Marquee Magazine » January, 2008
Mars Volta encounters demons and spirits during recording of Bedlam in Goliath
:: The Mars Volta :: Fox Theatre :: January 27 ::
By Timothy Dwenger
As with so many records, there is a story behind The Mars Volta’s new album The Bedlam in Goliath, which will hit shelves at the end of the month. However, this one is not one of rock and roll excess, a broken heart, or a journey of self discovery. It is a story that some may disregard completely, while to others it is the foundation of deep seated beliefs centuries in the making. Either way, it is the stuff legends are made of and it is unraveling right before our eyes.
Omar Rodríguez-López, the musical mastermind and producer behind The Mars Volta, and vocalist/lyricist Cedric Bixler-Zavala spent many evenings on the band’s tour bus while on the road with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the fall of 2006 deeply engrossed in their new favorite pastime. “After a show, most of the college crowds that are at a Chili Peppers show want to know, ‘Where’s Flea? Can I meet Flea? Can you give me a pass so I can hang out with Flea?’” said Bixler-Zavala in a recent interview with The Marquee as he recovered from foot surgery and rehearsed for the band’s New Year’s costume ball. “We didn’t really want to deal with those kinds of people and we just kind of retreated to the bus where the new drug of choice was playing this antique game that Omar had bought for me.” The Soothsayer, as the game was known, was a talking board in the style of a modern Ouija board, sold by Parker Brothers.
Marquee Tags: Mars Volta
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New Mastersounds bring lessons learned from U.K. Dance clubs to The States
:: Hodi’s Half Note :: January 17 :: Cervante’s Ballroom :: January 18 ::
:: Fox Theatre :: January 19 ::
By Timothy Dwenger
Inspired by the ’70s funk and groove of Jimmy McGriff, Groove Holmes, and The Meters, jazz guitarist Eddie Roberts and drummer Simon Allen have been striving for nearly 10 years to hone their sound and refine it to something that moves dance floors in a way that few other instrumental bands can.
They began life as the guitar-centric Mastersounds before quickly realizing that the sultry churning of a Hammond B3 organ was essential to the sound they were looking for. Though the band only lasted a couple of years and recorded one single, it laid the foundation for a long-standing musical relationship between the two. Roberts and Allen struck out on their own and soon crossed paths with Hammond player Bob Birch and bassist Pete Shand. The New Mastersounds were born and the search was over.
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Xavier Rudd’s most recent release White Moth continues to draw on aboriginal life
:: Aggie Theatre :: January 17 :: Boulder Theater :: January 18 :: :: Gothic Theatre :: January 19 ::
By Lisa Oshlo
The stage setup for Xavier Rudd does not look like that of a one-man band. Consisting of multiple didgeridoos, a slide guitar, 6- and 12-string acoustic and electric guitars, a stomp box, harmonicas, an Aztec drum, a slit drum, a strumpet, a djembe, shakers, a slide banjo, ankle bells, and a bass guitar, it looks more like the instrumentation of a rather large tribe.
In truth, Australian Xavier Rudd channels the sensibilities of the indigenous tribes of his native land and mixes it with a truly fantastic groove. The result is a sound that encompasses folk, reggae, rock, and world music. The lyrics reflect a consciousness about big issues, particularly aboriginal rights and environmentalism.
Marquee Tags: Xavier Rudd
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Black Lips dial in a studio sound, but won’t bend for promoters
:: Bluebird Theater :: February 1 ::
By Tiffany Childs
Black Lips is a band that has been notorious since its inception. With their legendary wild live shows that have gotten them banned from several venues, Black Lips have built a reputation as one of Atlanta’s most talked about underground bands. Recently, the band talked with The Marquee about how they’ve been staying busy — releasing their fifth album, Good Bad Not Evil, and touring almost continually.
The fifth album release was a pretty significant step in that it was released by Vice Records and is the band’s first studio album. Vice had previously released a live album from the band’s live show in Tijuanna and so Cole Alexander (vocals/guitar) was excited to work with Vice in the studio. “It was incredible to work with Vice. They are so fun and really know how to party,” Alexander said of the opportunity.
