Au Revoir Simone will be playing at The Echo on July 7. I believe the tickets will be $14 at the door and $12 online.

If you’re looking for a site that keeps track of all the bands that you love and tell you when they go concert,  you might want to check out this site called songkick. It tracks your favorite bands, emails you when they play in your area, and it’s free!

Sambassadeur just released a video for “I Can Try” off their new album European. I found this video on a site called stereogum, which is another cool music website if you’re looking for more sites to peruse through. Enjoy

Another concert on the horizon will be the Shout Out Louds and they’re playing at The Glasshouse in Pomona on Monday the 24th. The tickets are $20 at the door, but I will unfortunately miss them this time around.  If you have a chance to see them, or need some cheering up since LOST will air its final show the night before, then I would highly recommend seeing this band. I saw them play in Seattle and I remembered them putting on  a pretty good show. Here’s some vids to pass the time.

One show that I definitely want to go see is Stars. My friend introduced me to this band not too long ago and I’m glad he did.  They’re playing at The Troubadour on June 22nd and 23rd.  They just released their single called “Fixed” and their next album The Five Ghosts will be available  June 22nd. I guess I have to download their album before the show that night!

Hopefully you get a chance to see anyone of these bands. Cheers!

Hi Everyone. The  National posted their tour dates and you can find the list here. It looks like they’re playing at the Wiltern on May 21st and 22nd which is a Friday and Saturday. I need to find my way to one of those shows!

A couple of weeks ago the NY Times website had a pretty in-depth article about The National and their whole musical process. It seems to me after reading the story I would fail miserably as a band member. Not only because  I can’t play an instrument, but it seems pretty stressful at times and I’m a pretty no drama type of guy. Highlighting the article was all their songs off of the new High Violet album available for free streaming. I read on another forum that the NY Times took it down, but NPR now has it up, so go to their site and check it out. I believe you’ll find at least one song that you’ll connect with.

And last but not least, Pitchfork has a wonderful series called Castle Rock where bands would play live in abandoned castle that overlooks the Hudson River.  Here are the videos for your viewing pleasure.

Well, it was a sad day to find out The Mary Onettes had canceled their US Tour do to that damn volcano (which I still can not pronounce) that is disrupting the entire globe. How did I found out about this sad news you ask?  I went to the Viper Room website and noticed they weren’t showing The Mary Onettes on the calendar list for April 29th.  I being somewhat neurotic had to find out why and sent and email to their info department.  I honestly didn’t think I was going to receive a reply, but in a matter of seconds I did! I have to give a shout out to Sarah Berkowitz at the Viper Room for her quick response of the sad news, but she did inform me that The Mary Onettes are going to try to reschedule their US Tour in the fall after their European Tour.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed on this one.

In other Swedish Indie news The Radio Dept. is releasing their new album Clinging to a Scheme today! Go get it!

I decided to check out the Labrador Records site to see if any of the bands are coming out here to play and lo and behold:

US tour in April
19/4 – Philadelphia, PA – Marathon Bar

20/4 – Washington, DC – DC9

21/4 – New York City, NY – Mercury Lounge

22/4 – Boston, MA – Great Scott

23/4 – Columbus, OH – Summit

24/4 – Chicago, IL – Schubas

25/4 – Seattle, WA – Sunset Tavern

26/4 – Portland, OR – Holocene

27/4 – San Francisco, Rickshaw
28/4 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar

29/4 – Los Angeles, CA – Viper Room

Yes I’m excited.  The question is can I get my lazy ass out to LA on a Thursday night?

On a side note:

Shout Out Louds released the album Work last week. Sounds more low key, but that’s not necessarily a  bad thing. It’s definitely a changed from their catchy Swedish Indie Rock that fans have been accustomed to.

Malory also released  an album called Pearl Diver in January to the ClubAC30 label.  Some other bands that you might have heard of off that label are: Airiel, Air Formation, Broadcast, Chapterhouse, The Daysleepers and much much more! Pearl Diver reminds me of  their last album The Third Face, but sort of a continuation or a progression of it.  I’m glad they finally finished and  released an album though, because I was starting to wonder if they turned out like so many other bands who just disappear  and are never heard from again.

Oh, and yes they are wearing boxes on their heads.

Concerts

First, I’m sad to say that I missed the Band of Horses concert last week in Pomona. I heard from a friend that the show was great and they played a lot of new music from their next album. I guess I’m going to have to wait and hear it.  I also heard from the same source Grand Archives will be releasing a new album as well and I believe the release date is September 15th.

I am going to the Pet Shop Boys concert on September 24th at the Greek, They’re promoting their latest album Yes. What I’ve heard sounded pretty good, at least better than their last album. Oh, and Johnny Marr plays guitar on the album as well (I don’t know any other musician that plays in so many bands, it’s like he’s talented or something).

Other upcoming concerts that I’ll probably be missing are:

The Pains of Being Pure in Heart – Shows are September 19 at The Troubadour  and the 21st at the Casbah in San Diego. Their new EP Higher than the Stars is being release September 22nd and I should being looking forward to that.

