Here is the line-up so far… A Place to Bury Strangers (Brooklyn);
Adrien and the Fine Print (Nashville);
Annie and the Beekeepers (Brooklyn);
Barnaby Bright (Brooklyn); Best Coast (Los Angeles);
Black Owls (Granville);
Boutros (Chicago);
Brighton MA (Chicago);
Buffalo Killers (Cincinnati);
Candy Claws (Fort Collins); Caribou (Dundas, ON);
Clare and the Reasons (Brooklyn);
Clovers (Cleveland);
Colour Revolt (Oxford, MS); Cults (New York);
Death On Two Wheels (Atlanta);
Drink Up Buttercup (Philadelphia); Elf Power (Athens);
Early Day Miners (Bloomington);
Fang Island (Brooklyn);
Forest City Lovers (Toronto);
Gaby Moreno (Los Angeles);
Gentleman Jesse and His Men (Atlanta);
Gringo Star (Atlanta); Ha Ha Tonka (Missouri);
High Heels (Germany); Holy F*ck (Toronto);
House of Heros (Columbus); J. Glenn (Louisville); Justin Townes Earl (Nashville);
Ketch Harbour Wolves (Toronto);
Light Pollution (Chicago);
Magnolia Mountain (Cincinnati);
Male Bonding (London); Margot and The Nuclear So and So’s (Indianapolis);
Milktooth (Nashville);
Natural Child (Nashville);
O’Brother (Atlanta);
Oh Dorian (Macon);
Oh My God (Chicago);
Orgone (North Hollywood);
Overnight (New York); Phantogram (Saratoga Springs);
plus/minus (Brooklyn); Pomegranates (Cincinnati);
Richard Buckner (Brooklyn);
River City Extension (Toms River);
Run With Bulls (Nashville);
Sam Lamont (Morgantown);
Say It With A Smile (Champaign);
Seabird (Cincinnati); Sea Wolf (Los Angeles);
Shiny and the Spoon (Cincinnati);
Shonen Knife (Japan);
Soapland (Cincinnati);
Star & Micey (Memphis); Surfer Blood (West Palm Beach); Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (D.C.);
The Bastard Suns (Atlanta);
The Coppertone (King City);
The Delta Saints (Nashville);
The Hounds Below (Cumberland);
The Lions Rampant (Cincinnati);
The Prohibitionists (Cincinnati);
The Ready Stance (Cincinnati);
The Right Now (Chicago); The Seedy Seeds (Cincinnati);
The Strange Boys (Austin);
The Sundresses (Cincinnati);
The Tillers (Cincinnati);
The Tony Castles (Brooklyn);
The Young Republic (Nashville);
Tom Tom Club (Aurora);
Unicycle Loves You (Chicago);
Unwed Sailor (Tulsa);
Van Dyke Parks (Pasadena);
Via Tania (Chicago);
Villagers (Dublin);
Wussy (Cincinnati);
You, You’re Awesome (Cincinnati)
In the past year we have seen The Fiery Furnaces twice in Cincy, twice in Chicago and once in Indianapolis. Now we are getting a chance to go for four more. We are addicted and it’s a good thing. The Fiery Furnaces are one of the best bands touring. They’ve been going for a decade and put on one of the best live shows of any band. They make it look effortless, but your mind will be blown away by their raw talent. Their albums are complex as it is, but when they play live, you don’t know what to expect. It’s kind of like free form jazz, they just play the song how they are feeling that night. That said, the whole thing comes off like months were spent in the orchestration. Simply something you have to see for yourself. We’ll probably be heading up to Columbus for the show on the 16th, but we may start with the Cincy show at Northside Tavern, the head up to Chicago for a combo of shows.
