Chili Cold Blood – February 27, 2009 – Hole in the Wall, Austin TX

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I am embarrassed that I enjoy this band so much what with their unfair use of everything good in rock and roll: heavy bass lines, groovy blues licks, funky pick-ups, but to their redemption, they’ve also got talent, soul, authenticity, and diversity. At previous shows, they’d been more about the tight hopped-up songs (which they still did), but tonight there was only three band members (lead guitar, pedal steel and drums) and they did some extended intense jams as well as some lighter country numbers (Moonhanger songs?), with both guitarists exchanging vocalizing duties. I like Chili Cold Blood, I cannot lie.

No Doubt Launches North American Reunion Tour

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Without an album to promote, No Doubt will reunite after years away to headline a full scale North American tour. The bandmates have been pursuing solo projects since their last studio effort Rock Steady in 2001. No Doubt will be supported by Paramore, with Bedouin Soundclash, Janelle Monae and The Sounds also on board for certain shows. Tickets for most dates go on sale March 7.

No Doubt tour dates
May 3 East Rutherford, NJ Meadowlands (Bamboozle Festival) Write a review
May 16 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Events Center Write a review
May 19 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center Write a review
May 20 Bakersfield, CA Rabobank Arena Write a review
May 22 San Diego, CA Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre Write a review
May 23 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion Write a review
May 25 Salt Lake City, UT The E Center Write a review
May 27 Denver, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre Write a review
May 28 Albuquerque, NM Journal Pavilion Write a review
May 30 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center Write a review
May 31 The Woodlands, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Write a review

June 2 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre Write a review
June 3 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheater Write a review
June 5 Atlanta, GA Lakewood Amphitheatre Write a review
June 6 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Write a review
June 8 Raleigh, NC Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion Write a review
June 10 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Write a review
June 11 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center Write a review
June 13 Burgettstown, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion Write a review
June 14 Bristow, VA Nissan Pavilion Write a review
June 16 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre Write a review
June 17 Montreal, QC Centre Bell Write a review
June 19 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center Write a review
June 20 Mansfield, MA Comcast Center Write a review
June 24 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena Write a review
June 26 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center Write a review
June 27 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater Write a review
June 29 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center Write a review

July 2 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheater Write a review
July 3 Auburn Hills, MI Palace Of Auburn Hills Write a review
July 5 Saint Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center Write a review
July 8 Maryland Heights, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Write a review
July 10 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center Write a review
July 11 Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Write a review
July 13 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre Write a review
July 15 Calgary, AL Pengrowth Sadledome Write a review
July 16 Edmonton, AL Rexall Place Write a review
July 18 Vancouver, BC General Motors Place Write a review
July 19 Auburn, WA White River Amphitheatre Write a review
July 21 Concord, CA Sleep Train Pavilion Write a review
July 24 Marysville, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre Write a review
July 25 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre Write a review
July 31 Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Write a review

August 1 Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Write a review
Concert information is up to date at time of publication

Love This Guy!! – David Archuleta

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David Archuleta
February 26, 2009
Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ

I saw David Archuleta last Thursday in N.J….3rd night of his solo tour….he was wonderful…he’s learning to work the stage and crowd and his adorable personality really came through…the club was small which was GREAT because he was sooooo close to everyone……. FANTASTIC! His voice was as good as ever and the band he has seems good for him…He did a smart variety of songs, and a medley of other artists, which was a real treat! His purity and sweetness are oh so refreshing to see, in a world that is inundated with complications and darkness…….Thanx David…..

By Tammy F. bugnout299@aol.com

David Archuleta setlist
Touch My Hand
Barriers
Your Eyes Don’t Lie
A Little Too Not Over You
Somebody Out There
My Hands
Works For Me
Waiting for Yesterday
Medley: One/You Gotta Be/Love Song/I’m Yours
To Be With You
Don’t Let Go
Zero Gravity
You Can
Crush
A Thousand Miles
Angels

Keane Takes Perfect Symmetry Out in May

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Keane will tour North America in May to support the band’s latest release Perfect Symmetry. Mat Kearney has been tapped as the opener.

Keane tour
May 8 Oakland, CA Fox Theater Write a review
May 9 Hollywood, CA Hollywood Palladium Write a review
May 12 Salt Lake City, UT Kingsbury Hall Write a review
May 13 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre Write a review
May 15 Maplewood, MN Myth Write a review
May 16 Chicago, IL Aragon Ballroom Write a review
May 19 Washington, DC Constitution Hall Write a review
May 20 Upper Darby, PA Tower Theater Write a review
May 21 Boston, MA Bank of America Pavilion Write a review
May 23 Toronto, Ontario The Sound Academy Write a review
May 24 Cleveland, OH Tower City Amphitheatre Write a review
May 27 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall Write a review
Concert information is up to date at time of publication

Los Bones – February 14, 2009 – Headhunters, Austin TX

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They’re a motley crue but it comes together beautifully: the drummer who’s so bad-ass (literally) he doesn’t care if his shirt has a hole in the armpit; the proud, dark, classic, and pretty guitarist; the happy mop-head bassist; and the cute emotive showman of a lead vocalist. In addition to coming together as a group of ‘misfits,’ their music manages to tap into a multitude of sounds while still retaining a personality all their own. They often overlay punk vocalizing with rockabilly/psychobilly melodies, but their true appeal lies in the diversity of their songcraft and the quality of the musicianship all the way through. Touch of metal there too.

By Any Means Necessary – February 14, 2009 – Headhunters, Austin TX

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Death metal. Death metal. Death metal. Their flying math-metal fingers were lovely but I can’t help worrying about their poor little vocal chords after all the screaming and their poor little necks after all the thrashing.

Capricorn USA – February 14, 2009 – Headhunters, Austin TX

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A verbatim Motorhead band and very good at it. The robust every-girl’s-best-friend-looking lead singer in a black Dia De Los Muertos looking shirt and with a waist-lace of bullets alternated between lyrics like “Religion – sadistic – sadist – whore” to call-outs to the audience like “Let me hear you, Austin!!” They were exactly the metal I was looking for tonight.

Chris Toast Trio – February 14, 2009 – Headhunters, Austin TX

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SPECIAL FIND! They initially seemed to be Stray Cat rip-offs, but quickly emerged to be some psychobilly (the bass!) – new wave – pop punk fusion. Also a much better (and much harder) They Might Be Giants. They were freak nerds who took breaks to act out idiosyncratic scenario-jokes. The key here is: I thought the bassist (in his multi-colored layered socks) was playing guitar for a few songs because he was that fast, to the point that his bass started sounding like jazz, and then I realized he was superb. All of them were talented. Some of their own songs were silly I have to admit (the porn star one…). They covered Devo’s “Girl You Want” early on, revealed that they also have a Devo cover band, and then ended with a phenomenal cover of “Gates of Steel.” The sad point was… after the lead vocalist/guitarist had been rubbing his strings against poles (microphone, wall support, etc.) as his little trick, a girl in the crowd whipped out a slide and extended her finger for a rub, and he denied her… on Valentine’s Day. In the end, this band came off as nuanced, talented, wacky and intelligent – and, upon further research, the band members each have illustrious music histories, mostly punk.

Thunderosa – February 14, 2009 – Headhunters, Austin TX

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I haven’t stopped giggling at this band yet. They fit (almost) every caricature of an 80s ‘heavy’ metal band. CAUTIONARY: This may be more a reflection of my age and personal bias than the actual quality of this band. Drummer with a red bandana singing in a quasi-screamo but totally 80s metal growl. They’re basically a hard rock, driving hard, metal-hard, with touches of Lynyrd Skynyrd and some real blues grooves. While the guitarist in the camouflage baseball cap was incongruous and cute, the bassist member was Will-Ferrell-as-a-metal-head incarnate, with the grandiose swagger and smirks and an upswung arm in some pagan salute at the end of each song, plus a cheesy haircut and goatee to boot. They were old (mid-40s) and the crowd was too. The girls, sorry women, were embarrassing me and should have been embarrassing themselves with their obvious efforts at behaving like metal groupies… at the age of 47… Oh! And there were some devil horns thrown too!

Black Bone Child – February 14, 2009 – Headhunters, Austin TX

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uhhh… Chili Cold Blood. Spot on. But a lot slicker and so less appealing, at least to me. They were grinding electric blues with a touch of metal and some harmonica. Sexy boys with sexy guitars. An emo-looking boy sang and performed a blues storm with his slide. The crowd was somewhat cold to them – maybe they were inauthentic (in their contrived get-ups) or maybe the crowd was hipster snooty. Their sound was polished and full, their instruments were glossy and gorgeous, and as much as all of this was good, I got the impression that they were privileged and totally out of touch with what the blues is about.

Andrew Bird – February 11, 2009 – Waterloo Records, Austin TX

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I arrived on time to one of my favorite minor music venues in Austin – an excellent little music store that convinces excellent musicians in town for bigger shows to do short acoustic pre-shows at 5pm right in the store. I am a fan, what with the early hour and the free beer. This show didn’t bode well with an anomaly of a line bending literally three blocks around the store – usually it’s me, some normal people, and then the regular sketchy types there for the free beer. I found parking, jogged in high heels optimistically up to the line, and picked an average girl to ask: “Is this line for Andrew Bird!?!” in a tone appropriately laced with disbelief and disdain. She turned and concurred, just as a guy with a camera, documenting the ridiculous crowd, was yelling to the line that they were at capacity and we could all leave… But I was busy recognizing the girl’s face – I know some multiple hundreds of people younger than me (former lives of teaching middle school and TAing undergraduates) and usually can’t place them beyond the face. I briefly considered flight and feigned non-recognition, but some tenets of bonding in our former life together and a sudden welling of her name made me say it… And she looked as mortified as I felt, as I realized that she was a former middle school student of mine (much worse prospect than a former undergraduate), and here we were, at the same place, with the same goal, three years later. We exchanged niceties. I fretted about the damned low-cut shirt I’d found myself in today. Imagined the tales she would have for her-classmates/my-former-students the next day… My point is, if you haven’t heard of Andrew Bird yet, mark my words, you’ll be hearing about him soon enough.

Kings of Leon Tour Dates

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Kings of Leon will hit arenas in promotion of the September release Only By the Night with the single Sex by Fire making airwaves. Tickets for most dates go on sale this weekend.

Kings of Leon arena tour
April 19 Boston, MA Agganis Arena Write a review
April 21 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre Write a review
April 22 Pittsburgh, PA Palumbo Write a review
April 24 Fairfax, VA Patriot Center Write a review
April 25 Philadelphia, PA Spectrum Write a review
April 27 Norfolk, VA Constant Convocation Centre Write a review
April 28 Raleigh, NC Koka Booth Amphitheatre Write a review
April 30 Charlotte, NC Bojangles’ Coliseum Write a review

May 4 St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine Amphitheatre Write a review
May 5 Orlando, FL UCF Arena Write a review
May 7 Miami, FL Bank United Center Write a review
May 8 Tampa, FL Sundome Write a review
May 10 Charleston, SC North Charleston Coliseum Write a review
May 12 Cincinnati, OH National City Pavilion Write a review
May 13 Cleveland, OH Tower City Write a review
May 19 Phoenix, AZ Mesa Amphitheatre Write a review
May 21 San Francisco, CA Bill Graham Civic Auditorium Write a review
Concert information is up to date at time of publication

Motley Crue at the Hard Rock Las Vegas February 7, 2009

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Of course Crue puts on the best show on Earth, but last night wasn’t like the one they did for the Carnival of Sins at the Hard Rock about 5 yrs. ago I remember. It was good..no doubt, but they didn’t do a few of the ultimate fave songs like Smokin’ In the Boys Room and Too Young To Fall In Love…Vince looked good and trimmed up, happy, sober..very healthy…so did Nikki and Tommy. Mick has that disease and you could tell he was in a lot of pain..I almost cried everytime he came up front to play to the audience…please pray for him…I don’t think he has much time left..really..we saw it in his eyes.. Otherwise…Crue was awesome..very energetic and everyone had a good time..the only thing that sucked was the Hard Rock’s rule about no cameras whatsoever…ya, we all had cell camera phones, but no real cameras…give me a break….that was total bullshit!!!

Monotonix – February 6, 2009 – Red 7, Austin TX

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so silly I couldn’t stop the smirk and I don’t mean that politely, the crowd was peeing all over themselves, apparently this band’s hype precedes its arrival – some sort of political repression legend based on their Israelian origins and the fact that a few places haven’t allowed them to perform (though they’ve managed to rack up some 300 shows of late despite this), there is nothing political in their message, in fact their lack of message was complemented by a lack of music, there was some sort of something going on with sounds though the only band member you could pick out (what with the 40 drooling boys swaying ON the stage) was the lead singer in his jockey shorts hanging from a tree near the stage – I think the drummer was up there for a while too, this is a band for people who have a need to belong to something… to get caught up in the fervor and collectivity of… something, anything

Cave Dweller – February 6, 2009 – Emo’s, Austin TX

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was initially entranced because they were dead-on Reigning Sound, then I became distracted by the lead singer’s ZZ Top beard and black sunglasses, then I realized that they were the most soulless band I have seen since I don’t remember – I can’t quite pin down the exact origin of their peculiar void of energy though it did remind me of Yo La Tengo when they’re trying to pretend like they don’t give a shit – I fear this is one more indicator of the decline of Emo’s (all of their fabulous bartenders have defected, rumors are afloat of problems about unions, it’s all very worrisome,…)

Diagonals – February 6, 2009 – Emo’s, Austin TX

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pleasing, noise rock that went from poppy to droning, lots of guitar

B-52’s Tour Dates

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The B-52’s will take their 2007 album Funplex out for another round of tour dates in May.

B-52’s tour dates
May 5 Peekskill, NY Paramount Center for the Arts Write a review
May 6 Englewood, NJ Bergen Performing Arts Center Write a review
May 9 Atlantic City, NJ House of Blues Write a review
May 10 Morristown, NJ Mayo Center for Performing Arts Write a review
May 13 Baltimore, MD Ram’s Head Live Write a review
May 16 Boston, MA House of Blues Write a review
May 20 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater Write a review
May 22 Little Rock, AR Riverfront Park Write a review
May 23 Thackerville, OK Winstar Casino Write a review
May 24 Norman, OK Riverwind Casino Write a review
Concert information is up to date at time of publication

Of Montreal Tour Dates

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Of Montreal will support its latest Skeletal Lamping with new club dates.

Of Montreal tour
April 15 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg Write a review
April 16 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg Write a review
April 17 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg Write a review
April 19 New Haven, CT Toad’s Place Write a review
April 20 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club Write a review
April 21 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club Write a review
April 22 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero Write a review
April 23 Covington, KY Madison Theater Write a review
April 24 Columbia, MO The Blue Note Write a review
April 25 Norman, OK Norman Music Festival Write a review
Concert information is up to date at time of publication