Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The entire Last Waltz show

If you're looking for some great Thanksgiving listening, Wolfgang's Vault has made available the entire, unedited Last Waltz concert by The Band with special guests. The concert took place on Thanksgiving night 1976 and was the last time the original Band would perform together.

Here's the link: http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/the-band/concerts/winterland-november-25-1976.html?utm_source=NL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=091124

King Solomon's Marbles, 311, Furthur, Muppets

Turkey Day is here which means not much going on musically in town this weekend. Though if I recall my days working in bars, this was always a good weekend for the bars. A lot of people come home and want to go out with friends they may not have seen in a while. Also, if you've been cooped up in the house with your relatives for a few days, you may need to escape for a while.

On Saturday night, Grateful Dead cover band, King Solomon's Marbles will be at Cary St. Cafe. Show starts at 10 PM and cover charge is $7.

Speaking of the good ol' Grateful Dead, Bob Weir & Phil Lesh of the Dead will be bringing their new band Furthur to the area in February. The new band consists of Phil & Bob, Jeff Chimenti (keyboardist from Bob's band, Ratdog), John Kadlecik (formerly of Dark Star Orchestra), Jay Lane (drummer from Bob's band, Ratdog) and Joe Russo (drummer from Benevento - Russo Duo). They'll be coming to Hampton Coliseum on Friday, February 12 and the Patriot Center in Fairfax VA on Saturday, February 13. Though they have not posted ticket prices yet, the price for their show on 12/30 in SF is $45 so I expect it to be around there. Pre-sale for both shows starts Monday, 11/30 at noon, then official onsale date starts 12/11 at 10 AM. Reviews of the band's first four shows in the SF area have been good. I expect a pretty good show because there isn't the pressure to be "The Dead" and they can just stay loose. Here's the band doing "Cosmic Charlie" at their show at the Fox Theater a couple months ago:


Back to this weekend in Richmond. 311 brings their heavy reggae to The National on Sunday. Tickets are $45, doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8 with opener State Radio. Here they are doing "Come Original" in Tokyo in September.


Finally, among all the usual things I am thankful for (family, good health, a job), I am thankful for the Muppets. They have been entertaining and teaching me my entire life and they continue to do so with this awesome version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". The only thing this needs is more Pepe. Pepe rules! Though I must say, I didn't know Janice from the Dr. Teeth Band could totally shred.


Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tony Jordan

Friday, November 20, 2009

Megadeth, Jackass Flats, Alice In Chains

Thanksgiving approaches and there are only a couple shows on the agenda as the bands head home for the holiday. Kind of the calm before the storm of the holiday season and a number of good bands coming to town next month.

Dave Mustaine brings Megadeth to The National on Saturday night. Tix are $32.50 in advance, $35 day of show, doors open at 6 and the show starts at 6:45 with openers Arcanium, Suicide Silence and Machinehead. Its a tiny metalfest so you can bang your heads 'til your ear drums bleed.

If you are in a completely different mood on Saturday night, a bluegrass mood perhaps, check out Jackass Flats at the Capital Ale House Downtown. Tix are $7 and the show starts at 9. Here is Jackass Flats playing in WV in January:


The National just announced that ALICE IN CHAINS will be coming there on Friday March 5th at 9pm. Tickets on sale December 4th at all Ticketmaster outlets, nattickets.com, ticketstobuy.com, and The National box office. Tickets are $35.50 in advance and $40 day of show. Their new album "Black Gives Way To Blue" has recieved good reviews. Here they are performing the title track on "Later with Jools Holland" (which is an awesome show and is on Ovation here in the States by the way. That's Jools playing keys on this song.):


That's about it from here. Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Dark Star Orchestra webcast live on Thursday

Gathering of The Vibes, the big jam band fest in Bridgeport CT, will be announcing some of their lineup at 7 PM on Thursday night on a webcast on http://govibes.com/. That's cool but what's really cool is that Dark Star Orchestra will play a live three hour show right after the announcement.

DSO is the Grateful Dead cover band that picks a setlist from a Dead show for each one of their shows and then plays that setlist. They'll be featuring their new guitarist, Jeff Mattson. Their old guitarist, John Kadlecik, is leaving DSO to play with a band formed by former member of the Grateful Dead, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, called Further. So you know if the Grateful Dead is stealing members from DSO, that DSO are pretty damn good.

Also, Jeff Mattson's old band, the Donna Jean Godchaux Band, will be playing on the webcast too. Donna Jean is herself a former member of the Grateful Dead so expect her to sit in with DSO.

As you can see, this is just one big incestual ball of fun.

DSO will be coming to The National on 12/29 with opener, Donna Jean Godchaux and the Tricksters, so the webcast is a good chance to check DSO if you are curious.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Cult review, The Bridge, Rusted Root, Robert Earl Keen

The Cult put on a great show at The National last night but had some rock n' roll time faux pas. There was no opening band, but The Cult seemed to keep their schedule as if there was an opener, which was annoying. I figured if there was no opener and the show time was listed at 8, I’d get there around 8. Then The Cult would come on around 8:30 or 8:45 at the latest. They didn’t come on until 9:15 so there was a lot of standing around. I, and others I know, had to bust it to make it by 8. Would have been nice if The National could have changed the start time to 8:30 and/or if the band could have changed their schedule and come on earlier.

