Late Night Pick of the Night: Ringo Starr

You know him.  You love him.  Beloved ex-Beatle Ringo Starr.  He has a new album out today, "Ringo 2012" so he will be appearing on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and they'll be devoting the whole show to Ringo.  I haven't seen any reviews of Ringo's new album yet, but I just think Ringo and Craig Ferguson together should be pretty damn funny.  Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is on CBS at 12:35 AM.

Late Night Pick of the Night: Fishbone; Springsteen Ticketmaster woes

Tonight was an easy late night pick.  One of the greatest ska-punk-funk bands of all time will be on Jimmy Kimmel tonight on ABC at 12:05 AM: FISHBONE!  There are few bands I will get into a mosh pit for.  I usually like to hang back and listen to the band rather than worry about getting stomped on.  However, when Fishbone plays "Party at Ground Zero", I just have to jump in and mix it up.  I must say that I've lost touch with Fishbone over the last few years but they've got a new album out so it's time to check them out tonight and see what's going on.

For those of you who tried to get Springsteen tickets on Saturday, it looks like you had a tough time.  Read the article about that HERE.  I passed as I decided not to deal with DC and have to take at least a 1/2 day off from work the next day; I was away from home and didn't want to lug my laptop around to a wi-fi spot; and I've thrown about $1500 into repairs on the two cars over the last few weeks.  I'll just have to hope he comes to Richmond or C'ville on the second leg.  I did check on the ticket search engine site, SeatGeek, and despite the use of paperless tickets (you need the credit card you bought the tickets with to get in) and the Ticketmaster issues, there are 320 listings for tickets out there with an average asking price of $473.  So I guess the brokers and scalpers did OK.

Late Night Pick of the Night: Atmosphere, Songs About Disease

Carson Daly strikes again with the hip-hop band Atmosphere tonight on Last Call on NBC at 1:35 AM. 

For your listening pleasure, let's sing songs about getting sick.  Slate asks the question "Why Don’t People Sing About Disease Anymore?" and then provides us with examples of old songs about influenza and meningitis.  You know, fun stuff like that.  I did hear that Lady Gaga is working on a song about restless leg syndrome, but that may just be a rumor.

Have a great weekend!

Robert Earl Keen, Elton John tix, Photosynthesizers, Lonely Teardrops, People's Blues of Richmond

Tickets are on sale Friday (1/27) at 10 AM for Elton John at the Richmond Coliseum.  The show will be on St. Patty's Day, March 17, at 8 PM so hopefully Elton will bust out a zany leprechaun outfit.  Ticket prices range from $48.35 to $151.50 but Ticketmaster isn't saying if there are levels between the two.  You know what's funny?  The Coliseum sent me two emails to tell me that suck-ass Daughtry was coming but no emails to tell me rock n' roll legend Elton was coming.  Then again, I guess Daughtry needs all the help he can get.

Getting onto the music this week, Friday night, People's Blues of Richmond and Prison Book Club will be at The Camel.  Doors open at 9, show starts at 10 and cover is $5.  Here's PBR on 12/26/11 at The Camel doing "Tighten Up":



Saturday night, one of my faves, alt-country legend Robert Earl Keen, will be coming to The National.  I would totally be there but I will be in NJ attending my 25th HS Reunion (man, writing that makes me feel old).  Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener The Deep Dark Woods.  Tix are $30 Reserved Orchestra, $25 Reserved Orchestra 2, $20 Reserved Balcony, and $20 GA Standing.  In the article about REK today in the Times-Dispatch, I read that he got a little pissed when he thought that Toby Keith wrote a song that was a little too much like REK's classic "Road Goes On Forever" so REK penned a caustic little number aimed at Toby called "The Road Goes On and On".  Both REK songs are below.  If you really want to hear the Toby Keith song that pissed off REK, you can find it yourself.

