Show Review: Tom Waits

06/26/08 The Fox Theatre, St. Louis

After seeing some professional photos from this show around the interwebs I feel a little embarrassed about my shitty digital camera pictures. They should be a lot better considering how close we were. I previously have never sat in the front row for a concert but somehow got lucky and got front row tickets for Tom Waits in St. Louis. It was almost too close as my girlfriend could only see Tom's top half over a monitor at the front of the stage.

The show was pretty flawless. Tom still has it after all these years...his voice sounds fantastic and his showmanship is top notch as well. The stage set-up sort of looked like a carnival which is a pretty accurate description of his live performance as well. Highlights of the show were the white powder/dust that flew up around him everytime he stomped his boot on the ground and the performances of "16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six", "Johnsburg, Ill" and "Innocent When You Dream".

Setlist:

Lucinda
Way Down In The Hole
Falling Down
Black Market Baby
All The World Is Green
Hi Ho
Get Behind The Mule
Day After Tomorrow
Cemetery Polka
Hang Down Your Head
A Little Rain
Lucky Day
Johnsburg, IL
Lost In The Harbour
Make It Rain
Lie To Me
On The Other Side Of The World
Singapore
Dirt In The Ground
What's He Building?
16 Shells
Rain Dogs

Encore:

Goin' Out West
Anywhere I Lay My Head
Innocent When You Dream

Concert Announcement: Vampire Weekend

09/11/2008 Liberty Hall, Lawrence

The current hippest-band-in-all-the-land will be coming to Lawrence this fall. Vampire Weekend will be playing Liberty Hall on September 11th. Their quick rise to the top has already created a backlash of hipsters and critics who can't stand new bands getting too popular. Me personally, I just think they're album gets kind of boring after a few listens. Either way this show will certainly be a popular one with those who want to be seen.

Vampire Weekend Myspace
Vampire Weekend Website

Concert Announcement: Stars

09/26/08 The Granada, Lawrence

Another great concert announcement for the Lawrence area. Montreal's Stars will be at The Granada on Friday, September 26th. I got to see them a few years ago at Austin City Limit's and they are a pretty solid live band. If you haven't heard of them or are unfamiliar with their music pick up 2005's Set Yourself On Fire, which was one of my top 10 favorite albums of that year.

Stars Myspace

Concert Announcement: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

08/24/08 The Sprint Center, Kansas City

This is another show announcement that makes me glad that Kansas City now has something like the Sprint Center. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band will be playing there on August 24th. Tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10AM on Ticketmaster.com.

My Morning Jacket on Conan & More...

I am stealing all of these videos straight off Stereogum but who really cares. My Morning Jacket appeared on Conan last night and were even included in a bit where their biggest fan gets to meet the band:

Notice James Lipton using the other urinal...

They also played 'Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 2':


There are also two videos from their epic Bonnaroo performance. First is 'One Big Holiday' featuring Kirk Hammett of Metallica:


Also the final song they played, Motley Crue's 'Home Sweet Home' with Zach Galifianakis dressed as Little Orphan Annie:


Don't forget MMJ will be at The Uptown Theatre on August 18th.

Concert Announcement: Lucero

08/01/08 The Bottleneck, Lawrence

Another JoC favorite will be making their way through the area when Tennessee's Lucero will be appearing at The Bottleneck on Friday, August 1st. If you aren't familiar Lucero's latest album was almost a hybrid of Uncle Tupelo and Bruce Springsteen. Lucero is the type of band that makes me want to drink whiskey so it's good to know this show will be on a Friday night.

Lucero Myspace
Lucero Website

Stream the New Wolf Parade Album

.Once again, there is another soon-to-be-released album that is streaming online. This time you can listen to Wolf Parade's new album At Mount Zoomer which is released this Tuesday June 17th. Head over to their Myspace page to check it out.

