Jason DeBord's Rock Subculture Journal

Check Out My New YouTube Channel and Website: PopCultureKind

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Hello Everyone,

Obviously, it has been some time since I’ve posted here on the Original Prop Blog.

I’ve launched a new YouTube channel, website and discussion forum, PopCultureKind, and I hope that you take the time to check it out.

The initial YouTube episode provides some explanation and background behind the creation of this new brand and my overall objectives (as well as a lengthy tour of my personal music memorabilia collection):

I’ve also dropped three additional episodes on the launch day today:

You can subscribe to the new YouTube channel here:

www.youtube.com/@popculturekind

You can check out the new website here:

popculturekind.com

You can join and participate in the new online discussion forum community here:

popculturekind.com/community

Thank you,

Jason DeBord

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

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“…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.

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

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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…]

Garbage (20 Years Paranoid Tour) at Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort & Casino | Reno, Nevada | 10/2/2018 (Concert Review + Photos)

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“We’re now going to play another song you’ve probably never heard before.  You forgive me though, right?”  Shirley Manson of Garbage underlining one of the themes of the night for their “20 Years Paranoid” tour, which made a stop at the Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno on Tuesday.  The band is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of their second album, Version 2.0, by touring a set list that features them playing the album in its entirety as well as very rare B-sides and just a handful of songs beyond the scope of that period of their career.  I’ve seen the band on most of their tours since they reunited and began recording and performing again after a long hiatus, and really it seems like they do something really different each time they come around.  Even I was unfamiliar with some of the songs played (many were rarities originally limited to B-side releases in the late ’90s), but I am catching up now with their newly released 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition / Remastered version of their album.  Shirley was pretty chatty and candid with the crowd in-between songs and it felt like quite a special show.  I really enjoyed it and it reminded me of what a stellar band they are live, and it provided some additional insights into what makes the band tick and what motivates them as artists.  It’s really worth catching up with them on this tour, even for casual fans.  One of the most unique bands of my generation, always staying true to themselves and keeping things interesting.

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“Revolution 3 Tour” (Stone Temple Pilots, The Cult, Bush) at Ironstone Amphitheatre | Murphys, California | 8/31/2018 (Concert Review + Photos)

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“Unbelievable.  Nine songs of texting. (laughs from crowd)  Yes, I’m here to shame you for that because… (laughs)  No seriously, I’m here to validate.  We are here to validate you…  Thank you for coming out tonight, supporting our little soirée.  With our brothers from Stone Temple Pilots and Bush.  You want some more?  This one’s fun.  I’m pretty amped up actually.  Pretty rare for me.  It’s the altitude.  Must be the altitude.  There you go, standing up, getting out of your seats…  What’s happening?  Spontaneous… It’s a spontaneous audience participation.  We’re connecting as one.  As one group.  As one harmonic ecosystem, together.  It’s fucking unbelievable.  It’s fucking unbelievable!”  Ian Astbury of The Cult, with a bit of a stream of consciousness revelation between songs during their set, fixed in the center of the triple headlining tour featuring STP, The Cult, and Bush called “Revolution 3 Tour”.  Sometimes multiple headlining shows aren’t quite that, but in this case, after each artist, I wondered how the next could measure up.  And I don’t personally follow any of the three bands.  Yet somehow, I came away feeling this was the best concert yet as the Ironstone Amphitheatre Summer Concert Series nears it’s end, with just one show left to go.  It was three top performances with this concert on Friday night. [Read more…]

Counting Crows at Ironstone Amphitheatre | Murphys, California | 7/3/2018 (Concert Review + Photos)

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“I wanted to write a song about that… I wanted to reflect the idea of the country, and the sense of the country…” Adam Duritz of Counting Crows brought a mix of concert and storytelling to Ironstone Amphitheatre at Ironstone Vineyards on Tuesday night, as part of the band’s “25 Years And Counting Tour”.  He shared some stories about the origins and inspirations behind the songs that are so familiar to their fans, in a sprawling set approaching two hours.  In addition, the crowd also enjoyed a lengthy set from the band Live as well as younger act Boom Forest.  It was a beautiful night in Murphys and the mix of musical styles and genres entertained the massive crowd in attendance. [Read more…]

