Category: videos

Blind Melon – new tour dates

Blind Melon played the whole reunion thing smartly. They did two weeks worth of dates at smaller clubs in early October to test the waters, see if people still cared, especially given that the band has a new singer. With a 12-year gag between live shows, Blind Melon still managed to sell out each of the first 10 or so dates and played both old and new material with a number of great surprises (and surprise guests) thrown in.

Keith, a regular poster on the Blind Melon message board, put together a really cool “unofficial” tour video mixing elements of his travels to see the band, old songs, new songs, live concert footage and the debut appearance of Shannon Hoon’s 12-year-old daughter Nico as she joined the band to perform the song “Change”.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=AvxGTCQ1aSo[/youtube]

There are a bunch of great live videos from the tour on YouTube so if you’re interested, do some searching and you’ll be rewarded.

Nine new tour dates have been announced and it’s pretty safe to assume that given the nature of the first run of dates, these most likely will sell out so if you are thinking about checking them out and don’t already have tickets, you might want to grab some now.

November 23 2007 : Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock Cafe
November 24 2007 : Ridgewood, NJ @ Blend
November 27 2007 : Lancaster, PA @ The Chameleon
November 28 2007 : Falls Church, VA @ The State Theatre
November 30 2007 : Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
December 3 2007 : Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
December 5 2007 : Ft Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
December 6 2007 : St Petersburg, FL @ The State Theatre
December 7 2007 : Tallahassee, FL @ The Beta Bar

Adam Franklin/Swerverdriver

Caught Adam Franklin’s show in Columbus last week and felt very honored to do so as the ex(?) Swervedriver frontman played a set of consisting entirely of solo originals rather than dipping into the Swervedriver catalog and did so in the very comfy confines of a club (Andyman’s Treehouse) that, if there are 50 people in the room, feels very tight. Without the sonic propensity of Swervedriver behind him, Franklin still managed to recall his roots which lean towards the shoegazing, Pink Floyd-psychedelic side of things (the lengthy closing track, “Ramonesland” was really rather incredible).  A few days before the show it was announced that Franklin’s former band would be getting back together for a reunion tour in 2008 and Franklin spoke to Billboard about the plans for 2008.

I captured Franklin and band performing “Seize the Day” though the recording has two strikes against it as the club was dark and my camera doesn’t do so well with loud audio. But you can still enjoy the atmosphere and appreciate the size of the room he was playing.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=A7RXExKJ1jo[/youtube]

MP3: Adam Franklin – “Seize the Day” (CD version)

The Scrantones to appear at The Office Convention

Who knew there was even a band called The Scrantones? Fans of The Office, obviously. This weekend, in Scranton, PA, The Scrantones will be performing at The Office Convention. The Weezer website says that bassist Scott Shriner will be sitting in with The Scrantones though an article about the convention lists the following musicians: Bob Thiele (Bonnie Raitt, Lou Reed) guitar, vocals; Davey Faragher (Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Cracker), bass; Brian MacLeod (Sheryl Crow, Madonna, Tears For Fears), drums; and Roger Manning (Beck, Blink-182, Jellyfish), keyboards.

You probably recognize The Scrantones big hit – the theme song to The Office.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=zI8ZgKc-ZDc[/youtube]

(Thanks to Chad for the head’s up about this)

Great Northern (new video + tour dates)

Last week I had the opportunity to sit and chat with Rachel, Solon, Ashley and Davey of Great Northern for a feature in a magazine that I’ll mention a little closer to press time. Not only is the band’s Trading Twilight for Daylight one of my favorite releases of 2007 (okay, maybe I’ll let the cat out of the bag now … unless something comes out between now and the end of the year that totally blows my socks off, this CD is going to grab the top spot on my “Best of 2007” list), the band members are really nice people and a lot of fun to talk to.

After spending the summer touring with The Comas, Great Northern now begins a run of fall dates with Robbers on High Street – a tour that’s sure to be amazing.

Random Great Northern fact: lead singer Rachel Stolte was on the short-lived CBS reality-game show “Fire Me, Please” and actually won $25,000.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=dYHOvEjVcJ8[/youtube]

October
23 Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506
24 Mt. Pleasant, SC – The Village Tavern
25 Birmingham, AL – Bottletree
26 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
27 Jacksonville, FL – Jack Rabbits
28 Orlando, FL – The Social
29 Tallahassee, FL – The Beta Bar
30 New Orleans, LA – House Of Blues Parish

November
01 Houston, TX – The Mink
02 Austin, TX – Club DeVille
03 Dallas, TX – The Cavern
04 Norman, OK – Opolis
06 Phoenix. AZ – Modified

07 San Diego, CA – Casbah
08 Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
09 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill

10 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
12 Seattle, WA РCrocodile Caf̩
15 Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
16 Lawrence, KS – Jackpot Saloon
17 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
18 Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern