Sunday, September 25. 2011
 |  | by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer
L.A. based Weird Al Yankovic brought banjos and accordions to the ACL Live stage last night, making up for a missed appearance at last years Fun Fun Fun Fest.
The audience was full of kids of all ages, regardless of actual age, and included long time Austin guitarist Eric Johnson, who watched on while Weird Al wheeled and reeled through a succession of his MTV hits at a frenetic pace.
Weird Al's current tour winds its way through the south, then up the east coast before finally ending up in Los Angeles in November.
Click here for more pics of Weird Al Yankovic. |  |
Friday, September 23. 2011
 |  | by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer
Erasure. the English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell, made a long- long awaited, anticipated, and overdue, return to Austin, playing to a sold out audience at ACL Live at the Moody Theater on an elaborate stage that included gargoyles and steel cages.
Erasure's U.S. tour began in August in Tampa and will finish in Seattle on October 6 before heading back to start a European tour in November.
Click here for more pics of Erasure . |  |
Thursday, September 22. 2011
 Old school trash band Testament have announced that they will be offering VIP/Meet & Greet Packs on their new co-headlining tour with Anthrax with additional support from Death Angel.
Over the past three years the band has been touring, including shows with Slayer, and Anthrax, in support of their 2008 award winning album The Formation of Damnation but Testament has recorded Dark Roots of Earth, the long awaited follow up and is playing cuts on this tour from their latest release.
| TESTAMENT w/ Anthrax & Death Angel:
10/11 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Orbit Room
10/15 Chicago, IL @ Congress Theater
10/16 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
10/18 Wichita, KS @ The Cotillion
10/19 Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
10/21 Las Vegas @ LVCS – No Anthrax
10/22 Los Angeles, CA @ Nokia Theater
10/23 San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
10/24 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
10/26 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
10/28 Dallas, TX @ South Side Music Hall
10/29 Austin, TX @ Emo’s East
10/30 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
| 11/1 Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
11/2 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
11/4 Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
11/5 Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
11/6 Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore
11/8 Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights
11/10 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
11/11 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
11/12 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom NEW
11/13 Huntington, NY @ The Paramount NEW
11/15 Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom11/17 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
11/18 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues * NEW
11/19 Milwaukee, WI @ Rave Ballroom
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Monday, September 19. 2011
 | The Thrust Management Tour starts September 21st and features Everyone Dies In Utah, A Faylene Sky, Serianna, and Through Arteries. The tour will end November 14th.
Everyone Dies In Utah is a band that believes in positive hardcore/electronica melodies. They are 6 members from Temple, Texas.
A Faylene Sky started out in Providence, Rhode Island. With six members, the band creates post-hardcore music with a variety of emotions.
Serianna is a metal-core band which started in late 2006. They have been taking every opportunity they are offered to share their uplifting lyrics.
Through Arteries is a band from San Antonio, Texas that grows from their electronica based pop/hardcore music. They will be releasing their first music video sometime this year. |
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Dates and Cities:
9/21/2011 Steger, IL
9/22/2011 Custer, MI
9/23/2011 Southgate, MI
9/24/2011 Jackson, MI
9/25/2011 Newark, OH
9/27/2011 Rochester, NY
9/28/2011 Albany, NY
9/29/2011 Manchester, NH
9/30/2011 Wareham, MA
10/1/2011 Providence, RI
10/2/2011 Freehold, NJ
10/3/2011 Amityville, NY
10/4/2011 Ozone Park, NY
10/5/2011 Philadelphia, PA
10/6/2011 Baltimore, MD
10/7/2011 Virginia Beach, VA
| 10/8/2011 Raleigh, NC
10/10/2011 Marietta, GA
10/11/2011 Jacksonville, FL
10/12/2011 Orlando, FL
10/13/2011 Jensen Beach, FL
10/14/2011 Pembroke Pines, FL
10/15/2011 Fort Myers, FL
10/16/2011 Tallahassee, FL
10/17/2011 Baton Rouge, LA
10/18/2011 Little Rock, AR
10/19/2011 Houston, TX
10/21/2011 McAllen, TX
10/22/2011 Austin, TX
10/23/2011 San Antonio, TX
10/24/2011 Roswell, NM
10/25/2011 El Paso, TX
10/26/2011 Mesa, AZ
10/27/2011 Murrieta, CA
| 10/28/2011 San Diego, CA
10/29/2011 Fullerton, CA
10/30/2011 Los Angeles, CA
10/31/2011 Fresno, CA
11/1/2011 Stockton, CA
11/2/2011 Eureka, CA
11/3/2011 Portland, OR
11/4/2011 Tacoma, WA
11/5/2011 Spokane, WA
11/6/2011 Boise, ID
11/7/2011 Salt Lake City, UT
11/9/2011 Denver, CO
11/10/2011 Wichita, KS
11/11/2011 Omaha, NE
11/12/2011 Des Moines, IA
11/13/2011 St Paul, MN
11/14/2011 Madison, WI |
Sunday, September 18. 2011
 Five Finger Death Punch had already announced their Share the Welt Tour in support of their newest album, American Capitalist. Bands heading out on the tour with 5FDP are All That Remains, Hatebreed, and Rev Theory.
SHARE THE WELT TOUR:
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH w/ ALL THAT REMAINS, HATEBREED, REV THEORY | 10/16 San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
10/17 Medford, OR @ Medford Armory
10/19 Magna, UT @ The Great Salt Air
10/22 Broomfield, CO @ 1st Bank Center
10/24 Missoula, MT @ Adams Center
10/25 Boise, ID @ Taco Bell Arena
10/26 Reno, NV @ Knitting Factory
10/28 El Paso, TX @ Speaking Rock *FREE SHOW
10/29 San Antonio, TX @ Sunken Garden
10/31 St. Charles, MO @ Family Arena
11/01 Little Rock, AR @ Clear Channel Metroplex
11/02 Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
11/04 Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
11/05 Grand Rapids, MI @ Delta Plex Arena Conf Center
11/06 Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room/ Old National
***JUST ANNOUNCED***
11/08 Houston, TX @ House of Blues
11/09 Corpus Christi, TX @ The Pavilion at Concrete Street
11/11 Lubbock, TX @ Lonestar Pavilion
11/12 Dallas, TX @ The Palladium Ballroom | 11/14 Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle
11/15 Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum Complex
11/16 Greenville, SC @ Bi-Lo Center - Pepsi Pavilion
11/18 St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live!
11/19 Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
11/21 Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
11/22 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
11/23 New York, NY @ Best Buy Theater
11/25 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
11/26 Wilkes-Barre, PA @ Mohegan Sun Arena
11/27 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
11/29 Niagara Falls, NY @ Rapids Theater
11/30 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
12/02 Wallingford, CT @ The Oakdale Theater
12/03 Lewiston, ME @ The Colisee
12/04 Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
12/06 Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy
12/13 Fargo, ND @ The Venue
12/14 St. Paul, MN @ Myth
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Saturday, September 17. 2011
 Los Angeles based band Seahaven will be touring in support of Touche Amore and Pianos Become The Teeth starting in November after wrapping their current tour in September. The band has completed recording and plans to reveal details on their upcoming full-length for Run For Cover Records in the coming months.
| 11/07/2011 | Dallas, TX @ Herman Hall
11/08/2011 | Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory
11/09/2011 | Albuquerque, NM @ Gasworks
11/13/2011 | Los Angeles, CA @ EchoPlex
11/14/2011 | San Francisco, CA @ Submission Art Space
11/16/2011 | Portland, OR @ Branx
11/17/2011 | Seattle, WA @ Vera Project
11/18/2011 | Boise, ID @ Jabber Mouth
11/19/2011 | Ogden, UT @ The Basement
11/20/2011 | Denver, CO @ Blast O Mat
11/22/2011 | Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room
11/23/2011 | Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
11/25/2011 | Cleveland, OH @ Now That's Class
11/26/2011 | Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose
11/27/2011 | Detroit, MI @ Smalls | 11/28/2011 | Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dee's
11/29/2011 | Montreal, QC @ Underworld
11/30/2011 | Boston, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
12/01/2011 | New York City, NY @ Santos Party House
12/02/2011 | Purchase, NY @ Purchase University
12/03/2011 | Philadelphia, PA @ Broad Street Ministries
12/04/2011 | Washington, DC @ Red Palace
12/05/2011 | Charlotte, NC @ Tremont
12/06/2011 | Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern
12/07/2011 | Wilmington, NC @ Soapbox
12/08/2011 | Nashville, TN @ Rocketown
12/09/2011 | Memphis, TN @ Escape Alley
12/10/2011 | St. Louis, MO @ Fubar
12/11/2011 | Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot
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Wednesday, September 14. 2011
 |  | by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer
I don't usually cover D.J.s but deadmau5 isn't really your ordinary D.J. and his shows are more than just a rave or dance party . His stop last night at the Austin Music Hall was no exception.
With a light show that would make Pink Floyd envious, a list of guest D.J.s that included Motley Crues Tommy Lee, and a walk on vocal performance by Sofi the show was more like a full blown concert event than a rave. deadmaus5 is partying again tonight at the Music Hall but this show is sold out.
Click here for more pics of deadmau5. |  |
Tuesday, September 13. 2011
 | With the City of Austin's surrounding areas recovering from a devastating outbreak of wildfires, and with the threat of more fires undiminished, the City of Austin is gearing up for it's 10th ACL Festival in Austin's Zilker Park this weekend. Held in the greenbelt area of the park known as "The Great Lawn" and surrounded by live oaks and other trees, an estimated 70,000-100,000 people will attend some or all of this weekends Festival, either as concert-goers or as staff. Even though thousands of gallons of water from Lake Austin have helped keep Zilker green during the drought, City and Park officials this week are making a huge effort to remind Festival goers that smoking has been banned in all City of Austin parks due to the extreme wildfire hazard, and that does include Zilker Park during this weekends ACL Festival.
We had a chance to discuss safety and security during the ACL Festival with the City of Austin's Parks Department Special Events Coordinator Jason Maurer and Victor Ovalle from the City's Public Information Office, and what they told us was both reassuring and somewhat disconcerting. While the City has gone to great lengths to make sure everyone has a safe and fun show, and a tremendous number of City agencies, from police, fire and EMS to event code enforcement are involved in the safety planning and execution, most of the burden of the safety and security for the event rests in the hands of the event promoters, C3 Presents, who declined to participate in this article. Additionally security and safety information, including emergency exit information, was unavailable due to Homeland Security restrictions.
In events such as these an event promoter, in this case C3 Presents, leases a park from the City of Austin for a certain period of time subject to certain restrictions and with a number of requirements, including an event safety plan. Once the promoters lease on the park starts it is much like a renting an apartment, everything beyond the doorway is the renters responsibility and the property owner, in this case the City of Austin, can only enter the property under specific terms during that period. In layman's terms, from Festival setup through breakdown, the City Park becomes private property of C3 Presents.
City planning for the event occurs year round and involves everything from closing streets and re-routing traffic to food safety and other safety and emergency concerns. Every department involved in the ACL Festival, which is just about every department it seems, "has a role at the table" in the regular planning meetings with all departments serving as part of an "infinite command" model according to Ovalle. These plans include the regular day to day activity plans, traffic plans, weather plans, and disaster plans. These departments work and coordinate with C3 Presents to develop these plans and at the end of the day everyone involved has to sign off on the plans developed with or presented by C3 for the festival to occur.
The City of Austin will maintain a command post on-site and in the event of a disaster has the ability and authority to call in first responders, take over festival operations, and shut down or evacuate the event should something catastrophic occur as part of the "Infinite Command" model BUT the City does not maintain an official police, fire, or medical presence on site. Those services are provided by the concert promoter and its various contractors, such as W3 Event Security and others. Many of these contractors include local off-duty fire and police members and other first responders, some do not, employing contractors with specialized training and certifications in some roles, little or basic training in others depending on the requirements of the role. City of Austin staff and first responders will be working OUTSIDE the event, but not on the park grounds itself. Due to Homeland Security restrictions the City of Austin was unable to provide us with an exact number of security and safety staff on-site in the plan submitted by C3, however they stated it was well above 100. Nationwide law enforcement statistics show that staffing levels are usually 2 per 1000 people, so a rough estimate of people who could be considered as "first responders' would be between 140 to 200 people on site. We don't know how many there actually are.
In the event of an emergency, the large video screens will be utilized to direct the audience, with a variety of crowd control messages already queued up for use as needed. The huge speaker systems will also be used to direct the crowd as needed. City officials will NOT be relying on or broadcasting SMS instant messaging or "Tweeting" due to the unreliability of electronic communications in events of this nature. Having suffered through AT&T through several SXSW events I can confirm and attest to that unreliability. While C3 Presents may utilize electronic messaging resources, they were unavailable to comment. In the event of a catastrophic nature the City will take over the direction of the crowd and has that ability from the command center.
In terms of exits, the event is designed to have 2 main entrances and exits, both appearing as entrances on the rudimentary maps published by the ACL Festival itself. According to City officials emergency exits do exist and will be plainly marked, though they were unable to provide us with locations or photographs, nor were they able to allow us to take photographs, as that would require permission from C3, which we have been unable to obtain as they have declined to participate. The event itself will be enclosed in a single or double chain link fence. The City has stated that numerous sections of the fence are removable and have been notated on their maps as "Emergency Exits", but again were unable to provide details due to Homeland Security issues and such details do not appear in the map provided on the ACL Festival web site.
