:: Iggy Pop and the Stooges :: Fillmore Auditorium :: April 17 ::

By Timothy Dwenger

“I remember playing one night and looking up from my guitar and going, ‘Ut-oh, where’d he go?’ I followed the crowd’s eyes and looked up to see Iggy [Pop] climbing the P.A. tower more than 25 feet off the ground. That is the fun of the whole thing, I enjoy watching it because every night is different,” said Ron Asheton, legendary guitarist for punk rock icons The Stooges, when he sat down with The Marquee hot on the heels of The Stooges first-ever SxSW appearance. He talked about his band’s recent album, The Weirdness, and even gave us some insight into the weirdness that is Iggy Pop.

“If anything, Iggy’s stage show now is better than it was back in the day because he is more in control of himself. He is still full of his trademark spontaneity and we never know what he is going to do,” Asheton said. “Even I have to stay on my toes. I was hit by the microphone stand at least 4 times last year, I just can’t always watch what he’s doing up there. Just this week, I’ve had the mic stand fly right in front of my face and I’ve nearly been hit by the cord as he whips it around the stage. It gets pretty dangerous up there and I don’t even get hazard pay for it!”

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:: What Made Milwaukee Famous :: Hi-Dive :: April 24 :: 

By Tiffany Childs

The music world would surely be a better place if all classified ads turned out as well as the one placed four years ago by Michael Kingcaid of What Made Milwaukee Famous. Kingcaid’s vision and the Austin Chronicle can be credited with bringing What Made Milwaukee Famous together, but it’s their dedication to giving something to everyone that is making them everyone’s new favorite band.

Although the name does indeed mention the city of Milwaukee, it is not because the band has any connection to it. It’s actually a subtle reference to Schlitz beer and, more importantly, a song by Jerry Lee Lewis. That should give the potential listener some idea of the rollicking ride the debut release from What Made Milwaukee Famous entails.

The CD, Trying Never to Catch Up, takes listeners on a wild journey from start to finish, blowing through genres and emotions like a freight train running late on an express route. It isn’t always a conscious act, though. “We all come from different backgrounds, punk, garage rock, jazz, indie, even latin. We try to embody everything we enjoy and whatever happens happens,” said Kingcaid in a recent interview with The Marquee.

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:: Greyboy Allstars :: co-headline w/ Medeski, Martin & Wood :: Fillmore Auditorium :: April 13 and 14 :: 

By Timothy Dwenger

What Happened to TV? is the album that hits the street this month from the reunited Greyboy Allstars, but the better question is, ‘What Happened to The Greyboy Allstars?’ After dominating the jam-jazz scene of the ’90s, the band parted ways in late 1999 to allow its members to take the creative steps necessary to stay musically fresh. 

“We just sort of stopped … everyone started getting involved in other things.  We just want it to be the right thing, and it wasn’t at that time,” said Allstars Hammond B-3 genius Robert Walter in a recent interview with The Marquee.

“About two years ago we started getting these offers to play these ‘reunion’ gigs,” Walter said. “We got together and it took us about two days to get back to feeling like a band, which is pretty quick. We decided to do some of the gigs and it was fun and we were all like, ‘Wow, we can play together again, it feels good and the music sounds great,’ but it didn’t last long.”

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::The Moog :: Bender’s Tavern :: April 6 :: 

By Alex Samuel

If you’re looking for an album to sandwich between The Hives and The (International) Noise Conspiracy at your next indie-rock dance party, or for another way to prove that you are, in fact, worldly, check out Budapest-born The Moog’s debut album Sold for Tomorrow.

Discovered by MuSick Recordings through their MySpace page, The Moog is the first Hungarian rock band to be signed by an American label. This disco-drum heavy, slide-guitar-centric mess of great hair and timeless rock sounds more like a California quintet than a Hungarian import.

“We are the first generation in Hungary who where able to watch MTV since we were kids,” said Moog lead singer and keyboardist Tonyo. “Maybe that’s why we are one of the first Hungarian bands who can be known internationally. Internet was a great help because we can stay up-to-date by watching online magazines and seeing new bands.”

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:: Magnolia Electric Co. :: Fox Theatre :: April 7 :: 

By Cornelia Kane

The Magnolia Electric Co. doesn’t really dabble in being a utility provider, but it has become known as the go-to power plant of powerfully tragic, indie folk rock goodness.

The Magnolia Electric Co. is better known as the brainchild of singer/songwriter Jason Molina, who has been recording and touring for the last decade or so both as a solo artist and with an ever-changing band, mostly under the name Songs: Ohia.

Originally from Ohio, Molina is a true iconoclast, who self-recorded and released numerous albums and EPs before being the first artist signed to the now well-known and respected independent label Secretly Canadian.

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:: Me Llamo Rosa :: Guitar Cellar :: April 4 ::

:: The Marquis Theater :: April 11 ::

:: The Meadowlark :: April 20 :: 

By Brian Kenney

From the campus that gave us Robert Redford, the Ugg boot fashion “movement” and countless appearances on top ten lists of best party schools, comes Me Llamo Rosa, a multi-faceted, multi-instrumental sextet composed of current and former CU Boulder students. Navigating various genres from indie-punk to honky-tonk/alternative country, Me Llamo Rosa is part Ryan Adams, part Billy Corgan and at darker, haunting, more lyrically intense times, The eels and Wilco.  

