Blink 182 Announces Summer Tour

So my roomate Pat is a big follower of Blink 182 and was kind enough to supply me with their newly announced TOUR DATES found on lead singer Mark Hoppus' website. These dates have been confirmed.

The first leg of the tour contains some big names like Fall Out Boy, All-American Rejects, Panic at the Disco. All of these bands are pretty decent. A little bit poppy, but FoB's "From Under the Cork Tree" was definitely one of my favorite albums of 2005. And their second studio album, "Take This to Your Grave", contains probably their best songs ("Dead on Arrival", "Grand Theft Autumn/Where is Your Boy?"), which you can tell were greatly influenced by Blink 182.

BUT WAIT...THERES MORE! The second leg of their tour is even better...because they are touring with WEEZER! How about that shit!? They'll also be playing with Taking Back Sunday, which is another good guitar-heavy punk band. Two bands I've always regretted not seeing in concert...Blink and Weezer...and now they're playing together. You better believe I'll be going to one of these concerts...whether in Hartford or at Jones Beach.

So ya...pretty big tour. Congrats to Blink 182 for finally coming back and to Travis Barker for being able to handle this tour after last years tragic plane crash. Everybody knows I love jam rock, but I grew up listening to Weezer and Blink. All I wanna know is WHOS COMIN WITH ME!?

Cool Vid: Coheed plays with Warren Haynes...

Came across this video today on one of my favorite websites, JamBase. This is a sweet video, featuring some of the world's greatest guitarists: Claudio Sanchez and Travis Stever of Coheed and Cambria; and Warren Haynes, the frontman of Government Mule and lead guitarist of The Allman Brothers Band.

Warren Haynes apparently joined them on stage back in October of last year during Night 4 ("No World for Tomorrow") of their "Neverender" (recently released as a CD/DVD set) run in New York City. This is a video of them covering The Band's, "I Shall Be Released" (originally written and later performed by the one, the only, Bob Dylan).

Click here to watch the video. (I haven't figured out how to post them directly yet hahaha...I'm not that good with blogspot yet if you couldn't tell)

Travis is the one who starts singing and is playing the acoustic. Warren is the old guy playing the Gibson Les Paul with the finger slide. Claudio is obviously the guy with the big hair playing the Ibanez who rocks out on the dueling solos with Warren at the end.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Both Bonnaroo and Warren Haynes will be at Bonnaroo this year so MAYBE they will play together then. One can only dream...hahaha.

July Concerts Round Hartford

Well if you're like me you probably like to look in advance for concerts you may want to go see over the summer. Since Monday is Memorial Day and June is just a week away from there...we might as well go ahead and take a look at July. Same story as last time.



JULY





WHEN: Wednesday, July 1st
WHO: REO Speedwagon w/ Styx and .38 Specia
WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)
RATING: **** (out of 5) - 80's throwback concerts are sweet! I saw REO and Styx a few years ago in Pittsburgh and they both put on pretty good shows. Problem is their shows are really short, but if you like to sing-a-long then by all means rock out to "Renegade", "Hold on Loosely" and "Roll With the Changes".





WHEN: Thursday, July 2nd
WHO: The Judds
WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)
RATING: * - Horrible...just horrible.





WHEN: Sunday, July 5th
WHO: Judas Priest w/ Whitesnake
WHERE: Chevrolet Theater (Wallingford)
RATING: *** - Judas Priest was one of the hardest working metal bands...but then they lost Rob Halford. Whitesnake would be alright to see tho, they don't tour too often.





WHEN: Tuesday, July 7th
WHO: Def Leppard, Poison, Cheap Trick
WHERE: Comcast Theater (Hartford)
RATING: *** - 80's Week continues in the Hartford Area. DL puts on one hell of a show. Poison is arguably one of the most popular hair metal bands of the 80's. Cheap Trick has some awesome tunes. This would be a great concert to get smashed and go see. I might actually go check this one out myself.





WHEN: Friday, July 10th
WHO: Jay-Z w/ Ciara
WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)
RATING: *** - From what I hear the man puts on an amazing show. Great artist who's guaranteed to get the crowd movin. However, it loses a point with me because it's indoors.





WHEN: Sunday, July 12th
WHO: Vans Warped Tour
WHERE: Comcast Theater (Hartford)
RATING: ** - Weakest lineup the tour has ever fielded. If you're over 18...pass.





