show — Page 20

Martha Davis and The Motels Featuring Bow Wow Wow and Dramarama at Blu42 Sports Lounge | Walnut Creek, California | 8/23/2013 (Concert Review)

August 24, 2013 by Jason DeBord 3 Comments

It was a night of essentially a triple header line-up of bands that made their reputations with big hits in the 80s, and in the end, for those who stayed through to the end of the show that ended at about midnight, it closed out as a very intimate show of kindred spirits as Martha Davis from The Motels came down from the stage and gifted those fans all around her a very special rendition of “Only The Lonely”, which closed out an amazing evening at the Blu42 Sports Lounge in Walnut Creek, California. Also performing were Dramarama and a new line-up of Bow Wow Wow with original founding member and bass player Leigh Gorman.

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The Breeders Embark on 2nd Leg of North American Dates for ‘Last Splash’ (LSXX) 20th Anniversary Reissue & Tour

August 16, 2013 by Jason DeBord Leave a Comment

Picking up from my announcement last January about the European and UK dates by The Breeders and their celebrating the 20th anniversary of the second album, Last Splash, the band this month kicks off the North American leg of their tour, which continues on to Mexico and Australia in October. Amidst all the concert dates will be the special deluxe vinyl reissue of the album due out from 4AD on September 2nd, as well as new music coming from Kim Deal. The 3-CD reissue is available directly from 4AD today HERE. [Read more…]

GROUPLOVE Announce Special “Seesaw Tour” Dates & Venues, Pre-Sale On Today, “Spreading Rumors” Due September 17th

July 30, 2013 by Jason DeBord 1 Comment

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…]

Huey Lewis and The News “Sports 30th Anniversary Tour” at Mountain Winery | Saratoga, California | 7/27/2013 (Concert Review)

July 28, 2013 by Jason DeBord 1 Comment

“30 years is a long time. Think back 30 years ago… no cell phones… no Internet… no CDs… no reading glasses… Those were the days. And in case you guys haven’t figured it out yet, we’re going to play the Sports album. From the beginning to the very end. And that… was Side 1. That was the ‘video’ side, if you will. And now we’re going to take the record, and we’re going to turn it over… because that’s what we did, kids. We took the record, and we turned it over. Right? ” Part of a pretty entertaining monologue by Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis and the News at Mountain Winery last night, half way through their #1, septuple platinum 1983 album, which had four Top 10 hits (“Heart and Soul”, “I Want a New Drug”, “The Heart of Rock & Roll”, and “If This Is It”). Playing the classic album front to back – side to side – in honor of the “Sports 30th Anniversary Tour”, they did not end with that, as the concert continued on beyond with a new song as well as more non-Sports classics and covers. It was really a phenomenal show, and Huey and the band were in top form playing in their Bay Area home at Mountain Winery in Saratoga, which Huey Lewis characterized as “the scene of so many of our youthful indiscretions“. The sold out venue was filled with an awesome crowd of fans, and I think this was the first time I checked StubHub before a show at this venue and found that there was only a single ticket for sale, which I illustrates that it was the hottest ticket for the night in Northern California on the beautiful Saturday evening overlooking the lights of Silicon Valley.

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Peter Murphy “Mr. Moonlight Tour: Celebrating 35 Years of Bauhaus” at The Fillmore | San Francisco, California | 7/24/2013 (Concert Review)

July 25, 2013 by Jason DeBord 3 Comments

“If you’re on the wall, you’re awesome…” Peter Murphy relaying what he was told pre-show, in a pretty impressive American accent, about the custom poster designed for the sold out show at The Fillmore last night, on the second American leg of his “Mr. Moonlight Tour: Celebrating 35 Years of Bauhaus”, before he critiqued the fact that it portrayed him as bald and with wings. Peter Murphy has always been a bit of an enigma to me, as you have an idea of what he might be like from listening to his music, but on stage he usually has a few funny things to say in-between songs. But for this tour in particular, fans turned out for the songs, with an all-Bauhaus setlist, with Peter Murphy and his band bringing the classics to life on stage, with great precision and style. Bauhaus were one of the most important bands during that era, with a massive influence in music at large and a catalog of music that has stood the test of time. The show in San Francisco last night definitely lived up to the billing as a celebration of that music. I would say it is the best Peter Murphy concert I’ve seen (which is saying a lot). One of the best tours of the year.