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Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band Lays down a big pre-war blues sound with tradition
:: Bluebird Theater :: January 4 :: Fox Theatre :: January 5 ::
By Monica Banks
It seems that everything these days is getting smaller, but Reverend Peyton and the Big Damn Band are keeping it large. The Reverend plays with his wife, Washboard Breezy, and his younger brother Jayme on the drums. The trio has been touring the nation and even Europe, keeping pre-war blues alive.
The Reverend is inspired by everyday people, such as Peyton’s father. “[Our music] is about people like my dad, who work their whole lives and don’t have much to show for it,” Peyton said in a recent interview with The Marquee. Peyton’s father was a concrete man and has been the inspiration for several songs, including “Mud” on Big Damn Nation, a song about the construction industry, or “My Old Man Boogie,” a song about the Reverend’s father dancing drunk at a live show.
Marquee Tags: Monica Banks, Rev Peyton's Big Damn Band
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Particle guitarist launches new project, Emergency Broadcast
:: Emergency Broadcast :: Trilogy :: February 1 ::
By Brian F. Johnson
Television is supposed to be the root of all evil, by some people’s accounts, but from time-to-time it can be inspirational as well.
For Ben Combe, who had recently left his gig with Particle — a gig that he had held for almost two years and 200 shows — television helped in no small part to create his current project, Emergency Broadcast.
“My wife and I recently got cable, but before we had it, what we were doing was going to Blockbuster and renting entire seasons of TV shows. We went through all of them,” Combe said in a recent interview with The Marquee.
“One of them was ‘Jericho,’ and it’s a weird one, ’cause a nuclear bomb goes off and there’s this one town in Kansas where everyone is trying to stay alive. I watched the whole first season one night.”
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Grand Buffet may drop their King Vision soon if label and ladies cooperate
:: Grand Buffet :: Bluebird Theater :: January 5 ::
By Mike Scales
After a weekend of hometown CD release shows with the official release date for the newly recorded King Vision just over the horizon, Grand Buffet’s fearless hypeman Jarrod Weeks (a.k.a. Lord Grunge) could stand to be in much higher spirits. But alas, problems with his lady and her subsequent departure have left him felling a bit low on this chilly Monday night in Pittsburgh.
“I’m just lookin’ to get drunk right about now,” said Weeks with a sigh, his normally fiery demeanor clearly smoldering. “But enough about that shit…” And just like that, gears switch and the classic rock and hip-hop-obsessed Lord Grunge emerges once again to discuss what has to be his favorite subject of all: the reign, along with his musical brother-from-another-mother Jackson O’Connell-Barlow, of Grand Buffet — “America’s Original Sons of Rap-Glory.”
Marquee Tags: Grand Buffet
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From the Barstool of the Publisher - January, 2008
:: January 2008 ::
No tag for this post. No commentsBy Brian F Johnson
Just before the holidays hit last month, AEG Live officials received notice from the Denver Zoo’s President and CEO Craig Piper, that the Zoo would be “unable to endorse the proposed music festival in City Park.”
The proposed Mile High Music and Arts Festival at City Park, according to AEG Live, was to be Denver’s answer to Austin City Limits; a multi-day, multi-stage event originally scheduled for mid-July.
Industry Profile: Gothic’s Steve Schalk opens a Star Wars themed rock and bowl
By Brian F. Johnson
Any self-respecting Star Wars fan knows that the Millennium Falcon is so fast that it made the Kessel Run in “less than twelve parsecs.” What many fans don’t know is that the ship began life as the humble YT-1300 light freighter and that it took some time and modifications before it became a ship that could “make point-five past lightspeed.”
Steve Schalk is no Harrison Ford, but he knows a thing or two about what it takes to change a room from a humble space into a room worthy of bragging rights, and as the captain of his newest club, The Falcon, he’s taking the role of Han Solo quite seriously.
Marquee Tags: Gothic Theatre, Steve Schalk, The Falcon
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Overheard - January, 2008
Editor’s Note: The following column is the first in what we hope will be an ongoing piece that seeks to pick up the little tid-bits of information that fall through the cracks each month.
