Monday, April 30

Morrissey was amazing!

The Queen Is Dead
The Youngest Was the Most Loved You Have Killed Me
Disappointed
There is a Light That Never Goes Out
All You Need Is Me
Lucky Lisp
In the Future When All's Well
Ganglord
The National Front Disco
The Boy With The Thorn in His Side
Everyday is like Sunday
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty
I Will See You in Far Off Places
Life is a Pigsty
How Soon Is Now
Let Me Kiss You
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy
--------------------------------
You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side
Irish Blood, English Heart

Highlights for me were, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out and Life Is A Pigsty. I knew it was going to be a good show, but it was better than I expected! What a treat!

Wednesday, April 25

I am totally bummed to the max!

We are sorry to report that Placebo's lead singer has come down with bronchitis and has canceled their Sacramento show at Harlow's.

There are 3 ways to get your refund.

You can e-mail us back with your credit card number and we will processthe refund to that number.

You can call Wednesday between 10am and 6pm with your credit card numberand we will process it over the phone.

You can come by Harlow's any time after 5pm Thu - Sun with you creditcard to get a refund in person.

Again, sorry for the inconvenience. We were really looking forward to presenting the show.

Harlow's

Thursday, April 19

Debating the Reno Music Scene

I have recently met Kelly in the blogosphere, we met on the Son Volt message board, talked a bit about music, and about possibly crossing paths at a local show. She commented on my blog today that she had referenced me in an article she wrote for Reno.com.

http://www.reno.com/article/20070416/BLOG13/70416002/-1/BLOG

I am delighted that my post of a local billboard (http://onereallykillerline.blogspot.com/2007/02/reno-music-scene-blows-exhibit.html) has sparked this debate! I wrote this in response to Kelly's article. Please feel free to chime in with what you think about what either I or Kelly have said!
================================================================
Kelly,

I read your article, and in the spirit of debate have opted to respond to some of the issues you raise.

Firstly, we could debate the merit of the Reno music scene based on a variety of criteria: genre, ticket prices, venues, variety, and of course age groups amongst them. Since you decided to stage your disagreement with my post based on age, I will focus my response to your article on age as well. I feel it was erroneous on your part to assume that you knew my age group, in fact I am merely five years your junior. That would put us in approximately the same age group, would it not? The fact that you would assume that I am significantly younger seems a bit dismissive, and is illustrative of a major problem with the Reno music scene. I am 34, but younger at heart. I have a decent job, no children, and I go to shows for pleasure and compelling entertainment. There is nothing else quite like the experience of live music, connecting with the band and the crowd, and sharing a one-night-only live musical experience. I may seem like a youngster to you because I devote a portion of my time to posting to my on-line music blog. I started a music blog as a way to share my musical adventures with friends (some of whom do not get to go to as many shows as I do), and additionally, to be active in the on-line music bloging community.

I realize that my one post stating that “the Reno music scene blows” is a broad generalization that can easily be taken out of context, and thus used as a point of argument by anyone that may disagree. It was posted as a bit of a parody of these lame looking giant artist heads that were popping up on billboards all over town. One other artist head that I wanted to get a photo of but didn’t was Peter Cetera. He looked so airbrushed and soft. Ha! It made my stomach turn a bit. Anyway, my original idea was to take more photos of the billboards around town, and post them more often showing the limits of what acts are being marketed and to whom. However, something happened from the time I took that first photo and now - Reno has booked some really great shows! Currently, there are so many good bands coming to town that I have to choose some over others due to conflicting dates. Thus, I have hesitated to post more billboard photos because I am currently overwhelmed with great shows to attend here in town! It happens once in a while, we get a wave of really great bands that come through town. However, I have been living here and attending shows regularly for 20 years, and I will still stand by my assessment that the Reno music scene is lacking. I realize we aren’t as big as Sacramento or San Francisco, but we are a decent sized city. We are directly between Salt Lake and S.F. We are on the way, but most of the time we are just passed through by touring bands.

