Ryan Adams and the Cardinals had to cancel the last couple of shows because the band was sick with the flu. It looks like they’ll play tonight’s show in Texas.

Tour Dates:

Postponed Due To Illness October 9 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
Postponed Due To Illness October 10 - Tulsa, OK - Brady Theater
October 11 - Grand Prairie - Nokia Theater
October 13 - Austin, TX - Paramount
October 14 - Houston, TX - Verizon
October 16 - Tuscaloosa, AL - Bama Theater
October 17 - Atlanta, GA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
November 8 - Dublin, Ireland - Ambassador Theatre
November 10 - Manchester Academy
November 11 - Newcastle Academy
November 13 - Leeds Academy
November 14 - Edinburgh, Scotland - Picture House
November 16 - Cambridge - Corn Exchange
November 17 - Birmingham Academy
November 19 - Brighton Dome
November 20 - Brixton Academy
November 22 - Southampton Guildhall

Opening For Oasis

December 3 - Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
December 4 - Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
December 6 - The Pearl, Las Vegas
December 8 - Broomfield Events Center, Denver, CO
December 10 - Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
December 12 - Allstate Arena, Chicago, IL
December 13 - Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI
December 15 - John Labatt Center, London, ON
December 17 - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
December 19 - Susquenhanna, Camden, NJ
December 20 - GMU Patriot Center, Washington DC

Lucinda Williams has a date in Rochester, NY this Sunday night. The singer/songwriter, who has collaborated with Elvis Costello and won a couple Grammys, will play the Harro East Ballroom this Sunday. Tickets (35 clams) are available through Ticketbastard or at the door.

Nick Lowe- Cruel to Be Kind

Nick Lowe, the charming pop singer who gave us the timeless “Cruel To Be Kind”, will be in Rochester, NY next Thursday. He’s set to perform at the German House on Gregory Street. It is a great venue and has a nice pub downstairs if you need a pint. See you there.

Tour Dates:
Sat 10/11/08 Minneapolis, MN Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant

Sun 10/12/08 Madison, WI Barrymore Theatre

Tue 10/14/08 Chicago, IL Green Mill

Wed 10/15/08 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

Thu 10/16/08 Rochester, NY German House Theater

Fri 10/17/08 New York, NY Zankel Hall At Carnegie Hall

Sun 10/19/08 Tarrytown, NY The Tarrytown Music Hall

Wed 11/12/08 San Sebastian, ESP Victoria Eugenia Theatre

Fri 11/14/08 Madrid, ESP La Riviera

Mon 11/17/08 Zurich, SWI Kaufleuten

Mike Patton & Serj Tankian have contributed a song for the Bodies Of Lies soundtrack. The song, titled “Bird’s Eye,” was written specifically for the Ridley Scott film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe.

My Morning Jacket singer-guitarist Jim James has been released from the hospital after being injured in a fall during a concert at the University of Iowa. A Cedar Rapids newspaper reported that James slipped and fell about 30 minutes into the show Tuesday night. The Gazette says James apparently hit his head in the fall, which happened between songs. The rest of the concert by the Southern rock group was canceled.

Spokesman Tom Moore of University Hospitals said Wednesday that James, whose real name is James Olliges Junior, was treated and released.

The Flaming Lips will be taking over the streets of Oklahoma City on Halloween. Their March of 1,000 Flaming Skeletons parade will take place on Saturday, October 25th. They have also announced screening dates of their highly anticipated feature film ‘Christmas On Mars’ throughout the US.

The 82-minute feature will be shown in theatres across the country this autumn. In addition to traditional evening showtimes, the film will be shown at 7:00am and 9:00am so viewers can see the film before they go to work, according to a band statement. Good god.

The film is frontman Wayne Coyne’s directorial debut. He built the film set in his Oklahoma City backyard to resemble his idea of Mars.

