Ash - San Diego, CA - 03/25/05

Ash
March 25, 2005
Casbah, San Diego, CA

What a fucking blazing performance. I still can't believe they played the Casbah - a 132-capacity bar - but I wasn't complaining. I was at the side of the stage on Charlotte's side, with a view of everyone.

A typical tour setlist was posted over on walking-barefoot.com, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise by looking. and even when they taped the set to the floor right in front of me, I had to look away.

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Ride DVD Planned

A RIDE DVD is in the works. There's no release date as of yet, but it will include videos, interviews, private footage and more. Piero Piutti (of Ticket to Ride fame) is also seeking your help. Apparently they have some footage that was shot by an American filmaker, Steve Lewis, but have lost touch with him. If you have any info, then please contact Piero

Le Concorde Take Off

Le Concorde, one of my favorite new bands, will be hitting the road next week to promote their new record, Universe and Villa. Their Brit-inspired tunes should be right up the alley of most/all of our readers, and I *highly* recommend the record. Well, I understand you could afraid to see shows where you have no idea what the band sounds like? Don't worry... you can hear a song sample and learn more about the band at What Are Records. Tour dates... as always... can be found in our Tours Section.

Cocteau Twins Reunion CANCELLED?!?!?!

Awful news tonight, as THE COCTEAU TWINS have bowed out of their headlining slot at this year's Coachella Festival. The band, who were planning additional live dates in and around the time of the festival, have now cancelled all planned activity. The guilty party in the cancellation appears to be eccentric Cocteau frontwoman Elizabeth Fraser, who, according to the Coachella press release, "has decided that she is unable to participate in the reunion, and apologies for any inconvenience that this has caused."

The release on cocteautwins.com is less inflammatory, but still points towards Fraser as being the cause:

"It is with deep regret that we confirm the news that Cocteau Twins, at the request of vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, have cancelled the planned reunion performance at this year's Coachella Festival on 30 April. No future plans for any reunion are currently being made. Our sincere thanks and apologies to all the fans and media who wrote to us expressing your enthusiasm and support."

Unreal... but then again, it almost was too good to be true, eh? The fan backlash should be pretty wicked on this one... we're heading to the Cocteaus forum to check it out now...

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Gorillaz at SXSW?

Alright, you can throw this one into the Unconfirmed Rumour Dept.:

What IS known is that Virgin is hosting a a world premiere GORILLAZ Listening Party at SXSW. This will quite literally be the FIRST time that the new Gorillaz material will be aired to the public. The listening party will be on Thursday, March 17, 2005, from 3pm-5pm at Red Fez at 209 B W. 5th St. in Austin.

What ISN'T known is that it's been all but confirmed to us by an inside source that attending the party will be Damon Albarn, Dangermouse, and MF Doom - in person. Shh. You didn't hear that from us.

You might have to prove yourselves industry-worthy to get inside the door... they're taking RSVP's at THIS WEBSITE. So if you're gonna be in the vicinity, you might wanna check it out.

Music/Kasabian - Los Angeles, CA - 03/12/05

Music/Kasabian
Henry Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
March 12, 2005

Around 1 P.M. a friend calls me to tell me that the doors for tonight's show open at 6pm with a sharp curfew at 9:30 P.M. It's a Saturday night, so they must have another club or something opening after the concert tonight. But it also means that if the show starts late, someone is getting cut off.

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Who put the M in Manchester?

Alright Moz fans... you know the answer to the question so isn't it about time you saw a full length documentary about the man in the theatre? For one night only you can catch the world premier of Morrissey's "Who put the M in Manchester?" in US theatres.

All screenings will be taking place on Monday, March 28 at 8:30 pm local time (except San Diego which will take place on March 29). The $10 tickets are available online at pillarentertainment.com for the following showings:

New York
Loews E-Walk 42nd Street, 247 West 42nd Street

Los Angeles
Universal City 18, 100 Universal City Drive

Chicago
Loews 600 N. Michigan Avenue

Boston
Loews Theater Boston Common, 175 Tremont Street

Detroit
Emagine Novi, 4425 West 12 Mile Road

Washington DC
Loews Cineplex Rio 18, 9811 Washingtonian Blvd.

San Diego
UltraStar Del Mar Highlands, 12905 El Camino
UltraStar Chula Vista 10, 555 Broadway

As an added bonus if you get to the theatre early you catch see a performance of "How Soon Is Now?" (from Reading 2004) that will not be available on the DVD release.

Rouge Wave - Portland, OR - 02/22/05

Rogue Wave
February 22, 2005
Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR

There is a certain satisfaction that I get from seeing a great live show. It starts with discovering a band that is intriguing. Oakland's Rogue Wave is one such band. I first got word of their existence through the Sub Pop newsletters. What, I say, a new pseudo psychedelic indie rock band. Well count me in. Their album didn't take long to find its way into heavy rotation at my house. Their music was The Association, crossed with the Shins. Theirs is a beautiful blend of baroque pop and indie rock.

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The Magic Numbers - My Pick for SxSW 2005

London, March 2004: You have just seen an entirely too screechy Welsh band whose name you can't be bothered to remember at a hole-in-the-wall London club and have hopped on a Double Decker to a new (and you're praying better) venue. You live for these rare excursions to foreign countries and seeking out of new music. Your bus comes to a roll at Kings Cross and you hop out... look about until you find it... Water Rats. You've heard there's something vaguely poppish going on tonight. You pay the cover, grab a cider and head for the music room in the back. You slowly, politely push people out the way and shove open the door....

The Magic Numbers are slowly becoming London's hottest tip of the year. After sold out headlining shows and opening slots for bands like The Doves, Athlete, Travis and Ed Harcourt they're coming to the front of the It-Bands-Of-The-Moment-Clique to the adoring the attention of British music fans and the press alike. We hear the hype on a daily basis. We ignore it or feed into it as bands like Bloc Party, Kasabian and The Kaiser Chiefs become the next big thing to throngs of indiekids. What we haven't really heard about is The Magic Numbers. Despite the sold out shows and fans who sing along at a polite volume at sold out clubs around England... they haven't hit "It" yet. Yet.

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Olivia Tremor Control To Play ONE U.S. Gig

THE OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL are reuniting. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's for exactly TWO concerts -- no more, no less. One is at England's annual All Tomorrow's Parties festival... while the other was JUST announced. Friday, April 15th, the band will take to the stage at -- where else? -- The 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA. FOr those residing on planet Mars, The Olivia Tremor Control were one of the three bands at the center of the Elephant 6 Collective, a loose fold of Athens area musicians who redefined indie psychedelia a few years back. While many of the original Elephant 6-related bands have soldiered on (Apples in Stereo, Of Montreal, Elf Power,) sadly the Olivias were one of the first to go on "extended hiatus." The group's co-frontmen have since launched new projects (Will Cullen-Hart founded Circulatory System, while The Bill Doss is now the primary force behind The Sunshine Fix,) but have agreed to reunite with John Fernandez and the rest of the band for these two shows. While this is exciting news, there are still a couple of bummers out there:

Bummer #1: Fernandez' posts to the Olivias message boards at e6townhall.com have stressed that this will be the band's ONLY U.S. reunion appearance for the foreseeable future, and that no plans exist to revive the band for further shows or recordings, and

Bummer #2: Advance internet sales for the show have already sold out. However, an allotment of tickets has been given to two Athens-area record stores, School Kids Records and Low Yoyo. These additional tickets will go on sale March 14. We don't know yet if either of these shops are set up to sell tickets online or over the phone, so if you're planning on journeying to the gig, you might want to MySpace up some friends in Athens real quick to pick you up tickets in person.

Our collective fingers are crossed that these quick gigs will re-ignite the spark for the guys to get together and make another record... but we're not holding our breath.