Bon Iver, All Time Low, Elvis Costello, INXS, Berlin

This week's big show is current indie darling Bon Iver at The National on Saturday night.  Tix are $32.50 in advance and $35 day of show.  Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with opener The Rosebuds.  Bon Iver is so cool right now even Kanye West asked him to do some vocals on his last album.  You'll probably dig Bon Iver if you like Ray Lamontagne, Nick Drake, or Bonnie "Prince" Billy.
Here's Bon Iver doing his song "Calgary" on "The Colbert Report":

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And as an added bonus, here is Bon Iver doing a beautiful cover of a song Prince called "an American classic". It's Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me / Nick of Time":


Thursday night at The National is All Time Low.  Tix are $20 in advance, $23 day of show.  Doors open at 6 and the show starts at 6:30 with openers Mayday Parade and We Are The In Crowd.  These guys fall into that goofy party band mode that was once populated by blink182.  This is their current hit "I Feel Like Dancin'":


Monday night is the new date for the July 20th Elvis Costello and The Imposters show at Innsbrook that was postponed a couple weeks ago.  General admission tickets are $21.50 in advance/ $25 at the gate, Gold Circle Seating is unavailable, Skybox tix are $100.  For General Admission, ages 10 and under free.  Gates open at 6:00pm.  There is no opener so Elvis will be on around 7pm.  Here's EC & The Imposters when they were young and hungry performing "The Imposter" at the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea in 1979:

BTW, if you see something you like on YouTube, my friend Matt A. sent me a link to this handy-dandy "Clip Converter" that takes the audio from the video and turns it into an mp3 or whatever audio format you prefer.  I just used it to download that tasty Bon Iver cover you heard up above.  HERE is the link.

Tuesday, if you aren't at the Flying Squirrels game where the Phillie Phanatic will be making an appearance, you can get your 80's on with INXS and Berlin at The National.  Tix are $30, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with Berlin.  Unless INXS has learned how to cheat ol' Death himself, original lead singer Michael Hutchence will not be with them.  JD Fortune has stepped into those big shoes.  Here's a little taste of what he sounds like.  This is "Don't Change" from their recent show in Denver:


Berlin does have their original singer, Terri Nunn, but no one else from the original band.  Here's my favorite Berlin song, "Metro", when the band apparently adopted the plastic sex doll look.


From Moviefone's Best Music Scenes in Movies, we come to a classic David Lynch moment from "Blue Velvet".  Dean Stockwell in heavy pancake makeup lip synching to Roy Orbison's "In Dreams".  Watch how perfectly placed the actors are in the shot with Kyle McLachlan, with the dancer in the background and the hick who looks like he's seen this act before and loves it.  I also love Dennis Hopper's building slow burn.


I believe we have finally come to the end of Paste Magazine's list of The 25 Best Music Videos of 2010.  Drum roll please!  The #1 music video of 2010 is the Rube Goldbergian setup for OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass".  So fun!


Amy Winehouse.  She could have been huge.  Now she's just dead.  What a waste.


That's it. Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Jason Isbell, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Bayside, 3 Sheets to the Wind

Jason Isbell (formerly of the Drive-By Truckers) and his band, The 400 Unit, will be performing at Colonial Downs racetrack on Saturday as part of the Virginia Derby festivities.  Jason will be playing in the Party Zone and will do two full sets.  The party starts at 3 PM and here is what you get for your $30 ($35 at the door) admission: "a program, tip sheet, deluxe BBQ dinner, 3 beer/wine tickets, live music on the concert stage with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit (formerly of Drive By Truckers) who will play two sets, a disc jockey spinning tunes between races, a come back admission pass & more."  You can listen to a show Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit did for NPR's World Cafe HERE.

If you want to go the Derby and are looking for something a bit less expensive and more BYO, you can do the Hoot on the Hill with yacht rock provided by Three Sheets to the Wind.  Here is what you get for your $10 ($20 at the gate) admission: "track admission & access to the first turn BYOB area. Party with the Richmond Ski Club, 30 Hooters girls and enjoy live “yacht rock” music all afternoon & evening with Three Sheets to the Wind. Bring your own pop up tents, portable chairs, grills, coolers, food & alcoholic beverages! We’ll have a giant betting tent set up, port-a-johns and a mini-jumbotron to see racing action."

Wednesday night, the great Elvis Costello & The Imposters will be at Innsbrook.  There is no opening act and EC & TI will come on around 7 PM.  General admission tix are $25, Gold Circle Seats are $50 and if you want to go Platinum Experience (Skybox), you can fork over $100.  Unfortunately, they will not have the Fabulous Spinning Songbook at this show, which is a giant carnival wheel (think Wheel of Fortune) that they spin which has song titles on it.  Whichever song it lands on, they play.  Guess the Innsbrook stage is not big enough to support the wheel.  Regardless, they'll play a great show and I'm sure they'll choose a fine setlist from the multitude of songs EC has.  You can get a glimpse of the wheel, along with some fabulous go-go girls, in this clip of the band doing "Peace, Love & Understanding" in St. Louis earlier this month:


Also on Wednesday, the lovely and talented Emmylou Harris will be playing at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens as part of Groovin' in the Garden.  Gates open at 5:30 PM, music starts at 6 PM.  Opener is "a guest".  General Admission Lawn seats are $45 in advance, $55 at the gate. Children 10 and under are free.  General Reserve Seating are $75 in advance.  Here is Emmylou performing "Six White Cadillacs" on Letterman recently:


Also on Wednesday, Bayside will be at The National.  Doors open at 6, show starts at 6:30 PM.  Why so early?  Because you get 4 bands for your $15 ($13 in advance) admission charge!  Those four openers (in order of appearance) are Holly Would..., Mayfair, and Transit.  Bayside play power pop (think Weezer, Green Day, My Chemical Romance, The Cure, blink-182, Foo Fighters).  Here is the video for their latest single, "Sick Sick Sick":


If you missed Three Sheets to the Wind at the Virginia Derby, you can see them on Thursday night (7/21) at The Republic.  Show starts at 10 PM and there is no cover charge. 

That'll be it for this week.  Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan