Author Archives: stephen mejias

See the new video for Stars’ “Reunion” here.

Man, I love this band. It’s that kind of love that hurts a little bit, too, you know. Ouch.

Jersey City’s rock club closes.

It happened suddenly, but should have really been no surprise. I imagine that those closest felt it coming along.

We put on a few great shows at Uncle Joe’s; I’ve got some beautiful memories. Uncle Joe’s – just as Lou, Jasmine, Billy, Joe, Kat, Shaun, Chris, Jesse, and everyone who sat at that loud, dirty, stinking bar wanted – belonged to all of us. It was a good place, despite its lacks. It was a place to play, to sing and dance.

Good times.

There were still smiles last night. There’s hope to find another home.

Tris McCall writes a great piece.

The 2005 benefits concerts for Central Park?s SummerStage have been announced. The ticket prices are kind of steep (for my pockets, at least), but these great shows help to support the many free concerts held at SummerStage throughout the season. It?s a really great way to spend a New York City afternoon.

I saw Sonic Youth perform one of the free shows; ah, what a beautiful day that was.

You can find info on the shows, which will include performances by David Byrne, Elvis Costello, Dinosaur Jr., and more, here.

Fat Possum is probably my current favorite record label. They recently released their latest tour dates. Here they are. (Columbus: I am so especially jealous of the Nathaniel Mayer date. Mark your calendars or something and let me know how it goes.)

Blackfire Revelation
3/16/05 (Wed) New Orleans, LA Twiropa
3/18/05 (Fri) Austin, TX Club Deville SXSW 10pm
3/19/05 (Sat) Austin, TX Terrible One Skate Ramp
3/20/05 (Sun) San Antiono, TX Tacoland
3/21/05 (Mon) Austin, TX Emo’s Inside
3/22/05 (Tue) Dallas, TX
4/14/05 (Thu) Memphis, TN Hi Tone
4/15/05 (Fri) St. Louis, MO Gearbox at Lil Nicki’s
4/16/05 (Sat) Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
4/17/05 (Sun) Milwaukee, WI Points East
4/18/05 (Mon) Minneapolis, MN Points East
4/19/05 (Tue) Des Moines, IA Vaudeville Mews
4/20/05 (Wed) Kansas City, MO the Brick
4/21/05 (Thu) Denton, TX Rubber Gloves
4/22/05 (Fri) Austin, TX Room 710
4/23/05 (Sat) Houston, TX Rudyard’s

Heartless Bastards
2/25/05 (Fri) Minneapolis, MN 400 Bar w/ Split Lip Rayfield
2/26/05 (Sat) Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
3/04/05 (Fri) Newport, KY Southgate House “Stairs And Elevators” release party
3/08/05 (Tue) Toronto Canada Horseshoe Tavern
3/10/05 (Thu) New York, NY the Mercury Lounge 8:00 am
3/11/05 (Fri) New York, NY the Bowery w/ Bettie Serveert and the Mosquitos
3/17/05 (Thu) Austin, TX Club Deville (SXSW) w/ Parchman Farm, The Sundresses, Lucero, Marah
3/23/05 (Wed) Lexington, KY The Dame w/ Drive By Truckers
3/24/05 (Thu) Columbus, OH Little Brothers w/ Drive By Truckers
3/25/05 (Fri) Cleveland, OH House of Blues w/ Drive By Truckers
3/26/05 (Sat) TBA
3/29/05 (Tue) Bloomington, IN Bluebird Nightclub w/ Drive By Truckers
3/31/05 (Thu) Columbia, MO Blue Note w/ Drive By Truckers
4/02/05 (Sat) Memphis, TN New Daisy w/ Drive By Truckers

20 Miles
3/11/05 (Fri) New York, NY Rodeo Bar
3/17/05 (Thu) Austin, TX Club Deville SXSW
3/19/05 (Sat) Austin, TX Bitter End Brewery SXSW 5 pm – 5:40 pm