WHEN: Sunday, July 12th
WHO: Montgomery Gentry
WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)
RATING: ** - Saw him last year at Bonnaroo. Great guitarist, poor lyricist





WHEN: Friday, July 17th
WHO: Stone Temple Pilots
WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)
RATING: **** - STP is a phenomenal band who puts on great live shows. I have always wanted to see them play, BUT again, I'm not going to pay to see an Arena concert in the summertime. However, I might go see them because I missed them while they were on tour last summer and if Scott Weiland decides to do mass amounts of drugs again...who knows when they'll tour again?





WHEN: Friday, July 17th
WHO: Toby Keith w/ Trace Adkins
WHERE: Comcast Theater (Hartford)
RATING: **** - Hear Toby Keith puts on a good show. Again...lots of girls in cowboy hats and white tank tops. Would be worth it for that. Toby Keith brings out the hotties. No offense, but its true.





WHEN: Thursday, July 23rd
WHO: Beyonce
WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)
RATING: *** - She's a very attractive woman. Thats all.





WHEN: Saturday, July 25th
WHO: Nickelback, Hinder, Papa Roach and Saving Abel
WHERE: Comcast Theater (Hartford)
RATING: * - All these bands play terrible, recycled garbage...ESPECIALLY Nickelback. Has Hinder had a second single after that kiss from an angel song (that song...awful)? I'll give Papa Roach a lil bit of cred b/c they can play their instruments, but that's about it.





WHEN: Friday, July 31st
WHO: Jason Mraz w/ G Love & Special Sauce
WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)
RATING: **** - Mraz is a great singer/guitarist, but the reason to see this concert is G Love...cause he is the F'N MAN! I am doing everything in my power to get to this show...even though its an arena show.


IN CONCLUSION:

DON'T MISS STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
DO MISS THE JUDDS


Coming soon...AUGUST! Which includes stops from Dream Theater, O.A.R., and the Allman Brothers.

Hartford Rocks? A Look at the Summer Concert Series in the Greater Harford Area

Memorial Day is just over a week away. You know what that means...beer, hot dogs, beer, burgers, beer, brats, beer, chicken, bikinis, beer, tostadas, ANNNNDDD the unofficial start of summer!!! Hooray for the sun!

With that said, I think it's about time I write a post directed to everybody NOT going to Bonnaroo. Since a lot of you O-heads out there live in the Greater Hartford Area...here's a list of the summer concerts heading our way...check it out. The asterisks next to the show mean how "wicked awesome" (my tribute to Boston) the show is going to be. One asterisk meaning its gonna be as cool as a Yanni concert (my tribute to the Pens...we still won! Thanks Yanni!). Five asterisks mean that it would as close to "wicked awesome" as a Zepp concert.

NOTICE: These are just the big ticket acts...I will have a separate post for the smaller club acts.

JUNE:

WHEN: Friday, June 5th AND Saturday, June 6th
WHO: Dave Matthews Band

WHERE: Comcast Theater (Hartford)

RATING: **** (out of 5): Dave always puts on a good show, and the tailgates are awesome!

WHEN: Friday, June 5th

WHO: Cheech and Chong

WHERE: Chevrolet Theater (Wallingford)

RATING: *** This show has got to be hilarious. I wouldn't recommend going sober though. Not at all.

WHEN: Saturday, June 13th

WHO: 2009 Country Megaticket feat. Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Jimmy Wayne

WHERE: Comcast Theater (Hartford)

RATING: **** IF I was a country fan, I wouldn't miss this one. Chicks in wife beaters! WOOO!

WHEN: Sunday, June 14th

WHO: Jane's Addiction

WHERE: Chevrolet Theater (Wallingford)

RATING: *** Farrell and Navarro back together. Should be a decent reunion tour.

WHEN: Wednesday, June 17th

WHO: Fleetwood Mac

WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)

RATING: *** My mom would love this show. I prolly would too. Good musicians. Stevie rocks!

WHEN: Thursday, June 18th

WHO: New Kids on the Block w/ Jabbawockeez

WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)

RATING: * I urge you to miss this show. Jabba what?!?!?!?! Bring earplugs and heavy sedatives.

WHEN: Saturday, June 20th

WHO: The Fray w/ Jack's Mannequin

WHERE: Chevrolet Theater (Wallingford)

RATING: ** Don't cry during the show when you think of Grey's Anatomy being on hiatus for the summer.

