Max Hammer – Page 96 – INDIE ROCK CAFE

The Shins Announce Tour Dates, Release New CD

Posted on 01/26/200712/18/2019 by Max Hammer

The wildly-popular indie pop/rock band The Shins have announced U.S. concert dates and released a long-anticipated follow-up album to their masterpiece Chutes Too Narrow, released in 2003.

There has been confusion in the blog world this week about the release date of the band’s new CD – Whincing The Night Away, and concert dates, venues and locations of the band’s upcoming U.S. tour.

A Tower Records commercial during John Stewart’s Daily Show last night (Jan. 25) said the album would be available in the stores this coming weekend (Jan. 27), but the online store and iTunes have had it available for the past two days on their websites.

So, for everyone out there who doesn’t think the album is available yet, it is. You can also head down to your local record store or pre-order the CD on Amazon for a Jan. 30 release date.

If you are unable to get your hands on it at the moment, you can still listen to samples of each song at any number of music-selling websites, like Amazon or Rolling Stone.

The CD-only release of the Whincing The Night Away comes with a Digipak and is currently on sale at Tower’s website.

Whincing The Night Away is The Shins best work so far. It is a more structured band, but that does not infringe on the group’s famous melodic, meandering harmonies and compelling lyrics.

It’s a safe bet that this album will be one of the biggest albums of 2007 – with songs like “Phantom Limb,” “Australia” and “A Comet Appears”.

By the way, the tune “Split Needles,” which every Shins fan would eventually want in their collection, is only available online. And, for vinyl lovers, Subpop Records is selling a LP limited edition of the album on their website.

So now that you have sampled, purchased, and listened to the album, where can you go to see The Shins play live in 2007?

Well, the band polished off an early ’07 U.S. a few days ago in Portland, Oregon and are now reportedly resting up for what is sure to be a busy year for the band.

Make sure to check back with IRC as we keep close attention to changes, additions and cancellations of concert dates for dozens of artists like The Shins.

Finally, IRC is trying to verify and clarify what happened to a number of gigs that were booked earlier this month for places like California and are now not listed on the band’s website.

The Shins ’07 Concert Dates:

Here are The Shins’ most up-to-date (as of Jan. 26) concert dates and show venues for 2007 (notice the two new London dates).

February 9 at 8:00 PM
Eagles Ballroom – Milwaukee WI

February 10 at 8:00 PM
Congress Theatre – Chicago IL

February 11 at 8:00 PM
The Pageant – Saint Louis MO

February 12 at 8:00 PM
Liberty Hall – Lawrence KS

February 13 at 8:00 PM
Liberty Hall – Lawrence KS

February 15 at 8:00 PM
Fillmore Auditorium-Denver CO

February 16 at 1:00 PM
In The Venue – Salt Lake City UT

February 20 at 8:00 PM
Paramount Theatre-Washington in Seattle WA

February 21 at 9:00 PM
McMenamins Crystal Ballroom in Portland OR

February 25 at 8:00 PM
Astoria, London, UK

February 25 at 9:00 PM
Bush Hall, UK

JUST IN: The Shins have booked a gig at L.A.’s Gibson Amphitheatre as part of KCRW’s ‘Sounds Eclectic Evening 6’ with Lily Allen.

The Kooks Add U.S. Tour Dates To Kick-Off at Coachella

Posted on 01/25/200712/18/2019 by Max Hammer

The Kooks announced a blitz two-week spring tour of the U.S. that will start with their performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 29.

The band’s debut album, Inside In/Inside Out, released on Astralweeks, has been one of the hottest-selling debuts for any indie band in years.

The debut has already gone quadruple platinum in the U.K. and the band is catching on in the U.S. and Europe as one of the hottest new indie rock groups to emerge in recent years.

Make sure to check the IRC website for an exclusive set of live acoustic gigs featuring songs from their debut album and TWO new songs – “Need To Be” and “Miss You”.

The Kooks Tour Dates:

(not all tickets on sale yet. See which are.)

04/29 – Indio, CA – Coachella
04/30 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
05/02 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
05/03 – Seattle, WA – Crocodile Cafe
05/05 – Chicago, IL – Metro
05/07 – Columbus, OH – The Basement
05/08 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
05/10 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
05/12 – Washington DC – 9:30 Club
05/13 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club

Related Links

The Kooks – Ticketmaster (tickets for the gigs just added are not yet for sale)

The Kooks – Official website

The Kooks – Popular fan club – Cool site for fans of the band

AFI Adds West Coast and European Tour Dates

Posted on 01/25/200712/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Fans of AFI on the West coast will be happy to hear that the group has added four new shows to its current tour. Tickets for all shows go on sale this weekend. Exclusive presale tickets go on sale today, 1/25 at 10am here. Use password: WINTER

March 4th – Bakersfield, CA – Rabobank Arena
March 6th – Chico, CA – Silver Dollar Fairgrounds
March 7th – Medford, OR – Medford Armory
March 9th – Eureka, CA – Eureka Municipal Auditorium

European Tour Update

April 24th – Paris, France – Elysee Montmartre
April 26th – Edinburgh, Scotland – Corn Exchange
April 27th – Birmingham, England – NIA
April 29th – London, England – Earls Court
May 2nd – Amsterdamn, Netherlands – Paradiso –
May 3rd – Wiesbaden, Germany – Schlacthof
May 5th – Milan, Italy – Transilvania
May 8th – Vienna, Austria – Arena
May 9th – Leipzig, Germany – Haus Auensee

Stay tuned for more concert announcements or subscribe to one of the feeds at the top right of the page for automatic notifications.

My Chemical Romance Blasts Kasabian Members as ‘Ignorant’ in On-Going Fued

Posted on 01/25/200712/18/2019 by Max Hammer

No, it’s definitely not the Rosie and the Donald slug fest on the national airwaves, but it’s getting almost as ugly as the verbal feud between two indie rock bands heats up.

The whole sordid affair is either an ill-guided argument about what constitutes good music, or a planned public relations stunt.

The popular emo boy band My Chemical Romance was slammed by the Kasabian‘s lead singer Tom Meighan, who called the band “clowns” with “make-up”. (photo to the left is Gerard Way of MCR)

In his interview with the New Music Express (the “Rolling Stone magazine of the U.K.”), Meighan volleyed an unwarranted series of bitch-slap fireballs at the wildly successful MCR by comparing the band’s music to a group of “ventriloquists.”

(photo to the right is Kasabian)

“[Their music] is weird and dark,” Meighan told NME. “They don’t have anything positive to say. The only good news is that it won’t last. These clowns won’t be around for much longer. Their make-up will flake off and the scene will die out. And it can’t happen soon enough.”

It didn’t take long for MCR to bite back.

“It was obviously meant as a slam, but it was so poorly worded that it ended up sounding like a compliment!” MCR lead singer Gerard Way told NME. “‘Weird and dark?’… that just makes them kinda ignorant. This band has never had a bullshit war ever.

I haven’t found an opponent worthy enough yet. If you’re gonna take me on, you’d better have the balls for it! If you’re gonna talk shit about us, you’d better have the juice. And we haven’t found anybody with the juice yet.”

Note to IRC feed subscribers: Please remember to visit the website for updates on this and other features, profiles and stories. Updates do not necessarily get individually sent out by the system. You can fire off an email to indierockcafe.com/indierockcafe@gmail.com with any comments, questions or suggestions. :-)

Related Links:

My Chemical Romance Dedication

MCR Official Website

MCR Complete Lyrics

JUST IN: Snow Patrol’s Johhny Quinn Writes Note to Fans About Accident

Posted on 01/23/200712/18/2019 by Max Hammer

The red-hot U.K. rock band Snow Patrol announced today that the group’s drummer, Johnny Quinn, broke his arm snowboarding in the French Alps.

The band, which has a number of shows in Germany in early February, will replace Quinn with a long-time friend and ex-Therapy drummer Graham Hopkins, according to the following note Quinn posted on the band’s official website:

“I thought it was time that someone from Snow Patrol learnt to snowboard, so I took myself off to Chamonix [France].” Quinn continues, “on the first day, I tumbled down a hill and broke my elbow…the rest of the band did not want to play with another drummer for the upcoming European dates but I didn’t want to cancel anymore gigs after last year, so we’ve asked longtime friend and ex-therapy? [sic] drummer, Graham Hopkins to step in.”

The band has suffered a number of health issues over the past year. They were forced to cancel shows in 2006 after the group’s bassist Paul Wilson was injured and singer Gary Lightbody lost his vocal.

Grazed Knees [mp3]

Doctors have reportedly told Quinn his arm needs six weeks to heal properly, but his note insists he will be back in action when the band kicks off their Australian tour.

The group has already canceled its performance at next week’s Meteor Irish Music Awards.
Whether the band will perform with Graham or Quinn at the Brit Awards on Feb. 14 is unclear. They have been nominated in the Best British Group and Best British Single categories.

The band’s manager Jazz Sumner said, “Johnny has said he’ll play the Brits, even if he has to go on stage in plaster. But on TV things have to be right.”

Snow Patrol’s official website

Evanescene Adds and Changes Tour Dates for U.S.

Posted on 01/20/200712/18/2019 by Max Hammer

The popular rock band Evanescene today announced new additions to the U.S. leg of its worldwide, including adding and changing some cities, dates and venues.

Evanescence, which consists of Terry Balsamo on guitar, Amy Lee on vocals, piano and keyboards, John LeCompt on guitar, Tim McCord on bass and to round it out, Rocky Gray on drums.

Rock groups Chevelle and Finger Eleven will opening for the band when the tour kicks off on March 16 in Fresno, California. The band will blitz across the U.S. until the final show on April 5 in Glens Falls, N.Y. Tickets go on sale January 27.

Sources have said that the band is planning to announce more dates for the U.S. slated for late spring or early summer, giving them exposure to bigger markets and arenas across the country.

In a couple of days, on January 23, the band will kick-off their tour in Japan and play shows in Japan, New Zealand and Australia through February 22.

The following is the revised show dates and venues (tour dates in bold are those that have been changed or added so check or get your tickets):

Date City, ST Venue

Tue 01/23/07 Osaka, JPN Zepp

Wed 01/24/07 Osaka, JPN Zepp

Fri 01/26/07 Nagoya, JPN Zepp

Sun 01/28/07 Yokohama, JPN Blitz

Tue 01/30/07 Tokyo, JPN Zepp

Wed 01/31/07 Tokyo, JPN Zepp

Thu 02/01/07 Sendai, JPN Zepp Sendai

Thu 02/08/07 Brisbane, AUS Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Sat 02/10/07 Melbourne, AUS Vodafone Arena

Sun 02/11/07 Melbourne, AUS Vodafone Arena

Tue 02/13/07 Adelaide, AUS Entertainment Centre

Thu 02/15/07 Perth, AUS Challenge Stadium

Sat 02/17/07 Sydney, AUS Sydney Ent’ment Centre

Sun 02/18/07 Sydney, AUS Sydney Ent’ment Centre

Wed 02/21/07 Auckland, NZ St. James Theatre

Thu 02/22/07 Auckland, NZ St. James Theatre

Fri 03/16/07 Fresno, CA Selland Arena

Sat 03/17/07 Las Vegas, NV Pearl @ Palm Hotel

Mon 03/19/07 Las Cruces, NM Pan American Center

Wed 03/21/07 Oklahoma City, OK The Ford Center

Thu 03/22/07 Council Bluffs, IA Mid-America Center

Fri 03/23/07 Cedar Rapids, IA U.S. Cellular Center

Sun 03/25/07 North Little Rock, AR Alltel Arena

Tue 03/27/07 Louisville, KY Louisville Gardens

Wed 03/28/07 Nashville, TN Gaylord Entertainment Center

Fri 03/30/07 Norfolk, VA Constant Convoc. Ctr. @ Old Dom.

Sat 03/31/07 Hartford, CT New England Dodge Music Center

Mon 04/02/07 Reading, PA Sovereign Center

Wed 04/04/07 Providence, RI Dunkin Donuts Center Providence

Thu 04/05/07 Glens Falls, NY Glens Falls Civic Ctr.

Mia Rose is Reaching Out Beyond Her Phenomenal YouTube and MySpace Popularity

Posted on 01/18/200712/18/2019 by Max Hammer

MIA ROSE EXCLUSIVE

IRC was first indie music website to call attention to Mia Rose (Jan. 9, 2007), and also the first to predict her success.

Since then, her music career has taken off, and media from Rolling Stone to Pulse have featured her. You’re welcome Mia!! ;)

Here’s the original story.

Don’t miss these other sites:

Indie Rock Concerts – Do you have concert video or want to write a review for IRC? Let us know! Check back or sign up for the feed – much more to come in the next few months.

Indie Rock Songs – new website dedicated to bringing you the best in indie rock and pop songs, free MP3s, charts, lyrics, MySpace music videos, YouTube music videos and more! Want to contribute? IRC promotes and encourages the best of today’s independent artists to hon their skill so that the world can hear the music they create.

Monkey Types The Bible – Crazy, weird, odd, amazing news, people, videos, photographs and more!

===================================================================

Album of the Week: The Western States Motel

The debut CD from Los Angeles based The Western States Motel is getting more play and visitors to its MySpace page, especially after one of their songs was played on the just-cancelled TV show The OC.

Singer and songwriter Carl Jordan, who is pretty much the band himself, is now in the running to become of the best new indie singer/songwriters of late 2000’s.

Almost every song on the CD is impeccably composed, the lyrics are profound and the overall mood of the album is happy.

It is one of those ‘new’ CDs you end up playing over and over again, that you turn up the volume on when your driving (be careful how you do that; I ended up going off a 30-foot cliff at 70 mph and I’m still here!).

Jordan’s music is full of inspiration, beautifully composed, easily a modern-day pop gem reminiscent of The Magnetic Fields, Elliot Smith and The Shins.

While nearly every track on the album is worthy in its own right, the catchy, feel-good “Rows of Homes” is a wonderfully composed with memorable acoustic rhythms and vocals harmonies backed by melodic keyboard notes that soar to heights of near delirium.

Don’t be surprised if it ends up on a soundtrack to a movie or soundtrack, or television commercial, sometime soon.

Other notables include “Powerlines“, which automatically sounded like Matt Pond PA, which is not a bad thing at all. This is a magnificent song – Jordan’s soothing voice and crisp acoustic keys are occasionally coupled with mini electric guitar solos and background hand-clapping.

The “oooh-oh-oooh” verses in the song sound exactly like the verses from The Shins fantastic song “New Slang” (featured on the Garden State soundtrack). I’m not accusing TWSM of lifting it from them, however, the similarity is striking coincidental.

The Western States Motel started out scoring soundtracks for “unmade short films…backyard nature documentaries and various VHS” shorts.

But Jordan’s musical talent first got attention when he composed the score for Folsom, Cash and The Comeback, a documentary about Johnny Cash’s famous 1968 live performance at the Folsom State Prison in California. The score is featured on Cash’s special DVD edition of Walk The Line.

Anyone planning on taking a long road trip anytime soon may want to bring these songs along with them. We’ll have a feature podcast coming out in the spring that are sounds geared for driving and taking long road trips.

Yo La Tengo Concert Dates, Free MP3s and a Puppet Interview

Posted on 01/18/200712/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Yo La Tengo, arguably one of the most talented, influential and anti-corporate independent rock groups of the past decade, have updated their tour dates for 2007 through March.

