Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskings have formed a new band, Poptone, to perform a series of live dates, including a stop in Sacramento at Ace of Spades on June 6th. As Poptone, Daniel Ash serves on vocals and guitar, his daughter Diva Dompé on bass, and Kevin Haskins on drums. Ash and Haskins played together in Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, and Love and Rockets, and are playing music from all three bands in this series of live shows. [Read more…]
“We gotta remember and identify and know that the only thing we gotta fear with the craziness and the madness and some of the very difficult evil things that have happened, is not to be human, is not to be cooperative, not to be looking out for one another, but to be spreading the good stuff everywhere…” Midnight Oil’s (“the Oils”) Peter Garrett, in his preface to “Put Down That Weapon”, the band’s second single off of their seminal 1987 album, Diesel and Dust. Some 30 years later, lyrics from the song and the ideas that they invoke seem as poignant as ever. The band has been mostly off the scene as Midnight Oil since they dissolved in 2002, so with their 2017 reformation and world tour, they have made an unexpected return to much acclaim and excitement. I was a huge fan of that 1987 album as it blew up in the U.S. at the time, and I had never had a chance to see them perform live until this show at Fox Theater in Oakland on Saturday night. It was nothing short of incredible, and will certainly rank as one of my favorite gigs of the year. They are touring a lot in 2017 and crossing back to cities already visited, so I give my highest recommendation to turn out for one of these events…
Richter Entertainment Group’s Summer Concert Season at Ironstone Amphitheatre in Murphys will be happening in June, July, August and September this year. Artists include Toby Keith, Boston, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, John Mellencamp, The Moody Blues, Jason Mraz, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie, matchbox twenty, Counting Crows, Steve Miller Band, Peter Frampton, Willie Nelson, Kenny G, George Benson, and more!
Australian rock band Midnight Oil are in the early stages of their sell out “The Great Circle 2017 World Tour”, and adding more dates as they go along. Hugely popular in the 80s, the interest and demand in seeing them perform live in concert is tremendous. New shows have been added at Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, Terminal 5 in New York, House of Blues in Cleveland, and First Avenue in Minneapolis. [Read more…]
“Are you ready?” Paul Stanley of KISS getting the audience prepped to sing along with “Say Yeah”, a song off of their 2009 album Sonic Boom. 24 studio albums (including their four solo albums), live albums and countless other impressions on pop culture at large going back to 1974, KISS have been a rock and roll phenomenon going strong for over four decades. I am not personally a KISS “fan”, so this is written from the review of someone who has been alive as long as they’ve been together, but never before attended a KISS concert. They are one of the biggest bands of all time and real icons in rock, so I finally took an opportunity to see what they’ve always been best known for – live concerts. And now having experienced it, I can say that their reputation for putting on an amazing show is well deserved. High energy, high production, and filled with many of the innovative elements that other artists have since copied over and over, it was really something to see and hear and feel. I really could not have been more impressed and I really have a lot of respect for the band and their crew that help put it all together. If you are a member of the KISS Army, you know all of this; if you are more like me and had never seen the band before, I give my highest recommendations to go and check it out. And I am glad I was able to take in my first KISS show at Grand Sierra Resort & Casino’s Grand Theatre as it is one of the best concert venues for this type of show. Everything was top notch.
Rock legends KISS will be performing at Grand Sierra Resort & Casino’s Grand Theatre in Reno on Friday, April 21st. Along with a show at Laughlin Event Center, they are the last two U.S. dates before an extensive tour abroad as part of their “Freedom To Rock” tour, which circles back to North America again in July. The iconic band have sold over 100 million records worldwide since forming in 1973, and are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The current line-up consists of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, and Eric Singer. [Read more…]
Depeche Mode’s fourteenth studio album, Spirit, is due out on March 17th, and today the band announced the dates and venues for their “Global Spirit Fall 2017 North American Tour”. The dates announced thus far run from late August through late October. The North American dates follow there European stadium tour kicking off in early May. [Read more…]
Book of Love continue to celebrate their 30th anniversary with two upcoming special concert dates in San Francisco and Houston this month featuring all four members: Ted Ottaviano, Susan Ottaviano, Jade Lee and Lauren Roselli. The two “reunion shows” will be held at Numbers in Houston on February 18th and at DNA Lounge in San Francisco on February 19th. [Read more…]
This article features the latest in an ongoing series of “Rock Talk” podcast audio interviews for the Rock Subculture Journal. Today’s guest is Ted Ottaviano with Book Of Love. The synth pop New Wave group continue to celebrate their 30th anniversary with the release of new music as part of 2016’s “MMXVI: The 30th Anniversary Collection (Remastered)” hits album, an upcoming 2017 EP with remixes as well as live tracks from this month’s concert dates in San Francisco and Houston.
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“Tonight’s secret code is: Trump shifters of the world unite…” Morrissey, opening his appearance at Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno by giving preface to a slightly modified rendition of The Smiths’ classic “Shoplifters of The World Unite”. On the heels of the recent presidential election in the United States, it wasn’t too surprising for some kind of comment or commentary, in that when I saw him live in concert around this time last year, his band was wearing “Morrissey for President” t-shirts. Always one to bring a theme to each show, on Friday night the band wore shirts with “Don’t Eat My Peeps; Go Veg” emblazoned across the front over cartoon graphics of baby chickens. While the night was peppered with some political content, the concert included a variety of songs spanning Morrissey’s career, from 1985’s Meat Is Murder through to his latest solo album, 2014’s World Peace Is None of Your Business. As always, Morrissey and his band put on a stellar show, and he seemed to be in a great mood and as comfortable on stage as ever. [Read more…]