It's often been said that you can't toss a rock in downtown Austin without hitting a musician, where you can expect to find live music happening any day of the week and at virtually any hour, but its' not often that you turn the corner downtown and see an entire street turned into a live music venue. It happens, but it's usually an exception rather than a rule. Tonight was one of those exceptions.
Austins re-vitalized 2nd Street district shut itself down for an old fashioned block party, and who better than one of Austin's own, Rick Trevino, to help welcome KLRU and Austin City Limits to their new home in the Moody Theater of the W Hotel.
With the studio's move from down on the UT campus, and with tonight's first Austin City Limits taping of Steve Miller, guests of the taping were treated to a full set by Rick and his band as they trans-versed the street to the studio. It's not often you have to go through one concert to attend another, but in Austin you get used to it.
Rick's set ended with just enough time to slip into the Moody Theater and settle in for Steve Miller. Patrons at the street party then got to watch and listen to the Austin City Limits taping inside on large projection screens across from the theater, and frankly the view, and the audio mix were superb, almost as good as the theater itself. It's too bad the screens do not appear to be permanent, but perhaps making each taping an event is something worth considering.
It's probably not a good thing to essentially face plant your career live onstage anymore with the plethora of mobile recording devices in the immediate audience, but that didn't stop a rambling and seemingly incoherent Scott Weiland from doing so in Houston. STP's remaining gigs have been rescheduled , including their Austin stop this weekend.
In what has to be just a weird coincidence I was standing in a Hot Topic in Highland Mall, staring at a Slayer T-Shirt, listening to "World Painted Blood" over the stores stereo, when my iPhone rings, and no joke it's Slayer's Kerry King. Calling from Albuquerque on the first leg of American Carnage he just wanted to check my plans for the tour. Roaming North America with Slayer right now is Megadeth and Testament on the first half of the American Carnage Tour but with that leg ending September 4th in Portland, I won't be able to pick up the tour until it starts it's second leg in Dallas on Sept 24. I'm hoping to tag along to San Antonio and Houston as well.
Kerry says that playing with Megadeth and Testament every night is really cool but he is looking forward to the tour break coming up after a long summer on the road. What is he going to do during his 20 day road break between Oregon and Texas? Watch lots of football and hopefully sell some snakes.
After a successful year with the band with a new CD, a tour of Europe with thrash's big four (that's Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax), Kerry also had a great year with his snake breeding and is going to take time out of his tour break to sell some of his snakes at the upcoming North American Reptile Breeders Conference in Anaheim. Along with his usual carpet pythons, Kerry says he will be signing autographs and selling some of his personal stash of merch so anyone wanting a chance to meet him, maybe buy a snake or a TShirt, he will be at the Anaheim Convention Center Sept 11 and 12th.
I won't see Kerry again until Dallas where the tour picks up again, this time with Anthrax, and hope to post a whole bunch of stuff from the road.
Numerous media sources are reporting that Paul Gray 38, long time bass player for heavy metal band Slipknot, was found dead in a Urbandale, Iowa hotel room this morning. In a band known for hiding their faces behind masks, Gray was known as “No. 2” or “The Pig.” Police said there was no evidence of foul play, and a complete investigation will be completed by Urbandale police detectives and an autopsy, including toxicology testing, will be conducted Tuesday by the Polk County Medical Examiner’s office.
One of the 3 remaining founding members of Slipknot, Paul Gray was born in Los Angeles, before his family relocated to Des Moines.
C3 Presents has announced this years Austin City Limits Festival lineup. As usual things happen, tours change, bands are added, dropped. Watch this space for further updates.
Heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio passed awayafter treatment at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas this morning after losing his fight with stomach cancer.
I saw Ronnie perform with Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, and then finally in 2008 with Heaven and Hell. One of the best (if not the best) metal vocalist, I will always remember driving around with Kerry King of Slayer arguing over who was the better front man for Sabbath, and argument neither of us was willing to give ground over even later at the bar after many Jägermeisters. In the end we both agreed he was probably the best metal vocalist overall, leaving the Sabbath question to be resolved later.
Cloudy skies, rain, and mud proved to be minor annoyances to the hard core follower of Jah that braved the conditions at this years Austin Reggae Festival.
With skies that sometimes let the sun peak through, but often didn't, and were like as not to open up with torrents of rain, festival organizers scrambled to cover equipment, adjusted stage schedules, and did what it took to keep the music flowing.
Saturdays' schedule was interrupted by a deluge after a shortened set by Austin natives Roots Revealers, and the water caused technical difficulties which delayed the start of the headliner, Jamaica's Mighty Diamonds, by a half hour. Those who stuck around til the end were treated to a fantastic set by the pioneering reggae band, though to get close to the stage you had to navigate an ankle deep mud bog.
Sunday had organizers spreading hay over the mud and muck in an attempt to prevent the grass from being damaged but as our pictures show they may have their work cut out for themselves. The show did go on Sunday, albeit 3 hours late but that still didn't seem to faze the crowds.
Despite getting a personal invite today from GWAR leader Oderus Urungus I won't be able to attend the CRACK-A-THON in New York City that starts tomorrow, at least not personally, but I will be following along on the live broadcast at crackathon.tv.
According to the press release "The CRACK-A-THON is a brand new piece of performance art: GWAR's very own variety show- a twisted version of The Jerry Lewis MS Telethon or the Carol Burnett Show, except with crack...lots of crack.
It will be hosted by Oderus Urungus and co-hosted by Balsac The Jaws Of Death. CRACK-A-THON will feature interviews with celebrities from the art and music world, (Such as Andrew W.K., Jamey Jasta, frontman of the punk-metal band Hatebreed and more recently Kingdom of Sorrow, Lloyd Kaufman of Troma, the legendary Jimmy Gestapo from the band Murphy's Law, Mecronos from the band DETHRACE, NYC artists Joe Simko and Tara McPherson and many many more!)"
