Apr 29 2009
A rainy Tuesday night at the Garfield Artworks. A crowd of more than more 35, including the open acts, gathers in the long, dark room for what turns out to be one of the most intense performances they'll see all year.
I've been a fan of Astronautalis since 2004 when I wandered into the hip-hop tent at the Warped Tour and saw this amazing Jacksonville freestyler with an indie-rock aesthetic. At the time, he was just releasing "You and Yer Good Ideas" on Fighting Records (the same label as our own Grand Buffet). The more fleshed-out followup, "The Mighty Ocean and Nine Dark Theaters," was my "album of the year" in 2006 and it still blows me away with its poetry and surprising musical twists every time I hear it.
Although I wrote a glowing preview, Garfield Artworks was pretty empty when he stopped on that tour, too. He keeps coming back, even though few people show up. If ever there were an under-publicized artist, it's Astronautalis.
But crowd size has no impact on his performance. On Tuesday night, backed by a DJ, the theater grad soaked through his white T-shirt and violently swiped at his flushed red face with a handkerchief as he gyrated and contorted through songs that fall somewhere between Atmosphere, Modest Mouse and Tom Waits -- yes, he can sing like that when he wants to.
Along with reaching back for the bloody rich narrative of "My Dinner with Andy" and punching out the rocker "Trouble Hunters" (from the new "Promegranate"), Astronautalis stunned the crowd with his freestyle ritual. Asking for random topics from the crowd, he got Ecco the Dolphin, Sustainable Urban Outfitters, Russian Literature and "Drew Carey's liposuction" and instantly turned into it a coherent and hilarious rap song. (Tell me he's going to release these someday.)
Before leaving the stage, he graciously thanked just about every person in the room, and never expressed any complaint about the crowd size or the small take at the door.
After the show, he mentioned that he is working on a project with P.O.S. and might be with him on the Warped Tour when it stops here in July.
Someday, inevitably, Astronautalis (Andy Bothwell) is going to break in a big way -- as a rapper, rocker, actor, whatever --and these barren nights in Garfield will seem like a weird dream.
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Apr 27 2009
First the bad news: Creed has reunited.
Now the even worse news: The tour is starting in Pittsburgh (Aug. 6), although the release does not say where.
What's your guess? Mellon Arena, Hard Rock Cafe, Rib festival. This one's a tough call.
As the release from Wind-Up states, Creed is "one of the most successful rock bands of the past decade," having sold more than 35 million albums.
But get this, the release also states, "The songwriting team of Stapp and Tremonti are considered one of the most prolific in rock history."
Would that be before or after Lennon-McCartney, Jagger-Richards, Leiber-Stoller, Gamble-Huff?
The bombastic Christian rock grunge band formed in Tallahasee, Fla. in 1995 and became the favorite band of WWE fans, enamored by singer Scott Stapp's Viking-like attributes. The band broke away from the increadingle troubled Stapp in 2004 and formed Alter Bridge, which never achieved Creed-level success
"Our career as Creed came to a very abrupt and unforeseen ending," drummer Scott Phillips said in a statement. "After reflecting on some of the greatest personal and professional moments of our lives, we've come to realize that we are still very capable of continuing that career and our friendship on a grander scale than ever before."
Stapped added, "It's rare in life to get a second chance to make a first impression and we embrace the opportunity. We all believe the BEST IS YET TO COME!"
Like maybe Creed will make an album good enough to move the band from 23 on Blender's list of the "50 Worst Acts of All Time."
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Apr 24 2009
A show by punk band Millions of Dead Cops, scheduled for Belvedere's in Lawrenceville Friday, has been canceled.
The promoter and club owner both refuse to comment, but according to the band, the name is the factor.
Obviously, fliers for Millions of Dead Cops were a sensitive issue in Pittsburgh in the wake of the April 4 shootings of three police officers in Stanton Heights.
"Pittsburgh got canceled," said Jay Crash, a member of the opening band Embrace the Kill and former MDC roadie who was booking the tour. "After the unfortunate incident of the three police officers were shot, we had a couple cancellations because of the name of the band and tour [Patriot A-hole]. Boston was cancelled too. The club said after that incident, it was bad publicity for the club."
The left-leaning hardcore punk band formed in Austin in 1979 originally as the Stains and changed the name to Millions of Dead Cops for three reasons, according to drummer Al Schvitz: the police reaction at the 1968 Democratic convention, his claim that an unarmed friend was shot by police officers, and his claim that some Texas police officers were connected to the KKK.
The band became known for songs like "John Wayne was a Nazi" and for taking part in the Rock Against Reagan Tour. It broke up in 1995, reformed in 2000 and launched a 25th anniversary tour in 2005, which played the Mr. Roboto Project in Wilkinsburg. The band was a no-show for a 2007 show at the Braddock Elks Lodge.
Crash and Schvitz expressed sympathies for the families of the fallen officers and said they love playing Pittsburgh, especially on Friday night, and were disappointed by the cancellation on a tour which is playing 57 shows in 56 days. They said they'll be back, probably under one of their many aliases, which include Multi-Death Corporation, Millions of Dead Children, Millions of Damned Christians and the more charming Mother's Delicious Cookies.
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Apr 23 2009
Bruce Springsteen never really took much of a break after "Magic" and now he's on the road with "Working on a Dream," a record that doesn't seem to be a huge hit with the fan base.
But Bruce has injected some thrills into the set by other means.
The Boss is on a bit of a punk kick.
According to backstreets.com, in LA last week he was joined by Mike Ness of Social Distortion for "Bad Luck."
In Boston Tuesday, the E Street Band road-tested a cover of ZZ Top's "I'm Bad I'm Nationwide." OK, that's not exactly punk, but then on the second night in Boston, they covered the Ramones classic "I Wanna Be Sedated" (with crowd sing-along) and were joined in the encore by three members of the Dropkick Murphys.
The way things are going, Bruce is going to want to play with Anti-Flag not Joe Grushecky in Pittsburgh on May 19.
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Apr 20 2009
The New Pornographers are one of the few bands where you go to the show not knowing which of the members are going to show up.
But considering that Neko Case has a new album out, it was college gig and the band isn't even really on tour, it was no surprise that she wasn't with them at the CMU Spring Carnival Friday night. Neither was Dan Bejar for that matter, as he's also busy with Swan Lake and Destroyer.
The impressive thing about The New Pornographers is that their shows are still great without them. Frontman A.C. Newman, just here last month for a solo gig at the Warhol, was up to the challenge with sidekick and niece Kathryn Calder, who doesn't have the siren voice of Case, but still manages to fill in on those parts with energy and beauty.
The band played a set similar to the one at the Carnegie Library in Homestead last year, with a heavy dose of the latest album, "Challengers," including the lovely title track and driving power-pop of "All the Old Showstoppers" and "All the Things that Go To Make Heaven and Earth."
Newman and company did touch on all four albums, going back to "Mass Romantic" for the revved-up set-closer of "The Slow Descent into Alcoholism," which he joked pretty much summed up his college years. For the encore, New Pornographers drew on power-pop icons ELO with a pounding verson of "Don't Let Me Down."
Ted Leo + and the Pharmacists -- a Pittsburgh favorite and another band that doesn't seem to be on tour at the moment (but is returning to Diesel in June) -- opened with a typically high energy set pleasantly reminiscent of The Jam.
It wasn't quite as high spirited as last year's gig with The Roots and the Pens-Flyers game may have impacted the crowd size, but it was still a festive night of great songs on the lawn.
PHOTO BY HUGH TWYMAN, who blogs at www.hughshowredux.blogspot.com
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Apr 16 2009
We're past Tax Day and we haven't heard anything yet from Drusky Entertainment on what we might expect to see at this re-opening of the amphitheatre at Station Square, but we have one clue now from a certain British art-rock band.
Yes sent out its tour schedule, listing July 21 at the Chevrolet Amphitheatre (which happened to be the venue's former name).
This is a quasi-Yes, as singer Jon Anderson has problems with his pipes and will not be on board, and Rick Wakeman is replaced by his son, Oliver.
The lineup is Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White, Wakeman and Anderson-sound-alike Benoit David. We understand the need to hype a new tour, but Squire actually had the nerve to say: "This has turned out to be one of the best performing line-ups in YES' storied history. It feels like we're rediscovering these songs all over again."
Howe will do double-duty, playing in one of the quintessential "supergroups" Asia, which will also consist of keyboardist Geoff Downes (Buggles), drummer Carl Palmer (ELP) and singer/bassist/guitarist John Wetton (King Crimson).
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Apr 15 2009
The music lineup for the Three Rivers Arts Festival will be announced Monday, April 20 with one headliner revealed per hour on WYEP (91.3 FM).
We'll run the full list on our Web site on 3 p.m.
As in recent years, it was booked by Gary Hinston, who handles the CD Live series. At one point, before the festival was taken over by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, there was talk that Ben Harrison, who books the adventurous series at the Warhol Museum, would have hand in the music bookings, but that didn't pan out.
Pollstar is listing two of the dates: Medeski, Martin & Wood (June 6) and Booker T (June 11).
We know that one festival regular -- The Avett Brothers -- will not be on board, as they are playing the Carnegie Music Hall Library of Homestead on June 16.
I was also sensing a Lucinda Williams date, but she seems to be otherwise involved.
Also, I did run it by a source there -- no Decemberists.
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Apr 13 2009
Casting aside the conventional wisdom about the success of "supergroups" -- anyone remember Asia? -- Chickenfoot is flapping into the rock scene this summer.
The unlikely quartet is made up of guitar hero Joe Satriani, Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith, and two former members of Van Halen - bassist Michael Anthony and singer-guitarist Sammy Hagar.
Chickenfoot formed "almost by accident," they say, after jamming at Hagar's club, Cabo Wabo Cantina, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
"We were just having fun," Anthony says in a statement. "After Sammy and I left Van Halen, we'd get together with musicians, and certain people seemed to really gel. Chad came down and we got on well with him. Gradually, we started talking about doing something more serious, but we needed a guitarist. Somebody smokin' - somebody who could take us to the Promised Land."
Enter Satriani, making his first foray into such a band, and the result sounds like anthemic '80s pop-metal (Hagar's signature) with a proggier touch from Satriani.
A self-titled debut album arrives on June 9, while the tour starts in Seattle on May 14.
A local promoter has told me there is a good chance of a Pittsburgh show, probably at one of the smaller amphitheatres.
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Apr 10 2009
In the days before iTunes and sendspace, Saturday was a great day to hit the record stores.
And for some diehards who cling to the physical product, it still is.
It's going to be even better on April 18 for the second annual Record Store Day, which will feature special releases, many on vinyl, from such artists as Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Tom Waits, Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, the Decemberists, Iron and Wine, King Crimson and Pavement.
Stores in some cities are getting visits from the likes of Eagles Of Death Metal, Kim and Kelly Deal, Chris Cornell and Erykah Badu.
We don't have anything that high profile on Record Store Day, but on Tuesday (April 14) at 6 p.m., Paul's CDs in Bloomfield will host an in-store with Bill Callahan, formerly of indie sensation Smog, last seen here opening for The Swell Season at the Byham.
Callahan, who wrote the indie classic "Cold-Blooded Old Times," will be there with a new album, "Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle," which his label, Drag City, refers to as a "four-hanky hour."
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Apr 08 2009
The Post-Gazette Pavilion lineup has a lot of variety this summer, but isn't exactly flush with classic rock.
There's the Skynyrd/Kid Rock bill and, on the more pop-metal scale, the Def Leppard/Poison/Cheap Trick triple-header.
Clearly, a visit from the recently teased Aerosmith/ZZ Top tour would be welcome.
Guitarist Joe Perry dropped the news of the tour in an interview this week with Billboard. Although there are no specifics, it's scheduled to begin in June and roll on for for about 40 dates. Aerosmith tours had become annual affairs, but it's been two years since the last one.
And it's been eight years since "Just Push Play," the last album of original material (2004's "Honkin' for Bobo" featured the band playing covers).
Aerosmith has been working on the new album for two or three years, but it's been held up due to such health issues as Perry's knee replacement surgery and Steven Tyler's pneumonia.
"It's a work in progress and we're gonna shoot for it when we finish with this tour," Perry told Rolling Stone.
In the meantime, we'll cross our fingers on those tour dates.
Update: The show has been added for June 24 at the Post-Gazette Pavilion.
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