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Dr. Dog | 10.11.09 | Boulder

October 22nd, 2009 | No Comments

Words & Images by: Joe Schicke

Dr. Dog :: 10.11.09 :: Fox Theatre :: Boulder, CO

Dr. Dog :: 10.11 :: Boulder, CO

Inside Boulder’s Fox Theatre, Jeffrey Lewis and his rhythm section, the Junkyard, took the stage around 9:30. Opening for Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog, Lewis’ bare bones acoustic punk fit well with the general mood, bringing fans to the floor and warmth to the room. An entertaining singer-songwriter based out of New York, Lewis supplemented his witty lyrics with an animated slide show that he would narrate or sing along to. A great freestyle rap about the outdoors of Maine with the chorus, “I’m a mosquito mass murderist,” got the crowd’s attention, and after a lame rendition of Dr. Dog’s “The Rabbit, The Bat, and the Reindeer,” Taylor saved face by introducing his final song (which he called “movies”) titled “Creeping Brain.” A hilarious story about a humanized brain who decides to eat a town and then holds a press conference announcing its plan for world domination, it was a genuine punk rock nugget.

By the time Dr. Dog took the stage, the Fox had filled up considerably. The band launched right into the opening trio of “Worst Trip,” “The Way the Lazy Do,” and “Army of Ancients.” Composed of psychedelic, fairy-tale imagery and well-seasoned heartache, “Army of Ancients” is one of the best tunes from the band’s newest studio release, Fate (2008), and on this night included some of bassist/vocalist Toby Leaman‘s most torturous wails, especially with the line, “I don’t need no doctor to tear me all apart!”

Dr. Dog took little time between songs and established a steady rhythm through the night, showcasing songs from several albums, including Easy Beat (2005), Takers and Leavers (2006), We All Belong (2007), and the aforementioned Fate. In concert, this group plays short, concise songs that pack a huge punch, but they’re also not afraid to extend sections when appropriate. Leaman’s reggae tinged bass playing adds a welcome drive and pulse to the music, and the band’s Beach Boys style vocal harmonies bring color and depth to the songs. Well written compositions are embellished by brightly harmonic instrumentation, and guitarist Frank McElroy plays snake-y guitar lines reminiscent of George Harrison, but with an infectious energy more akin to Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore or Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus.

Above all, Dr. Dog appears to have fun onstage, evident in Leaman’s unassuming stage banter and guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Scott McMicken‘s alternating one leg hops. After a two song solo mini-set from McMicken, the band really caught stride and ripped through more material from Fate before taking a short break. The encore was a blissful fifteen minutes of experimental soundscapes, indie rock meltdowns, and punk rock rudeness.

Dr. Dog :: 10.11.09 :: Fox Theatre :: Boulder, CO

Worst Trip, The Way the Lazy Do, Army of Ancients, The Breeze, Hang On, Ain’t It Strange, Die Die Die, Oh No, We’re All In This Together, County Line, My Friend, 100 Years, Old Days, The Ark, From, The Beach, The Rabbit The Bat and the Reindeer

E: Fools Life, Call Your Bluff, Fuck It

Dr. Dog is on tour now; dates available here.

JamBase | Colorado

Go See Live Music!

Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Fest

October 6th, 2009 | No Comments

BÃ‰LA FLECK & THE FLECKTONES, DR. DOG, EMMITT-NERSHI BAND

GATHER FOR CHARITABLE CHICAGO BLUEGRASS & BLUES FEST / 1 DAY, 25 BANDS, $35

“The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival will prove to be the next great landmark in Chicago music culture.” – Herschel Concepcion, JamBase.com

Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival 2008 by Sands

The Congress Theater, in conjunction with Chicago independents Kingtello Presents, is proud to announce the second coming of the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival. While rooted in the foot-stomping influences of bluegrass and blues, the festival will transport the concertgoer through the genre-defying evolution of music today. The all-ages one-day event, held on Saturday, December 12 from 11 a.m. to midnight, will serve as a tribute to two schools of music that continue to shape and inspire contemporary rock, jam, funk, folk, roots, Americana, and indie cultures.

Against the backdrop of an official Chicago landmark and one of the last of the classic “movie palaces,” fans will be treated to a party with a purpose, featuring 3 stages and 25 bands for less than the typical price of the headliners alone. Six-time Grammy-winner Bela Fleck and his Flecktones will unite for their first Chicago date together since mid-2007, as Bela has been devoting extended stints to the likes of the Sparrow Quartet, The Africa Project, Edgar Meyer, and Zakir Hussain.

They’ll be joined by Philadelphia’s psych-folk harmonizers, Dr. Dog, who’ve rapidly ascended the public consciousness this year with breakout performances at both Coachella and Camp Bisco. The Emmitt-Nershi Band, uniting Leftover Salmon’s mandolin and vocals (Drew Emmitt) with the songwriting and flat-picking guitar of The String Cheese Incident (Billy Nershi), joins the party as well. And Eddie “The Chief” Clearwater, proudly declared “Chicago’s premier blues entertainer” by the Chicago Tribune, will properly represent the scene that put his city on the international music map.

