Rusty Shackleford

It would appear that R.E.M. has collapsed into now.

http://remhq.com/index.php

This makes me sad.

The National, opening for R.E.M.

The Vaselines, opening for Teenage Fanclub

John Doe, opening for Wilco

Pete Yorn, opening for R.E.M.

Conor Oberst, opening for Wilco

From today's AV Club:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/new-ryan-adams-album-set-for-release-oct-11,60265/

We recently reported that Ryan Adams had ended his so-called hiatus and was at work on a new album with legendary classic-rock producer Glyn Johns. Now that album, titled Ashes & Fire, has an official release date of Oct. 11, via Adams' label PAX-AM and Capitol Records . The full tracklist is below:

Dirty Rain

Ashes & Fire

Come Home

Rocks

Do I Wait

Chains Of Love

Invisible Riverside

Save Me

Kindness

Lucky Now

I Love You But I Don't Know What To Say

This site (Nora Guthrie's?) says Mermaid Avenue Deluxe Box Set coming March 2012 on Nonesuch.

http://www.woody100.com/newreleases.htm

Maybe old Billy knew something after all.

They just posted new tour dates for the fall.

http://www.jayhawksofficial.com/shows.html

These are pretty screwed up, with Charlotte listed twice (the first one is Charlottesville) and several states are wrong.

I can only hope that the lack of a DC date is also a mistake.

It's a pain that they're not including the one itunes bonus track with the deluxe CD, but it seems like bands do this all the time, only to release the bonus tracks as one-off freebies over the next several months.

Given the shipping cost, I'm tempted to just buy through Amazon like I do for everything else, but I will probably preorder the CD through the band's store in order to get the download.

For Wilco (the album) I definitely noticed that the download from the band's store was better-sounding than my own rip from the CD, even though both were at similarly high bitrates. I believe (though who knows for sure) that the official download is an mp3 of the vinyl master, rather than of the CD. Which is weird, but ultimately worth a few extra bucks.

Watch out for the pigeons.

Boston now reports as sold out

 

Oh well, this is just pre-sales, right? Right?!?!?

Some pre-sales are tiny, so it's not at all unusual to get shut out. Check back for venue pre-sale (which can also be tiny) and regular on-sale. Don't give up yet!

Best. Presale. Ever.

See you in the pit at Merriweather!

Don't know about the band's presale, but the IMP presale for Merriweather says GA floor tickets are will-call only, which should also cut down on the scalping and make it easier for us true believers to get tix.

I noticed the show in Columbia, Maryland at Merriweather Post Pavilion has a WRNR presale on Thursday, 7/14 from 9-10 am. Thought I'd give it a shot if Wednesday Frontgate presale doesn't pan out for me. But I can't find anything on the WRNR website that tells how to do the presale. Any DC/Maryland people out there in VC world that know what the deal is with this???

It looks like that's the IMP (promoter) presale. There's usually a password for such things, and it'll be released in the weekly 9:30 club email newsletter, which should be out tomorrow. You can sign up at 930.com to receive the newsletter.

My 7-year-old also loves Star Wars. The problem for me is, he doesn't know that the first three movies are money-grabbing add-ons to a classic trilogy, so he wants to watch those as much (or more) than the original movies. Turns out maybe Lucas was onto something with Jar-Jar Binks.

Fuckin Caps, man.

I will say, Tampa has done a great job putting together that team this year, and they're hot at the right time. They'll beat Boston/Philly and give the West champ a good run.

But watching Martin St. Louis hit another series-clinching goal against the Caps...it's like the last eight years never even happened.

Caps keep finding new ways to lose in the playoffs. At least the home fans didn't have to see it in person this year.

Years ago when I was in college I worked summers as a bank teller. My co-workers were all middle-aged ladies, and they would take their half-hour lunch break at the same time every day; the time they took either dictated or was dictated by the soap they would watch in the breakroom. I ended up with the second shift of All My Children.

And I must say, I couldn't help but to get into it. I even watched every now and then when I went back to school. Kelly Ripa and Sarah Michelle Gellar will always be Haley and Kendall to me.

Two things I would point out about soaps and why they might be going away:

1. They're much better watched in a group setting with other people who know the characters. The plots, etc. can get complicated and ridiculous, and it helps to have other people around. Watching at home on the DVR doesn't really do the job, I would guess.

2. They have a certain rhythm to them that probably doesn't convert well to DVR-ing. They fit into a certain sort of daily routine that doesn't exist much anymore, whether it's work around the house or an ironclad schedule in the break room.

