Lights That Flash in the Evening: Rogers Waters Plays The Wall @ Verizon Center, Washington, DC (10-10-2010)

My review of Roger Waters performing The Wall live is up over at The City Paper today. Photogs were allowed to shoot up to "Another Brick in the Wall" so I did manage to get the plane and the scary teacher props. Waters also brought on a bunch of kids (a local children's choir?) to sing the aforementioned. The photo pit was right in front of the stage so it was tough to get more of the full-stage shots like I wanted, but I did manage a few.

Additional photos can be seen here.

The video below is of the opening song, "In the Flesh," from Madison Square Garden a few days back.

Lights That Flash in the Evening: The Hold Steady @ 930 Club, Washington, DC (10-4-2010)

My lastest Washington City Paper review went live this morning, this time of Monday's Hold Steady show at the 930 Club. Read all about it here, and see additional photos here.

Dave Grohl performs 'Band on the Run' for President Obama and Paul McCartney

I was sending the funnier PSAs about coffee consumption starring Dave Grohl to a friend recently when I came across the following video. In one million years, I do not think I'd have put this combination together but whoever put it together is genius: Dave Grohl. In a suit. Playing "Band on the Run." At the White House. For Paul McCartney and President Obama. Oh, and Stevie Wonder is also in the audience.

Life's such a funny and interesting thing sometimes, isn't it?

Apparently, it's part of The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which took place here in DC back in July. The entire broadcast of the show can be seen here.

Lights That Flash in the Evening: The Vaselines/Teenage Fanclub @ 930 Club, Washington, DC (10-2-2010)

My photo/text review of Saturday's Vaselines/Teenage Fanclub show at the 930 Club is up over at the Washington City Paper if you like to check it out.

They played Jimmy Fallon last Thursday too, doing the ever-lovely "Jesus Don't Want Me for a Sunbeam," probably the least sexual song of their entire catalogue.

UPDATE: Myspace Music to Stream Matador at 21 Festival This Weekend

We posted a few days ago about how Myspace Music is streaming the super cool Matador at 21 Festival taking place in Vegas this weekend. Previously, certain bands like Superchunk and Sonic Youth were not going to be part of the stream, but now it looks like the sets of all bands will be streamed.

It also appears that the schedule has moved around some, and some bands that were in (Guitar Wolf, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Yo La Tengo) are no longer playing. Weird...

What's also cool is that the stream for Friday and Saturday will then repeat the next morning. We're waiting to hear back on the time things will start and will let you know.

Link for the stream is here.

Matador at 21 Festival Schedule
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1st
Chavez: 8:30pm - 9:10pm
Fucked Up: 9:35pm - 10:15pm
Sonic Youth: 10:40 pm - 11:30 pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2nd
Pavement: 12:00am - 1:00am
Girls: 4:40pm - 5:20pm
Come: 5:45pm - 6:25pm
Perfume Genius: 7:55pm - 8:15pm
Cat Power: 8:15pm - 8:55pm
Superchunk: 9:20pm - 10:00pm
Spoon: 10:25pm - 11:15pm
Belle & Sebastian: 11:45pm - 1:00am

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3rd
Shearwater: 6:30pm - 7:10pm
Ted Leo + The Pharmacists: 7:35pm - 8:15pm
New Pornographers: 8:40pm - 9:25pm
Liz Phair 9:50pm - 10:10pm
Guided By Voices: 11:30pm - 1:00am

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Billy Bragg, Fitz & the Tantrums, Virgin FreeFest 2010

I recently started shooting/reviewing part-time for the Washington City Paper, which, if you don't know it, is the local free weekly scene paper here in DC. So as to not repeat myself, here are a couple of shows I shot/reviewed for them recently for your reading/viewing pleasure....

Billy Bragg and Darren Hanlon @ 930 Club, (9-19-2010) here
Fitz and the Tantrums @ Rock and Roll Hotel(9-20-2010) here
Virgin FreeFest 2010 @ Merriweather Post Pavilion (9-25-2010):
Day (Jimmy Eat World, Trombone Shorty, Yeasayer, Joan Jett) here
Night (Chromeo, Ludacris, Pavement, MIA) here

A Rainy Night in Central Park with Pavement

(Pavement @ Virgin FreeFest 2010, additional set photos here)

We reported about seeing Pavement in New York's Central Park during a thunder/lightning storm last week (read it here). My phone was all wonky for a few hour after as I tried to tweet the setlist during the downpour, so I'm shocked someone was able to get any video, but somehow, someone did. Sadly, there is only a minute's worth of "Stereo," a song which, for me, was the highlight (and the last one before they stopped the show due to the lightning). Of it, we said:

The song that had the entire audience pogoing in unison during the chorus and generally losing its collective mind? "Stereo" from Brighten the Corners. It was a white hot version too. Lead singer Stephen Malkmus literally ripped into it; I saw him look up, see the lightning streak across the sky and literally, with his entire body, rip that opening piece with a definite ferocity which kept up the whole song. Almost as if to say, "If this is the last song, it's gonna be badass."