The Black Keys
3/05/05 (Sat) Perth Australia Perth International Arts Festival
3/07/05 (Mon) Hobart Australia the Republic Bar
3/08/05 (Tue) Adelaide Australia Governor Hindmarsh
3/09/05 (Wed) Melbourne Australia Corner Hotel
3/10/05 (Thu) Melbourne Australia Corner Hotel
3/11/05 (Fri) Melbourne Australia Corner Hotel
3/12/05 (Sat) Brisbane Australia Arena
3/15/05 (Tue) Byron Bay Australia
3/16/05 (Wed) Newcastle Australia Cambridge
3/17/05 (Thu) Sydney Australia Metro
3/18/05 (Fri) Sydney Australia Metro
3/19/05 (Sat) Canberra Australia Holy Grail
4/19/05 (Tue) Louisville, KY Headliners
4/22/05 (Fri) Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
4/23/05 (Sat) Oxford, MS Proud Larry’s
4/24/05 (Sun) Little Rock, AR Juanita’s
4/28/05 (Thu) Dallas, TX Trees
4/29/05 (Fri) Austin, TX Emo’s
4/30/05 (Sat) Houston, TX Mary Jane’s Fat Cat
5/03/05 (Tue) New Orleans, LA TwiRoPa
5/07/05 (Sat) Orlando, FL the Social
5/08/05 (Sun) Fort Lauderdale,FL Culture Room
5/10/05 (Tue) Gainesville, FL Common Grounds
5/12/05 (Thu) Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
5/13/05 (Fri) Asheville, NC Orange Peel
5/14/05 (Sat) Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
6/04/05 (Sat) Bijou Toledo, OH

Solomon Burke
3/05/05 (Sat) Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun
3/18/05 (Fri) San Francisco, CA Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
3/24/05 (Thu) Byron Bay Australia Byron Bay Festival
4/30/05 (Sat) Phoenix, AZ McDowell Mountain Music Festival

T-Model Ford
3/25/05 (Fri) Oxford, MS Proud Larry’s
4/08/05 (Fri) London England the Spitz Not the same Old Blues Crap Punk Rock Blues Festival
4/09/05 (Sat) Birmingham UK Cold Rice Club @ Birmingham Academy
4/10/05 (Sun) London England Barbican
4/11/05 (Mon) Manchester UK Night and Day
4/12/05 (Tue) Notthingham UK Rescue Rooms

Little Freddie King
2/25/05 (Fri) New Orleans, LA BJ’s Lounge
3/11/05 (Fri) New Orleans, LA – Algiers Point Old Point Bar
3/16/05 (Wed) New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jack film/performance
3/25/05 (Fri) New Orleans, LA BJ’s Lounge
4/08/05 (Fri) New Orleans, LA Old Point Bar
4/10/05 (Sun) New Orleans, LA French Quarter Festival
4/24/05 (Sun) New Orleans, LA N.O. Jazz and Heritage Festival
4/26/05 (Tue) New Orleans, LA Ponderosa Stomp
4/27/05 (Wed) New Orleans, LA Louisiana Music Factory
4/29/05 (Fri) New Orleans, LA Old Point Bar
5/07/05 (Sat) Mandeville, LA Ruby’s Roadhouse
11/11/05 (Fri) Lucerne Switzerland Lucerne Blue Festival

Nathaniel Mayer
3/05/05 (Sat) Hamtramck, MI Small’s
4/16/05 (Sat) Hamtramck, MI New Dodge Lounge w/ Cody Black
4/20/05 (Wed) Columbus, OH Sculley’s w/ the Tough and Lovely
4/21/05 (Thu) Lexington, KY the Dame
4/22/05 (Fri) Louisville, KY Uncle Pleasant’s
4/23/05 (Sat) Memphis, TN Hi-Tone
4/26/05 (Tue) New Orleans, LA Mid- City Lanes Rock -n- Bowl Pondersosa Stomp
4/29/05 (Fri) Fayetteville, AR JR’s Lightbulb Club
4/30/05 (Sat) Columbia, MO the Music Cafe
5/01/05 (Sun) Indianapolis, IN Radio Radio/ Future Shock
7/09/05 (Sat) Winnipeg Manitoba Canada Winnipeg Folk Festival
7/10/05 (Sun) Winnipeg Manitoba Canada Winnipeg Folk Festival

