Paul McCartney Tour Opening in Phoenix / Beatles-Sgt.Pepper's Show

Sir Paul McCartney kicked off his new leg of his US Tour in nearby Glendale, AZ last night and New Times music editor Martin Cizmar was there:
"Overall, McCartney's three-hour, 40-song show was fantastic. McCartney did "Blackbird" and "Here Today" alone and acoustic, with a darkened stage and a moon-shaped ball lowering behind him as he played. The effect was both beautiful and simple. "Eleanor Rigby," on the other hand, saw one of the night's few hiccups. McCartney and Co. elected to use a backing track for the strings which came across as fake. Given the importance of the song -- some people cite it as the turning point toward the more serious direction the band took on later albums -- the blunder was especially disappointing." Check some video below!


(video by Coley Ward)

Click here for the New Times pics - excellent shots.

The UK Macca Blog wrote:
"Paul McCartney has just finished his concert at the Phoenix's Jobing.com Arena, the kick-off of his new US and UK Tour " The Up And Coming Tour ". This evening, Paul was in very good shape and we are happy that Paul has now reconciled with his past of Wings, singing songs that were not heard for more than thirty years. Paul opened the show with two Wings' songs, something he had not done since 1979. Now, exclusively on MaccaBlog.com here is the full set-list, 40 (!) songs for the opening show: Venus And Mars - Rock Show - Jet - All My Loving - Got To Get You Into My Life - Highway - Let Me Roll It - Foxy Lady - The Long And Winding Road - Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five - (I Want To) Come Home - My Love - I'm Looking Through You - Every Night - Two Of Us - Blackbird - Here Today - Dance Tonight - Mrs. Vandebilt - Eleanor Rigby - Something - Letting Go - Sing The Changes - Band On The Run - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - Back in the USSR - I've got a feeling - Paperback writer - A day in the life - Give peace a chance - Let it be - Live And Let die - Hey Jude - Day Tripper - Lady Madonna - Get back - Yesterday - Helter Skelter - Sgt. Pepper's (reprise) - The End"

And I say: WOW! What a setlist!

Meanwhile, on Saturday and Sunday in north Phoenix, I was part of a very special Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band tribute show, produced by Paradise Valley Community College Fine & Performing Arts Department. I joined two other vocalists to sing the lead vocals and recreate the wonderful harmonies made by John, Paul, George and Ringo on that album.




We did the entire Peppers LP,complete with guitars, bass, drums, keys, strings, sitar and horns! It was awesome. And we got to wear the regal Sgt. Pepper's outfits. Too fun. Then the second half of the show was devoted to late Beatles period songs, including many of the Beatles' favorites that McCartney himself still plays (see the setlist above).

Needless to say, the musicians and us singers all had a blast; about 500 people attended the concerts and the college raised nearly $8,000 for the school's
fine & performing arts student scholarships.

See more photos at the PVCC Fine Arts Fundraiser "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Live" Facebook page or at my own Facebook photo page.

Rock Clip of the Week - The Wedding Present "Dalliance/Dare" live, 2008

Rock Clip! Weddoes! Here's The Wedding Present singing their songs 'Daliance" and "Dare" in a live German gig from 2008. Read more news on the band below.



Next week, the Wedding Present is releasing a bunch of rare live material from its early days - they call it "Live '88", a double album of live Wedding Present recordings from 1988. Be a fan at their Facebook page.

From the band's site:
"This release will be available on CD and by download. ‘LIVE 1988′ collects the third and fourth of The Wedding Present’s infamous ‘live tapes’; cassettes that the band sold at gigs and through their fanzine in the late 80s. The recordings were unavailable anywhere else. Fans eagerly collected them and they became very rare.

This is the second in the series of these much-demanded, re-mastered recordings. ‘Live 1987′ was released in 2007 to popular acclaim. ‘Live 1988′ is especially interesting because it includes some early versions of tracks that went on to appear on their major label debut, ‘Bizarro’. This year the band are celebrating the 21st Anniversary of the release of Bizarro by playing the album live."

And lastly, the band is playing its classic LP 'Bizarro' live throughout the remainder of this year. All the info on North American shows are on this page. And the band will doing a WOXY in-house interview session on April 5th, to be broadcast on April 7th. All good news.

Rare 1965 Rolling Stones doc - 'Charlie is My Darling'

The other day while re-reading a great Rolling Stones book I have, I learned of a movie that Andrew Oldham and Rolling Stones shot while on a September 1965 jaunt to Ireland called "Charlie Is My Darling". IMDB notes:

"The 1 hour show was put together in January 1966 by the Stones' manager Andrew Oldham from a combination of concert footage taken during the tour of Ireland in autumn 1965 and backstage interviews, during which Brian Jones discusses his fear of marriage, Charlie Watts his limitations as a musician and Mick Jagger impersonates Elvis!"

Trouser Press quoted Oldham as saying about the film:
"There's a film around that I did with them in Ireland - Charlie is My Darling - that I think we spent more money on the credits than we did on the film. I think it was actually two grand on the credits, four grand on the film. Looking back, it seems like it was just an exercise in bullshitting ourselves. We just wanted to be able to see the credits. Then we said, 'We'll go on with this' but we never did."

But David Dalton, author of the book above, disagreed with that assessment and wrote:
"Shot in black and white, the film was an intimate record of the Stones on tour in Ireland. Considering how good the film was, it is a pity Andrew never carried his ambitious project any further."

Rolling Stones - Charlie Is My Darling



I'm guessing hardcore Stones fans have seen this on bootlegs or elsewhere. There's not much at Wikipedia on it. I've not watched this yet, and hope to tonight. If you want this film on DVD, you can get it from VideoBeat.

EdgePlay - the 'real' story of The Runaways

Fade In to Rock:

ANNCR:
"You've seen The Runaways movie, now get the 'real' story behind the teen girls' rise to sordid fame and notoriety during the 1970s jailbait rock and roll years, feled by the misadventures of rock and roll legend Kim Fowley - See the entire 2004 Edgeplay documentary about legendary all-female rock band The Runaways.

"Edgeplay chronicles the rise of the band, its hopes and dreams, and its eventual disintegration as the result of media belittling, in-fighting and drug use amidst rumors of verbal and emotional abuse by the band's management. Produced and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Victory Tischler-Blue."

Part 1 below and follow the links:


Buy the DVD with all the extra clips at Amazon.

There WAS thought put to that title - As seen at Wikipedia, Edgeplay is also a sex play term. I did not know that. "In BDSM, edgeplay is a subjective term for types of sexual play that are considered to be pushing on the edge of the traditional safe, sane and consensual creed." Makes sense for the documentary title.

Joe Jackson Band - 'It's Different for Girls'

Posting up this lip-synched promo clip of Joe Jackson and his band doing "It's Different for Girls" (from his "I'm the Man" 2nd LP), simply cause I've been playing it on acoustic guitar all week. Lovin' it.

SXSW Fallout Followup

Spending a lot of this Monday night catching up on bands and musical happenings from SXSW. Here's a sample of action and reactions:

- Listen to a live SXSW show with Fanfarlo (via NPR)

- Catch LA Times' Ann Powers on her SXSW experience and Wall Street Journal's Jim Fusilli's change of direction at SXSW.

- Billboard brings you news and video clips on 'The Ten Best SXSW Shows You Missed', focusing on shows by bands like The xx, Man Man, Metric and Band of Skulls. Good stuff.

- The New York Rock Market brought SXSW to you in lengthy blog posts with all the fun and debauchery you'd expect. Here's the Saturday post which rocks. A sample:
"Then, we were whisked away further into East Austin in my friend’s friend car to a house party. Apparently, this is a house that puts on shows once every two months or so, but does as much as they can during SXSW. We were there to see Eastern Sea, who turned out to be one of the great surprises of the whole week. Lots of guitars, and brass, and keyboard, playing in this magical little East Austin house, they were full of good-band-who-hasn’t-broken-yet energy with surprisingly tight arrangements. The band floats along with a familiar, home is where the heart is energy, that’s supported by down-to-Earth vocals. They don’t sound like Conor Oberst or Bright Eyes, but they have that same sort of “we’re from the middle of the country and this is the kind of music we’re playing whether or not it’s popular” vibe to them that I really like. They sound like they fall in love a lot."

- R.E.M.'s Mike Mills sang Alex Chilton's "Jesus Christ" at Saturday's Big Star memorial - great stuff - check it here:

Superchunk at SXSW - 'Slack Motherfucker'

Still sounds awesome after all these years - Superchunk playing their debut LP anthem 'Slack Motherfucker' with a ton of energy and gusto, the way bands should always play! Words below the clip.



"You haven't moved from that spot all night since you asked for a light
you little smoke stack
You've wasted my time
I'd like to see you try and give it back

I'm working
But I'm not working for you!
Slack Motherfucker!

Relax, sit down
I'll kick that stool right out from under you
Well, then, I see you sitting outside
Well, I can do the same thing too

I'm working
But I'm not working for you!
No!
Slack Motherfucker!

I'm working
But I'm not working for you!
Slack Motherfucker
You Motherfucker!!"

Monday Public Option Music

Here's a blast from around the Internet for linkage, tuneage and mega-wattage.

- Digital Music News notes the huge numbers that descended upon SXSW this year:
"SXSW was packed this year, and now some impressive numbers are surfacing. According information this morning from festival organizers, the number of registered SXSW attendees reached 13,022 for music alone, an 89 percent gain over last year. The figure does not count the swarm of non-registered attendees, many of whom spent significant amounts of money. A total of 1,981 bands performed.

- Adam Gold of the Nashville Scene music blog writes possibly the greatest SXSW recap ever. Here's a snippet:
"The first thing I noticed upon making my way into the downtown convention center was a line of people waiting to get their picture taken with a wax statue of Smokey Robinson. I then noticed that the statue was moving. "That's amazing," I thought to myself, "Is it animatronic?" Then I noticed the sign: "Signed portrait with Smokey Robinson $125." I guess they just embalmed him to cover the tracks of his tears or something. Good for him."

- Kingblind LOVES that new Besnard Lakes music. Click here to hear some of this fine band. For the local PHX readers, the band will be playing Tempe's fine 'Sail Inn'(outdoor stage?) on May 14th. See it.

- Inside Music Media discusses KPIG radio station moving to a subscription model:
"What is exciting is that there is no longer one way to monetization in radio, television or print. Free works with advertising (less so with bidding for ads). Paid works where content is unique and compelling. The product had better be good if consumers are being asked to pay for it."

- Robert Kass over at Popdose writes a long, loving, informative Alex Chilton piece, with loads of Chilton music at the end.

- The 60s Brit beat pop band The Move used mayhem and destruction to raise awareness - your band should try some too!
"A show at the Marquee - to celebrate the release of 'Night Of Fear' saw the Move, dressed as gangsters, demolishing a TV set on stage and creating a near-disaster in which three fire engines had to be called out and the building cordoned off by police. Inevitably the show became front-page news and the Move had established a saleable image: they were noisy, violent and irresponsible - a perfect symbol of the shiftless youth who would soon be happily buying their records."

- From 2008: Riffs off 10 songs that sound like other songs. (via Jamsbio Magazine)

Live Broken Bells at SXSW

Courtesy of Spinner's The Interface, here's James Mercer from the Shins in his new incarnation called Broken Bells, whose new CD just dropped last week. Here's the single "A High Road" from the CD, performed live at SXSW this week.