WHEN: Saturday, June 20th

WHO: Andrea Boccelli

WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)

RATING: * One of the best opera singers alive today. Featured on the Sopranos. Bring the gabbagool! It gets the one asterisk just cuz its opera.

WHEN: Wednesday, June 24th

WHO: No Doubt w/ Paramore

WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)

RATING: ** Paramore will probably put on the better show, but Stefani is fun to look at.

WHEN: Thursday, June 25th

WHO: Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band

WHERE: Comcast Center (Hartford)

RATING: ***** Jimmy Buffett tailgates are the BEST IN THE WORLD!!!!! If you've never been to a JB concert...dont miss this show!

WHEN: Friday, June 26th

WHO: Rascal Flatts w/ Darius Rucker

WHERE: Comcast Theater (Hartford)

RATING: ** Chicks love Rascal Flatts, but why are they playing with Hootie? hahaha

WHEN: Sunday, June 28th

WHO: Aerosmith w/ ZZ Top

WHERE: Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville)

RATING: *** Aerosmith and ZZ Top both put on a good show, but this would be much better at an outdoor venue.

IN CONCLUSION:

DON'T MISS JIMMY BUFFETT!

DO MISS NKOTB AND JABBA-WHATEVER

So there's a look at June...tomorrow we'll take a look at July.

SIDENOTE:

I can't believe I rated the country megaticket up there with DMB. Can you imagine how many crazy country girls are gonna be there though? Wait a second...this is New England. There is NOTHING country about New England. I take back an asterisk.

Bonnaroo 2009 Daily Schedule Announced! Pros and Cons

31 Days until Bonnaroo...I'm starting to get f'n PUMPED!!! 4 days of live music in the hot Tennessee sun is EXACTLY what I need right now. I just wish it was even closer.


So what made me get so pumped all of a sudden is the fact that the Roo released it's day to day schedule last week. For those of you who would like to see it...check it out here. The schedule is a "rough draft" of when every band is scheduled to play throughout the weekend.


As with any major event like this where so many good bands are slotted to play, there are bound to be some scheduling conflicts. I've been keeping an eye on the Bonnaroo message boards and a lot of people are speaking out about the horrible conflicts this year. So I'm going to list some common complaints here and break them down for you and give you my take as well:


1. THE COMPLAINT: Friday 6/12 -Animal Collective (2:45p-4:00p) and Galactic (3:45p-5:00p) overlap. A lot of people are pissed that these two psychadelic-electronic bands (who, respectively, are very similar bands) are playing almost on top of each other. Not only that, but a lot of roo-ers are mad over the fact that they are playing during the day. Understandable...both bands like to use lighting effects to enhance their shows, but I think that this complaint is coming mostly from the heavy psychadelic users.
MY TAKE: Suck it up. Both these shows are gonna be great. Yes, the lighting effects would be sweet, but seriously...don't let it ruin your weekend. These people gotta try and please 200,000 people and over 100 bands. Can't please everyone, and if you're worried about the 15 minute overlap you're going to run into much bigger problems over the weekend.


2. THE COMPLAINT: Friday 6/12 - Ani DiFranco, Al Green, TV on the Radio, and Lucinda Williams are all playing at the same time.
MY TAKE: Simple as this...go with your mood. You wanna hear some kick ass acoustic guitar by a liberal chick rocker you go see Ani. If you want to hear some R&B vocals you decide between male (Al Green) or female (Lucinda Williams). If you want to hear what many music magazines rated the top album of the year in 2008 ("Dear Science"), you go see TV on the Radio. Me personally...as a fan of acoustic guitar I gotta stop by and check Ani out real quick...then headin to catch TV on the Radio...they kick ass.


3. THE COMPLAINT: Friday 6/12 - No headliner. Beastie Boys take the main stage from 8:30p-10:00p, David Byrne plays from 8:45p-10:45p, and Phish plays from 11:00p-2:00a.
MY TAKE: You say no headliner...I say a double headliner. Clearly Beasties are the headliner, but for those who don't like them can go see some old school David Byrne (one of the founding member of Talking Heads). Phish could count as the double headliner because they're playing on the main stage. Which pleases me because no one is taking My Morning Jacket's historical 1:00am set on the What Stage.


