We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Justin Bieber!
Each January RtBE does a Jazz showcase and judging by the clicks, people just aren't as into it as we are. To make up for that, in February we go pop during our Full Show Friday series to blatantly attract page views.
This is a set from Justin Bieber on his Purpose Tour:
Such a great artist, his songs are timeless, enjoy a few this evening:
"I'm Walkin'"
"Walking To New Orleans"
"Jambalaya"
We will end with "Blueberry Hill"
I have a distinct memory of listening to this song very early on in my schooling (kindergarten I believe) which would make it one of the first songs I heard out side of my family's play list which included Irish Folk, Beatles, Soul, Doo-Wop, Jazz and of course Sesame Street music they played for me. Wow Not sure I had thought about in decades...ain't tunes amazing?!?! Anyways...Happy Birthday Fats.
One of our favorite albums of 2017 and a record that just missed our Top 50 of the Decade was Chicano Batman'sFreedom Is Free. "Friendship (Is a Small Boat In a Storm)" is such a killer single from that album which gets many spins around the RtBE clubhouse.
Now comes the follow up, Invisible People, due out May 1st via ATO Records. The group has released the first single "Color My Life" which you can hear below and host of tour dates all across the country to support the record, also below. RtBE is very much looking forward to this one, so support the band.
CHICANO BATMAN 2020 SPRING / SUMMER TOUR DATES
PRESENTED BY JOHNIE WALKER
^w/ CRUMB
*w/ Le Butcherettes
Wednesday, April 8th — Santa Fe, NM —Meow Wolf
Thursday, April 9th — Phoenix, AZ —Van Buren^
Friday, April 10th — Indio, CA — Coachella
Wednesday, April 15th — Indio, CA — Chella
Friday, April 17th — Indio, CA — Coachella
Wednesday, April 29th — Kingston, NY —BSP Kingston*
Friday, May 1st — New York, NY —Webster Hall*
Saturday, May 2nd — Boston, MA — Paradise Rock Club*
Sunday, May 3rd — Philadelphia, PA — Union Transfer*
Monday, May 4th— Toronto, ON — Mod Club*
Wednesday, May 6th — Detroit, MI — The Magic Stick*
Thursday, May 7th — Indianapolis, IN — The Vogue*
Friday, May 8th — St. Louis, MO — Ready Room*
Saturday, May 9th — Chicago, IL — Concord Music Hall*
Sunday, May 10th — Minneapolis, MN — First Avenue*
Friday, May 15th — Seattle, WA —Showbox*
Saturday, May 16th — Portland, OR — Crystal Ballroom*
Monday, May 18th — Salt Lake City, CO — Metro Music Hall*
Tuesday, May 19th — Denver, CO — Gothic Theatre*
Thursday, May 21st — Las Vegas, NV — Brooklyn Bowl*
Friday, May 22nd — San Diego, CA — SOMA*
Friday, May 29th — Los Angeles, CA — Shrine Expo Hall^*
Saturday, May 30th — San Francisco, CA — Warfield Theatre^*
Friday, June 5th — Mexico City, MX — TBA
Sunday, June 7th — El Paso, TX — Lowbrow Palace*
Tuesday, June 9th — McAllen, TX — Cine El Rey*
Wednesday, June 10th — San Antonio, TX — Paper Tiger*
Thursday, June 11th — Dallas, TX — Granada Theater*
Friday, June 12th — Houston, TX — White Oak Music Hall*
Saturday, June 13th — Austin, TX — Emo’s*
Sunday, June 14th — Oklahoma City, OK — The Jones Assembly*
Wednesday, June 17th — Orlando, FL — The Abbey*
Thursday, June 18th — Miami, FL — The Ground*
Friday, June 19th — Tampa, FL — Orpheum*
Saturday, June 20th — Atlanta, GA — Variety Playhouse*
Sunday, June 21st — Nashville, TN — Brooklyn Bowl*
Tuesday, June 23rd — Birmingham, AL — Saturn*
Wednesday, June 24th — Charlotte, NC — Visulite Theatre*
Thursday, June 25th — Raleigh, NC — Lincoln Theatre*
What hits the listener on The Who's first album of new material in almost thirteen years is that this sounds like a proper Who record which is a surprise as only Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey remain from the band's hey days and they recorded separately with a host of studio musicians/friends contributing to that sound. The second thing that stands out is how well Daltrey's voice has recovered as he is in fine form propelling this collection of songs forward on that patented Who overblown rock and roll sound. The third is that it is a pretty solid collection of Who songs and a worthy addition to the bands catalog, while not coming close to their heyday, but still worlds beyond their last release of new music, the laughable Endless Wire.