According to Ovalle and Maurer the portable stages used at ACL Festival, and at other events on City of Austin property, are the responsibility of the promoters, again C3 Presents. The City of Austin does not have specific code or standards regarding the construction or erection of portable stages, and thus no City of Austin Code Enforcement or Fire official inspect the numerous stages before, during, or after the event. The stages are supposed to be constructed as per the manufacturers specifications and certified as such by the constructor to the promoter. In the end any responsibility for the safe construction and erection of, or inspection of, portable stages is solely C3 Presents and the various contractors supplying it with services.
The City wants people to have a safe and fun concert and they want everyone to remember to bring important things such as medications and sunscreen, and to stay hydrated which will be important in this heat. And, of course, no smoking!
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Friday, September 9. 2011
The Fearless Friends Tour 2011 is almost here with headliners blessthefall and supporting bands The World Alive, Motionless In White, Tonight Alive, and Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
| Nov 09 – Flagstaff, AZ @ The Orpheum
Nov 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Roxy Theatre
Nov 11 – San Diego, CA @ Soma (Main Room)
Nov 12 – Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse
Nov 13 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
Nov 14 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
Nov 15 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
Nov 16 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
Nov 18 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Sound
Nov 19 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
Nov 20 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
Nov 21 – Minneapolis, MN @ Station Four
Nov 22 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
Nov 23 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
Nov 24 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House
Nov 25 – Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe
Nov 26 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
Nov 27 – Worcester, MA @ Palladium Upstairs
Nov 29 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls
Nov 30 – Cleveland, OH @ Peabodys
Dec 01 – Towson, MD @ Recher Theatre
Dec 02 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
Dec 03 – Richmond, VA @ Canal Club
Dec 04 – Charlotte, NC @ Amos’ Southerland
Dec 05 – Orlando, FL @ Club Firestone
Dec 06 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
Dec 08 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Dec 09 – Nashville, TN @ Rocketown
Dec 10 – St. Louis, MO @ Pop’s
Dec 11 – Tulsa, OK @ The Marquee
Dec 12 – Dallas, TX @ The Door
Dec 13 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
Dec 14 – San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
Dec 15 – El Paso, TX @ Open Gate Church
Dec 16 – Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
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Thursday, September 1. 2011
 Progressive metal band, Textures, are releasing Dualism, their newest album.
The Contortionist, metal prodigies from Indiana, recently announced information of their up-coming picture-disc vinyl release of their debut album Exoplanet.
Together, both The Contortionist and Textures, are heading out on the FRAK THE GODS Tour alongside Periphery and The Human Abstract.
| FRAK THE GODS TOUR:
EXTURES and THE CONTORTIONIST
with Periphery, The Human Abstract
9/2 Baltimore, MD @ Otto Bar
9/3 Greensboro, NC @ Greene St. Club
9/4 St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theater
9/5 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
9/7 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
9/8 Dallas, TX @ Trees
9/9 Corpus Christi, TX @ House of Rock
9/10 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
9/12 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
9/14 Scottsdale, AZ @ Martini Ranch
9/15 Tucson, AZ @ The Rock
9/16 Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction
9/17 San Diego, CA @ Epicentre
9/18 West Hollywood, CA @ Key Club
9/20 Oakland, CA @ The New Parish
9/21 Portland, OR @ Branx
9/22 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
9/23 Boise, ID @ The Venue
9/24 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
9/25 Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theatre
9/27 St Louis, MO @ Fubar
9/28 Columbus, OH @ The Bluestone
9/29 Joliet, IL @ MoJoe's
9/30 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
10/1 Grand Rapids, MI @ MXTP
10/2 Toronto, ON @ Wreck Room
10/3 Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe
with Periphery, Stray From The Path
10/5 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
10/6 New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater
10/7 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
10/8 Richmond, VA@ Kingdom
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|  | Pentimento, melodic NY punks, are setting out on a brand new tour starting September 22nd. Stopping in 13 cities, the PentimenTour will end on October 5th.
PentimenTour Dates:
Sept. 22nd Scotia, NY @ JWATTS
Sept. 23rd Cambridge, MA @ Democracy Ctr
Sept. 24th Long Island, NY @ Broadway Bar
Sept. 25th New York, NY @ Party XPO
Sept. 26th Philadelphia, PA @ House Show
Sept. 27th Richmond, VA @ The Hospital
Sept. 29th Barnesville, OH @ Lakeview House
Sept. 30th Altoona, PA @ Masonic Temple
Oct. 1st Natrona, PA @ Scumbags
Oct. 2nd Columbus, OH @ Carabar
Oct. 3rd Flint, Michigan @ Woobie's
Oct. 4th Ashtabula, OH @ West End Art Space
Oct. 5th Edinboro, PA @ Edinboro C.C
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