I haven't watched AMC in 15 years, but it'll be sad to see it go.

1. Trace

2. A Ghost Is Born

3. Summerteeth

4. Being There

5. Anodyne

HM. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

HM. Still Feel Gone

HM. Weird Tales (Golden Smog)

Easy (like Sunday Morning) - the Commodores

Wednesday - Drive-By Truckers

Go-Go Boots is okay, but it rivals TBTD as their weakest album yet. This album sounds tired. Cooley's contributions are particularly disappointing. The lyrics are fine, but the music is sort of country-by-numbers. He's usually got more energy than this. And I know this shouldn't affect my enjoyment of the songs, but it irks me that these "new" Cooley songs have been around for years. Combined with Patterson's 2 long songs about the same murder and 2 covers, and the whole thing feels sort of mailed in.

Not to bring this up yet again, but I feel like this band misses Isbell a lot more than he misses them, at least artistically.

Thanks!

1. Wilco, The Strathmore, North Bethesda MD

2. The Bottle Rockets, Iota, Arlington VA

3. Teenage Fanclub w/the Vaselines, 9:30 Club, DC

4. Drive-By Truckers, 9:30 Club, DC

5. Jeff Tweedy, Lincoln Theatre, DC

6. Jay Farrar & Mark Spencer, The Birchmere, Alexandria VA

See that's the question, I'm not sure they lost interest in themselves or just made a bad record. You're absolutely right about Reveal, A for effort. They tried to make a sunny pop record and kind of succeeded. They lost their way with ATS but not sure if it was due to lack of interest or the way they made Up and Reveal stopped working. I'm one of the biggest REM completists out there and I dont even have that REM Live record.

 

Right on both counts about the greatest hits record although I think that was due to WB more than anything. That tour was great. Saw it 3 times but the last was at George Mason U. It started an hour late due to I think concerts not being able to start until classes ended which gave Peter an extra hour to drink. By the time it started you could tell he was rocked. Btwn songs, Stipe went off on a political thing and Peter walked by his mike and shouted "George Bush is a fucking asshole." Very funny. They played McCarthy and I Believe that night and I had been waiting to see those again since '89 so I was in my glory. There's a good Aud of this that went up on Dime a while ago. If it's still on the tracker and anyone wants it, let me know and I'll seed for you.

I went to that show at the Patriot Center--it was fantastic. They played plenty of stuff from the Document/LRP era that they don't play much any more, which was great. I've never seen it on DIME but would love to get my hands on a copy.

It will be interesting to see where they go from here. The WB contract is up. Will they renew, will they do what Wilco is doing, will they stop?

It's been hard to stay interested in R.E.M. over the last 10 years, especially since the band seemed to lose interest in themselves. Reveal was an okay album, and one that I think they sincerely put a lot of effort into, but they followed it up with a non-essential greatest hits album (that, to be fair, was accompanied by a pretty great tour), the lousy "Around the Sun," and the insultingly bad "R.E.M. Live," which does not get nearly the hate that it deserves. With the RRHOF induction, the Olympia residency and "Accelerate," the band seems energized again, and I'm hopeful for the new record, but I would not be shocked if this were the end of the road.

Personally, I still look forward to their new records, but more because it means they might tour again than because I expect the albums to be great. But once WB's not paying them $80 million to make records any more, I'm not sure they keep going. I just hope if it is the end, they go out in style.

I officially have my hopes up for the new album now.

The snippets sound like classic R.E.M., without trying so hard to be aggressive (I'm looking at you, "Acclerate.").

Agreed...Rainy Day Music is great. The other two...not so much.

 

Anyway I guess it is good for the fans that the Jayhawks have become a nostalgia act. Worse things could happen. I am looking forward to these shows.

 

LouieB

I wouldn't call them a "nostalgia act" if they're releasing a new record. I didn't catch them back when they were an active band, so I'm really looking forward to whatever they plan to tour on.

That's crazy/funny/sad. I was down on the floor and we all heard something going on up there. Half of the floor was looking up and back trying to figure out what the commotion was. I thought someone was getting thrown out......very strange since it was such a mellow crowd, but obviously that wasn't the case.

They changed the trash cans on the floor too. It was insane. The quietest audience I can recall, and there's trash-can commotion from the venue staff.

Maybe I'll complain to the theater--not that they can do anything about last night, but someone really should get popped upside the head for deciding to empty the trash in the middle of the show. Change it between acts, change it during the encore break if you really must (although it's not like people were filing by and dropping trash in there during the show), but not right in the middle of the show.