I've Been Nominated for a Plug

I found out today that my radio show is being nominated for a Plug Award in the "Best Specialty Show" category. Honestly, I had never heard of the Plug Awards until today, but nevertheless, it is still cool. Click on the picture to find out more about the awards, and nominate your favorite independent artists in various categories. They officially announce the nominees for 2007 (and then begin voting) in November.

Twilight Singers Re-Cap

Made it out to Sokol Underground last night for The Twilight Singers show. I had a pretty good time at the gig, even though I wasn't as impressed with the band as I thought I would be. Band leader Greg Dulli did a great job and the set focused primarily on the band's older album, Blackberry Belle. I was really anticipating seeing the band's newest member, Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age), but he was barely part of the show.

I wasn't sure exactly what Lanegan's role in the band was supposed to be. I mean, The Twilight Singers is Dulli's band, and he is the main creative force behind the group. In fact, Lanegan only appeared for three songs during the set, and then he re-emerged for a couple of songs during the encore. He was great and all, but I was expecting more from him. I would have liked a little mini-set in the middle of the show of Lanegan's solo material. Or maybe they could have figured a way to have him and Dulli trade off verses in some older songs. Something.

Still, it was great seeing two of my favorite artists of the 90s on stage again. I think the 200+ folks at the gig enjoyed it as well. It was clearly an older crowd. I don't know how many people under the age of 30 remember The Afghan Wigs or Screaming Trees. It's too band because that stuff seems timeless to me.

I wasn't there last time the Singers played in Omaha, but I had heard about Dulli's wild behavior. He was apparently asking for cocaine from the stage, and was quite intoxicated from the bottle of Maker's Mark he was carrying around. Nowadays, Dulli is off of drugs (he has gained a little weight due to that), and told a story about the last time he was here. He mentioned the girl's name he ended up getting the coke from, and then said that she was "no longer with us." He then told the crowd to "stay away from that shit." I am uncertain if Dulli is 100% sober, because he made a reference to heading to Council Bluffs after the show. (For those not from Omaha, CB is right across the Nebraska/Iowa border and bar time is one hour later in Iowa) He looked like he was headed for a fun, late night because he bolted immediately after the show with a girl on his arm toward the Iowa border.

Tag: Twilight Singers

Van Halen with Diamond Dave in '07?

According to a posting on MelodicRock.com, Van Halen is expected to announce a 2007 reunion tour with David Lee Roth as singer. This would be good news except for the fact that this should have happened in 1996 when Roth re-joined the band for two new songs for a greatest hits CD. The Van Halen brothers chose to go with Gary Cherrone as the new singer rather than officially re-unite with Roth. Now they are all so old that I'm not sure how good this show will be. Also, as of now, bassist Michael Anthony is not in the band. The website suggests that Eddie's son, Wolfgang, might be playing bass instead. Lame.

Tag: Van Halen

Paul Stanley On Tour, KISS On the Big Screen

Paul Stanley's new solo album, Live To Win, was released this week. His club tour also started this week in Atlanta. The set list looked promising, as it included some older KISS songs that the band has never played live as well as songs from Paul's 1978 KISS solo album. Here is the set list from the opening night of the tour: Live To Win, Hide Your Heart, A Million To One, Got To Choose, Move On, Bulletproof, Tonight You Belong To Me, Lick It Up, Wouldn't You Like To Know Me, Magic Touch, I Still Love You, Strutter, Every Time I See You Around, Do You Love Me, I Want You, Love Gun, Lift, Detroit Rock City, Goodbye.

Also, tonight is your one and only chance to see vintage KISS on the big screen! This evening at 8PM, select theaters will be playing a KISS concert from 1975 on the big screen as an advance promotion for next week's release of the KISSology DVD set. To see if there is a theater near you playing this concert, check here. Sadly, it is not playing in Omaha.

Tag: Paul Stanley

Ladyfinger (ne) Makes a Video

Lots of Omaha hipsters (what? I didn't get called?) make some cameos in the new video from Ladyfinger (ne). Video is definitely low budget, but actually, it's not too bad. Kind of a funny concept, and seeing Ladyfinger playing at an elementary school in front of a bunch of second graders (?) is priceless.

Tag: Ladyfinger

Last Night's Wrap-Up

I hit Sokol Underground for a little while last night to see some of the Bonnie "Prince" Billy show. I saw about 40 minutes of his set. He sounded great, and his band was very tight. I was not really in a mood to see such a mellow artist. I am quitting smoking pot for a while (it's a long story), so mentally I was focused on that. You know what I'm talking about if you are/were a long-term smoker. Plus, I had all sorts of ideas floating in my head about my next podcast, so I ended up bolting before Mr. Oldham was finished.

