“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.
Brand New 4-Track EP (EP-1) & New Music Video Released by The Pixies Leading Up To New Concert World Tour
As reported recently, there has been a lot of news coming from one of my all-time favorite bands, The Pixies, who will be playing four special concert dates in Los Angeles next week at El Rey Theatre and Mayan Theater, with new bass player Kim Shattuck. Last month The Pixies released one new song (as a free MP3 download) and two versions of a music video of the same (Ver 1, Ver 2). This week The Pixies have released EP-1, a new 4-track EP with all new material written by The Pixies and recorded at Rockfield Studios in the UK almost a year ago with producer Gil Norton. They have special artwork for the EP created by Vaughan Oliver. Full details can be found here: http://newpix.es/ep1 [Read more…]
GROUPLOVE Announce Special “Seesaw Tour” Dates & Venues, Pre-Sale On Today, “Spreading Rumors” Due September 17th
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…]
Kings of the Mic Tour (LL Cool J, Ice Cube, Public Enemy, De La Soul) at The Greek Theatre | Los Angeles, California | 7/7/2013 (Concert Review)
I don’t go to very many hip hop/rap shows, but loved the artists that got their start (and really got that genre of music into the mainstream) in the 80s. My first ever concert, at the age of 14, was Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, and Ice-T at Cal Expo in Sacramento in 1987. So when I heard about this “Kings of the Mic Tour” earlier this year, and that it was headlined by LL Cool J, it was a must see concert for me. Unfortunately, the Bay Area show conflicted with other travel plans, but a date was added onto the end of the tour in Los Angeles at the Greek Theatre, so I knew that was the one to catch. I am certainly glad that I did attend that specific show Sunday night, as it seemed to be a special one on all counts (and clocked in at over four hours of nearly non-stop entertainment). However, the highlight for me took me back to that very first concert experience I ever had, as there was a special surprise guest… toward the end of the last set, Darryl McDaniels (from Run-DMC) joined LL Cool J on stage, and the two performed “Peter Piper”, which was amazing. Stunning for me, really. Overall, it was a very impressive and high energy show from start to finish by all artists involved, and it definitely left me feeling that I need to catch more old school hip hop shows, though I think the bar was set very high by this last stop on the Kings of the Mic Tour.
Fleetwood Mac “Fleetwood Mac Live 2013 Tour” at Sleep Train Arena | Sacramento, California | 7/6/2013 (Concert Review)
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…
Pixies News Overload… New Music (“Bagboy”), New Bassist (Kim Shattuck), New World Tour (Starting in Europe in September)
There has been a lot of news coming from one of my all-time favorite bands in the past two weeks, with the Official PIXIES Statement on founding member and bass player/vocalist Kim Deal’s departure from the band, Friday’s surprise release of a new song, “Bagboy” (with music video and free MP3 download of the track), the discovery that the backing vocals that sound like Kim Deal is actually the voice of Black Francis friend Jeremy Dubs, and tonight the announcement of Kim Deal’s replacement (Kim Shattuck from The Muffs) and a new World Tour with dates in Europe and the UK. [Read more…]
Adam Ant & the Good, the Mad and the Lovely Posse Set To Invade North America Again with New Concert Tour
Following last year’s rocking tour, Adam Ant & the Good, the Mad and Lovely Posse will be returning to the United States supporting his first new studio album in 18 years, The Blueback Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s Daughter, which was released earlier this year. Supporting the tour (on all dates except Hawaii and Buffalo), which is kicking off next month, are Los Angeles-based group Prima Donna. [Read more…]
LL Cool J Headlines “Kings of the Mic” Tour with Ice Cube, Public Enemy, De La Soul; Releases “Authentic”
LL Cool J, who is everywhere of late, starring on NCIS: Los Angeles, hosting the Grammy Awards, and today releasing his 13th studio album, Authentic. His “Kings of the Mic” tour kicks off in late May on the West Coast and runs through early July, wrapping things up at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Accompanying the prolific artist will be Ice Cube, Public Enemy, De La Soul, and DJ Z-Trip. [Read more…]
Bon Jovi “Because We Can Tour” at HP Pavilion | San Jose, California | 4/25/2013 (Concert Review)
“I ain’t gonna waste a lot of time talking. All I’m gonna tell you is this… For the next two and a half hours, I promise to take you on a roller coaster ride you will never forget…” A pledge from the Bon Jovi front man, Jon Bon Jovi, about 15 minutes into their supporting act-free “An Evening With…” concert for their “Because We Can Tour” at the massive HP Pavilion in San Jose last night, which appeared near filled to its 17,496 capacity. Admittedly, I am not a dedicated Bon Jovi follower – I am a big fan of a handful of hits – so I don’t feel as though I was the intended audience. Having said that, I tried to imagine how I would take it all in if I were a fan, and I still find the roller coaster metaphor challenging to wrap my head around, as I found the show to be, for lack of a better description… ill-suited, and frankly boring… for such a large venue. While Richie Sambora did not make it through the tour to appear at this last date on the U.S. leg of their journey in support of the new What About Now album, I can’t imagine his being part of last night’s show would have been enough to overcome the shortcomings (and fill-in Phil X was fine). Bon Jovi seems like a genuine, appreciative, kind guy, but at least from my perspective, maybe he arrived last night and forgot to load that six string on his back.
Prince with 3RDEYEGIRL (Live Out Loud Tour) at DNA Lounge | San Francisco, California | Day 2 “Early Show” 4/24/2013 (Concert Review)
“How do you like your rock ‘n roll? I don’t know about you, but I like mine funky.” Early on in Prince’s “Early Show” Wednesday night – the second evening of his two-night engagement with 3RDEYEGIRL at the tiny 800-capacity DNA Lounge in San Francisco – he let us know what we were in store for over the following hour and a half. And that was the theme of the entire night… funk. Since I already gushed over how the “Late Show” the evening before was one of the best concerts I’d ever been to in my life, I was hoping for more of the same. Well, it was another epic show, but somehow was altogether different from the show the night before. This gave me a different perspective on these concerts, which as precision-driven as Prince is, the concerts overall seem very much like a ripping and spontaneous jam session. A perfect collision of the planned and the unplanned… I got the feeling that there is an overall framework, and incredible planning and timing in all of it, but within that framework is a genius at work – inspired, reacting, and making up brilliant music set pieces as he goes along. He’s not there to please any particular sensibility or set of expectations. He’s there to rock the place out. And boy did he deliver. The highlight for me was, funny enough, when he took over the bass guitar and played that thing in a way I’ve never seen or heard a bass played before. And it was all about funk, without any doubt. $250 plus fees for these shows is a high point of entry, but had I known what I was in for, I honestly would have found a way to go to all four shows in San Francisco this week, they were that amazing. The must-see show of the year, hands down. [Read more…]