In more alt-country on Saturday night, The Lonely Teardrops and Raunchstar will be at Emilio's Tapas Bar in the Fan.  Show starts at 10 and it's $5 to get in.  Here's the Lonely Teardrops getting surfy at Cary St. Cafe about a year ago:

Indie hip-hoppers Photosynthesizers will be at The Camel on Saturday night for a hip-hop/reggae/soul dance party with Antero opening and DJ DJruff Handz in between sets.  Doors open at 9 and it's $8 to get in.  The Photosynthesizers were on the new RVA TV Sessions a couple weeks ago.  Here's the results:



That's it for this weekend.  Have a great one while I party and mix with the class of '86 in NJ.  Should I bust out the skinny tie for that one?

Tony Jordan

Tonight: Marshall Crenshaw, Outlaws webcast, Late Night Pick of the Night: Portugal. The Man

Singer-songwriter Marshall Crenshaw will be at Ashland Coffee & Tea tonight.  Show starts at 8 and tix are $30.  He's been going strong for 31 years now, always getting more critical acclaim than sales but a favorite of musicians everywhere for his songwriting.  Here's a clip for a show from this past September with Marshall and The Bottle Rockets doing two songs, "Calling Out For Love (At Crying Time)" & "Starless Summer Sky":


Also, tonight TRI Studios keeps the webcast train rolling, one day after the Ratdog webcast (caught the first hour last night, was pretty good), with a free webcast tonight of Southern rock godfathers, The Outlaws.  You remember them for such classic rock hits as "Green Grass & High Tides" and "Ghost Riders in the Sky".  The webcast will start tonight at 8 PM ET.  Click HERE to go there.

Tonight's Late Night Pick of the Night is Portugal. The Man and Wale on Last Call with Carson Daly on NBC at 1:35 AM.

Tonight: Bob Weir & Ratdog webcast

Forgot to mention in my earlier blog that a show Bob Weir and RatDog will webcast their performance tonight from TRI Studios.  The show starts at 8 PM ET and will feature RatDog members both past and from furthur in the past (Bob Weir, Kenny Brooks, Jeff Chimenti, Mark Karan, Steve Kimock, Jay Lane, Robin Sylvester and Rob Wasserman).

Late Night Pick of the Night: Weezer

Kind of a weak line-up tonight but I'll go with Weezer on Last Call with Carson Daly which airs at 1:35 AM on NBC.  Weezer is the latest band to take over a cruise ship and sail the seven seas (or maybe just the Caribbean) with their fans.  They just wrapped up their four day Weezer Cruise.

Late Night Pick of the Night: Wild Flag, Springsteen Tour Dates

On late night tv tonight, one of my favorite new bands of last year, Wild Flag, will perform on a Late Night with Jimmy Fallon repeat.  Late Night is on NBC at 12:35 AM.  Carrie Brownstein of Wild Flag is getting lots of press lately because of her IFC TV show, Portlandia, but she's heading out on tour with Wild Flag now (no Richmond dates :-(  ) and the band kicks ass.

Bruce Springsteen announced tour dates with the E Street Band today.  Closest show is DC on Sunday, April 1.  Not sure if I want to deal with DC to see the shows, but the early rumor is that the second leg of the tour will be stadiums and since we don't have a stadium, he'd probably just play in DC again and I don't want to see him in a stadium, so I may not have a choice.  Shows & prices weren’t up on Ticketmaster yet, though they linked to the ticket site for the Cleveland show and it looks like Bruce is back to three tier pricing ($42.50, $62.50 and $98.00) instead of all tix at same price.  Also, no replacement, if any, mentioned for Clarence.

Late Night Picks of the Night: Wilco & Etta James

I usually only do one Pick of the Night but I thought this warrented two picks.

Wilco will be on Conan tonight at 11 PM (repeated at 1 AM, I believe) on TBS.

Tavis Smiley will have a tribute to the late great Etta James, who passed away over the weekend.  I got to see Etta live once back in the 90's at one of the late great Philly summer music festivals (Jambalaya Jam, RiverBlues).  She was rather large then, but still was shaking her big ol' butt in provocative ways and could still belt out a tune.  It was a great show and an honor to see her.  Tavis Smiley is on PBS at various times so check your local listings.