Song of the Week, Overlooked Album, Meet Islands

Posted on 01/13/200712/18/2019 by Max Hammer

The song of the week is one that is well deserving of the honor. If you like edgy, experimental indie pop, check out the quirky Montreal indie band Island’s single “Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby”.

The single is on Island’s under-rated and brilliant debut album Return to the Sea, which surprisingly was overlooked by many rock critics, and even many of the indie rock bloggers. It didn’t even make most of the top album of the year lists you see everywhere in December and January.

– Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby [mp3]– Bonus: Volcanoes [mp3]

Buy the album or these tracks individually at iTunes, Amazon or anywhere they sell the group’s music!

Islands is a band that is in a perpetual state of flux, formed by Unicorn members Nick Diamonds and J’aime Tambeur. The album is described by Nick as having “some dancehall [sic] influences, some calypso…diverse and sprawling and ambitious…a bit more mature than The Unicorns… more of a Neil Young/Brian Wilson vibe running through it.” (quoted from Wikipedia)

The collaboration on the Return to the Sea project included contributions from members of The Arcade Fire and The Wolf Parade.

Following the release of the album, the band went on a series of U.S. and Canadian tours during 2006. Earlier in 2005 they had opened for Beck from time to time and Metric. The critics and fans love the group’s live shows. They even played some concerts where they had the concert-goers follow them out of the venue and into the streets in the spirit of the Pipe Piper of Hamelin.

After fans complained enough on blogs and fan sites, the group launched a fairly cool Flash powered official website back in late summer of 2006. The site may be a bit difficult for some (roll the mouse over the name of the band for the sections of the site), but it is a creative and refreshing approach.

No question that official band sites are getting better all the time. They just need to offer more free downloads, videos, interviews and add-ons like alerts when a concert date is added or changed.

Since 2006 wasn’t that long ago, we have named Return to The Sea one of IRC’s Top 20 albums of the year, and the single “Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby,” one of the best songs of the year.

You’d think that a song with such a title would be quirky, angry, mocking or what have you. But it’s a true indie gem – oozing with waves of melodies, catchy riffs and memorable chorus harmonies. You may even find yourself tapping your foot. It’s a great song to play when stuck in rush hour traffic or you need a picker-upper.

Warning: If you are a total hard-core indie punk or monster rocker, then you’d probably want to smash this CD if it was in front of you, but chill out my friend, we have plenty on damn good indie rock and punk on this site for you too.

Camera Obscura Releases New Tour Dates for US and Australia

Posted on 01/11/200712/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Camera Obscura, one of the most popular indie pop bands over the last few years, has released the dates and venues for an ambitious tour across the United States and Australia, kicking off their first show January 17 at The Earl in Atlanta.

According to their official website, there may be more dates added later.

If you get a chance to see them, IRC strongly recommends that you get your tickets early; they will sell out just about everywhere and you don’t want to be dishing out double the price for concert tickets on eBay.

Meanwhile, listen to song samples and view the tour dates. You may also want to check out their official homepage, featuring streaming audio and music videos, MP3s and easy-to-use media formats, creating an interactive experience.

Listen now:

– If Looks Could Kill (official release in UK/Europe is set for Jan. 29)
– Let’s Get Out of This Country – (one of the song’s that got them noticed)

Note: Support the group and buy Camera Obscura music from Emusic.com or anywhere on the Internet.

