At Sunday’s Summerstage gig, Arlo mentioned that he had spoken to Pete recently about performing again at the annual gig. Pete replied, “I need two canes to walk and I can hardly hear”. to which Arlo retorted retorted, “Have you looked at our audience? They can hardly hear either!”
Having seen them live and hearing them recorded I can say with conviction, they were greater than they were ever given credit for. It is also a great thing that they ended abruptly. Bands like that should be flashes of greatness. It leaves a cleaner image
Settle Down – No Doubt – At six minutes it is too long,a nd the Middle Eastern instruments on the back track are a distraction. But at its heart, this is No Doubt 101 and as a fan of No Doubt, I admire its skaville rhythms and hooks aplenty – Grade: A-
Forget that the music was singularly beautiful, and forget that Woody Guthrie is a great American hero and a friend to the working class, forget that we are given to celebrate such a pioneer of the American spirit, Arlo Guthrie, in refusing to give into the emotion of the evening, made it all so much better.
The show was effectively a real success, as the quartet brought the energy to the high-ceiling chandeliers of the El Rey a few times during their set, and the crowd provided a feedback matching the effervescence on stage…. Did I see a few crowd surfers? Yes!
If you’re going to have a quirky accent don’t serve me a cliche’ slo-mo video. We have all waited a couple years for new material so this seems an even more weak offering. Well bands are more than the sum of their video presence.
When you’re in an enormous crowd, in the middle of the night, with bass vibrating in your bones and laser lights burning colors into your retinas, it’s hard not to feel like you’re having a life changing experience
When you are alone, music is all what matters, music takes all the place in your brain, music is the main character of the night, it fills the whole room and you don’t have to worry about anything else
And this feels like a tidal wave, a time and a place gone forever. It is sad and it tugs at you, it tugs like those old Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, increasingly difficult to find on TV with an almost limitless amount of networks available, a world that thinks “When Harry Met Sally” is a forgotten classic.
The atmosphere is electric and the chaos is contagious. I simply love the entire thing (other than the freaking heat) and as a seasoned veteran now I can clearly say you must prepare. Not tour goes by when I glance over to see some idiot in heels falling over and beet red.
At age 73 I suppose there is a whole lot of life to look back on. The new album due out September 4, 2012, Hunter will release “When I’m President” his 20th album of original songs, and the latest highlight in a career full of awesome tunes like ‘All The Young Dudes,’ ‘All the Way From Memphis”.
Sure new albums are always more expensive, around $10 for digital download, and $13-18 for physical sales…May be new CDs are too expensive after all? But how could artists hope to survive in these difficult times?
Impregnable Question – If one night this summer you are at the beach around a giant bonfire with a young woman you have only recently met, and they are passing round the beer and the bong and the guitar, play her this (I know: rearrange it) and for that one night only she will love you forever.
70’s easy listening love songs are no longer in fashion which may be the reason I simply adore Neil Diamond. He is a Saturday Night Live parody act, not quite Lawrence Welk but giggle worthy just the same. The interesting thing is he is still very much in favor with many and is about to release a 40th anniversary album.
atched the first two seasons of American Idol (just guess why) but have only caught bits and pieces since then… and nothing at all with JLo and Tyler. Now that they have left, here are some suggestions for a replacement.
On the lean side, but a new Nas is always exciting and a CSN 2012 might be more than an oxymoron. ITunes is becoming a place to drop early singles and not much more. PE should do better than this.
A highlight at Woodstock, encapsulating the trippy, hippy, middle class world changers as well as connecting back to his father’s world, where they had more important things to worry about. Listening to the original version, what’s most impressive is the electric guitar solo. And, you know, the paranoia is fitting enough! Grade: A
How did Graham learn to write like that? His Daddy taught him. His Dad gave Graham the concept behind “No Milk Today” -a letter on the doorstep of a friends house back in the day when milk was delivered, Graham couldn’t see it until his Dad told him it was a metaphor for a love that had left.
On Friday night, the San Francisco quartet Sonny and the Sunsets was playing at the Echo, and, right away, I definitively liked Sonny’s funny and unassuming talk, relax attitude, constant smiling face and ‘Madness takes its toll’ t-shirt.
A funny thing about tour is how much the van starts to feel like home. It is the only constant in the ever evolving and constantly moving motion of traveling. And after all it is the most important part of your tour. So be wise – keep her running and treat her like a princess
The movie is a 3D computer-animated comedy directed by Rich Moore (The Simpsons, Futurama) and will feature the voices of John C. Reilly, Jane Lynch and Sarah Silverman. It is scheduled for a November release and tells the story of Ralph, a video game baddie who wants to be a good guy
Channel Orange is just too draggy, too difficult.. If you concentrate real hard you will find many vocal dynamics, perfect swerves and brakes of beats, they are there. But who wants to work so hard on a pop record?
This is a sign at the least to keep as hydrated as possible not only at your local Warped Tour, but during the summer. Don’t forget to refill your water bottles and stay safe. Occasionally make sure your friends are drinking water as well.
By one of those strange coincidences that occur in life, I saw the two sons play live, one day after the other. Arlo Guthrie on Sunday at Summerstage, Frank Sinatra Jr. on Monday at the Town Hall . Both of these guys are pretty good in their own right
This is a great thing, there are new things to discover rather than yet another week of Steven Tylers and fun. Seems a bit country heavy but hey, this is summer in America and for some reason that become synonymous with twang.
“I strayed from my first love, Aerosmith, and I’m back–but instead of begging on my hands and knees, I got two fists in the air and I’m kicking the door open with my band.