A snippet of "Stereo." (You also get a feeling for how hard it was raining. They stopped the show right after this.)


The first song of the night, before the rain started, "In the Mouth A Desert":


"Trigger Cut/Unfair":


"Starlings on the Slipstream"/"Our Singer":


"Zurich is Strained" (includes one of their usual blown starts):


"Father to a Sister of a Thought":

Hold Steady's Craig Finn Pens/Sings an Ode to Minnesota Twins Baseball with The Baseball Project

The Hold Steady are hitting DC on Monday (930 Club). Maybe if we're lucky, we'll get a version of "Don't Call Them Twinkies."

Lead singer Craig Finn is a big fan of baseball as well as bringing the rawk, specifically, the Minnesota Twins. The Twins have already clinched their division and in celebration, The Baseball Project, a side project of Steve Wynn [Dream Syndicate], Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey [REM], and Linda Pitmon [Zuzu's Petals] whose them is baseball, enlisted Finn's vocals and lyrics for a ditty that was just released called "Don't Call Them Twinkies."

The band theme is baseball, and naturally, Linda suggested they needed a Twins tune. So she enlisted baseball enthusiast and Twins fans Craig Finn of The Hold Steady to write the lyrics, which he did while on tour about a year ago. Steve Wynn wrote the music. (Source)

"Joey Ramone Place" Street Sign Most Loved by NYC Thieves

Fun dinner party fact from today's NY Post: "Joey Ramone Place" street sign in NYC is the street sign most often stolen.

Nine years after his death, punk legend Joey Ramone has gone to an even higher place.

The ceremonial street sign placed in his honor at the corner of Bowery and East Second Street had to be raised a full eight feet because thieving fans kept snatching it, city officials told The Post.

"Joey Ramone Place" is perhaps the most stolen of the 250,900 street signs in New York, according to the Department of Transportation, which recently asked contractors to install the sign for the fourth time since 2003.

He would have appreciated the distinction, said the group's longtime drummer, Marky Ramone, sole survivor of the Ramones' longest-running lineup.

But maybe they should find a better way to attach it," he said. "Now you have to be an NBA player to see it."

Although most street signs are about 12 to 14 feet off the ground, Joey Ramone Place was raised to 20 feet, an oddity first noted on the blog EV Grieve.

Though he wasn't aware so many thieves had given the sign the "Hey Ho," Marky said he can't think of a better tribute. "Every time I turn down Second Street, I look up and say, 'Hey Joey, you belong up there,' " he said.

The Bowery has become much more sedate since the death of the original three Ramones. And with CBGB -- the Bowery venue where the Ramones, and punk, started -- closed for good, the sign has become a crucial reminder of the corner's role in music history, Marky said. "It's a really nice tribute to a frontman who started the genre we call punk rock," he added.

The other highly sought after street sign souvenirs are a little less edgy: Broadway, Wall Street, and Love Lane, DOT spokesman Seth Solomonow said. (Source)

Myspace Music to Stream Matador at 21 Festival This Weekend

MySpace Music is streaming the Matador Records 21st anniversary this weekend (October 1-3). "As a three-day festival showcasing a vast array of talent the label has worked with throughout its storied lifespan, Matador at 21: The Lost Weekend will feature a reunited Guided By Voices as well as feature sets from such legendary acts as Pavement, Superchunk, Belle & Sebastian and many others."

Link for the stream is here


UPDATE 10/1:The schedule for the Matador @ 21 Festival has been changed. Please go here for the latest times/bands.

Set times for the festival are noted below. Some bands (those with an asterisk) will not be included in live stream; this includes really awesome ones like Superchunk, Jon Spencer, and Sonic Youth unfortunately.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1
Pavement: 12:00am - 1:00am
*Sonic Youth: 10:40pm - 11:30am
Fucked Up: 9:35pm - 10:15pm
Chavez: 8:30pm - 9:10pm
Guitar Wolf: 7:30pm - 8:10pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2nd
Belle & Sebastian: 11:45pm - 1:00am
Spoon: 10:25pm - 11:15pm
*Superchunk: 9:20pm - 10:00pm
*Cat Power: 8:15pm - 8:55pm
Perfume Genius: 7:55pm - 8:15pm
*The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: 6:50pm - 7:30pm
Come: 5:45pm - 6:25pm
Girls: 4:40pm - 5:20pm

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3rd
Guided By Voices: 11:30pm - 1:00am
*Yo La Tengo: 10:10pm - 11:05pm
Liz Phair: 9:50pm - 10:10pm
The New Pornographers: 8:40pm - 9:25pm
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: 7:35pm - 8:15pm
Shearwater: 6:30pm - 7:10pm