Thee Shams
2/26/05 (Sat) Dubuque, IA Busted Lift w/ James Kinds
2/27/05 (Sun) Dubuque, IA Busted Lift All Ages Show
3/10/05 (Thu) Eau Claire, WI House of Rock
3/11/05 (Fri) Madison, WI King Tavern
3/12/05 (Sat) Green Bay, WI Main Stage
3/18/05 (Fri) Detroit, MI Lager House
3/25/05 (Fri) Nashville, TN Grimey’s Basement
4/10/05 (Sun) Oklahoma City, OK the Conservatory
4/12/05 (Tue) Los Angeles, CA Spaceland
4/13/05 (Wed) San Francisco, CA thee Parkside
4/13/05 (Wed) San Francisco, CA thee Parkside
4/14/05 (Thu) Redding, CA Serendipity
4/16/05 (Sat) Seattle, WA Sunset Tavern
4/17/05 (Sun) Vancouver BC Canada Pic Pub
4/19/05 (Tue) Edmonton Alberta BC New City Likwid Lounge
4/20/05 (Wed) Calgary AB Canada the Ship and Anchor Pub
4/22/05 (Fri) Denver, CO the High Dive
4/23/05 (Sat) Lawrence , KS Replay Lounge
5/06/05 (Fri) Cincinnati, OH the Comet
5/07/05 (Sat) Dayton, OH Elbo’s

I?ll call you Jag-u-ar, if I may be so bold.

I recently found out that I was born on the day Marc Bolan died: September 16, 1977. What does that have to do with anything? Nothing. It really doesn?t matter at all. No, it really doesn?t matter at all.

The important thing to keep in mind is that tonight – Friday, February 25th – we?d like you all to be with us at Uncle Joe?s in Downtown Jersey City.

It?s a special night: DONEWAITING.com?s 2nd Anniversary Celebration. Two years in web time is like Methuselah-old in the real world. So, this is a big, badass deal. An unusual collection of wonderfully talented musicians in a friendly and intimate room filled with smiles and booze and Louie?s pouring shots and Jasmine?s winking at you and the music is far too loud but bring it on bring it on bring it on:

9pm ? the multi-purpose solution
10pm ? Chris McCoy and The Gospel
(all the way from Columbus, Ohio)
11pm ? The Night Lights
(Chris Lee, Emily Helming, and Steve Shelley)
12pm ? The Black Hollies

So much for so little: $5.
We?d like to get you all drunk and loose and dirty and sweet for the show, so get there early and have a drink on the MPS. Come and be real for us. Tio Denny made up some VIP passes. We?re gonna raise one to all our friends.

Uncle Joe’s is located at 154 First Street (off Marin Blvd.) in beautiful Downtown Jersey City – a short, happy stroll from the Grove Street PATH station and a few blocks past the Holland Tunnel approach, so it’s easy to reach by plane, train, or automobile.

?Cos you?re my baby / ?Cos you?re my love,
Stephen

In one of those rare instances that I’ve actually written something about music on this site, I mentioned how much Sonic Youth means to me.

I received a lot of nice e-mails about that entry. Thank you for that.

Now, in my mind, what I’m about to tell you is a big deal. However, I’m aware of the fact that it might not be such great news to anyone else. This is me trying to temper my emotions.

In general, I’m not much for idols. I couldn’t give a fuck, really. But, for whatever silly reason, the members of Sonic Youth don’t actually exist to me. They’re beyond. I’m only just lucky enough to be able to buy their albums and shake my head – happily, futilely – over their beautiful songs, thinking that I’ll never be able to create something quite as beautiful.

I’m sitting at the bar with Chris Lee, and he tells me: “You know, I have dinner with Steve every now and then over in Hoboken. If you want, I’ll let you know about it next time, and you can join us.”
And I’m like, “Uh, no. I don’t think I could handle that. I’m nearly shitting my pants, sitting here with you. Thanks, though.”

Alright, it was thousands of years ago that me and Emily were in love.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
All that nice stuff, but now that’s over, and while I still love Emily, it’s different. Nice, still – yes – but different, of course. But you know how it is when you’re in love with someone. You kind of get to know that person so well – in such a special and distinct way – that you almost become that person. Or, it’s not that you become that person, but you demystify that person. Maybe this is not love at all that I’m talking about. Maybe I’m just talking about a good friendship. I don’t even know. I’m contradicting myself like Walt Whitman. What I’m getting at, though, is the fact that Emily – who I know so well and comfortably – is now playing bass for Chris Lee in his new band. You know how it feels to be a part of something that you love so much you almost can’t even believe that you’re a part of it?

