August 2007 Archives

It seems every time Patti Smith plays a New York City show, it's for a special occasion. The most recent gigs I can think of by the Rock N' Roll Hall of Famer include record release shows for Twelve at Hiro and Bowery Ballroom (three shows in one night), the final performance at CBGB's, New Years Eve at Bowery Ballroom, performing Horses at B.A.M., and her upcoming sold out opening night show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

On September 14th, Patti Smith and Her Band will be performing at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Tickets are $45-$25 and go on sale Friday, August 3rd, at 9am. To my knowledge, this show does mark any special anniversary or big event for Patti. It's just a normal Patti Smith tour date, which in itself seems special..............

On January 18, 2008, Patti Smith will stage "Poems and Songs for the Young at Heart" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Throughout the evening, Patti Smith and friends will perform works of Hans Christian Andersen, William Blake, Lewis Carroll, A. A. Milne, Rudyard Kipling, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Tickets are $40 and now on sale...............

PATTI SMITH & HER BAND TOUR DATES
Aug 1 2007 8:00P Carnegie Music Hall Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Aug 2 2007 8:00P Michigan Theater Ann Arbor, Michigan
Aug 4 2007 12:00P Lollapalooza Chicago, Illinois
Aug 5 2007 7:30P Barrymore Theatre Madison, Wisconsin
Aug 6 2007 8:00P State Theatre Minapolis, Minnesota
Aug 8 2007 8:00P Boulder Theater Boulder, Colorado
Aug 11 2007 8:00P Showbox Seattle, Washington
Aug 12 2007 8:00P Waterfront Park--Bite of Oregon Portland, Oregon
Aug 14 2007 8:00P The Fillmore San Francisco, California
Aug 15 2007 8:00P Catalyst Santa Cruz, California
Aug 16 2007 8:00P Santa Monica Pier Twilight Dance Series Santa Monica, California
Sep 4 2007 8:00P Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, New York
Sep 14 2007 8:00P Beacon Theater New York City, New York
Sep 22 2007 8:00P Lycabettus Theatre Athens
Sep 23 2007 8:00P Velidio Hall Thessaloniki
Oct 17 2007 8:00P Palais de Congress Marseille
Oct 18 2007 8:00P Salle Berlioz Opera Montpellier
Oct 19 2007 8:00P St. Luke's Church London
Oct 20 2007 8:00P Sheperds Bush Empire London
Jan 18 2008 7:00P Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, New York

Les Savy Fav have been added to Arcade Fire / LCD Soundsystem show at New York City's Randall's Island on October 6th.

And if you don't think you've seen enough of Les Savy Fav these days, then you'll be thrilled to hear that they're dropping their new album, Let's Stay Friends, this fall and will be doing extensive touring behind it..........

DOWNLOAD: Les Savy Fav - "What Would Wolves Do?"
DOWNLOAD: Les Savy Fav - "The Equestrian"

LES SAVY FAV TOUR DATES
09-21 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg (tix)
09-22 New York, NY - Bower Ballroom (tix)
10-06 New York, NY - Randall's Island (tix)

In addition to playing Studio B on September 15th, Bonde Do Role will be shaking their asses inside that hallow halls of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on September 14th.

Starting in September, Flavorpill will be hosting a monthly party at the American Museum of Natural History called "One Step Beyond." The first live music guest will be Bonde Do Role, for which tickets are now on sale here.

Other acts will be announced will be announced shortly.......

DOWNLOAD: Bonde Do Role - "Office Boy"
DOWNLOAD: Mika - "Big Girl (Bonde Do Role Remix)"

BONDE DO ROLE TOUR DATES
Sep 11 Black Cat Washington, DC
Sep 12 Sonar Baltimore, MD
Sep 13 Johnny Brenda's Philadelphia, PA
Sep 14 American Museum of Natural History New York, NY
Sep 15 Studio B Brooklyn, NY
Sep 17 Harper's Ferry Boston, MA
Sep 18 QC La Sala Rossa Montreal, QC
Sep 20 Lee's Palace Detroit, MI
Sep 21 Empty Bottle Chicago, IL
Sep 22 Triple Rock Minneapolis, MN
Sep 25 tba Vancouver, BC
Sep 26 Chop Suey Seattle, WA
Sep 27 Holocene Portland, OR
Sep 28 Independent San Francisco, CA
Sep 29 Echo Los Angeles, CA
Oct 1 Casbah San Diego, CA
Oct 2 Plush Tucson, AZ
Oct 4 Emos Austin, TX
Oct 5 Haileys Denton, TX
Oct 6 One Eyed Jacks New Orleans, LA
Oct 8 Beta Bar Tallahassee, FL
Oct 9 Common Grounds Gainesville, FL
Oct 10 The Social Orlando, FL
Oct 11 TSI Jacksonville, FL
Oct 12 Drunken Unicorn Atlanta, GA
Oct 13 2007 8:00P Local Chapel Hill, NC