'The Who Two' are both staring at seventy five years old and have no need for new music but Townshend has always been one of the more astute rockers capturing a time/moment/feeling and being able to lyrically express it through Daltrey's tough guys vocals. Now he faces old age as a rocker, impotent at times, disgusted at others while facing mortality.
While clearly not a rock opera, the album it is thematic in that growing old sense. "Rockin' In Rage" is the core centerpiece with classic Who tense string passages, pianos and cymbals supporting the lyrics. Opener "All This Music Must Fade" also expertly grapples with being out of touch and old, using ooh's and ah's around dynamite synth work from Benmont Tench, fantastic Townshend strumming and Pino Palladino/Zak Starkey low end work. "Break The News" successfully looks at old love and pain while "I'll Be Back" goes a step further as Townshend takes over lead vocals to declare he will be back for reincarnation to visit his love around folk rock complete with harmonicas and torrents of lyrics that at time seems cluttered, a touch sappy, but honest.
The Who never really did the blues, they rawk, but the music on first single "Ball and Chain" grooves around piano, meaty riffs, massive Starkey hits, and odd lyrics protesting injustice of Guantanamo. "I Don't Want To Get Wise" starts marching around Carla Azar's drumming, Tench's synths and some of Daltrey's strongest vocals while "Hero Ground Zero" musically fits right in The Who's mid 70's wheelhouse.
More of a mixed bag is "Detour" which throws it back to the Who's earliest days but gets scattered along the way, the new wave on "Beads on One String" and "Street Song" both lack a proper punch, but all have moments that remind that this is one of the greatest rock bands of all time.
This is not your classic must hear Who of Keith Moon and John Entwistle, yet this album is a fine late career entry into the bands catalog. At this point WHO will probably serve as proud final note for their studio recording career; it is an album that they and their fans can be proud of.
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Last SeptemberRtBE dove into The Who, one of our all time favorites, for our Masters Series. Support the band, buy the album and peep some video below:
The first full length from the London punks Chubby and The Gang is a singalong ready blast of punk rock with it's boozy breathes taken from England's pub culture. Speed Kills puts the band on the musical map as they use righteous guitars distorted bass rumbles and fast as lighting drumming to propel the chaos forward.
The band are all experienced having played in other formations since the early 2010's, front man Charlie Manning-Walker played in Crown Court, Arms Race, and Violent Reaction while the core of the band, Ethan Stahl, Joe McMahon, and Luke Austin were in Gutter Knife. Yet it is this combo which has found the winning formula with arena ready flair, pop touches and a heavy as hell punk rock backbone.
The record opens with a speech from Jimmie Rodgers which equates rock and roll with evils of youth culture, and while dated, the band take this to heart as they explode into their theme song "Chubby and The Gang Rule OK?". "Pariah Radio" allows for singalongs while motoring at top speed, the title track feels as if three straight ahead punk songs where crammed into one.
The group has it's hardcore punk bonafides down pat, but Speed Kills rises above the pack by incorporating more than just yelling, screeching guitars and blitzkrieg low end. The group recalls the best of Cock Sparrer dropping in pub rock, hand claps and harmonica during the stand out "All Along The Uxbridge Road" and reach back to 50's girl group influence for fantastic ode to "Trouble" on their two best tracks here. The groovy as all get out "Moscow" and updated Ramones bop of "Bruce Grove Bullies" are both also great as the quartet span the punk landscape and use their influences in modern ways.
From the tempo changes and stuttering in "The Rise and Fall of The Gang" to the defiant direct angst rocking of "Can't Tell Me Nothing" the band clicks on all cylinders throughout Speed Kills. The closer "Grenfell Forever" goes the ballad route as a tribute to the tragic London fire adding depth and hurt to a record that was already bubbling over with passionate rock and roll. Chubby and The Gang's first offering Speed Kills checks all the boxes of punk rock for fans of the genre.
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Yet another amazing bandcamp find. Support the artist, buy the album peep, stream it on bandcamp or below and peep some video:
Today is Fat Tuesday so live it up. If you are lucky enough to be in the Big Easy enjoy yourself. If you are anywhere else, party like you are in NOLA. Laissez les bons temps rouler!
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a live cover by Wes Dance playing "Romance In Durango"
Thoughts on Original: From the first time we tackled a cover version of this song:
Containing the best opening line of any Dylan song (which places it high on the best opening line of any song ever) "Romance In Durango" is a movie played out over violins, words, dead bodies, love, adventure and life. A western tinged Dylan tune that talks about a horse taking him to Durango. A fantastic burst of creative songwriting and exhilarating playing it is a timelessly fantastic tune. Cover:
Thoughts On Cover Artist: RtBE is first finding out about Wes Dance with this posting. He released an album in 2009 on Bandcamp. Thoughts On Cover:
A little bit of a rough cover with parts and lyrics mixed up, but a valiant effort and that is all anyone can ever give on a Monday.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Maroon 5!
