Today is release day for Tenacious D‘s long-awaited new album “Rize of the Fenix” (stream it here), and what better way to celebrate than to give away two tickets to see the epic comedy-rock duo on May 26 at Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend.
To win ‘em, simply leave a comment on this blog post and tell me your favorite Jack Black movie. (If you’re not a movie person, you can just pick one from his filmography. I’ll never know the difference!) Be sure to leave your real email address so I can get in touch if you win. Entries are due by 5 p.m. Friday; I’ll announce the winner here.
Les Schwab Amphitheater’s website has three new shows listed this morning. Tickets go on sale Friday (via the site and The Ticket Mill in the Old Mill District), though there is usually some kind of presale the day before, so watch the amphitheater’s Facebook and Twitter for a password, if there is one.
Click the band names for more on the bands, and the prices for more on the shows:
Between Beats Antique in February and next week’s Social Distortion show, the Midtown Ballroom has certainly hosted two big ol’ buzz-worthy shows in 2012. Viva la Midtown!
But seriously, people are stoked for this Social D concert. Like … really stoked. So I was pumped we were able to get Mike Ness to give us a call for a chat.
As Ness was making his way toward Bend for Wednesday’s show, my colleague David Jasper talked to him about fake punks, his new man cave and the late Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch:
“Punk rock was supposed to be about individuality,” (said) Ness, known for his abilities as a between-song storyteller with a biting wit. “So, you know, I think the Beastie Boys are just as punk as Social Distortion because of that (individuality). I’ve seen so many Dickies-wearing, tattooed, f—ing grease-haired generic punk guys I could just puke. There’s more to it, guys, than trying to look like everyone else, and sound (like everyone else).
“You know, that’s kind of why we chose to incorporate Americana into our style,” he said, “because by the mid-’80s, punk, like anything else, was starting to stereotype itself.”
Speaking of Yauch, this week in Feedback, I tried to work out my thoughts about his death and why it hit me — and maybe you, too — a lot harder than I would’ve predicted if you’d asked me two weeks ago. Here’s an excerpt:
Listening to those four records (released over an eight-year span) now is like watching a bratty child grow into a wide-eyed and well-developed college kid. The awkward stages and annoying behavior fade away, replaced by tremendous, world-changing potential. The change is most striking in Yauch, who transformed from a scruffy, beercan-crushing lout into a political activist and spiritual leader who spit gravelly rhymes about respecting both mothers and Mother Earth.
If you’re the right age, and you look closely (the benefit of hindsight doesn’t hurt), you can see yourself growing up in Yauch’s example. I clearly remember giggling like a pre-teen at the bawdiest moments of “License to Ill.” Because, well, I was 10. I recall digging into the vintage funk/soul-sample paradise of “Paul’s Boutique” just as my own affinity for soaking up musical history was beginning to bloom.
And one of my most vivid adolescent memories is blasting “Ill Communication” in my friend Mark’s car, cruising our hometown for no good reason other than to celebrate our rapidly expanding freedom. Months later, the climax of the Beasties’ then-mega-hit “Sabotage” was the highlight of my first Lollapalooza experience.
There are a lot of kids … er, old folks like me who watched Adam Yauch mature from afar while experiencing a similar arc in their own lives.
I’ve already heard from a dozen folks who said this column rang true for them. I hope you’ll give it a read and see if it does for you.
Elsewhere in this week’s music section: Lindsey Buckingham comes to the Tower Theatre, Sweet Bonnie Gayle & The Rural Demons play country and gospel classics at The Horned Hand, David Nelson Band and Moonalice are gonna get Dead at the Domino Room, 4 Peaks Music Festival plans a weekend full of music and The Prairie Rockets perform tonight at Jackson’s Corner, plus Vagabond Opera, a Last Band Standing update, the lineup for the 2012 Deschutes County Fair and more.
Elsewhere in the music section: Yarn, Heath McNease and Playdough, Acorn Project, Funktion, Pocket, Swansea, Jay Tablet’s mixtape (downloadable here) release show and more!
This time, it’s two to see jazz/pop superstar Norah Jones, who’ll play Les Schwab Amphitheater on Aug. 15. Her new album, “Little Broken Hearts,” came out Tuesday, and it’s great. Stream it all for free at her website.
After that tough contest for Shins tickets, let’s make this one a bit easier: All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post and tell me the best concert you’ve seen this year or your favorite album of 2012 so far. If you’d like to elaborate on why you chose what you chose, please do! I would love to hear it. But you don’t have to.
Just make sure you leave a real email address and your comment by 5 p.m. Monday. That’s when I’ll pick a winner and get in touch!
