Asides

Smashing Pumpkins tour dates

Billboard.com has revealed the first string of Smashing Pumpkins tour dates scheduled for this fall. The band will be touring to support their new release Zeitgeist which hits shelves next week. Calling the band Smashing Pumpkins is a little like Axl Rose calling his current band Guns N’ Roses – it’s a little bit misleading as only 2 of the original 4 Pumpkins are in the current lineup. In fact, the 2 that are in the Pumpkins now were also in Zwan which begs the question, why not call this band Zwan? Nostalgia, for sure, and after a quick, precursory listen to Zeitgeist, I guess it’s fair to call it a Smashing Pumpkins album as Corgan isn’t doing anything to damage the band’s good name. There are a few monster rockers on the new CD (which you can stream here) so we’ll see what becomes of this version of the Pumpkins. Of course, it would be great to see James Iha and D’arcy back in the band but that ain’t likely to happen anytime soon.

And now, the tour dates.

Sept. 8: Montreal (Osheaga Festival)
Sept. 9: Toronto (V Fest)
Sept. 13: Las Vegas (the Pearl)
Sept. 18: Phoenix (Dodge Theatre)
Sept. 24: Vancouver (NE Forum)
Sept. 28: Salt Lake City (McKay Center)
Sept. 30: Morrison, Colo. (Red Rocks)
Oct. 2: St. Paul, Minn. (Wilkins Auditorium)
Oct. 4: Normal, Ill. (Braden Auditorium)
Oct. 7: Detroit (Fox Theatre)
Oct. 9: Pittsburgh (Palumbo Center)
Oct. 11: Columbus, Ohio (LC Pavilion)
Oct. 15-16: Boston (Orpheum Theatre
Oct. 21-22: Philadelphia (Tower Theatre)
Oct. 25: Memphis (Mud Island Amphitheatre)
Oct. 30: Atlanta (Fox Theatre)
Nov. 3: Dallas (Nokia Theatre)
Nov. 5: Nashville (Ryman Auditorium)

AtomicNed.com downtime

Just got back from a weeklong vacation in Charleston, South Carolina – thus explaining the lack of updates to the site. Charleston is an interesting city when it comes to music and I haven’t quite figured it out yet. There seem to be a few good radio stations (covering the typical styles of music you’d expect), a few decent CD shops, good local entertainment magazines, and even a few rock clubs, though I have yet to step foot into any of them.

This time around I missed out on seeing Great Northern at the Village Tavern by a mere 24 hours (I nearly re-arranged my vacation to see the band that undoubtedly will earn a spot on my “Best of 2007” list). And we left Charleston just 8 hours before Two Cow Garage was scheduled to hit the Pour House stage. I thought long and hard about checking out Moses Mayfield at the Windjammer and the $1 door charge was very tempting but, truth be told, I hold the band responsible for The Damnwells being dropped by Epic. A little harsh, yes, but when I spied Ben Goldman’s name on the Moses Mayfield CD that I picked up while in Charleston, my stomach dropped a bit.

Goldman is an A&R guy and my introduction to him came via Golden Days, a documentary about The Damnwells shot while the band recorded Air Stereo. Now, I’m biased because I think The Damnwells are the greatest band on Earth AND because I think they got shafted, but Goldman (who is in the documentary for probably a grand total of 8 minutes) comes across as one of those sleazy record company guys who doesn’t really care about music. It’s all about the bottom line for the label, which, granted, is his job, but it killed me … KILLED ME … when, in Golden Days, Goldman tells the band that they have to wait for just the right moment to release the album so as to not get lost among the hundreds of other bands releasing music at the same time. The Damnwells lead singer Alex Dezen looks at Goldman and says “There will never be the right time to release our record. We’ll ALWAYS be competing against other bands”. In the end (sorry to ruin the ending), The Damnwells got released from their contract before Air Stereo hit the shelves and, lo and behold, hear comes Moses Mayfield with a more radio-friendly (read: unit shifting) sound. Will they sell enough records to stay on Epic’s roster? Probably not, but even I’ll admit the song “Fall Behind” is one of those tracks that gets stuck in your head the way a song by a band like The Fray or Augustana might (shit … just looked at the back of the Moses Mayfield cover to find they are on Columbia, not Epic … oh well, I still think Goldman was quick to turn his back on The Damnwells because of these guys).