Not-Rock Clip of the Week - Justin Bieber and Katie Couric

Every Friday at Waved Rumor, I usually post up a new or old-school rock and roll music clip to expose to Waved Rumor readers an under-appreciated or long-lost rock band with a great live clip.

But today I'm switching it up, instead, to focus on 15 yr. old Justin Beiber, a pretty cool teen from a divorced Canadian couple who's fast becoming a pop kid sensation in that neo-soul world that appears to still buy CDs and watch 'American Idol'.

His 2009 CD "My World' has sold nearly one million copies. According to the Billboard feature article...
"Bieber's debut album, "My World," was released last November on Island through the Raymond Braun Music Group (a 50/50 joint venture between R&B star Usher Raymond and Bieber's manager, Scott "Scooter" Braun). It arrived at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 with 137,000 copies and has since sold 998,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan, a total likely boosted by iTunes' Complete My Album campaign."

That's a lot of Bieber music out there for the (young) ladies. This interview (and some music) clip is 22 minutes, but it's worth watching for a refreshing take by a telented kid on moving fast up into popdom - decent Kouric questions, and a pretty open honest Bieber. At one point in the interview, he yawns and Couric asks - "Am I boring you?". Bieber replies, "No, I'm just tired, I was up late last night." Up late in his teens - that's rock and roll, right? Happy Friday.



And here's the clip of Justin Beiber playing guitar and singing too.

Alex Chilton RIP

Alex Chilton, quirky solo rock and roll guy, former Boxtops singer and Big Star mainstay, died Wednesday in New Orleans. He was 59 years old.


"Children by the millions think of Alex Chilton when he comes round..."

The New York Times Artsbeat blog reported this tonight:

"The Commercial Appeal said that Mr. Chilton, who lived in New Orleans, had recently been complaining of health problems, and was taken on Wednesday by paramedics to an emergency room in New Orleans where he was pronounced dead. His death was confirmed to the Commercial Appeal by Jody Stephens, his longtime band mate in Big Star. The group was scheduled to perform on Saturday at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin."

More from Greg Kot at the Chicago Tribune, who includes a "Best of Alex Chilton on record":

* Box Tops, "The Best of the Box Tops: Soul Deep" (1996): The teenage Chilton sang some of the more memorable blue-eyed soul of the 1960s, including hits such as "The Letter," "Cry Like a Baby" and "Soul Deep."

* Big Star, "No. 1 Record" (1972): Pristine power-pop with Chilton and Chris Bell trading songs like Memphis' answer to Lennon and McCartney.

* Big Star, "Radio City" (1974): With Bell out of the group, Chilton brings a grittier, soul-fired edge to the trio's unerring melodies.

* Big Star, "Sister Lovers" (1978): Cobbled together after Big Star broke up, the group's final studio recording is a dark-night-of-the-soul classic, far different in tone than its predecessors.

* "Like Flies on Sherbert," (1979): Slapdash yet weirdly inspired, Chilton's solo debut became an unlikely punk touchstone.

I saw Chilton play with a reunited Boxtops underneath the World Trade Towers in summer 2000. Great show and Chilton was a fun folksy presence. Never saw him with the reunited Big Star though. That would've been cool. It's now nightime. RIP Alex Chilton.



"NIGHTIME" (Chilton)

"At nightime, I go out and see the people
Air goes cool and hurrying on my way
And dressing so sweet, all the people to see
They're looking at me, all the people to see

And when I set my eyes on you, You look like a kitty
And when you're in the mood, Oh, you look so pretty

Caught a glance in your eyes, And fell through the skies
Glance in your eyes, And fell through the skies

I'm walking down the freezing street, Scarf goes out behind
You said, "Get them away", Please don't say a word

Get me out of here, Get me out of here
I hate it here, Get me out of here."

The Beatles - 1000 years later

Will you still love them.... next millennium?

Some choice lines from this campy funny clip from Scott Gairdner and his gang.
- "Remember, back then, musical notation had not yet been expanded to V." (ha!)
- "1965. Shea Stadium. The Beatles win the Super Bowl 21-7 against the Giants."
- "Perhaps the Beatles' greatest accomplishment came with the release of their groundbreaking album...Sgt. Petsounds and the Spiders from Aja."


Beatles 3000 - Watch more amazing videos here

SXSW #4 - Twin Atlantic

SXSW is underway and I'm not there. But here's #4 in our Model Band Series on young troopers in Austin, Texas to play music shows for the great unwashed at the SXSW Music Fest. [Read #1 - Grand Atlantic; #2 - Foxy Shazam; and #3 - Dawes (the band).]

Twin Atlantic is a young Scottish rock band on its first US tour with The Fall of Troy and and Envy On The Coast, with stops at SXSW, Bamboozle Anaheim and the Never Say Never Festival this Wednesday in Mission, Texas. Here are the band's dates this week in Austin:

3/18 - 11PM: Official Showcase @ Opal Divine's Freehouse (700 W. 6th Street)
3/19 - 2:45PM: Showcasing Scotland at the British Music Embassy @ Lattitude 30 (512 San Jacinto)
3/19 - 4:20PM: RM 64 Party @ The Dirty Dog (505 E. 6th Street)

They make a good roar on songs like 'Lightspeed' and 'Audience and Audio'. (The band comes to my neck of the woods at Scottsdale's Martini Ranch on March 23rd - see flier below).

Twin Atlantic has already toured with Smashing Pumpkins, Frightened Rabbit, Taking Back Sunday and The Subways in the past and were just featured on the cover of the UK's acclaimed Rock Sound Magazine in a "5 bands to watch" feature. Twin Atlantic's debut album Vivarium is out now and garnering good press abroad.

