Friday, May 31, 2013

Late Night Pick: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are on a Late Show with David Letterman repeat tonight at 11:35 PM on CBS. Look, just watch it. It's Friday, it's been a long week for such a short week and I want to get the hell out of here. Have a great weekend!

moe., Head & The Heart, Dillinger Escape Plan, Best Coast, Everclear, Live, Filter, Sponge

Jam band veterans (they've been around for 24 years now! Damn, I feel old.) moe. will be at Pocahontas State Park on Friday night. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the gate. Doors will open at 5, the opener, The Wood Brothers (with Chris Wood from Medeski, Martin & Wood and his brother, Oliver) come on at 5:30 and moe. will come on at 7. moe. is featured in the latest issue of Relix in their 13th Annual Festival Guide. You can read the short article HERE. They'll be playing full-on electric tomorrow night but I thought this was kind of fun. This is moe. with Victor Wooten (bass player from Bela Fleck & the Flecktones) rehearsing acoustically backstage to play The Funky Meters "Cissy Strut" at last week's Summer Camp Festival:



Over at Friday Cheers, The Head & The Heart will perform. Hometown heroes Black Girls will open the show at 6:30. It'll cost you $10 to get in. There was a nice article on The Head & The Heart today in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (click HERE) and it turns out two of the members have Richmond roots. Between that and the fact that the Black Girls opened up for them on a portion of their tour last year, this will be a sort of homecoming. Here's Head & The Heart's show last year at Lollapalooza:




Progressive metal band Dillinger Escape Plan is at Kingdom on Saturday night. The Faceless, Seraph and possibly some others will open. Show starts at 6 PM and it's $16 to get in. DEP is currently the #1 band on College Music Journal's Loud Rock charts. Here's their video for "When I Lost My Bet". It's pretty metal, with some images that may not be safe work but at the least are kind of gross and disturbing.




Monday night, indie pop band Best Coast makes a stop at The National. It's $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with Guards. Best Coast's new album, "The Only Place", comes out today. Here's Best Coast doing "Crazy For You" (not the Madonna song) live in Sydney in January 2013:


Wednesday, it's 90's night at Innsbrook with the Summerland tour featuring Everclear, Live, Filter & Sponge. Yes, there was a rule in the 90's that all bands could only have one-word names. Tickets are $20 for GA, $30 for Gold Circle Reserved and $38 for Gold Circle Preferred. Gates will open at 5 and showtime is 6:30. In case you forgot the hits these bands had, this should jog your drug-addled memories:

And that'll do it. Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Carbon Leaf, interview with Mike Campbell, Late Night Pick: Divine Fits

Hometown boys Carbon Leaf will be at Groovin' in the Garden at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden tonight. Tix are $20 at the gate and kids 11 and under get in free. Gates will open at 5:30 and the show starts around 6 with opener Will Hoge. If you are interested in learning how to play Carbon Leaf songs, they have a new Carbon Leaf Lessons YouTube page HERE. And here is the lyric video for their song, "She's Gone" from their latest album, "Ghost Dragon Attacks Castle". That album title makes me think the boys have been playing some Dungeons & Dragons on the road.



If you are a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fan, check out this interview with guitarist extraordinaire, Mike Campbell. He talks about being in the band since the beginning, how he keeps it fresh when he plays the hits and playing with Bob Dylan. HERE is the link to the interview in Rolling Stone.

Tonight's Late Night Pick is indie rocker supergroup Divine Fits on Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35 AM on NBC. Divine Fits is made up of Spoon's Britt Daniel, New Bomb Turks drummer Sam Brown, and Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs member Dan Boeckner.  You might like Divine Fits if you like those bands, Jack White, Raconteurs, The Strokes, or White Rabbits.

More on this weekend's music coming tonight!


Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Late Night Pick: Flaming Lips

If you missed them earlier this month, you can catch a repeat of Flaming Lips' performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight at 12:35 AM on NBC. If you haven't donated to the Red Cross on behalf of the Oklahoma Tornado victims, the Lips are donating $10 to the Red Cross for every t-shirt you buy on their site. The design for the t-shirt hasn't been chosen yet and there is a link when you go the site to help choose the design. HERE is the link to the t-shirt sale. The Lips are from Oklahoma City, so the tornado literally hit close to home.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Late Night Pick: The Breeders

Yes, that's the Kim & Kelley Deal The Breeders, reunited, at least for now, to celebrate the 20th anniversary deluxe edition of their album, "Last Splash". The deluxe edition is titled LSXX. In the middle of the grunge days, "Last Splash" and it's bright pop-rock were like a ray of sunshine in a Seattle gray world. The Breeders will be on a repeat of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight on NBC at 12:35 AM.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Late Night Pick: The So So Glos

Brooklyn punk rockers, The So So Glos, will be on a repeat of Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 11:35 PM on CBS. I'll be trying to figure out how to program the DVR on Verizon FIOS as we start with that today. Loved DirecTV but the Verizon bundle will save $50/month so what can you do. Though Verizon has already had some spotty customer service, so we'll see if price is everything. Anyway, back to the Glos. The Glos founded the show space, Shea Stadium, in Brooklyn (now lots of bands can say they played Shea Stadium) and Shea Stadium is also the name of their record label. They are also another MTV "Artist to Watch".

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Late Night Pick: Jake Bugg

English singer/songwriter Jake Bugg is on a repeat of Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 11:35 PM on CBS. Jake was recently chosen as one of MTV's Artists to Watch (do they still do music?). Here's Jake performing "Two Fingers" for MTV:

Parquet Courts, Justin Moore, Young Jeezy, The Shins, Of Montreal, Ra Ra Riot

On Thursday down at Pocahontas State Park Amphitheater, country pop dude Justin Moore will perform. Gates open at 6, show starts at 6:30 with "guest TBA". General Admission is $25 in advance, $30 at the gate, and $45 if you want to be up front in the Standing Dance Pit. You'll probably like Justin if you like Taylor Swift, Jewel, ZZ Top, Skynyrd, or Hank Williams Jr. Here's his latest single, "Point at You":



Thursday over at Canal Club, it's the experimental rock of Of Montreal. Last time they were in town they played The National so it looks like their fan base is dwindling and the critics seem to be souring on them too. But they are known for their crazy, surreal shows so it should be a good, or at least an interesting, time nonetheless. Tix are $15, doors open at 7 PM and the opener is Wild Moccasins. Lead singer/songwriter Kevin Barnes says their new album, "lousy with sylvianbriar" was inspired by Gram Parsons, Sylvia Plath, Grateful Dead, Neil Young and Flying Burrito Brothers. Here's a little acoustic thang they did at NPR Desk Concerts with their friend Rebecca Cash:




Over at Friday Cheers this week, looking forward to a nice, mellow (at least mellow incident and crowd-wise) local music show this week after the Toots incident last week and Radical Face's 5 minute opening "We know you don't know us but we are depressing and we're gonna suck" speech two weeks ago which sent people away in droves. Weird last couple weeks. Glad Toots was OK. I was there and saw the bottle fly. Thought he ducked out of the way until the guitarist came out and told us he had been hit. Definitely an unsettling and disturbing experience to end what had been a great night of music from Toots & the Maytals, Anders Osborne and Southern Belles. But on to better things and this week's Cheers features Richmond's own No BS! Brass Band (8:15 PM), Murphy's Kids (7 PM) and Former Champions (6 PM). It'll be $5 to get in. Here's a video made up of clips from No BS' DVD release party on 2/28/13 that'll give you a feel for their show:



At The National Friday night, it's rapper Young Jeezy. Doors open at 9:30, the show starts at 10 and no opener is listed. Doesn't mean there won't be one but none is listed. Tix are $50 in advance, $60 at the door.There are at least 50 tickets still available because that's how much Ticketmaster will let you order and the order would have gone through. Here's Jeezy's latest video for "R.I.P.":



There's a punk rock show at Strange Matter on Sunday night. Vinyl Conflict record store is sponsoring the show with a couple bands from Australia (Total Control and The UV Race), Dead Fame from Richmond, and Parquet Courts from Brooklyn. Doors open at 9 and it's $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Here's a 30 minute performance from Parquet Courts that they did at a bike shop in Austin TX at this year's SXSW for the great Seattle radio station, KEXP.