Nocturnal Festival – It’s that time of year again and I’ll be skipping out on it this year. The concert is September 26th and it’s going to be at the NOS Events Center again this year. A big Booo! to that one. Last year was just so so and you can read the review here if you wish. I wouldn’t mind seeing Roni Size and Rabbit in the Moon perform live, but I don’t think it’s worth the price. I say move it back to LA and have some more big headliners and make it 18 and over please.  Hopefully next year.

Camera Obscura – The band is coming back to the States around November, but mostly on the east coast. They’re coming back to play the shows that they had to cancel from their previous trip and to make it up to their fans, what a band. I wish I can see them again.

Other Hodgepodge

Sambassadeur – is going to be releasing a new single in November and will be releasing a new album in January.  I can’t wait for that one and I will see them in concert this time. Oh yes, by the power of gray skull I will.

Pitchfork Media - has a few Camera Obscura videos of them performing live on their Cemetery Gates series. Too lazy to find the videos? Don’t worry I got you covered. I believe you don’t have to watch the annoying advertisement in the beginning of the videos, because I embed them in the post. You see, I take care of my peeps. Enjoy.

James

Honey in the Sun

French Navy

Oh, and we did try to find seats at the Honda Center, but they were obstructed. Just our luck.

Tuesday night was a great kick off for the summer concert series with Camera Obscura. They were at the Glass House in Pomona and I was glad that it was only thirty minutes away.  Cara, my friend Rob and I got there around 7:30pm, which is pretty damn early to think of it.  We didn’t realize until later that they had two bands opening for them, actually a DJ and a band called Agent Ribbons.  Camera Obscura wasn’t going to play until 9:40, so we took our time and Rob bought tickets for the Band of Horses concert at the Glass House box office.  They’re actually playing at the newly restored Fox Theater in downtown Pomona in late August. I still got to get the tickets.

Hurry up payday.

After Rob and his girlfriend Suzie got a bite to eat (Suzie showed up later), we decided to finally show our faces at 9:00. It was an interesting scene to say the least. I overheard the singer say to the audience that they will cut their show short due to her voice, but that wasn’t the interesting point. It was a man with a bird mask hitting a tambourine against his left handed boxing glove which caught my attention. I felt like I was in a David Lynch movie. The stage was very Twin Peaks with the red drapes in the  background, so I guess it makes sense. I wish I had a picture to show you, but this might do.

Camera Obscura came out as promised at 9:40 and I believe they opened up with “My Maudlin Career”. I have to say they sounded really good live and Tracyanne’s voice just resonates so well. When she sings, it just pierces through the air. They played a couple of songs from their new album like, “James”, “Swans”, and of course the danceable “French Navy”.  They went back in the archives and played “Eighties Fan” which is off of Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi. They played many of their other songs especially off of Let’s Get Out of this Country, probably their most popular album. Of course they played “If Looks Could Kill” and their encore song of choice,  my beloved “Razzle Dazzle Rose”.  They did mess up in the beginning and had to start over, but I’m totally fine with that. They’re human after all and it was funny to hear Tracyanne joked that they played this song for two weeks and they still screwed the song up.  After they found their sync, the song was amazing live  just as I imagined it would be.  It was at the end of the song where it was a glorious chaos of instruments all playing at the same time with the signature horn keeping it all together.

If I had the time and money, I would definitely see them again in LA. They’re a great live band and I wished they would of played for another hour. I believed their set was roughly around a hour and fifteen minutes. If they would of gone more, I’m sure nobody would of complained.

I would say the only weird thing about the night, besides bird man, was the vibe of the crowd. Some people were getting into the music and I understand not all of their songs are danceable or upbeat, but it just felt like the crowd was not all there. It was like a group of zombies staring at the stage. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but you would think people would be more excited about a band who rarely comes out to the states to be more into it.  I’m pretty sure bird man was excited.

Here’s some videos for your entertainment.

Okay here’s a gem. This is their cover of “Some Guys Have All the Luck” by Rod Stewart. Golden.

“French Navy”

“Let’s Get Out of This Country” aka “Let’s Get Out Riverside” for my version.

Thanks to a friend for the heads up, Camera Obscura is going to be playing some shows in Southern California. They’re playing at the Glass House in Pomona on June 9th and at the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles on June 11th.  I definitely can’t wait to see the show and kick off the summer right. Don’t forget that their next album, My Maudlin Career, will be out on April 21st in the States and you can also download the self titled single for free from their site, if you subscribe (which I did without any hesitation).

The other concert that I will be attending is the Depeche Mode concert in San Diego. Depeche Mode always puts on a great live show and my wife can agree whole heartedly with that, since she likes to see David swivel his hips and prance around on stage doing his signature twirl with the microphone stand. Depeche Mode has several shows out in Southern California,  two shows at the Hollywood Bowl on August 16th and 17th, one show at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheater on August 14th, and the recently added Honda Center on August 19th.  Depeche Mode always plays their classics and that’s what I’m there for (14 years old all over again).

So summer is looking pretty good with the concerts and I’m still skipping out on Coachella even though The Chemical Brothers was added to the line up. They’re another band that I love to see live, because they can always get the crowd going. Maybe next time…