Photos taken at Neighborhood Theatre in Charlotte, NC, Sept. 17


By Justin Kates

Upcoming Shows:


September 20, 2011 8:30 PM
House of Blues Chicago


October 08, 2011 10:30 PM
Gruene Music & Wine Fest
1601 Hunter Rd., New Braunfels, TX


October 15, 2011 9:30 PM
MusicArte de Fort Worth
Main St & Henderson St, Fort Worth, TX 

September 16 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, the Foos brought the "Light".

Text/Photos by Danny Phillips

Walking into the Sprint Center, I did not know what to expect from Foo Fighters. Sure, they are rock giants. Sure, they have hits out the ass. However, I had not seen them live since they were touring behind The Colour and The Shape. For those of you keeping score at home, that tour was their second, and it was fourteen years ago. How had they changed in the years since? Was it for better or worse? Well, within the first three songs the answer was revealed to the audience like a curtain being drawn open: Foo Fighters have gotten much, much better.

Blowing out of the gate with "Bridge Burning" and "Rope," for the next three hours (yes, three hours) Dave Grohl and his fellow Foos gave off enough energy to power a small village.

Leaning heavily on the new album, Wasting Light, Grohl was in full Rock God mode. He mugged to the crowd, did the Chuck Berry duck walk across the stage, rose from the stage with acoustic guitar and in single spotlight, had a shredding contest between himself and lead guitarist Chris Shiflett. Massive crowd sing-alongs ensued. All this arena rock stuff wore on the young punk rocker in me a bit; I hated to see one of my heroes playing to the rock star clichés but, at this point in his career, Grohl is a full-fledged rock god. So the clichés are, sadly, inevitable. In addition, when they broke out "White Limo" complete with video of the Lord and Savior of Metal Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, the lovers of heavier Foos material simultaneously dropped 15,000 loads and all was forgiven.

The band just would not let up. At the two-hour mark, Dave said, "We play long ass shows, and I'm not ready to go home." No shit. They just kept playing...playing...and playing. Whether it was "The Pretender," "White Limo," "Stacked Actors," "Skin and Bones," or "Monkey Wrench", which Grohl prefaced with "Next time you go see a rock band, tell them to turn off their fucking computers. ‘Cause when a rock band turns off their computers it sounds like this." The band was at the top of its game, everything clicked and with Grohl's personality in full glory, there was not a bad seat in the house.

Strangely, against my usual preference, even the slower numbers of the night like the moving "I Should've Known" or acoustic takes on "Best of You," "Long Road to Ruin," and "Times Like These" worked for me. Sure, it was not a perfect show (I would have loved to hear "Wattershed" and "Weenie Beenie" live again), but for the most part, I was happy. Since first seeing him come out from behind the drums on the Foos debut tour, I now see the progression into a rock legend. Dave, Pat, Taylor, Chris and Nate seem at home with their place in the history books. Dave thanked the crowd for being rowdy and a ton of fun. Taylor Hawkins' drumming never gave out. Pat Smear had an ever present Cheshire cat grin on his face. Chris Shiflett played lead like a flame thrower. And Nate Mendel rocked the bass with a calm power. After three hours of catalogue surfing, a great cover of "School's Out," and the phenomenal closer "Everlong," everyone seemed happy to be on hand for this page in the Foo Fighters saga.

Set List:

Bridge Burning

Rope

The Pretender

My Hero

Learn to Fly

White Limo

Arlandria

Breakout

Cold Day in the Sun

Stacked Actors

Walk

Generator

Monkey Wrench

These Days

I Should've Known

Skin and Bones

This is a Call

All My Life

Encore:

Long Road to Ruin

Best of You

Times Like These

Dear Rosemary

Breakdown (Tom Petty cover)

School's Out (Alice Cooper cover)

Everlong

Best Canadian album of the past year...

By Blurt Staff

Last night Arcade Fire notched another honor its belt: the Canadian group was awarded top honor (and $30,000) for the annual Polaris Music Prize in their home country. That wold be for The Suburbs. which has already won Grammy and Juno awards. It was their second time up for the award; in 2007 their album Neon Bible was nominated.

Among the competition this year: Austra, Braids, Destroyer, Galaxie, Hey Rosetta!, Ron Sexsmith, Colin Stetson, Tiber Timbre and The Weeknd.