- Richmond Fontaine — We told you it was good. Willy Vlautin, lead singer for the Portland-based Richmond Fontaine, announced in mid-December that his novel, The Motel Life was ranked by The Washington Post as one of the best 25 books of 2007. Continue — Read more »
Marquee Tags: Boulder Acoustic Society, CMJ, Dorn, Fogelberg, Fontaine, SXSW
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CD Reviews - January - 2008
Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
(New West Records)
4 out of 5 Stars
Folks who have come to rely on Drive-By Truckers for unbridled rock and roll might initially be put off by the band’s latest album, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark.
Nineteen songs and 75 minutes long, the album showcases a kinder-gentler DBT, but clearly highlights the delicate foundation that has always been prevalent in their songwriting. The men and woman of Drive-By Truckers are masterful storytellers, Hemingways of our time, really. They’ve just always done it with a three guitar attack.
Marquee Tags: Ben Harper, Drie-By Truckers, Fina Dupa, Forth Yeer Freshman, John Butler, KISS, Merle Haggard, Queen, The New Rivals
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This Month in Music History - January
This Month in music history
January 1
• 1962: The Beatles perform their first record company audition for Decca Records and are not signed
January 2
• 1943: Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills and Nash is born
January 3
• 1946: John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin is born
• 1945: Steven Stills of Crosby, Stills and Nash is born
January 4
• 1960: Michael Stipe of R.E.M. is born
January 5
• 1940: FM radio is unveiled to America’s Federal Communications Commission; within a year, clear and static-free FM radio is available to the public
• 1923: Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records, is born
January 6
• 1964: The Rolling Stones embark on their first headlining tour
• 1957: Elvis Presley makes his third and final appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show;” bowing to pressure from moralists, Sullivan orders that Presley only be filmed from the waist up to avoid broadcasting his now famous swivel hips dance style
• 1946: Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd is born Roger Barrett
• 1924: Earl Scruggs is born
January 7
• 1958: Gibson registers patent for the Flying V Model Electric Guitar
January 8
• 1991: Steve Clark of Def Leppard dies
• 1947: David Bowie is born David Robert Jones
• 1946: Robbie Krieger of The Doors is born
• 1935: Elvis Presley is born
January 9
• 1950: David Johansen of The New York Dolls is born
• 1944: Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin is born
• 1941: Joan Baez is born
January 10
• 1976: Blues legend Howlin’ Wolf dies at the age of 65
• 1953: Pat Benatar is born Patricia Andrzejewski
• 1948: Donald Fagen of Steely Dan is born
• 1945: Rod Stewart is born
• 1943: Jim Croce is born
January 11
• 1964: Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire becomes the first country album to top the U.S. pop album chart
• 1963: Whiskey A-Go-Go opens on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles
January 14
• 1970: Diana Ross plays her last show with The Supremes before embarking on a solo career
• 1968: LL Cool J is born James Todd Smith on Long Island
January 15
• 1967: The Rolling Stones appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and, at Sullivan’s request, change the lyrics from “Let’s spend the night together” to “Let’s spend some time together”
• 1949: Ronnie Van Zandt of Lynyrd Skynyrd is born Ronald Wayne Van Zandt
January 17
• 1955: Steve Earle is born
January 19
• 1981: Chris Wright, the chairman of the British Phonograph Industry, predicts the new cassette format will cause the death of vinyl
• 1943: Janis Lynn Joplin is born
January 20
• 1982: Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off of a live bat thrown at him during a performance
• 1950: Paul Stanley of Kiss is born
January 21
• 1941: Ritchie Havens is born
January 22
• 1960: Michael Hutchence of INXS is born
• 1931: Sam Cooke is born
January 23
• 1953: Robin Zander of Cheap Trick is born
• 1910: Django Reinhardt is born
January 24
• 1947: Warren Zevon is born
• 1941: Neil Diamond is born Noah Kaminski
January 26
• 1957: Eddie Van Halen is born
January 27
• 1984: Michael Jackson suffers second and third degree burns to his head and neck after his hair catches fire from sparks from pyrotechnic effects during the filming of a Pepsi commercial
January 29
• 1952: Tommy Ramone of The Ramones is born Thomas Erdelyi
January 30
• 1982: Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins dies
• 1969: The Beatles perform together for the last time atop the roof of Apple Records’ headquarters in London; authorities stop the performance 42 minutes into the set during “Get Back” because of noise complaints
January 31
• 1956: Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols is born Johnny Lydon
Compiled from the archives of Rock & Roll Library www.rocklibrary.com
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