• Rock

    Super Petty – Live in 1990

    In anticipation of what I’m sure will be a rockin’ Super Bowl Half-Time show, here’s a look back at Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, circa 1990. You can argue this was Petty at his peak in popularity. He was riding the wave from his very popular first solo album, Jeff Lynne-produced Full Moon Fever, which was released in 1989.

    Enjoy…

    Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Southern Choice
    Wilmington, NC
    May 18th, 1990

    {{Here comes my ZIP}}

    Bye Bye Johnny
    The Damage You’ve Done
    Breakdown
    Free Fallin’
    The Waiting
    Benmont’s Boogie
    Don’t Come Around Here No More
    Southern Accents
    Even the Losers
    Listen To Her Heart
    Face in the Crowd
    Something Big
    I Won’t Back Down
    I Need To Know
    Refugee
    Running Down a Dream

    *Note about the MP3’s – whoever divided these songs into tracks did a poor job. Some mp3’s start a few seconds into the song. But if you listen to the whole show, you won’t notice a thing. 😉

    ———————————

    TOM PETTY.COM

  • Rock

    Super Bowl Weekend

    It’s Super Bowl weekend, folks. Who else out there thinks that either Monday should be a national “recovery” holiday, or the big game should be moved to Saturday to allow for one day of rest before returning to work. More people would show up to work on Monday, productivity would increase, yada yada…

    So it’ll be a surprise to no one that, for the second year running, I’m more looking forward to the Half Time Show than the game itself. Last year, Prince bathed in the Purple Rain at Dolphin Stadium to rave reviews, and this year, Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers will get their chance to wow the millions upon millions of viewers right across town from me in Glendale, Arizona. I’ve seen TP about a half dozen times over the years, and have never been disappointed. I’m glad he’ll have his moment in the spotlight, he deserves it.

    Predictions: “Free Falling” opener, “American Girl”, “Shout”, and “Running Down a Dream”.

    And look for a Benmont Tench nip-slip at 2:23 of “Running Down a Dream”.

    To get us psyched up for Super Bowl weekend, let’s take a trip back to last year’s amazing half-time show, courtesy of our purple friend…..

    Part 2 is here.

  • Funk,  Rock

    The Heavy: Funk from the Land of Noid

    Here’s a nice one that came through the inbox recently. The Heavy hails from a small town outside Bath, England called Noid. Their U.S. debut, Great Vengeance and Furious Fire, will be released on April 8th. In the meantime, you can preview one of their funk-rock hybrids here. It sounds like they went with the Spinal Tap technique and turned their amps up to 11 in the studio. Funky horns, bangin’ drums, and what could pass as a jet engine backing them up.

    The HeavyThat Kind of Man (mp3)

    The Heavy’s Official Site | MySpace

  • Live,  Local

    Upcoming Shows – Los Lobos

    Seeing Los Lobos live should be on the Lifetime To-Do List of every music lover out there. Well into their fourth decade of making music together, with the same core lineup of friends / musicians since their start in East L.A. – David Hidalgo, Cesar Rojas, Louie Perez, Steve Berlin, and Conrad Lozano – these guys are as talented, tight, and dynamic as ever. They dip into several genres: blues, roots, latin, folk, traditional Mexican, and others. And if you haven’t heard their take on the Dead’s “Bertha”, you’re cheating only yourself, my friend.

    Los Lobos – Bertha

    Los Lobos is kicking off a tour on Friday night at Royce Hall at UCLA. Saturday night, they’ll be at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, CA. I’ll be catching them in a couple of weeks at the Mesa Arts Center in my neck of the woods (I’ll have a review up soon after).

    Check out the tour dates, and go check out these legends when they come to your area. That’s an order. You’ll thank me.

    Another Los Lobos classic…

    Los Lobos – I Got Loaded

    Links: Los Lobos Official Site | Los Lobos on LastFM | Hear their version of Bob Dylan’s “Billy 1” from the I’m Not There soundtrack (LastFM)

    Buy: Amazon MP3 Store

    Tour Dates
    02.01.08 – Friday – Royce Hall, UCLA – Los Angeles, CA
    02.02.08 – Saturday – Belly Up Tavern – Solana Beach, CA
    02.15.08 – Friday – Abraham Chavez Theater – El Paso, TX
    02.16.08 – Saturday – Ikeda Theater – Mesa, AZ
    03.05.08 – Wednesday – Ithaca State Theatre – Ithaca, NY
    03.06.08 – Thursday – McCarter Theater – Princeton, NJ
    03.07.08 – Friday – William Patterson University – Wayne, NJ
    03.08.08 – Saturday – Shubert Theater – New Haven, CT (Michael, represent!)
    03.09.08 – Sunday – Strom Auditorium – Rockport, ME
    03.11.08 – Tuesday – The Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT
    03.12.08 – Wednesday – Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
    03.13.08 – Thursday – The Grand Opera House – Wilmington, DE
    03.14.08 – Friday – Lehigh University / Zoellner Arts Ctr Bethlehem, PA
    03.15.08 – Saturday – Bardavon 1869 Opera House – Poughkeepsie, NY
    03.16.08 – Sunday – Calvin Theatre – Northampton, MA
    03.21.08 – Friday – Columbus Palace Theatre – Columbus, OH
    03.25.08 – Tuesday – Burton Cummings Theatre – Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA
    03.27.08 – Thursday – Jack Singer Concert Hall – Calgary, Alberta CANADA
    03.28.08 – Friday – Northern Alberta Jubilee Aud. – Edmonton, Alberta CANADA
    03.29.08 – Saturday – Bowness Hall – Calgary, Alberta CANADA
    03.30.08 – Sunday – Eric Harvie Theatre – Banff, Alberta CANADA
    04.01.08 – Tuesday – Vancouver Centre For The Arts – Vancouver, B.C. CANADA
    04.02.08 – Wednesday – Royal Theatre – Victoria, B.C. CANADA

    Check out their tour page for more dates extending into the summer.

