DATES!
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Bombay’s | Redding, California | ||
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Fire Escape Bar and Grill | Citrus Heights, California | ||
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Thee Parkside | San Francisco, California | ||
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The Blank Club | San Jose, California | ||
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The Uptown | Oakland, California | ||
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The Knitting Factory | Los Angeles, California | ||
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Bar Pink | San Diego, California | ||
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The Beauty Bar | Las Vegas, Nevada | ||
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Audie’s Olympic | Fresno, California | ||
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Tonic Lounge | Reno, Nevada | ||
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Neurolux | Boise, Idaho | ||
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Slabtown | Portland, Oregon | ||
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Funhouse | Seattle, Washington |
This was a quick one. I was planning on shooting more footage and then just decided to use what I had. It was a quicker edit that way anyway.
I’ve read again and again that Portland is a mecca of great independent music and it is true. However, the music I am most interested in here doesn’t seem to get listed in the articles I’ve seen. Perhaps, I’m reading the wrong articles or I am just not paying attention. That is always a possibility. I do have a flakey side.
I’m not here to talk about the Decemberists, the Shins, the Thermals, etc. They get their press. Today I am here to tell you about the Oblik.
The Oblik are still a baby band (Well, that’s what they say.), but have a solid idea musically of where they are at and where they could head. I’m fond of the use of a third guitar where so many bands these days are likely to use a keyboard.
Influences? I hear the Sound, Artery, or even very early Modern English. But, what do I know. I’m no critic. …Just listen. It’s worth it.
http://www.myspace.com/theoblik
The Phenomenauts are another favorite of mine. The Epoxies toured the US with them twice, so I think I know their songs almost as much as my own bands.
They kicked off a US tour tonight in Portland with tour mates the Re-Volts. I know I had heard the Re-Volts before at some point, but (stupidly) did not know that they were Spike’s (Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies and Swinging Utters) band. Needless to say, it was nice to see someone else that I’d toured a lot with and hadn’t seen for a while. Re-Volts were perfect punk to my ears tonight.
www.myspace.com/sfrevolts
If you’ve never seen the Phenomenauts they are hands down one of the best live bands around these days. Even if their music is not exactly your thing, they deserve a good looking at.
Dates cover the entire US. I say go.
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EL CORAZON | Seattle, Washington | ||
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THE MEDIA CLUB | Vancouver, British Columbia | ||
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DV8 | Edmonton, Alberta | ||
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THE DISTILLERY | Calgary, Alberta | ||
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PYRAMID CABARET | Winnipeg, Manitoba | ||
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ECLIPSE RECORDS | St. Paul, Minnesota | ||
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MANHATTAN BOWLING LANES | De Pere, Wisconsin | ||
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SNEAKY-DEES | Toronto, Ontario | ||
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PIRANHA BAR | Montreal, Quebec | ||
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LE CASBAH | Quebec, Quebec | ||
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DEERING GRANGE | Portland, Maine | ||
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ASBURY LANES | Asbury Park, New Jersey | ||
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941 THEATER | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||
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THE MIDDLE EAST | Cambridge, Massachusetts | ||
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FLETCHERS | Baltimore, Maryland | ||
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JEWISH MOTHER | Virginia Beach, Virginia | ||
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THE CAMEL | Richmond, Virginia | ||
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31st STREET PUB | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | ||
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NOW THAT’S CLASS | Cleveland, Ohio | ||
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MACS **EARLYSHOW** | Lansing, Michigan | ||
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REGGIE’S | Chicago, Illinois | ||
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THE RIOT ROOM | Kansas City, Missouri | ||
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MARQUIS THEATER | Denver, Colorado | ||
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CLUB VEGAS | Salt Lake City, Utah | ||
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TONIC | Reno, Nevada | ||
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THE PHOENIX THEATER | Petlauma, California | ||
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CLUB RETRO | Orangevale, California |
I’ve mentioned these bands a lot on my radio show and in general. Yes, I am a HUGE fan! However, my fandom brought these people into my life as friends as well. These are some of my favorite people on the planet.
http://www.myspace.com/thestart
http://www.myspace.com/lanormandieband
Normandie is actually 3/4 of the Start. and, due to that, both bands will be touring the US shortly. The performance is incredible and I can’t recommend them enough.
They have 3 very different albums out. Support your DIY bands on tour.
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the Beauty Bar | Las Vegas, Nevada | ||
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Kilby Court | Salt Lake City, Utah | ||
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The Waiting Room | Omaha, Nebraska | ||
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Reggie’s Rock Club | Chicago, Illinois | ||
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Bernies Distillery | Columbus, Ohio | ||
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middle east upstairs | cambridge, Massachusetts | ||
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mercury lounge | new york, New York | ||
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The Record Collector Store | Bordertown, New Jersey | ||
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The Brighton Bar | Long Branch | ||
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The M Room | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||
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The Red and Black | Washington DC, Washington DC | ||
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Fletchers | Baltimore, Maryland | ||
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the milestone | charlotte, North Carolina | ||
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The Drunken Unicorn | Atlanta, Georgia | ||
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firebird | st. louis, Missouri | ||
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Crosstown Station | Kansas City, Missouri | ||
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the conservatory | oklahoma city, Oklahoma | ||
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Club Dada | Dallas, Texas | ||
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Rudyards | Houston, Texas | ||
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rock bottom | san antonio, Texas | ||
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emo’s | austin, Texas | ||
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Bombardiers | El paso, Texas | ||
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Amped Performance Space | Albuquerque, New Mexico | ||
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Hollywood Alley | Mesa | ||
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Audie’s Olympic/Club Fred | Fresno, California | ||
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UC Davis West Quad | Davis, California |
Insomnia
Current mood:Experimental
I’ve not been sleeping regular hours recently. I made a deal with myself yesterday that I would go to bed at a decent hour to wake up at a decent hour. Instead I was up until about 5 am and got up around 1 pm.
Well, I guess I wasn’t officially awake either. I was in that half awake delirious thoughts delirious word state. The words took on an almost physical quality and swirled around in my head. I thought abut getting up to write, but it didn’t happen. I was convinced that I would remember everything today, but I do not.
They say that dreams are often the unconscious mind’s method of sorting things out. Of course, I wasn’t really dreaming, but it was all making sense for once. I was thinking about some things that I am insecure about, that were confusing, etc. It made sense when the mind could just drift and shut out the reality that I’ve constructed.
I think the one thing that I do remember was thinking about spilling my opinions on some things that I diplomatically keep to myself. Yes, those things have to do with music.
Some more surface level thought of recent has been my WordPress blog. I’ve been really good at ignoring it recently, I’ve been writing here. Although there are a million music blogs out there, I think I’m going to repost the stuff I write here AND write about some music. It’s the least I can do for a community that I take from. I have my radio show, but why not expand upon that? There is AMAZING music out there that never gets it chance…and too much that gets much more than it deserves. I don’t know who will look, but at least it will be one more place where new things could be discovered.
In that sense of discovery, we are all relying on each other these days. The old methods don’t work anymore. There are only so many magazines and they are having trouble staying afloat. The pages are dedicated to the tried and true trends in the attempt to sell copies. That is also the case with booking tours as promoters are afraid of losing their asses.
Rely on each other for discovery. The hard copy of music is dead. I like having vinyl and mp3s. We musicians have no control over the sharing of our songs anymore. I accept it. What else can I do? It would be nice if I could make a living off of the creation of recorded music, but that time is gone. The structure is gone.
So, I ask you this favor for me. Then I will ask you a favor for everyone else. First, please, I ask you that you find 5 friends to share this bands (The Rebound) music with. Send a link to this mySpace page or email a couple of the songs you like best. Ask them to pass those songs along if they like them. It is this interest that I need from you to be able to afford to get out on the road. I feel selfish asking such a thing, but they say it can never help to ask.