Late Night Pick of the Night: Cults, Bill Kreutzmann Interview

Tonight, watch Brooklyn indie-pop band (don't all indie-pop bands come from Brooklyn?) Cults on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  Joan Rivers will be on the show too and I'm sure she and Jimmy will have a wild and funny conversation.  Cults self-titled debut album came in at #19 on Paste Magazine's 50 Best Albums of 2011.

Former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann has a short interview on the Rolling Stone web site, conducted while he was on this year's Jam Cruise.  Some interesting comments about the end of the Grateful Dead and whether he thinks they would have continued had Jerry lived.  Check out the interview HERE.

Future Islands, Black Girls, No BS Brass Band, DJ Williams Projekt

If you want to keep up with my posts the day they happen, you can now sign up for email updates over there to the right.  For those of you on my current email list, I'll still send you an email update when I do my weekly "what's coming up that weekend" post but if you want to get an email for all posts sign up there.  A heads-up: the posts seem to go out around 6:15 PM on the day I make a post regardless of the actual time when I post the blog.

The weekend starts with a lot of local music on Friday night.  No BS Brass Band will be at The Camel.  Show starts at 9 with The AstroNotts and it's $7 to get in.

DJ Williams Projekt will be at the Tobacco Company on Friday.  The show starts at 9:30 and is FREE.  Here's the band playing at Cafe Diem on 12/27/11 doing a little "Tighten Up" jam:

Black Girls will be at Balliceaux on Friday.  Chris Bopst had an article about Black Girls in the Times-Dispatch last Thursday (read it HERE) in which he said, "In my 30-plus years seeing live music, I have never seen a band with more commercial potential than Black Girls. And it is a natural charisma they possess. It isn't calculated or contrived in any way."  The show starts at 10:30 and it's $5 to get in.  Here's the band performing "Broadway":


Black Girls - Broadway from Todd Raviotta on Vimeo.

Electro-pop band Future Islands will be at The Camel on Monday night.  It's $10 to get in.  Doors open at 8, show starts at 8:30 with Canary oh Canary and Ed Schrader's Music Beat.  This is the first show of their tour so they should be revved up and ready to go.  Here's Future Islands "Balance" from their latest album "On The Water":


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick of the Night: Avett Bros., new Springsteen song

Check out the Avett Brothers tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:35 AM on NBC.  Avett Brothers will play their rendition of "One Too Many Mornings" - a track they sang along with the late-great Johnny Cash for the Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan: Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International CD.

Bruce Springsteen announced that his new album, Wrecking Ball, will come out on March 6.  Click HERE for full details including the track listing.  Here's the first single from the album, "We Take Care Of Our Own".  I'm not completely sold on the song.  I dig the sentiment and I like the music, especially the way it builds through the song.  But the lyrics seem a bit jingoistic, obvious and trite and don't really do what the best Springsteen songs do; take a large issue and break it down to a personal level through a story or a scene.  We'll see.  It may grow on me.  That's just my first impression.  And his songs always get better for me after I hear them live so perhaps Bruce will announce those US tour dates soon.

Late Night Pick of the Night: Wale, Tebowie

Tonight's Late Night Pick of the Night is acclaimed rapper Wale on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  Late Night is on NBC at 12:35 AM.

Jimmy Fallon recently answered the question no one else thought (or wanted) to ask, "What do you get when you cross Tim Tebow and David Bowie?"

Late Night Pick of the Night: Kathleen Edwards

Singer/songwriter Kathleen Edwards will be on Letterman tonight along with Ricky Gervais.  Kathleen's new album, "Voyageur" has been getting pretty good reviews. The album was co-produced with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Norah Jones guests on the album, so you've got some idea of where she is coming from.  The Late Show with David Letterman is on CBS at 11:35 PM.

Dominion Riverrock Bands Announced, Late Night Pick of the Night: Johnny Winter

The headlining bands for the Dominion Riverrock sports & music festival were announced this morning.  On Friday May 18th at 9:00pm, The Travelin' McCourys featuring Keller Williams will perform and Saturday May 19th at 9:00pm, Galactic will funk your face off! All shows are free and more bands will be announced soon.  Dominion Riverrock takes place down at Brown's Island.