For the complete schedule and more information on the CRACK-A-THON or if your in NYC this weekend and want to attend for FREE check out the web site at http://crackathon.tv/
Concert promoter Live Nation continues its promotional streak by offering another recession busting deal to get music fans off the couch and into the clubs. According to a press release that landed on our news desk this morning:
Live Nation announced today a 2-for-1 club concert ticket deal on 200,000 tickets to over 350 concerts in 29 of its club venues across the country. Available only at LiveNation.com this Wednesday, fans will get two tickets for the price of one, a 50% savings, to see any of a wide variety of artists across genres including Hanson, Colbie Callait Trey Songz, Mario, The Bravery, The Used and Moby, and many others.
The 24 hour only 2-for-1 super sale begins this Wednesday October 7th at 12:01a.m. only at www.LiveNation.com.
And LiveNation's not kidding when it comes to the artist lineup either, with heavy acts such as Paramore and Dethklok also on the list. (not so much on the Hanson)
Look for the press release over in our press release section.
LiveNation has announced a special deal for live music fans across the U.S. that will allow them to see an unlimited number of shows at their club venues, including the House of Blues chain, for a paltry $49.99 for the rest of 2009.
For a limited time only, concert fans can buy The Live Nation Club Passport for $49.99, All-In and No Fees, and see every show at Live Nation clubs in their city for the rest of the year, subject to availability. If you're a Live Nation Club Passport holder, and the show's not sold-out, you're in! The Live Nation Club Passport is available only at www.livenation.com.
Participating venues include:
Avalon Los Angeles, CA
Bogart's Cincinatti, OH
Egyptian Room at the Murat Theatre Indianapolis, IN
The Fillmore Auditorium Denver, CO
The Fillmore Charlotte Charlotte, NC
The Fillmore Miami Beach Miami Beach, FL
The Fillmore NY at Irving Plaza New York, NY
The Fillmore San Francisco, CA
The Fillmore Detroit Detroit, MI
Gramercy Theatre New York, NY
Hollywood Palladium Hollywood, CA
House of Blues Anaheim Anaheim, CA
House of Blues Boston Boston, MA
House of Blues Chicago Chicago, IL
House of Blues Cleveland Cleveland, OH
House of Blues Dallas Dallas, TX
House of Blues Houston Houston, TX
House of Blues Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV
House of Blues Sunset Strip West Hollywood, CA
House of Blues Myrtle Beach North Myrtle Beach, SC
House of Blues New Orleans New Orleans, LA
House of Blues Orlando Lake Buena Vista, FL
House of Blues San Diego San Diego, CA
Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
Theatre of Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
The Wiltern Los Angeles, CA
When he wasn't busy selling snakes from his booth at the North American Reptile Breeder's Conference in Anaheim California earlier this month, noted reptile breeder Kerry King found time to do a few things to keep fans of his day job with Slayer happy.
After zooming over to Europe to play a couple key shows, he made it back in time to man his booth at the reptile show, then launched a new Slayer Web Site, then announced an Asian tour, then announced the track listings for the new album "World Painted Blood", scheduled to release November 3rd in the states.
Now Slayer has announced a Canadian tour with Megadeth and released the artwork for the new album. Slayer's new dates in Canada include:
11.08.09 Moncton, NB Moncton Coliseum
11.09.09 Halifax, NS Halifax Metro Center
11.11.09 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
11.12.09 Quebec City, QC Colisee Pepsi Arena
11.13.09 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
Scots singer/songwriter Dot Allison got some increased visibility in the critically acclaimed documentary "Scott Walker: 30 Centry Man," and she also got signed by Walker's managers. Her new album, "Room 7 1/2," is due out September 7. From SW30 director Steven Kijak:
The album includes Dot's nocturnal rendition of "Montague Terrace (in Blue)" from our SW30 cover album. Also featured are some amazing collaborations with Pete Doherty, Mick Harvey and Paul Weller, to name a few. The album was produced by another star of SW30, Rob Ellis.
[....]
The album is gorgeous, full stop. She's done it again! So while we all wait for the latest from Mr. Walker (and wait...and wait...) dip into Dot's new disc!
Austin will see Australian rockers AC/DC return to the Frank Erwin Center on the fall leg of their Black Ice tour. It has been years since their last visit to the Frank Erwin Center, but I was there, and I was also there for their first Austin gig as well, opening for Journey at Austin's Municipal Auditorium on their Highway To Hell tour. Fans of the band young and old will need to make this a must see show as their can't be many tours like this again in the bands future.
Tickets for AC/DC at the Frank Erwin Center Friday, November 6 at 7:30PM are $89.50 and GO ON SALE Saturday, August 1 at 10AM at all Texas Box Office Outlets, charge-by-phone at 512-477-6060 or 1-800-982-2386 or order on-line at TexasBoxOffice.com. Convenience charges may apply. All information is subject to change. For more information, visit uterwincenter.com.
Finally someone has come up with something useful for techno-wonder site Twitter. For all intents and purposes lets refer to this as "Twicketing" or giving away "Free Twickets" if you must, but if you subscribe to Matisyahu and Chris Cornell's feeds you can win tickets to their next shows and maybe even meet the artists backstage.
Matisyahu is playing Houston tonight along with Les Claypool so the next opportunity to win "free twickets" will be for tomorrows gig here in Austin. Chris Cornell is touring in Europe and has already handed out tickets for tomorrows gig in Luxembourg. Not sure what his next stop is.
Know any other artists out there "twicketing" their fans? drop me a note and make sure to sign up for our twitter feed.
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.