Friday, May 29. 2009
Obscure La Grange Texas rap act LG Allstarz have turned themselves in after wounding 8 bystanders outside the entrance of the nightclub Spiros in Austin, Texas. Gunfire erupted at the club last night after the act was booted from the venue. After showing up late for their set and demanding their set, they took a swing at the promoter and were escorted out by security. Returning shortly afterward with guns they then apparently fired at the club entrance, wounding 8. For more on the story check out the Austin American Statesmen.
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Wednesday, May 20. 2009
Though the next 2 weeks is kind of lacking for big name road shows, the rest of the summer in Austin is starting to fill out a bit. New concert announcements include a stop at the Austin Music Hall on August 3rd for Counting Crows and The Cult will play Stubb's on September 5th. Other tasty gigs coming up include Les Claypool and Matisyahu on June 9th, Incubus on August 19th, and then the next night you can get those spandex pants out of the closet for Blondie and Pat Benatar on August 20th, all at the Austin Music Hall.
Aside from the aforementioned gig by The Cult, Stubb's has some solid shows lined up as well starting with The Indigo Girls tomorrow, Animal Collective's set on June 5th is sold out already, Gomez plays on June 8th. Appropriately Explosions In The Sky plays on July 4th and then Austin favorites Spoon have 3 days in a row, July 9,10, and 11th. Rise Against with Rancid and Canada's Billy Talent play Stubb's on July 17th.
Emo's has some good shows coming too, scoring The New York Dolls on June 5th, Peaches on June 11th, and, strangely, David Allan Coe on June 12th. Ben Kweller plays Emo's on June 27th and a band I want to see just because of their name, Iwrestledabearonce plays on July 29th, opening for August Burns Red. Hatebreed plays August 22nd with Chimaira and Toxic Holocaust, dress appropriately.
Oddballs include Michael Schenker Group at Ace's Lounge on June 21, Germany's legendary guitarist apparently having gotten his visa issues sorted out, and speaking of legends, Jamaican reggae legend Yellowman plays the Flamingo Cantina on June 19th, and the Meat Puppets play The Parrish on June 20th.
Robin Trower will play La Zona Rosa on June 5th, Reel Big Fish and The English Beat on July 28th, and Sugar Ray will play August 21st.
Of course there is also ACL fest...
Tuesday, May 19. 2009
You would think that a band that hasn't had a hit single since the Clinton administration would welcome press coverage, but such is not the case on The Offspring's current "The S*** Is F***ed Up Tour" (their asterisks, not ours). I can confirm that not only are they denying most media requests, they denied ours as well as several other media outlets, but they are hand selecting any photos taken by the media before they allow their use, as per the pre-show release that media must agree too.
Perhaps it's a good thing as their show has been moved from the 4,400 seat Austin Music Hall to Stubb's Barbq in Austin, a venue that holds considerably less than half the Music Hall AND as of an hour before show time tickets are still available. And thats WITH Alkaline Trio as an opener! Maybe they are just trying to limit the "damage". I mean who wants to see pics of a band playing to an almost empty venue? If they were still booked into the Music Hall it would be an embarrassment.
As much as we like The Offspring , (I have been following them since their debut release in 89 and own all their releases except the current one, and have seen them perform 4 times), it's sad to see them fall so far, especially when just about every other road show in Austin seems to be selling out their Austin venues. It's disappointing as well when the other bands of the same era, Rancid, and Pennywise to name two, never seem to have problems granting media access when they tour the same venues.
We can only surmise The Offspring don't feel they need the coverage, though I suspect their ticket sales numbers might disagree. At least at Stubb's the show won't seem nearly as empty. If you go have fun, but don't look for us there.
Thursday, May 14. 2009
Guitarist Slash enjoys a good tweet every now and again
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
Ask anyone and they will tell you that I have had to be dragged into the "twittersphere" leaving long clawmarks where my fingernails finally lost their grip. I have not much interest in either being "followed" or "following" other people, something about the whole thing is kinda creepy and disconcerting. That said I have started following a few famous musicians and their adventures in "twitterland" and am amazed at some of the threads i have found. I am not sure if these are the actual people or someone impersonating them and based on the posts there is no sure way to tell. Maybe over time I will get a feel for their "tweeting" style, but for now here are some of my favorite tweets of the week...
Chris Cornell is tweeting "I don't like hats!" and wanting to shave his head. This is something I will have to add to my "things I didn't need to know about Chris Cornell" file.