It feels like locally based MC (and Cloaked Character) Jay Tablet has been quiet over the past several months, although quiet time for this one-man hip-hop whirlwind is about equal to everyone else’s busy time. Regardless, after a winter spent in the lab and on regional tours with other folks, the Tab is back with his new mixtape “White City,” which drops today. (On Saturday, he’ll do a release show in Bend. See details below and watch his Twitter and Facebook for more info.)
At 18 tracks and only 34 minutes, “White City” is a collection of quick-hit tracks produced by Dead Giveaway, a Southern Oregonian who specializes in cool, cinematic beats that pair nicely with Tab’s husky, after-the-afterparty flow. Here’s the story, from Tab’s Soundcloud:
Jay Tablet and Dead GiveAway Beats met through the net and connected from the first song. After touring Jay Tablet felt the need to explode in the lab on some feel good, old school, underground, hip hop ish. Exactly 1 month and 18 tracks later, they present to you “White City” … This project was based on a pure “Go with the GUT” type of production. Hope you can relate to the honesty and creativity as this duo delivers (their) combined styles to the masses.
Frankly, I’ve heard a lot of Tab/Cloaked music over the past several years, and it’s super refreshing hearing him rap over something different. And I don’t know much about Dead Giveaway, but I do know that his tracks have a sort of halcyon haze that’s not too far off from the work of white-hot hip-hop producer Clams Casino. And that’s a good thing.
For the past couple of days, I’ve been listening exclusively to local singer-songwriter Eric Tollefson’s new album, “The Polar Ends,” in my car. Adding up the short drives and long cross-town trips, I’ve probably made it all the way through the record four or five times.
Mind you, I finished writing this week’s cover story about Tollefson on Tuesday, so these most recent listens have been free and easy, unburdened by the need to listen with a critical and analytical ear. In other words, I’ve just been listening for fun, not as prep for the story.
My conclusion: This thing has a bunch of great songs on it. And boy does it sound good.
On Thursday, Tollefson will play his official album-release show at McMenamins Old St. Francis School. A couple weeks ago, he and I chatted about all kinds of stuff — writing songs, making the record, pressure, nerves, his upcoming relocation to Seattle to try to make it in a bigger pond. Here’s an excerpt:
How the big pond treats him remains to be seen. Not that it matters much.
“If the wheels fall off and people don’t respond to anything I do, I’m still going to write songs every day,” Tollefson said. “There’s just nothing in my life that makes me happier.”
What matters, truly, is Tollefson’s attitude, his approach to music, and how he feels about his work.
“Be a student of music and the industry. Represent yourself the right way and work hard,” he said. “If you’re going to approach something big, you’ve got to do something bigger than you.
“If this record was just me, I don’t think it would come off the same,” he continued. “I wanted it to sound bigger than something I was capable of. And I think, at least, I achieved that.”
Eric’s a solid dude who made a solid album, and I think you should read the whole article.
Elsewhere in this week’s music section: local singer-songwriter Jackie Barrett’s new album, plus The California Guitar Trio and Montreal Guitar Trio, Keola Beamer, Mann, Betty and the Boy, Polecat, A.M. Interstate, Sara Jackson-Holman, a Last Band Standing update and more.
Reminder: Tenacious D will perform at Bend’s Les Schwab Amphitheater on May 26, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Tickets cost $39 (plus fees) and are available at The Ticket Mill (541-318-5457) in the Old Mill District or online at the Schwab’s website. Stream their new album right here:
But why give away two tickets when you can give away four?
Today, I need to get rid of two tickets to see indie-pop-rock powerhouse The Shins on May 25 at Les Schwab Amphitheater, along with an outstanding pair of openers: Blind Pilot and The Head and the Heart.
Want ‘em? Simple: Just leave a comment on this blog post telling me how The Shins have changed your life. (Don’t get it? Watch this.)
Now, you can, of course, relay a true story of how The Shins have changed your life, if indeed they have. But if they haven’t, you should definitely make something up. Maybe the band’s music was playing when you decided to propose to your spouse. Or a particularly vigorous performance of “Know Your Onion!” inspired you to ditch your job as a bloodthirsty bounty hunter and instead become a chef.
Perhaps James Mercer dumped you in high school and you have hated beards ever since. Or what about that time you were stepping out into the street and former Shins drummer Jesse Sandoval snagged your belt loop with his drumstick and pulled you back onto the sidewalk just as a bus whizzed past?
Whatever. Anything goes, and the funnier and/or more outlandish, the better. Just keep it clean; I can’t publish comments that contain dirty words or other inappropriate stuff.
Tell me about your life-altering Shins experience in the comments by Saturday at 5 p.m., and be sure to leave your real email address so I can contact the winner!
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