I agree with you that 1moe.com is bringing some great acts to Reno. I have attended several 1moe.com events myself in past years, Ani DiFranco at the Hawkins Amphitheatre being the first one that comes to mind. However, my friends and I paid almost $60 a piece for those tickets. I can see Ani in Sacramento or Berkeley for $35. I would gladly go to see Emmylou Harris, Randy Newman or Robert Earle Keen, but why should I see them in Reno when I can see them for about half the cost in another town two or four hours away? (Gas prices are another rant all together!) Ticket prices are a major part of the reason I feel the Reno music scene blows, but as I said above I will base this statement mainly on age categorization as you have done with yours.

The acts you mention in your article are tremendous talents, but they are geared to an older demographic, say 35-45. What about the age bracket right beneath that? The one we were participants in not too long ago? The bands you mention are musicians that are heard on the local radio station known as “The X.” The X is a great community-oriented radio station that markets to the 35-45 year-old crowd. I listen to the X on occasion, and they do a great job of bringing artists they play to town. Then, there is the station for the younger demographic, KRZQ. They market to the 15-25 year-old crowd, and they too do a great job of bringing the bands they spin to town. For example, they have brought My Chemical Romance, AFI, Angels and Airwaves, etc, to the Reno area. These artists fall a bit too far outside of my interest range. Despite these musical offerings I find there is something missing right in between the two groups catered to by these radio stations. I feel like I best fit in this medial category. I love and respect the music of Emmylou Harris, Robert Earl Keen, David Byrne, etc, but I also want to see some other acts that get my blood pumping a little faster, something new and exciting like Son Volt, The Twilight Singers, Wilco, The Editors, Interpol, Radiohead, Of Montreal, Silversun Pickups, The Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, and TV on the Radio. Let’s just take a show that is coming to the area as an example. Montbleu wants $65, not including ticket vendor fees to see the Killers in May. $65!! I think I paid $17.50 to see them a few years ago. Yes, they have grown in popularity, but $65?!? Wow!

Here is the rub - the Reno music scene blows for the 25-35 year old music lover. The younger 15-25 year-olds are getting pretty good representation, and the 35-45 year-olds are getting decent representation. What about the 25-35 year-olds? Myself or anyone with less of an entertainment budget frequently cannot afford to see their favorite acts at a casino prices, or casino run events center prices. For example, The Reno Events center has outlandish prices! I rarely choose to afford to see a show there. How is someone in college without a full time job going to be able to afford to go see Gwen Stefani and Lady Sovereign at the range of $49.50 to $99.50, and that does not even include fees? I have only seen one show there, Stevie Nicks, and that was because I won tickets from the aforementioned X. Otherwise, I would not have paid the amount of money they wanted because I can go see three shows in Sacramento for the price of the one here. That blows!

Regarding prices and variety of musical acts to see I stand by my post, the Reno music scene blows. Of course, this is just my opinion, but I know quite a few other people who agree.

I will say that things are getting better every day. Last year Sonic Youth, Ween, Modest Mouse, and Queens of the Stone Age all came to Reno, and with ticket prices averaging $25. Morrissey is playing at the end of the month, and tickets are pricey, but the size of the venue and the caliber of the artist justify the price. The Rapture is playing in town for $17.50! I have just shelled out casino prices to see Elvis Costello and the Indigo Girls. Things are looking up, but I am still going to be vocal and active about trying to bring more new and exciting acts to Reno, even if that means raising a few hairs on the back of people’s necks by boldly proclaiming that the Reno music scene blows! Even if the discussion begins in the form of flippant generalizations by a frustrated thirty-something there is room for discussion, debate, and improvement, don’t you think? You probably dismissed my opinions due to my use of slang language and generalization. I understand your response as valid to a degree, but you were overly hasty to make an incompletely informed judgment and dismissal of my opinion. I am very active in trying to do my part to improve the Reno music scene. I perpetually contact bands and their representatives to provide them with local contacts for booking shows in Reno venues. I used to volunteer three and four nights a week for an all-ages venue that has since closed down because I think that as many types of music as possible should be available for enjoyment of all despite age. I notice on your blog that mention your recent purchases of cds by Lily Allen, Son Volt, and The Arcade Fire. Wouldn’t it be great if these more current artists played Reno instead of or in addition to Peter Cetera and Travis Tritt? I know I would!