Tickets are now on sale for the After The Jump Festival's night party at Studio B. The shindig takes place on Saturday, August 25th, and features Riot In Belgium, Soulico, The Virgins and some very special surprise guests. Tickets are $12.

All proceeds from the festival will help fund grants written by New York music teachers for their classroom via the Bloggers Choose chapter of DonorsChoose.org! It's a great cause and a lot of hard work has gone into planning this festival on the part of a lot of people, I urge you to come out and show your support.

Don't forget that there is a free day party in front of Studio B with Ra Ra Riot, Locksley, Apache Beat, Goes Cube, Jukebox The Ghost and Bling Kong.

If you're interested in volunteering at the After the Jump Fest, click here.............

DOWNLOAD: Riot In Belgium - La Musique
DOWNLOAD: The Virgins - "Rich Girls"
DOWNLOAD: Bling Kong - "Be Aggressive"

Watching bureaucrats squirm as they try and cover-up their mishandling of the honorable Army Ranger Pat Tillman's friendly-fire death in Afghanistan is just pathetic. Government officials tried use Tillman's brave story and sad death as war propaganda.

Now that the cover-up has been exposed, giving the Bush administration another anti-soldier scar, all the officials who have been implicated in concocting the fake-Tillman story to the public, and, even more disgusting, to his family, are all trying to pass the blame. At a hearing this morning, ex-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top former Pentagon brass, including General Richard Myers, denied any cover-up and rejected personal responsibility. Instead, they kept passing the buck onto lower ranking soldiers.

Retired Gen. Richard Myers, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he learned of the likelihood of friendly fire toward the end of April but that it wasn't his responsibility to inform the White House or the Tillman family.

"I don't think there's any regulation that would require me to do anything," said Myers. He blamed the Army. "This is the responsibility of the United States Army, not of the office of the chairman, so I regret that the Army did not do their duty here and follow their own policy," Myers said.

The congressional inquiry comes a day after the Army laid most of the blame for the response to Tillman's death on Philip Kensinger, a retired three-star general who led Army special operations forces after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The Army censured Kensinger for "a failure of leadership" and accused him of lying to investigators probing the aftermath of Tillman's death. A review panel made up of four-star generals will decide whether Kensinger should have his rank reduced.

The Department of Defense and the Pentagon should be ashamed of themselves.....

DOWNLOAD: Rancid - "International Cover-Up"

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman the other week. The trio played "Down Boy" and damn did Karen O look fabulous......

DOWNLOAD: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Down Boy"

Following their big Mercury Lounge show with David Vandervelde, Portland's Blitzen Trapper will continue pimping their excellent Wild Mountain Nation this September and October with tour buddies Two Gallants. The tour hits the Gramercy Theatre in New York on October 2nd. They'll be joined by another Portland act, Songs For Mom.

Blitzen recently stopped by the PRI's Fair Game in New York where lead singer Eric Earley performed a few songs solo, and was interviewed by guest host Michael Ian Black. You can stream it below.

DOWNLOAD: Blitzen Trapper - "Summer Town"
STREAM: Blitzen Trapper & Michael Ian Black on PRI's Fair Game
DOWNLOAD: Songs For Mom - "Coney Island"