North American Tour Dates:
3/28/2010 Portland OR McMenamins Kennedy School
6/2/2010 Spokane WA Knitting Factory Concert House
6/3/2010 Missoula MT The Palace
6/4/2010 Bozeman MT The Filling Station
6/6/2010 Fargo ND The Aquarium
6/7/2010 Omaha NE Slowdown
6/9/2010 Atlanta GA Variety Playhouse
6/10/2010 Manchester TN Bonnaroo Music Festival
6/13/2010 Charlotte NC Casbah at Tremont Music Hall
6/14/2010 Washington DC 9:30 Club
6/15/2010 Philadelphia PA Trocadero Theatre
6/16/2010 New York NY Webster Hall
6/18/2010 Lancaster PA TBA
6/19/2010 Pittsburgh PA Diesel Club 6/20/2010 Newport, KY Southgate House
6/21/2010 St Louis MO Off Broadway
6/22/2010 Kansas City MO Record Bar
6/24/2010 Aspen CO TBA
6/27/2010 Albuquerque NM TBA
6/28/2010 Phoenix AZ TBA
6/29/2010 Los Angeles CA El Rey Theatre
7/1/2010 Quincy CA High Sierra Music Festival
7/2/2010 Quincy CA High Sierra Music Festival
Needless to say, we are HUGE fans of Neon Indian. Their debut album, Psychic Chasms, was one of our top albums of 2009. We saw them in Bloomington, IN last year and SXSW this year and they are really getting their live shows down (just see their Fallon show performance!). Well, on June 11th, you get a chance to see Neon Indian for FREE. They will be playing the MidPoint Indie Summer Series at Fountain Square. It is a great summer music series and we can’t wait to see who else they have lined up for performances.
PNC MidPoint’s Indie Summer
PNC Summer Music Series, Memorial Day to Labor Day
Fridays, 7 to 11 p.m.
Fountain Square on Friday nights is the place to be for all fans of independent rock music.
In 2009, Indie Summer partnered with MidPoint Music Festival to offer a preview of MPMF’s indie music showcases all summer long.
Local, regional, and national bands will perform every Friday night from 7 to 11 p.m.
TOUR SCHEDULE:
04-09 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
05-12 New York, NY – Terminal 5 *
05-13 Boston, MA – House of Blues *
05-20 Calgary, Alberta – Hi Fi Club
05-31 George, WA – Sasquatch
06-02 San Diego, CA – Casbah
06-03 Costa Mesa, CA – Detroit Bar
06-04 Los Angeles, CA – Natural History Museum / First Fridays #
06-05 Corvallis, OR – Flat Tail Musical Festival
06-07 Austin, TX – Emo’s
06-09 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
06-10 Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo 06-11 Cincinnati, OH – Fountain Square
06-12 Pittsburgh, PA – Brillobox
06-13 Baltimore, MD – Sonar
06-17 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
06-19 Denver, CO – Westword Music Showcase
07-17 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Ballroom
Jusin Bieber will be at the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati on June 26, 2010. Need I say more? Get your tickets HERE! If you are not familiar with Bieber’s amazing story, his bio is below (abridged for space). Also, he has one of the best fan videos ever. Be sure to watch it before the show (below).
A . . . soul is the last thing you would expect to find inside Justin Bieber. But all it takes is one . . . 15 year-old soul-singing phenomenon to realize that he is . . . manufactured . . .
After posting dozens of homemade videos on YouTube in 2007 . . . Justin racked up over 10,000,000 views purely from word of mouth.
. . .
In an effort to share his victory with his loved ones, Justin began posting so his . . . family could watch them,” he says. “But it turned out that other people liked them and they started subscribing to them. That’s how my manager found me. He saw me on YouTube and contacted my family and now I’m signed!”
“Scooter drove us to . . . Usher . . .,” remembers Bieber. “That was my first time . . . so I went up to him and was like, ‘Hey Usher, I love . . . you . . .’ He was like, ‘No little buddy, just come inside . . .’”
All it took was a short time . . . for Usher to realize he was in . . . “A week later Usher flew me back to Atlanta,” says Bieber. “…he really wanted . . . me then and there but I still had . . . Justin Timberlake who also wanted . . . me. It turned out Usher’s . . . was way better. He . . . and Scooter had a lot of really good connections . . . I always tease Usher now and remind him how he blew me . . . the first time we met.”
In October of 2008, Justin Bieber officially signed to Island Records. His debut album, My World is an intimate look into . . . a budding young . . . man. . .