The screening dates are:

Atlanta, GA Plaza Theatre (October 8 )
Peoria, IL Reynold’s Cinemas at Landmark (10.10)
Naperville, IL Nova 8 Cinemas (10.11)
Nashville, TN The Belcourt (10.17)
Dallas, TX Landmark Inwood Theater (10.17, 10.18)
Whitewater, WI Theatres of Whitewater (10.17)
Lake Geneva, WI Geneva 4 (10.18)
West Bend, WI Paradise Theatre (10.19)
Madison, WI The Orpheum (10.21-10.24)
Waterville, ME Railroad Square Cinema (10.23)
Cambridge, MA The Brattle (10.31-November 9)
Omaha, NB Film Streams / Ruth Sokolof Theater (October 31)
Cleveland, OH Cleveland Cinematheque (November 8, 9)
Columbus, OH Landmark Gateway Theater (11.14, 11.15)
Denver, CO Landmark Esquire Theatre (11.14, 11.15)
Hartford, CN Real Art Ways (11.21-11.23)
Minneapolis, MN Landmark Uptown Theatre (11.22)

Wilco and the Fleet Foxes have recorded a cover of The Band’s “I Shall Be Released” and all you have to do to get it is promise you’ll vote. You were going to do that anyway! Right? Go here to get it.

Depeche Mode - Precious (from their last record, Playing The Angel)

Depeche Mode is planning to release its 12th studio album April 20, 2009. The band has also unveiled its 2009 Tour of the Universe, which will play 28 stadium dates worldwide beginning May 10 in Tel Aviv, Israel. As-yet-unannounced dates in North and South America will follow; Live Nation is promoting.

The last Depeche Mode tour, in support of 2006’s “Playing the Angel,” was supposed to conclude in Tel Aviv but the show was canceled due to concerns over safety.

“Playing the Angel” has sold 423,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set was produced by Ben Hillier, who is also producing the as-yet-untitled new album. Frontman David Gahan said during the press conference that at least two songs he’d penned would appear on the set.

Here are Depeche Mode’s tour dates (North American dates will be announced soon):

May 10: Tel Aviv, Israel (Ramat Gan Stadium)
May 12: Athens (Terra Vibe Park)
May 14: Istanbul (Santral Istanbul)
May 16: Bucharest, Romania (Parc Izvor)
May 18: Sofia, Bulgaria (Vasil Levski Stadium)
May 20: Belgrade, Serbia (USCE Park)
May 21: Zagreb, Croatia (Arena)
May 23: Warsaw (Gwardia Stadium)
May 25: Riga, Latvia (Skonto Stadium)
May 27: Vilnius, Lithuania (Zalgirio Stadionas)
May 30: London (02 Arena)
June 2: Hamburg (HSH Nordbank Arena)
June 4: Dusseldorf, Germany (LTU Arena)
June 7: Leipzig, Germany (Zentralstadion)
June 10: Berlin (Olympiastadion)
June 12: Frankfurt (Commerzbank Arena)
June 13: Munich (Olympiastadion)
June 16, 18: Rome (Stadio Olimpico)
June 20: Werchter, Belgium (TW Classic Festival)
June 22: Bratislava, Slovakia (Inter Stadium)
June 23: Budapest (Puskas Ferenc Stadium)
June 25: Prague (Slavia Stadium)
June 27: Paris (TBA)
June 30: Copenhagen (Parken Stadium)
July 2: Bergen, Norway (Koengen)
July 3: Arvika, Sweden (Arvika Festival)
July 11: Oporto, Portugal (Super Bock Super Rock Festival)

Depeche Mode - It’s No Good

Looks like the old timers are getting in on the live retrospective game. Move over Built To Spill, because Van Morrison is set to play his legendary 1968 album ‘Astral Weeks’ in its entirety in Los Angeles next month.
The singer will be joined by some of the original musicians who performed on the album at the two Hollywood Bowl performances on November 7th and 8th.

An album titled ‘Astral Weeks Live At The Hollywood Bowl’ will reportedly be released from these two performances at the end of the year.

CHEAP TRICK’s Live At Budokan (original album art above) now becomes a “Sight & Sound” event as 1978 concert footage is released for the first time, alongside newly mixed and mastered audio of the original concert of 3 CDs.