On Monday night, indie guitar pops group The Shins will be at The National. Tix are $30 in advance, $32.50 at the door, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with Ra Ra Riot so don't be late. You'll dig The Shins if you like Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, or Arcade Fire, and remember that Natalie Portman proclaimed they would "change your life" in the movie "Garden State". Here's The Shins "Simple Song" and this is a pretty cool video:


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Josh Ritter, Shooter Jennings, Bio Ritmo, Late Night Pick: The Coup

Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band are in town tonight to play a Groovin' in the Garden show at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. With your ticket to the show, you'll also get a free digital download of Josh' new album, "The Beast in its Tracks" which is getting fine reviews. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 at the gate. Gates open at 5:30 and the show starts around 6 with opener David Wax Museum. If you want a preview of tonight's show or can't make it, here is a full show Josh recently did for NPR:



Over at The National tonight, it's outlaw country with Shooter Jennings. Hopefully, some of you were able to win free tickets to the show (see yesterday's blog). If you didn't, tix are $18, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Daniel Romano. Here's the new lyric video for Shooter's "The Gunslinger" (language NSFW unless you drop f-bombs at work):




On the local music scene, salsa band Bio Ritmo will be over at Balliceaux tonight starting at 9:30 and it's $6 to get in. Here the are playing "La Muralla" featuring Giustino Riccio on timbale.



For the Late Night Pick, check out Oakland hip-hop band, The Coup, on Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35 AM on NBC.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Free Shooter Jennings tickets, RIP Ray Manzarek, Late Night Pick: Milo Greene

The National is giving away free tickets to see alt-country artist Shooter Jennings (son of Waylon). Here's the details:
Enter to win a FREE pair of tickets to see Southern Country Rock Artist, SHOOTER JENNING THIS Wednesday night ... Just send an email to tixswin@gmail.com by 8pm Today Tuesday May 21st with the SUBJECT - OUTLAW.  One e-mail per person.  Please be sure to include your full name that appears on your ID for entry.  Ten WINNERS will be chosen and notified via email tomorrow afternoon by 12pm !
 Ray Manazarek, keyboardist from The Doors, passed away yesterday at the age of 74. Ray was a great nut job, all his interviews showing a sense of fun and excitement with pearls of psychedelic wisdom thrown in. HERE is the obit from Rolling Stone. Here's one of Ray's finest performances, "Riders on the Storm":



Tonight's late night pick is folk-pop band Milo Greene on Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35 AM on NBC.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Late Night Pick: The National

Tonight, see The National (who will be at The National (theater) here in Richmond on June 8) on the Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35 PM on CBS. The National's new album, "Trouble Will Find Me" comes out tomorrow and it's getting great reviews so far.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Hangout Fest webcast, Late Night Pick: Kurt Vile, Huey Lewis is a cool dude

The Hangout Music Fest taking place on the beach in Alabama this weekend will be webcast live all weekend by MTV/VH1/Palladia. Most of the main acts will be streamed including Toots & the Maytals, Jim James, The Shins, Kings of Leon, The Roots, Black Crowes, Tom Petty, Shovels & Rope, Stevie Wonder, Trey Anastasio, moe, Galactic. Should be fun weekend viewing! Click HERE to get there.

The Late Night TV pick tonight is indie rock singer/guitarist out of Philly, Kurt Vile. He'll be on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight on CBS at 11:35 PM. Kurt's recent show in Portland was described as "jaw dropping". Kurt will be at the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville on July 19.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Huey Lewis reflects on the 30th anniversary of the "Sports" album and shows us, once again, that he is a pretty cool dude. Huey & The News' music from "Sports" and "Back to the Future" remind of summers during high school so he'll always be a guilty pleasure, though perhaps not so guilty any more. HERE is the interview.

