Category: Rock (Page 139 of 241)

Road Warriors 56

March 14, 2008 / Mike Farley

London’s Hyde Park is the site for the big 90th birthday party bash for former South African president Nelson Mandela. Among the artists scheduled to perform are U2, Paul McCartney, and Queen. Wow, what a lineup and what a tribute to Mandela.

Santana is planning a US tour beginning April 4 in Boston. For a full list of dates for the month-long tour, check out www.santana.com

In support of their Red Carpet Massacre album, Duran Duran will hit the road in North America beginning April 29 in Vancouver and running through May 31 in New York City. For more information, fans can visit www.duranduran.com.

The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival seems to get bigger every year. The ninth annual event is scheduled to take place April 25-27 in Indio, California and some of the confirmed acts include Goldfrapp, Portishead, Jack Johnson, Death Cab For Cutie, Flogging Molly, Love and Rockets, Fatboy Slim, Tegan and Sara and Rilo Kiley.

Soulful singer/songwriter Marc Broussard has added dates to his spring tour in Athens, Georgia and Shreveport, Louisiana. Here is the complete list of shows:

Apr. 17 – 40 Watt Club – Athens, GA – For more info click here. For tickets click here. Support Act: Angie Aparo

Apr. 18 – Artisphere – Greenville, SC – For more info click here.

Apr. 22 – Blue Moon Saloon – Lafayette, LA – For more info click here. For tickets click here.

Apr. 24 – House of Blues – Dallas, TX – For more info click here. For tickets click here. Support Act: k.s. rhoads

Apr. 25 – Antone’s – Austin, TX – For more info click here. For tickets click here. Support Act: k.s. rhoads

Apr. 26 – Warehouse Live – Houston, TX – For more info click here. For tickets click here. Support Act: k.s. rhoads

Apr. 27 – The Warehouse – Shreveport, LA – For more info click here. For tickets click here. Support Act: k.s. rhoads

May 24 & 25 – Blues, Brews, & BBQ Festival – Avon, CO – For more info click here.

Aug. 29 – Strawberry Music Festival – Yosemite, CA – For more info click here.

Alternative, Concerts, Electronica, Hip Hop, Pop, Rock

American Idol: Wow

March 13, 2008 / Mike Farley

Last night’s “American Idol” results show came down to a bottom 3 of Syesha, Kristy Lee Cook and David Hernandez. Simon Cowell thought that America got the voting “spot on,” and I can’t say I disagree with him or with America. Nice going.

Anyway, before that we were tortured with an hour-long show. They talked about next week being another Beatles week…which is never a bad thing. But first, a Beatles medley by the remaining 12. As you might expect, it was excruciating.

Then, pretty early on, it was on to the results. Carly Smithson, safe. Michael Johns, safe. Jason Castro, safe. Syesha, bottom 3. Then, after Simon said she belonged there, Syesha seemed genuinely pissed off. Ryan Seacrest handed her the microphone and had her perform, even though there was a 2 in 3 chance Syesha was staying.

After the break, Chikezie, safe. Amanda Overmyer, safe. David Cook, safe. Then Kristy Lee Cook in the bottom 3. Yikes, I just realized there are two people with the last name “Cook” in this thing. Well, probably not for long!

After Kristy did her horrendous version of “8 Days a Week” again, they invited Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee to perform George Harrison’s “Something” along with producer/pianist David Foster. Note that after Kat lost her record deal because her pop/R&B album, um, sucked balls, Foster swooped in and is producing her next project. Look, she is very easy on the eyes, but still is not the greatest vocalist in the world…but Foster will do his best to try and polish that turd.

Then it was back to business. David Archuleta, safe. Brooke White, safe. Down to David Hernandez and Ramiel. Ramiel, safe, but probably barely. David Hernandez, after telling Ryan the Bottom 3 doesn’t mean the Bottom 1, sings his ridiculous version of “I Saw Her Standing There” again.