The DVD features original concert that aired once on Japanese television in 1978 - never aired in US and commercially available for the first time in this package, plus new 2008 interviews with the band members and other people involved with the landmark concert. It follows the historic Cheap Trick concert Return to Budokan in April 2008. The box set will be available starting November 11th through Epic/Legacy; 180 gram audiophile vinyl pressing of original LP in stores October 28th.

The Live at Budokan album impact catalyzed America, then engulfed the world - and now is celebrated three decades later with a four-disc (DVD + 3 CD) package, Budokan!: 30th Anniversary Edition, that brings the sight and sound together for the first time. The set will arrive in stores November 11th through Epic/Legacy, a division of Sony BMG. Separately on October 28th, a new 12-inch vinyl LP of the Live at Budokan original 10-song album will be issued on 180 gram audiophile pressing.

This deluxe package is highlighted by the premiere commercial DVD release of a video recording of the second concert, a one hour 15-song program that was broad-cast only once on Japanese television 30 years ago. The stunning DVD artifact features a new stereo mix and 5.1 Surround Sound by original 1978 producer Jack Douglas and engineer Jay Messina. At last, Cheap Trick fans can actually see and feel the moment come to life when - for the first time in history - lead singer Robin Zander exhorts the Japanese audience, “I Want YOU… to Want…ME!”

The DVD is complemented by the bonus documentary feature, Looking Back, a new conversation with the band about their original Budokan experience. In addition, there is video of one more song from 1978 (’Come On, Come On’) and two songs from Cheap Trick’s 30th anniversary return concert at Budokan in April 2008 (’Voices’ and ‘If You Want My Love’).

The four-disc package goes on to include (on disc two) a CD that replicates the audio of the DVD in its full 19-song length, also produced by Jack Douglas and Jay Messina. Discs three and four represent the previous 20th anniversary (1998) double-CD Live at Budokan (culled from multiple night’s concerts, as was the original 1978 LP), beautifully remastered in 2008 to sound better than ever, produced by Cheap Trick and Bruce Dickinson.

The November 11th release of Budokan!: 30th Anniversary Edition follows - by just over six months - Cheap Trick’s anniversary performance of the album back at Budokan on April 24, 2008. (Ironically, this nearly mirrors the original timetable of the Budokan performances on April 28 and 30, 1978 - which became the classic LP for the Japanese market released October 1978.)

Three decades later, Budokan!: 30th Anniversary Edition proves how immortal some albums can be. The LP is ranked on Rolling Stone’s list of “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time,” and ‘Surrender’ appears on the magazine’s “500 Greatest Singles Of All Time” list.

Budokan!: 30th Anniversary Edition

Disc One: DVD (Friday, April 30th, 1978) - ‘Hello There’, ‘ELO Kiddies’, ‘Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace’, ‘Look Out’, ‘Downed’, ‘Can’t Hold On’, ‘Oh Caroline’, ‘Surrender’, ‘Auf Wiedersehen’, ‘’Southern Girls’, ‘I Want You To Want Me’, ‘California Man’, ‘Goodnight’, ‘Ain’t That A Shame’, ‘Clock Strikes Ten’. (Recordings produced by Cheap Trick and Bruce Dickinson. Audio mixed by Jack Douglas and Jay Messina.)

DVD Bonus Features: ‘Come On, Come On’ - 1978 Performance, ‘Voices’ - 2008 Performance, ‘If You Want My Love’ - 2008 Performance, Cheap Trick 2008 Interview Feature - Looking Back.

Disc Two: CD (Friday, April 30th, 1978) - ‘Hello There’, ‘Come On, Come On’, ‘ELO Kiddies’, ‘Speak Now (Or Forever Hold Your Peace)’, ‘Big Eyes’, ‘Look Out’, ‘Downed’, ‘Can’t Hold On’, ‘Oh Caroline’, ‘Surrender’, ‘Auf Wiedersehen’, ‘Need Your Love’, ‘High Roller’, ‘Southern Girls’, ‘I Want You To Want Me’, ‘California Man’, ‘Goodnight’, ‘Ain’t That a Shame’, ‘Clock Strikes Ten’. (Produced by Cheap Trick, Bruce Dickinson and Jack Douglas).