Rocker Pete Yorn is using his twitter feed to discuss the comparative merits of the movies "Stripes" vs. "Meatballs" though twitters interface precludes posting in depth technical analysis, compare and contrast data sets and the like. (That must be on his Blog)
Meanwhile Al Yankovik is using his blog to complain about being spammed by a whole lot of people wanting to send him "sexy pictures of your friend Danielle!". Who is Danielle and why isn't anyone sending ME her pics?
Entertainment impresario P.Diddy has enlightened me with "Did I tell yall I love jello?????" followed immediately by "I've never had jello and ice cream. Have you?". Perhaps he is planning ahead for the future, Cosby has to retire soon, or maybe he is just thinking about lunch.
About the only two people I have been following that are actually using twitter to tell me something interesting are London based musician Imogene Heap, who lets people have an interesting look into the artistic process and guitarist Slash whose twitter feed is so business like sometimes I'm suspicious that he is using a "ghost tweeter" or at least having his lawyer edit them.
Know any good rock star twitter feeds? Let us know, we are always looking for interesting insights to the stars.
Monday, May 11. 2009
The Willowz at Stubb's BarBQ - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by Harrison Davis - club kingsnake staff
As much as I like the Toadies, I was excited about their show at Stubb’s more because of the openers, The Willowz. I walked into Stubb’s as The Willowz were beginning their set up. The crowd seemed a lot more casual than most shows that I go to. That’s probably because Toadies are playing here all the time these days. The Willowz came on to some enthusiasm, but not much. The band however, was full of energy and they played just like any good garage rock band should, fast and messy. I loved it. While some of the more impatient members of the crowd started a Toadies chant, I didn’t want Willowz to leave the stage. I definitely want to see them again and I will definitely go and pick up a record or two of theirs.
I’ve never really been a huge Toadies fan. I’ve heard the first album like everyone else but never thought it was as great as some people claim it to be. Toadies came out and opened with one the hits, “I Come from the Water”, which, as expected turned into a huge sing along. The band continued to mix in the hits with cuts from their recent album, but those tracks went by without too much of a reaction from the crowd. The biggest reaction surprisingly wasn’t “Possum Kingdom” but my personal favorite Toadies song, “Tyler”, which was by far the high point of the show. It was over pretty quick, but it was a great show. I did put in Rubberneck for the first time in a long time after the show, so I guess they did their job.
The Toadies at Stubb's - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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Friday, May 1. 2009
Dope at Stubb's BarBQ - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by Harrison Davis - club kingsnake staff
I had no idea that Black Label Society had the kind of hardcore followers that they do. I walked into Stubb’s to a sea of denim jackets with huge BLS patches enjoying the end of Cycle of Pain’s set.
I only caught the last song or so of Cycle of Pain, but what I saw was awesome. The band’s groove metal sounded great and the audience liked it even more than I did. The keyboard player was unexpected as I had never heard the band before and just went on the assumption that a band called Cycle of Pain wasn’t likely to have keyboard. I really enjoyed the one full song that I heard and I’ll probably look into hearing their debut album.
Dope is a band that I had heard of but never really heard. I have a few friends are huge fans, but I never really got into them, mostly because I never really gave them a chance. Dope’s set was full of energy. I was immediately impressed by the drumming of Angel Bartolotta and spent most of the set watching him. Frontman Edsel Dope also brought a lot of energy to the stage, especially during a cover of N.W.A’s “F**k the Police” which came out of nowhere. I wasn’t really pushed to seeing them headline or listening to studio material, but it was a pretty good show.
Sevendust at Stubb's BarBQ - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
It seemed to me like Sevendust had a difficult time getting the crowd, mostly because the crowd wanted Black Label immediately. Lead singer Lajon Witherspoon did everything he could to get the crowd going and while it worked temporarily, nothing really stuck. The band was good but not great. They were good at what they did, but I don’t have a particularly strong interest in them.
Just after Sevendust left the stage, a huge Black Label Society banner dropped over the stage and the crowd erupted. Unfortunately for them, there was still a wait until they graced the stage. The sound guy kept them occupied by playing many Pantera songs which almost always ended in a huge sing-along. When the curtain finally lifted, the band wasted no time in starting the show. At the beginning of the show, I found it difficult to concentrate on anything but lead singer/guitarist Zakk Wylde’s massive amp set up, which took up nearly the entire stage. The band fed off of the incredibly high energy of the crowd song after song. The show eventually slowed down for an emotional performance of “In This River”, a tribute to the late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrel. Then the band took a break and let Zakk play a long and impressive stand-alone solo. The band sounded great the entire set. It was my first time seeing BLS, although I had seen Zakk play with Ozzy before, and I will definitely be seeing them again.
Black Label Society at Stubb's - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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