SOTD: "Never Be Your Lover/Jam" - Typhoon

Here's a great video of a new tune from Typhoon live at the Mississippi Studios.....

Typhoon - Never Be Your Lover / Jam (live) from Matthew Ross on Vimeo.

SOTD: "Hold On" - Alabama Shakes

I've been listening to these guys quite a bit over the last couple of weeks. You can pickup their only release on Bandcamp HERE but they recently got picked up by ATO Records so hopefully we can get a full length album in April. Great sound...

The Head & The Heart: Spring 2012 Tour

The Head & The Heart has announced some upcoming dates for a Spring 2012 tour. Presale will be on Wednesday 12/14 with a regular on-sale to follow on Friday the 16th. Dates, cities and venues listed below....

The Head and The Heart - Spring 2012 Tour

Sun, Mar 04
Lawrence, KS
The Granada

Mon, Mar 05
Urbana, IL
Canopy Club

Tue, Mar 06
Louisville, KY
Headliners

Thu, Mar 08
Chicago, IL
Vic Theatre

Fri, Mar 09
Indianapolis, IN
The Vogue

Sat, Mar 10
Columbus, OH
Newport Music Hall

Sun, Mar 11
Pontiac, MI
The Crofoot Ballroom

Tue, Mar 13
Toronto, ON
The Opera House

Wed, Mar 14
Montreal, QC
La Tulipe

Thu, Mar 15
South Burlington, VT
Higher Ground Ballroom

Fri, Mar 16
Portland, ME
State Theatre

Sat, Mar 17
Philadelphia, PA
Union Transfer

Sun, Mar 18
New York, NY
Terminal 5

Tue, Mar 20
Baltimore, MD
Ram's Head Live

Wed, Mar 21
Richmond, VA
The National

Fri, Mar 23
Athens, GA
40 Watt Club

Sat, Mar 24
Nashville, TN
Cannery Ballroom

Sun, Mar 25
St. Louis, MO
The Pageant

Dawes @ Maxwell's 12/7/11

Last night I ventured over to Hoboken , NJ to meet up with some college buddies for the Dawes show at Maxwell’s. This was only my second time at this venue (last time was almost exactly eleven years ago, 12/9/00, for Evan Dando of the Lemonheads) and I had forgotten just how great this venue is. Maxwell’s is a bar/restaurant with a tiny performance space in the back, the type of room that actually feels like you’re hanging out with a bunch of friends in your parent’s basement. The room was packed but if I had to guess, it only holds about 200 to maybe 250 and we were jammed in there.

Dawes came on around 10pm and played a great mix of songs from both their albums, their debut “North Hills” and their latest release, “Nothing is Wrong”. Highlights for me were “Peace In the Valley” (which has quickly become my favorite live song to hear from these guys), “That Western Skyline”, “My Girl To Me” and the encore “Fire Away”. Kind of an interesting set in that “When My Time Comes” was actually played about halfway through with the crowd taking over the last verse. Pretty cool setting to have a couple hundred people singing together while the band played along.

Instead of leaving for the encore, the guys stayed on stage with lead singer Taylor Goldsmith saying something like, "this is where we usually leave for a few minutes, and then you all cheer and we all come back up...... but we're just going to stay right here." He then went right into "Fire Away" and let all of us take over the vocals at end as he stepped off the stage and made his way through the crowd while the band finished playing, a really cool way to end the show. The only disappointed fan was probably the guy in the back that kept yelling, "Werewolves", obviously referring to Warren Zevon, someone Dawes has been known to cover.

This was my third time seeing the band this year and I seem to become a bigger fan each time. I think there’s a unique quality to their live show in that they seem to really play their tails off every time they hit the stage, probably the biggest reason I’m always recommending people to see them. I’m sure like anybody else they have an occasional off night but I’ve been impressed with their ability to perform at a high level every time I’ve seen them, in a variety of venues (large/small, indoor/outdoor, etc.)

Definitely try to catch these guys if they’re coming your way, you won't be disappointed. Below you'll find a few pictures I took from last night, enjoy!

The Black Keys @ Webster Hall 12/5/11

Earlier today, I was lucky enough to be one of the four hundred people that got a ticket for the Black Keys record release party tonight at Webster Hall. Southern Comfort (show sponsor) released the location of the tickets, Bowery Ballroom, just before 10am and luckily for me it was right by my job. I flew over there as quickly as possible and there had to already be about 150-200 people in line in about 10 minutes. Still, I felt I was definitely within the 400 (they were only giving out single tickets) and had a good shot at getting one. It was a pretty crazy scene with people running in from all directions on bikes, taxis, skateboards, etc.

It was truly a great feeling as I made it into Bowery as I then knew that I was going to get a ticket. Since the show was filmed tonight, they had us sign a waiver and then gave us a ticket, bracelet and show laminate which was pretty cool. I was completely pumped walking out those doors, really excited to see these guys in such a small venue.

Just got in from the show and it was even better than I expected. I knew The Black Keys would be mostly playing new material but they threw in some great old tunes, including opening up with "Howlin' For You" which got the crowd fired up right off the bat. Other oldies included "Everlasting Light", "Next Girl", and "Ten Cent Pistol". I was really impressed by the new songs, sounded absolutely awesome. Highlights for me were "Lonely Boy" and "Gold on the Ceiling", both songs were awesome in concert. Dan and Patrick came out for a one-song encore which was, "I Got Mine".... absolutely blew the roof off, everyone was dancing and singing along to close out the show.

Just really a special experience, feel very lucky to have been able to attend this event. Here's a few pics (didn't bring my camera so you'll have to settle for my crappy blackberry)....

BLACK KEYS TICKET LINE




DAN & PATRICK ON STAGE




EVENT TSHIRT

SOTD: "Main Street" - Deer Tick

The latest video from Deer Tick....

The Black Keys: NYC Show & NPR Interview

The Black Keys will play a new album release show tonight at Webster Hall sponsored by Southern Comfort. They'll be giving away 400 tickets today, announcement on the Southern Comfort Facebook page (HERE) at 9:45AM. Good luck to all of those trying to get tickets.

Also, take a listen to a recent interview with the Black Keys from NPR Music right HERE.