The Hold Steady New Album Stream

.It should be a great summer for new music. It seems that most of my favorite bands are releasing new albums soon (Wolf Parade, My Morning Jacket, Sigur Ros, etc). Included on that list are The Hold Steady and continuing another great trend they are streaming their new entire new album, Stay Positive (out July 14th) on their Myspace page. On first listen, I'm digging it...Craig Finn can really do no harm in my eyes though.

The Hold Steady Myspace

Stream The New Sigur Ros Album

I hope that everyone with intentions of attending the Sigur Ros concert this Thursday at The Uptown already have their tickets because according to the Uptown website, it's sold out. Below you can stream the entire new album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, which comes out on June 24th.

Sigur Ros Website

More My Morning Jacket News

.A couple of things of note as the release date for the new My Morning Jacket album approaches. First off is that you can stream the entire album (Evil Urges out on June 10th) on MMJ's Myspace Page. Also MMJ are the most recent addition to the Black Cab Sessions. Not too diferent from one of my favorite sites, La Blogotheque, Black Cab Sessions are various bands playing one song in the back of a black cab as it drives around. The latest MMJ edition finds Jim and Carl performing 'Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 2' with Jim rocking a pretty sweet omnichord. Click Here to check out the performance.

My Morning Jacket Website

Concert Announcement: Gnarls Barkley/The Black Keys/The Ting Tings

07/30/08 City Market, Kansas City

I'm not sure if even this line-up, for the new addition to 96.5 Buzz Under The Stars concert series, will get me out to the biggest piece of crap venue in the Metro Area (especially since I've seen Gnarls Barkley before and I will have the opportunity to see all three bands at Lollapalooza this summer). Although I am happy to see the Buzz brining bands I actually give a crap about rather than the bands they actually play on their station.

Gnarls Barkley Myspace
The Black Keys Myspace
The Ting Tings Myspace

June Album Releases

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The last month has definitely been a slow one as far as notable album releases go. Not to worry because the month of June will have many new releases by artists you might actually give a shit about. Here is a list of notable releases for June, we've took the liberty of highlighting the especially exciting ones.

6/3

Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel “Dual Hawks” (Misra)

Fleet Foxes “s/t” (Sub Pop)











Islands “Arm’s Way” (Anti)
Ladytron “Velocifero” (Rykodisc)
Lyrics Born “Everywhere at Once” (Anti)
Magnetic Fields “Distortion” (Nonesuch)
Aimee Mann “@#%&*! Smilers” (Superego)
Sebadoh “Bubble and Scrape (Deluxe)” (Domino)

6/10

Dosh “Wolves and Wishes” (Anticon)
Lil Wayne “The Carter III” (Cash Money)

My Morning Jacket "Evil Urges" (ATO)









N.E.R.D. “Seeing Sounds” (Virgin)
Robert Pollard “Robert Pollard is Off to Business” (GBV, INC)
Supergrass “Diamond Hoo Ha” (Astralwerks)

6/17

Bowerbirds “Hymns for a Dark Horse” (Dead Oceans)
Chromeo “Fancy Footwork (Deluxe Edtion)” (VICE)
Coldplay "Viva La Vida" (Capitol)
King Khan and the Shrines “the Supreme Genius of…” (VICE)
My Brightest Diamond “A Thousand Shark’s Teeth” (Asthmatic Kitty)
Notwist “the Devil, you + me” (Domino)
Silver Jews “Lookout Mountain , Lookout Sea” (Drag City)
Tilly and the Wall “o” (Team Love)
Valient Thorr “Immortalizer” (Volcom)
The War on Drugs “Wagonwheel Blues” (Secretly Canadian)

Wolf Parade “Kissing the Beehive” (Sub Pop)











6/24

Be Your Own Pet “Get Damaged” (XL)

Hercules & Love Affair “s/t” (Mute)











Alejandro Escavedo "Real Animal" (Blue Note)
Sigur Ros "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" (EMI)