CBC News reported that at the Toronto awards ceremony, bandmembers Jeremy Gara and Richard Parry accepted for the band, with Gara saying, "Anyone who is under 18 and playing music and everyone who has ever been on stage and had the opportunity to play music and have someone hear it, just stick with it, because in 20 years you could be up here and have an album much better than this."

Takes a look at bygone eras, seamy underbellies, and strange things happening…

By Blurt Staff

Ry Cooder's new album 'Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down'  was released last week (watch for the BLURT review shortly), and now the master guitarist has his first collection of short fiction en route.

Due next month is Los Angeles Stories, from San Francisco’s City Lights Books, and it’s a collection of loosely linked tales that evoke a bygone era in one of America's most iconic cities. In post-World War II Los Angeles, as power was concentrating and fortunes were being made, a do-it-yourself culture of cool cats, outsiders and oddballs populated the old downtown neighborhoods of Bunker Hill and Chavez Ravine. Ordinary working folks rubbed elbows with petty criminals, grifters and all sorts of women at foggy end-of-the-line outposts in Venice Beach and Santa Monica. Rich with the essence and character of the times, suffused with patois of the city's underclass, these are stories about the common people of Los Angeles, "a sunny place for shady people," and the strange things that happen to them.

Cooder will be on hand Oct 5 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco and Oct 12 at Book Soup and Nov 6 at Skylight Books in LA: http://bit.ly/nbHwCT

You - yes, you, dear fans - can help. View video pitch, below.

By Blurt Staff

Vancouver punk act Living With Lions endured a hailstorm of backlash from the Canadian government upon the release of their sophomore album Holy Shit earlier this year. Although critically acclaimed, the provocatively titled album was deemed "blasphemous" by the Canadian Heritage Minister due to the artwork and packaging, which on some level resembles a Bible, subtitled "The Poo Testament" with lyrics written like biblical verses. The controversy stems from the fact that the government-sponsored Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR) provided funding to the band's Canadian label Black Box Recordings, Inc, to the tune of $13,248 to offset the band's costs of recording and releasing the album. With the government threatening to shut down FACTOR, Living With Lions and Black Box Recordings voluntarily decided to return the full amount of the loan in cash (rather than through sales over time), in order to keep their artwork untouched.

Now, Living with Lions is appealing to both fans and advocates of free speech to help pay back the loan through a Kickstarter campaign (http://kck.st/pn5kqI). The campaign urges people to pledge money in an effort to defend art-funding and the freedom for all to have protected artistic expression. The band recorded a PSA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj4vYYGKF-U), viewed above, and released an official statement:

The content of our artwork for our new recording was created out of our passion for satire and absurdist humor. The lyrical and musical content of this record does not contain any commentary on religion, nor does it use a pejorative or malicious voice against any particular group of people (excluding possibly some of our ex-girlfriends). When the idea came up to simply alter the artwork for HOLY SHIT without having to expedite the repayment to FACTOR (The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings), we chose to entirely return the money so that HOLY SHIT can forever remain true to the original format. The debate about government funding contributing to potentially controversial art is neither new nor truly resolved; but when the offended public complains, the politicians habitually remind groups like FACTOR, the NEA and the Arts Council that they can pull the plug rather than encourage discourse or scholarly debate. We would like to thank our fans, friends and family for their continued support.

ANA KEFR "discriminated against" in effort to perform at disaster relief benefit concert.

By Blurt Staff

Last week Los Angeles extreme progressive metal band ANA KEFR (Arabic, meaning "I am Infidel") had to cancel the Tupelo, Mississippi date on their upcoming US national tour supporting their recent album The Burial Tree II due to what the band describes as "discrimination." Apparently the group was slated to play a disaster relief benefit on Oct. 11 (along with several other bands) but complaints from the Bible Belt-based community about their presence on the bill prompted the pullout.

ANA KEFR says that its music is "complemented by lyrical themes of militant atheism and humanist philosophy" but was deemed "unwelcome by venues local to Tupelo."

