Thursday, May 25, 2006

UPCOMING - DAVID CROSS, EUGENE MIRMAN, MIKE BIRBIGLIA & MORE - DOUG BENSON INTERRUPTION - UCB THEATER NYC - 6/2/06

UCB Theater strikes again with another superb show. On Friday 6/2/06, the Doug Benson Interruption comes to the UCB Theater New York. He will be joined by guests David Cross, Mike Birbiglia, Eugene Mirman and, according to the website, MORE. Reservations, as usual, are cheap as hell.

Fri Jun 2, 2006
w/David Cross, Mike Birbiglia, Eugene Mirman, & more!
Midnight $8
UCBT NYC
UPCOMING - GORILLA BISCUITS TOUR 2006


Holy shit. It has been announced that the Gorilla Biscuits will tour in the summer of 2006. What's more, they will be in NYC at BB Kings on September 2nd. When they played CBs I baked in the sun for 4 hours and then got hosed in a torrential downpour for another hour and didn't even get in. Let's hope ticketmaster helps me out. This is worth the convenience charge. Oh, and at their BB Kings gig they will be joined by Murphys Law. Hot damn! Tour dates:

08/04/2006 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony
08/05/2006 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium Downstairs
08/06/2006 - Philadelphia, PA @ Starlite Ballroom
08/07/2006 – Auburn, NY @ Auburn Public Theatre
08/08/2006 - Montreal, QC @ Foufounes Electriques
08/09/2006 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
08/10/2006 – Cleveland, OH @ Peabodys Downunder
08/11/2006 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
08/12/2006 – West Dundee, IL @ Clearwater Theatre
08/13/2006 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
08/15/2006 – Denver, CO @ Cervantes
08/16/2006 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
08/17/2006 - San Francisco, CA @ Pound SF
08/18/2006 - San Francisco, CA @ Pound SF
08/19/2006 – Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse
08/20/2006 – Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction
08/21/2006 - TBA
08/22/2006 - San Diego, CA @ Soma
08/23/2006 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Clubhouse
08/25/2006 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
08/26/2006 - TBA
08/27/2006 – Houston, TX @ Meridian
08/29/2006 – Atlanta, GA @ Vinyl
08/30/2006 – Nashville, TN @ Rocket Town
08/31/2006 - Richmond, VA @ Alley Katz
09/01/2006 – Baltimore, MD @ Otto Bar
09/02/2006 – New York, NY @ BB King’s

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

WANTED! ONE RADIOHEAD TICKET - THEATER AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

The Radiohead at Madison Square Garden ticket scalping climate is absolutely frustrating me to death. I cannot seem to find a single ticket at a price that is even remotely reasonable or sane. I just want one ticket, anywhere, for as close to face as possible. End of story. If anyone reads this, break the goddamned mold and help a fan out. Enough of this weasling bullshit.


Monday, May 22, 2006

UPCOMING! DAVE HILL EXPLOSION w/ FRED ARMISEN, MALCOLM GLADWELL, & WALTER SCHREIFELS - 5/24/06


The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater's Dave Hill Explosion features some pretty sweet guests this week, including Walter Schreifels of Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand, and Rival Schools. Tickets are 5 bucks, dork.

Dave Hill Explosion
UCB Theater, New York, NY
w/Fred Armisen, Malcolm Gladwell, & Walter Schreifels
9:30 pm $5

Saturday, May 20, 2006

CAPSULE REVIEWS! JIM O'ROURKE, THE MEIVINS, KEIJI HEINO, CAMERON JAMIE



JIM O'ROURKE - THE STONE NYC - 5/16/06
I spoke to Jim O' Rourke a few weeks ago after noticing he would be playing at The Stone. I mentioned I was worried I wouldn't be able to get into show because the venue was so small and he had such a huge following. He told me not to worry because the last time he played there only about 20 people showed up. Maybe it was the posting on Brooklyn Vegan or news about the show that appeared elsewhere, but the line to get in was huge. I was in the neighborhood anyway and got there early and was about 6th in line but by the time doors opened the line was really, really long. I grabbed a seat right in front of Jim's seat and the place filled up and got swelteringly hot rather quickly. I am wondering if they had to turn people away. Anyhow, the show was a great acoustic set. Lots of plain old weird playing going on there. Poor Jim had severe neck problems and I could tell he was in quite a bit of pain. I caught up with him after the show and handed him the Final 3 record which I really think he'd dig.

