Tag Archives: Live

Upcoming Show Reminder: Marco Benevento in Iowa – CSPS on Sunday 4/12

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Just a reminder that this weekend brings the remarkable piano trio led by Brooklyn, NY resident Marco Benevento to. Currently on tour Benevento and his trio are on the road promoting his sophomore solo release Me Not Me, which is a collection of originals and really inspired covers.

Listening to his performance on The World Cafe, his passion for what he does is absolutely addicting, whether it’s discussing his growing collection of circuit-bent toys, or when he talks about his methods for inpiration when he writes. It’s clear he embraces all aspects of his talent and brings some genuine unique vision in his work.

Even though the Cedar Rapids show at the phoenix-from-the-flood venue CSPS is on Easter evening, I’m planning to high-tail it back so I can catch this show. I’ll be shooting pictures and will also be interviewing Marco for a future “B-Sides in the Bins” so stay tuned!

Tickets are $14 in advance, and $17 the day of the show. Set the Tivo’s and come out!

BTW: The song Marco uses as the demonstration on World Cafe for how he composes with circuit bent toys became “Now They’re Writing Music”. Click Here to download!

Oh, I’ll eat any Peeps that people don’t want from their baskets if they bring them to the show.

Click Here to visit Marco’s Website

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

Upcoming Show: Reunited Jayhawks to Play Minneapolis Basilica Block Party 7/10/09

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It seems that the reunion of Gary Louris and Mark Olson which produced the fantastic Chris Robinson-produced Ready For The Flood, has grown enough for them to consider some Jayhawks reunion shows.

“Since Mark and I are buddies again,” Gary said in a quote from Billboard.com, “and the fact that Karen [Grotberg] is now willing to do some shows because now her daughter is old enough for her to leave for periods of time, it’s just become for viable.”

Right now, the only confirmed U.S. date is the massive Minneapolis Basilica Block Party on Friday, July 10th which has them sharing the bill with The Black Crowes and Mat Kearney. Continuing the Crows-theme, The Counting Crows play on Saturday along with Twin Cities ex-pats The Hold Steady and Matt Nathanson. Tickets go on sale 4/24, and you can pick individual day passes or a pass for both days. No ticket prices are announced, yet.

As, for future Jayhawks shows or the possibility of touring, Louris says, “Our approach is to look forward. I think the plan is that we’re going to play festivals, next year we’re hoping to play Bonnaroo and things like that. We’ll see if it grows from there… But if we continue and we’re loving it, then of course you need new songs.”

Upcoming Show: The BellRays @ The Picador in Iowa City 5/4/09

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photo credit: Emmy Etie

photo credit: Emmy Etie

Being the music junkie that I am, I always love to find out about amazing music I didn’t know about! Such is the case with The BellRays— a hard-rocking and soulful group that has at its core Bob Vennum and Lisa Kekaula who– as a couple have been performing for over 20 years! I found out about the BellRays and their upcoming show at the Picador from Tom “Morst” Scharff who is among other things the archivist for Cracker and its associated bands.

The BellRays are related to Cracker through guitarist Johnny Hickman. One of Hickman’s early bands was The Dangers and Bob Vennum was a member of that band. The BellRays provide a high-energy almost garage-band rock with the vocals of Lisa. At times it kind of reminds me of how Lenny Kravitz approaches his music.

Bob & Lisa are currently in a tour in Europe in support of their first album of “AM Radio-Inspired” music titled Rosethorns. When they get back they will be kicking off a US tour running in April and May. As part of these shows the BellRays will be hitting Iowa City at the Picador on 5/4/09 and at the High Noon Saloon on 5/6/09.

Click Here to visit the Picador website

Click Here for the BellRays Website

Click Here for the BellRays MySpace page

Click Here to listen to mp3’s from BellRays’ albums

Click Here to listen to “One Big Party” from The BellRay’s 2008 album Hard Sweet and Sticky

Arbouretum On Tour and On Taping Shows

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Dave Heumann of Arbouretum

In anticipation for the Spring and Summer tour in support of Song of the Pearl, Dave Heumann posted from his blog today stating his official stance on taping his shows.  I applaud his “taper-friendly” stance, and contributing to archive.org is also a very cool thing and should help spread the word about his band. Dave comments on the archive.org page that he’s going to contribute some shows as well!

In essence, we are into it, as long as it’s done with sharing as the goal. We have several shows already posted already on archive.org. All of these have been recorded locally by Baltimore Taper Jeff Mewborn, a huge music fan who has been very generous with his time spent recording not only us, but lots and lots of other bands.

If you are someone who tapes shows and would like to record us, that’s great- the more, the merrier…ESPECIALLY if you don’t mind uploading it to archive.org afterward, or just making us a copy so that we can. I will be happy to give you the setlist after the show, and will do my best to update this blog with our setlists as well.

I’ve posted here in the past about a couple of shows that Jeff “Baltimore Taper” Mewborn has recorded, and they are very good and I find myself listening to them often.

The current list of tour dates for Arbouretum is posted on the MySpace page. Right now there are dates through June with a concentration on the East Coast, with a May gap that hopefully will bring Arbouretum closer to the Midwest.

Click Here for Dave Heumann’s Blog

Click Here for the Arbouretum MySpace page

Click Here for the Arbouretum archive.org page

Click Here to listen to “Another Hiding Place” from Song of the Pearl performed live January 30, 2009.

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: 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.

Free Download: Pontiak at Daytrotter

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Last week was a good week for show postings at Daytrotter.com– our Internet-music fan-buddy to the Southeast of here. We got the 2008 recording of Nelly McKay, and we got the Pontiak session! Pontiak and Wye Oak were touring together last year on a shared bill and were scheduled to stop at the Mill in Iowa City on June 15th. However, the Floods of 2008 prevented them from performing their show. However, they managed to stop in at Daytrotter on the 16th and record four songs.

Pontiak’s sludgy psychedelia translated well to Daytrotter’s retro facility and in four songs provided a good snapshot of the ride that is Pontiak.

They recorded a song apiece from their previous efforts, “How Tall Are You?” from their debut Valley of Cats, and the waltzing title track from Sun on Sun. They also recorded the title track to their upcoming Thrill Jockey release Maker, due to drop on April 7th. They also dropped a campfire rendition of a recently-learned Warren Zevon cover “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner.”

Have a helping of Pontiak at Daytrotter.

Treat yourself to some Wye Oak from the same sessions.

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