BLITZEN TRAPPER TOUR DATES
WED 8/01/2007 Salt Lake City UT Kilby Court
FRI 8/03/2007 Seattle WA The Crocodile Cafe ^
SUN 9/05/2007 Portland, OR PDX Pop Now! Festival
MON 9/17/2007 Portland OR Berbati's Pan*
TUE 9/18/2007 Vancouver BC Media Club*
WED 9/19/2007 Seattle WA The Crocodile*
THU 9/20/2007 Boise ID Neurolux*
FRI 9/21/2007 Salt Lake City Kilby Court*
SAT 9/22/2007 Denver CO Hi-Dive*
SUN 9/23/2007 Rapid City SD The Imperial Inn*
MON 9/24/2007 Fargo ND Aquarium*
WED 9/26/2007 Minneapolis MN Turf Club*
THU 9/27/2007 Iowa City IA The Picador*
SAT 9/29/2007 Chicago IL Schubas*
SUN 9/30/2007 Cleveland OH Grog Shop*
TUE 10/2/2007 New York NY Gramercy Theatre*
THU 10/4/2007 Philadelphia PA First Unitarian*
FRI 10/5/2007 Boston MA Middle East Downstairs*
SAT 10/6/2007 Baltimore MD Sonar*
SUN 10/7/2007 Washington DC Rock and Roll Hotel*
MON 10/8/2007 Chapel Hill NC Local 506*
TUE 10/9/2007 Atlanta GA Drunken Unicorn*
FRI 10/12/2007 Baumont TX Votex*
SAT 10/13/2007 Austin TX Mohawk*
MON 10/15/2007 Tucson AZ Solar Culture*
WED 10/17/2007 San Diego CA The Casbah*
THU 10/18/2007 Los Angeles CA El Rey*
^ with Jennifer Gentle
* with Two Gallants & Songs For Mom

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals have finally announced their first proper New York City show in support of Easy Tiger and it's a halloween gig at the Hammerstein Ballroom. The newly sober Ryan should rip this joint.

A pre-sale happens on Thursday, August 2nd, at 10am. The password is "ROSE". General on sale happens on Friday at 10am.

I wonder if he'll play "Halloweenhead"........

If you thought it was cool that Sonic Youth were playing Daydream Nation or dug Paul Weller's Jam / Style Council / Solo theme shows, then you may be the type of person who is stoked to hear that the great Lucinda Williams is about to perform five night residencies in New York and Los Angeles where she'll perform five of her classic albums in their entirety.

She'll perform an album each night, starting with 2003's World Without Tears, segueing through 2001's Essence, 1998's Car Wheels on a Gravel Road and 1990's Sweet Old World, and concluding with her self-titled 1988 album. Afterward, she and her band will play a second set combining songs from 2007 album West and older material.

Tickets for the shows are now on sale.........

LUCINDA WILLIAMS TOUR DATES

DOWNLOAD: Lucinda Williams - "Over Time"
DOWNLOAD: Lucinga Williams - "Drunken Angel"

I know this Timberland & The Hives collaboration is a tad old, but it came up on shuffle today and really hit the stop.

As you may have heard, The Hives are opening up for Maroon 5's arena tour, including an October 10th date at Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately, they are not allowed to do any of their own headlining shows until this tour is over..........

DOWNLOAD: Timbaland & The Hives - "Thrown It On Me"

The Five-Oh's reunion tour finally made its way to Madison Square Garden. Bumpershine was at the show and has a lengthly review, in which he says:

The first three songs were all crowd pleasers, and the mostly over 35 crowd jumped right out of their seats. Songs 4-7 were probably a bit of a mixed bag for some more casual Police fans, with the likes of Voices Inside My Head, Driven To Tears and Bed’s Too Big Without You mixed in with the popular Don’t Stand So Close To Me. While you might say these songs are something for the “real fans”, I think they actually slowed the show down a little and during this sequence and I noticed that some people, (myself included), began to sit. I was a little disappointed with their rendition of Bed’s Too Big Without You, it’s a song that I really love for both it’s great guitar riff and the excellent bass line. But for some reason, the band decided to open the song up a bit (a la Tea In The Sahara), and I think it really suffered for it.

THE POLICE | MADISON SQUARE GARDEN | AUGUST 1, 2007
Message in a Bottle / Synchronicity II / Walking On the Moon / Voices Inside My Head / When the World Is Running Down / Don't Stand So Close To Me / Driven To Tears / Truth Hits / Everybody / The Bed's Too Big Without You / Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic / Wrapped Around Your Finger / De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da / Invisible Sun / Walking in Your Footsteps / Can't Stand Losing You / Roxanne // King of Pain // So Lonely // Every Breath You Take /// Next to You

(photos by Muzikspy, Coffee Is For Closers,

The 2007 New York Comedy Festival takes place at various venues from November 6th - 11th. All shows will include support from two or three other comics.

