A couple weeks back, we mentioned that Neil Young had announced the dates for the 22nd installment of the Bridge School Benefit. Now, we’ve got a line-up to share. The all-acoustic shows, which will take place at the Shoreline Amphitheater on October 25 and 26, will feature appearances from ZZ Top, Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, Smashing Pumpkins, Cat Power and Josh Groban - as well as sets from the event’s host on each night.
Young is also showing some love to two two openers on his upcoming arena tour inviting both Wilco and DC4C to perform.
If you can’t make it out West for the shows, then maybe you can make it to one these recently announced tours…
Amy Ray of Indigo Girls fame heads out for a lengthy solo run (begins: 10/19)
Finally, we’ve got some unfortunate news for those of you who we’re hoping to head to Amsterdam for the 2009 installment of Jam In The Dam. Due to the current health condition of event founder Armand Sadlier - who is in need of a double lung transplant - organizers posted a message on their website announcing that there won’t be a Jam In The Dam next year. The message went on to say that the event will be back in 2010 for their 5th anniversary. We send our best wishes to Mr. Sadlier for a full recovery.
Let’s mark down today as the official Day of the Mind-Blowing Double Bill. Not only was the Drive-By Truckers / The Hold Steady tour announced this afternoon, but we’ve also got official confirmation of the Wilco/Neil Young tour we mentioned earlier. Arcade Fire and Bruce Springsteen - you’re on the clock!
Last year, Neil Young performed at intimate venues throughout the country including churches and theaters with his wife Pegi opening each show. This time around Neil aims to fill arenas and has enlisted big draws Wilco and Death Cab For Cutie for support. Death Cab and Everest will open all the shows from October 14 until November 5, while Wilco and Everest open the rest of the tour with the exception of Chicago.
The prospect of touring with Neil Young must be very exciting for both bands. Jeff Tweedy and Ben Gibbard have each been professing their love for Neil Young since they started their careers. For more on the Wilco/Neil Young connection read this fascinating article. And be sure to check out this video of Ben Gibbard singing Young’s Harvest Moon and this clip of Jeff Tweedy joining The Bottle Rockets for Neil’s Walk On.
For those of us who like to actually stand at concerts, the floor will be general admission at every venue. Neil’s backing band features Ben Keith, Rick Rosas, Chad Cromwell, Anthony Crawford and Pegi Young.
READ ON for the full list of Neil Young North American Fall Tour Dates…
If you’re a regular reader of Brooklyn Vegan or Prefix then odds are you’ve admired the stunning photography of Lori Baily. We’re sad to report that Lori’s parents were murdered in their Nebraska home this past Sunday during a completely random act of violence by a suspected psychopath who is now in custody.
As you can imagine Lori’s been hit with a ton of unexpected expenses such as travel, the funeral, lawyers etc. You can help a valued member of our community, who has a history of helping others, by sending a monetary donation of any amount to the address listed in this post. Our thoughts are with you, Lori.
Hot on the heels of a successful summer tour, Bellingham’s Death Cab For Cutie returns to the road in early October for a string of shows that includes their first appearance at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall on October 6.
For those of us who aren’t going to be attending Bonnaroo in person, we’ve still got some options to check out the action live from Manchester. As usual, the AT&T Blue Room will offer a webcast, while the folks at XM will be broadcasting performances all weekend on XMX (Channel 2).
Let’s not forget Fuse, who will be airing an hour special live from the festival on Saturday and three hours worth of footage on Sunday night.
Okay, that’s enough about Bonnaroo for an hour or so. Here’s a buncha links to help you get over that dreaded Wednesday hump…
Beck debuted a slew of new songs during a secret show in LA
Finally, NYCTaper was on hand last night at the McCarren Pool in Brooklyn where Death Cab For Cutie’s set ended abruptly when a major storm quickly enveloped the venue during The Sound of Settling. Apparently it was quite a scene when the organizers of the event jumped on stage to rush the performers to safety, and told the audience to essentially get the fuck out of there. Can’t wait to hear the tapes!
