Yearly Archives: 2004

From Colin:

We?ll be performing on CNBC?s John McEnroe show at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, October 12th ? for those of you outside of NJ/NYC, by all means find someone with cable to watch what will likely be an entertaining spectacle if nothing else. For those of you in the area, feel free to swing by the CNBC studios (in New Jersey, I believe) to muscle into the studio audience ? though I don?t quite know how that sort of thing works. (I realize that may not be terribly helpful).

The donewaiting.com sponsored Decemberists show is Sunday. Do attend, pleaes.

David Byrne is keeping a journal of his current worldwide tour. [credz]

Childhood friend Stephen Slaybaugh has filed an excellent interview with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab.

Highlights include plans for the Postal Service, why Ben thinks the “Photo Album” wasn’t his best work, and how he and his fanbase are dealing with the growing popularity of the band. Here’s a highlight:

As a music fan I recognize that tendency to have an artist be your own little secret. Especially in indie rock, there?s this thing where the proximity to the band and, for a lack of a better way to put it, the ownership of the band takes a precedence over the music itself. And I can recognize why certain fans would decide that they didn?t want to support us anymore because sorority girls were starting to come to our shows. But that being said, deciding that you don?t like something because other people like it is an incredibly juvenile position. (full interview)

I was walking down Jersey Avenue a few days ago when I bumped into David from the Quick Fix Kills. I was very happy to hear that the band has landed a spot on the southeast wing of the Taking Back Sunday tour. This should be great for the QFK, as they’ll play in front of much larger crowds than they’re generally used to.

Their website announces:

well, if you work long at hard at something (and you have a brother with connections) good things will happen. We’ve just been asked to tour the southeast with Taking Back Sunday (takingbacksunday.com). Check out the dates in our Shows section. Taking back sunday said “we heard your record and we think it’s the best thing that came out this decade and you HAVE to tour with us”…. or it could’ve been that our guitar player’s brother plays the drums for Taking Back Sunday. You decide.

I’m betting on the latter, but it really doesn’t matter. The fact is that this is a great thing, and I wish them the best of luck. If nothing else, it’ll surely be a wonderful time. If any of these tour dates happen to fall in your area, I highly recommend checking them out.

All dates are with Taking Back Sunday, Fallout Boy, and Matchbook Romance.

10/22 ? Numbers Nightclub
Houston, TX

10/23 – Numbers Nightclub
Houston, TX

10/24 – Stubb’s Bar-B-Q
Austin, TX

10/25 – Gypsy Ballroom
Dallas, TX

10/27 – Rocketown
Nashville, TN

10/28 – Plush
Jacksonville, FL

10/29 – Jannus Landing
St. Petersburg, FL

10/30 – House of Blues
Orlando/Lake Buena Vista, FL

10/31 – The Venue and Star Bar Patio
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Mos Def – The New Danger

Preview the new album here. The A-Side of the album features Mos Def’s band Black Jack Johnson, which includes Dr. Know from Bad Brains, Bernie Worrell from Parliament/Funkadelic, and Doug Wimibish and Will Calhoun from Living Colour, and their own attempt at a rock-rap hybrid. The other side of the vinyl is more traditional hip-hop including the single “Sex, Love and Money” and a reworking of “The Message” called “Close Edge.”

…from Wired:

The Senate Judiciary Committee has postponed a final review of the Induce Act after negotiations among the principal parties involved in crafting the bill collapsed.

Technology organizations, consumer groups and the entertainment industry failed to reach a consensus on the language of the proposed bill, which would make it illegal to encourage copyright infringement.

Donewaiting.com Jersey City writer Stephen Mejias’ band is back together, and an outdoor show they had over the weekend went a little loopy.

I turned around to see that Eric had taken a large bag full of our band buttons from out of our merchandise box. He was getting a little too close to the girls, raising his fists with threats. I came from behind him, and pulled the bag of buttons out of his hand, re-directing his attention to me. I tried to reason with him at first; after all, we had just shared a stage together, danced together. But it was really no use. He raised his fists, let loose meaningless jabs, and began to spit.

Read the rest of the drama here. You can’t make this stuff up.

From the American Hi-Fi mailing list comes word that lead singer Stacy Jones recently wrote a new song with Motley Crue for their new record. “Vince Neil wasn’t around, so Stacy cut the vocals while Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee were playing. Dreams come true.” And if those dreams coming true weren’t enough, American Hi-Fi is hitting the road as Butch Walker’s backing band as he supports … AVRIL LAVIGNE on her upcoming tour. Lucky fellas! Oh yeah, you can listen to all of American Hi-Fi’s new CD (which is out in Japan but won’t be released in the States until March 2005) by clicking on the “Listen” button on their website.

First of all, this was one of the greatest concerts I’ve ever seen. From start to finish it was high energy non-stop rock and roll. Add in to the facts that it was for a cause I believed in, and it just made for a perfect night.

// Michael Stipe and Bruce Springsteen came onstage (30 minutes late) to introduce the night and Bright Eyes, a band that Bruce said he was floored when he heard their music.

// Bright Eyes totally redeemed themselves to me. The last time I saw them in Columbus, it was one of the worst shows I’d ever seen. Last night Connor totally had his shit together and it showed. His set was probably the most extremely politically charged, as he called Bush an idiot and said that “Voting for Bush is like shitting in your own bed.”

I give the band a lot of credit (even REM, to an extent). The crowd was mostly Springsteen fans, and these are people who are used to seeing only one band because Bruce shows typically have no openers. The people in our area were mostly respectful, and I think by the end of the set Bright Eyes had won a few new fans.

// R.E.M. came out of the gate swinging with “The One I Love.” The crowd went nuts. Michael Stipe seemed nervous (drunk?) most of his set, rambling a lot. I enjoyed it, but I could see it annoying people.

I was surprised about the amount of new songs the band played, but since I won’t be seeing them on their upcoming tour I was glad to hear them. The new material sounded good…

[to be continued]

Did I tell you that the new Ted Leo album is a top competitor for album of the year? It is, friends, it is.

Stereogum directs us to a link of yet another song from the album: “Shake the Sheets”.