Here's a cool live clip of 'Audience and Audio' from a hometown (Glasgow?) show from last year - here are more songs from their MySpace page.

London Rock - The Fez

This is the London band Fez. These guys ain't at SXSW, nor are they repped by a big mngmt. agency, but London's Fez sounds alright to these ears. Check out their songs 'Chemical' or "Low Light" or any of 'em actually - everything at the band's MySpace page sounds great. They list Talking Heads, Television, Battersea Park and Neil Young as influences. To me, that spells guitars. I like that.

Here's what the Irish music blog IndieBands blog wrote about Fez in a recent gig:
"The music lives up to expectations, as they kicked off with the high energy good humoured output for which they are known. The dramatic effect of multiple guitar and multiple vocal gives them a great depth, which is not permitted to flow over in to a discord of noise, but retains a tight and sharp focus. 'My Teeth' had the enthusiastic audience singing along and and the band had relaxed in to the set. The powerful drum and piercing guitar left very few in the audience standing still. 'Chemicals' which opens with a direct reference to The Beatles, suddenly picked up pace and the voice of Will, strident with a superb polemic. This is a difficult song to control as the band rushes to join the argument and they held it together superbly."

More from IndieBands blog on Fez right here.

Here's their song 'Coming Soon" over a montage of older random band footage and clips.

Rock Hall Awards bits

While SXSW starts up for the musical side of things today, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame awards ceremony is going down in NYC - the Wall Street Journal is live blogging it and you can follow the goings-on on Twitter. Genesis just got inducted. Well done.

When or where is the stream of it? I'm looking for it and can't find it.

Rock Clip of the Week - Teenage Bottlerocket "Bigger than Kiss"

This, my friends, is the greatest rock and roll video ever made. Period. The song roars, the animation kicks and the subject rocks. With a chorus like "We'll be kickin' ass, we'll be takin' names, we'll be bigger than KISS", how can it miss?

Yes, it's Teenage Bottlerocket, the hardest touring band in existence, with the new video for their song "Bigger Than Kiss"! I've written about Teenage Bottlerocket a few times in the past year, and got to see the band live a few months ago and loved 'em. I hope their song "Bigger Than Kiss" takes the band to ultra new heights. I love this. Happy Friday.

BONUS BONUS FRIDAY - A live take on "Bigger than Kiss" by the band taken last fall is below. Plus lyrics! Rock!




"Bigger Than Kiss" - Teenage Bottlerocket
Detroit couldn't rock itself out of a paper bag
Gene Simmons looks kinda cool
But Paul Stanley kinda looks like a jag
Ace Frehley can play guitar
But he ain't no fucking Kerry King
So get your ass out of the way
Here comes a rock revolution
Listen up cause I'm about to sing

The creatures of the night Can't hold a candle to this
We'll be kickin' ass we'll be takin' names When we're bigger than Kiss
I never thought cocaine Could be as good as this
We'll live our lives in alcoholic bliss When we're bigger than Kiss
Rock!

Me and Charlie we have it loud
Yeah you know we rock and roll all night
Paul Stanley fell down on stage and broke a hip
Let's hope he's not alright
The ladies don't like old men
Now my love gun is the one in demand
And we're gonna go down in history
As the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band

The creatures of the night Can't hold a candle to this
We'll be kickin' ass we'll be takin' names When we're bigger than Kiss
Calling Dr. Love hey geta load of this Ray beat the piss out of Peter Criss
Now we're bigger than Kiss

More Love for Free Energy

Philly rockers Free Energy (who we looked at here at Waved Rumor in January) get a fine interview piece at Tripwire.

"The balance between the fuzzy riffs and the clean production is put on full display on their early single “Dream City”, a track that many have aptly said would not sound out of place on the Dazed and Confused soundtrack. This song is quintessential last day of school music: the kind of thing that makes you want to drive around town carefree with no particular destination, sounds to help your car speakers find their purpose. The handclap riff starts off and then Spranger’s voice comes in declaring, “Hey, we’re coming out, dancing downtown, free like whatever we dream about.” He’s so earnest you have little choice but to be right there with him."

Free Energy's debut CD "Stuck on Nothing" was released this week - You can stream the whole thing at Spinner this week or just listen to the eponymous band track right here (courtesy of Stereogum) - "Free Energy".

The band played to a packed house in NYC last night and continues their tour to Brooklyn tonight and Philly over the weekend. Free Energy is scheduled to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman on March 17th. Not sure how the band will make this work, as the band's promo says Free Energy is playing two SXSW shows the same day:
*Free Energy* 3/17
Paste Party @ Galaxy Room - set: 2 PM
&
FADER Party @ Fader Fort - set: 4:15 PM

Good luck either way! See them if you can!

Marvelous Murmurs - Echo & The Bunnymen, Ian McCullough, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Punk Rock Bowling, Braid

A midweek look at music related happenings around the topsy-turvy world of techno babble speak. Or, in other words, cribbin' posts from elsewhere.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NYCTaper has the live goods from the NYC show of We Were Promised Jetpacks. Grab the individual MP3s here. (via Largehearted Boy)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Mashable's Barb Dybwad writes about Daytrotter's new rev-share split deal for bands coming in to record a session. She writes:
"Daytrotter is celebrating its fourth anniversary promoting music discovery of emerging bands with a new business model. Now bands who sign on for one of Daytrotter’s unique daily live sessions have an opportunity to sell high-quality digital recordings for a revenue split using a new in-house payment system that additionally gives artists real-time access to sales figures and statistics.