Disc Three: CD - At Budokan: The Complete Concert - ‘Hello There’, ‘Come On, Come On’, ‘ELO Kiddies’, ‘Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace’, ‘Big Eyes’, ‘Look Out’, ‘Downed’, ‘Can’t Hold On’, ‘Oh Caroline’, ‘Surrender ‘, ‘Auf Wiedersehen’. (Discs 3 & 4 produced by Cheap Trick and Bruce Dickinson)

Disc Four: CD - At Budokan: The Complete Concert (continued) - ‘Need Your Love’, ‘High Roller’, ‘Southern Girls’, ‘I Want You To Want Me’, ‘California Man’, ‘Goodnight’, ‘Ain’t That a Shame’, ‘Clock Strikes Ten’.
(Discs 3 & 4 produced by Cheap Trick and Bruce Dickinson.)
-Press Release

The Hold Steady have rescheduled their UK tour. As previously reported, the band were due to kick off a series of dates on September 29 at Oxford Academy but had to cancel after guitarist Tad Kubler was diagnosed with pancreatitis.

Sheffield Leadmill (December 7)
Oxford Academy (12.8)
Nottingham Rock City (12.9)
Manchester Academy (12.10)
Bristol Anson Rooms (12.12)
Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms (12.14)
Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall (12.15)
London Roundhouse (12.17)
Glasgow SECC (supporting Counting Crows) (12.18)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
October 1, 2008
Kool Haus
Toronto, Canada

I’ve seen literally hundreds of concerts. In my teens, I’d hit a couple a month. In my twenties, I’d average a show a week…and, though I’m not prolific as I used to be, I still see my fair share of shows. This year has been a particularly great year- if not the best. I’m more than a dozen shows in and already have Tom Waits, Iron Maiden, Mark Kozelek, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Bruce Springsteen, Dinosaur Jr., Social Distortion, Bob Dylan, Steely Dan, The Police, and Elvis Costello under my belt. A very good year indeed. Last week I finally filled a major void in my concert-going repetoire: the elusive Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds concert. I’ve been waiting a loooong time for this show.

There were past opportunities to see a Nick Cave concert, but I always missed them. Transportation was the issue for The Boatman’s Call tour. And Cave cancelled his North American dates in support of No More Shall We Part after 9/11 (the album was released that month). Since 2001, I’ve had to watch tour after tour skip the continent completely and was relegated to buying the DVDs he released documenting the tours. Starting with God Is In The House and continuing through The Abattoir Blues Tour, these videos were the best we american audiences could do. They documented an evolving live act that could rival any performer out there; and while the music has certainly mellowed in regards to intrumentation, the material has grown more intense and better. Then Grinderman happend.

Grinderman, Cave’s side project, returns to a more visceral approach to the music. Cave took the act on the road and included a handful of US dates before heading back into the studio for a new Bad Seeds record. However, he brought much of the garage rock vibe from Grinderman with him as well. The resulting album, Dig! Lazarus! Dig!, is a departure from the course chartered on the last few records except for, obviously, Cave’s subject material. The record’s rock sensibilities beg to be played live and, mercifully, Cave announced a Bad Seeds tour that included North America. I eagerly snatched up tickets for their Toronto appearance at the sold out Kool Haus (or is it The Guvernment? or The Docks? It appears they use all these names).

I don’t know if I was lulled by the temperment of Cave’s last few records (excluding Grinderman) or if I was just due…but I forgot ear plugs for the first time in years. It turns out, this would be a big mistake. As I write this my ears are still ringing. Despite the ringing ears and the sub par sound system at Kool Haus, the band played a show that can only be described as frenetic genius. Rarely slowing down, the band tore through the set list with a surprising ferocity for which I’ll blame/thank Grinderman. Led by musical genius (and having more than a passing resemblance to Rip Van Winkle) Warren Ellis, the band supplied a backdrop of creative arrangement upon which Cave bellowed, screamed, howled, and baptised the audience with poetic sermons of murder, God, and love. Dapperly dressed, his jet black hair slicked back, Cave’s ever-moving visage vascillated between sinister preacher and playful devil. Repling to an “I love you” from the crowd, Cave replied, “Yeah? How much? What will you do for me?” He dedicated a song to a woman named Jennifer- he had bestowed the responsibility of holding his towel during songs. She seemed happy to do it. And he introduced “Red Right Hand” as plucked from the “deeply religious portion” of his career. Heh.

During the two hour set, Cave delved into his catalogue for a few oldies like “Papa Won’t Leave You Henry,” “The Weeping Song” and “Tupelo.” “Red Right Hand” was arranged into a sinister waltz sans the originally-featured bell until the very last not of the song to a marvelously dramatic effect. The one-two punch of a jaw-dropping “Mercy Seat” and a Clash-infused “Deanna” arguably garnered the loudest response of the night except when it begged for an encore and when the band left for the last time. It made it all the more impressive when the healthy measure of new tunes held up and, on occasion, surpassed the fan favorites. Eight songs from Dig! Lazarus! Dig! showed up in the set and they all belonged- especially “More News From Nowhere,” “Midnight Man” and the titular track that had the entire band barking the chorus along with the fans like a church revivial. Indeed, I was hoping for one more from the record, sadly the splendid “Jesus of the Moon” didn’t make the cut. The show-stopping “Stagger Lee” was a fitting closer to the stampede of songs that left the crowd begging for more. Hopefully we won’t have to wait seven years again.

The show was a long time coming and it didn’t disappoint. The only negative point, other than my ears ringing for days, falls in the lap of the venue. Kool Haus’ sound system is in serious need of an upgrade. The room’s acoustics couldn’t handle the volume and distorted the high end in particularly rocking moments. The show’s vibe wasn’t consistent with Massey Hall and the crowd was too big for Lee’s Palace, but I found myself wishing it was taking place at either of those halls more than once. Regardless, the performance has taken its rightful place on the list of the best shows I’ve attended.

Set List (10/01/08):

01 Night of the Lotus Eaters
02 Dig Lazarus Dig!!
03 Tupelo
04 Weeping Song
06 More News From Nowhere
05 Red Right Hand
06 Midnight Man
07 Love Letter
08 The Ship Song
09 The Mercy Seat
10 Deanna
11 Hold On To Yourself
12 Moonland
13 Hard on for Love
14 We Call Upon the Author
15 Papa Won’t Leave You Henry
=====
17 Lyre of Orpheus
18 Get Ready for love
19 Stagger Lee

Queens’ “3’s & 7’s” **Warning: If nudity and/or rock n’ roll offends you, better skip this one….

Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme wants to ship the band out to his desert studio to record album number six. Homme wants the follow-up to 2007’s Era Vulgaris to be “like a fireball”.

Josh spoke to NME about future plans: “We may move out there for a few months. That way, you build up anxiety and desperateness to record so that, when you do, it’s like a fireball.”

The band are no strangers to scorching sands and desolation. The Josh Homme-founded Desert Sessions is an irregular event in which a bunch of talented musicians disappear into the desert to make music. Previous intrepid contributors include Mark Lanegan, PJ Harvey, Eagles Of Death Metal, Kyuss and the rest of Homme’s associated acts.

QOTSA are currently remastering 1998’s self-titled debut album for a 10 November release.

A brand-new Slayer album is expected in 2009, but some fans won’t have to wait that long to get an early listen to some of the new music. Fans who attend any of the upcoming European “Unholy Alliance Tour, Chapter III” dates (listed below), will receive the new Slayer song via an exclusive download card that will also include special material from the entire tour’s line-up - Slayer, Mastodon, Trivium and Amon Amarth. The download card, along with a limited edition “Unholy Alliance Tour” clothing patch, will be given away free only to ticket holders when they arrive at their local venue the night of the show.

The new Slayer song is being recorded as you read this, as Slayer has just entered a Los Angeles-area studio to begin recording the new album. More info on the free song and new album will be announced shortly. In addition, Trivium’s “Kirisute Gomen” from their new album, “Shogun” (released September 30), and “Guardians of Asgaard,” a new song from Amon Amarth’s “Twilight of the Thunder God” (released September 30), will also be part of the download package. Mastodon opted to do something a little different for their contribution to the tour download - the band will take fans into the recording studio for a first-look and listen to the making of their upcoming album. Plus, a live-in-concert Slayer performance filmed at the band’s 2007 San Diego Sports Arena show will be included in the “Unholy Alliance Tour” download package.

