Lights That Flash in the Evening: Grinderman @ 930 Club, Washington, DC (11-16-2010)

I covered Mr. Nick Cave and his side project Grinderman, who played at the 930 Club for the WCP a few days back. My friend, also named Nick, writer and editor for Bloodbeat.com summed up Cave and Grinderman in a brilliant sentence. He said Grinderman was "More about destroying the structure of songs as well as shouting about getting well-laid and breaking hymens world-over with a flexed mustache muscle and laser eyes." Testify, ladies and gentleman, testify (See all of the photos of the show here).

I wasn't an immediate convert to Cave. He was good live, yes, but, I can't explain it, something was still missing for me. If I'm on the edge about band, it's usually their live show that can tip the scales for me, but I was still fence-sitting about Cave, even after Tuesday's show. I liked the intensity and the passion he displayed, but... I was yet to be convinced (in fact, I left before the encore). But then I happened upon the video for "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!" from the 2008 record Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" the next day, and... I finally got it, that weird, inane attraction that so many have for Cave. And I'm not even a fan of vampires!

Just Let the Music Take Us and Carry Us Home: Bruce Springsteen's Appearance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"

I raced home from shooting Nick Cave at the 930 Club last night to be sure I caught all of Bruce Springsteen on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." Springsteen was to be the only guest/performer on the show and given what a fan Fallon is, and that the new box set The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story, came out yesterday, it was bound to be an incredibly wonderful reason to stay up late.

Indeed it was. We heard good stories about the making of Darkness, like that Springsteen's guitarist, Steve Van Zandt, wanted to call it "A Bunch of Lost Arguments," and that Springsteen wrote the song "Fire" for Elvis Presley. There was also a spot-on recreation of Bruce's look from back in the mid-70s...back when the E Street Band was a band who wore hats.



Later, Bruce, Steven, and "Professor" Roy Bittan played "Because the Night" and "Save My Love" with Quest Love and The Roots. "Save My Love" is one of the best songs on the box set and when Quest hit the drums at the start of it, I almost jumped out of my chair....So brilliant. How on earth that song hadn't seen the light of day before now, especially live, is completely beyond me. Here's hoping it gets tossed into a set list somewhere on an upcoming tour...



"Now there's something coming through the air, that softly reminds me..." sang Springsteen. Late night tv can sometimes feel canned but this wasn't one of those times. This was a soft reminder of how great a performer Springsteen is, as well how well the man has long been able to turn a phrase. Watch the whole episode...it's definitely worth it.

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 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.

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":

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Pavement @ Central Park Summerstage (9-22-2010)

Yes, I was one of those damn fools who bought tickets for the Pavement shows at the Central Park Summerstage a year ago. Thought about selling them over the course of the year because it was a Wednesday and required a Bolt Bus ride mid-work week, but in the end, after seeing a few setlists, my friend and I decided there was no way we could miss this.

I tried hard to tweet the setlist but it proved difficult for two reasons: one, I have a hard time remembering Pavement's song titles, primarily because they're usually so far removed from the song's words, and two, it started to sprinkle early on, then pour rain about seven songs in. Pour hard. Like pour a bucket of water/soak through to your bones pouring rain. Shortly thereafter the thunder and streak-lighting started. Nothing like being outside in the middle of a huge open park like Central Park in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm. But it just didn't matter to anyone; we'd waited a year for this and no one was going anywhere.

The show was typically live Pavement: flubbed intros, starting songs over and such. But they sounded strong and solid, and appeared to be having as much fun onstage as we were having in the audience. Bassist Mark Ibold watched the crowd get pelted by rain and not even caring almost in awe, and the band repeatedly said how grateful they were to everyone for sticking it out. The show was stopped about half way through for a good 20 minutes because of the lightning, but upon the return, they ran through the rest pretty rapidly. It really didn't seem that way, but they must have because based on the setlist above, we only missed a couple songs.

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." And though it took a good 24 hours for my clothing to dry, Wednesday's Pavement show in Central Park most definitely was.