Wednesday, April 18

Finally ~ Son Volt Setlist

Automatic Society
Satellite
Action
Circadian
The Picture
Underground Dream
Beacon Soul
Highways & Cities
Methamphetamine
Jet Pilot
Who
Atmosphere
exurbia
Damn Shame
Voodoo Candle
Medication
Medicine Hat
Tear Stained Eye
The Search
Bandages
Route
Drown
Afterglow
------------------
Slow Hearse
Windfall
Life Worth
Pocahontas
Bitch

Tuesday, April 17

New Releases Today

1997-A Better View Of The Rising Moon
AC/DC-Stiff Upper Lip
ARCTIC MONKEYS-Brianstorm
ARTHUR, JOSEPH-Let's Just Be
BREAKING BENJAMIN-Phobia: Collectors Edition
BY AUTUMNS END -The Serpant. The State. The Slaughter. The Plague
CLOROX GIRLS-J'Aime Les Filles
COMAS-Spells
COVINGTON, BUCKY-Bucky Covington
COWBOY JUNKIES-At The End Of Paths
C-RAYZ WALZ-Dropping: Colonic Progress
DEAD MEADOW-Howls From The Hills
DUBFIRE (DEEP DISH)-Taipei: Global Underground 31 (Limited Edition)
ELK CITY-New Believers
ENGLISH, JOSHUA-Trouble None
FIGHTSTAR-Grand Unification
FLYING BURRITO BROS.- Definitive Collection
GREYBOY ALLSTARS-What Happened To TV?
HOLD STEADY-Live At Fingerprints
HOWLIN' WOLF-Definitive Collection
ICON THE MIC KING-Mike & The Fat Man
LPLADY SAW-Walk Out
LAVIGNE, AVRIL-Best Damn Thing
LUMIDEE-Unexpected
MAYALL, JOHN-In The Palace Of The King
MCCONNELL, PAGE-Page Mcconnell
NIGHTRAGE-A New Disease Is Born
NINE INCH NAILS-Survivalism Pt. 1
NINE INCH NAILS-Year Zero
NOISETTES-What's The Time, Mr. Wolf?
OLD SOUL (BROKEN SOCAIL SCENE)-Old Soul
PENN, MICHAEL-Palms & Runes, Tarot & Tea
PRIESTBIRD-In Your Time
RODGERS, PAUL-Live In Glasgow
SHAW, RYAN-This Is Ryan Shaw
SIX FEET UNDER-Commandment
SLADE-In For A Penny: Raves & Faves
SUPERDRAG-Changin' Tires On The Road To Ruin
THORNAFIRE-Exacerbated Gnostic Manifestation
TILLIS, PAM-Rhinestoned
TORN, DAVID-Prezens
TYLER READ-Only Rock And Roll Can Save Us Now
UNTIL JUNE-Until June
WAKING ASHLAND-Well
WALL, PAUL-Get Money, Stay True (Chopped & Screwed)
WATERMELON SLIM-Wheel Man

Monday, April 16

Gone

Being away from Reno for a week is usually no big deal. However, I missed 2 shows last week while out of town on family business; Say Hi to Your Mom at the Satellite and The Appleseed Cast at Holland ... drag. Anyone go?

I'll get that Son Volt list posted tomorrow, sorry for the delay.