"Nearly 90 bands have already signed on for distribution deals with Daytrotter, and Daytrotter Founder Sean Moeller says talks will be ongoing with the majority of the 1,200-some artists that Daytrotter has worked with in the past. For new bands coming in for a Daytrotter session, the option is open to sell tracks through the site, but isn’t at all mandatory: “It’s a way to give these bands an option. We don’t force bands to sign anything when they come in to do a session; it’s all in good faith,” said Moeller."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In related news, click over to Daytrotter for Echo & the Bunnymen leader Ian McCullough story and songs - nice one, there. Listen to the Bunnymen at their SXSW-nominated Best Music site. And holy pop! Listen to Echo & the Bunnymen's "Proxy" below - is this the poppiest thing? (Listen below) A close second recently is the new New Pornographers' single "Your Hands (Together)". Awesome tracks, both.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Largehearted Boy has the goods on post-punk emo band Braid and downloadable songs from its upcoming remastered CDs. Sounds rockin. Read more about Braid here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's a great reason to hit Las Vegas - the Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival, Sunset Station Hotel and Casino,Las Vegas, NV,May 6-9, 2010.
"The final lineup for the biggest punk rock party of the year has also been announced, and it’s a DOOZY! A virtual who’s who of the punk scene’s biggest names, past, present and future, the event includes such acts as Flogging Molly, NOFX, D.R.I, Against Me!, Hot Water Music, F**ked Up, TSOL, Swinging Utters, The Revival Tour featuring Chuck Ragan/Ben Nichols, Youth Brigade, The Dickies, 7 Seconds, Cobra Skulls, Teenage Bottlerocket and many more.

"Celebrating the independent music community, this year 850 bowlers are expected to be among 210 participating teams. Made up of industry insiders (bands, agents, managers, fanzines, radio stations, labels, punk rock clothing and merchandise companies), and now, for the first time in the 12 year history, open to the general public, Punk Rock Bowling is one of the largest and most recognized indie music events of the year."

Butch Walker - New CD, tour dates

Musican-Producer dynamo Butch Walker has just released a fine new CD " I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart and he's embarking on a big tour across the Eastern U.S, before heading to play bigger shows in Europe.

You remember Butch Walker lost a ton of his musical possessions, recordings, notebooks, etc in a 2007 fire at the house he was staying in. I'm sure he'd like to forget it, but what went down was a complete loss of much of his musical past. He'd consolidated all of his musical stuff into a rented house in Malibu, CA when wildfires destroyed the home. Walker, who was in New York City at the time of the fire, went on to say "Every master of every song I've ever recorded, every piece of recording equipment, guitars, drums and things I've collected over the years, cars, motorcycles, every family memorial, heirloom, picture, and document we ever had....gone. I feel like I finally know the difference between 'going back' and 'going home'."

Seems he's turned things around nicely since then. Butch co-wrote and produced several songs on Weezer's "Raditude", including the big single "If You're Wondering if I Want You To... (I Want You To)". The $$$ from producing and hit songs enables him to do things his own way (I reckon). At his MySpace page, he calls his record label "R.I.P. the Record Label 1940's-2009".

Check out his new song "House of Cards" - I hear all sorts of cool rock influences all over this track, from ELO to Elton John, to Queen and New Pornographers.

House of Cards - Butch Walker

Butch Walker tour dates here:
Mar 9 Peace Center w/ Train Greenville, SC
Mar 10 Carolina Theatre of Durham w/ Train Durham, NC
Mar 11 the Norva w/ Train Norfolk, VA
Mar 13 Paradise - Headlining show Boston, MA
Mar 14 Calvin Theatre & Performing Arts Center w/ Train Northampton, MA
Mar 16 Count Basie Theatre w/ Train Red Bank, NJ
Mar 17 Keswick Theatre w/ Train Glenside, PA
Mar 18 American Music Theatre w/ Train Lancaster, PA
Mar 20 Capitol Center w/ Train Concord, NH
Mar 21 The Chance w/ Train Poughkeepsie, NY
Mar 23 Town Ballroom w/ Train Buffalo, NY
Mar 24 The Phoenix w/ Train Toronto, Ontario
Mar 25 Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland w/ Train Pittsburgh, PA
Mar 26 Sherman Theater w/ Train Stroudsburg, PA
Mar 27 Caesars Atlantic City - Circus Maximus w/ Train Atlantic City, NJ
Mar 29 Newport Music Hall w/ Train Columbus, OH
Mar 30 Orbit Room w/ Train Grand Rapids, MI
Mar 31 Egyptian Room @ Murat Centre w/ Train Indianapolis, IN
Apr 1 Madison Theatre w/ Train Covington, KY
Apr 2 Ryman Auditorium w/ Train Nashville, TN
Apr 3 Tennessee Theatre w/ Train Knoxville, TN
Apr 5 The Pageant w/ Train St. Louis, MO
Apr 6 Uptown Theater w/ Train Kansas City, MO
Apr 10 Fox Theatre w/ Train Oakland, CA
Apr 12 El Ray Los Angeles, CA

(whew!)

May 4 Waiting Room Omaha, Nebraska
May 7 Fine Line Music Café Minneapolis, MN
May 8 Majestic Theatre Madison
May 9 House of Blues Chicago, IL
May 10 Mill Creek Appleton, Wisconsin
May 11 World Café Live Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 14 Magic Bag Detroit, MI
May 17 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, OH
May 20 Webster Hall New York, New York
May 21 Recher Theatre Baltimore, MD
May 23 Orange Peel Asheville, NC
May 26 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA
May 29 Rhein Energy Stadion Koln, Germany
Jun 2 Frankenstadion Heilbronn, Germany
Jun 3 Festival Hessentag, Germany
Jun 5 Olympiaworld Innsbruck
Jun 6 Reitstadion Rhiem Munich, Germany
Jun 8 Waldbuhne Berlin
Jun 11 Stadium of Light Sunderland
Jun 12 Reebok Stadium Bolton
Jun 16 Kings Hall Complex Belfast
Jun 19 RDS Dublin
Jun 20 Thormond Park Limerick
Jun 23 Liberty Stadium Swansea
Jun 24 Ricoh Arena Coventry
Jun 26 Hampden Park Glasgow
Jun 27 Alton Towers Resort Staffordshire
Jun 29 Portman Road Ipswich

SXSW Promo #3 - Dawes (the band)

Here's #3 in our Model Band Series on young troopers heading to Austin, Texas next week to play music shows for the great unwashed at the SXSW Music Fest. [Read #1 Grand Atlantic and #2 Foxy Shazam in our series.]