The European leg of the mighty “Unholy Alliance Tour, Chapter III” kicks off in Manchester, England on October 27 and will play more than two-dozen shows over a five week period. A North American leg is being planned for 2009.

Confirmed dates for the European “Unholy Alliance Tour, Chapter III” are as follows:

October 27 Manchester Apollo, Manchester, England
October 28 Wolverhampton Civic, Birmingham, England
October 30 Hammersmith Apollo, London, England
October 31 Hammersmith Apollo, London, England
November 2 Cardiff Arena, Cardiff, Wales
November 3 Academy, Glasgow, Scotland
November 5 Stadthalle, Offenbach, Germany
November 6 Palladium, Cologne, Germany
November 7 HMH, Amsterdam, Holland
November 9 Schleyerhalle, Stuttgart, Germany
November 10 Eishallel Deutweg, Winterthur, Switzerland
November 11 Zenith, Paris, France
November 12 Lotto Arena, Antwerp, Belgium
November 14 Palasharp, Milan, Italy
November 16 Gasometer, Vienna, Austria
November 17 Incheba Hall, Prague, Czech Republic
November 18 Zenith, Munich, Germany
November 19 Columbia Hale, Berlin, Germany
November 21 Valby Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark
November 22 Lisebergshallen, Gothenburg, Sweden
November 23 Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
November 24 Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
November 26 Old Ice Hall, Tampere, Finland
November 27 Old Ice Hall, Helsinki, Finland

The members of Phish will come together on March 6th, 7th and 8th of next year for three shows at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.

The concerts will be the group’s first since its August 2004 performance at Newport State Airport in Coventry, Vermont. The band intends to announce additional 2009 tour dates early next year.

I saw Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in Toronto last night. The concert has slipped into my Top Ten Of All Time Shows of All Time list but I’m too tired to write a proper review. Turns out, a little brewery 40 miles north of Toronto is churning out an elixir of the gods that I found impossible to ignore. Thus, my review will be posted on Monday. Promise.

The band from Portland is releasing a new digital/vinyl singles series, the first installment of which features a tune called “Valerie Plame”. According to a press release, “Valerie Plame” is “an amorous tribute to the onetime CIA operative…written from the point-of-view of one of Plame’s inside contacts upon discovering her true identity.”

Always the Bridesmaid: A Singles Series comes in three volumes. Volume I features “Valerie Plame” and “O New England” and comes out October 14. Volume II features “Days of Elaine”, “Days of Elaine [Long]”, and “I’m Sticking With You” and comes out November 4. Volume III features “Record Year” and “Raincoat Song” and comes out December 2.

Check out more information here.

Introducing the Insound 20!

Insound, an online music retailer, has released limited edition t-shirts, shirts and hoodies designed exclusively for Insound by Jason Munn of the Small Stakes. Posters are signed and hand-numbered. Shirts and hoodies are printed on American Apparel products.

Jason teamed up with Insound.com to develop music merchandise & design project aptly titled the “Insound 20,” which features iconic designs for 20 of Insound’s favorite bands, silk-screened onto t-shirts & hoodies as well as on hand-numbered and signed silk-screened posters. Additionally, a 21st design is being sold that includes the names of all bands in the Insound 20 program. 100% of the profits from the sale of this 21st shirt and poster will go to benefit 826 NYC.

The bands in the inaugural Insound 20 are:

1. Beirut
2. Black Heart Procession
3. Built to Spill
4. Calexico
5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
6. Death Cab for Cutie
7. Department of Eagles
8. Grizzly Bear
9. Jose Gonzalez
10. Magnolia Electric Co.
11. New Pornographers
12. Okkervil River
13. Peter Bjorn & John
14. She & Him
15. Spoon
16. The Constantines
17. The Decemberists
18. The Hold Steady
19. The National
20. The Thermals

Frymaster picked up the Hold Steady poster and it’s pretty sweet.