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Superchunk/Tommy Keene/Let's Wrestle @ 930 Club, Washington, DC (9-17-2010)

Superchunk came to town on Friday with the great Tommy Keene and Let's Wrestle, an English band on the Merge label. My Washington City Paper review is live (rest of the photos are here) but a few things I didn't mention in my City Paper review are...

-I have not been able to stop listening to "Brand New Love," a Sebadoh song which Superchunk covered Friday night and recorded on the Tossing Seeds: Singles 89-91 record. I then sought out the Sebadoh version and HOW. ON. EARTH. have I lived this long and not known the beauty of Lou Barlow's writing? His voice delicately plays these gorgeous words and then you're hit with the massive wall of feedback, which gets louder on the last go-round of the chorus. It's such an incredibly stunning dichotomy that I'm now on a mission to educate myself in all things Sebadoh.

-Whomever it is that is doing the lighting at the 930 Club as of late, I BEG you, enough with the red/yellow lighting already. You usually do such a great job and I never have an issue but the last two weeks, you're just killing me man. Thanks for your attention to this matter.

-Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster does a riotously funny tour blog (here). Apparently, if Superchunk vs. Bob Mould were head-to-head in a loudness battle, Superchunk would win. I knew it would be close but wowza (and Wurster should know being the guy who's making a fair share of said noise). Says he:

I’d forgotten this feeling. I’m lying in bed in my friend Phil’s apartment the morning after a New York City Superchunk show– a scene that’s taken place a hundred times since I joined the band in October of 1991. And true to form, I’m in pain.

My ears are howling from last night’s sonic assault. And I’m not talking about the dressing down I received from that cop before the show (when did this “no throwing garbage cans through store windows” law go into effect?). Though I’ve spent our nine years off the road touring with other musicians (The Mountain Goats/Robert Pollard/Ben Gibbard & Jay Farrar, etc) the Superchunk wall of sound is like none other. I’ve had the great pleasure of drumming with Bob Mould since ’08 and while those shows are LOUD I don’t recall waking up later with the sound of the world’s largest ocean (the Sea of Crete, if I’m not mistaken –someone please Wiki this) between my ears.(Source)

-I've always had a thing for drummers but awesome drummer + funny + cute as a button=I think I'm in love with Jon Wurster.

-Mac McCaughan, I just want to say that god bless you for showing that we older folks can still do a mean pogo. The man did not stay still the entire 90 minutes it was a great thing to watch. Oh, and Mac, "Learned to Surf" is probably one of the greatest power punk pop songs of all time.

-Tommy Keene's young nephew sat behind the drum kit for one song during Keene's set (as did Wurster). The best part? His nephew was sporting a Replacements t shirt from the cover of Let It Be. (If you don't know, Keene played guitar on one of Paul Westerberg's tours.I wish I had an uncle like Tommy Keene for reals...

-Let's Wrestle are super nice guys. I didn't get to see them at SXSW like I wanted, so it was great to see them here. And their stuff is on par with the catchy-as-hell "We Are the Men You'll Grow to Love Soon."

Give a Listen:
-Brand New Love-Sebadoh/Buy Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock

-Brand New Love-Superchunk/Buy Tossing Seeds (Singles 89-91)

-Save This Harmony-Tommy Keene/Buy You Hear Me: A Retrospective

-We Are the Men You'll Grow to Love Soon-Let's Wrestle/Buy In The Court of the Wrestling Let's

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Of Montreal/Janelle Monae @ 930 Club, Washington, DC (9-13-2010)

My review of the first of two sold out shows for Janelle Monae and Of Montreal at the 930 Club is over at the Washington City Paper but additional photos are below. I went in not knowing one song from either band but simply put? One should not see a Janelle Monae show if you wish to remain calm, your body will be unable to stop itself from moving about to her space-age rock/funk/soul combo. This woman is the complete package in terms of a performer and is an absolute must-see live. She proves you don't have to have a ton of "stuff" onstage to be impressive, you just have to have talent.