Tonight's Late Night Pick of the Night is classic blues guitarist Johnny Winter on the Late Show with David Letterman. 

Graveyard, No BS Brass Band, People's Blues of Richmond

For any of you still on the fence about going to see Jane's Addiction at the National on Friday, March 9, Perry Farrell is promising it will be an orgy.  Perry says, “We chose to play as many of the great theatres that we could find because we wanted to immerse the audience in a unique experience unlike any they have ever seen at a rock show,” Farrell said. “Expect an orgy of musical and visual delights. We like orgies, and hope you do too.”  Tix go on sale Saturday at 10 AM on The National web site and Ticketmaster.

As for this week's shows, a couple of local bands kick things off on Thursday night.  No BS! Brass Band will be at Balliceaux.  Show starts at 10 PM and is FREE!  While they were up in NYC for NYE, they played an impromptu show in Union Square Park.  Here's a taste:

Over at The Republic on Thursday night, People's Blues of Richmond will rock out.  Show starts at 10 PM and is FREE!  Here's the band doing a Led Zep medley at The Camel on 12/26/11:



On Tuesday night, some hard classic rock in the vein of Black Sabbath or Cream when Graveyard (all the way from Sweden!) will be at Strange Matter.  Also on the bill is Radio Moscow and Ancient Wisdom.  Doors open at 8 and Ancient VVisdom kicks things off at 9.  Presale tix sold out so get there early and pay your $12 at the door and this is an 18 years and up show.  Here's a little sampler of their latest album, Hisingen Blues:



That's about it for this week.  Here's my random video of the week, Bruce Springsteen with the Seeger Sessions Band doing "John Henry":



Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Jane's Addiction @ National, Late Night Pick of the Night: War on Drugs

Big announcement about an hour ago from The National.  Jane's Addiction  is coming to The National on Friday, March 9.  Tix go on sale on Saturday, January 14 at 10 AM.  The tix will be $47 each once all the service charges are thrown in.  Despite their latest album, The Great Escape Artist, getting mediocre reviews, Jane's still ranks as one of the top 10 live bands I've ever seen so I'll be getting my tix on Saturday.  I suggest you do as they will most likely sell out.

Late Night Pick of the Night is American rockers The War on Drugs on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  This looks like a big Philly show with War on Drugs from Philly, guest Tina Fey from Philly, and house band The Roots from Philly.  Philly represent!  Jimmy Fallon is on NBC at 12:35 AM.

Late Night Pick of the Night: Surfer Blood, Van Halen tour dates

Tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (I double checked my Jimmy tonight) check out indie-pop-rock band Surfer Blood, along with Napoleon Dynamite (the new animated series starts Sunday night on Fox, hope it's good).  Late Night is, as always, on at 12:35 on NBC.

Van Halen came out with their tour dates on Friday last week and I was less than excited.  First, the closest show, which is in DC on 3/28, is on a Weds. night, which means taking a half-day to a full-day off of work. Second, is the odd price structure of either $40 seats or $170 seats. I can't find anything that tells me what sections the prices correspond to, but I'm guessing the $40 seats will be third level. I don't want to sit in the third level and I'm not going to pay $170 to see anyone. If I can see during the pre-sale that there are some first level or second level $40 seats that aren't behind the stage, I might be willing to try for those.

Depending on how many $40 seats there are, VH may see a lot of "donut" shows. Hardcore fans down front who are willing to pay $170. A bunch of empty $170 seats, then the $40 seats sold out.  It will also be interesting to see if scalpers pick up a bunch of the $170 seats and then have to dump them at less than face value.  It just seems odd that the band is trying to get that much for tix when the economy is still bad.

It's too bad, because they apparently played a hell of a show to announce the tour last Thursday at Cafe Wha? in NYC.

