Category Archives: Upcoming Show

Upcoming Show: Santigold in Des Moines @ People’s Court 5/29; First Ave. 5/28

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Santi White aka Santigold formerly Santogold is kicking off her first North American tour on May 21st in San Francisco according to New Music Express.

 The 20-date tour makes a stop at Bonnaroo on June 20th, and the Roots Picnic in Philly on June 6th as well as some key stops in the Middle-west– a surprising Des Moines stop at People’s Court in Des Moines on 5/29 (yay!) and First Ave in Minneapolis on 5/28 and a stop on June 6th in St. Louis.

I’m not sure why the Windy City didn’t get invited to the party, but them’s the breaks, I guess!

Santigold’s eponymous debut album came out in 2008 and blew up all over the place with no less than five singles including the “L.E.S. Artistes” which seemed to be on every TV show and commercial as a soundtrack. The album is genre-jumping, but fits comfortably next to bands like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and M.I.A. (the latter sharing some tweaking from Diplo). The 80’s New Wavish anthems and forays into Ska were a permanent part of the greatest hits at our house last year.

Santigold will be joined on this tour by DJ Trouble Andrew who worked with her on the Pixies-divining “I’m A Lady” as well as Philly MC Amanda Blank. Check her MySpace to hear her flow over a Diplo remix of “I’m A Lady.”

Click Here for Santigold’s MySpace Page

Click Here for Amanda Blank’s Website

Click Here for Trouble Andew’s Website here’s his MySpace Joint

Click Here for IowaTix, to order the tickets for the People’s Court show. Click Here for the People’s Court MySpace page.

Click Here for the First Ave Event Calendar

Mar 27 2009 8:00P
Ultra Music Festival Miami, Florida
Mar 28 2009 8:00P
Roxy’s Chicken Jam Mammoth, California
May 21 2009 8:00P
The Warfield w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew San Francisco, California
May 22 2009 8:00P
Empire w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew   Sacramento, California
May 24 2009 8:00P
Cuthbert Amphitheatre Eugene, Oregon
May 25 2009 8:00P
Sasquatch! Festival @ The Gorge George, Washington
May 28 2009 8:00P
First Avenue w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew Minneapolis, Minnesota
May 29 2009 8:00P
Peoples Court w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew   Des Moines, Iowa
May 31 2009 8:00P
Rams Head Live w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew Baltimore, Maryland
Jun 1 2009 8:00P
House of Blues w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew Boston, Massachusetts
Jun 3 2009 8:00P
Phoenix Concert Theatre w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew Toronto, Ontario
Jun 4 2009 8:00P
Metropolis w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew Montreal, Quebec
Jun 6 2009 8:00P
The Roots Picnic @ Festival Pier Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 7 2009 8:00P
The Norva w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew Norfolk, Virginia
Jun 9 2009 8:00P
Terminal 5 w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew New York, New York
Jun 10 2009 8:00P
9:30 Club w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew Washington DC, Washington DC
Jun 12 2009 8:00P
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Manchester, Tennessee
Jun 13 2009 8:00P
Barcardi B Live @ The Pageant w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew St. Louis, Missouri
Jun 15 2009 8:00P
Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew Austin, Texas
Jun 17 2009 8:00P
House of Blues w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew Houston, Texas
Jun 18 2009 8:00P
House of Blues w/ Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew Dallas, Texas
Jun 21 2009 8:00P
Hollywood Bowl / KCRW World Festival Series Hollywood, California

Upcoming Show: Lyrics Born @ The Picador in Iowa City – 4/15/09!

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Lyrics Born

Well, it looks like I don’t have to drive to Minneapolis on April 17th, as Lyrics Born will be stopping by Iowa City on his way from Madison to Minneapolis!

