Breakfast On Tour

Roger Waters @ Toyota Center

Eggs — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:38:00 +0000

Last night, I had the opportunity to see Roger Waters, bassist and vocalist for legendary classic rock group Pink Floyd, for the third time. First, I caught the Dark Side Of The Moon tour when it hit Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion several years back, next when Waters brought The Wall to Houston for the first time two years ago, and finally last night with another go-around of The Wall at the Toyota Center. While mostly the same as the first time, Waters changed the show up just enough to keep me enthralled again.

Read about the show and check out a bunch of photos after the jump

We are all familiar with The Wall, both the double album as well as the movie, so everyone knew exactly what songs were to come. People didn’t come to hear that one song from that one album, something that is rampant among the ipod generation of music we live in now. The fact that Waters can take this decades old record on tour in this day and age, and continue to sell out shows, is somewhat amazing. No band that has started a career in the past 20 years could play a show and only play one record. Even bands like Radiohead, Wilco and My Morning Jacket, who have taken on this challenge, still encore or fill in the set with their stronger material from other albums.

The show was spot on, loaded to the gills with top-notch playing from an a-list group of touring musicians as well as the expected onslaught of political imagery projected onto the wall as it was being built through the entire first set. Waters was a bit more on spotlight this time around, with his image showing up on the wall throughout the entire show. He also broke away from the show for a bit to address the crowd and added a bit of an acoustic interlude between “Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2″ and “Mother” that was never apart of the album. While I think the message of ending war, and fucked up politics was a bit more present and in your face during the first show, it was still full on last night.

The second set was definitely the stronger of the two both musically and in the full aspect of the show. “Hey You,” “Vera” and “Bring The Boys Back Home” were extremely moving, and big as ever, and even almost brought me to tears once when they showed the expression of a young girl who was surprised by a visit from her father who had apparently just returned from deployment. “Comfortably Numb” was delightfully cheesy, but I sang along to every word. Everyone stayed on their feet from the run of “The Show Must Go On” through “Waiting For The Worms” which all culminated with the falling of the wall at the end of “The Trial.”

The show was great, and I will never even think about passing up an opportunity to see Roger Waters. Bring The Wall back tomorrow, and I’ll still have an ear-to-ear grin on my face the entire show.

Check out a bunch more pictures…

Free Press Summer Fest 2012

Eggs — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:39:38 +0000

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived! The fine folks behind Houston’s annual music soirée, Free Press Summer Fest, have finally dropped the full line-up, and boy is it a doozy. Leading this year’s list of bands are bluegrass roots rockers The Avett Brothers, famed rapper and dope smoker Snoop Dogg, Texas country legend and equally famous dope smoker Willie Nelson, DJ extraordinaire Afrojack, bass heavy funksters Primus and a return from 2010 headliner The Flaming Lips who will be performing Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety. I’m pretty sure no-one saw such a strong list of entertainers heading to Eleanor Tinsley Park come June, but Omar, Jagi and all the other fine folks that work for both Free Press Houston and Pegstar have truly outdone themselves for their fourth year of the festival. Also playing the multiple stages over the course of June 2nd and 3rd are The Descendents, Major Lazer, Young The Giant, Portugal. The Man, Morris Day & The (mutha fuckin’) Time, Best Coast, Two Door Cinema Club, Turquoise Jeep, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Robert Ellis and a whole heaping helping of more great bands.

Check out the full kick-ass line-up after the jump!

Reptar @ Fitzgerald’s

Eggs — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:22:59 +0000

Last week, I headed up to Fitzgerald’s just in time to catch a headlining set from Athens, GA based indie dance group Reptar. They first came on to my radar last summer when I heard the lead single from their debut EP Oblangle Fizz Y’all, “Stuck In My ID.” They had that same Foster The People sound, but something told me I wouldn’t grow old of them immediately like I did with FtP. They came through Houston a few times in the past year, but I never had the chance to see them until I headed up to Fitz that night. I walked in right in time for “ID,” and danced my way through the entire rest of their set. They played their entire EP, as well as a host of new songs from their upcoming first full length LP, Body Faucet, set for a May 2012 release. While I’m not in love with the new album’s title, I’m certainly enamored with the content that will be released come May. They finished the set with a super high energy new track called “Sweet Sipping Soda” that left the crowd screaming for more, while not moving an inch away from the stage. They came back out for another tune, but you could tell they saved “Soda” for the end as the encore song didn’t carry near the energy as it did. While it seems as if the encore is slowly dying away in this day and age, this night they definitely deserved the call back.

I took a video of “Sweet Sipping Soda,” and a bunch more photos which you can find after the jump.

Phish Summer Tour 2012

Eggs — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:29:44 +0000

I’m not really too sure why Phish will never come to Houston, or anywhere around here for that matter. They continually play the same venues on the east and west coast and in the the mid west, but have never returned to the Bayou City since being reunited in 2009. Until then, I’m gonna have to shell out loads of plane fair or gas money to see my favorite band. Pretty lame if you ask me. Oh well, I love them that much that it really doesn’t matter. Looks like I’ll be headed towards the midwest for this run, catching them at some of my favorite venues including Alpine Valley, Deer Creek (now Klipsch Music Center) and Blossom. Anyone hitting any of these dates?

Check out all of the tour dates after the jump if you couldn’t catch them all in that super sweet Fishman work-out video.