People sure need to have more and more imagination to come up with such creative lawsuits, but too bad for her no lawyer is involved in the story, since no lawyer seems to be that crazy. This is the exact lawsuit description about the heart-gondola phenomenon:
Best Coast suffering from the sophomore jinx,? I must quietly demure. The Only Place is as depressing as a bad cold on a summer afternoon. Awash in the Pacific ocean, it struggles to lift its head off the coach and the melodies gain extra strength from the effort I can’t wait to hear them perform it on stage this Tuesday at T5
Florence Welch hasn’t been in my good books since her iffy performance at Radio city earlier this year, and this wasn’t a fave off her last album. On the other hand, it was easy enough to miss the good stuff among the dross on Nicki’s last album. This is a goodie.. though I am still not buying her as a sex symbol.
Congrats to the Limeys, they put an album crappier than Frank Ocean’s in the # 1 position. Newton is worse than his name suggest and Frank? People of good will (unless they write for Pitchfork) might disagree, but everybody hates Newton.
Talking Dust Bowl Blues – Woody Guthrie – Poverty gets your attention, if you have ever been very poor, or even a little poor, you’ll know. This talking blues finds a famer chased by the agricultural disaster and off in search of a place to raise his family. Dylan, among many, stole the form and used it many times. – Grade: B+
It wasn’t perfect Yes, it wasn’t what we had signed up for, the first 20 minutes were a complete washout, it peaked 20 minutes before it ended, the acoustics sucked. But in the end, to hear “The Dean And I”, “Good Morning, Judge”, “Dreadlock Holiday” … many more, by the man who wrote them, I wanted more but I’ll take what I am given.
The song is very catchy and sounds like a simple foot-tapping-enthusiastic-hand-clapping tune played with fast upbeat guitar, vocal harmonies and a cool synth solo at the end that reminds their previous work, although it is not as Africanized than what they have previously done.
The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming! Steve Crawford comes over all French and surrenders at the first sight of Dave Davies!!!
Will they be able to top their previous success? It is obvious there is a lot of pressure on Arcade Fire right now, and a lot of expectation for this new album.
Our touring diary writer Donny Saraceno has become an interesting member of the rocknyc family. His daily reports often set me up on my motherly heels buncha crazy kids in a van sleeping wherever all careless. But in the midst of the bands daily adventures I neglected something that I am shocked about. I have forgotten to explain to you all how really talented this band is.
I said it is bullshit, is it the first time such a thing happens? Actually, no it isn’t. According to the Huffington Post Target is carrying Jay-Z and Kayne West’s ‘Watch The Throne’, which has also debuted on iTunes before being released for physical sales, so it was exactly the same situation
‘The three of them had dinner in the garden on Tuesday night at Chateau, and then Lindsay and Gaga ran upstairs to play dress up and came down in different outfits,’ the source revealed. Lindsay and Gaga seem to have lots of inside jokes about the night
Leaving an incredible mark on this world Marleys popularity has not waned since his passing in 1981. Science has stepped up to pay tribute to the rasta man in the most fishy way.
KR-51 – Clare And The Reason – You can be as pretentious and weird as you like as long as you keep the construction from falling apart. Fair enough? This married duo succumb to the complexity way too often. Grade: B-
Bus Stop – The Hollies – Graham Gouldman performed this song on Friday, it remains a classic lyric: “Bus stop, bus goes, she stays, love grows…” is worthy of Nabakov in its succinctness. Nothing is wasted here. Everything is exactly right – Grade: A+
I’ve been following Kevin for a couple of years and now am thrilled to have the opportunity to see him live. This being Kevin, he aint playing the late show at Mercury Lounge. Rather, small art venues and friends apartments are the order of the day with no tickets, donations only, five bucks the recommended dollar fifgure.
Here is a Fest tip- sleep during the day . Don’t plan on getting up until noon at the earliest. You’re in a different time zone where night is most active. Drink as much water as you can once you wake and get it revved up. To try and sleep at night is useless and frustrating.
I know they got a lot of comparisons with Fleet Foxes, and I can see why, but for me, they are working in a parallel universe, a more fierce, wild and dynamic universe, and actually richer and more fascinating
The Essential Songs of 1962 reflect the virtuosity of Ray Charles, who started the year with the boss nova based “Unchain My Heart” and ruled the rest of the year with his modern sounds in country and western music.
This is how it goes, Tina was a folk singer living in Greenwich Village in the 60s, she befriended Dylan and eventually got impregnated by him in 1963. She also was poor and a drug addict and so gave up her son for adoption
Crazy world isn’t it. We just love watching people kick ass. Blood sport. But when you take the fight to professional suddenly its not so fun anymore, we as humans enjoy the ‘spontaneous throw down’
The band, which was formed in 1967, has been on hiatus since 2009, and the Los Angeles Times also remarks that the news came as a surprise since Mick Fleetwood said last April, in an interview with Playboy magazine, that the thing was unlikely:
The song is one of the top three on ‘Blunderbus’, but really is there value to videos after the album has been out this long? There is no longer a forum (ahem..MTV) to showcase music video so I cant help but wonder why such expense is gone to for promotion
His “Fade To Black” retirement gig was his last great concert and it has been downhill ever since, especially the 9-11 charity gig with the ridiculous “I see You” segment . And while I appreciate everybody else raving about the “Watch The Throne” concert, it was tied to a lousy album. and I felt like a bitter old man for being so bored by huge chunks. Plus “Otis” is his worst song ever.