KEIJI HAINO, THE MELVINS - THE FILMS OF CAMERON JAMIE - SYMPHONY SPACE - 5/17/06
I knew going into this show that it would be loud. My ticket was in the front row, dead center, right in the line of fire. I brought ear plugs but they did absolutely nothing. When the first film, Jo, started, Keiji Haino started off quietly and it didn't appear as though much sound was coming out of the 4 large Fender amps that were directly in front of me, at head level. Then he cranked them up. After about 30 minutes of his onslaught I thought my ears were bleeding and my blood was boiling. It was like I had the bends. What made Haino so brutal was the lack of low end. It was all screechy, flat-out deafening noise. It literally made me feel nervous. It was as though my body was being put through physical torture as well. And I fucking loved it. After Jo, the Melvins came out to play along with my personal favorite Kranky Klaus. The Melvins were nearly as loud, but their bass was absolutely cranking. Cranking to the point I felt nauseaus. Then for the last two films, The Melvins and Haino played together. It was almost unbearable. It was shaking my body and making my ears hurt. But I sincerely loved it. Haino was stupefying with his inventiveness and sheer volume, while the Melvins were just being their usual heavy selves. David Byrne, all of Sonic Youth, and several Whitney Biennial artists and staffers were on hand. I had a backstage pass and when I got there Sonic Youth, The Melvins, Tony Oursler, and several other bigshots were there. My low self-esteem immediately kicked in and I only stood there awkwardly for about 3 minutes before having Cameron Jamie sign my book and fleeing. My ears are still completely messed up and, because of the damage they have already suffered through the years, I am at a whole new level of deafness.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

UPCOMING! ASSSSCAT 10th ANNIVERSARY SHOW - IRVING PLAZA - 7/25/06



UCB Theater's world famous improv group, Asssscat will be celebrating their 10th anniversary at Irving Plaza on July 28, 2006. Should be fun. Oh, and Tickets are pretty cheap.

Asssscat - 10th Anniversary
Irving Plaza, New York, NY
Tue, Jul 25, 2006
09:00 PM

Monday, May 15, 2006

CAPSULE REVIEWS! PELICAN, BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, MOGWAI



PELICAN - AVALON NYC - 5/9/06 I missed the first two bands and showed up in time for Mono and then Pelican. Mono was a disappointment. Completely unoriginal and boring. A total snooze-fest. I wish bands would take their influences and at least tweak the sound into some form of origniality as opposed to outright forgery. Pelican, however, totally blew my mind. I can only describe their set as anthemic and triumphant. They were so good that I actually bought a t-shirt. I literally haven't purchased a shirt at a show in about 6 years. And I stood next to the drummer from Mastodon the whole time. Having seen them at Bowery, I can tell you that that mofo can play.

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE - WEBSTER HALL - 5/10/06 I've seen BJM several times and we all know how Anton can be and we've all seen Dig! and we all have certain expectations when we go to a BJM show and blah blah blah.... HOWEVER, this show at Webster Hall completely defied all expectations and was actually a 3+ hour jam session completely devoid of outbursts, belligerance, and time wasting banter. The set started slowly with a 6' 7" rapping Jew, but once they started playing it was pure rock. I was able to hang out in the mixing booth on the stage for a while and at about 11:30pm, Anton came over and asked the sound guy (and me) if they could keep playing. The sound guy said the stage was his until 1:00pm, and play until 1:00pm they did. What really made this show great was that Anton was completely in a bubble, ignorant to the occasional taunts of the audience. The band was relating to each other very organically and it felt as if we were watching a band practice. Fantastic.