I was not impressed with opener Vverevvolf Grehv. Granted, I am not much of a death metal fan, so seeing one guy on stage rocking out in his own little metal world just did not do it for me. Honestly, I think he scared most of the crowd to death. All but a few people hung in the back of the club until he was finished. Todd Fink (singer of The Faint) showed up just in time to hear the final two notes of his bandmate's side project. That would have been enough for me.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy TONIGHT at Sokol Underground

Whether you call him Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Will Oldham, Palace, Palace Songs, or Palace Brothers (or any of the names he has used over the years), the man will be in Omaha tonight at Sokol Underground. The Louisville, KY based "alternative country" singer/songwriter is on tour in support of his excellent new album Then The Letting Go.

Opening the show is Vverevvolf Grehv (The Faint's Dapose's death metal side project). That will provide a drastic contrast to the mellow country of Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Tickets are $15 and can be bought here or at the door.

This guy is a bonafide genius. Don't miss this chance to see him.

Tag: Will Oldham

Two Gallants Get a Houston-Style Beatdown

Well, not really. San Francisco duo Two Gallants had their show last Friday night abruptly ended when one of Houston's finest barged into the club, jumped on-stage and started breaking shit. Here is a firsthand account as reported at Lazy-I.com:

"A policeman came into the venue and immediately got on stage. The policeman then started to confront Adam and after a short while, threw him down on the stage. The policeman then got up and immediately called for backup. The policeman also started thrashing around and destroying musical equipment. Afterwards, members from the crowd and the opening bands started confronting the police officer. The police officer then proceeded to harass and taze members of the crowd, including one 14-year old teenager. Adam then ran out of the venue and disappeared into the streets. Tyson was handcuffed and peacefully entered the police car. Soon, helicopters and police cars flooded into the venue parking lot. Arrests were made of members of the opening bands and dissenting crowd members."

Some of this incident was captured on film:

A second video of the incident is here. In The Houston Chronicle a police spokesman says the cops actions were "commendable." I'll give you commendable.....

Tag: Two Gallants

It's FINALLY Here! The DARK STUFF Podcast!

OK, friends, I've been saying it would be coming for nearly a year, and now it is finally here. The Dark Stuff Podcast is available! I finished Volume 1, and it can be played here with this nifty little embedded player, OR you can play it from my podomatic page (also linked below), OR download the file to listen to later. At some point in the near future, you will be able to subscribe to the podcast through iTunes, and other services like that. I'd hold off on that for a few weeks until I have had time to submit the show to those services.

So, the first show is about 26 minutes. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Click here to get your own player.

If you don't want to use this player, click here to listen to the show at Podomatic or download the file to put on your iPod.
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UPDATE: The podcast is now available through iTunes. Click here to subscribe.


Tag: Podcast

The Lemonheads: Record of the Year?

This is just a brief posting on The Lemonheads, and their fan-fucking-tastic new album! I will have a real review coming up, but for those wondering whether a 10 year absence was too much for Evan Dando and Co....the answer is no. The new album, The Lemonheads, is the best thing the band (Dando) has done since 1991's Lovey album. In addition to Dando, the band includes Karl Alvarez (bass) and Bill Stevenson (drums) of the legendary punk bands The Descendents and ALL. Stevenson wrote two of the songs, too!

Until my extended review or whatever is ready, here is a classic Lemonheads video from the 80s, and a video from The Descendents when they reunited in the mid 90s.


AND....The Lemonheads are playing in Omaha at Sokol Underground, Monday, December 4. Buy tickets here.
Tag: Lemonheads

Some KISS Fans at the Onion?

Yeah, I'm not sure. But someone at the Onion caught last week's news about the Vinnie Vincent/KISS lawsuit and thought it deserved a mention.

Tag: KISS

My Yo La Tengo Interview

Man, I totally forgot to mention my interview with Ira Kaplan from Yo La Tengo on my show last Sunday night. I didn't give anyone advance warning because the whole thing was last minute. I got contacted about it late Friday afternoon, and it was on-again, off-again a number of times up through airtime at 11 pm Sunday.

I wanted to do the interview early so I could edit it down, and place interview segments in between songs. Y'know make it all professional sounding and whatnot. But the band was in Ottawa, Canada, and there was some confusion about what time they were playing that night. To make a long story short, Ira became available while I was on air, so we did it live.

Technically, I am not supposed to do "live" interviews (there have been some instances of people saying some FCC un-friendly things). But I decided to take the risk because Yo La Tengo is one of my all-time favorites. I was a little nervous because of the risk I was taking and also because I wasn't 100% sure I knew how to get the call onto the air. But I think it went well anyway. I will be posting an mp3 of the interview on my show's blog sometime this week.

Yo La Tengo is playing in Omaha this coming Sunday, October 8, at Sokol Underground. Buy tickets here. If you want to hear some free Yo La Tengo, the band's website offers some free mp3s.

Tag: Yo La Tengo