On the other hand, Of Montreal seemed to believe that a massive stage show and props for every song will fake you out and take your attention away from the fact that the songs just aren't that good. And it worked for a little while...but close to two hours of this and it started to burn my retinas. While I applaud an artistic visual to go with the aural experience when you see a band live, I think it's a problem if the what you see if more interesting than what you're hearing...even if the lead singer is sporting a pair of tights and a June Cleaver apron.

(See the rest of the photos here

Give a Listen:
Tightrope-Janelle Monae/Buy The Android

Coquet Coquette-Of Montreal/Buy False Priest

NPR archived the stream the second show of their two-night stay in DC and it's available here.

Virgin FreeFest 2010 Lineup Announced

Some parts of living in DC in the summer aren't so great...the never-ending heat wave we're currently experiencing for example. Throngs of tourists. More subway cars that don't have air conditioning than do...But one pretty cool part of living in DC in the summer, at least the past few years, has been the Virgin Mobile FreeFest taking place.

The FreeFest will occur on Saturday, 9/25 this year and being held again at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. “Our goal is simply to book the coolest bands we can. This year we’re breaking with the traditional format of monster headliner trickling down to baby bands, and instead we’re sprinkling fantastic acts all day long. It’s kind of like a festival on full-day shuffle,” said Seth Hurwitz, the Fest's producer and owner of the 930 Club here in DC. The 2010 lineup was announced today and includes the following acts:

M.I.A., LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, PAVEMENT, T.I., LUDACRIS, JOAN JETT, THIEVERY CORPORATION, MATT & KIM, JIMMY EAT WORLD, THE TEMPER TRAP, EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS, AND YEASAYER; DANCE FOREST: CHROMEO, SLEIGH BELLS, DIE ANTWOORD, MODESELEKTOR, NEON INDIAN

In addition to two main stages, a dance forest filled with inspired music, and a special second line march from stage to stage with Trombone Shorty will be held. We love us a good second line around here, and Trombone Shorty is fantastic so if you go, definitely go see him!

Tickets to the 2010 Virgin Mobile FreeFest will be available to the public on TicketFly at 10 am EST on Saturday, 7/24. Virgin Mobile customers and previous Virgin Mobile Festival ticket holders from the past four years will be invited via text and email to a private “free-sale” (much like a pre-sale, except free) to be held Friday, 7/23.

Last year, $80,000 was raised and 30,000 hours of volunteerism were generated for youth homelessness. This year, The RE*Generation, Virgin Mobile’s charitable initiative to end youth homelessness, is encouraging fans to make a $5 donation and in return receive a 2010 Virgin Mobile FreeFest mix produced by Rusko. The download will mash up select bands in the lineup to create a unique 20-minute mix. The DJ mix will be available for pre-order on Friday during the pre-sale with every $5 donated to youth homelessness. In keeping with the “free” mantra, Ticketfly is waiving all service charges when fans pick up their FreeFest tickets at Merriweather or the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. or print their tickets at home.

Another change this year is the premium ticket. This provides Pavilion seating, with a portion of the ticket price going to support homeless youth charities.

For more details on the ticketing, including options for donating money to youth homelessness, and to sign up the news alerts and updates, check out Virgin Mobile FreeFest.

The Hold Steady Announce September/October Tour Dates, Includes DC!

Hey Craig Finn, we're just as excited as you 'cause The Hold Steady released tour dates today for September and October leg of the Heaven is Whenever tour, and finally, one of them is DC, woot! Fellow Vagrant label-mate Wintersleep will be opening on every date sans 10/20 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Tickets will be available for pre-sale tomorrow (7/14) here. General public sale is 7/16 (Friday).

