:: James Blunt :: Paramount Theatre :: March 30 :: 

By Tim Dwenger

James Blunt. He became a household name in Europe last summer and the buzz is steadily building here in the States. He is the man who knocked Coldplay out of the number one spot on the charts in the U.K. in the summer of 2005 and accomplished something that has people comparing him to the likes of Rod Stewart and Elton John. He had both the number one single, “You’re Beautiful,” and the number one album, Back to Bedlam, on the U.K. charts for five straight weeks . The last time a male singer/songwriter managed to garner that kind of attention was in the ’70s when Rod Stewart was bringing the house down with hits like Every Picture Tells a Story’s “Maggie May” and Atlantic Crossing’s “Sailing.”

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:: The Strokes :: Fillmore Auditorium :: March 19 :: 

By Cornelia Kane 

The Strokes is a band that was born with a silver spoon, but has cast the silver away in search of its own fate and musical sojourn.

The five members came from what are considered upper-class families (for example, lead singer Julian Casablancas’ father John founded Elite, one of the world’s largest modeling agencies) and met while attending expensive private or boarding schools in both Manhattan and Switzerland. They hardly seem like the type of young men who would yearn to don tight pants and pen catchy yet slightly anti-social and world-weary tunes.

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 By Jeffrey V. Smith

Unlike any other music event in the country, the increasingly trendy yet vital annual South By Southwest Music Festival and Conference, in Austin, Texas is to the music industry what the Sundance Festival is to Hollywood.

It’s where up-and-comers go to get exposed to industry insiders and the insiders come together to feed and fuel each other in the “Live Music Capital of the World.” With hundreds of band showcases featuring thousands of musicians from around the globe, conference panels with the likes of Neil Young and the Beastie Boys, a trade show, demo listening workshops and more, it’s clear this event is different.

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:: Plunge Music Festival :: March 22 - 26 :: Telluride, Colo. :: 

Telluride, Colo. has long been known as host to some of the premeire summer and fall festivals in the country, with a roster that includes Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Blues and Brews and the Telluride Jazz Festival.

Those events have kept the gorgeous mountain retreat in the forefront of people’s minds during the summer months when the snow isn’t falling. But there’s a new festival in town, which plans on celebrating the connection between mountain sport culture and urban rock and hip-hop in both style and sound.

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:: Ben Taylor :: Bluebird Theatre :: March 2 ::

:: Fox Theatre :: March 3 :: 

By Alex Samuel

For as long as there have been rock and roll celebrities, there’s been endless attention paid to their children. The sons and daughters of our favorite musical monarchies end up monopolizing the cover of US Weekly, marrying Michael Jackson, or attempting to spill out witty commentary on endless VH1 specials. You’ve seen it and that’s just the way it is. Or is it?

Ben Taylor (as in James Taylor) settled into a house on Martha’s Vineyard with his flower garden, his girlfriend and a couple of small dogs and has achieved a major milestone in his trek towards a career that promises to be as timeless as the greats that raised him.

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:: Zero :: Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom :: March 9 - 11 :: 

By Matt  Marty  

The number zero means a lot of things to a lot of people.  Having zero dollars is never desirable, but yet having zeros at the end of a check is a sign of success. Zero is the median between positive and negative, and very hard to pin down.  So it is only fitting that the band Zero acts a little unorthodox compared to most bands. 

Started in 1984 by guitarist extraordinaire Steve Kimock and drummer Greg Anton, Zero became a Bay Area fixture.  Through extensive touring and generating new material, Zero gained an allegiance of devoted fans from coast to coast. After sixteen years of consistent work, Zero called for a hiatus. No one really expected the hiatus to last as long as it did, but for six years the members of Zero did not play together.

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:: Band of Horses :: Larimer Lounge :: March 12 :: 

By Tim Dwenger 

When the Seattle band Carissa’s Wierd finally called it quits after 10 years of playing the same indie rock clubs across the country, the sometimes bassist/sometimes drummer Ben Bridwell found himself with nothing to do. Bartending by night, Bridwell now had some significant free time during the day, which the band had previously helped him fill. Without that outlet, Bridwell quickly realized that he needed it, or something like it.