  • Country

    Up On Cripple Creek

    The closest I ever came to going through a country music phase was during the summer of 1992. I had just graduated from college, and my plan was to jump into a career in law enforcement. Ever since an 11th grade internship with my local police department, I had my sights set on being a police officer. Well, it didn’t exactly turn out that way in the end. A change of heart ensued after a few interviews.

  • Acoustic,  Folk

    Thinking of You

    Canadian Cam is back with a look at Toronto singer-songwriter Kim Jarrett… – Pete

    Kim Jarrett writes excellent songs that showcase her outstanding voice. There’s nothing fancy or pretentious about the songs, or the voice, or Kim herself.

    Kim received critical acclaim for her self-titled debut album. She still receives accolades for many of the tracks, in particular the opening number, “How Long”, as it comes pre-loaded on an mp3 player sold worldwide. This is an indication of Kim’s great universal appeal.

    Kim is almost always busy performing live and hosting various open mic nights for singer-songwriters, road-testing her next batch of originals and revising old favourites with bassist, backup vocalist, partner and, now, producer Mike Costantino.

    Thinking of You (2007) primarily features Kim on guitar/vocals and Mike on bass and backing vocals. The sound has been stripped down in comparison to the debut album, and I think it works extremely well with the songs that have been chosen. Guest appearances have been limited to a couple of ace guitarists: Tim Bovaconti (Ron Sexmith) contributes stellar electric guitar and pedal steel on many tracks, and Eric St-Laurent’s electric sounds great on two others.

    Kim (and Mike) can reliably be found hosting an open mic night every Tuesday at the Liberty Bistro in Toronto. You never know who will show up to perform and listen to the varied performers!

    Kim Jarrett – Everybody Pays (mp3)

    Buy Thinking of You and check in at Kim’s web site (http://www.kimjarrett.com/). If you want to hear more, a few more new tunes (including Hypnotizing, possibly the catchiest on the album) are on her MySpace page.

  • Miscellaneous,  Prince

    The Time + Rihanna = Jungle Umbrella Love? – Watch the Grammys

    Here’s a newsworthy item for a Prince geek like me… According to this Billboard article, Rihanna will be joined by none other than the Time for a performance at next weekend’s Grammys.

    I’ll be adding my sometimes snide, sometimes cynical, but honest commentary all night in year 2 of my live blogging of the Grammys. Believe me, it works better than barking mean-spirited comments to my wife all night!

    There should be some blog-worthy moments, especially if Amy Winehouse shows up. They tried to make her go to rehab and she said Yes Yes Yes – this time around. But she’s expected to be there for the ceremony.

    Here’s Morris, Terry, Jimmy, Jesse and the boys throwin’ down on American Bandstand back in ’82-’83 with “777-9311” (quality = shiteous, but fun nonetheless):

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABa-Spd9tUM 336 278]

  • Nudges

    A Nudge in the Right Direction

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  • Rock

    Stoned in Belgium: Brussels Affair

    This, my friends, is the Stones in arguably their finest form. They were touring in support of their latest album, Goats Head Soup, the follow-up to 1972’s Exile on Main Street (a tough album to follow!). Mick Taylor absolutely shredded up the stage with his lead guitar work. You’ll hear it all first hand in this great quality show.

    This was intended to be an official live album, but in the early 70’s the Stones were still bound to to an agreement with their former record label (Dekka/ABCO). So the first post-Dekka official live album didn’t come out until ’77 (Love You Live), seven years after they left Dekka.

    One of the great musical memories I have are the years in my late teens when I was discovering the Rolling Stones catalog, particularly their albums from the 70’s – and even more particularly – the greatness of Exile and Sticky Fingers. So to come across a show like this for the first time is really a treat.

    And if you’re a young ‘un or just new to the Stones, fasten your seatbelts…

    The Rolling Stones
    Brussels, Belgium
    October 17, 1973

    Nov 17, 2011: The show is now part of the Goats Head Soup Deluxe Box Set.

    1. Brown Sugar
    2. Happy
    3. Gimme Shelter
    4. Tumbling Dice
    5. Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
    6. Dancing With Mr. D
    7. Angie
    8. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
    9. Honky Tonk Women
    10. Midnight Rambler
    11. All Down the Line
    12. Rip This Joint
    13. Jumping Jack Flash
    14. Street Fighting Man

    Buy:

    Goats Head Soup
    Exile on Main Street

  • Band of Horses Cease to Begin album cover
    Indie,  Laid Back

    Jumping on the Band (of Horses) Wagon

    I’m late to the Band of Horses bandwagon. I guess my inclination is to shy away from the darlings of the indie critics and hipsters. Well, I made a mistake for not checking these guys out earlier. Since the beginning of the year, Cease to Begin has been on regular rotation over here in the House of Ickmusic. Lead singer Ben Bridwell’s voice is the key for me – gentle and soothing.

    The album is top notch from start to finish, but it’s this track – the finale – that I could literally put on repeat for a day straight and never tire of it.

    Band of Horses – Window Blues

    Buy: Cease to Begin

    Links: Official Site