In a statement, frontman Rhiis D. Lopez commented, "We're seriously disappointed that we've been forced to re-schedule our October 11 date in Tupelo, and apologize to fans who were planning to attend. This was to be a benefit show, organized by a local non-profit organization to raise relief funds for victims of natural disasters in Mississippi. There were 3 other bands scheduled to support us on the show and now all 4 bands have found themselves shut out from the opportunity. Apparently, to the owner of Good Time Charlie's and numerous others who flooded the promoter with hate and intolerance on our account, aiding victims of natural disasters is trumped by whether or not one believes in their merciful and benevolent religion. Their vicious stupidity only further strengthens and reinforces the truth of the band, and it is a shame that faith must come before charity and philanthropy."

Of the tour, which now includes a rescheduled Oct. 11 show, Lopez added, "We are looking forward to our first U.S. national tour, and can't wait to meet and make new fans and friends. To our fans in Tupelo - one way or another, we can and will overcome this. See you all on the road!"

 
New tour dates:
 
October 5 - Phoenix, AZ - Chaser's
October 6 - Austin, TX - Headhunter's
October 7 - Jackson, MS - Sam's Lounge
October 8 - New Orleans, LA - Checkpoint Charlie
October 9 - Metairie, LA - Babylon
October 11 - Miami, FL - Churchill's
October 12 - Panama City, FL - C-Level
October 13 - Birmingham, AL - The Nick
October 14 - Atlanta, GA - The Little Tree
October 15 - Columbia, SC - Outt Saloon
October 16 - Charlotte, NC - The Bonu5 Room
October 19 - Pittsburgh, PA - Pounder's
October 21 - Ithaca, NY - The Haunt
October 22 - Ithaca, NY - WVBR radio show
October 23 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogart's
October 25 - St. Joseph, MO - Rock n Metal Room
October 26 - Wichita, KS - Kirby's Beer Room
October 27 - Salt Lake City, UT - 5 Monkeys
October 28 - Seattle, WA - The Backstage Bar
October 29 - Portland, OR - Black Forest
October 30 - Seattle, WA - The Fun-house
November 1 - Portland, OR - Saratoga
November 2 - Fresno, CA - Babylon
November 4 - San Diego, CA - Kensington Club
November 5 - Los Angeles, CA - Whisky A Go-Go

"Nomad By Fate" hails from new album Covering Ground, out now on SideOneDummy.

By Blurt Staff

Folk troubadour (and frontman for Florida punk mainstays Hot Water Music) Chuck Ragan released his new album Covering Ground last week via SideOneDummy Records. It was produced by Christopher Thorn of Blind Melon. Special guests on the album include Christopher Thorn, Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem, Frank Turner, Audra Mae, Rich Steff & Todd Beene of Lucero, Chris Phillips of Squirrel Nut Zippers, and of course his bandmates Jon Gaunt on fiddle and Joe Ginsberg on upright bass.

We've got a great video premiere to mark the album's arrival: it's a live performance clip of the song and first single "Nomad By Fate." Check it out:

Ragan just wrapped a tour supporting Dropkick Murphys and will also be support for Social Distortion on their upcoming national tour in November. Prior to that he'll be in Europe and the UK on the "Revival Tour' with Brian Fallon, Dan Andriano and Dave Hause. You can find tour dates at his official website.

[Photo Credit: Scott Toepfer]

Live webcast streamed over the nascent Indie Store Network!

By Fred Mills

The Girls' tumultuous North American tour continues apace; tonight they're in DC followed by dates in Philly, NYC, Boston and Montreal. The tour hasn't been without incident however: Thursday night in Asheville, NC, frontman Christopher Owens was reportedly in a foul mood, apparently due to a couple of people in the audience being excessively "noisy" during an opening act's set, and as a result he slung plenty of attitude back at the audience during The Girls' set, duly alienating a good chunk of the crowd. ("But otherwise it was a great, really interesting show," one attendee told Blurt. "The rest of the band was really on the entire time.") At this late stage in the game we probably don't need any aspiring young Ryan Adamses flexing their hissy fit muscles; whether they realize it or not, these kids are being paid by the rest of us to put on a professional show, and in this economy, that's a notion that holds doubly true. But everybody's gotta grow up eventually, and we are sure Owens will too. Plus the new album is great, so that counts for something, hey! (Read the Blurt review here.)

Anyhow, the next day The Girls were in Nashville, and they stopped in at Grimey's record store and did a free performance which was webcast from Grimey's, with the feed also being picked up by indie shops elsewhere. You can watch the rebroadcast of the set (which was heavy on material from Father, Son, Holy Ghost - including "Honey Bunny", "Magic", "Love, Like a River", "Vomit", and "My Ma") at the band's label's site, True Panther Sounds, or in the handy dandy box below.