Carissa’s Wierd had been the project of Mat Brooke and Jenn Ghetto, and Bridwell had been their fill-in behind the kit or on the bass when they didn’t have regular members in those spots. “Before Carissa’s Wierd I had never played the drums or the bass, I just kinda filled in where they needed help,” Bridwell told The Marquee in a recent interview from his Seattle practice space. “When the band ended I started to fill my time during the day with learning to play the guitar and starting to write my own songs.” Continue — Read more »

:: 56 Hope Road ::

:: Sancho’s Broken Arrow :: March 13 ::

:: Conor O’Neill’s (Fort Collins) :: March 15 ::

:: Tivoli Student Union (CU Denver) :: March 16 :: (afternoon show)

:: Trilogy :: March 16 ::

:: Dulcinea’s 100th Monkey :: March 18 : 

By Yvette Rebik 

Now known as the #1 “Road Warriors” for 2005 on JamBase, the high-powered acoustic funk band 56 Hope Road has double-clutched its touring vehicle and pointed the grille in the direction of another title for 2006.

“We didn’t expect to win, but we’re ecstatic because we’re proud of that honor,” said Steve Goveia, vocals and acoustic guitar, in a recent interview with The Marquee.

56 Hope Road played a total of 219 shows in 2005, surpassing approximately 12,000 bands registered on JamBase. “We wanted to play that many shows, and we’re happy that we were recognized by JamBase,” the band said in a release following the announcement.

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:: Thrice ::

:: Taste of Chaos Tour ::

:: f/ Deftones, Story of the Year, Atreyu ::

:: Fillmore Auditorium ::

::March 25 :: 

By Brian Kenney 

No more screamo. It wasn’t a declaration; it was more of an undercurrent, an unspoken rule, as loose as that rule could be.

On their latest disc VHEISSU (pronounced Vee-shoo), Orange County California’s Thrice issued an unwritten statement through their music: “We’ve moved beyond our sound.”

The Marquee caught up with Thrice drummer Riley Breckenridge recently to discuss the headlining slot on the second annual Taste of Chaos Tour, as well as to divulge what prompted the shift on their creative compass. “It was definitely challenging, but as we’ve grown as people and musicians, the scope of music that we listen to has changed. Back in the day it was a lot of punk, hardcore, metal. But with this record we listened to everything from jazz to classical to movie scores to singer-songwriter stuff, and because of that, we’re trying to incorporate everything into us as a band. And this time around we had so much time to write and record and experiment with new instrumentation and arrangements, we could really implement those ideas,” Breckenridge said, during a recent tour stop in Texas.

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Close this issue back up and take another look at that cover. While we’re honored to have James Blunt on the cover, that’s not what I’m referring to. Take a look at the little numbers near the top. Do you see it? It reads Vol. 4, as in one, two three, four.

Four is a pretty magical number in music, and in the world.

In music, four is the number of completed, numbered symphonies by Johannes Brahms. There were four Beatles. There are many four string instruments. There’s, of course, 4/4 time. 4 is the name of an album by Foreigner and Four is an album by Blues Traveler.

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Etienne de Rocher sets an astounding precedent with his self-titled debut CD

Etienne de Rocher

Etienne de Rocher

Fog City Records

4.5 out of 5

Some would call Etienne de Rocher a perfectionist. Others perhaps would call him genius. In the end, he is probably a little bit of both. After taking five years of hard work and dedication on his self-titled debut album, it becomes clear that this singer/songwriter isn’t messing around.            

Like a picture-perfect painting of a struggling up-and-comer, Rocher began his career in the basement of a small Oakland, Calif. apartment building. It was here that Rocher laid down a four-track demo which was soon in the hands of record industry heavyweight Glen Ballard. As independent as the sounds on his album, Rocher turned down a deal with Capitol Records, with the intention of remaining faithful to his own sense of style.

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