I never will understand why comedy shows are so expensive. Most comedians don't tour with some big stage show, they don't have a big road crew, and it's not like they're bringing any equipment with them. Anyway, all the tickets to the festival shows are pretty expensive. Here's the line-up and ticket informtion for everything that's currently announced....

2007 NEW YORK COMEDY FESTIVAL
NOV 7 - Sarah Silverman - Carnegie Hall - $67.50-$37-50 (tix)
NOV 8 - Dennis Leary - Beacon Theatre - $84-$39 (tix)
NOV 8 - Louis CK - Town Hall - $35-$30 (tix)
NOV 9 - Damon Wayons - Beacon Theatre - $66.50-$39 (tix)
NOV 9 - Artie Lange - Town Hall - $57.50-$37.50 (tix)
NOV 10 - Bill Maher - Beacon Theatre - $79-$49 (tix)
NOV 10 - Janeane Garofalo - Town Hall - $27.50 (tix)
NOV 11 - Seth MacFarlane - Avery Fisher Hall - $tba - On Sale TBA

From the same band that brought you the instant classic "Dirty Hands," The Black Lips are now offering you "Cold Hands" from their new album Good Bad Not Evil, which comes out on September 11th (they swear it is a coincidence!). The boys from Atlanta will also be headlining Bowery Ballroom on September 18th and Music Hall of Williamsburg on the 19th. No CMJ for them. The last time they were here, they opened for The Ponys at Bowery and almost stole the show.

The Black Lips are taking along The Selmanaires – another Atlanta band – who sound like a funkier version of The Kinks covering !!! with the some rivaling falsettos. Put them on your radar.

DOWNLOAD:
The Black Lips – Cold Hands (MP3)
The Selmanaires – Selmanaire Rock (MP3)

TOUR DATES:
9/12/07 . Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club *
9/13/07 . Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
9/14/07 . Baltimore, MD - Sonar *
9/15/07 . Washington, DC - Black Cat *
9/16/07 . Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore *
9/18/07 . New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom *
9/19/07 . Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg *
9/20/07 . Worchester, MA - The Grind At Clark University *
9/21/07 . Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs *
9/22/07 . Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa *
9/23/07 . Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern *
9/25/07 . Detroit, MI - Magic Stick *
9/26/07 . Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom *
9/27/07 . Covington, KY - The Mad Hatter
9/28/07 . Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium *
9/29/07 . Milwaukee, WI - Mad Planet *
9/30/07 . Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock *
10/02/07 . Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room *
10/03/07 . Kansas City, MO - Grand Emporium *
10/04/07 . Dallas, TX - The Loft *
10/05/07 . Austin, TX - Emo’s *
10/06/07 . Houston, TX - The Engine Room *
10/07/07 . New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks *
10/11/07 . Vancouver, BC - Richards On Richards
10/12/07 . Seattle, WA - Crocodile Café
10/13/07 . Portland, OR - Dante’s
10/15/07 . San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
10/17/07 . Pomona, CA - Glasshouse
10/18/07 . San Diego, CA - The Casbah
10/19/07 . Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
10/20/07 . Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex

* w/ The Selmanaires

White Chalk will surely surprise many long-time PJ Harvey fans. For one thing, Polly plays piano. For another thing, gone are the sexed up stylings. Now, she's gone all soft on us and is dressing like it's 1847. The results are fantastic. Below is the album's first single, the beautifully fucked-up "When Under Ether," as performed solo live from the Copenhagen Opera and a radio rip of the studio version........

DOWNLOAD: PJ Harvey – "When Under Ether (BBC 6 Radio)"
via Deaf Indie Elephants

Who says there is nothing to do in Covington, Kentucky! On August 5th, some neat folks threw together The Sonic Muse Festival at the Madison Theatre. The bill is super sweet. Tickets are only $20........

THE SONIC MUSE FESTIVAL | AUGUST 5, 2007
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists * The Hold Steady * Matt and Kim * Birds Of Avalon * Buffalo Killers * Bad Veins * The Read * The Seedy Seeds * The Great Depression * Angels Of Meth * The Virgins * Viva La Fox * Pearlene

Illinois has big fall plans. Arch and the band are heading out to Lollapalooza this weekend, opening The Hold Steady show at The World Trade Center Memorial, and then traveling as support for Menomena on their upcoming US tour.

But first, their song "Nosebleed" will be featured on the third episode of Weeds Monday night. The torrents are showing Lacy LaPlante stripping dancing on a pool table for pot while Illinois’ telephone-mic vocals, banjo lick, funky-synth bass line, and rattling drums blare in the background. The lyrics and strip scene would be matched almost too perfectly if the show was call Coke. Get the song and the tour dates with Menomena below.

DOWNLOAD: Illinois - Nosebleed (MP3)

ILLINOIS TOUR DATES:
Monday, September 17 – New York, NY – World Trade Center Memorial
with The Hold Steady and Old 97’s
Wednesday, September 19 – Syracuse, NY – Syracuse University
Tuesday, October 30 – St. Louis, MO – Billiken Club*
Wednesday, October 31 – Nashville, TN - Exit/In*
Thursday, November 1 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel*
Friday, November 2 – Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder*
Saturday, November 3 – Orlando, FL – Social*
Sunday, November 4 – Jacksonville, FL – Jack Rabbits*
Tuesday, November 6 – Washington, DC – Black Cat*
Wednesday, November 7 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church*
Thursday, November 8 – Hanover, NH – Dartmouth*
Friday, November 9 – Boston, MA – Paradise*
Saturday, November 10 – New York, NY – Webster Hall*
Monday, November 12 – Montreal, QBC –La Sala Rossa*
Tuesday, November 13 – Toronto, ONT – Mod Club*
Wednesday, November 14 – Ann Arbor, MI – Blind Pig*
Thursday, November 15 – Chicago, IL – Metro*
Friday, November 16 –Grinnell, IA – Grinnell College*
Saturday, November 17 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theatre*

*with Menomena

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs were among the many bands that played both the Virgin Festival in Baltimore and Lollapalooza in Chicago. Did you go? What you think? How about Karen O's hot leg obsession?

The great Lee Hazlewood has passed away. The legendary songwriter of "Some Velvet Morning" and "These Boots Are Made For Walkin" was loved by many more people than Nancy Sinatra. He was respected, and his songs were covered, by a generation of indie rockers from Primal Scream and Nick Cave to Jarvis Cocker and Slowdive, not to mention the likes of Elvis Prelsey. He was never a rich man, but he was an enormous talent. Respect......

The Democrats won control of 2006 with an agenda to end America's involvement in Iraq and control the President's abuse of constitutional powers. Sadly, they have done neither. In fact, the continue to fund the war and they passed a bill expanding Bush's abuse of civil liberties:

The new law for the first time provided a legal framework for much of the surveillance without warrants that was being conducted in secret by the National Security Agency and outside the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the 1978 law that is supposed to regulate the way the government can listen to the private communications of American citizens.

And in Iraq, 200,000 AK-47's that the U.S. Army provided to Iraqi's have gone missing. Oversight? Shouldn't someone be fired for this? Hello. Is this thing on........

As the second anniversary of the Katrina disaster nears, Time has an extremely depressing article about how bureaucracy and ignorance are leading officials to repeat all the same mistakes they made the first time around.

The most important thing to remember about the drowning of New Orleans is that it wasn't a natural disaster. It was a man-made disaster, created by lousy engineering, misplaced priorities and pork-barrel politics.

Two years after Katrina, the effort to protect coastal Louisiana from storms and restore its vanishing wetlands has become one of the biggest government extravaganzas since the moon mission—and the Army Corps is running the show, with more money and power than ever. Many of the same coastal scientists and engineers who sounded alarms about the vulnerability of New Orleans long before Katrina are warning that the Army Corps is poised to repeat its mistakes—and extend them along the entire Louisiana coast. If you liked Katrina, they say, you'll love what's coming next.

The Black Crowes, one of the seven-zillion bands that will be playing in New York City on August 9th (their Summerstage show is sold out), have announced via their official website that they have completed recording a brand new studio album. According to the announcement the band will begin mixing the CD with an eye towards a release next spring.

Here is what they had to say: Sixteen new tracks were recorded, none of which have yet been played to a live audience. The album was recorded at Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York and was produced by Paul Stacey and The Black Crowes.

Hopefully, the record will be more rock than jam......

We're heard this all before but "sources" have told Billboard magazine that the