Moses Mayfield performing “Fall Behind” live in a Charleston radio station studio

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=DuVZxCmf-fM[/youtube]

Golden Days trailer

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=YyvLWYjf-IA[/youtube]

The Charleston City Paper (a free weekly) had an interview with Chris McLernon of the cover band Playlist. The name instantly rang a bell in my head as I recognized him from his work in the early ’90s with Cold Sweat (featuring Marc Ferrari of Keel) and Saigon Kick. Kind of interesting that this is the second story I’ve read in the last month or so about a former major label musician who is now playing in an ’80s cover band (the other story being about Dave Brooks, formerly of Slammin’ Gladys, who now fronts The Breakfast Club in Cleveland).

More updates coming later this week.

Soundtrack of My Life – Tone Loc’s “Funky Cold Medina”

Ever hear a song that reminds you of a very specific time and/or place in your life? There are many songs that when I hear them I associate a part of my past with.

For instance, take the Tone Loc song “Funky Cold Medina”.

Back when I was a kid, my brother and I used to visit our grandparents in Cleveland (this was before we moved there when we were just a bit older). I remember hearing about this place downtown called “The Arcade“. Now, for any pre-teen growing up in the ’80s, the word “arcade” led to salivation and the mind ran wild. “Do they have a new version of Donkey Kong? What’s the newest racing game? Think they have multiple Dragon’s Lair machines?” The reality is that the Arcade in Cleveland was nothing more than a mall, and not even a good one at that (no book store or record store that I can remember). I honestly don’t even remember what was in the Arcade but I know it was a total letdown … at least until we rediscovered it when we were in our late teens.

Kids around the high school would talk about getting fake IDs and always list off a few places where you could go get “legal” fake IDs (“For amusement purposes only”, but of course). There was a place on Lorain Road in Rocky River near The Real Flash Gordon’s (where I saw Pantera on their Vulgar Display of Power” tour) but supposedly the place with the most realistic fake IDs was a place in the Arcade. Now, we weren’t dumb enough to think that these would be foolproof fake IDs but we knew that there were a few carryouts in downtown Cleveland and Lakewood that would pretty much accept any form of ID with a photo and a birthdate that stated that the owner of the ID was over 21, even if it was an out-of-state “identification card” rather than a license.

Continue reading “Soundtrack of My Life – Tone Loc’s “Funky Cold Medina””

Jimmy Eat World announce summer tour dates

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from Jimmy Eat World – nearly 3 years to be exact (Futures was released in October 2004). On a personal level, I’ve watched the band go from playing small basement clubs in front of a handful of people to headlining (and selling out) 1,200 seat clubs and opening arena tours for the likes of Weezer. Not too bad for the little emo band from Arizona.

JEW have finished recording their new album and now are in the mixing process which hopefully means a fall 2007 release. In the meantime, the band is hitting the road this summer to preview new material for fans. Most of the dates are at venues that are probably a little too small for the band to be playing at at this point in their career but since the new album isn’t out yet, maybe it makes sense to do a scaled back tour.

Check out: Jimmy Eat World’s official website
Check out: Jimmy Eat World’s MySpace page

Tour dates after the jump.

Continue reading “Jimmy Eat World announce summer tour dates”

Good Charlotte to co-headline tour with Justin Timberlake

Okay, so I don’t really care about either of these artists but after the Rooney/Fergie tour announcement last week, I didn’t think I’d see a stranger double bill this summer. And then came the Good Charlotte/Justin Timberlake announcement. It just shows how much music barriers have broken down over the years. Yeah, Good Charlotte aren’t *real* punk rockers, but this is the equivalent of a Green Day/Michael Jackson tour 10 years ago in my opinion. Weird, weird, weird.

Huh? Did I hear you say you’re dying to hear Poison’s cover of JT’s “Sexyback”? Alright, here you go:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y4wXIt-1xVs[/youtube]

If you really care, tour dates after the jump.

Continue reading “Good Charlotte to co-headline tour with Justin Timberlake”