CORRECTED: Late Night Pick of the Night: tUnE-yArDs, GWAR: Tribute shows for Cory Smoot, RIP Robert Wilson

Tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE (sorry, got my Jimmy's mixed up) check out the intriguing and sometimes confusing, but in a good way, tUnE-yArDs (yes, that is how you write it).  tUnE-yArDs reminds me of a cross between Talking Heads & Bjork.  Also on the show, the always funny, sometimes controversial Tracy Morgan to talk about the return of "30 Rock" (yay!).

In Chris Bopst's Richmond Times-Dispatch column today he talks about two shows this weekend to honor GWAR guitarist Cory Smoot, who died suddenly in November.  Check out the column HERE for details.  Proceeds from both shows and from sales of Smoot's solo album, "When Worlds Collide," on which he played all the instruments under the name the Cory Smoot Experiment, will go to the Smoot Family Fund.  Set up by GWAR's production company, Slave Pit Inc., and label, Metal Blade Records, the trust raises money for Cory's wife, Jaime, and their unborn child, due in June.

Also, the man who once dropped a funky bomb on us, Robert Wilson, the bassist for the Gap Band, passed away on Sunday at the age of 53.  Click HERE for a short obit.

Robbin Thompson, Steve Bassett, The Atkinsons

Bit of a slow week as everyone recovers from the holidays or, as in my case, keeps the holidays going with more relatives this weekend.  Everything going on is going on Saturday night.

At The National on Saturday is friend and former bandmate of Bruce Springsteen, Robbin Thompson Band together with Steve Bassett.  Tix are $25 Reserved Orchestra, $20 Reserved Balcony, $20 GA standing adv/$25 day of show.  Doors open at 7, show starts at 8.  This evening will feature accoustic songs from The Robbin Thompson and Steve Bassett album “ Together “ and full band sets of music performed by The Robbin Thompson Band, Steve Bassett and several other guests musicians.  I would get there when the show starts so you don't miss anything.  Here's Robbin doing his song "Orange Moon" in Annandale VA this past July:



And here's Steve Bassett with the Mystic Soul Bubbas doing "Sweet Virginia Breeze":



Also on Saturday, Americana band The Atkinsons will perform at The Tobacco Company.  The show will start at 9:30 and is FREE.  Here's The Atkinsons performing a couple tunes at Cafe Diem in March of last year.



And that will about do it for this week.  Since we are a little bit short, here's Big Head Todd & The Monsters doing "Circle" on Letterman in the early 90's.



Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick of the Night: Chris Isaak

Tonight check out roots rocker Chris Isaak on Conan at 11 PM on TBS (repeat at 1 AM, I think).  I've always enjoyed Chris' music and sense of humor, and I still really miss the wonderful, funny, and often surreal "Chris Isaak Show" that was on Showtime many moons ago. 

Late Night Pick of the Night: Black Star, VH tour, old Bruce video

Happy New Year!  We're back for what I hope will be a fun and exciting 2012 as long as we don't all die in the predicted Mayan apocalypse.  That would be exciting but probably not a lot of fun.

Tonight's Late Night Pick of the Night is alternative rap superstars Mos Def & Talib Kweli together again as Black Star.  They'll be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight at 12:35 AM on NBC. 

In other news, it looks like Van Halen will announce their tour dates after playing a small show for journalists at NYC's Cafe Wha? on Thursday.  Perhaps it will be webcast too.  I'll keep my eye open for that. 

I’m interested to see if they charge as much as last time.  Don’t know how they did in the big cities, but I recall that JPJ Arena in C’ville wasn’t full when I saw them there in '08.  Here's the full story: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/van-halen-to-perform-at-new-yorks-cafe-wha-this-thursday-20120102

While we wait for an announcment from Bruce Springsteen on his 2012 US tour dates, the Wolfgang's Vault site is promising us the famous 1978 Passaic NJ show to view (and perhaps download the audio) this year.  While the Passaic show is on YouTube and countless bootleg videos, it should be nice to see a “painstakingly restored and digitized to guarantee the best possible quality for online broadcast” version coming out this year.  Here's the link along will a little taste of the video, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town": http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/blog/index.php/2011/12/merry-christmas-from-passaic-nj/?utm_source=NL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=111223