When the band finally came on, they started right in with their performance of their 1985 album, Love. I had forgotten what a great blend of hard rock and mystic psychedlia the album was. Highlights included Rain, Brother Wolf & Sister Moon, Phoenix, and, of course, She Sells Sanctuary. Throughout the show, they had some very cool movies playing behind the band. The films mixed original visuals with scenes from old silent films, horror films and samaurai pictures. Also, lead singer Ian Astbury (who played with the reformed Doors in the early part of this decade) has now moved into his 1970 Jim Morrison look. Shoulder length hair, full beard and a beer gut. However, he didn’t appear to be drunk like 1970 Jim Morrison, as he only appeared to drink Red Bull during the show.

After Love, the band took a 5 minute break, then came on for the "Greatest Hits" portion of the show, which consisted of seven songs, highlights being "Wildflower", "Fire Woman" (with the crowd singing the chorus), and the final song of the night, "Love Removal Machine". Though Ian Astbury didn't talk much during the night, he did comment on how great the room (that being The National Theater) was. The band was tight throughout the night, with lead guitarist Billy Duffy ripping off some great solos. However, they were done at 10:45 on the dot, no encore, another bit of lameness and the no encore was not due to the crowd, which was very enthusiastic, especially for a Richmond crowd. Overall, I'd give it three out of five. Would have been four stars but they're docked one for the late start and no encore.

Onto this week's shows, Americana funk band (an odd blend but it works), The Bridge, will be at the Canal Club in Friday night. Tix are $14 and doors open at 9:00 with Cornmeal and that popular band, tba, to open. Here they are performing an acoustic version of "Further On Down The Road" in Corvallis, Orgeon in September:


Saturday afternoon into the evening, you can rock out for a good cause at the Capital Ale House Downtown with Emmyfest II by Musicians for Mitochondrial Awareness. Tix are $10 and the show starts at 3 PM. Here's the lineup:
3:30 Stump Hole Water
4:15 Louis Ledford
5:00 Modern Groove Syndicate
6:00 The Atkinsons
7:00 The Big Guys
8:00 Loose Gravel
9:30 Moossa

If you want to learn more about Mitochondrial Disease, here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_disease.

Local jazz jam boys Modern Groove Syndicate will be at Cary St. Cafe on Saturday night starting at 10 PM. Tix are $7. Here they are at Cary St. Cafe in January:


Sunday night, Kyle Hollingsworth, keyboard player of String Cheese Incident fame brings his appropriately titled band, Kyle Hollingsworth Band to Capital Ale House Downtown. The show starts at 9 PM and tix are $12. Here they are with their take on Paul Simon's "Kodachrome":


Rusted Root, who put on a great show at Friday Cheers this past summer, will be at The Hat Factory on Monday night. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8 with opener Mikey Wax. Here they are with some Halloween shenanigans, a little "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" before going into "Driving One":


Tuesday night Texas troubador, Robert Earl Keen, comes to The National. Tix are $25, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener, Sons Of Bill, who impressed me when I saw them open for Jason Isbell this summer. Robert Earl is one of my favs and my wife too. She is getting to go to this one while I stay home and watch the kids so I'll expect a full report from her. We were in the process of looking for a babysitter but then her brother begged her to take him (she got some free VIP tix from a friend) so I'm hangin' with the boys. I owe it to her since she's let me see about 50 shows while she watched the kids.

There was a good article about REK in the Times-Dispatch today with all the latest on him. Here's the link: CLICK HERE. Here's a very young REK performing his classic "Road Goes On Forever" (celebrating its 20th anniversary) acoustic:


Finally, Hasidic reggae rapper Matisyahu will be at The National on Wednesday. Tix are $23.50 in advance, $25 at the door, doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with opener Trevor Hall. Here's "One Day" from his latest album, "Light":



Its late. I'm outta here. Have a great weekend.

Tony Jordan

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Colbie Caillat at The National, Aerosmith looks for a singer

Just Announced - Q94 / Lite 98 Christmas Show with COLBIE CAILLAT Tuesday December 8th at The National ... Tickets go on sale THIS Friday at all Ticketmaster outlets, nattickets.com, ticketstobuy.com, and The National box office. Don't know much about Colbie other than she is cute and this song is kind of fun and, well, bubbly:


Apparently Steve Tyler has left Aerosmith. I actually might have cared once. I remember the kick I got from listening to the Toys From the Attic album and trying to decipher the lyrics of "Walk This Way" (when you are 11, some of the lyrics are a bit beyond one's experience to that date). I remember the thrill when we listened to "Live Bootleg!" on the last day of school in fifth grade and couldn't believe that Steve Tyler said "motherf**cker" in the middle of "Dream On". When they came back in the late 80s - early 90s it looked like they would restore some of their glory and I thought Permanent Vacation and Pump were steps in the right direction. But then came a seemingly endless string of power ballads, the pimping of Liv Tyler in the videos (sexy but dude, its your daughter) culminating in their jump the shark moment of "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing", a song better suited for Celine Dion or Meat Loaf. From that point on, they were dead to me. So maybe breaking up is the best thing then can do and we can remember them from everything pre-1990.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Cult, Monsters of Folk, Larry Keel, Tony Rice

We've got some good shows in Richmond this week and I'll catch you up on Halloween happenings too.

