Tobacco Spring Tour:
Fri. Mar. 12 – Toledo, OH @ Mickey Finn’s Pub Sat. Mar. 13 — Cincinnati, OH @ Northside Tavern
Sun. Mar. 14 – Nashville, TN @ Exit In w/ DJ Kidsmeal, Blastoids
Wed. Mar. 17 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s Annex (IODA’s Opening Day Bash) – SXSW
Fri. Mar. 19 – Austin, TX @ Barbarella (Anticon Showcase) – SXSW
Sat. Mar. 20 – Austin, TX @ Vice (Noise Problem Party) – SXSW
Sat. Mar. 20 – Austin, TX @ Longbranch Inn (The Imposition Party) – SXSW
Wed. Mar. 24 — San Diego, CA @ Casbah w/ The Hood Internet, Nice Nice
Thu. Mar. 25 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo w/ The Hood Internet
Fri. Mar. 26– Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar w/ The Hood Internet
Sat. Mar. 27 — San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill w/ The Hood Internet
Sun. Mar. 28 — Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall w/ The Hood Internet
Mon. Mar. 29 — Portland, OR @ Holocene w/ The Hood Internet, Small Black
Tue. Mar. 30 — Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey w/ The Hood Internet
Fri. Apr. 2 — Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club w/ High Places, The Hood Internet
Sat. Apr. 3 — Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle w/ The Hood Internet
Sat. Apr. 24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory
The Pomegranates are an amazing band from Cincy that has played Louisville a number of times. With each year, they get bigger and bigger and now their debut album, Everything is Alive, is going to be released on vinyl. It is going to be limited to 500 (100 black, 200 green, 200 red).
I became a big Portugal. The Man fan in 2009 after seeing his acoustic set at Bonnaroo. I’m really looking forward to his March 21st show at the 20th Century Theatre. Great venue and I get to see the full blown show. Tickets are $12 in advance. Doors at 8pm. Port O’Brien and The dig will open.
Portugal. The Man tour dates
2/24 – Fargo, ND @ Aquarium
2/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theatre
2/26 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
2/27 – Louis, MO @ The Gargoyle
3/1 – Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry’s
3/3 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues / Pontiac Garage
3/4 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
3/5 – Austin, TX @ The Parish
3/6 – Austin, TX @ The Parish
3/9 – Gainesville, FL @ Common Ground
3/10 – Ybor City, FL @ Crowbar
3/11 – Orlando, FL @ The Social
3/12 – Elkton, FL @ Harvest of Hope Festival
3/13 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
3/18 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
3/19 – New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
3/20 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theatre 3/21 – Cincinnati, OH @ 20th Century Theatre
3/24 – Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s
3/26 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre
3/27 – Vail, CO @ The Sandbar
3/28 – Aspen, CO @ Belly Up Aspen
Cincy’s The Seedy Seeds have shown a lot of love for Louisville over the past few years, so I was very excited to see that they won THREE Cincinnati Entertainment Awards including Best Album (Count the Days), Best Indie/Alternative Band and Best Live Act. If you haven’t had a chance to check them out yet, I cannot recommend highly enough to do so. They are playing at the Mad Hatter in Covington on Christmas Day and I’m sure they will stop here in Louisville again next year sometime. In the meantime, check out one of my favorite tracks from Count the Days, “Drive Me to the Center” below…
The last time I saw Royal Bangs was backstage at Forecastle. I was trying to interview drummer Chris Rusk when Honus Honus from Man Man showed up. In a video, which will probably make its way onto the net, Honus and Chris dug at each other, were slightly homosexual, and made a veiled threat to kidnap someone. Fuck, I love this band. So fucking up the stoke, yo. ‘Bangs have a new album out it’s called Let it Beep and dudes are traveling across the country trying to drop panties with it.
Tracks like this have been concert staples for the past couple months, but it’s gonna be slick to hear them get the studio treatment, because knowing Royal Bangs it’s gonna sound like 30 people are hopped up on corn liquor and shoved into a dilapidated building in Ohio during the recording.
If you wanna be one of those 30 people, Royal Bangs are on tour thru October:
As a few of you know, I have a few musical projects that take up a lot of my time, and one of them is the indie-folk band Bro. Stephen which just finished up a month-long tour and which will keep me out of Louisville for quite some time. Now, you will have to excuse the shameful self-promotion because this really isn’t about me. This is about all of the bands that I’ve met and will meet along the way and who you should check out and support in hopes that we can lure a few of these acts to play in Louisville in the near future.