Now off to Riverrock where I'll see you this weekend!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Late Night Pick: Dawes

We last saw Dawes in Richmond when they were putting on a fine performance opening for Bob Dylan last month at the Landmark. Tonight, the band with the Southern California sound (think Jackson Browne or The Eagles) will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC at 11:35 PM. For those of you that dug Shovels & Rope (pun intentional!) two weeks ago at Friday Cheers and/or Dawes last year at Cheers or opening for Dylan, NoiseTrade is offering a free 6 song sampler featuring the two bands to celebrate their upcoming tour: http://www.noisetrade.com/dawesshovelsandrope/summer-tour-sampler

Dominion Riverrock, Iron & Wine, The Features, O'Brother, Titus Andronicus

Another busy weekend and this one begins, as all good weekends do, on Thursday with the first Groovin' in the Garden concert of the summer. Iron & Wine will be at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden with tickets at $30 for General Admission in advance, $35 at the gate. There were some $50 General Reserve Seats available but it looks like they are gone. Gates will open at 5:30 and the music starts around 6 with openers The Secret Sisters. Uncut Magazine just gave Iron & Wine's new album, "Ghost on Ghost" a 9 out of 10 review and called it "sublime" and the music should be even more sublime surrounded by the beautiful garden. Here's "Joy" from that album:



On Thursday at Strange Matter, you can trip balls with The Features, a psychedelic rock band out of Tennessee. Tix are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Doors open at 9 and the show starts with openers Those Manic Seas and Heyrocco. You might like The Features if you like The Shins, The Jam, Peter Gabriel, The Cure, The Stooges or XTC. Here's The Features doing "This Disorder":




Over at Balliceaux on Thursday night, Black Girls will get you movin' and groovin'. Show starts at 10 and it's $5 to get in.

At Cary St. Cafe Thursday, check out the classic rock sounds of Trongone Band. Show starts at 10 and there is no cover. Here's the Trongone Band playing at Easter on Parade last month. A shout out to Paul Magill and Rockitz Richmond for providing lots of video of local bands over the years.

The big event this weekend is the Dominion Riverrock Festival down on Brown's Island Friday through Sunday. It's all FREE and it's a blast. The Mud Run, mountain biking, bouldering, kayaking, slacklining, and the kid's favorite, the Ultimate Air Dogs. It runs from 5 PM - 11 PM Friday, noon - 10:30 PM on Saturday and 11 AM - 5 PM on Sunday. Besides all the great adventure sports to watch, try, and participate in, there is incredible music with my highlight being the New Orleans blues/funk of Anders Osborne on Saturday at 7 PM. The other headliners are Soulive (soul jazz at 7:30 PM Friday), Lettuce (deep funk at 9:30 PM Friday),  and reggae giant Toots & The Maytals on Saturday at 9. There are some great local bands in there too. Here's the full schedule:

Friday, May 17
Time      Band
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm            DJ Mordecai
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm            Soulive
9:30 pm - 11:00 pm          Lettuce
Saturday, May 18
Time      Band
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm            The Trongone Band
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm            The New Belgians
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm            The Shack Band
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm            The Southern Belles
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm            Anders Osborne
9:00 pm - 10:30 pm          Toots & The Maytals
Sunday, May 19
Time      Band
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm            William Walter with Tucker Rogers
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm            Barrelhouse
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm            Photosynthesizers

And here is Anders Osborne doing "Greasy Money" and a Dead song you might recognize from the New Orleans Jazz Fest a couple weeks ago:


If you can't make it to Riverrock on Friday night, check out the webcast with alt-country king, Robert Earl Keen. It'll run from 7 PM - 9 PM ET and you can watch it HERE.