MOGWAI - WEBSTER HALL - 5/12/06 My fourth show in 4 days. A fourth night of drinking, staying out too late, and waking up feeling like death. Anyhow, this show was just incredible. First off, SEE THIS BAND. They opened for Mogwai and I don't know what else to say. Like a thunderstorm. I don't know... In retrospect, Mogwai was probably the highlight of my week. They were just so goddamned awesome. There is such a dark vibe behind their beautiful sounds. And I snagged a guitar pick, a set list, and got to meet the band.

Friday, May 12, 2006

BOREDOMS RE-ISSUES COMING! GIGGING IN NYC


According to Tiny Mix Tapes, the US will be getting more Boredoms in the coming months than we ever thought possible.

Vice Records will be reissuing five (5), count 'em, five (5) Boredoms records from the 1990s this autumn [editor's note: okay, so we originally heard it was a 6-CD boxset, but now it's 5 reissues. Close enough?]. The United States is getting four of these for the first time EVER, with Super Roots 3 and Super Roots 5 coming out earliest. Vice will follow those up with Super Roots 6, which was released in the U.S. via Reprise but is now out of print, as well as the singles and remixes from Super Roots 7 and Super Roots 8. Super

In addition, a handful of tour dates in the US have been announced, including two in New York City at Deitch

06.24.06 - Chicago, IL - Intonation Music Festival, Union Park
06.25.06 - St Paul, MN - End Times Festival at Turf Club
06.27.06 - Columbus, OH - Wexner Center at Ohio State Univeristy
06.28.06 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
07.07.06 - New York, NY - Deitch Projects
07.08.06 - New York, NY - Deitch Projects

MOBY, MISSHAPES - WHITNEY MUSEUM ARTPARTY - 5/11/06



I attended the Whitney Museum's ArtParty 2006 last night where I enjoyed a DJ set by MisShapes and live Rock n Roll Karaoke care of the Arlene's Grocery Rock and Roll Karaoke band and Moby. At the event, which was grotesquely star/cash studded, I was able to finally corner Moby and quickly explain the several times our paths have crossed over the years. Kelly Tisdale, Moby's former Teany business partner, was a favorite barkeep of mine at a bar in Cambridge Ma. called Charlies back in the old days when I lived in Boston. I remember her telling a bunch of us how she had just met Moby and how they really hit it off. At the time no one knew that Moby would be a crucial player in her current success. It is this story of coincidence that I opened my brief encounter with Moby. I then told him that I sat behind him at a Sex Pistols concert at Jones Beach a few years ago and that I sat behind him at the Super Size Me premier. He listened to my lame tales, but was extremely kind and noted that although he and Kelly are no longer business partners, they are on amicable terms and that he isn't surprised I ran into him at the concert and the movie premier; he noted 'punk rock and veganism are my thing.'

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

UPCOMING! THURSTON MOORE & JIM O'ROURKE @ THE STONE NYC - 5/10/06 and 5/16/06- NYC



Jim O' Rourke and Thurston will be making separate appearances at the very intimate The Stone in NYC.

Wednesday 5/10/06
8 pm - Thurston Moore - solo/guitar
10 pm - Thurston Moore - guitar and special guests

Tuesday 5/16/06
8 pm - Jim O'Rourke - solo/guitar
10 pm - Jim O'Rourke - solo/guitar

I can't make it to tonight's show, but if anyone manages to see Thurston's performance I'd love to hear how it went and who his guests were.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

REVIEW! ISIS, DALEK - AVALON NYC - 5/4/06



I checked out the ISIS / Dalek show on 5/4/06 and felt the show had it's ups and downs; though, the ups far outweighed the downs. Dalek absolutely blew my mind. I honestly haven't heard anything like this. The beats were a mix of some of the finest industrial material and hip hop material brought to a boil with some of the best, most aggressive rapping I have heard live. And the bass was sooo loud and heavy that I felt like I was going barf. Then ISIS came out and just floored me. It was so loud and heavy, but within this chaos was the beautiful, heart-wrenching vibe I expected to hear.