Lyrics Born along with Joyo Velarde and DJ D-Sharp will be playing the Picador in Iowa City on Wednesday, April 15th. A Wednesday night show will be a little rough for work the next day, and there isn’t much for seating at the Picador so it will be a standing night. Doors are at 9PM according to the Picador site and Ticketweb, and they are a very reasonable $15. Other acts to be announced.

Click Here to visit Lyrics Born’s Website

Click Here to visit the Picador website

Click Here to order tickets from TicketWeb

Don’t forget to download LB’s new song “Funky Hit Records” from his forthcoming album As U Were.

Free Download: New Lyrics Born! “Funky Hit Records” Upcoming Shows

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It doesn’t seem that long ago that Lyrics Born released his last album Everywhere At Once— in fact it was released just under a year ago! (4/22/08) Not one to rest on his laurels when there is inspiration– LB has been spending time in the studio working on the release of his next album to be titled As U Were to drop this fall.

To help spread the buzz, LB has made available for FREE the old school stylee track “Funky Hit Records.”  “Funky Hit Records” is a tribute to classic 80’s style hip hop– a different direction than the production of his last two albums using only beats and scratches to propel the track from Trackademicks. A fun track with trademark tongue-in-cheek bravado from the man LB. The song has a video produced by Justin– the guy who handles all of the on-line activity for the Lyrics Born camp including the LBTV videos.

In other news, Lyrics Born is making a quick jump to the Midwest in April with Joyo Velarde and DJ D-Sharp. They’ll be at The Majestic in Madison, WI on April 14th, and Trocadero’s in Minneapolis on Friday, April 17th! I’ll be at the Minneapolis show, of course!

Apr 8 2009 9:00P
The Nightlight Lounge – Bellingham, WA Bellingham, Washington
Apr 10 2009 8:00P
Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR Portland, Oregon
Apr 11 2009 8:00P
McDonald Theatre – Eugene, OR w/ The Roots Eugene, Oregon
Apr 14 2009 9:00P
Majestic Theatre Madison, Wisconsin
Apr 17 2009 8:00P
Trocadero’s – Minneapolis, MN Minneapolis, Minnesota
Apr 18 2009 8:00P
Palace of Fine Arts – San Francisco, CA – Adam Theis with special guest Lyrics Born San Francisco,

Click Here to download “Funky Hit Records” from the forthcoming As U Were.
Click Here to visit Lyrics Born’s website
Click Here to visit the LBTV YouTube Channel with the video for “Funky Hit Records” as well as a bunch of other videos.

Upcoming Show: Mountains at The Picador in Iowa City 4/24/09

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The duo of Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp known as Mountains are one of the new generation of Thrill Jockey bands. The band’s new album on Thrill Jockey is their third album since 2005– the first two released on the their own label, Apestaartje.

Mountains synth-plus-guitars sound is typically compared to Brian Eno or Fennesz and their 2009 release Choral is a collection of ambient tracks that seem to build by layer and utilizing spare melody structure. The delay and echo of the pieces also remind me of Michael Brook.

According to their PR, Mountains love to sculpt their sound in front of a live audience and we will be able to experience that here in Eastern Iowa when they perform at The Picador in Iowa City on Friday, April 24th.

At this point, the show is not listed on the Picador calendar, so I don’t have any more details.  I’ll try to update this page as I get more information.

Click Here to visit the Choral page at Thrill Jockey and listen to high-quality streaming tracks from the album.

Free Download: Phish Live at Hampton 2009

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In celebration of Phish’s reunion shows– Phish is generously offering 256Kbps mixed, soundboard recordings of their upcoming three-night run at the legendary Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA for free download. From their press release:

In celebration of Phish’s first shows in over four years, we’re thrilled to be able to offer fans free, high-quality downloads of the band’s sold-out March 6th, 7th and 8th concerts at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia at LivePhish.com.