Alright, the thing about that is this: Chris Lee and Steve Shelley are friends. Steve Shelley produced Chris Lee’s first album for Smells Like Records. Right now, Steve Shelley’s got some free time on his hands. For awhile, then, he’s spending that free time playing music, along with Emily, in Chris’ band, THE NIGHT LIGHTS.

I said: My ex-girlfriend, Emily, is playing in a band with Chris Lee and Steve Shelley(!). That’s big news, isn’t it? It’s crazy, right?
It is to me.

Alright, even more than all of that:
THE NIGHT LIGHTS, featuring Chris Lee, Emily Helming, and Steve Shelley, will be playing at our little rock and roll joint, Uncle Joe’s in Jersey City.

This Friday, February 25th.

Alright, here are all the details. This is a DONEWAITING.COM event. We’ll be celebrating the second anniversary of the site.

Friday, February 25th
Uncle Joe’s – Downtown Jersey City
9pm – the multi-purpose solution
10pm – The Gospel
11pm – The Night Lights
12pm – The Black Hollies

The Black Hollies, by the way, also have a show at the Court Tavern in New Brunswick that same night. Why don’t you catch the limo with the boys and go to both shows?

Here’s the poster that Seanie made for us. There’s one huge problem with this poster: Everytime I put one up, someone comes around and steals it.

I spent the last five days in Las Vegas covering the Consumer Electronics Show for Stereophile magazine. My job was to report on the show as I saw it, to offer an outsider’s perspective on a very tightly-knit community of enthusiasts. I’m not an audiophile, but I do understand passion, and what was most present at the show was the love of music.

If you’re interested, you can find my daily reports here. Also check out the coverage offered by my friends and colleagues, Jon Iverson, Wes Phillips, and John Atkinson. These are some of the classiest, most intelligent and kind dudes I know. I felt very lucky to get to spend some time with them.

And Vegas: wow. That town is a total craptacularly appalling and gorgeous mess.

The Sans Alabaster Group is a band of close friends from New Jersey. While Sans features members of Rye Coalition, the two bands are only alike in their passion and skill. Sans bring the amps down a bit, but turn up the reverb and stretch out the groove. They?ve just finished their first recording session, and I can tell you that the result is very impressive. A 7? can be expected soon.

MP3s for your pleasure:
This Isn?t Red Leicester
Solitude

Known to his friends as “Scottie Bee“, Scott Thomas Bolasci is a fine, fine man, and a fine, fine drummer, and he’s taking part in this week’s edition of the “Tuesday Three.”

If you’re new to the game, here are the rules: Recommend three albums; one from 2004, one from 2003, one from whenever. We then ask our participant to answer three questions.

Scottie was very excited about the whole idea. When I sent him an e-mail last Friday afternoon asking if he’d be interested, he responded right away, saying that he felt honored. He went home from work that night, and started writing. Monday morning, I found this in my inbox:

2004: There were so many great albums that came out this past year. Some of my favorites were Sonic Nurse by Sonic Youth and A Ghost is Born by Wilco but the one that stole my heart was an album that was never released legally. The Grey Album by DJ Dangermouse is one of the most creative albums I?ve ever heard and just blew my mind. My friends all know how much of a Beatles fan I am. They are the most amazing band EVER. Combined with Jay-Z was just insane. To me, it was a door opening into a world I had never been before. I appreciate hip-hop and old school rap, but this album made me understand it and soak it in. Not only did he sample songs but he took specific hits and progressions and just amplified it to match the lyrical content. It wasn’t the cheesy Puff Daddy remix or just taking a song?s chorus and rapping in between, it was dissected over and over again until the perfect sounds were constructed to make an overall masterpiece.

2003: Again, another year where we saw a lot of great bands doing some interesting stuff. We saw Sevenious unleash Weird War and Dischord had one of my favorites, El Guapo, but I will stick to my old favorites. Blur released Think Tank and the Breeders released Title TK. Two albums that were and are greatly overlooked. It was a shame that Blur had to include a song like Crazy Beat on that album to appease the label pressure of having another Song 2. That song totally disrupts the flow of the album. When I first put on the CD and heard the song Jets, I almost lost my mind, incredible. On Title TK, Kim really perfected her style. The Amps album was always one of my favorites and I always anticipated a follow-up. Title TK delivered that low-fi garage rock fix I needed. The songs are so perfect, even when she purposely comes in late with a guitar part or messes up a vocal. She is truly amazing. The songwriting on both these albums far exceeds what anyone could ask for. I am a fan of structure and these really deliver, reinventing the simplest chord progressions with unique rhythm accompaniment.