4. THE COMPLAINT: Saturday 6/13 - No one is opposite Bruce Springsteen. Basically, the rest of the festival shuts down so The Boss can take the stage. No alternatives are scheduled for those who are not a fan of Americana.
MY TAKE: Yeah this does suck. I kinda want to see Bruce, but I'm not sure about seeing him for 3.5 hours. Bruce, like many other musicians who have been around for 30+ years, has a lot of hits, but in between those hits are a lot of garbage. But, come on, it's The Boss. He's gonna put on a hell of a show (even if he's not the best singer in the world). Plus his band has the drummer from Conan O'Brien and the guitarist is Silvio Dante from The Sopranos. If he sticks to what people know he'll be fine, but if not, expect people to go back to their tents and get messed up for Saturday nights awesome late shows. Which sets us up for the next complaint...


5. THE COMPLAINT: Saturday 6/13 - The late night shows are INCREDIBLE, but you can't see them all. Nine Inch Nails, moe., Ben Harper, Yeasayer, and MGMT are all playing within the same 4-hour block.
MY TAKE: I have no idea what is going to happen during this time period. I myself would love to see all of these bands, but moe. is definitely one of my favorite bands, so you know where my priorities lie. HOWEVER...I have never seen NIN, so maybe I will catch the beginning of their set, but with a 4-hour moe. set scheduled I may have to get their early to get up front. Either way...this will be the best 4-hour span of the weekend and at least one of these shows will go down in history.


6. THE COMPLAINT/MY TAKE: Sunday 6/14 - OK...this is a personal complaint. I'm not happy that Coheed & Cambria are playing at the same time as Snoop Dogg on Sunday. Obviously I'm going to see Coheed because they are the band I most want to see at the festival, and it'll be a great way to end the weekend, BUT Snoop show is gonna be off-the-hook crazy and LOADED with scantily clad Bonnaroo women (lmao!)! Oh well...I'm sure Coheed is gonna be sick.



7. THE COMPLAINT: No SuperJam is scheduled for this year. Usually, SuperJam is a time reserved on one of the stages late at night for any musicians to come out and jam. Usually there are a few announced musicians who start the jam, but then other musicians from tons of other bands make guest appearances and just jam on their instruments.
MY TAKE: I don't really have a take on this one. I didn't see the SuperJam last year because it was at the same time as MMJ, but I would like to see this happen on Friday night opposite Phish if possible. A lot of people are saying that Phish WILL BE the SuperJam tho, and that many guest stars will play with them Friday night.







So those are the main complaints I'm hearing. I don't think any of them are too major except for maybe the Saturday night late shows, but that's just something that people with eccentric music tastes like myself are going to have to deal with. Either way I am pleased with the lineup. It's not as great as last year, but different years bring different festivals and I can't wait to see what the vibe is like down on the farm this year. It seems like two major changes have happened since the 2008 festival: 1. More jam and electronic bands. 2. Less big name heavy metal and hip-hop acts. This is not the best solution in my opinion, but it should appease the more-hippier crowd and bring back a lot of old Bonnaroo veterans that protested the big acts the last few years (Tool, Metallica, Kanye West).







Either way I'm gettin excited. Hopefully, it is a drama-free weekend, unlike last year (see: Kanye West Bonnaroo Debacle and his response).













Sorry I haven't been posting as much. It's been a long, but good, couple of weeks. Till next time.

Album Review: My Morning Jacket's "Celebracion de la Ciudad Natal"

BAND: My Morning Jacket

ALBUM: La Celebracion de la Ciudad Natal

RELEASED: April 19, 2009

It's time to pop the album review cherry. Let me explain a few things about how I receive my music though. First of all, I don't buy albums unless they are from a band that I truly support 100%. Secondly, I'd say roughly 75% of my current music library is made up of downloaded songs. Like I said I usually only buy albums from my favorite bands...most of the albums I download I tend to find by accident. Ok, not completely. Usually what happens is I find a big ticket I'd like to go see (Coachella, Rothbury, Bonnaroo, etc.) and I compare bands between the tickets and find bands I've never heard of before. Then I do some research to find out what that bands sound is like. If it sounds intriguing I download it and give it a good listen. Some of my favorite bands have been recently found using this guaranteed O-method, especially My Morning Jacket.

