeBord 0 Comments

The Retro Futura Tour 2014 (renamed from prior years, previously known as Regeneration Tour) kicked off in New York City last week, and is heading westward. The tour this time around features Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey (his first time playing live in 27 years), Howard Jones (who co-headlines last year’s tour), Katrina Leskanich (Ex Katrina and the Waves), Midge Ure (from Ultravox), and China Crisis. The group will be playing The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday, Mountain Winery in Saratoga on Saturday, and a different line-up with The English Beat featuring Dave Wakeling (in place of Ultravox and China Crisis) will be performing at the annual 80’s Rewind Music Fest by WorldOne Presents at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln on Sunday. [Read more…]

Live 105 KITS Announces Not So Silent Night 2013 Line Up (#NSSN2013): Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Alt-J, Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, Lorde, and more

November 4, 2013 by Jason DeBord 0 Comments

Live 105 FM KITS San Francisco is holding their annual, two-night concert event at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California again this year, slated for December 6th and 7th. While Night #1 was announced last week, Night #2 was just announced today. Here is the full line-up for both nights… Friday night, December 6th will feature Kings of Leon, Vampire Weekend, Queens of the Stone Age, AFI, Arctic Monkeys, and Capital Cities. The just announced Saturday night line-up on December 7th will be Arcade Fire, Phoenix, Alt-J, Lorde, Bastille, and The Neighbourhood. [Read more…]

Radio 94.7 Presents Electric Christmas with Cage the Elephant, Alt-J, GroupLove, Capital Cities, The Features and MS MR

November 4, 2013 by Jason DeBord 2 Comments

Radio 94.7 in Sacramento will be presenting a special multi-artist concert event in December dubbed, “Electric Christmas”. The line-up includes performances by Cage the Elephant, Alt-J, GroupLove, Capital Cities, The Features and MS MR. The concert event will be held at Sleep Train Arena on December 4th, and tickets are currently on sale at Ticketmaster. [Read more…]

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 16 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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“Not So Silent Night” by Live 105 (Night 2, #NSSN) at Oracle Arena | Oakland, California | 12/8/2012 (Concert Review)

December 10, 2012 by Jason DeBord 2 Comments

As noted yesterday, 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 second night featured headliner The Killers, along with M83, Passion Pit, Tegan and Sara, GROUPLOVE, and Imagine Dragons. Again, I was very, very impressed at how extremely well managed this multi-artist event was on both nights. Oracle Arena again served as host to six amazing acts in about seven hours time, with very brief breaks in-between. I found the two night show to be such a great event to attend, to have an opportunity to see so many great bands back to back, with a stellar closing set by The Killers.

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