Friday night, The Hat Factory will have Larry Keel & Natural Bridge featuring Tony Rice. Larry & Natural Bridge hail from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and plays mountain music with a modern twist. Bluegrass great Tony Rice will be playing with the band. Should be a great show. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 (no announced opener so get there early), and tix are $15. Here they all are playing together in C'ville back in '07:


A couple music-related events during the day on Saturday. The 10th Annual Brunswick Stew Festival will take place from 11 AM - 5 PM at the 17th St. Farmer's Market. Here is the lowdown on that from Venture Richmond:
"The Brunswick Stew Festival, the cornerstone of the 17th Street Farmers' Markets annual events, is one of the largest of its kind in the nation. It will feature the bluegrass/country sounds of Native Son and the smooth rock, reggae and rap rhythm sounds of Richmond's own Proverbial. It will also offer children's programs along with Too Tall Torrie. The Brunswick Stew Festival was recently featured in Pat Willard's 2008 bestselling book, America Eats! and is listed as an example of "one of the best Americana-style festivals merging traditional country recipes, local beer and eclectic mix of music to mainstream America." Taste samples from the stew masters will be available for purchase from 11:00am-1:00pm. Larger-sized containers will be available to the general public after 1:00pm. For additional information please visit http://www.17thstreetfarmersmarket.com/ or call 804-646-0477. The event is presented by the 17th Street Farmers' Market and Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association (SBNA) along with partners at Cox Communications and Brown Distributing."

Also on Saturday from 11 AM to 5 PM at the Capital Ale House Downtown is the Screens 'N' Suds benefit. Here is what's up with that:
"On Saturday, November 7, Screens ‘N’ Suds will feature the art of some of America’s most celebrated concert poster artists, and the beers of some of Virginia’s finest breweries, including Starr Hill, Blue & Gray, St. George’s, and Legend. Nationally known poster artists Jeff Everett (El Jefe Design), Richard Biffle, JP Flexner (No Division Design Syndicate), John Foster, Ryan Kerrigan, and Richmond’s own Adam Stockton and Andrew Stronge will show and sell their limited-edition, collectible posters for bands ranging from The Decemberists, Grizzly Bear and Gov’t Mule to The Melvins, Helmet and Rancid in the Capital Ale House Downtown Music Hall. Richmond’s own one-man band, Gull, alt-jazz duo Illbrain, and more will provide the soundtrack, while in the Ale House proper, some of the area’s best brewmasters will offer tastings and specials of their best brews. In addition to 100% of a raffle featuring rare, autographed concert and beer memorabilia, all proceeds from ticket sales will go to benefit Young Audiences of Virginia (www.yav.org), an organization that brings no-cost, SOL-ready music and art education into Virginia schools. All event sales of the Screens ‘N’ Suds poster series will go to benefit the Central Virginia Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society."

Tuesday brings alternative-folk supergroup Monsters of Folk to the Landmark Theater (finally a new, real web site for the Landmark). Monsters of Folk are Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), M Ward and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes). This will be a 2 1/2 hour show in which they'll play songs from their new album as well as songs from their respective Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket and M Ward catalogues. Tix are $35 , doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8. If you are going, get there early because there is usually a good size line to get through security into the Landmark. As of Thursday night, there are still good seats available. Here is their video for "The Right Place" sounding very The Band-like in this one. And that ain't a bad thing.


Next Wednesday night, a show I may be attending (holding off on buying tix in case kids get sick or rowdy), The Cult at The National. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 day of show, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 and there is no opener listed. The Cult hit it big in the 80's and early 90's. Lead singer Ian Astbury also sang with The Doors for a few years this decade. The Cult will be doing their entire Love album along with their greatest hits. Love was the album that first gained The Cult big exposure in the States with the hit "She Sells Sanctury". Here they are doing that one back in '85:



Just for kicks, here's Ian playing with the Doors:


Some cool shit went down on Halloween. Out in Indio, CA, Phish held their huge Festival 8 with eight sets over the weekend including their Halloween "costume" of playing the entire "Exile on Main St." album with Sharon Jones (of the Dap Kings and coming to Richmond in December) and a horn section. Here they are doing one of my favorite tracks from the album, "Ventilator Blues/Just Wanna See His Face":


Pearl Jam played the last show ever at Philly's Spectrum on Halloween and played Devo's "Whip It" costumes and all:


Hopefully some good music this week will help soothe me after my Phils couldn't pull off the Series win. But its been a great ride the last two years and hopefully they'll continue their winning ways next year.

Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan