Tour: Alex Dezen (The Damnwells)

Got a great, unexpected email a few weeks ago. Alex from The Damnwells asked if I could hook him up with a solo/acoustic show in Columbus. “Done”, I replied and got to work. Actually found him a Sunday night, early evening gig at a bar The Damnwells have played before but, alas, it was not to be as routing wound up leading him in a different direction.

Here are the dates Alex will be playing.

11/05 – The Darkroom—Nashville, TN. 8pm.?w/ Josh Fletcher and Dewveall.
11/06 – ?Smith’s Olde Bar (Atlanta Room)—Atlanta, GA.?8pm.?w/ Brandon Clark and Josh Fletcher.
11/07 – ?Parkside Café—Birmingham, AL.?9pm.?w/ Josh Fletcher.?FREE!!
11/09 – Music in the Hall—Oxford, MS. 6pm. w/ Josh Fletcher.
11/09 – Proud Larry’s (with full band!)—Oxford, MS.?9pm.?w/ Josh Fletcher.
11/11? – Hotel Café—Los Angeles, CA.?10pm.
12/05 – Rockwood Music Hall—NYC. EARLY SHOW. Doors 6:30pm. w/ Courtney Kaiser.
12/07 – Thunderbird Café—Pittsburgh, PA. 8pm. w/ Courtney Kaiser.
12/08 – Tin Angel—Philadelphia, PA. 8:30pm. w/ Courtney Kaiser.
12/09 – Jammin Java—Vienna, VA (DC/Arlington area). 7:30pm. w/ Courtney Kaiser.

Alex will most likely be debuting some new Damnwells tracks from the forthcoming 4th album as well as digging into the band’s deep catalog of songs on this tour. The full band will be performing Dec. 18 at the Double Door in Chicago and Alex hinted that more dates may follow early in the new year.

Tour: Blind Melon (3 dates)

After reforming with new Travis Warren in 2006 and then giving him the boot in 2008, it looks like the Blind Melon guys are going to give it another try. There’s not a lot of details out there right now, but guitarist Christopher Thorn posted on Facebook that Blind Melon has booked 3 dates (2 in November, 1 in February) and the Blind Melon message board confirms those dates AND reveals that Travis will be given another shot as the lead singer. The band is said to be taking it slow and the future is still up in the air. Let’s hope the past is the past and everybody can move forward.

Here are the dates:

November 27, 2010 – The Aspen Festival (Aspen, CO.)
November 28, 2010 – The Bluebird Theatre (Denver, CO.)
February 04, 2011 – The Hard Rock & Casino (Albuquerque, NM.)

Introducing … Blood Red Shoes

I hereby am making it my mission to turn the U.S. onto the dark and paranoid sounds of Brighton, England’s Blood Red Shoes. Truthfully, I’m surprised that the tastemaking sites that I follow on a regular basis haven’t already latched onto this duo (Laura-Mary Carter on guitars/vocals and Steven Ansell on drums/vocals) and their Nirvana-by-way-of-the-Pixies blistering rock sound. (For the record, I’ve been listening to this band since 2008’s Box of Secrets.)

While it can be said of hundreds of bands, there is little doubt that Blood Red Shoes might not be where they are had it not been for Nirvana’s Nevermind and In Utero albums. Therefore, it stands to reason that the bash-and-rock songs on Blood Red Shoes sophomore release, Fire Like This, are reminiscent of another Nirvana-worshiping duo, Local H. Both bands eschew the use of bassist yet neither suffers from the lack of the four string.

Despite all the previously mentioned bands, the band I’m most reminded of when listening to Blood Red Shoes is another overlooked UK favorite of mine, The Subways, who had the male/female vocalist thing going but who tended to favor the male vocals. In Blood Red Shoes, Carter and Ansell alternate and often swap verses within the same song.

Fire Like This will be available in the U.S. on October 5 and Blood Red Shoes will be touring on this side of the pond (for the first time?) shortly thereafter.

Tour Dates
Oct 12 – Media Club / Vancouver
Oct 13 – Sunset Tavern / Seattle
Oct 15 – Rickshaw Stop / San Francisco
Oct 16 – Muddy Waters / Santa Barbara
Oct 18 – Bootleg Theatre / Los Angeles
Oct 19 – Casbah / San Diego
Oct 20-21 – CMJ / New York City
Oct 22 – Red Palace / Washington, DC
Oct 24 – Great Scott / Allston, MA
Oct 26 – Casa Del Popolo / Montreal
Oct 27 – Horseshoe Tavern / Toronto
Oct 28 – Grog Shop / Cleveland
Oct 29 – Subterranean / Chicago

Tour: Suicidal Tendencies

To promote their No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family album (re-recorded tracks from their second album, Join The Army, as well as tunes from the second full-length from No Mercy, guitarist Mike Clark’s speed metal band) Suicidal Tendencies are heading out on tour.

10/15/2010 Knitting Factory – Reno, NV
10/16/2010 Roseland – Portland, OR
10/17/2010 Showbox – Seattle, WA
10/20/2010 Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
10/22/2010 House Of Blues – Las Vegas, NV
10/26/2010 Black Sheep – Colorado Springs, CO
10/29/2010 Harpo’s – Detroit, MI
10/30/2010 Eagles – Milwaukee, WI
10/31/2010 Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH
11/02/2010 Pops – St. Louis, MO
11/04/2010 Meridioen – Houston, TX
11/06/2010 Palladium Showroom – Dallas, TX
11/07/2010 Fun Fun Fun Fest – Austin, TX
11/09/2010 State Theatre – Tampa, FL
11/10/2010 Firestone – Orlando, FL
11/12/2010 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
11/13/2010 Palladium – Worcester, MA
11/17/2010 Metro – Chicago, IL
11/18/2010 Cabooze – Minneapolis, MN
11/20/2010 Summit – Denver, CO
11/21/2010 Sunshine Theatre – Albuquerque, NM

Tour: Jimmy Eat World

Anybody heard any buzz about the new Jimmy Eat World CD? Invented is due in stores September 28 with a single (“My Best Theory”) showing up sometime in August. Mark Trombino, who produced Clarity and Bleed American, is back on-board and it’ll be interesting to see if the band can capture the magic of those two CDs on their latest.

I’ve been listening to the Jimmy Eat World catalog a lot this week and my current go-to song is “Pain” from 2004’s Futures.

The first leg of the band’s tour starts just a week before Invented is released. Here are the dates:

9/21 – Atlanta, GA / Center Stage
9/22 – Asheville, NC / The Orange Peel
9/24 – Sayreville, NJ / Starland Ballroom
9/25 – Virgin Mobile FreeFest Merriweather Post Pavilion
9/29 – Los Angeles, CA / The Wiltern
9/30 – San Francisco, CA / Warfield Theatre
10/1 – San Luis Obispo, CA / SLO Veterans’ Auditorium
10/3 – Denver, CO / Ogden Theatre
10/4 – Omaha, NE / Sokol Auditorium
10/5 – Milwaukee, WI / Pabst Theatre
10/7 – Chicago, IL / Riviera Theatre
10/8 – Royal Oak, MI / Royal Oak Music Theatre
10/9 – Columbus, OH / Newport Music Hall
10/11 – Philadelphia, PA / Electric Factory
10/14 – New York, NY / Terminal 5
10/15 – Boston, MA / House Of Blues
10/17 – Toronto, CAN / Kool Haus

Support:
– Civil Twilight 9/21-9/22.
– We Were Promised Jetpacks 9/29-10/17.