TOUR DATES – January to March 2007

Jan 17 2007

8:00P

The Earl

Atlanta, Georgia

Jan 18 2007

8:00P

The Club Downunder

Talahasee, Florida

Jan 19 2007

8:00P

40 Watt Club

Athens, Georgia

Jan 20 2007

8:00P

Cat’s Cradle

Carborro, North Carolina

Jan 21 2007

8:00P

Sun Satellite Ballroom

Charlottesville, Virginia

Jan 22 2007

8:00P

9:30 Club

Washington, Washington DC

Jan 24 2007

8:00P

Warsaw

Brooklyn, New York

Jan 26 2007

8:00P

Pearl Street

Northampton, Massachusetts

Jan 27 2007

8:00P

Paradise Rock Club

Boston, Massachusetts

Jan 29 2007

8:00P

La Sala Rossa

Montreal, Quebec

Jan 30 2007

8:00P

Barrymore’s Music Hall

Ottawa, Ontario

Jan 31 2007

8:00P

Opera House

Toronto, Ontario

Feb 1 2007

8:00P

Blind Pig

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Feb 2 2007

8:00P

Kraftbrau Brewery

Kalamazoo, Michigan

Feb 3 2007

8:00P

Logan Square Auditorium

Chicago, Illinois

Feb 5 2007

8:00P

The Blue Note

Columbia, Missouri

Feb 8 2007

8:00P

The Bluebird Theatre

Denver, Colorado

Feb 9 2007

8:00P

The Record Bar

Kansas City, Kansas

Feb 10 2007

8:00P

Polyforum Siqueiros

Mexico City

Feb 12 2007

8:00P

Neumos

Seattle, Washington

Feb 13 2007

8:00P

Richard’s On Richard’s

Vancouver, British Columbia

Feb 14 2007

8:00P

Wonder Ballroom

Portland, Oregon

Feb 16 2007

8:00P

Bimbo’s

San Francisco, California

Feb 17 2007

8:00P

El Ray Theatre

Los Angeles, California

Feb 22 2007

8:00P

Troubadour

Brisbane, Northern Territory

Feb 23 2007

8:00P

Laneway Festival

Melbourne, Victoria

Feb 23 2007

8:00P

Northcote Social Club

Melbourne, Western Australia

Feb 24 2007

8:00P

Laneway Festival

Melbourne

Mar 2 2007

8:00P

Perth International Arts Centre

Perth, Western Australia

Mar 3 2007

8:00P

Laneway Festival

Brisbane

Mar 4 2007

8:00P

Laneway Festival

Sydney

Mar 5 2007

8:00P

Annandale Hotel

Sydney, New South Wales

‘American Idol’ Wishes It Had An Original Talent Like Mia Rose

Posted on 01/10/200712/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Update: Nov. 26, 2007 – Hey Everyone! See Mia’s special note to all of you in the comments section below, and leave your own comment for Mia and other fans to read (spam and inappropriate comments will not be published)
Fans of Mia Rose! IRC was the first major music blog (Dec. 2006) to recognize the talent, and predict the international fame, of Mia Rose. In the past year, Mia Rose has become a global sensation and more than 75,000 people have come to this website from more than 50 countries worldwide.
Get news by feed or email about Mia Rose and other great independent musical talents – from indie rock to emo –
by subscribing to IRC .

Don’t Miss: See her first YouTube video of a song Mia wrote herself below (scroll down)
We will have a very special – and only where on IRC – announcement about you and Mia Rose soon. Also check out Indierockconcerts.com and indierocksongs.com.

This story was originally published on Jan. 9, 2007

As folks who passionately love music, we are always eager to hear fresh and talented musicians who have somehow not shown up on the radar of the music industry.

Mia Rose, an 18-year-old young woman from the United Kingdom, is so far one of the missed blips on the screen.

But make no mistake about it, she will become a superstar if managed by the right people. See and hear for yourself. She can even sing magnificently without music.

The natural ability to sing without music is a big indicator of talent, and Mia does it marvelously.

Not only is she a talented young singer and guitar player, but Mia also has a spunky personality and she is absolutely adorable.

But still the overwhelming consensus is that she is going to be a big star if she gets the right label and manager.

In this music video, which we think is phenomenal, she is clearly a little nervous, but she’s 18, so give her a break. All in all, she has begun the journey to international stardom.

Subscribers and new subscribers: Please check the website periodically for more timely updates on Mia Rose and the global indie music movement.

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