So it was down to this: Syesha, Kristy, and David H. Syesha was the first sent back to safety, and I was happy for her, because she is clearly better than the other two, or at least she was this week. Then Kristy was told she was safe, prompting this response from Hernandez: “Wow.” Um, dude, get over yourself….not only was America disappointed to find out you once worked as a stripper in a gay bar, but you were AWFUL on Tuesday night. I mean, it was one small notch above Luke Menard. So that’s it…we’re down to the final 11, and I’m going to offer my power rankings based on overall talent and on this past week’s performances:

1. David Cook
2. Carly Smithson
3. David Archuleta
4. Brooke White
5. Chikezie
6. Amanda Overmyer
7. Michael Johns
8. Jason Castro
9. Syesha Mercado
10. Ramiel
11. Kristy Lee Cook

What do you all think? Let me know, and I’ll see you next week…..

Alternative, American Idol, Country, Pop, Rock

American Idol: Baker’s Dozen

March 12, 2008 / Mike Farley

Why do I say “baker’s dozen?” Because there are 12 contestants remaining on “American Idol,” meaning the finals began last night. But host Ryan Seacrest keeps trying to hog the camera and the attention, like he’s the thirteenth contestant or something. Dude has been pretty low-key lately, but now he’s become annoying again, and the banter with Simon just makes everyone uncomfortable….dude, EAAAA-SY.

With that, let’s talk about the performances. The producers finally cracked the code to open The Beatles’ catalog, and with those songs, you know you’re at least going to be entertained. Here we go….

THE GOOD

Chikezie gave the performance of his life. I mean, his version Continue reading »

Alternative, American Idol, Country, Pop, Rock

Less Talk, More Music: Mutual Admiration Society on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”

March 11, 2008 / Will Harris

Take the lead singer from Toad the Wet Sprocket, get him to write a song with Jon Brion, and then let Toad-boy record it with some guys from Nickel Creek. Voila: you’ve got Mutual Admiration Society’s “Sake of the World.” This live version, however, gets bonus points for having John Paul Jones (late of Led Zeppelin) on bass and Pete Thomas from The Attractions on drums. If only MAS would do another album together…

P.S. Yes, I know “Toad-boy” is actually named Glen Phillips. But it made me laugh to call him “Toad-boy.”

Alternative, Artists, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Rock, Songs, Videos

WTF?! Rewind – Cheap Trick

March 11, 2008 / Captain Capm

All Shook Up

Hey! Whaddaya do when your rock band is really starting to hit all new heights, selling out arena tours, and taking over the radio airwaves? Why, you release your shittiest album to date, that’s what! Sad, but true. By the dawn of the ’80s, Cheap Trick had had a surprise smash hit with their live At Budokan album, and stayed relatively well on the charts with their fourth proper studio album Dream Police. But by the time they made it to All Shook Up, it seems that the gas was running out in more ways than one.

But who would have imagined that such great power popsters teamed up with George Martin would produce such a flaccid LP? True, not every moment of Dream Police was as solid as Heaven Tonight or the band’s debut, but the title track and “Voices” were especially great, as well as the Tom Petersson-sung “I Know What I Want” (that has remained a staple of the band’s live show). All Shook Up, on the other hand, had “Just Got Back” and not a whole lot else. You can hear the potential in there throughout the album wanting to break free, but instead it’s hampered by lackluster songwriting and by-the-numbers performances.

Indeed, it was the beginning of a quick decline for the Trick. Petersson would quit the band after the album’s completion and his absence was more than felt on albums like One to One and Next Position Please, though while both slightly more enjoyable than All Shook Up, just didn’t have that classic Cheap Trick feel to them. And as we all know, it wouldn’t be until Lap of Luxury with the return of Tom and the godawful song “The Flame” that rocketed Cheap Trick up the charts and kept them there that the band had a renaissance of sorts. Of course, by that time, the kids wanted to hear “The Flame” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” Thankfully the band has since written off this period of their career.

But that big “comeback” would not have been possible without All Shook Up leading the way to a quick descent. Some fans have recently cropped up to defend the album, but to my ears it still sounds as lifeless as it ever did. For once, Cheap Trick seemed tapped out of ideas and no amount of George Martin overseeing the project could help save the ship. Now maybe if they had had Ringo along as well to pen a couple songs, things could have really gotten cooking.

I’m only half-kidding.

Artists, Rock