Tickets are onsale for $35 through the event’s website, Ticketmaster.com, and clubtix.net.

The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival will offer a musical reprieve from the merciless Chicago Winter by adapting elements of a summer music festival to the historic and intimate indoor setting. In addition to 13 hours of 3 stages worth of nonstop music, the day’s activities will also include a pickin’ circle, a live-art exhibition and indoor gallery, charitable raffles, film screenings, the original Blues Brothers car, and impromptu marching band performances.

In between main stage sets, an array of performers will treat fans to special “pop-up” sets from the Congress Theater’s historic balcony.

Join the Headliners on the Main Stage – Last Banjo Standing Contest: Organizers have announced that they will once again hold the “LAST BANJO STANDING,” an online contest that scours Chicagoland to find the top bluegrass or blues inspired artist. The winner, as voted on by fans, family, friends and music lovers around the city will join the headliners on the main stage roster. Sign up and vote at cbbfestival.com/contest.

About the Charities:

And while the festival will serve to break a band or two, festival-goers will get to help children. A portion of ticket proceeds will be donated to two non-profit organizations, the Saving tiny Hearts Society and Prevent Child Abuse America.

The complete artist roster includes:

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones

Dr. Dog

Emmitt-Nershi Band

Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater

The Giving Tree Band

Josh Phillips Folk Festival

Van Ghost

Majors Junction

Chicago Farmer

Jaik Willis

Mike Mangione & The Band

Holy Ghost Tent Revival

Tangleweed

Environmental Encroachment

Squeeze-bot

GreenSugar

How Far to Austin

Liberty Bluegrass Band

The Right Now

Cobalt & the Hired Guns

The Shams Band

Goodbyehome

The Junior League Band

For coverage of the 2008 Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival go here.

Arctic Monkeys | 10.02 | NOLA

October 5th, 2009 | No Comments

Words by: Wesley Hodges | Images from: arcticmonkeys.com

Arctic Monkeys :: 10.02.09 :: House of Blues :: New Orleans, LA

Arctic Monkeys

The mini-ACL happening in NOLA continued Friday night (after catching the unreal Phoenix show at Tipitina’s on Thursday and Dr. Dog on Wednesday) as modern day rock & roll success story Arctic Monkeys rolled through the Big Easy for a sold out show at the House of Blues. The Monkeys shocked the system, delivering an aggressive set leaving little on the table as they coursed through new Humbug tunes and staples from their earlier work (see JamBase’s review of the new album here).

It’s easy to forget that these guys are still relatively new to the game looking so at home playing to a slam-packed house. For a British band, there is a definite surf rock spin on much of the material, with lustrous and LOUD Hawaiian guitar riffage beaming throughout. Songs like “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” bleed power and are almost too fast. The heavy Clash influence exhibits itself on the boisterous “Dancing Shoes” as frontman Alex Turner sings:

The lights are flashing
Down in here tonight
And some might exchange a glance
But keep pretending to dance

Arctic Monkeys

A staple cover in their live set these days, Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” was the highlight of the short set as the Monkeys put their stamp on a familiar tune. The cover was downright evil, with a sinister outro that could easily double as a horror movie score. A blinding strobe visual aesthetic scorched retinas and coupled well with the constant power emanating from Matt Helders‘ drum kit. American mainstream rock bands along the same lines of Kings of Leon could learn a lot from these guys, who give fans something fresh and put their best foot forward each time out. I wouldn’t describe their music as particularly ambitious or exploratory – these guys stuck to their script of delivering tightly framed, freewheeling viscera throughout the set – but it’s a beautiful thing and the bouncy crowd in the pit surely agreed. They exuded raw energy, seemed to enjoy themselves in the process, and made an outward effort to engage the generation-spanning crowd at HoB.

The encore left fans wanting more and although frustrating, it’s always cool to see a band that knows when to hit the road and leave on a high note, with the Monkeys concluding with an epic blast through “505,” the closing track from the band’s second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare. The Monkeys departed the stage one-by-one with guitarist Jamie Cook closing it down in brilliant fashion.

If you need a shot in the arm or just want further proof that ballsy rock & roll is still alive and well, then go check out Arctic Monkeys. The glorified rock dream isn’t dead, and the young British rockers are climbing towards that pantheon of superstardom here in the States that they have enjoyed in Europe since the release of their instant classic and record breaking debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (JamBase review), which outsold Oasis’ Definitely Maybe as the fastest-selling debut in British history, a mere three years ago.