But the show wasn't without it's minor clams. First off, Avalon has got to get it's ass in gear and allow us the honor of not sweating the flesh off of our bones. When I left you could literally see the moisture ring around the ass and balls area of my jeans. Second, some girl in an orange sweatshirt standing in front of me had her cell phone out the entire show. I am assuming she was bootlegging the entire concert on her answering machine or something. Anyone who needs to pay that much attention to their cell phone during a show is simply a piece of shit. Also, she smelled like this inside of an asshole.
RADIOHEAD TICKET SALES A TOTAL SHAM



Ferrari Hat needs to vent. Like many people I was online beginning at 9:55am on May 5th waiting for tickets to Radiohead's Madison Square Garden shows to go on sale. I hit F5 until the words "FIND TICKETS" finally appeared. I got to the buy ticket page, selected 1 reserved, typed in the word identification thingy, and then waited. And waited. And waited. I waited 'in line' for nearly 5 minutes before getting to a goddamned ERROR page. I have never seen an error page on Ticketmaster. Therefore, in the time I was sitting there waiting to get to a fucking error page, the shows sold out. Thanks a lot ticketmaster.

What infuriates me more is that at 10:05, eBay already had tickets going for up to $800 a pair. Stubhub also had a wide selection of tickets, reserved and general admission. What KILLED me was that stubhub had 20 GA tickets available. And I couldn't manage to get 1?

My advice to other people feeling my pain is to boycott the scalpers. No matter how tempting it might be, do not buy from them. Even if you can afford it, don't buy from them. As long as people will pay $500 for shit seats, they will keep charging that much and more. If nobody buys a ticket from scalpers and holds off until the day of the show, prices will drop. TRUST ME DUDE! But until then, fuck ticketmaster and their absolutely shitty inability to handle such a high volume of ticket seekers.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

UPCOMING! WILLIE NELSON - IN STORE - 5/18/06 - NYC



On May 18 Willie Nelson will be appearing at Barnes & Noble on 17th street, Union Square, to promote his new book The Tao of Willie. I'm not sure whether he will do a small performance, a reading, a signing, or all of the above, but yer dern tootin' I'll be there.

May 18, 2006
12:30 PM
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
Union Square
33 East 17th Street
New York, NY 10003
212-253-0810

Monday, May 01, 2006

RADIOHEAD - NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED- 2006



Hey Dudes! Radiohead tour dates have been announced! Also, it looks like they are sticking to smallish venues this time. I don't think I need to warn you that these shows will probably sell out in about 4-seconds. Tickets will be available through ticketmaster, so be prepared to open your wallet a bit wider. GOOD LUCK!!

06.01.06 - Philadelphia, PA (Tower Theatre - on sale 5/6)
06.02.06 - Philadelphia, PA (Tower Theatre - on sale 5/6)
06.04.06 - Boston, MA (Bank Of America Pavilion - on sale 5/6)
06.05.06 - Boston, MA (Bank Of America Pavilion - on sale 5/6)
06.07.06 - Toronto, ON (Hummingbird Center - on sale 5/6)
06.08.06 - Toronto, ON (Hummingbird Center - on sale 5/6)
06.10.06 - Montreal, QC (Salle Wilred Pelletier at Placed des Arts - on sale 5/5)
06.11.06 - Montreal, QC (Salle Wilred Pelletier at Placed des Arts - on sale 5/5)
06.13.06 - New York, NY (The Theatre at Madison Square Garden - on sale 5/5)
06.14.06 - New York, NY (The Theatre at Madison Square Garden - on sale 5/5)
06.17.06 - Manchester, TN (Bonnaroo)
06.19.06 - Chicago, IL (Auditorium Theater - on sale 5/6)
06.20.06 - Chicago, IL (Auditorium Theater - on sale 5/6)
06.23.06 - Berkeley, CA (Greek Theatre - on sale 5/14)
06.24.06 - Berkeley, CA (Greek Theatre - on sale 5/14)
06.26.06 - San Diego, CA (Bayside - on sale 5/6)
06.27.06 - San Diego, CA (Bayside - on sale 5/6)
06.29.06 - Los Angeles, CA (Greek Theatre - on sale 5/25)
06.30.06 - Los Angeles, CA (Greek Theatre - on sale 5/25)