Broken Bells, that new band fronted by James Mercer of The Shins and Danger Mouse of everything cool released in new music over the past few years, just announced their first tour following up their highly successful introduction down at SXSW this year. I really only caught this video from Spinner but it was enough for me. I immediately went out and got their eponymous release and it’s been on steady rotation ever since. I’d highly recommend it.
Watch this video which features the first track from the album, and read on for the dates. READ MORE
In an blessing-in-disguise turn of events, I find myself in Chicago the day before Lollapalooza 2008 begins and I’m amped as hell for the festival to get underway. This will be my third year in a row attending the fest, although this year I only plan on going Friday with the hopes of catching an incendiary Radiohead performance. Some of the rest of the LMB crew will be there on Saturday and Sunday to round out the coverage, so we should have a nice roundup of photos and reviews following the weekend. And I really have no doubt that we’re in for a treat; both times prior that I’ve attended this festival were fantastic. I’ve seen some incredible music at this event over the past few years — Daft Punk, Pearl Jam, The Black Keys, Wilco, Manu Chao, The Rapture, you name it, really — and I hope the storms stay away tomorrow long enough for us to get our groove on in the middle of Grant Park.
Given that we’re breaking up the coverage a bit between us bloggers here, I figured I’d give a preview of what I plan on seeing tomorrow with a few Plan B’s in mind in case logistics don’t allow me to follow my plan to a “T.” I didn’t even bother putting together a schedule because one day is easy enough to process, but if you’re going make sure you follow along and mark your calendars for the stuff I tell you to go see.
The Black Keys are stopping in on the 9:30 Club tonight in Washington, DC and luckily for all of us we can enjoy the show with those who are actually there. NPR Music will be broadcasting the show will the help of Bob Boilen and All Song’s Considered. If you check in with the site around 10pm EST the show should be up and running. The nice part about these live performance streams is that the sound is really good and NPR always chooses solid acts to broadcast. The Black Keys can really bring it live; I caught the duo last year at Lollapalooza and they played an extremely tight loud set much to the delight of the crowd.
The Akron based group just released their fifth LP, Attack & Release, which was produced by the hardest working man in show biz, Danger Mouse. The album stays true to the blue’s roots of the band but also branches out into some uncharted territory. The result is an awesome blend of traditional blues and contemporary sounds, all hard driven and played flawlessly. If you’ve got nothing going on tonight, don’t watch TV; grab some nice beers, post up on your porch/stoop/whatever and listen to The Black Keys rock the 9:30 Club for an hour or two. Here’s a good sample of the live show; this is from a VIP show back in April at Chicago’s own Martyrs. Killer…
As a DC native it’s always nice to see bands from the nation’s capital making news. The internationally renowned Thievery Corporation is the musical venture of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, born out of the creative incubator that is the Eighteenth Street Lounge (my all-time favorite bar).
The Thievery Corporation will set out on a six-date tour this summer, hitting some key big cities. Not only will the duo be playing with the collection of diverse musicians that make up their live band, but they will share the stage with many amazing opening artists along the way.
Notable dates on this tour are the Las Vegas and DC shows due to the opening acts: Gnarls Barkley and TV on the Radio respectively. I can’t imagine the spectacle that Danger Mouse and Cee-lo will try to pull off in Vegas. Also, it’s really good to see TV on the Radio back on the road these days. They are one of the better rock bands in music today–truly avant-garde. On top of the two aforementioned openers, there are some other great acts lined up, including Turn Tables on the Hudson, comprised of some incredible NYC DJs.
This is a preview of the new Print Tease feature on Live Music Blog. Beginning Monday, each week I’ll be looking at a new poster that’s caught my eye, usually for a recent or upcoming gig. Tons of great posters are being produced every week for concerts all across the country and world; hopefully these quick posts will show you some new artists and some exciting prints. Let me know what you think about my picks, and if something has recently held your attention, let us know about it.
The Black Keys are back. Their latest record, Attack and Release, hit stores this past Tuesday and I’ve been loving the album. It is classic, raw Black Keys, but the production by Danger Mouse really invigorates a band I thought had gotten a little stale.
The Keys are on tour, and although I missed their appearances at SXSW, I have been hearing good things. They have also had some nice posters made for them in the past, but along with the fancy new production, it looks like they’ll be bringing some fancy new posters with them on tour.