Space rock band O'Brother will be at Strange Matter Friday night. Tix are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with openers Shy, Low and Comrades. O'Brother will be opening a bunch of shows for Alice In Chains this month. You might like O'Brother if you like Sigur Ros or Mogwai. Here's O'Brother performing the hypnotic "Ascension" live a couple years ago:



Southern Culture on the Skids bring their campy, honky tonk to Capital Ale House Friday. Tix are $15 in advance, $18 at the door, doors open at 9, show starts at 10 with openers Atomic Mosquitos.  Here's SCOTS doing "Camel Walk" with some audience participation and some incredibly white dancing from that balding guy in the white t-shirt:



DJ Logic, the jam band DJ who has performed with moe. and Bob Weir & Ratdog, will be at The Canal Club Friday.  Tix are $10 in advance, $15 at the door, the show will start at 10 PM with a "special guest". That doesn't really mean special, it just means they haven't found an opener yet. You'll dig DJ Logic if you like Medeski, Martin & Wood, Benevento Russo Duo, or other jam bands. He'll be part of an all-star band on the 2014 Jam Cruise with John Popper (Blues Traveler), George Porter Jr. (the Meters), Stanley Jordan and Adam Deitch. Here he is performing with the Everyone Orchestra in New Orleans on May 3rd including Richmond's own DJ Williams on guitar, Marco Benevento, Zach Deputy and others.


On Friday over at Balliceaux, No BS! Brass Band will be having a record release party for their new record "RVA All Day". It'll start at 10 PM and it's $5 to get in. Here's the title track where aliens invade RVA and the No BS! Brass Band comes to the rescue:


Over here in Lakeside on Saturday, it's Lakesidepalooza starting at noon in front of McCook's Grill. It's free  but proceeds from the beer and food and stuff will benefit Lakeside Volunteer Rescue Squad and Lakeside Youth Baseball. Lakesidepalooza will feature stuff for the kids, beer truck for the adults, food vendors and more along with the bands Rosie Soul & the Rock n Roll Cowboys, Mo DeBree, Bush League, Weeping Molly and Cha Cha's Cadillac. Here's Rosie Soul & The Rock n Roll Cowboys doing "Crimson Society":




NJ punkers Titus Andronicus are at Strange Matter on Saturday evening. This is an early show with doors opening at 5 PM, tix $12 in advance, $14 day of show, music starts at 6 and it'll over by 9. Openers are So-So Glos (NY garage punk) and The Ar-Kaics. Titus Andronicus and So-So Glos have played together often and been roommates in various combinations so expect some punk rock camaraderie. Here's a video for Titus' song, "In a Big City":



If mountain music is more your speed, check out the benefit for WRIR with Wayne Henderson & Helen White at Westover Baptist Church. It'll be Saturday with doors at 7, music starting at 8 PM. Tickets are $22  and proceeds support future WRIR live events. Here they are performing at Ashland Coffee & Tea a few months ago:



No BS! Brass Band will continue their RVA record release tour with a show at The Camel on Saturday night. Tix are $10 and the show starts around 9 PM with openers Brand New Life.

That is one packed weekend! Hope to see you out at Riverrock!

Tony Jordan

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Late Night Pick: Flaming Lips

Flaming Lips will be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight on NBC at 12:35 AM. Flaming Lips are out promoting their new album, "The Terror". If you are an artist or know one, the Lips are having a contest to create designs for a Lips t-shirt. You can get the details HERE.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Late Night Pick: Pistol Annies

Tonight, we are choosing the Pistol Annies on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS at 12:35 AM because (1) the Pistol Annies new album, "Annie Up", is one of the best reviewed albums of the year so far and (2) we haven't checked in on the zany Craig Ferguson in a while. The Annies will also be doing a live concert webcast on Wednesday, April 15 at 10 PM ET HERE doing songs from the new album and their previous album "Hell On Heels".