Each show will be professionally multi-tracked and mixed onsite and within 24 hours, 256kbps MP3s will be made available for free for a limited time at LivePhish.com. Fans who wish to download higher quality versions may purchase FLAC downloads. The shows will also be available on CD. Both are available for pre-order now. Register at LivePhish.com to receive an email when the free MP3s are available.
“We really wanted to show our gratitude to all the Phish fans for their support and the overwhelming response they’ve had to these shows. It’s going to be an amazing celebration and we only wish everybody could be there,” said Trey Anastasio.

Hampton Coliseum is notable in Phish’s history as being the location for the shows on November 20 & 21, 1998 that was the basis for the six-disc box set Hampton Comes Alive. Hampton Coliseum has been a favorite stop for Phish and these upcoming shows on March 6th, 7th, and 8th mark the 13th, 14th, and 15th time Phish will have played there.

These upcoming shows are also where Phish is looking to legally block the sale of bootleg products like unauthorized “lot shirts” and other paraphernalia with Phish tie-ins. An interesting move considering how ingrained in the jamband scene the lot scene sales have become. Certainly Phish is entitled to defend their very valuable trademark and image– especially since the future of the band seems unclear, and licensing of products in addition to the sale of recordings would be the only way the band could continue to profit if they don’t continue to tour.

Update: Apparently Phish is in it for the long haul and have plans to record a new album with a focus on their proggy side!

Click Here to pre-order the three shows in mp3 format.

Upcoming Show: Marco Benevento in Iowa 4/10 & 4/12/09

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I had the opportunity to hear a unique album this week. Marco Benevento’s second solo album Me Not Me (The Royal Potato Family, 2009). Me Not Me is an inspired collection of original compositions and covers all interpreted largely with the acoustic piano carrying the melodies and layers of drums, bass, and effects coming from Farfisa, Optigan, Mellotron, and circuit bent toys filling out the tonal landscape of each song.

What struck me immediately was the beautiful piano parts rising out of each of the songs. I’m a sucker for piano parts and passages of this album remind me of some of my favorite piano jazz.

Of course, some of this is because of the strong melodies in the songs he chose. Me Not Me is an interesting, if obscurish collection of covers. Other than the cover of “Golden” by My Morning Jacket and the cover of “Friends” off of Led Zeppelin III, I wasn’t familiar with even the songs from the more famous artists like Beck (“Sing It Again”), George Harrison (“Run of the Mill”) and Leonard Cohen (“Seems So Long Ago Nancy”) but each seem to be strong choices. The choice of modern buzzworthy bands like Deerhoof (“Twin Killer”) and The Knife (“Heartbeat”) seems to provide and intersting juxtiposition of old and new. The three original Benevento compositions on the CD fit right in with the other songs giving a consistent sound and feel. I’ve only had the CD a couple of days and I’m already finding myself returning to it repeatedly!

So, I was pretty excited to hear that Marco Benevento and his trio (with Matt Chamberlain and Reed Mathis from the album) would be stopping in Iowa for two dates in April– Vaudeville Mews in Des Moines on Friday, April 10th (6:30PM: $10 in advance, $12 at the door), and at CSPS in Cedar Rapids on Sunday, April 12th after a show in Minneapolis at the Dakota (8PM: $20 cover).

Upcoming Shows:

02.24.09
Yoshi’s Oakland
Oakland, CA
with Joe Russo, Peter Alpfelbaum and Josh Roseman – “Quartet the Killer” – featuring the music of Neil Young

03.05.09
River St. Jazz Cafe
Wilkes-Barre, PA
with Marc Friedman (bass) and Andrew Barr (drums)

03.06.09
Deer Head Inn
Del Wtr Gap, PA
with Marc Friedman (bass) and Andrew Barr (drums)

03.07.09
The Bell House
Brooklyn, NY
with Marc Friedman and Andrew Barr
click here for tickets

3.20.09
SXSW
The Elephant Room
Austin, TX
CD Release Show

04.07.09
Hideaway
Louisville, KY

04.08.09
Jazz Kitchen
Indianapolis, IN

04.09.09
The Space @ Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

04.10.09 Fri
Vaudeville Mews
Des Moines, IA

04.11.09
Dakota
Minneapolis, MN

04.12.09
CSPS
Cedar Rapids, IA

05.06.09
Le Divan Orange
Montreal, Canada
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr

05.07.09
The Wescott Theatre
Syracuse, NY
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr

05.08.09
The Iron Horse
Northampton, MA
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr

05.14.09
Merkin Concert Hall
New York, NY
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr

Click Here to visit Marco’s Website (totally check out their version of “She’s Not There” by the Zombies!)