California roots rockers Dawes play Phoenix's Rhythm Room tonight in the midst of a busy March tour with co-headliner Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons. The Dawes Band have eight shows scheduled during SXSW week. From Wikipedia: "The band recorded their debut album, North Hills, in Laurel Canyon in a live setting to analog tape, resulting in a sound that Rolling Stone magazine called "authentically vintage". Wilco multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone is also credited with appearing on the release."

Below is their complete March schedule off the band's site. Check the Dawes Band tweets and blog posts. Busy boys. Read a recent Dawes live review at Glide Magazine.

Here's the song "When My Time Comes" from the band's 2009 CD.

When My Time Comes - Dawes

Tour dates here

3/9/10 Rhythm Room / Phoenix, AZ
3/10/10 The Loft @ UCSD / San Diego, CA
3/11/10 The Troubadour / Los Angeles, CA
3/14/10 Pappy & Harriets / Pioneertown, CA w/ Delta Spirit
3/17/10 SXSW C3 Party @ Lamberts / Austin, TX - 3:30PM
3/17/10 SXSW Brooklyn Vegan Showcase @ Club Deville / Austin, TX - 8:00PM
3/18/10 SXSW Dickes/Filter Party @ Lustre Pearl / Austin, TX - 5:00PM
3/18/10 SXSW Rolling Stone Party @ Beauty Bar Ballroom / Austin, TX - 8:00PM
3/19/10 SXSW KGSR Morning Show @ 4 Seasons Hotel / Austin, TX
3/19/10 SXSW Front Gate Brunch @ Front Gate Parking Lot / Austin, TX - 2:00PM
3/20/10 SXSW WXPN Party @ Red Eyed Fly / Austin, TX - 1:30PM
3/20/10 SXSW Ground Control Showcase @ Auditorium Shores / Austin, TX
3/21/10 Funday at McAllan Creative Incubator / McAllen, TX

The future of musician licensing opportunities?

Super cool article in Wired Mag by Eliot van Buskirk last week on a company working on new technological breakthroughs for future music licensing opportunities.

Wired writes:
"Musicians’ opportunities to sell their recordings may be drying up due to cultural shifts brought on by changing technology, but other aspects of technology are creating a promising new market for music: the licensing of the musical style or personality of recording artists.

"Using complex software, North Carolina’s Zenph Sound Innovations models the musical performances of musicians from Thelonius Monk to Rachmaninoff, based on how they played in occasionally old, scratchy recordings. Using that model, the company creates new recordings as they would be played by deceased musicians, if they were around to record with today’s equipment, to critical acclaim. And that’s just for starters.”

The article goes on to mention that Zenph Sound plans to "explore a variety of new markets, including licensing clear versions of muddy recordings to films and software that could eventually let musicians jam with virtual versions of famous musicians. Picture an Eric Clapton plug-in that reinterprets your solo to sound like it was played by “Old Slowhand” himself."

Eeks! I'd rather play like Johnny Ramone - can Zenph make that? Right now the company is working with classical and jazz mostly, but perhaps its entre into classic rock is not too far away....

Dfactor plays live - Ten High Tuesdays, Tempe

A Dfactor live rock show - first one for me in a while - is on the immediate scope of activities.

I was a late invite to be part of the 'Ten High Tuesdays' night of classic powerpop, soul, indie and garage music at the Yucca Tap Room, starting around 9:30pm Tuesday night, March 9th. The good DJ tunes will be interrupted at times by my good self rockin' the electric guitar and warbling over pre-recorded backing tracks; The Automatic Erasers, a PHX area rock n roll band that kicks it out loud, and Matthew Reveles, whose creamy folky-roots-country stylings will cap it all off.

If you're anywhere near Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa and can spare a school night out, come on out and suck up the rock-roll fun.

Monday Magistrations

Gobbly goodies from the Web-o-Sphere for your musical munchies:

- From Popdose.com - a pretty insightful piece on the midguided career steps of John Fogerty. Here's a taste - click through for the whole thing:
"Fogerty, due to a combination of anger and a need to distance himself from his past, has spent most of his time since Creedence putting out records that do not play to his main strength as a writer and musician who combined the blues and roots sounds and feel associated with New Orleans with the pop sensibilities and folk influences of late ’60s San Francisco. As Fogerty moved away from this niche, incorporating more straight ahead rock, more country, more what have you, he became no different from a number of other lesser-level retro-rockers, like Dave Edmunds or The Blasters, to name two."

- Kids Rock! Rock and Roll High School AZ offers young rockers 8-18 rockin' training, space and connections through their site and facility in Mesa, AZ. "Our goal is to help students develop ear training, write songs, and “rock out” together as a band. Beyond that, Rock n' Roll High School strives to foster the kind of confidence in kids that inspires them to make positive choices, build strong creative expression and seek collaborative relationships."

- PopMatters remembers Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, who died over the weekend. "Today, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot stands as one of the greatest, most overlooked alternative country records of the 1990s. Upon its release, it was received warmly by both critics and college radio in the States. In the UK, the album received even more recognition, tapping into the British music industry’s longstanding obsession with authentically rural American music. Linkous was able to parlay this success into a slot opening up for then rising stars Radiohead on their 1996 European tour."

- And lastly, Blabbermouth has got the goods on the upcoming Slash solo LP:
""Slash" was produced by Eric Valentine (QUEENS OF STONE AGE, THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS) and was completed with the rhythm section of bassist Chris Chaney (JANE'S ADDICTION) and drummer Josh Freese (NINE INCH NAILS). Slash handled the majority of arranging and songwriting duties and hand-picked each guest artist. The album's guests worked collaboratively with Slash to round out the song. "The idea was really simple in the beginning," said Slash. "These are all artists I wanted to work with — that I thought it would be amazing to do something creative and collaborative. And I was so impressed with what everyone brought to the table. They were all so committed to doing a good job. And we had a lot of fun making these songs."

Here's more of Slash doin' the talkin'....

Evan Dando acoustic NYC Saturday night

Watched a few Evan Dando clips this morning, coming from his Saturday night acoustic set at Mercury Lounge NYC.

Here's his version of 'Bit Part' - good stuff. More on the actual show from Whitney at PopCandy and Death & Taxes Magazine.

Spoon on Letterman - Got Nuffin'

(Via Kingblind)

This ROCKS. Four minutes of your day. "A fine young band from Austin, Texas..."

Hello Daddy, Hello Mom, I'm your Ch Ch CH CH Cherry Bomb!

Check out the trailer for the upcoming movie based on 70s rockers The Runaways - it's a hoot. Might even be a fun rockin' movie as well. The movie opens in two weeks. Ain't It Cool Harry loved it.

From MTV: "In a new trailer for the Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart flick "The Runaways", fans get a taste of the chemistry between Stewart and Fanning, as well as the level of fame the all-girl rock group achieved in the '70s. The trailer is narrated by Fanning, who plays the group's lead singer, Cherie Currie. "My name is Cherie, and my life was ready for a change," she says. "It all started with Joan [Jett, played by Stewart]. Once we met, we did what no one else thought we could do." The girls are seen from their early meeting in a dingy club, and before long, they are playing gigs and signed to a record deal. They take the stage and ditch their mundane lives for the rock-star life of parties, shiny new clothes and hitting the road. At one point, Cherie has reservations and wants to see her family, but Joan reminds her: "Are we not your family now?"

From Wikipedia:
"The Runaways were an American all-girl teenage rock band that performed in the 1970s. The band is best known for the songs "Cherry Bomb", "Queens of Noise", "Rock n Roll", "Neon Angels (On the Road to Ruin)", and "Born to Be Bad". The career of the band was short, only being together from 1975 to 1979."

Midpoint in the Runaways career, they toured Japan, which is where this clip of 'Cherry Bomb' comes from. Rock.

Rock Clip of the Week - The Subways, With You (recorded live, Amsterdam 2008)

It's Friday! Let's rock! Here's a corker from British rockers The Subways doing their song "With You" from a live 2008 performance at Amsterdam's Melkweg (where I saw Sugar, Wedding Present, Yo La Tengo, Weezer, Urge Overkill and others in the early '90s).

The Subways spent much of the last decade rockin' it sweaty 'n hard on stages in the US, Euroland and beyond. I saw them play a CMJ show a few years back in NYC (Sire founder Seymour Stein was in the house!) and they tore the roof off. Not sure why the band never really captured US rocker hearts or ears. Maybe they'll have to wait 15 more years for their reunion tour in the US to strike it. Drop notes into the comments if you know better.

The band looks to be touring East Europe this month, so maybe the Czech and Polish kids know better than us. Long may The Subways rock. Catch singer Billy on Twitter.



Bonus Friday! Same show - different song - 'Kalifonia'

Phoenix International Pop Overthrow this weekend

I'm a longtime fan (and occasional participant) in the International Pop Overthrow (IPO) series, a music festival series devoted to melodic rock n roll. The series has been run for over a decade by LA pop music fan David Bash. Here's its Myspace page. The IPO series comes to Phoenix for the 2nd year this coming weekend, starting Friday night (March 5) and running through till Sunday (March 7).

Click here for the lineup of rockin' pop-oriented Phoenix area bands playing IPO this weekend. All shows are at Hollywood Alley in Mesa.

Friday, March 5:
8:00 Louden Swain
8:30 TBA
9:00 Kings Of Last Call
9:30 Plasticsoul
10:00 Wiretree
10:30 Elvis Before Noon
11:00 The Breakup Society
11:30 Zen Lunatics

Saturday, March 6:
8:00 Broken Poets
8:30 Veyron Crash
9:00 Eurovox
9:30 Until August
10:00 Sugar High
10:30 Robot Tank
11:00 No Longer Together
11:30 Gooder

Sunday, March 7:
4:30 The McGrath Project
5:00 Philip Vandermost
5:30 The Matthew Frost Band
6:00 Sister Cities
6:30 Tramps & Thieves
7:00 Let Go
7:30 Domo
8:00 The Lustkillers
8:30 Strangers Family Band

I was asked to play again, but bowed out as I didn't want to play it solo again, but rather with a band. And I couldn't make that happen. And that looks like what the local music guys at the Phoenix New Times picked up on for the story they published this week about my music and the IPO fest. Thanks, guys.

If any of the bands can play some pop as sweet as this classic below, then it's gonna be a good weekend.

New Smashing Pumpkins songs - EPs and more songs coming

From The Smashing Pumpkins Soundcloud page:
"THE SMASHING PUMPKINS are issuing a 44-song work one at a time, for free, with 4-song EPs being made available as the songs are released. The first EP box (4-song CD and 7” vinyl) is titled TEARGARDEN BY KALEIDYSCOPE VOL. 1/SONGS FOR A SAILOR and is set for release April 20 via Martha’s Music/Rocket Science Ventures and includes the tracks “A Song For A Son,” “Astral Planes” “Widow Wake My Mind,” and “A Stitch In Time.”