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The Fixx at Assembly Music Hall | Sacramento, California | 7/22/2013 (Concert Review)

July 24, 2013 by Jason DeBord 3 Comments

“Just warming up again… look darling, what a surprise!” A wry comment from Cy Curnin, front man for English New Wave band The Fixx, in the middle of a rare second encore during their amazing show at Assembly Music Hall last night, about half way through their current U.S. tour supporting their latest studio album, Beautiful Friction. The iconic band, best known for a string of 80s hits like “One Thing Leads To Another”, “Saved By Zero”, and “Red Skies”, played a great mix of old and new, and the band certainly showed that they can still record great music as well as play it live.

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Adam Ant and The Good, The Mad & The Lovely Posse at Balboa Theatre | San Diego, California | 7/17/2013 (Concert Review)

July 18, 2013 by Jason DeBord 9 Comments

“This is a song for you young lovers out there. I was in love once. When I picked my guts up afterwards, I wrote this tiny little song, I hope you enjoy it; it’s called Wonderful.” A twisted sort of sentiment about his most mainstream song, New Wave icon and post-punk pioneer Adam Ant and The Good, The Mad & The Lovely Posse kicked on their 40-city North American tour in San Diego last night, at the classy Balboa Theatre. Adam Ant launched his first album in 18 years, Adam Ant is the Blueback Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s Daughter, earlier this year. Somehow last night’s show felt even more spectacular than the one I caught in San Francisco last year. Adam Ant was like a rock star possessed; perhaps more confident and somehow… joyful? At one point deep into the set, he tossed his mic stand, which landed on his bass player’s effects pedals, completely shorting them all out. One of the stage crew came out and messed with it briefly, then unplugged it and plugged him directly into his amp… the relentless onslaught of music could not be stopped, or even paused due to technical difficulties… and the near sold out crowd was perhaps treated to a more raw version of what was planned. A lot of music acts continually reinvent themselves, over and over, sometimes to the point where they become a series of completely different artists. Adam Ant is different. He is today what he was more than 30 years ago, in terms of his identity, style, and sound. He has evolved, of course, but stayed true to what he was and has always been – one of those rare artists who maybe got it perfect the first time.

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The Go-Go’s & The B-52s at Mountain Winery | Saratoga, California | 7/9/2013 (Concert Review)

July 10, 2013 by Jason DeBord 1 Comment

“Hey Gina, did you play your brother’s 78s?” The Go-Go’s bass player Jane Wiedlin giving their drummer a hard time as Gina tried to give a preface to their stellar cover of the Rolling Stone’s hit “Paint it Black” by talking about how when you were a kid you would borrow your older brother or sister’s “records or CDs or whatever“. Like co-headliner The B-52s, both bands brought a combination of rock and good fun on stage at Mountain Winery in Saratoga last night, and even shared the stage for one song, contributing to the intimate, party-like atmosphere. I’ve seen both bands in the past 12 months, but it was something special to be treated to their respective New Wave sound on the same night. It was also kind of neat to see members of each band watching each others’ sets from side stage (like Belinda Carlisle fully immersed in The B-52s show and Kate Pierson taking in The Go-Go’s performance). Maybe the combination gave special energy all around, as each put on the best show I’ve seen from either band, so it was a pretty amazing night celebrating some of the best songs from my personal favorite era of music.

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Fleetwood Mac “Fleetwood Mac Live 2013 Tour” at Sleep Train Arena | Sacramento, California | 7/6/2013 (Concert Review)

July 8, 2013 by Jason DeBord 2 Comments

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…

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Pixies News Overload… New Music (“Bagboy”), New Bassist (Kim Shattuck), New World Tour (Starting in Europe in September)

July 1, 2013 by Jason DeBord 2 Comments

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…]