new year, new non-ths gig diary thread.

[mike]

i think it's about time i resurrected this. i've thought that every time i've been to a gig since this new board started, but only now have i acted upon that.

i've seen a lot of really great punk, hardcore, art-rock type bands over the past few weeks, and memories are kind of fuzzy, but some of the highlights off the top of my head were cowtown (skronky leeds dance-pop trio - in my opinion one of the city's finest bands); fuck right off (great sloppy garage punk from birmingham); agatha (all-girl noise-rock trio from italy featuring my friend viole - big albini/sonic youth influence but with the speed and conciseness of hardcore punk); gewapend beton (dutch hardcore punk kids. unbelievably talented, with a jaw-dropping guitarist - at new year they played a set of their own and a set of bad brains covers); sick mormons (featuring members of gewapend beton, but more of a melodic hardcore party band...so awesome).

tomorrow night there's a gig in a big squatted stately home in leeds and my friends warboys are playing, as well as a new band some other friends have formed that i really can't wait to see live. i've heard some practice demos and it's garage punk with a big, big surf influence - like man...or astroman? crossed with the dwarves.

with it being their first gig, i don't think they're even settled on a name yet! early promotion for the gig had them listed as "the sinners", but the proper flyer that's been made says they're called "cock injury"! they're doing a "people's kitchen" before the show and serving up hot vegan food for £1, too. should be a super night, and affordable.

[missalabamanobody]

fuck right off is the best band name ever

[Admin]

1/17 - Franz Nicolay @ Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
1/18 - Franz Nicolay @ The House Cafe - DeKalb, IL
1/22 - Animal Collective @ Metro - Chicago, IL
1/31 - Les Savy Fav @ Epiphany - Chicago, IL

[Five Alive]

1/16 - The Delta Spirit @ The El Rey Theater - Los Angeles (good venue)

1/25 - Sharon Jones at the Dap Kings @ Club Nokia - Los Angeles (awful venue, but waaayy bigger than I expected them to book, am intrigued.)

(Will probably catch the D Spirit again March 6th at The Belly-Up in Solana Beach, CA... but am also hoping some decent shows pop-up before then... )

[212margarita]

Club Nokia is no good? thats a bummer, they spent so much GD money on the thing.

[Five Alive]

Jan 8, 2009 18:53:07 GMT -5 212margarita said:

Club Nokia is no good? thats a bummer, they spent so much GD money on the thing.

Hey 212.

Club Nokia: I didn't like it much at all... saw NY Dolls and X there just before XMas.

It's surprisingly big, and the sound is really good... but everything else was a negative IMHO.

First off, I think the whole "LA Live" complex it's in is mostly awful... a compact mall-like version of your OC's 'Downtown Disney."

Club Nokia itself tries too hard for that whole Sunset Stip / Skybar vibe...

The balcony hangs pretty low over the first floor... making for bad sight lines if you're late.

But worst of all, the SRO first floor is in "tiers" ... "pit" and then two SRO wings above and behind the pit. The tiers seem to be controlled by what color wristband you're given... and to upgrade your wristband... you have to either tip at the bar excessively, get their very early or have "connections." Typical LA crap.

Anyway, the show I saw was one of the first... maybe they'll come off some of the pretension as time goes by...

Best I can say right now is the place feels looks like it could muscle House of Blues out of a lot of business.

[mike]

the gig last night was totally great. warboys are always a riot live, and this new band my friends are doing sounded really brilliant too. they wore mexican wrestling masks and rocked out hard in a garage surf rock'n'roll style. apparently they're not called 'cock injury' after all. when i asked what they were really called, my friend told me: "they're called 'los paedos', it means 'the sinners'"! the gig itself was really just an excuse for a big squat party, and that's what happened, despite only two days' notice and Strictly word-of-mouth promotion.

and i just found out that another friends' band (www.myspace.com/deathhandapproaching) is playing in yet another friend's basement tomorrow! i fucking love living in leeds right now.

[lilhan]

just booked tickets to the gaslight anthem in birmingham.
going to see elbow in llandudno (hopefully!).
might go and see johnny foreigner support hundred reasons in march. might.

[mike]

death hand approaching were indeed great at that house party. afterwards my friends came up to me and told me they'd been watching me instead of the band for the entire set because i was having so much fun. there was another band called goatspeed playing who i'd never heard before but kicked a great deal of arse.

[john k]

billy childish this friday.
datsuns feb 4
gaslight anthem march 4
supersuckers/nashville pussy april 22
nofx april 25

[lilhan]

frightened rabbit in march? methinks so!
(i don't have the money for this, but i don't care).

[red]

bonnie 'prince' billy is coming!!! bonnie 'prince' billy is coming!!! any playing a great venue - a 430 seat cinema. i'm beyond excited.

[red]

just read that leonard cohen is set to tour the us and western canada in april. holy shit. my heart is skipping beats over here. i've seen tom, neil, bob and bruce. seeing leonard would complete my top five.

[brady]

Off With Their Heads-Feb. 21 @ The Aquarium in Fargo, ND
Andrew Bird-April 11 @ The State Theatre in Minneapolis, MN

[Camie]

Saw my friends - The Whomping Willows (Matt), Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills (Justin) and 1/2 of the Moaning Myrtles (Lauren) in Philadelphia on the 7th. It was a chill show, in someone's apartment in Philadelphia, very laid back and cool.. and after the show, I got to jam with Justin, and I taught him Hoodrat!

[motörben]

Half Man Half Biscuit in Manchester at the end of this month, The Thermals in London at the end of next.

[toastie]

Waiting to see if Springsteen is playing the U.K.,

Glastonbury - maybe

T inthe Park - unlikely

Rockness - Possible.

It's hard for me to go to see gigs living so far away from anywhere that hosts bands I like.

[lilhan]

my dad and i made a pact:
if springsteen comes we are going.

good pact.
festivals... i am done with festivals. the love affair is OVER.

[mike]

but didn't springsteen come, like, a few months ago?

[toastie]

If this formula happens: Springsteen + THS + Glasto. I'm there!

[lilhan]

Jan 14, 2009 6:58:08 GMT -5 @mike said:

but didn't springsteen come, like, a few months ago?

he played shows during my may exams. gutted, i was. gutted.
this time we will succeed in seeing the boss.

[Deleted]

kicked off the year with a bunch of local bands covering Big Star, which was fun
had my own gig with my sloppy psych-rock band supporting experimental noise-rockers Box Freezer Romance, which kicked ass
saw a singer-songwriter i'm crushing on and some crappy electro band
friday is BIG DAY OUT, the biggest Aussie one-day festival. seeing Neil Young, My Morning Jacket, Dropkick Murphies, Fantomas and whoever else takes my fancy
wedensday Perry Keyes, sydney's answer to THS, is playing
LEONARD COHEN next week with my dad
sometime this week i'm seeing The Kits and The Pink Fits, both sydney garage
probably going to Laneway, so in addition to THS seeing No Age, Jay Reatard, Tim Fite, The Drones, etc
Lucinda Williams and Drive By Truckers are both coming out soon tooo

[missalabamanobody]

Well, you must see DBT, tlon, though I'm not sure what the playlist plans are since they're supporting the Booker T album.

In the crowd, I'm almost afraid to say I'm going to Fountains of Wayne acoustic show tonight at the Cafe Du Nord.

[212margarita]

not till march but I am going to see Cursive two nights in a row.

[redeyedandblue]

Jan 19, 2009 0:16:24 GMT -5 212margarita said:

not till march but I am going to see Cursive two nights in a row.

I'm seeing them Tuesday! Can't wait.