Author Archives: robert duffy

Launch has a respectable music news section, but seriously, why the fuck does there need to be an article dedicated to the reasons why Christina Aguilera dyed her hair?

This is why I hate 98% of all music journalism.

Am I in some bizarro world? Rolling Stone writing up a good interview? Amazing but true.

In the interview Eddie talks about everything. Topics range from Ticketmaster, his anti-Bush demonstrations, the band’s longevity, so so much. Even Eminem:

What do you think of Eminem? Is he scary enough for you?

I appreciate the poetry in the lyrics. The way he phrases things is absolutely inspiring. I like when he gets informational stuff in there. And the song about the fan letter [“Stan”] — I’ve been through that. Not to the point where the guy ends up in a ditch. But in the early days, I’d answer letters. They’d write back again. “I can’t believe you wrote, that was the coolest thing.” Then five letters would come while I was on tour, I’d see the fifth one, and it was like “Fucking son of a bitch, you’re just like all the rest. I thought you were cool, but fuck you, you corporate whore.” That’s when I decided you couldn’t keep up with that stuff. It was impossible. (full story)

Pearl Jam Tourdates | Buy Riot Act | Rumor Pit

Decent, but not good enough to make me spend $75:

Steve-O from “Jackass” / The Distillers / Cold / The Music / Cave In / Kings of Leon / Rooney /
The Mooney Suzuki / Pharaohe Monch / Burning Brides / 30 Seconds to Mars / Bellydance Superstars

Find out who is playing which dates here.

OH YES THEY DID!

One thing that has been discussed many times on donewaiting.com, be it on OH Columbus! or the message board is the fact that Cleveland is crushing Columbus as far as a national music scene. More bands stop at Cleveland than Columbus, hands down. I’ve got theories, rants, range, whatever, but I’m not going to get into it again.

It’s because of Cleveland’s dominance of the national music scene that I had to drive 2.5 hours up north to see Ted Leo and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs last week at the Beachland Ballroom. Here are my notes from the two day event:

Thu.5.1.03
• The Beachland Tavern is a great small venue. We got there around 8pm and ran into Ed from Cobra Verde and chatted him up for awhile. Was able to snag their new CD, and it is goooooooooooood. More on that in the coming week.
• After talking to Ed we headed inside the venue and had a meal. I think it was the first time I ate at a venue since back in my Maxwell’s days in NJ. I had the Beachland Burger.
• Ted Leo put on an amazing show. Seeing him at a small venue was great. We were right up front, loving every second. The Reputation really impressed me, and The Gripweeds did a good job too (JERSEY REPRESENT!). But the night really belonged to Mr. Leo and the Pharmacists. You can read Kiesha’s much more extensive review of the show here.

  Fri.5.2.03

• We had the whole Friday to tool around Cleveland. Saw “X2”, had dinner, went into some lame record stores, and then back to the Beachland for night #2 of rock featuring Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
• The thing you need to know is that the Beachland is split into two completely different venues. There’s the tavern, where smaller bands play, and then the Ballroom, where we saw YYY perform. Imagine your high school gym, but a little smaller, and a cool stage.
• This Moment in Black History opened the show with a firebomb. Hyper-political messaging, in your face rock, overwhelming stage presence. Which was good, but strange, because the next band, Greenhornes, had very little stage presence. Their music was good (I want to get their album), but their live show left much to be desired.
• And then came the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
• Surrounded by a cloud of hype and high expectations Karen O and her boys started their set with “Modern Romance,” the last track on their new album, Fever to Tell. Before the show I was thinking to myself, I hope this is the song they open with. Jesus listened.
• The rest of the show was everything I expected it to be. Lots of rock, lots of drama, lots of over the top antics. Karen O is the frontman for the next millenium.
• The one thing you don’t get from the recorded YYY that you do get from live YYY is that, throughout the set, Karen is laughing and smiling a lot. It’s sort of a “I know this hype is all too ridiculous, but we’re going with the flow. Enjoy it with us.”
• The crowd ranged from teens to late 20s, mostly. The kids are digging.
• At several points during the show, Karen basically swallows her microphone while singing. Photo galleries on other websites reveal that it’s the same mic, all the time, at every show. No germs!
• Has anyone else mentioned that Karen sometimes sounds like a cross between Axl Rose and AC/DC when she performs live? This is a good thing.
• Karen had this gigantic stuffed sheep costume that she would wear every once in awhile. By the end of the night the sheep was ripped to shreds and thrown into the audience.
• The band did one encore, and I kept thinking, I hope they end the show with “Our Time.” Jesus listened to me again, and that’s how they ended the show. A fitting ending for a great rock concert.

Yawn.

Our man David continues to catalog all of those Houston TX bands out there. This time around he has ten questions for Beautiful Losers.

It’s 12:25am. I just got back from seeing Gomez and Ben Lee @ Newport in Columbus OH. After that I walked over to Bernie’s to catch The Cinema Eye. All were great. I’m too tired to hotlink.

But I still need to post up the contest, write up this little Nada Surf thing, and post up my trip report/Yeah Yeah Yeahs review. Oh yeah, and send out a newsletter.

Cry me a river.

We’ve got a fun little giveaway we’ll be announcing sometime tonight.

Five CDs and concert tickets for a nationally known band. That’s all I’m saying for now. We’re excited. You will be too.

So great to live in America:

Colorado Springs, Colo.-based country station KKCS has suspended two disc jockeys for playing the Dixie Chicks, violating a ban imposed after the group criticized President Bush. In March, lead singer Natalie Maines told a London audience she was “ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas.” (full story)