Check out the April/May 2011 tour dates.

Crippled Black Phoenix/Ascent of Everest/Brainbow
Ravari Room
Saturday, April 4
$10

Six years ago, almost to the day, Chris Wood pulls off a major coup, booking Aereogramme at The Factory. Anybody remember that? It was an amazing show and the only time that the great Scottish band Aereogramme ever played in Columbus. Chris now book shows at the Ravari Room and has once again delivered a fantastic early April present to me (and the city of Columbus) – Crippled Black Phoenix. Unless you’re an Electric Wizard or Mogwai fan, you’re probably not too familiar with this band and that’s too bad. But you’ve got potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the band – 8 people strong – Saturday night. How they are all going to fit on the Ravari Room stage is worth the price of admission alone!

While the band likes to describe their music as “endtime ballads,” I think it sounds like Mogwai covering Pink Floyd for a movie soundtrack. Check it out for yourself:

MP3: Rise up and Fight

I interviewed Justin Greaves, singer/guitarist of Crippled Black Phoenix, earlier this week, the day before he (and band) were going to hop on a plane and fly halfway across the globe to play two weeks worth of dates in the U.S. Here’s a quick snippet from the interview:

You’ve got a rotating cast of contributors to CBP. Who will be in the touring band and are you making any compromises due to economic factors (like, will you be bringing over fewer band members because travel costs are too high?)?

We’re touring with the medium size band, we won’t have the two drumkits or the brass and violin, but we will have the cello, piano, synth/organ plus the normal guitars/bass drums set up, there’s 8 players this time, so we haven’t stripped things down at all really, we want to do the loud set….and that we shall do. Dominic is unclear whether he’ll make al the shows due to the fact that Mogwai are starting their tour on the last day of ours, it’s frustrating for both of us, especially when we had this tour booked for months and the Mogwai machine takes Dominic away at the last minute. We also have a new guitarist, Karl, he is just too bloody good actually, we may have to make him a bit more sh-t like the rest of us! Putting together this tour has almost destroyed me, but i just couldn’t give up on it, so many things have tried to prevent it or tell me it won’t happen, but faced with complete failure, utter defiance is the only response.

MP3: Trance Figure by Brainbow

For a few years in Columbus, it seems like the most anticipated release has been the debut album by Brainbow. Their intricate music and epic live shows have made them a crowd favorite for a long time, drawing comparisons to everyone from Mogwai to Explosions in the Sky.

I’m happy to say that the time has come and it’s been worth the wait. They’re releasing the album Saturday, October 11 @ Skully’s. Joining them will be Sword Heaven and Envelope. Full details here. There will be lots of people. Get there early.