This Saturday, WorldOne Presents will be bringing V101’s Summer Jam to Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California. The line-up features Keith Sweat, Tony! Toni! Tone! and Salt-N-Pepa, along with DJ Gino, as part of a rare concert appearance. [Read more…]
A recently reunited Veruca Salt (with the original line-up) has made a splash with new music, releasing “The Museum of Broken Relationships” and “It’s Holy” on Record Store Day this year (which included their biggest hit, “Seether”, as a B-side and in celebration of it’s 20th anniversary. They did their first live performance in 18 years on Conan a few weeks ago, sounding as fresh as ever, and you can watch their new music video on YouTube as well. In addition, this month they will be embarking on a tour of the U.S. and Australia. [Read more…]
Jack White’s latest album, Lazaretto, is out today, and more dates have been added to his world tour. NPR Music will tonight host a video webcast of his concert at Fonda Theatre, starting at 9:45 pm PST. [Read more…]
Röyksopp & Robyn launch their “Do It Again Tour 2014” this month in Barcelona, making many stops around the world through the end of August. Do It Again is a collaborative mini-album by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp and Swedish recording artist Robyn that was released at the end of May. [Read more…]
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan has announced concert dates for both the United States and Canada as part of her “Shine On Tour”. Her eighth studio album, Shine On, was released last month. The “Shine On Tour” begins later this month in Seattle. [Read more…]
The Popscene concert at Rickshaw Stop on Tuesday night was one of those rare shows that was very surprising (in a good way). Danish singer-songwriter MØ (Karen Marie Ørsted) headlined the night that featured Swedish singer-songwriter Erik Hassle supporting, and both put on stellar performances, with awesome bookend DJ sets by Aaron Axelsen. Candidly, I was not familiar with either of these young artists until recently, and I would mark the night as one of the best concerts I’ve attended so far in 2014. MØ and Erik Hassle should be on the pop culture watch list as ones to expect big things from in the future.
This article features the latest in an ongoing series of “Rock Talk” podcast audio interviews for the Rock Subculture Journal. Today’s guest is Erik Hassle. He released his latest work as an EP, Somebody’s Party, which debuted earlier this year. He is also one of the songwriters for the current single, co-featuring Rihanna, “Can’t Remember to Forget You“. Erik is just finishing up his U.S. tour with MØ, and took time before his concert at Popscene at Rickshaw Stop last night to participate in this interview. The full concert review with photos from the live show can be found in my separate article (see: “MØ with Erik Hassle at Popscene at Rickshaw Stop | San Francisco, California | 6/3/2014”).
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“We’re female chauvinist pigs…” Jill Cunniff, one of the three members of Luscious Jackson, prefacing her invitation of a handful of men in the audience to join them on the stage to shake their booties during their song, “#1 Bum”. It was an informal kind of show for the band, who haven’t been in San Francisco for a very long time, having recently reunited for their first studio album since 1999. One of just three headlining shows for this tour (having played Los Angeles the night prior and with Boston still to come next Saturday, as well as two festival appearances), The Independent appeared sold out (or close to it) last night. They put on an electric show with material spanning their original 90s songs as well as the new album, all sounding fresh and original. They definitely still have “it”, and hopefully their efforts to reinvent themselves with their PledgeMusic campaign and new independent streak will lead to a resurgence of their special brand of rock/pop/hip hop.
“Before the night is over, I’m going to be in with these guys…” At some point into the sprawling one hour, forty five minute set put on by (an at times plain goofy) James Blunt and his band, the singer-songwriter looked up at the small section of balcony seats in the sold out show at The Fillmore in San Francisco, then glanced at the standing crowd right below, and made those up front feel that something special might happen toward the end of the show. Keeping his promise, a sweaty James Blunt did indeed end up surfing the crowd – not what one might expect of the emotional crooner, best known for his kind of dark, break out hit song “You’re Beautiful”. Full of energy and great humor (much of it self-deprecating, which wasn’t surprising coming from an Englishman), James Blunt seemed like a born entertainer, feeding off the crowd and giving it all back in spades. At times it seemed like a bit of an odd affair all around; kind of like what might come about from making cookies without a cookie cutter… the audience certainly didn’t fit any particular profile or stereotype, and his music seemed to draw what you might call “people who don’t dance at concerts” (and funny enough, I would classify myself as one of those), so there was a sort non-traditional connection between artist and fan – not so much seen, but felt. It seems that the James Blunt fan might be more of a devotee – quizzing the crowd up front, people started a line at 2:30 for the 7:00 doors show. With four studio albums under his belt (with the latest, last year’s Moon Landing serving as the theme for this tour), he seems to be doing well, and enjoying himself along the way.
“This is our second time, and we like it a lot!” Georgia Nott, talking about their second gig in San Francisco to date, playing to a sold out crowd at The Independent on Tuesday night. She spent most of her time roaming back and forth across the stage, and the rest on her keyboards, at the opposite corner from her brother, Caleb, who had an array of electronics and musical tools at his own station. Holding down the center between them was touring drummer, Jimi Mataio. The set really came alive most when Georgia was on mic and vocals only, pacing the stage while showcasing her gifts, singing their unique style of music. Although one of the highlights was her heartfelt and slow tempo solo on keys and vocals toward the end of the set. With their first studio album due at the end of Summer, this overall versatility for such a young band – as well as their ability to recreate it live – makes me extremely optimistic about the future of this duo. It was a fantastic performance, which included support from one of my very favorite young artists, Meg Myers, as well as a great showing by Max and The Moon.