Not many bands get to play at The Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millenium Park. The feat of architecture, designed by National Medal of Art winner Frank Gehry, is equipped with a state of the art sound system and shoots 120 feet high into the Chicago sky. Death Cab For Cutie joins other names such as Tortoise and Wilco as some of the only rock acts to play the prestigious stage. The stainless steel canopy would find little color from the sun to illuminate it tonight, but rather, take a cue from the band’s hometown of Seattle, and project the grey clouds hovering over the venue for the crowd to see. The mood was set.
Rogue Wave started the evening coated in reverb and dressed up in cheap ties, as if they were courting Death Cab and in a few shows, would finally meet their parents for approval. The band was tight, but eerily reminiscent to My Morning Jacket sans any balls at all. The set was pretty much a wide body guitar and Fender amp fest, but a great choice for an opener for DCFC.
The skies remained calm as the masked sun began to set over Millennium Park, though you would never be able to tell, sort of like the transformation of Ben Gibbard’s stage presence. Years ago, Ben would have emerged from behind a graffited club wall disguised as your everyday melancholy strummer with black glasses that would have you guessing him a librarian or sarcastic record store clerk. On this evening, a confident, contact-wearing rock star took the stage in Downtown Chicago and stood tall very much stage right of the rest of the ensemble, putting him at a noticeable distance from the rest of the band, signaling the leader was certainly in place. It is very hard to take that step between worlds as a performer without looking like an asshole somewhere along the way, but Ben seems to have mastered the art of transformation with no harm done to his demeanor and hasn’t looked back.
READ ON for more of Wade’s thoughts on Death Cab in Chicago…
A few weeks ago we told you about Carrie Brownstein’s Monitor Mix post calling out the Grateful Dead for asking NPR to write a piece on them in exchange for allowing Brownstein to use Friend of the Devil in one of her online mixtapes. It turns out Rhino Records were the guilty party that made the ridiculous request of Brownstein, which makes us feel better about the situation. We already knew record companies are shady, and certainly Rhino is no exception.
The woman immortalized by The Beatles’ classic She’s Leaving Home has been forced to demolish the home she built illegally
Billboard offers more details on the eagerly awaited Specials reunion
Are we about to witness the death of the paper ticket? If Ticketmaster’s latest scheme for world domination works, we just might.
Ticketmaster recently announced the launch of a new paperless ticketing service that will start on Tom Waits’ upcoming tour. Under the new program, which will be installed at major venues over the next few years, ticketholders will present their credit card and Photo ID instead of printouts to gain entry to events. I’m sure they’ll still offer souvenir old school paper tickets… for a steep premium.
It’s not every day we can compare and contrast Death Cab For Cutie and Phish, so we’re gonna take our shot while we can. We were shocked when DaveO forwarded us a copy of Stereogum’s review of Death Cab For Cutie’s new single. The author compares the beginning of I Will Possess Your Heart to a Phish jam, and he wasn’t that far off. The first few minutes of the track kinda sounds like an outtake from the Vermonter’s The Siket Disc.
Here’s the blurb from Stereogum:
You guys had fun with our game building jokes out of Death Cab’s new record title Narrow Stairs (e.g. Ned said: “How do you confine an obese person to the lower floors of a house?” — and that’s the most politically correct one) … but we think you’re gonna find even more to love out of the record’s first listen, “I Will Possess Your Heart.” Walla’s back on production of course, setting the scene instrumentally for almost two minutes with a groovy bass vamp, a little piano, and atmospheric guitar chatter. Actually, it’s not too far from a Phish jam (that’s not a joke), until Gibbard starts in with the earnest requests to spend time together and the threats of heart possession. This is the bass line that soundtracked that video preview last year. We’re liking it.
While most in the jam scene aren’t that into Death Cab, I love Gibbard’s voice and gentle songwriting. Plus many modern rock bands feature musicians who just don’t have the skills on their instruments. You won’t find that problem with the members of Death Cab, who all are extremely talented players. Our interest is piqued, and we look forward to the Narrow Stair’s leak release date on May 13. Now they just need to work on changing their setlist each night, extending This Is The Sound of Settling to a twenty-minute jam and make an appearance at the Jammys on May 7.
Check out I Will Possess Your Heart, and let us know what you think:
