And speaking of of old school bands getting back together, THE CARS have reunited! They have recorded a new album coming out May 10th and are playing some live shows. Tickets are going on sale as I type so get on this people...
THE CARS - 2011 TOUR DATES
5/10 in Seattle, WA @ Showbox @SODO
5/12 in Los Angeles, CA @ The Hollywood Palladium
5/13 in Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
5/15 in Denver, CO @ The Fillmore
5/17 in Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
5/18 in Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre
5/20 in Toronto, ON @ The Sound Academy
5/23 in Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
5/25 in New York City, NY @ Roseland
5/26 in Boston, MA @ The House of Blues
The new stuff sounds awesome!!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
A Stone Roses reunion?
I read a rumor today that the STONE ROSES could possibly be getting back together later this year. This is amazing news. These guys were one of the best bands that came out in the late 80's/early 90's and put out one of the best debut albums of all time 'The Stone Roses'. Top to bottom, front to back and every other which way this is an amazing album. If you don't have it, you should purchase it and thank me later. Here are some videos of the STONE ROSES. Enjoy:
One of those great music nights...
March 23, 2011
BROTHER w/ The Dig @ Mercury Lounge NYC
RICHARD ASHCROFT @ Bowery Ballroom
I pulled a double tonight. Yes, not even freezing rain, snow and hail could stop me from seeing two shows at two different venues tonight. Luck was on my side. I had bought tickets well in advance to see the much hyped new UK band BROTHER at Mercury Lounge and missed out when RICHARD ASHCROFT's tix to Bowery sold out in minutes. Who knew? I figured no biggie, at least I will be able to see BROTHER, performing an early show, then maybe I would stroll over to Bowery later and see if any scalpers were being generous. Then my friend Karen came thru the day before saying she had an extra to RICHARD and I was in. But enough about my dumb luck and on to the great night of music. The night reminded me of a high school basketball evening. There are always two games. The junior varsity game and the varsity game. The JV team are good but they are younger, less experienced and not as good as the varsity. Eventually they will become the varsity team that everybody will come and pay to see.
Much like previously reviewed bands MONA and the VACCINES, BROTHER are a brand spanking new band who don't even have a proper album out. They are a so called 'gritpop' band, which is considered a rougher version of 'britpop'. Before I get to them, let me mention the opening band THE DIG. I only caught their last two songs but I remember saying to my buddy, "they remind me a little bit of Billy Squire". OK, so lets move on. The great vj/dj Matt Pinfield was in the house so you know these guys have to be good. BROTHER remind me a little bit of an early version OASIS. They don't seem to like that comparison but that's what I thought when I watched an interview with them, even before hearing one of their songs. They are brash, cocky and funny as hell. The lead singer dropped some classic lines tonight that need repeated. Talking about the state of american music: "America needs a great new band so we started one for you and here we are". They are right, We need a great new band that has the balls to say so and can back it up with great music. Reacting to the amount of people in the crowd paying attention to something other than the band: "I didn't know we were playing a blackberry convention, but if you are texting, tell all your friends how great we are". He hit the nail on the head. People need to put their phones down, listen and watch. Their set was short. Seven or eight songs and 45 minutes at best. But it wasn't about how long tonight it was about how good and these guys delivered. I hate calling these guys JV but they are new, young and on the way up. This is a good thing. They even brought up a sweet backup singer on this tour beefing up their sound and showing us that they mean business. Listen to this band. I'm serious. They will be varsity some day soon.
Walking out of Mercury Lounge were were met with slushy sidewalks as we made out way to Bowery Ballroom. Matt Pinfield followed us. We missed openers THE POSTELLES, which I was bummed about but I'll catch them another time. The night was all about Mr. Ashcroft. He was here promoting his latest release 'RPA & The United Nations of Sound'. This album came out last year in the UK to weak reviews so I wasn't expecting too much (and secretly hoping he didn't play much from it). Thing is, Richard is an musical icon so regardless what he is promoting, you want to go based off of what he has done in the past and hope he plays those tunes. He kicked off the night with 'are your ready', the best cut from his new album. Song three he broke out the good stuff playing 'lucky man' from THE VERVE's 'Urban Hymns'. He continued to bounce back and forth between old, new and solo stuff during the set. I have to admit, I'm not that big a fan of the new stuff although it just came out in the states so I'm not that familiar with it. Regardless, we were lucky enough to be there to see this legend play such a small venue. He delivered the good stuff playing an acoustic encore that included the beautiful 'sonnet'. One thing to note is the amount of people using their cell phones to film and take photos tonight. Geez people relax!!! The girl in front of me took a bunch of photos during the first two songs then spent the next four songs posting them on her facebook page while constantly going back and checking to see if people made comments on her post while not even paying attention to the band! Take your photos, then put the phone away and enjoy the show.
All in all it was a great night. I got to see a fantastic up and coming new band and a legend at my two favorite NYC venues. I'm a lucky man. Yeah, Richard sang that but I consider myself that as well. It was an awesome night of music.
BROTHER: Darling Buds of May
RICHARD ASHCROFT: Are You Ready
And case you were paying attenion, BILLY SQUIRE: The Stroke
BROTHER w/ The Dig @ Mercury Lounge NYC
RICHARD ASHCROFT @ Bowery Ballroom
I pulled a double tonight. Yes, not even freezing rain, snow and hail could stop me from seeing two shows at two different venues tonight. Luck was on my side. I had bought tickets well in advance to see the much hyped new UK band BROTHER at Mercury Lounge and missed out when RICHARD ASHCROFT's tix to Bowery sold out in minutes. Who knew? I figured no biggie, at least I will be able to see BROTHER, performing an early show, then maybe I would stroll over to Bowery later and see if any scalpers were being generous. Then my friend Karen came thru the day before saying she had an extra to RICHARD and I was in. But enough about my dumb luck and on to the great night of music. The night reminded me of a high school basketball evening. There are always two games. The junior varsity game and the varsity game. The JV team are good but they are younger, less experienced and not as good as the varsity. Eventually they will become the varsity team that everybody will come and pay to see.
Much like previously reviewed bands MONA and the VACCINES, BROTHER are a brand spanking new band who don't even have a proper album out. They are a so called 'gritpop' band, which is considered a rougher version of 'britpop'. Before I get to them, let me mention the opening band THE DIG. I only caught their last two songs but I remember saying to my buddy, "they remind me a little bit of Billy Squire". OK, so lets move on. The great vj/dj Matt Pinfield was in the house so you know these guys have to be good. BROTHER remind me a little bit of an early version OASIS. They don't seem to like that comparison but that's what I thought when I watched an interview with them, even before hearing one of their songs. They are brash, cocky and funny as hell. The lead singer dropped some classic lines tonight that need repeated. Talking about the state of american music: "America needs a great new band so we started one for you and here we are". They are right, We need a great new band that has the balls to say so and can back it up with great music. Reacting to the amount of people in the crowd paying attention to something other than the band: "I didn't know we were playing a blackberry convention, but if you are texting, tell all your friends how great we are". He hit the nail on the head. People need to put their phones down, listen and watch. Their set was short. Seven or eight songs and 45 minutes at best. But it wasn't about how long tonight it was about how good and these guys delivered. I hate calling these guys JV but they are new, young and on the way up. This is a good thing. They even brought up a sweet backup singer on this tour beefing up their sound and showing us that they mean business. Listen to this band. I'm serious. They will be varsity some day soon.
All in all it was a great night. I got to see a fantastic up and coming new band and a legend at my two favorite NYC venues. I'm a lucky man. Yeah, Richard sang that but I consider myself that as well. It was an awesome night of music.
BROTHER: Darling Buds of May
RICHARD ASHCROFT: Are You Ready
And case you were paying attenion, BILLY SQUIRE: The Stroke
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