Just last weekend I caught up with one of the most exciting bands in the country: Cincinnati’s The Seedy Seeds. TSS closed up the opening night of the Midpoint Music Festival in Cincinnati, OH at Cincinnati’s famed Contemporary Arts Center. I have had the pleasure to catch this band quite a few times in the past 6 months since they’ve played Skull Alley a few times (to a lucky few folks) and even played the Buzzgrinder Birthday Bash at The Rud with J Roddy Walston and The Business (which was one of the most fun shows in Louisville I’ve ever been too). That’s not to mention the times I’ve caught them in their native Cincinnati where they are indie-pop royalty with the support of their city like Louisville hasn’t seen since The Merediths (remember them?). Their set at MPMF had over 200 people crammed into a hot, sweaty room totally blissing out on every note and beat that came from the stage. (more…)
Buzzgrinder, the national which in the last year acquired a local flavor with Sean moving to town, is celebrating it’s 8th birthday on July 31st with a fantastic show at The Rudyard Kipling, with performances by J-Roddy Walston and the Business and The Seedy Seeds, two local favorites!
Help to make this show a success by inviting all of your friends, because Buzzgrinder and other blogs exist to really make an effort to contribute to the local music scene, and the more those contributions are appreciated, the better the contributions can be.
They’re also claiming to have some presents compliments of Pabst Blue Ribbon & who doesn’t love free stuff?
J-Roddy Walston and the Business – Used to Did[audio=http://www.buzzgrinder.com/media/jroddy_usedtodid.mp3] The Seedy Seeds – Drive Me to the Center [audio=http://www.buzzgrinder.com/media/seedyseeds_center.mp3]
You might just be familiar with Cincinnati’s Seabird without even knowing it. Hell, you might even be a fan. If you’ve watched an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, Numb3rs, or probably any of those other shows that are on prime-time TV, then you’ve definitely swooned to their pop gems. Even the much-loved, yet quickly-canned show Pushing Daisies used one of their songs as the theme song. This little bit of licensing has seen them catching national attention and they’ve definitely capitlaized on the momentum by touring like crazy. Right now, they are touring with the Christian-crossover darlings Jars of Clay and are making a few festival appearances along the way. If you’ve got an ear for unabashedly poppy piano rock made by well-dressed dudes, then they’ve got some killer songs that you’re going to love.
MidPoint Music Festival, an amazing event up in Cincinnati, is now taking applications for the 2009 festival (Sept. 24-26, 2009). We were there for two of the days last year to see Why? and Mates of State, among others, and had a blast. We would love to see Louisville represented at this fest so get your app in by the deadlines below. Good Luck.
Submissions are open now!
Early Deadline is April 17, 2009
Late Deadline is May 1, 2009
Accepted MPMF2009 performers will be notified by May 30, 2009
MidPoint Music Festival is the Midwest’s premier independent music festival. Now celebrating its eighth year, MPMF2009 will be held on September 24 – 26 throughout the downtown Cincinnati area. The festival lives up to its slogan, Music Starts Here, by bringing the region together to celebrate the music of nearly 250 bands from all around the world.
The festival atmosphere is always friendly and supportive as musicians, fans and professionals all enjoy the midwests annual musical mecca. MPMF focuses on helping emerging artists gain quality exposure by performing for a dedicated and passionate audience. MPMF2008 also featured special performances from Robert Pollard, Mates of State, Why?, Jukebox The Ghost, Felice Brothers, Ha Ha Tonka, Sonic Boom, Radio 4, The Sadies, AA Bondy and introduced the first of MPMF’s ongoing independent record label showcases.
MidPoint Music Festival 2009 has expanded by adding several new stages to keep up with the growing MPMF audience and the increasing quality of MPMF submissions. MPMF2009 intends to showcase the most performances of it’s eight year history.
MPMF2009 is now accepting submissions from Sonicbids artists for general performance consideration. Compensation is offered, but is negotiated at the time of booking. The promoter has requested that all EPKs include 3 full-length original songs.
Although, as many of you know, last night was intended to be a fundraiser for Barack Obama at the Water Tower with entertainment to be provided by Jim James on a solo acoustic set. The silver lining of the cancelation, if there is one, is that last night we got to catch The National playing “Vote Early/Rock Late”, a benefit concert for Barack Obama at Fountain Square in their hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. On hand were some of the familiar faces we’ve seen at some of the shows in the past, including Matt’s mother, tons of other family of the Desner’s and Devendorf’s as well as thousands of people covering Fountain Square. There is scantly anything better than seeing a band with as much love and support as these guys coming home to play to their friends, family, and the people who saw them in bars long before Pitchfork had heard of them. At one point, Matt noted how surprised he was to be allowed to play Fountain Square on a thursday night after years spent there (mostly just studying). Thinking back on the timeline and the connection to this place gave us all a greater connection to the band. Combine the general beauty of that show with a cause, namely our future as envisioned through the eyes of a revolutionary young leader and you’ve got a perfect evening.
We last caught The National at Madison Theatre in Covington back on September 24th of last year and twice in June before that. Since that time, the guys have gained significant indie clout including a massive tour with R.E.M. and Modest Mouse. While I cannot precisely put my finger on it, the band seems a little different than a year ago. At times they would harmonize things that just didn’t feel like it ought to be harmonized. Additionally, in our previous instances of seeing the band have been at Headliners, 20th Century Theatre and Madison Theatre, each of which have much smaller stages and felt more intimate. Seeing them last night, The National finally seemed like the rock stars they’ve always been bound to become. Also, last night was our first time seeing the guys without Padma Newsome who always puts on an entertaining spectacle simply watching him.
Just prior to the close of the show, Matt invited “Uncle Jack” on stage to speak about the importance of this election. Jack touched on topics including the energy of the young people in this election, and drew comparisons from Abraham Lincoln to JFK, chanting “Yes we can, Yes we can”. The speech was excellent and I can only hope several people in the crowd there for nothing more than the music were inspired to vote and to help organize their friends and help turn this country around. As a final call, the crowd began chanting “Yes We Can” as The National prepared to deliver their final request for the man who won’t f*ck us over…
The guys were as polished as ever. Not to be deterred by the grandiose stage the guys were standing on, and similar to his performance at the 20th Century Theatre, lead singer Matt Berninger came off stage for a little interaction with the crowd in the most overtly political and energized song of the evening “Mr. November”. Matt grabbed a kid out of the crowd and they sung together, an experience that seemed surreal to the kid even as it was happening. Before starting the song, they said they were having a little fight on stage, and I can only imagine it related to whether he should come off stage or not, because as Matt tried to get back on stage, it took a guy on stage to pull him and me on the ground level to push him to get him back on. In classic style, Matt never missed a beat to the song and finished it with perfect timing.
The National have done a fantastic job this campaign with their endorsement of Barack Obama, from their t-shirts to putting their song “Fake Empire” on loan to the campaign, they have been spreading the message for months. I can only hope that in a battleground state like Ohio that the message was heard loud and clear…
The National – Mr. November
(Cory pushes Matt back on stage toward the end of the song!)
To buy a Mr. November t-shirt with Obama on it from The National, go here (all proceeds go to the Obama campaign).
If you’re not yet a Why? fan, buy Alopecia, then get the entire back catalog in reverse chronological order (the albums are progressively easier to listen to).
One of my favorite artists of the year is coming back to Cincinnati…Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down is playing a FREE show at the Northside Tavern on July 20th with Tuna Yard. Thao released my top album of January, We Brave Bee Stings and All to significant praises in the blogosphere & received a 7.7 from Pitchfork. Also, I had the chance to see Thao (review) with another of my absolute favorite bands…Why? whose Alopecia might just edge Thao out as the best album of the year so far. In my view, Thao has the lyrical beauty and emotion of Cat Power with the energy of Feist, regardless of how shy she might appear on stage. The show is on a Sunday night & space is limited to 150 people, so get there reasonably early…
N.E.R.D. are doing some pre-Glow in the Dark shows & although they’re not coming by the KY area on the Glow in the Dark tour, they’re nevertheless coming to Cincinnati on their own. Check out the tour schedule:
03-01 Northampton, MA – Pearl St.
03-02 Providence, RI – Lupo’s
03-04 Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
03-06 Cleveland, OH – House of Blues 03-08 Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
03-09 St. Louis, MO – Pageant
03-10 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
03-11 Lawrence, KS – Liberty Hall
03-12 Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
03-13 Austin, TX – Fader SXSW show
03-14 Austin, TX – Stubb’s Bar-B-Q (SXSW)
03-15 Austin, TX – Perez Hilton SXSW show
03-16 Nashville, TN – City Hall 03-17 Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room
03-18 Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
03-19 Pittsburgh, PA – Diesel
03-21 Myrtle Beach, SC – House of Blues
03-22 Richmond, VA – The National
03-24 Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
03-25 Knoxville, TN – Valarium
03-26 Birmingham, AL – TBA
03-28 Jacksonville, FL – TBA