Monday, May 13, 2013

Late Night Pick: Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend returns with a new album this week ("Modern Vampires of the City") and they'll be playing a new track from it tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 12:35 AM. In case you missed it, NBC announced that Seth Myers, currently the head writer on "Saturday Night Live" and host of SNL's "Weekend Update" segment, will take over for Jimmy when Jimmy moves up to the Tonight
Show next year. Hopefully, Jay Leno won't decide to come back and screw everything up again. If you missed the concert Vampire Weekend streamed on YouTube on 4/28, you can still check it out HERE along with the very funny "story" of Steve Buscemi working with the band prior to his directing the concert.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Late Night Pick: Family of the Year

Back to Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, 1:35 AM) tonight for the pop/rock of Family of the Year. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith has called them "The Mamas and Papas on acid". That should intrigue you, eh?

Lone Bellow, Joy Formidable, IO Echo, Skydog, Luray, Beer & Wine fests

We begin the weekend with Friday Cheers, this week with The Lone Bellow (8 PM 6:30 PM) and Radical Face (6:30 PM 8 PM). It's $5 to get in. Nice article on the folksy, Americana sound (with 3 part harmonies) of The Lone Bellow in today's Times-Dispatch. The Lone Bellow played at Strange Matter about a month ago and when they sang "Happy Birthday" to band member Kanene, well, something went awry. Her dad made the save but at the expense of his suede jacket. Hopefully, the band paid for the dry cleaning.



On a more musical note, here is Lone Bellow's latest video (just released yesterday) for "Bleeding Out":



Saturday is just cccrrrrraaaaazzzzyyyy with stuff to do. I can't recall a day that was more jam packed with events and bands.

If your kids (or you) like trains, you can head to either the Ashland/Hanover Visitor Center or Richmond's Staples Mill station to celebrate National Train Day. It'll run from 11 AM to 4 PM. There will be giveaways and activities at either place.

Beer or wine? Take your pick. There is a festival for whatever your libation desire might be.

Down at Historic Malvern in Midlothian, the 3rd Annual Virginia Hops & Barley Festival takes place from 1 PM to 8 PM. There will be 30 VA craft beers to sample. Tix are $15 in advance, $20 at the gate. Your admission gets you unlimited beer tastings. Here's the band lineup:

1:00-2:00 Triad
2:20-3:20 Jackass Flats
3:40-4:40 Southern Tide
5:00-6:15 The Atkinsons
6:35-8:00pm The Wrest w/Pat O'Brien

Out at Innsbrook Pavilion, winos, oops, sorry, oenophiles, can participate in the Central Virginia Wine Festival. That'll run from noon until 6 PM. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the gate and that gets you free wine tastings from all 16 wineries. Music will be provided by:
12:30 PM - 2 PM - School of Rock Short Pump
2:30 PM - 4 PM - 44 Diesel
4:30 PM - 6 PM - Big Enough

River City Blues Society of Virginia is throwing a party at Pocahontas State Park on Saturday and you are all invited. Parkfest Blues goes from 2 PM - 10 PM. Tickets are $45 at the gate and a portion of the net proceeds will benefit Special Olympics.  They don't have the schedule up on the website, but I believe this is the running order from where they have them on their home page:
  1. Andrew Ali and Last Night's Blues Band
  2. The Mike Lucci Band
  3. Albert Castiglia (2012 Blues Music Awards (BMA) nominee)
  4. The Nighthawks (2011 BMA Acoustic Album of the Year, though they will probably be rocking you electric)
  5. Mikey Junior
If you are into really old music, and I mean music played on 78s, head to Steady Sounds Saturday afternoon from 3 PM to 4 PM where Grammy Award winning archivist/collector/producer Chris King will playing music from his collection of rare 78 rpm records. This will be the first time he has ever played some of these rare records in public. He'll also be displaying his collection of R. Crumb artwork from the covers of his compilations.