10.02.09 :: House of Blues :: New Orleans, LA
Dance Little Liar, Brainstorm, Crying Lightening, Still Take You Home, Secret Door View From the Afternoon, Dangerous Animals, Potion Approaching, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Sketchead Red Right Hand (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cover), My Propeller, Cornerstone, Do Me a Favour, This House is a Circus, If You Were There, Beware
E: Fluorescent Adolescent, 505

“Red Right Hand” Nick Cave cover:

“505″:

Arctic Monkeys tour dates available here.

JamBase | New Orleans
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Dr. Dog Sign to Anit- Set Big Fall Tour

July 29th, 2009 | No Comments

Dr. Dog Sign to Anit- / Set Big Fall Tour

Dr. Dog has signed to Anti- Records. Here’s a note from the band.

From www.drdogmusic.com:

Hey Everybody,

Dr. Dog

Before we head into the studio for the next few weeks we wanted to let you know that we’ve gone and signed to a new label. The record we’re making now is going to come out on Anti- Records early next year. As you might notice, this will be the first time that we’ll release a record in the U.S. that’s not on Park The Van and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank the PTV guys for all of their love and support over the years.

Park the Van was basically started to help us release Easy Beat which was our first “proper” album. The work that that Park the Van has done to let people know about Dr. Dog has been incredible. Over the past few years PTV and Dr. Dog have come a long way together and we’ve had a lot of fun in the process. We wish the guys at PTV and all of the great bands on the label the best of luck, and we’re thankful for what has been and will surely continue to be an amazing relationship.

Thanks guys!

Dr. Dog Tour Dates

07/31/09 Fri Pickathon Roots Festival Happy Valley, OR

08/01/09 Sat Pickathon Roots Festival Happy Valley, OR

08/03/09 Mon Musikfest Bethlehem, PA

09/18/09 Fri Miller Plaza Chattanooga, TN

09/19/09 Sat Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Bristol, VA

09/20/09 Sun Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Bristol, VA

09/28/09 Mon Orange Peel Asheville, NC

09/29/09 Tue The Loft Atlanta, GA

09/30/09 Wed Howlin’ Wolf New Orleans, LA

10/01/09 Thu Chelsea’s Baton Rouge, LA

10/02/09 Fri Zilker Park Austin, TX

10/03/09 Sat Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival San Francisco, CA

10/04/09 Sun Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival San Francisco, CA

10/05/09 Mon The Brookdale Lodge Brookdale, CA

10/06/09 Tue Henry Fonda Theatre Los Angeles, CA

10/07/09 Wed Club Congress Tucson, AZ

10/09/09 Fri Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, UT

10/10/09 Sat Belly Up Aspen, CO

10/11/09 Sun Fox Theatre Boulder, CO

10/12/09 Mon Bottleneck Lawrence, KS

10/13/09 Tue Gargoyle St. Louis, MO

10/15/09 Thu Mad Hatter Covington, KY

10/16/09 Fri Beachland Ballroom/Tavern Cleveland, OH

10/17/09 Sat Mass MoCA North Adams, MA

10/20/09 Tue The Southern Charlottesville, VA

10/21/09 Wed Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, NC

10/22/09 Thu Ottobar Baltimore, MD

10/23/09 Fri Theatre of Living Arts (TLA) Philadelphia, PA

10/24/09 Sat Theatre of Living Arts (TLA) Philadelphia, PA

For more on Dr. Dog check our exclusive feature/interview here.

Camp Bisco Set Times

July 14th, 2009 | No Comments

Camp Bisco Announces Set Times

The Discso Biscuits

East Coast faves The Disco Biscuits have officially released the Camp Bisco VIII performance schedule, available online at campbisco.net. The 50 performer lineup at the multi-stage camping festival includes: The Disco Biscuits – All 3 Nights; Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley; Asher Roth; Sound Tribe Sector 9 (2 nights)and many more.

Camp Bisco VIII is set to go down this weekend, July 16-18, and will once again be held at the picturesque Indian Lookout Country Club in Mariaville, New York. The grounds come equipped with full bathrooms; which include flush toilets and showers, as well as 24/7 bathroom attendants. Festival goers will have access to a full bar on site and a general store, which sells almost every necessity for a comfortable and care free experience.

New this year, Camp Bisco hosted a four-week multi-artist remix contest, powered by Sony Creative Software’s music remixing site ACIDplanet.com and promoted in partnership with Remix Magazine. For the first time, aspiring DJ/producers from around the country had the opportunity to remix top notch artists including The Disco Biscuits, The Orb, Dr. Dog, Telepath and John Brown’s Body. Five first place winners and one grand prize winner, The Maniac All-Stars, were selected for the first annual Camp Bisco remix contest. The Maniac All-Stars were selected as the grand prize winner for their “Rebirth” remix of the song “Subterfuge” by live electronica band and Camp Bisco performer, Telepath.

Check out the Camp Bisco VIII performance schedule at campbisco.net. Tickets are still on sale at campbisco.tickets.musictoday.com.