Click Here to visit Marco’s MySpace page which has tracks streaming from Me Not Me.

Upcoming Shows: Bo Ramsey & The Mystery Lights

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Bo and Jon

I happened to be looking at upcoming shows on The Mill Restaurant and saw that they were going to be having a Bo Ramsey headlining show! In fact, looking at his tour page it seems that he’ll be playing three dates this spring and summer.

The shows are listed as Bo Ramsey & The Mystery Lights and they will be playing The Washington in Burlington, IA on 4/25, The Mill in Iowa City on 5/2, and– as he has in the past– he will be playing the Mississippi Valley Blues Fest in Davenport on July 2nd.

According to Bo, The Mystery Lights will be long time “Sliders” Al Schares on guitar and Steve Hayes on drums. Joining them will be Jon Penner on bass (see picture above)  who worked on Fragile with Bo and Steve Hayes. Jon also frequently plays with Pieta. I saw Jon at the Springville show a couple of years ago which I reported on. Al Schares is also notably the Program Director for KUNI.

I missed the short run of shows from last spring, so I’m really looking forward to hearing the Fragile songs worked in a live setting.

When asked if there will be more shows this summer, Bo said, “we’ll see.” If shows get added, I’ll update this article.

Sat, Apr. 25, 2009 The Washington Burlington, IA
Sat, May 2, 2009 The Mill $20 Iowa City, IA
Thu, Jul. 2, 2009 8:30 PM Mississippi Valley Blues Fest Davenport, IA

Click Here for Bo Ramsey’s website
Click Here for Bo Ramsey’s MySpace Page
Click Here for the Facebook Event I created

B-Sides Favorites Backyard Tire Fire Return to Studio With Steve Berlin

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Ed Anderson

It was only last August that Bloomington, IL bar-rockin’ band Backyard Tire Fire released their fantastic The Places We Lived which I reviewed here.

Ed Anderson, his brother Matt and Tim Kramp are heading back into the studio in late February with Grammy-Award winning producer Steve Berlin who is also a member of Los Lobos whose last album The Town and the City was reviewed here. Berlin found out about BTF when they opened for Los Lobos last October. They dug Tire Fire’s show so much they invited the band to sit in on the encore! The following week Berlin reached out to talk to the band about the possibility of producing their next record! Berlin said about BTF, “Great songs, great playing and great guys. I’m really looking forward to the recording sessions… In my opinion they are one of America’s best young bands.” I agree.

I think the matching of Berlin to Backyard Tire Fire should be a winning combination.  As with previous efforts from Backyard Tire Fire, the next album will be recorded in a studio, to tape and completely analog. This means that they’ll be pressing vinyl like the did on their last record, I’m sure. The sessions will take place at Type Foundry Studio in Portland, Oregon with Jeff Stuart Saltzman engineering.

They guys recorded a couple of songs for Daytrotter last year that will end up on the album, “Food for Thought” and “Ready or Not.” A couple of really great songs even in their minimal form for Daytrotter.

Click Here for the Daytrotter page for Backyard Tire Fire.

Backyard Tire Fire is on tour starting this weekend through a stop in Iowa City opening for JJ Grey and Mofro on Sunday, February 8th. There’s a gap in the tour dates until March 13th in which they will have been in the studio. Iowa gets three stops through May, so that is pretty cool. I still haven’t made it to the Redstone Room, maybe by April 30th the snow will have subsided and I can make it down there.

January 30 & 31 / Louie’s / Bloomington, IL
February 3 / Bluebird / Bloomington, IN*
February 4 / Downing University Center Theatre / Bowling Green, KY*
February 5 / The Intersection / Grand Rapids, MI*
February 6 / The Magic Bag / Ferndale, MI*
February 7 / The Dame / Lexington, KY*
February 8 / Industry / Iowa City, IA*
March 13 / Chicago Street / Joliet, IL
March 15 / Mountain Stage / Charleston, WV
March 19 / 40 Watt Club / Athens, GA**
March 20 / Emerald Lounge / Asheville, NC**
March 21 / Gottrocks / Greenville, SC**
April 2 / Locals Only / Indianapolis, IN***
April 3 / Southgate House / Cincinnati, OH
April 4 / Barley’s Taproom / Knoxville, TN
April 10 / Mojo’s / Columbia, MO
April 11 / Off Broadway / St. Louis, MO****
April 14 / Wisconsin Public TV / Madison, WI
April 16 / Gerstle’s / Louisville, KY**
April 17 / Hangar 9 / Carbondale, IL**
April 18 / Double Door / Chicago, IL**
April 23 / 7th Street / Minneapolis, MN
April 24 / High Noon Saloon / Madison, WI
April 25 / Green Room / Sheboygan, WI
April 26 / Brown Baer / Elkhart Lake, WI
April 30 / Redstone Room / Davenport, IA
May 1 / Nutty’s North / Sioux Falls, SD
May 2 / Vaudeville Mews / Des Moines, IA

* Supporting JJ Grey & Mofro
** Co-bill with Bloodkin
***Co-bill with Steepwater Band
****Co-bill with Pokey LaFarge

Cracker Reaches for Inhaler and new album in May 2009

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I apologize for the headline on this. It gets tricky to come up with better headlines than “New album.” Cracker announced today via their website and Facebook that their new album to be called Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey will be released in May of this year, which likely means that the building list of tour dates are gearing up for an album tour! It will be cool to hear new songs from Cracker.

Additionally, Cracker has posted a video for a new track from Sunrise called “Hand Me My Inhaler” which is a short and punky affair, and showcases the fancy guitarwork of Mr. Johnny Hickman.

Click Here to see if Cracker is coming to a stage near you!

Tortoise to Release 6th Album on 4/21/09; Langerado ’09

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Tortoise

Per Stereogum in an article interviewing Doug McCombs, Tortoise is in the studio working on their follow-up to 2004’s It’s All Around You. Well, I guess you could say they are still in the studio working on the follow-up.  Tortoise has been working on the follow-up for three years in “fits and starts” at McEntire’s Soma Studios in Chicago.

The band has been playing at least three of the tracks from the new album on tour since their unannounced appearance at the Thrill Jockey 15th anniversary shows in December of 2007. The article makes references to the temporary song titles that have shown up on setlists like “Korg” and “Prepare Your Coffin” which we’ve seen called “Coffin.” We’ve also heard a track variously known as “Glowstick” or “Glow.”

According to McCombs, although the album to him sounds sonically a bit like Standards, the band has implemented smaller arrangements than the last two albums. Apparently there are only a couple of sessions left to record including adding some string arrangements (!!). The album may also include vocals. Following the release of April 21st the band will kick off a “proper tour.” This April 21st date is corroborated at Pitchfork’s Guide to 2009 Releases.

Tortoise was recently announced as part of the Langerado Festival lineup on 3/7/09. Set in Miami, Langerado promises to be a really good festival based on this year’s lineup which includes Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, Umphrey’s McGee, Dashboard Confessional, the Pogues, Snoop Dogg, and Death Cab among it’s current list of 58 musical acts to play over three days. With the wealth of tapers at Langerado, I’m hoping we get a good recording of that set.