Video streaming by Ustream

At the 9:30 Club on September 15, the young bard returned to the scene of previous crimes and took care of unfinished business.

TEXT/PHOTOS BY ADAM FRIED

Iowa folk singer William Elliott Whitmore is no stranger to Washington, D.C. This year alone, he opened - briefly, but enthusiastically - for Chris Cornell back in April at Sixth and I Synagogue, and he was here just a few weeks ago playing a sold-out headlining show at the Red Palace on July 24.

Last Thursday, Sept. 15, the whiskey-swilling banjo man returned once again to the nation's capitol, this time opening for Rhode Island indie rockers The Low Anthem at the 9:30 Club.

Whitmore arrived on stage promptly at 8:30 p.m. and with banjo in hand started his set with "Bury Your Burdens in the Ground," the opening track on his most recent album, Field Songs. Compared to the bleakness of his usual opener - the vocal-only "Cold and Dead" from 2003's Hymns for the Hopeless - "Burdens" is a much more upbeat way to open a set.

Building off that positive start, as well as an outpouring of applause, Whitmore launched into his always-popular working class anthem, "Lift My Jug (Song for Hub Cale)." In spite of the somewhat depressing subject matter - a salute to Hub Cale, an engineer-turned-hobo - Whitmore's charisma sold the song's optimistic vibe.

Taking a brief break between songs, Whitmore both introduced himself to fans and tinkered with his malfunctioning banjo. The former resulted in a front-row fan giving him a drink; the latter in a swap from banjo to acoustic guitar after giving up, remarking, "Well, that didn't do anything."

Whitmore continued his set with "Field Song" and "Don't Need It," two of the catchier tracks off Field Songs, both of which reflect Whitmore's admiration for farm life and honest work - common themes in nearly all of his songs, but especially so on the latest album.

But good music wasn't all Whitmore's set had to offer. Whitmore is one of few artists who can rival the Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle when it comes to endearing and humorous stage banter. Following a fan yelling for "Midnight," Whitmore not only agreed to play it, but reminded the audience that he will take polite requests, "but it's gotta be a song I wrote." Pointing in feigned anger at no one in particular, he added, "Don't fucking say ‘Freebird.'"

Before obliging the fan's "Midnight" request, Whitmore continued by asking if it was Friday, implying it would be a good party night. It was Thursday, and after the audience pointed that out, he agreed to vouch for anyone who calls out of work the next day. "Tell ‘em I said you need off, and tell ‘em I said you need a raise too."

The rest of Whitmore's set was enjoyable, if not surprising: a handful of newer songs from 2009's Animals in the Dark, two tracks from 2003's Hymns for the Hopeless (including "Pine Box," another fan request), and his acoustic cover of Bad Religion's "Don't Pray On Me," which was featured on the 2010 tribute mixtape / online album, Germs of Perfection.

Whitmore finished his set, as he often has lately, with his higher tempo live version of "Old Devils," which always yields an energetic and emotional performance. The ever-appreciative performer, he again thanked fans and shook hands with most of the front row before exiting the stage, amid several sporadic yells for an encore.

The downside to William Elliott Whitmore so frequently opening for other bands is the brevity of his sets - in this case, 11 songs, roughly 45 minutes. With every show, however, his charm and showmanship seem to win over more fans who had never heard of him before.

So it's not hard to imagine that he'll be back in D.C. just as frequently next year, and hopefully it won't be too long until he's headlining the 9:30 Club instead of the Red Palace.

All Hours released this week on Nettwerk.

By Blurt Staff

As previously announced, NYC's Ivy - Parisian-born singer Dominique Durand, Andy Chase and Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne - have a new album, All Hours, that arrives tomorrow, Sept. 20, via Nettwerk. It's the trio's their first release since 2005's In The Clear, and the 11 tracks that comprise All Hours were written, produced and mixed by the band in their own Manhattan studio. The first single, "Distant Lights," came out in July, followed by second track, "Fascinated," last month. Now you can hear the entire thing streaming for free online right here.

IVY - All Hours [Full Album] by nettwerkmusicgroup

The trio will peform their first live show in five years at the Gramercy Theatre this coming Saturday, September 24 in their home city with special guest Tahiti 80.