So I recently decided to get rid of the Band of the Week section on the right side of the page and do a complete overhaul and change the feature to Band of the Month. I took a big financial hit with this change, but I think it was for the best.
In all seriousness, I changed it because I have the tendency to find a band and listen to their whole collection for just about a month at a time. This way I can have 1 Band of the Month and 4 Songs of the Week from that band. I think it'll work out for the best.
1. Dave Matthews, Ben Harper, Gogol Bordello...Now in 3D!
Coming to a theater near you...maybe. So a production company called inconcert3D is releasing a show from each of these bands, which will be broadcast back-to-back-to-back in digital 3D. I guess it's a pretty cool concept, but if I was gonna see a concert in 3D I would want a more visually stimulating concert than any of these bands (even though Gogol Bordello is pretty energetic). Can we get a MGMT, Flaming Lips, and Pink Floyd concert instead? I can't imagine watching Dave doing his foot dance or Ben Harper's up-close vocal expressions being that entertaining, but who knows...prove me wrong.
Anyway, the concerts were all played over this last year at big festivals. Dave Matthews Band's set is from Austin City Limits, Ben Harper and Relentless 7's set is from Mile High Music Festival, and Gogol Bordello's set is from All Point West.
The 3D movie is only available in select theaters and is only playing for a week from December 11-17, so get off your ass if you want to go see it. You can check what theaters it is playing in by going here.
2. My Morning Jacket Gets Animated
Did you see MMJ on American Dad?! It was probably the best episode of the show I have ever seen. Granted I have only seen a dozen or so episodes, but still, it was the kind of episode that makes you want to watch more of a show. Jim James had a few great one liners in the show, but I was more excited about the montage of Stan flying on Jim's back thru an animated journey set to the song, "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Pt. 2". At least 5 MMJ songs played during the episode, which was surprising...including live concert footage at the end of the show! If you haven't seen the episode, I strongly suggest you watch it...if you call yourself my friend that is...hahahaha
Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT will once again become a place of good vibes for 3 days this summer, rather than the 362 other days of the year that it is known as being one of the cesspools of crime in Connecticut. Concert organizers announced this years dates as July 29th - August 1st. They will be holding their first town meeting for their concert on Monday over their website...which apparently is going to be followed up with a webcast from Dark Star Orchestra's November 17th concert at Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport. Not sure if the public gets any say on the festival, but if you really wanna find out then tune in on their website, GOVIBES.com, Monday at 7pm.
1. 2010 Bonnaroo Dates Released Sooo...another year is quickly approaching which means that Bonnaroo is only 6 months (or so) away! Although the initial artist announcements are still 2 months (or so) away, the fantastic folks at Superfly Productions have announced this years festival dates as June 10-13. Unfortunately for me I may not be able to swing Roo this year, but I will let the initial lineup decide that for me. If My Morning Jacket is on the list nothing but death itself could stop me from making it down to Manchester in early June. Pre-sale tickets go on sale soon for the holiday season. I would imagine the ticket price is gonna stay around $250 for 1st Round.
In other Roo news the 2009 DVD should be arriving at my house any day now. Pretty pumped because it has "Welcome Home" by Coheed & Cambria on it and Rob and I were definitely front row for that show so it'd be cool to have my face on one of these DVD's (missed out on 08's...dammit). You can check out some of the live performances that will be on the DVD at http://www.bonnaroo.com/
NOTE: If you look at the "Watch it performed here..." section on the right you can view the Song of the Week, "Little Secrets" performed by Passion Pit at Bonnaroo 2009 (it's the second one down)...it is one of the ones included on the DVD.
2. Vampire Weekend's NYC Album Release Shows Good news and bad news...
Good news first...Vampire Weekend's new album, "Contra" (title inspired by one of the greatest video games of all time), comes out January 12th and to correspond with the album release the band will be playing 3 shows at 3 different venues in New York.
Sunday, January 17th - United Palace Monday, January 18th - Webster Hall Tuesday, January 19th - Bowery Ballroom
Bad news...Monday and Tuesday's shows are both 100% sold out. No single tickets are available and tickets are going for $90-175 a piece on StubHub and eBay. So save up that Christmahannukwanza money kids.
I've heard two songs so far off the album and they're both pretty decent. I posted "Horchata" on the blog about a month ago. You can hear their first single "Cousins" on the front page of their website http://www.vampireweekend.com/
3. moe. Announces 20th Anniversary Tour Chuck, Al, Rob, and Vinny are getting ready to celebrate their 20th anniversary with a nationwide tour starting in January. According to http://www.jambase.com/ the band will be starting their tour where they got big, in the Northeast. The cities that have been rumored so far are Rochester (of course), Boston, New York, Ithaca, and Pennsylvania (apparently it is a whole city now). Tour dates should be solidified in the coming weeks.
Also, moe. is bring back their winter festival, snoe.Down, which will be returning this year from March 26th-28th in Killington/Rutland, Vermont. I wish it was a couple weeks early because my buddies from home and I are going up skiing for a week in KTown. Guess I might have to go back a few weeks later.
Finally, if you haven't seen or heard any videos from moe.'s now-historic Halloween 2009 set from Albany, you really should. They let the fans vote on which covers they would play and the band came out and covered "Dark Star" by Grateful Dead, "Stash" by Phish, "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon, "Echoes" by Pink Floyd, and...I saved the best for last....
I haven't been paying much attention this page lately and I apologize. I gotta a little distracted with life. Posts are gonna be a little more frequent from here on out. I'm starting a new bi-weekly segment called the Big 3...which will deal with the Top 3 music stories of the week and my take on them. Also...I'm going to be looking for some guest writers here to maybe do some album reviews. If you have an album you'd like to review for the page let me know.
Also, coming in December I'm going to be counting down the Top 10 Albums and Songs of 2009. So keep an eye out for that.
"It's Not OK" by Zac Brown Band From the album The Foundation (2008)
A man was bothering me today and I wanted to tell him to go away
But I stood and listened to him anyway, okay.
He said he didn't want to shoot that man
And it was his thing and I wouldn't understand
And he had done all that he can, okay.
I guess his body was as good as mine
And just like me he was wasting time
Turning over every stone to see what he could find, okay.
He was filling tank and he asked for moneyI lied and said I didn't have any
Then my conscious took over and I gave him a hand full of change.
Don't do a thing.
Stay right there.
You'll lie there.
You don't seem to care
I know its hard to survive in the city
When the beautiful days don't look so pretty
And you don't have windows to keep the night away, okay.
He was dirty and stink and just a bit crude
But I didn't say that because that's kind of rude
And he didn't care what I had to say in the first place, okay.
I wanted to say you're a big disgrace to the world, yourself, and the human race
And reach back and pop him one good time in the face, okay.
No its not okay and I didn't do that
But I gave him a smile and tipped my hat and told him to have a very nice rest of the day
Don't do a thing.
Stay right there.
You'll lie there.
You'll lie there.
You don't seem to care.
Guess he bought some booze or shit
And sure that bothers me a little bit but it's his life and I can't tell him how to live it
As he turned and started to go his way I tried to think of something wise to say like...
Don't do a thing.
Stay right here.
You'll lie here.
You don't seem to care.
You'll die here.
You don't seem to care
What is there to know about me? Well I'll keep it simple. I'm 25 and I love music. I enjoy going to live concerts more than almost anything in the world. I plan on using this blog to tell you my thoughts on music. What I'm listening to, what you should be, what concerts are coming up around the Greater Hartford area you should check out, and reviews (and pictures, hopefully) of shows I have gone too. So read up, enjoy, comment, and feel free to offer suggestions...I'm new to this whole thing.