ANY YEAR: I could fall back on The Beatles or The Stones or pick some other classic rock album that I grew up on that influenced me more than any other band in the world but I will go with what I have in my car right now. Due to the fact that I drive around in an 89′ Jag that only has a cassette player, I am forced to either make a compilation or drag out a tape from a bag that sits in the trunk. The one tape that gets constant play is Cypress Hill‘s self-titled first album (1991). I don’t know what it is about that tape. No matter what mood I am in, that tape just fits right in. I find myself letting that cassette go round and round for hours. Every time a song comes on, I feel like I am hearing it for the first time. Sometimes I force myself to switch up with some other cruddy cassette I have or I make a comp one day, but before I know it, I have the Hill back in, rapping my ass off with the boys. Maybe it is the fact that they mostly sing about weed and violence, two intriguing topics and concepts for me.

QUESTIONS

1. What are three things you want for Christmas?
Honestly, I don’t even know this year. We were in the Bridgewater Mall the other night and we walked into a Lego store and I remembered how much I loved them as a lad and thought that I would like to get toys again for Christmas. They have a Star Wars Lego set that is amazing. They have the At-At and the Millennium Falcon all in Lego. It looks like so much fun. Maybe an external hard drive for my Mac or a wireless mouse. I don’t know. I am bad like that. When I want something, I buy it, so I really don’t need anything at the present moment. I like watching other people get gifts and be happy, especially children. Christmas is for kids. I would like to have a kid so I can live it through their eyes all over again. A kid would be the best present.

2. Please list two things most people don’t know about Sans Alabaster Group.
Hmm… None of us has ever been to jail and we are all retired superheroes. We also demand to play for no pay, but I think that is a joke.

3. Please give one piece of advice on how to keep creativity flowing strongly within a band.
The main thing is to always have an open mind. Go with the best idea, not the cool one or the one that you think is the ace in the hole. Do not be afraid to rework ideas until they are right. Change is good. Do not limit yourself to one style or classify yourself.

Be open with your band mates. Let them know what you are feeling and what you think. Communication inspires growth. Being in a band is like being in a committed relationship. You have to be honest with yourself and those around you in order to release what you have inside and that inspires creativity.

There is a tremendous amount of pressure and hard work involved in taking four different views, combining them all together, and making one complete idea. Then you have to take that idea and present it in front of an audience and believe in it enough to sell it to them. If you are not being honest with yourself and do not believe whole-heartedly in what you are doing, the audience will know. They are not stupid. They feed off of you and you from them and that helps inspire you to go back and try to create something even better for them and for yourself. That is what keeps the creative juices flowing.

Scott Bolasci is the drummer for The Sans Alabaster Group.

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

Rye Coalition has announced their tour dates. They hit the road for a solid month of hard rock, starting next Thursday, the 23rd, in Boston.

Man, this tour looks like so much fun. I wanna go.

9/23 Boston ? Middle East
9/24 Hoboken ? Maxwells
9/25 Philadelphia ? North Star
9/26 Washington DC ? Black Cat
9/27 New York ? Knitting Factory
9/28 Toronto ? Mod Club
9/30 Chicago ? Bottom Lounge
10/1 Minneapolis ? Triple Rock
10/2 Lawrence ? Bottleneck
10/3 Denver ? Bluebird
10/4 Salt Lake City ? Club Sound
10/6 Vancouver ? Richards On Richards
10/7 Seattle ? Graceland
10/8 Portland ? Dante’s
10/10 San Francisco ? Bottom Of The Hill
10/11 Pomona ? Glass House
10/13 Phoenix ? Big Fish Pub
10/12 Los Angeles ? Roxy
10/15 Dallas ? Gypsy Tea Room
10/16 Houston ? Engine Room
10/17 Austin ? Emo’s
10/18 New Orleans ? Mermaid Lounge
10/20 Charlotte/Atlanta ? The Room/Echo Lounge
10/21 Raleigh ? Cat’s Cradle
10/22 Richmond ? Alley Katz
10/23 Baltimore ? Ottobar

I’ve said it a million times, but I’ll say it again now: Rye puts on such a great live show. They make me feel like a kid again.

Highly recommended.