Each January RtBE does a Jazz showcase and judging by the clicks, people just aren't as into it as we are. To make up for that, in February we go pop during our Full Show Friday series to blatantly attract page views.
It is of Lee Ranaldo and Raül Refree's first official release together titled, Names of North End Women.
The album is experimental in the vein of My Life In the Bush of Ghostsas it uses samples, found sounds and random instrumentation as the basis of the songs here.
Bass playing oddball Thundercat just released his newest jam, "Dragonball Durag" which pretty much sums up the artist. Deep gooey bass and drums, smooth yacht rock saxophone, and falsetto crooning silly lyrics.
The Atlanta, GA based trio The Coathangers sixth studio album is an excellent collection of their strengths; the yin and yang, sweet and sour of pop appeal and punk rawness. The Devil You Know contains twelve tracks of engaging thought provoking, challenging and ear wormy pop punk injected rock and roll.
From the opening song "Bimbo" the group (guitarist/vocalist Julia Kugel, drummer/vocalist Stephanie Luke and bassist/vocalist Meredith Franco) develop the audio version of a Sour Patch Kid candy as Kugel sings with a sweet innocence while Luke gets aggressive on the skins and the chorus. "Crimson Telephone" uses an ominous bass and drum riff before ethereal vocals as Kugel sings about hiding the scars.
The band is fiercely arraigned against certain foes. The blatant and direct "F the NRA" uses a motoring tune to deliver their message of resistance while "Hey Buddy" uses a dance laden groovy bass line delivering the title lyric while raging against hate, bigotry and those fearful souls who deliver it. Both tracks are highlights showing the band can be firm and direct and also shake a tail feather while delivering their message.
The juxtaposition of pretty and dirty is the core of the band and they do it well on the junkie ode "Stranger Danger" but they can also spread their wings encompassing new styles as "Memories" is expansive, closer "Lithium" is a spaced out drug trip and "Last Call" uses dreamy reggae before a huge arena ready chorus.
The Coathangers display a lot of range on The Devil You Know and continue to make music to protest along side of and sing along to at a happening party.
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Support the band, buy the album, stream it on bandcamp or below and peep some video:
With Mardi Gras one week away, New Orleans stalwarts Galactic have released a new single to celebrate parade season.
"Float Up" is a funky new tune which showcases the vocal styling of Anjelika Jelly Joseph as the track bounces along with a light pop appeal. It would have been right at home on their recent release, Already Ready Already.
Support the band, see them live and get ready for Mardi Gras with this new jam:
The newest full length release from Philadelphia artist lojii starts off with a slow dripping track titled "patience" finding the MC breathing out the word softly and then talking about how he has no special secret to success other than just perseverance and hard work. This is the perfect introduction to lo&behold, a smooth flowing, easy going album that never raises up to heavy or sinks to low, just blissfully bumps along and showcases lojii with his various producers skills.
The title track injects a few skittering trap influenced beats but the foundation sound is soulful R&B through and through. Producer Swarvy arrives often using smooth sounds as Pink Siifu and Akeema Zane help out on vocals for "U callin' Me". "trippin' (i like it)" delivers a loose liquid beat that recalls De La Soul as does the excellent retro looking "brite kid" with tape looping production from Jacob Rochester.
The energy hits it's highest level for "uhoh(whereyoho?)" which finds lojii rhyming his fastest over heavy beats, but producer Swarvy still includes flute breaks and smooth lining making it work in the overall aesthetic of the full length. The retro soul of "each day (i pray for)" just keeps rolling along while Nikko Gray helps out on the sweet singing retro shout out jam.
The strong efforts keep coming with the slightly disjointed sounds from Alexander Spit supporting "longwayhome" which literally delivers the artist back with an uber ride recording before the vibes, smooth guitar, and chimes deliver late night soul for the excellent "over&over/round&round" via production from Absent Avery.
In a genre where the current style is brevity and ten cent production seems the norm, this full length album is a call back to more extended and groove filled times. lo&behold runs on like a babbling brook as lojii steers the ship down river, smoothly taking his time on the bliss filled journey.
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Support the artist, buy the album, listen on bandcamp or below and peep some video:
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is live a cover by John Cruz playing "Jokerman"
Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:
The kick-start to his "back to rock and roll" album Infidels, "Jokerman" is a monster. A torrent of images, symbols, thoughts, proclamations, fears and fables; it feels like a dam was broken in Dylan's brain and all of these things just poured out. Musically it moves along but doesn't add much to the towering wordplay as the tune is dominated by the lyrics which seem almost never ending; Dylan has penned wordier tunes, but few feel as heavy as this. Flawed, but reaching for something, it is a not an all-time great Dylan song, but it is one that lets us peak into his brain a bit. For more on this tune, check out this post. Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist: RtBE have not heard of John Cruz before. He is a singer-songwriter from Hawaii and more info can be found on his Facebook page.
Thoughts on Cover:
A tough tune to cover and John does a great straight ahead job with some fine upbeat strumming to propel the elongated track forward.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Selena Gomez!
Each January RtBE does a Jazz showcase and judging by the clicks, people just aren't as into it as we are. To make up for that, in February we go pop during our Full Show Friday series to blatantly attract page views.
The album was originally released digitally last year, but now it gets the full treatment with a vinyl release from Royal Potato Family and great album art.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit has announced a new album, Reunions, which will be out May 15th.
The group released the first song from the album titled "Be Afraid" and it is an upbeat piece of modern rock and roll. Lyrically it seems to be addressing writing protest songs, and does a neat trick/cop-out of not actually writing one while singing about writing one...
A good start to a record and RtBE certainly loves Isbell, having rated two of his albums among last decades best. Tour dates are below, and tickets go on sale today as the band are playing with some pretty cool opening acts (Billy Strings, Lucinda Williams etc) as well.
Jason Isbell — 2020 Tour Dates
February 29 — Tempe, AZ @ Innings Festival
March 26 — Savannah, GA @ Savannah Music Festival
March 27 — St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre
March 28 — Mobile, AL @ Saenger Theatre
March 29 — Montgomery, AL @ Montgomery Performing Arts Center
May 22 — Boston, MA @ Boston Calling
May 29 — Bethel, NY @ Mountain Jam
June 3 — Philadelphia, PA @ Met Opera House*
June 4 — Vienna, VA @ Wolf Trap†
June 5 — New York, NY@ Rooftop at Pier 17†
June 6 — New York, NY @ Rooftop at Pier 17†
June 8 — Durham, NC @ Durham Performing Arts Center‡
June 9 — Durham, NC @ Durham Performing Arts Center‡
June 11 — Atlanta, GA @ The Coca-Cola Roxy*
June 12 — Atlanta, GA @ The Coca-Cola Roxy*
June 13 — Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
June 18 — Milwaukee, WI @Riverside Theater*
June 19 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory*
June 20 — East Moline, IL @ Rust Belt*
June 21 — St. Louis, MO @ The Stifel Theatre*
June 23 — Grand Rapids, MI @ DeVos Performance Hall*
June 25 — Toronto, ON @ Meridian Hall*
June 26 — Moon Township, PA @ UPMC Events Center*
June 27 — Williamsburg, VA @ Williamsburg Live at DeWitt Museum Lawn
June 28 — Boone, NC @ Schafer Center for the Performing Arts (on-sale TBA)
July 18-19 — Whitefish, MT @ Under The Big Sky Festival
July 20 — Vancouver, BC @ The Orpheum#
July 21 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre#
July 22 — Portland, OR @ Theater of the Clouds#
July 24 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield Theatre#
July 25 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield Theatre#
July 26 — Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl#
July 28 — San Diego, CA @ Humphreys Concerts By The Bay#
July 29 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre#
July 31 — Reno, NV @ Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort#
August 1 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Eccles Theater#
August 2 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks+
August 4 — Bonner Springs, KS @ Providence Medical Center Amphitheater#
August 5 — Little Rock, AR @ First Security Amphitheater#
August 7 — Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater#
August 8 — Austin TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater#
August 9 — Dallas, TX @ Bomb Factory#
August 29 — Chicago, IL @ Wrigley Field^
September 11-13 — Bristol, TN @ Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion
November 6 — Oslo, Norway @ Spektrum
November 7 — Stockholm, Sweden @ Stockholm Waterfront
November 8 — Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
November 10 — Berlin, Germany @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
November 11 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
November 14 — Antwerp, Belgium @ De Roma
November 15 — Koln, Germany @ Gloria
November 17 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
November 18 — Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
November 19 — Dublin, Ireland @ Olympia Theatre
*with Strand of Oaks
†with David Crosby & Friends
‡with The War & Treaty
#with Billy Strings
+with Lucinda Williams
^with Chris Stapleton
The legends Rage Against The Machine will be reuniting and conducting a "Public Service Announcement", touring the country this summer with hip hop act Run The Jewels opening.
Having seen the band back in their hey day, RtBE can confirm that Rage are a beast live and worth seeing.
We will hopefully be catching them at MSG where s few years back we were lucky to catch Run The Jewelsopen for Jack White. Zack de la Rocha came out with RTJ during what was our favorite show of 2015 and now he will return to the arena with his band headlining. Exciting.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow, to get in the mood some live RATM videos below:
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