The hyper-talented outfit’s first two EPs — the six-song The Baltic is Dead and the four-song The Social Genius — have garnered the attention of both local and national acts as Me Llamo Rosa has shared the stage with mewithoutYou and Tokyo Police Club even before the release of their first full-length album. “Any club or bar that has bobbing heads and tapping toes makes for a great MLR atmosphere,” said lead singer/lyricist Jamie Gowdy in a recent interview with The Marquee.

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:: SeepeopleS :: Dulcinea’s 100th Monkey :: April 13 ::

:: Finnegan’s Wake :: April 14 :: 

By Monica Banks

As far as the eye can see, these peeps are rocking. There is no one word to describe the sound of Massachusetts-spawned SeepeopleS, but its members say they are all about the rock. “We’re definitely a rock band,” said front man Will Bradford in a recent interview with The Marquee.

Each member adds their own flavor. Bradford is a reggae man, while the drummer swears by Zappa and the other two graduated from Berklee College of Music. With influences ranging from Radiohead, The Beta Band, Wilco and more, SeepeopleS has a resulting eclectic sound, firmly planted in rock but ready, willing and able to go beyond that foundation.

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:: Hapa :: Boulder Theater :: April 7 :: 

By Karen Schneider

Aloha! The dynamic Hawaiian super group HAPA (Barry Flannagan and Nathan Aweau) continues to be as dazzling as their homeland. After bringing home four Na Hoku Hanohano awards (including Album Of The Year and Contemporary Hawaiian Album Of The Year) for their breakthrough album Maui, HAPA returns to Boulder for their third annual spring luau.

“We have a really nice following in Boulder. I think it will be a great, really hang loose night.” Barry Flannagan told The Marquee in a recent interview.

Flannagan’s roots run deep in Boulder. After all, it was in Boulder that he was first introduced to his love of Hawaiian music. Rae Dryzmala, a good friend of Flannagan, introduced him to the slack key mastery of Gabby Pahinui, and Flannagan has been hooked on the islands ever since. Soon after his introduction to the music, Flannagan made the move to Hawaii to begin his journey into Hawaiian music.  

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:: Synthetic Elements :: Hodi’s Half Note :: April 24 ::

:: KBPI Uncle Nasty’s Show :: April 26 ::

:: The Marquis Theater :: April 28 :: 

By Tiffany Childs

If appreciating other styles of music is what makes a band good, then Synthetic Elements has the potential to be one of the best bands around.

Formed in 2001, this punk-ska band began on a snowy day when two of the original members were forced to stay indoors. They picked up some instruments in a garage and, as an afterthought, invited a few friends over. The quintet began to reproduce their favorite artists’ songs. Six years later, Synthetic Elements has cited influences ranging from classic rock to country to heavy metal (they even mentioned Journey) and their self-taught musical training since that cold winter day has been extensive, to say the least.

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Now, see? That’s how you do it. It’s not that hard. You don’t have to get your panties in a bunch.

Last month, as Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche was in town to perform a solo show at Larimer Lounge in Denver (which, by the way, was awesome), Wilco’s new album Sky Blue Sky “leaked” over the internet but, unlike many of their cry-baby peers, the band didn’t flip out. They’re not going to sue people. They’re not screaming about the potential lost sales — in fact, they’re embracing it.

Wilco head-honcho Jeff Tweedy told Billboard the following day that while the leak may have some financial impact, the main thing is people are listening to the band’s tracks. “We feel very proud of our record and we want people to hear it. Ultimately, that’s the goal,” Tweedy told Billboard.

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By Brian F. Johnson

When Peter Fiori was just 14 years old, he borrowed money from his father to purchase a small Peavey mixing console. He didn’t know it then, but he had just made the first step in a career that now, more than 20 years later, is flourishing.

Fiori’s quest for sound ushered him through the doors of more than 100 Grateful Dead shows and eventually to Colorado, where he has played in several bands, most notably Runaway Truck Ramp, which garnered moderate success in the mid- to late-1990s. But realizing that it’s difficult, at best, for a local musician to “pay rent” by performing local gigs, Fiori continued his sound engineering and business and last year, officially incorporated Sweetwave Audio, a pro audio equipment sales and rental business, that also offers installations, event production, backline, sound reinforcement and recording.

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Kings of Leon

Because of the Times

RCA Records

4.5 out of 5

This is what a follow-up album should be.

Kings of Leon’s newest release Because of the Times, according to the band, takes what people expect from their sound and “throws them for a loop.”

But the truth is, that Because of the Times actually throws no loops but continues doing what Kings of Leon have become known for — but that’s not a bad thing.

In the press release that accompanied the CD — the band’s third full LP — it states “It would have been easy for Kings of Leon to make Aha Shake Heartbreak Part II and call it a day … But instead of resting on their rep, the guys chose to challenge themselves.”

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