The Hold Steady at Music Hall of Williamsburg

The biggest show for the first night of the inaugural Northside Festival in Brooklyn, was The Hold Steady. As is par for the course, they played a kick ass revved up set, and the crowd was going nuts. The Hold Steady remain one of the best straight up Rock and Roll "bar bands" I have ever seen.
Here are a few pics from the show.
Opening act "Hype of the States":

Old 97's on a boat

If you know me, you know that the Old 97's are one of my favorite bands of all time. They are definitely one of the, if not the, best live bands I have ever seen. They put on an incredible show, and pour their hearts and their sweat into every note.
If you've never seen them before, now is your chance to see them play...on a boat.

The 2007 Rockin'The River (formerly NYC Blues Cruise) lineup has been announced, and there are some great names on there. The 97's are playing two shows on Friday July 27th. 7 and 9:30. Not only do you get to see a great band, you get awesome scenery and views of the city as the boat cruises around Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Tickets are 45 dollars in advance, which in my opinion is a great deal considering you could probably pay that much for a 2 hour cruise around Manhattan with no band playing. This is the 97's only current East Coast show. They don't play out that often any more, since Rhett Miller has been doing a lot of solo projects, so don't pass up on this one.

Raul Malo, former lead singer of the Mavericks, is playing on July 25th and 26th. I highly recommend this show as well. Raul has a phenomenal voice that goes right through you when he sings. I would describe it as a slightly more operatic Roy Orbison. His post-Mavericks solo albums have stressed more crooning, and Spanish singing, but he is highly entertaining and there are not many better singers in music today.

Also of note, John Popper and Martin Sexton both have shows as well.
For the complete lineup, go to http://www.rtrcruises.com/schedule/schedule.htm

Arcade Fire coming back to NYC, Highline Festival

Hopefully this time I can get tickets, rather than sit in a virtual waiting room for an hour, to not get tickets.

The Arcade Fire is playing a few shows in NYC. May 7th and 8th they will play the United Palace Theater. It is a seated venue way uptown on 175th street. It has just recently started hosting shows and is featuring Bloc Party, Bjork and Iggy and the Stooges.
On May 9th, they headline the inaugural High Line Festival, (curated by David Bowie) at Radio City Music Hall.
The High Line Festival is a benefit to raise money for Friends of the High Line.
What is the High Line? If you've ever gone bar hopping down in the meatpacking district, you've probably seen an elevated train platform near the West Side Highway. It runs from there up to 34th street, and since no trains run on it anymore, it is being converted into a public park. Sounds cool to me.
Other performers during the High Line festival include Air, Deerhoof, Polyphonic Spree and Ricky Gervais.
Links:
High Line Festival Official Site
Arcade Fire Official Site

Squeeze is back

Glenn Tillbrook, lead singer of Squeeze has announced that the band will be getting back together.
Chris Difford told Billboard.com last month Squeeze received offers to reunite "all the time," adding, "But it has to be emotionally, spiritually and financially the right thing, and when all those planets come into line, then we will be there. At the time being, I can't see it on the horizon, but I've been wrong before."
Just a few weeks back, Tillbrook, and Difford turned down an offer to tour with Crowded House. That would've been a "must see" lineup for me.
The band (whose exact lineup has not been announced) has dates scheduled for the UK in November and December.
For the time being, I will be playing my copy of Singles over and over.

New NYC music venue - Highline Ballroom

The owners of B.B. King's in Times Square are opening a new music venue in the meatpacking district. The Highline Ballroom will be located where nightclubs Glo and Powder used to be.
May 1st will be the grand opening, and Jonatha Brooke will be playing that night.
Amy Winehouse is sceheduled for May 8th and 9th.
Jonatha Brooke has a new album out April 3rd. The first single is out, and I really like the sound of it.
jonathabrooke.com

Ryan Adams news

Ryan Adams has announced the track listing for his first release of 2007. After releasing three albums in 05, Cold Roses (which was a double), Jacksonville City Nights, and 29, he didn't officially release anything in 06. But he did post over 10 albums (under different monikers)to his website.
The album will be called 'Easy Tiger' and the track listing is as follows: Goodnight Rose, Everybody Knows, The Sun Also Sets, Halloween Head, Off Broadway, Two Hearts, Tears Of Gold, These Girls, Two, I Taught Myself How To Grow Old, Oh My God, Whatever, Etc., Rip Off, Pearls On A String. "Off Broadway" was on the awesome unreleased album Suicide Handbook, and is a great song. He performed it at one of the Town Hall shows I attended late last year.
In addition to the album news, Ryan will be playing Stonehenge. No, not the Spinal Tap song, though judging by how he was dressed at those Town Hall shows, it might not be that far off. Ryan will be playing the Salisbury International Art Festival at Stonehenge. That sounds like a pretty cool place to see a concert.

Bonnaroo lineup announced

June 14th through 17th, marks the return of the annual Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee.
The lineup is pretty solid, and features The Police, WILCO, White Stripes, Flaming Lips, Fountains of Wayne, The Decemberists, Ween, David Cross, and many many more.
For the full lineup, check out the official site here

Free Ozzfest!!!!

That photo on the right (which I took at Ozzfest 04) sums up what a lot of people may be feeling right now. Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne have just announced that Ozzfest will be free this year!
From Ozzfest.com: That's right, OZZY and SHARON OSBOURNE and tour producer LIVE NATION broke the news today at the Concert Industry Consortium in Los Angeles that their 12th annual hard rock spectacular--a 25-date extravaganza launching July 7 in Los Angeles--is pulling the plug on ticket prices and giving the power back to the fans calling this summer’s OZZFEST "FreeFest."

To gain entry into the event, fans will go to www.ozzfest.com or www.livenation.com to find links that will direct them to special sponsor sites where tickets can be secured. More details regarding the process are forthcoming.

This should be interesting. Hopefully the process for getting tickets won't involve anything too painful like virtual purgatories, like I experienced trying to get Arcade Fire tickets. Big festivals are often overshadowed by big soporate sponsors whoring out their product everywhere you look. It will probably be taken to the extreme when sponsors are paying for the whole event. Also, with free tickets, you run the risk of attracting a lot of people who don't actually care about the music. From my experience that has been the thing that has ruined the most concerts for me: people at shows who care more about conversations with their friends, or their text messages, than the actual show.

Ozzfest official site
My Ozzfest Flickr Photos

Son Volt Tour Dates Annnounced

Son Volt has just announced U.S. tour dates for March and April. They will be hitting Irving Plaza April 18th.
For the complete list of shows, click here

Reunited and it Feels so good - Crowded House

Ironically, just a few days after writing about the Crowded House farewell concert, the band has decided to get back together. They will play Coachella this year, and record a new album titled "Time On Earth". The band is in search of a new drummer. Drummer Paul Hester took his own life in 2005.
This years Coachella festival also marks the return of Rage Against the Machine, and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
For the full Coachella lineup, go here.

Crowded House concert on VH1 Classic

Last week I briefly wrote about the release of Crowded House's farewell concert on DVD. To my surprise, as I was flipping channels last night, I found the concert playing on VH1 Classic. It will be in heavy rotation for the next few weeks. If you aren't familiar with the band, aside from their 3 or 4 stateside hits, you should definitely give them a chance. Neil Finn is a fantastic songwriter, and they never got the big fame they deserved in the States.
You can get the full schedule of airings here (VH1s site is damn near impossible to navigate, without getting looped back to their front page every time)
Links:
Crowded House schedule on VH1 classic
Previously on Pining

As predicted, Arcade Fire tickets sold out fast

My attempts to get Arcade Fire tickets were futile. I logged on and was put in a "virtual waiting room" which refreshed every 30 seconds until at 9:10 AM it said that they were sold out. They are already on ebay for 900 bucks.
Congrats to all of you lucky bastards who scored tickets, and curses to you who bought them strictly to make a profit.

Reminder: Arcade Fire tix on sale tomorrow

The Arcade Fire is playing five nights in NYC at Judson Memorial Church on Washington Square Park.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning (1/5/07) at 9 AM: http://www.bowerypresents.com/
I've never seen them live, so I am really looking forward to these shows. A small intimate church setting should be a great place to see them too. I expect these shows to sell out fast.