Wednesday, April 11

My Top 10 Shows from 2006

1 ... Jeff Tweedy solo at the Fillmore, SF, 2/8/06 & 2/9/06

Two amazing shows, I've seen Wilco several times but I have to say seeing just Tweedy with his guitar and harmonica was a better show for me. I'm a lyrics lover and they are right out there when he's doing his solo thing. He did have Nels and Glenn join him on a couple of tracks which was a nice change to the set. This man's music just does it for me. I never get tired of listening to it, never ... plus, he's funny! I'm one of those fools still holding out for an UT reunion someday. Concert moment of the year was definitely Acuff Rose un-miced at the edge of the stage, fan-fucking-tastic!

2 ... Arab Strap at Café Du Nord, SF. 3/24/06

Great great show, very intimate and beautiful. I am so glad we went to this even though we got stuck in Auburn for the night due to snow, they are friggin' broken up now, so yeah it was WELL worth it to pay for that stupid jacuzzi room in Auburn. Great night, parked right in front of the door, stayed 5 doors down at the Twin Peaks motel, met the whole band, fucking great all the way around. Also, I think La could have gotten freaky with Aidan if she had wanted to. Glad she didn't but happy she's still got the skills to pay the bills if I get hit by a bus or something.

3 ... Cursive at the Fillmore, SF. 10/23/06

I'd been waiting almost 2 years to see Cursive again, love the new album and just enjoyed the hell out of myself at this show. They sounded great with all the extra instruments and played a great set. I prefer seeing them in a smaller space than the Fillmore but it is after all a legendary venue and I'm sure they were stoked to play there.

4 ... The Raconteurs at the Warfield, SF. 7/24/06

I am a huge Brendan Benson fan so seeing him and Jack White sharing the stage and tearing the roof offa the place was a perfect show for me. The drummer was a mad man, the sound was fantastic. They were better live than I expected and that is always a nice surprise.

5 ... TV on the Radio at the Independent, SF. 5/2/06

I saw them twice this year and the other show may have been better because Tunde was amazing at the other show, but I picked this show because of the great time we all had and getting to meet the band. At the Sacramento show they were way to loud for the space, that was the first show that my ears ever actually hurt after the show - yikes! Either way, either show these guys are an amazing live band!

6 ... Bloc Party & Broken Social Scene at The Greek, Berkeley, CA. 8/4/06

Words cannot describe how great this show was. I remember Bloc Party being super stoked because it was the largest audience they'd ever played to. The show goes so much better when the band is just as excited as the crowd. As far as Broken Social Scene, they were good, but I missed Leslie's voice - big time.

7 ... Peaches & Herms at the Empire Events Center, Sacramento 12/15/06

Last time I saw Peaches I was so awestruck I barely even danced. This time I had an idea of what I was in for. I danced and jumped around so much I am still sore. The sound was better at the Fillmore, but I think this show was better largely due to the HERMS!! JD is awesome, I should have bought her lesbian utopia calendar, and Samantha Maloney ... she took Tommy Lee's place on a Crue tour for fucks sake ~ come on, girl kicks some major ass! There's only one peach with the hole in the middle.

8 ... Lucero & Rocky Votolato at Club Underground, Reno. 10/11/06

Lucero are fucking great! I wanted to catch them in Reno once before but ended up going to a different out of town show, big mistake. This was a great show for Reno. I will travel to see Lucero play in the future. I haven't stopped listening to the new cd since the show 2 months ago. Rocky was good as well, his new cd is fantastic and it translates better than I would have guessed live.

9 ... Mike Doughty at the Nugget Showroom, Reno. 9/9/06

I never got to see Soul Coughing, got in to them pretty late in their career so seeing Mike Doughty solo was nice. He played a couple SC songs and rocked it with his solo material. His keyboard player (John Kirby) was astoundingly good. I'd see Mike again, with a full band would be nice.