September
20th - Richmond, VA - The National
21st - Nashville, TN - Exit / In
22nd - Oxford, MS - The Lyric Oxford
23rd - Little Rock, AR - Revolution Music Room
24th - New Orleans, LA - Republic New Orleans
25th - Birmingham, AL - WorkPlay Soundstage
27th - Charleston, SC - Music Farm
28th - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
29th - Lexington-Fayette, KY - Buster's Billiards & Backroom
30th - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue

October
1st - Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
2nd - Newport, KY - The Historic Southgate House
4th - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
5th - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero Theatre
6th - Boston, MA - Royale Boston
7th - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre
* 20th - Hailfax, NS - Pop Explosion Fest (The Paragon Theatre)

Paul McCartney Joins Ringo Starr Onstage Last Night at Radio City Music Hall

It's probably safe to say that if it weren't for The Beatles, many indie pop bands would not even exist. Ringo Starr celebrated his 70th birthday last night at Radio City Music Hall, but it was the audience who received a tremendous present when Paul McCartney was brought out to play a rousing rendition of the Beatles' song "Birthday" off of their 1968 record, The White Album. McCartney sounds better than he has in a really long time, letting loose with that incredible rock-n-roll yell that was so prominent in Beatles' songs. Pretty goose-bumply stuff for sure. Obviously the crowd was losing its mind as is evident by the bouncing video towards the end.

At one point, you see a guy with a video camera come around Ringo so one can only hope there will be a DVD out in the near future. History was made there as this was the first time the two had played the song since it was recorded 42 years ago.

This is almost definitely the first time Starr and McCartney has played 'Birthday' together since it was recorded for the White Album in 1968, as the Beatles had stopped performing live at that point. Curiously, a third person onstage during the proceedings who was on the original recording could have joined the duo and conceivably made it an even bigger reunion: Yoko Ono supplied backing vocals on the White Album track. (Source)

She & Him, Delta Spirit Doing XPN Free at Noon Today (EST)

Now that's a nice way to ramp up to a long weekend! She & Him and Delta Spirit are doing an "XPN Free at Noon" show today, at, well, noon. It's noon Eastern time so we're talking 20 minutes from now. So go grab your lunch, get settled, and let the lovely harmonies give some love to your afternoon.

Link to listen is here.

Have a great 4th everyone!

The Henry Clay People Release Video for "Your Famous Friends," Open for SSPUs at DAR Tonight

The Henry Clay People are opening tonight for Against Me and Silversun Pickups at DAR (tickets still available here). Their down-to-earth anthemic rock and roll is always crazy amounts of fun to see live. (They go on at 7:30 tonight so get there early.)

Their new record, Somewhere On the Golden Coast came out last week and it doesn't disappoint. It's music great for driving real fast to, for dancing in your living room with friends to, for anytime you want to witness merriment come alive in you or your friends.

The band released the first video today from Golden Coast for the song "Your Famous Friends." The video mixes their tongue-in-cheek humor (the HCP have long dressed up like Ronald Reagan and played shows) with their not-so-famous friends. "It was shot by Ben Hoste out in front of our old rehearsal space in downtown Los Angeles," says singer/guitarist Joey Siara. "We got some of our buddies to put on some presidential masks and goof around on a hot spring Saturday. The real star of the video is our pal Fieron Santos who endured water balloons aimed at his crotch, hair caked thick with wet flour and a flying attack from Saddam [Hussein]. If making videos were always this fun then we would have a lot more."



Give a Listen:: Your Famous Friends-The Henry Clay People/ Buy Somewhere On the Golden Coast

Voodoo Experience Festival 2010 Lineup Announced

Halloween weekend in New Orleans is one big fine thing. It's a throwdown that's less annoying in terms of sloppy drunk people, but super fun because NOLA does up Halloween in high fashion. For the past 11 years, the Voodoo Experience Fest has been held over Halloween weekend. I got to attend last year for the first time and oh, the wonders I saw. Held on the grounds of the New Orleans Museum of Modern Art, it usually contains great collection of local musicians, as well as bigger name acts.

The initial 2010 lineup was announced yesterday and what a lineup so far....more will be announced shortly.