Starting at 4 PM at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, it's the One Can Benefit Concert which will benefit Children, Incorporated, an "organization providing long-term assistance to underprivileged children in the United States and in 22 other countries. Working through established orphanages, schools and community centers, they help bring children out of poverty through sponsorship and other programs." It's free to get in and a portion of the proceeds from all food and beverage purchases goes to the charity. There is also a VIP Hour from 3 to 4 for $25 that gets you a private beer tour and heavy hors d'oeuvres. The band schedule is:
4:00pm - The Trongone Band
5:45pm - Beast Wellington
7:30pm - The New Belgians

At 8 PM at The National, alternative pop rockers The Joy Formidable will perform. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers IO Echo and Fort Lean. Make sure you get there early to see the atmospheric synth pop of IO Echo who have a good buzz around them. Joy Formidable is playing a bunch of festivals this summer including Austin City Limits, Bumbershoot, Forecastle, and Firefly (close by in Dover, DE). If you want to try to see them for free at The National, send an email to tixswin@gmail.com by 12 Noon Friday May 10th with the SUBJECT - JOY MUSIC.  One e-mail per person.  Please be sure to include your full name that appears on your ID for entry.  Ten WINNERS will be chosen and notified via email Friday afternoon by 5pm ! That comes from an email from The National so its the real deal. Here they are doing "Little Blimp":
 


Over at The Camel at 9 PM on Saturday, folksy Americana band Luray will appear along with Low Branches and Nick Coward & The Last Battle. Show starts at 9 and it's $5 to get in. Here they are playing "What Becomes":



Last but not least on Saturday, Allman Brothers tribute band, Skydog, will be at Capital Ale House. Doors will open at 8, show starts at 9, tix are $7 in advance, $10 day of show. Here they are doing "Statesboro Blues":



Before we leave, HERE are 9 Reasons George Harrison was the funniest Beatle. If you haven't seen the magnificent document on George Harrison, Living In the Material World, do so immediately.

I'll see you at Friday Cheers and then Skydog on Saturday. Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Late Night Pick: Purity Ring

Tonight on Last Call with Carson Daly, check out Purity Ring, an indie electronica duo out of Canada. Purity Ring will be playing at a number of the big fests this summer including Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, and Forecastle

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Late Night Pick: METZ

Canadian hard rock band METZ is on Last Call with Carson Daly tonight at 1:35 AM on NBC. You might like METZ if you like The Pixies, Mudhoney, or Death From Above 1979. Also, I like this poster from a recent show of METZ's:


Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Late Night Pick: Pistol Annies

Pistol Annies are the female country trio made up of Miranda Lambert, Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe. They just released their second album together, "Annie Up" which is getting reviews as strong as their first album and has garnered them acclaim from other musicians including Neil Young. They'll be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 11:35 AM on CBS.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Late Night Pick: James Blake

Indie electronica dubstep artist, James Blake, will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 11:35 PM on CBS. You might want to check out James if you like D'Angelo, Stevie Wonder, Feist, Bon Iver, Joni Mitchell, or Brian Eno.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Late Night Pick: Kacey Musgraves

Country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight on CBS at 11:35 PM to do a number from her well-received major label debut, "Same Trailer Different Park". She'll be playing football and baseball stadiums this year as part of Kenny Chesney's tour. Kacey and her band recently did an AOL Sessions show and played 5 songs and got interviewed. If you want to check it out, go HERE.

Off to Cheers now!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Lyle Lovett, Shovels & Rope, Hayes Carll, Steel Panther, Red Elvises, Bio Ritmo, Southern Belles

It's Friday Cheers time again and the weather looks like it will be absolutely wonderful for the kickoff and the bands are great too. Americana acts Shovels & Rope (6:30 PM) and Hayes Carll (8:00 PM) are your co-headliners. It's $5 to get in, gates open at 6 and get there early because Shovels & Rope have a big buzz building right now after their exciting set at Coachella. HERE is the article from Style Weekly featuring Shovels & Rope. And here is music from  both. We'll start with Shovels & Rope performing "Birmingham" live on David Letterman:



And here's Hayes Carll's "Another Like You" which really shows off his sense of humor and shows that people on the left and right side of the political fence can get together. And look for a guest appearance from two poiticos at the end:




If you wanna rock 80's style on Friday night, head to The National for Steel Panther. Steel Panther is on their STD tour (Spreading the Disease) and they will infect you with their parody of hair bands. Tix are $22 in advance, $25 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Hillbilly Herald. Here's the trailer for Steel Panther's new DVD "British Invasion" which tells you all you need to know. Language in this is NSFW but it f**kin' rocks!