His first single, “One Time” produced by Tricky, is about one of Justin’s favorite topics, puppy love. Usher joins Justin on “First Dance” where the two share . . . “A slow groovy song that people can dance to.” On the Midi-Mafia produced “Down to Earth” Justin digs deep to talk about growing . . . “Bigger” . . .
. . . Now I have a 4.0 grade point average and I want to go to college and just become a better person.”
. . . virtually untapped . . . Justin Bieber is primed to be a solid force . . . to come. “I think older people can appreciate my . . . heart . . . and it’s not corny,” he says. “I think I can grow . . . and my fans will grow with me.” And just think, he’s just getting started.
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS today announced their 2010 North American tour and the upcoming release of Mojo, their first studio album in eight years, set for release on Reprise Records this spring. The North American tour, produced by Live Nation, will take the band through a mix of top arenas and amphitheaters across the US and Canada beginning May 6th in Raleigh, NC.
Special guest artists on the tour will include a mix of appearances by My Morning Jacket, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Joe Cocker, ZZ Top, and Drive-By Truckers.
All 2010 Tour tickets purchased online will include an MP3 download of every track on the Heartbreakers’ electrifying new album, Mojo. It will work like this; once fans purchase tickets online they will receive an email with codes entitling them to download two tracks from Mojo (“First Flash Of Freedom” and “Good Enough.”) Then, on the release date of the album, currently slated for this spring, ticket buyers will be sent a download of the entire album. Also included with every online ticket purchase, to be delivered at the end of the 2010 tour, will be a selection of live tracks recorded during the tour.
Mojo is a fiery statement from a band that is making some of their most exciting music over three decades into their career. “Good Enough” from the new album is now available for streaming at the revamped TOMPETTY.com. More details on the new album to follow soon.
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, their first year of eligibility, and in recent years have continued to build on their already legendary success. The band’s sold-out 2008 tour was the biggest of their career and came right after the band’s acclaimed Super Bowl XLII halftime performance with a worldwide audience of nearly a billion people. The 2009 release of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ career spanning Live Anthology garnered glowing reviews including a rave four and a half stars from Rolling Stone. The 2007 release of the Peter Bogdanovich-directed documentary Runnin’ Down A Dream earned a Grammy award and established the Heartbreakers’ story as a striking embodiment of the American Dream.
TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS released their debut album in 1976. They have since sold more than 60 million records. Between the Heartbreakers’ recordings and his solo work, Tom Petty has received 18 Grammy nominations and been honored with lifetime achievement awards including Billboard’s Century Award, MTV’s Video Vanguard Award, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Tom Petty, with the Heartbreakers at his side, has become a rock and roll icon lauded by fellow musicians and music lovers worldwide. Tom Petty’s Sirius/XM radio show, Tom Petty’s Buried Treasure, is one of the most beloved and popular shows on satellite radio. It features Tom Petty spinning favorite tunes from his extensive private music collection.
The incredible Brian Jonestown Massacre are coming to Cincinnati Mad Hatter on June 10th. If you don’t know the story behind this band, then this whole “indie rock” thing is probably something you’ve stumbled across over the last five years and you probably don’t remember when the Dandy Warhols were darlings. That’s a shame, but you can educate yourself by watching the feature-length film DiG! for free on Hulu. It made for one of the most fascinating rock rivalries of all time. The short of it is that Anton Newcombe of BJM and the Dandy Warhols were best friends who were rising at the same time and the Dandy Warhols hit it big and both bands had huge egos and Anton wasn’t cool with where he was going considering he was (and is) more talented, and he basically blew up at them. I’m talking fights on stage, stalking, and otherwise obsessing over them, including writing songs about them. Fascinating stuff.
Having influenced a plethora of bands over the years, BJM used to be the band that you’d gave you instant credibility and I recall back before the hipsters were citing Radiohead as their favorite band, it was seemingly invariably Brian Jonestown Massacre. I highly recommend you do yourself a favor and watch the film when you get a chance and if you’re not yet down with BJM, expect to have a new favorite old band.
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…)