The second favor is this. Please send ME the stuff that you are interested in now. Music, art, film, articles information, etc. I want to add to this circle of information on my WordPress page and on my radio show. Send me demos. Send me news. Send me stuff!
Send it here and lets get the ball rolling. Maybe this is a sign that I need to get out more, but I at least want to try.
xo R
Well, I’ve been writing pretty regularly on mySpace. Hmmm, it should go here too.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to link all of this social networking stuff. In the meantime, here are the TWO blogs I posted today:
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&bID=495493412
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The Maltese | Chico, California | ||
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Bottom of the Hill | San Francisco | ||
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The Blank Club | San Jose, California | ||
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Fire Escape Bar and Grill | Citrus Heights, California | ||
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AUDIE’S OLYMPIC | Fresno, California | ||
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MUDDY WATER’S CAFE | Santa Barbara | ||
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The Knitting Factory | Hollywood, California | ||
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Brick By Brick | San Diego, California | ||
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The Beauty Bar for NEON REVERB | Las Vegas, Nevada | ||
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HOLLYWOOD ALLEY | Mesa | ||
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Rock Bottom | San Antonio, Texas | ||
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Take II | El Paso, Texas | ||
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Amped Performance | Albuquerque, New Mexico | ||
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Larimer Lounge | Denver, Colorado | ||
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Burt’s Tiki Lounge | Salt Lake City, Utah | ||
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NEUROLUX | Boise | ||
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EL CORAZON | Seattle | ||
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Dante’s | Portland, Oregon |
“Why? Why? Why?
Dammit! Why did you have to bring politics into anything? I have an opinion of the immediate past president that’s not all good but not all bad either. You may not care, but your slam and posting of him has made it much less likely that I’ll be a very big fan. I was getting all set to really enjoy your music, too. Epoxies rocked (first 2 cd’s).”
I love this post. Seriously. I do.
I love difference in opinion, not because I like to argue (actually I hate arguing), but because I love things that make me think.
I’ve learned a lot form being in a band in general and have had some life changing experiences over the last year. With new music, I have learned not to say that I hate something, but it is “not my thing” if it is indeed not my thing. I guess I didn’t follow that rule with my post on Bush, but I don’t want to do that with this person.
I do care that this person is not going to listen to my band because he/she disagrees with my opinion, but I’m not going to take back my opinion or delete the post it is response to as a result. The little text in my “I Hope the Door Hit You On the Way Out” post is rather juvenile and I cop to that that, but GWB also made some decisions that I disagree with and will take years to undo. Those decisions effect me, people that I love, and everyone in this country in ways that I feel (again, my opinion) are very negative. I’m not going to make a list as his decisions have been well documented again and again and I want to move on.
So, dear person, I have utmost respect for your opinion. You will do what you feel the need to do. I’m sorry I’ve lost you due to differences, but sometimes politics comes up and I didn’t want to shy away from it even though I often don’t talk about it. If we all shied away from difference of opinion, we would have no friends, no lovers, no family, no art, etc. There is a lot to be learned from difference of opinion and I am grateful for the lessons. Isn’t it great that we can still live our lives (for the most part*) by our own sets of standards and ethics?
Thank you.
* I could get into civil rights, privacy issues, etc. here.
I’m doing my radio show as I write this. I’m playing a song by a band called the Devestations. It’s putting me in a pensive, yet romantic mood.
I’ve been having a hard time balancing things recently. As long as I remember, I’ve randomly developed a sense of dread over the most mundane things. I remember coming back from a ski trip in 4th grade a day early and dreading heading back to school.
Sometimes the simplest things do get to me in the most ridiculous ways. It feels like shit physically at times. It’s unhealthy. It’s silly. I’ve got a gigantic neck cramp at the moment. Is it my East Coast background? Is it my Virgo tendencies?
It doesn’t matter why. All that matters is shaking it off. I’ve been working on that. I continue to work on a lot of things. Everything just keeps getting better.