Muse/Ozzy Osbourne/Weezer/MGMT/Drake/Metric/Hot Chip/Interpol/Paul van Dyk/Deadmau5/Street Sweeper Social Club/Paul Oakenfold/Jakob Dylan and Three Legs/Ferry Corsten/Buckwheat Zydeco/Florence And The Machine/Raphael Saadiq/Eagles of Death Metal/Cage the Elephant/Minus the Bear/Janelle Monae/Eli "Paperboy" Reed/Galactic with Guests/The Airborne Toxic Event/ Jonsi/ Innerpartysystem/ AfrojackDie/Antwoord/Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue/ Rebirth Brass Band/ CrookersPreservation Hall Jazz Band/Boys Noize/Stanton Moore Trio with Anders Osborne and Robert Walter/Voice of the Wetland All Stars/Tab Benoit/Cyril Neville/ Waylon Thibodeaux/Big Chief Bourdeaux/Johnny Vidacovich/Johnny Sansone/Soul Rebels Brass Band/Theresa Andersson/Basin Street Records Revue Kermit Ruffins/Dr. Michael White/Jeremy Davenport/George Porter, Jr. & Runnin' Pardners/Toubab Krewe/Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen/Treme Brass Band with Uncle Lionel Batiste/Cedric Burnside & Lightnin Malcom/Big Sam's Funky Nation/The New Orleans Bingo! Show/The Happy Talk Band/Fleur De Tease Burlesque Revue/Rotary Downs/Paul Sanchez/DJ Soul Sister/Quintron & Miss Pussycat/Honey Island Swamp Band/Gal Holiday/Rosie Ledet/ Fatter Than Albert/Leo Jackson and the Melody Clouds/AM/Fitz & The Tantrums/Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights/Shannon McNally/Creole String Beans/ Feufollet/Alvin Youngblood Hart/Locos Por Juana/Flow Tribe/Consortium of Genius/Luke Winslow-King/ Noisician Coalition/DJ Quickie Mart/The Vettes/ Debauche/ Helen Gillet/The Local Skank/COOTMC/Sweet Tea/Rival Sons/Lost Bayou Ramblers

A three day pass is $150, a VIP package is $500. Tickets are onsale now here.

Seen Your Video: "Baltimore Blues No.1" by Deer Tick on Letterman

Seen Your Video: Gaslight Anthem Cover Pearl Jam's "State of Love and Trust" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Fitz & the Tantrums @ Black Cat, Washington, DC (5-29-2010)

It was great to see the turnout for Fitz & the Tantrums last Saturday at the Cat. Memorial Day Weekend can be tough for any band to play in town, but for a band from out-of-town, you never know. So big ups to DC because they welcomed these out-of-towners with a good showing. Music, as well as a live show this good, is something that should not go unrecognized.

(Go here to see the rest of the show photos)

New Superchunk Record, Majesty Shredding, out 9/14

SXSW 2010, Day 3: Superchunk @ Village Voice day party, La Zona Rosa (3-19-2010)-5494, originally uploaded by BetweenLoveandLike.

Ask and you shall receive...we reported a couple weeks back how Superchunk had announced new tour dates for fall and had a new record also set "for fall." Well, cheerful news came out today via a video that the new record, Majesty Shredding, will be out on 9/14...a mere three days from the start of their little fall tour here in DC.

The video plays a tremendous song I heard at SXSW this year called, Everything at Once. They seem to have done a stellar job on the studio version; I'm pretty certain it will be a non-stop play around here for awhile.

Superchunk - Majesty Shredding from Merge Records on Vimeo.

If you're interested, check out the other cool new song they did in Austin called "Digging for Something" here.

Seen Your Video: "Slack Motherfucker" by Superchunk at the Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona (5-27-2010)

Ever since I saw them live for the first time at SXSW this year, my Ipod has been playing a whole bunch of Superchunk. I'd dug them before, but it was the unbridled and raw energy of their live show that made me fall in love all over again.

'Chunk doesn't tour as much as they used to, so when they do, one should not miss the opportunity. We recently posted about 'Chunk's new record (!!!) Majesty Shredding due out this fall, as well as their tour dates around the same time. Prior to these, they are playing some festivals here and there, including the Primavera Sound Festival which was last night in Barcelona. The crowd's response to the anthemic "Slack Motherfucker" is always such a joy to behold.

I think it's safe to say that even if I live to be 100, "Slack Motherfucker" will still make me want to pogo like a crazy person.