Siberian surf rockers, the Red Elvises, will be at Capital Ale House on Friday. If you like your surfabilly served up with a side of borscht and camp, this band is for you. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9, tix are $10 in advance, $12 day of show. Here they are on the Russian version of Jimmy Kimmel:



If you want to lose yourself in the country-fried rock-n-roll jams Friday night, Southern Belles and The Northerners will be at The Camel. It's $7 to get in and the show starts around 9. Here's Southern Belles doing "Waves":
 

The second weekend of New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival goes down this weekend and you can listed to live sets HERE all weekend long. Even better, if you have AXS TV on your cable or satellite provider (I know it's channel 340 on DirecTV) you can 25 hours of live coverage this weekend going from 3 PM to midnight Friday - Sunday. Acts on AXS TV will include Billy Joel, John Mayer, Phoenix, Widespread Panic, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Gary Clark, Jr., Willie Nelson & Family, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Gipsy Kings, Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite, Laura Bell Bundy, Galactic, Marcia Ball, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Anders Osborne, Bonerama, and Marc Broussard among others. And that is SWEET, bitches!

Hardywood Brewery busts out its new Saison Rustica on Saturday at 2 with great salsa band Bio Ritmo taking the stage at 5 PM to get you moving. It's free to get in.  Here's Bio Ritmo doing "Carnaval":



Trongone Band will be hanging out, classic rockin' and unplugged at Tobacco Company on Sunday night from 7 PM - 9 PM and it's FREE. This isn't acoustic but here's the band performing Ophelia, Dear Mr. Fantasy and Hey Jude:



Tuesday night, the great Lyle Lovett will be at the Carpenter Theater. Lyle puts on a great show, touching on country, jazz, folk, and gospel and telling humorous stories with his country debonair wit. He's not with the "Large Band" this time. It'll be a five piece acoustic band this time, which should place an emphasis on his folksy, surreal lyrics. Hopefully, he'll do this one from back on '93 with Rickie Lee Jones on backing vocals. It often bring me close to tears. The show starts at 7:30 and tix run from $40 - $60.



I'll leave you with a mashup of Bohemian Rhapsody and Rhapsody in Blue, appropriately titled Bohemian Rhapsody in Blue:



BTW, I just finished another fantastic collection of music videos called Music Videos 19. Yes, I know, quite an original title. Anyway, it's heavy on old school hip hop thanks to Rolling Stone's 50 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of All Time list, so get on your Kanga hat, Adidas track suit and some cool kicks. But you'll find a lot of other surprises in there too so check it out and put it on shuffle to have the most fun. Or check out one of my other 18 video collections.

Have a great weekend! See you at Friday Cheers!

Tony Jordan

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Clutch, Late Night Pick: Alice Russell


Alternative metal band Clutch will be at The National tonight. Don't let the alt-metal moniker scare you. Clutch is just a damn good, straight forward, rock band. Tix will be $25 at the door. Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7 with openers The Sword and Lionize. Though you may not have heard of Clutch, they are bigger than you think. Their latest album "Earth Rocker" entered the Billboard Top 200 chart at #15, #1 on the Hard Music chart, and #3 on the Independent Album Chart. Here's "Crucial Velocity" from Clutch's new album:



Tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC at 11:35 PM, watch British neo-soul singer, Alice Russell. This will be Alice's US TV debut as she begins a promo tour of record stores, tv shows and alternative radio stations to promote her new album, "To Dust". Not sure if the title refers to "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" or if she just likes to keep a tidy house.