I received this album earlier this week from a friend of mine from Louisville, Kentucky. For those of you who don't know...My Morning Jacket is from the same town. Anyway, he's a big music buff like me and can recall seeing MMJ in their earlier days when they played bars in the area. He claims that lead singer Jim James used to always come to the clubs early and watch the openers and that he "never wore shoes and smelled like garbage." AKA...he smelled and looked like a dirty hippie. NOT that there's anything wrong with that. Anyway, so he went home and brought back this CD for me knowing how much I liked the band. Best thing about it is that album could only be bought on Record Store Day, AND it's from the store that it was originally recorded in!

So Jim James is a big home town kind of guy. You know...likes to go home and surprise the fans and sign autographs, and visit his favorite independent record store, Ear-X-Tacy. So that pretty much sets you up for the story behind this album and it's exclusive National Record Day release. I can't really put Yim Yames words into my own so take a look at this...

"hello friends. we are proud to announce and release a lil live ep that was
recorded right in our very own hometown of louisville, ky. a few songs were
taken from our in-store appearence at our beloved and fabled record haven
“ear-x-tacy” and a few of them were taken from our concert at the fabled
“waterfront park.” see if you can guess which is from which. we are excited to
make this a special release that you can only get at your favorite local
independent record store, as now more than ever we all need to take the time to
celebrate what our favorite local record stores and businesses mean to us - the
value of community/human to human non- internet related physical and spiritual
contact and supporting the hardworking people in your community who strive
everyday to keep it unique and keep it local. we are fortunate in our travels to
get to see many wonderful things, but one of the most distressing things is the
increasing “normalization” of the world and how all these places are starting to
look the same- everywhere you look more and more towns are starting to be filled
with the same gigantic corporations, and while some of these huge companies
undoubtably provide valuable services, it is so important that we realize that
it is our local businesses and people (and natural landscapes, but thats a
different letter) that are what make different towns worth coming to…things you
can only get in one place, made and sold by people who believe in what they are
doing…people who are trying to keep good weirdness alive in this crazy dome.
god* bless all of you, and god* bless the world and all that kinda shit.
-yer
pals, my morning jacket

p.s.- *the word “god*” is used here meaning anything you want it to
mean and is a trademark of globo-chem worldwide." - from www.mymorningjacket.com

Well.. thats the story behind the album...my favorite part is the p.s. at the bottom. Definitely gave me a good chuckle.

So after anxiously awaiting several hours to get home from work, I popped this album into my CD player and was immediately surprised by the sound quality of this recording. A lot of bands live albums drown out certain instruments, or sometimes the vocals can fade in and out, or you get a certain staticy feedback from the amps on stage clashing with the recording equipment. This album has not of that. It may be one of the clearest and crispest sounding live albums I've ever heard.

This album is filled with great tracks from the band too...check out the set list...

1. Evil Urges 2. Highly Suspicious 3. Gideon 4. Where to Begin 5. Librarian 6. Phone Went West 7. Dondante

They couldn't have really picked a better set list. "Evil Urges", "Librarian", and "Highly Suspicious" are all hits off of their latest album. "Gideon" is one of my favorite MMJ songs...one of Yim's strongest vocal pieces. Just kinda mellows you out. "Where to Begin" is an acoustic and vocal piece that is just simply stunning to hear live. I've seen them three times now and I've never heard it played live until this album.

The last two songs are probably my favorites on the album. "Phone Went West" is one of their better live songs. In fact...it's sooooooo much better live than the original album version. It's faster, the vocals are much louder, and the guitar is more tropical sounding. It almost sounds like it should be a Jimmy Buffet song. Meanwhile..."Dondante" may be the bands true live masterpiece. I've never seen a recording of this song with a runtime under 12:00. This may be out of left field, but if I was to compare to any other bands ultimate lengthy-jammy-guitar solo filled-epic, I would compare it to Led Zeppelin's "Undertow". The timing of the songs are even pretty similar. Either way, listening to "Dondante" on this CD brings back some great memories from New Years Eve this past year.

By far, the best part of this album is trying to figure out which songs are from their show indoor at Ear-X-Tacy, and which songs are from their outdoor show at Waterfront Park in Louisville. You know it's a well recorded album when you can't tell the difference between indoor and outdoor acoustics. Well done.

I haven't decided on a ratings system yet, but for this one I will go with points out of 10.

This album gets a 7.5 out of 10...an awesome sounding live album with a great set list, but still a live album and no original material. Go listen to it...if you can find it.

Carl Broemmel jammin at ear-X-tacy in Louisville, Kentucky