10 ... Live 105 BFD at Shoreline Amphitheatre, Bay Area. 6/10/06

I am usually against festival shows just because of the sheer size, but I've been to BFD twice now and have enjoyed it immensely both times. They book great bands and I am usually in the best of friend company! This year was no exception, we saw She Wants Revenge (pure sex dance party), Wolfmother (incendiary), Thursday (okay), Yeah Yeah Yeahs (mind blowing), Echo and the Bunnymen (never thought I'd see them live!), HIM (pure metal goodness), Franz Ferdinand (a little full of themselves for my taste), the Strokes (excellent!) and AFI (not really my ball of wax, but they do put on an entertaining show). I put this show at number 10 because of the number of great bands I saw, but add it at the bottom of the list because of its festival nature. I get spoiled by small intimate venues. I will be going to small intimate venues to see several of these bands again though!

10.5 ... Twilight Singers & Afterhours at the GAMH 6/19/06

I feel like this should be higher on the list because it was definitely the best Dulli show I have ever seen, but can't cut any of the shows above either. So I cheat .... Top 11 list. Maybe I should make it 12 and add Sonic Youth .... Arg!

Tuesday, April 10

Top 20 Albums from 2006

Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Cursive - Happy Hollow
Ani DiFranco - Reprieve
Hot Chip - The Warning
Isobell Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas
Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
Lucero - Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers
Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
Say Hi To Your Mom - Impeccable Blahs
Show Your Bones - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
Snowden - Anti-Anti
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
TVOTR - Return to Cookie Mountain
Rocky Votolato - Makers
Tom Waits - Orphans
Wolfmother
Thom Yorke - The Eraser
M. Ward - Post War

Tuesday, April 3

TV On The Radio

How to review this show…? I think my old pal Wes said it best, “I have seen TV on the Radio five times, and they always amaze me.” True, true, very true…they are an amazing live band. This stated, I would have rather seen them play their Sacramento date that was in a smaller venue. San Francisco’s Fillmore is an awesome venue with a great history, but twice now I have seen bands there that I really love (Cursive in 2006 and TVOTR last week) and left wishing I had seem them play a smaller venue. It is a quandary because it seems that everyone in music loves to play the Fillmore, and I believe this was the first opportunity for each of these bands to do so. Simultaneous with feelings of joy for them come feelings of nostalgia for their more intimate shows in smaller clubs. The TVOTR shows that I attended at SF’s Independent and Sacramento’s Library were both much better experiences! The new rigid barrier system the Fillmore has begun to use certainly does not help the audience’s experience. I don’t recall it being there at shows in the past, but even from the very front of the floor it leaves the audience forcibly detached from the events on stage. This chest-high steel wall is set-up to put the crowd about 5 feet from the stage as if it were a much larger stadium-type show. This distance seems to bring with it a significant isolation of or possibly for the band, and also inhibits the bands’ ability for interacting with the crowd as much, thus the loss of intimacy. I can understand that this distance and the space it provides for security might be a necessity for a very moshy crowd, but for TVOTR? I don’t think so. The Fillmore must have really been expecting a riot because they didn’t have apples out that night either, and the greeter fella at the top of the stairs said “no apples tonight because they were worried they would be getting thrown around.” Whatever.

The band sounded great! The sound at The Fillmore has been rich and finely balanced each time I have been there. The set was shorter than some I have seen them play, but it was satisfying.

The three of us enjoyed some Ethiopian food at the Jazz club across the street beforehand, and it was REALLY good. I highly recommend you give yourself time to eat there next time you go to a Fillmore show. It is busy with one waitress so go a bit early so you aren’t rushing like we were. YUMMM! Plus, you never know who will be giving a speech in the back room!

I snapped a few pics at the show, but not too many. I just wasn’t feeling the image making that evening. It could have had something to do with my level of intoxication, and the fact that someone deliberately dumped an entire mixed drink on Lara and I because we asked her to go around rather than through us. I was SO angry. I had to excuse myself from the area and watch the rest of the show from the slightly raised bar. What the hell is wrong with people? Truly the most unnecessary and blatantly bad behavior I can recall from any public event I have ever attended.