The Cure, Duran Duran, Hot Hot Heat, Echo and the Bunnymen, Violent Femmes, Psychedelic Furs, Interpol, Marc Almond of Soft Cell, Fountains of Wayne, Berlin, Kings of Leon, and Dramarama
Hyundai Pavilion, San Bernardino, CA
September 20, 2003

The Hyundai (formerly Blockbuster) Pavilion is the probably the worst place to see a concert.... unless you're in the first ten rows. If you're in the lawn (like most people) then just forget about it. You might as well be watching it on TV because you're going to be spending the whole day staring at the jumbo-screens. Today's lineup is pretty impressive and it's the first time that I ever heard of the "nation's largest amphitheater" selling out.

The Strokes - Room On Fire
Review by Michael F Gill.

Room on Fire?
ROOM on Fire?
Room on FIRE?
FIRE?

So the second Strokes album has come along, and while it is quite similiar to the first album, I can't help but notice my biggest problem with the first album hasn't been corrected : the god-awful, wafer-thin production. There is no backbone to the Strokes music, it simply just doesn't "rock out". It sounds like it is being played out of a rather treble-heavy AM radio. These guitars and drums sound soft and muddy when they should be in your fucking face. I'm not joking when I say Belle & Sebastian have more conviction and "oomph" in their recordings. I don't know how much of a difference the sound is when they play live (although I saw them open for Doves 2 years ago and I was bored silly), but geesh, even Britpop losers like Symposium, Shed 7, and Northern Uproar rock harder then the Strokes. This is a Room on FIRE????

Radiohead - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl - 9/25/03
Review by Joseph Whitcher

I'll start by setting the scene: after attempts at the presale and the general onsale, we decided to try the WASTE onsale. I'm sure you've all heard what a fucking mess that was, so I won't go into it now. Suffice it to say that I went through more shit to get tickets for this show than probably ever before. And WASTE, who are supposed to get "good seats" - at least that's what they say right? - finally sends tickets: Section J1, Row 22. All that trouble and we still got shit seats.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Carrboro, NC - 09/17/03

Finally, a show I've been dying to see makes its way to North Carolina. And I have to begin by saying thank you to all of the folks who mentioned how terrible Warlock are because on your advice, I didn't bother to get there until late, and THANK GOD! They supposedly took the stage at 9 and played until 10:20. I have no idea why they were allowed to drone on until then. It was horrifying. One of my friends said it was criminal to have seven people on stage and have them all suck.

Ugh!!

The Libertines - Chicago - Empty Bottle - 08/10/03
Review by Misa Challingsworth.

I've been waiting to see the Libertines play since last October. I sighed with relief that I didn't waste my time and money on Coachella this year after the fiasco that happened there. When the US tour was announced...and the show was booked at the Empty Bottle (3 blocks from my house), I figured it was fate. I just had to fork out the money (15 dollars + fees) to see them.

Super Furry Animals - Phantom Power
Review by James Freeman

I got my copy of the SFA "Phantom Power" DVD in the mail today [I decided I didn't want to wait until September 9, so I ordered a UK copy].

You could be forgiven for forgetting what a huge deal Jane's Addiction was the first time around, especially if you weren't there. They certainly haven't done anything since their 1991 demise to help keep our memories fresh [especially the atrocity that was "Kettle Whistle"] - though the first Porno for Pyros album does come close. Unfortunately, new album "Strays" does little to amend that. However, it's a vast improvement over, say, "Songs Yet To Be Sung" or the god-awful "Rexall".

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Transit in Philadelphia
July 9, 2003

For those of you in Philadelphia who haven't been to Transit, it's a neat place to see a show. Once we were finally let in around 9:15 there was a DJ who was spinning Bauhaus, early Cure, New Order, and other classic New Wave/Alternative tunes. The way Transit works - at least for the 21+ crowd - is that you can drink downstairs with the DJ and then the band will come on later upstairs. So around 10:45 my friends and I head up to get a good spot for seeing the stage. BRMC was set to come on around 11:00 with no opening act.

This weekend was my third Glastonbury, and my first one that found me completely and utterly nostalgic ahead of time. My first Glastonbury was as a fence-jumper in 2000 (though "fence jumper" isn't entirely accurate when you walk directly through both fences without any resistance), and from the stories we'd heard, my friend and I took the refugee route. We brought a tent, the clothes on our back, a roll of toilet paper, and our food supplies for four days - a loaf of bread, a block of cheddar, 3 carrots, and a bottle of Jack Daniels. We were filthy, cold, and generally out of our minds with sleep deprivation, but we saw an unbelievable amount of bands. Afterwards, I loved the festival, but it would've taken a lot of consideration before going through all the bodily abuse again. Last year was my first going for work matters - the tradeoffs were that I had to be pinned to the office for stretches of time each day, but it also meant that I got free backstage access. I wasn't as prepared as you'd think, bridging the gap between "refugee" (tiny shitty tent, block of cheddar, disposable camera) and "privileged set" (actual backpack, contact solution, air mattress, internet connection). As you'd expect, I had a significantly better time with a bit of experience under my belt, so the lead up to this year's festival made me wax nostalgic over what's essentially a 4 day summer camp for music-obssessed grownups.

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Dante's
Portland, OR
June 24, 2003

Before getting down to the nitty gritty of the actual gig, there has to be something to be said about Dante's in Portland. I try to avoid going to Dante's like the plague. On a past experience, I was supposed to be on the guest list. When I arrived, the brain surgeons at the door couldn't find my name. I am surprised they found anyone's name as they looked at their list(s), which consisted of scraps of paper, old napkins, the back of menus. Very tight run ship! On this occasion, I managed to get INTO the show. Dante's is a crowded sweatbox with little to no ventilation. The red lighting throughout does nothing to make it less creepy. It is somewhere between a church basement, and a tired old steakhouse from the 70's