The group’s BILLY CORGAN says, “Each song will be made available absolutely for free, to anyone anywhere. There will be no strings attached. Free will mean free, which means you won’t have to sign up for anything, give an email address, or jump through a hoop. You will be able to go and take the song or songs as you wish, as many times as you wish."

Read more at the band's home page. You can hear three tracks right now - A Song for a Son (released in December), Widow Wake My Mind (released in January) and A Stitch in Time (the newest). Here's A Stitch in Time below. I like it. The first physical EP box (4-song CD and 7” vinyl) is titled 'Teargarden by Kaleidyscope Vol. 1/Songs for a Sailor' and is set for release on April 20.

A Stitch In Time  by  Smashing Pumpkins

Pavement Reunion has Begun - 1st show clips from New Zealand

A random sampling of clips from Pavement's 1st show in ten years, from Monday night in Auckland, New Zealand. Setlist below the clips.







Here is the set list from last nights show:

In The Mouth A Desert
Trigger Cut
LSH
Shady Lane
Father To A Sister
Rattled
Perfume
Summer
Kennel D
Silence Kit
Range Life
Unfair
Stop Breathing
No Life Singed Her / 442
Fight This Gen
Ikea
Box Elder
Grounded
Gold Soundz
Hexx
Give it A Day
Cut Your Hair

Encore -
Stereo
Spit On A Stranger

An American Conspiracy - Devo, TiVo and Advanced Beings

This bit of tomfoolery below comes from the twisted brains of Mothersbaugh and Casale - take in all five short parts for the full effect of The Truth About TiVo, Devo, And Project Blue Moon.

Post-rock band Kuan new release, tour dates

Blame it on my oldest brother who listened to Hawkwind, Lucifer's Friend, Nektar and other spacey early 70s prog rock, but I guess I still have a soft spot for spacey ethereal psych rock. And no one seems to be playing its current equivalent better than Dayton, OH band Kuan.

"The quartet's post-rock, punk and jazz-influenced heavy groove has been compared by critics to Tortoise, June of 44, Do Make Say Think, and Fugazi. The Dayton-based band claims all of these, as well as Miles Davis, John and Alice Coltrane and Aphex Twin as influences."

I read today over at MXDWN.com that Kuan is releasing a double EP in April. Other than that, I don't know much about Kuan, except that the band's songs get titled with a capital letter (I'm listening to 'J' now, although 'G' and 'K' sound absolutely groovy, too!). Here's Kuan doing 'J' live in Philly last fall:


Kuan is headed eastward this week and next to play shows in Philly, NYC and Boston, among others. If you live there, get out of your indie rock rut this weekend and take a chance on Kuan. Hope they make it out west sometime in 2010.

Kuan tour dates
Mar 5 Southgate House- Parlour Newport, Kentucky
Mar 6 Rock Room Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mar 7 TBA Pittsburgh or Buffalo
Mar 8 Chanti Loft Ithaca, New York
Mar 9 The Trash Bar Brooklyn, New York
Mar 10 O’Briens w/Geoglyphs, Animal Hospital, and Quoins Boston/Allston, Mass.
Mar 11 The Khyber w/ Controlled Storms and Most Ghosts Philadelphia, Penn.
Mar 12 The Velvet Lounge Washington DC, Washington DC
Mar 13 TBA Baltimore, Maryland
Mar 14 TBA TBA
Mar 19 Baba Budans Cincinnati, Ohio
Mar 26 Chip’s basement Dayton, Ohio
Apr 3 Smiling Skull Athens, Ohio
Apr 10 Blind Bob’s w/ Six Gallery Dayton, Ohio
Apr 23 Reggie’s Chicago, Illinois
Apr 24 Lizard’s Lounge Indianapolis, Indiana
May 15 Blind Bob’s w/ The Receiver Dayton, Ohio

Dfactor Sings Sgt. Peppers 3/27-3/28

It was 43 years ago that Capitol Records released the Beatles' LP called Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Much has been written about it and I'm not here to write more. But over the years, I've sung along to the songs many times. So when an opportunity came up recently here in Phoenix to get involved in a live musical production of said LP (along with other Beatles' music), I auditioned to sing and captured a spot.

Paradise Valley Community College is hosting Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LIVE!, its 2010 Fine & Performing Arts Scholarships Fundraiser on March 27-28 at the North Phoenix college. From the blurbsters:
"Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LIVE!, will feature The Beatles' iconic 1967 album performed live in its entirety. In addition, the performance will include 17 songs from the Beatles’ later years highlighting music from the albums Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour, The White Album, Abbey Road and Let it Be. The Sgt. Pepper’s LIVE band, which is made up of twenty five of the finest professional musicians in
the Valley, will be fronted by dynamic vocalists Dfactor, Steve Dahlgren and Eric Reyes."

Our team has already started rehearsals, and this week we start with the live band. That should be cool as I'm slated to sing (among others) Harrison's Within You Without You with a live sitar player. Cool. I've learned too that I don't know this Beatles' LP inside out. Being a lead singer, I tended over the years to sing the lead melodies most of the time, but there is a lot of background harmonies that have gone unheard to my ears, and we are recreating those. So I'm learning about the triad qualities of the Beatles' harmonizing that underpins many of the songs. It's an ongoing singing education. But hey, that's what going back to college is all about, right? Well, that and meeting girls.

Click here for more Beatles links that you could ever find on your own. And watch below as photographer Henry Grossman recounts his night taking pictures as "a friend" while they were working and recording on Peppers songs.