K-EARTH 101’s “Totally 80’s Live” & FKOA and Bobby Dee Presents “Your Real Life Playlist” feat. Boy George, Adam Ant, The Bangles and More at Honda Center on January 26th

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K-EARTH 101’s “Totally 80’s Live” and FKOA and Bobby Dee Presents “Your Real Life Playlist” will be happening at Honda Center on Friday, January 26th in Anaheim.  The show will feature live performances from Boy George, Adam Ant, The Bangles, Violent Femmes, Salt-N-Pepa, The Romantics, Tone Loc, A Flock of Seagulls, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, Dramarama, Sugarhill Gang, and Nick Heyward of Haircut One Hundred, and it will all be hosted by Richard Blade.  [Read more…]

Steve Miller Band & Peter Frampton at Ironstone Amphitheatre | Murphys, California | 8/13/2017 (Concert Review + Photos)

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“This is the 34th city on this tour.  And I woke up this morning with the cold from hell.  I made it through thirty three and a half days.  But however we do have a really great treat in store for you…  let’s get together and welcome Mr. Peter Frampton to the stage.  We’ve been having a really great Summer playing lots of different American blues tunes and we’re going to do three of them for you.  This very first one we do you already know, it’s called  “Mercury Blues” by K.C. Douglas”.  Steve Miller of Steve Miller Band on stage with co-headliner Peter Frampton playing to a sold out crowd at Ironstone Amphitheatre on Sunday night, bringing their popular tour to an end.  Both artists have made visits to Murphys in recent years, but it was nice to enjoy them on the same stage.  The crowd went wild for their performances both together and apart, as they had fans up on their feet much of the night. [Read more…]

Matchbox Twenty & Counting Crows at Ironstone Amphitheatre | Murphys, California | 7/24/2017 (Concert Review + Photos)

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“And now here we are…  What are we going to do with this night, that’s the question right?  It’s up to us, and it’s up to you guys… what are we going to do with this night?  It’s a Monday night…  I propose that we had a Monday last week, and we’ll have a Monday next week…  but this is our Monday tonight.  And if we don’t make the most out of it, we’re just wrong.  So the only question I have is, who’s with us?  Front to back, side to side, who’s with us?  Alright, let’s do this…”  Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, bonding with the massive crowd at Ironstone Amphitheatre at Ironstone Vineyards.  Touring alongside Counting Crows on their “A Brief History of Everything Tour”, it’s all about giving the fans what they wanted, and it would seem that they delivered. [Read more…]

Pixies at Ace of Spades | Sacramento, California | 10/26/2016 (Concert Review + Photos)

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“I try to think about tomorrow, but I always think about the past… about the things that didn’t last… if I could go to the beginning, then for sure I would be another way… make it better for today…”  Pixies (the “loud quiet loud” band) are a quiet band on stage in-between the generally quick songs, so we are left with the music, and the lyrics within, to try to figure out what is going on with them.  It was less than one month ago that they released their sixth studio album – their second without founding bass player and vocalist Kim Deal – and their first with new full-time member Paz Lenchantin.  The new album serves as fuel for this tour, with just four rare dates in Calif0rnia this month as prelude to many shows across Europe, England, Australia and New Zealand, keeping them busy until early next year.  So it was interesting seeing them and hearing some of their new music performed at Ace of Spades in Sacramento on Wednesday night.  The Pixies in Sacramento.  A rare thing indeed.  One of my all-time favorite bands playing in the city where I was born, and where I first saw the band way back in 1990, about a quarter of a century ago.  A different time.  So much has changed, but so much about the band remains the same.  I’ve taken the new album, Head Carrier, for a spin and those lyrics above stuck with me.  Interestingly, the vocals on that particular song are delivered by Paz, who is no Kim soundalike (on vocals or bass), though obviously the message in those lyrics is for Kim.  So the Pixies in 2016 is older, mature, different… and the band is at once both old and new; looking backwards and forwards.  The album sounds quite different from everything that came before (even 2014’s Indie Cindy).  And I think that the sentiments expressed in that song, “All I Think About Now”, kind of sums up this new iteration of the Pixies.  With this live show, the old and the new were mixed together to create a different sort of Pixies show, giving something fresh to both new and old fans alike.  But there are still those songs that carry on and remain classic to those who were with it at the time, in the band’s short-lived first incarnation in the late 80s and early 90s.  The concert was a tribute to that as well.

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