Phish at The Gorge circa 2009

Phish Summer Tour 2012

6/7 DCU Center, Worcester, MA

6/8 DCU Center, Worcester, MA

6/10 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Manchester, TN

6/15 Bader Field, Atlantic City, NJ

6/16 Bader Field, Atlantic City, NJ

6/17 Bader Field, Atlantic City, NJ

6/19 nTelos Wireless Pavilion, Portsmouth, VA

6/20 nTelos Wireless Pavilion, Portsmouth, VA

6/22 Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH

6/23 First Niagara Pavilion, Burgettstown, PA

6/24 Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH

6/28 Klipsch Music Center, Noblesville, IN

6/29 Klipsch Music Center, Noblesville, IN

6/30 Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI

7/1 Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI

7/3 Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY

7/4 Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY

7/6 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

7/7 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

7/8 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

Forecastle X

Eggs — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:58:23 +0000

For some time now, I’ve told myself that I need to make it to Forecastle in Louisville, KY, but I’ve never made it. Ever since My Morning Jacket kind of made this festival their own, the line-ups have been progressively better and better. Today, came the announcement that My Morning Jacket will be joined for the 10th anniversary by the likes of Bassnectar, who will serve as Friday, July 13th’s headliner, and BOT favorite Wilco who will close things out on Sunday, July 15th. A solid list of bands will support the three headliners over the course of the weekend with Atmosphere, Sleigh Bells, The Head And The Heart and Jeff The Brotherhood on Friday, Girl Talk, Andrew Bird, Galactic and Dr. Dog taking the stage before Jacket on Saturday, and Neko Case, A-Trak, Deer Tick, Walk The Moon and Daedelus all on Sunday.

Check out the full line-up after the jump!

Forecastle X Line-Up

My Morning Jacket
Bassnectar
Wilco
Girl Talk
Andrew Bird
Sleigh Bells
Atmosphere
Neko Case
Clutch
A-Trak
Galactic
Flying Lotus
Beach House
The Head and the Heart
Stax! Soul Revue
Dr. Dog
Deer Tick
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires
Beats Antique
Real Estate
Justin Townes Earle
Washed Out
Walk The Moon
Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500
Wye Oak
Atlas Sound
Fruit Bats
Daedelus
Ben Sollee
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo
JEFF the Brotherhood
The Features
Mike Doughty
Tanlines
Zion I
Sleeper Agent
Floating Action
Wick-It The Instigator
James Vincent McMorrow
Wax Fang
Daniel Martin Moore
King’s Daughters & Sons
Houndmouth
Cheyenne Marie Mize
The Ravenna Colt
Rachel Grimes
Nerves Junior
Cabin
Scarlet Smile
Lydia Burrell

Freshly Squeezed: Imagine Dragons – Continued Silence EP

Café Con Leche — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:18:54 +0000

Do you remember I told you about Imagine Dragons last year? They turned out to be my #1 music discovery of 2011.

They signed to Interscope Records at the end of 2011 and started recording new material right away. And as an awesome Valentine’s present, their new EP was released yesterday. Continued Silence EP is, in one word, epic. You have to listen to it. It contains a re-release of “It’s Time” and five new songs. I got it last night and it had me hooked after the first full-listen.

There is something about Imagine Dragons’ poetic lyrics in combination with their anthemic melodies, that make songs like “Demons” raise all the hairs in your arms. It’s hard to pick favorites from the new songs. So far, I’ve five-stared three out of the five. The other two have four stars. There’s not even a good place to start to listen to them, just hit play. Continue reading for more.

The first notes of “Radioactive” will probably give you that feeling you get when you’re about to experience something incredible. When I listened to the iTunes preview of that song, I thought it was a bit too on the electronic side for my taste. But the first full listen of the song erased that lame preview impression. You see, Imagine Dragons create complex songs. There are layers to their songs, there are intros and high points, there are resolutions, there are story lines, there are waves of melodies and vocals that hit you from different directions. This is all good. No, not good. It’s great. It’s what keeps their fans loyal. I first noticed this quality when I heard “Cover Up” for the first time (from their Imagine Dragons EP).

When I heard they’ll play at SXSW in March, I knew this was it. They will most likely explode in the music world after that performance. And it’s about time, because they have all the right elements to make it happen. Their stage presence is powerful, their lyrics are catchy and poetic, the music makes you want to move around and it makes your soul want to pop out of your body. If you think I’m exaggerating, just go catch their live performance.

Just do me a favor. If you’re at work, wait until you get home to your quality speakers before you listen to them. Laptop or PC speakers just won’t do it. Also, if you have never listened to Imagine Dragons before, start with their new EP. Don’t try to listen to all their music at once, because it might cause some kind of awesome-induced attack and I don’t want to be responsible for anything like that.

Now go enjoy the EP.

You are welcome.
- Café con Leche

Bonnaroo 2012 Initial Artist Announcement

Eggs — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:06:24 +0000

Bonnaroo went hard again this year with their initial artist announcement, and boy does it look like a good time! Leading the dance card at the 2012 Manchester, Tennessee festival are indie rock gods Radiohead, alt-rock monsters Red Hot Chili Peppers, jam titans Phish and legendary surf rockers The Beach Boys. If that isn’t enough to get you to Bonnaroo, they have a little bit of everything else on the line-up as well. For those fans of indie rock, Bon Iver, The Shins, Foster The People, Feist, tUnE-yArDs, Dawes, Delta Spirit and St. Vincent will be playing the festival. Hip-hop fans can rejoice as they’ll be enjoying sets from The Roots, BlackStar, Ludacris, Mac Miller, Childish Gambino and Yelawolf. The nighttime will be the right time with sets from Skrillex, Major Lazer, Flying Lotus and more. While the first years of the festival were predominantly focused on the jam scene, things have changed for the better (arguably, depending on who you talk to), but their is still a strong focus on jambands with two sets from the aforementioned Phish, and also performances from the likes of The Avett Brothers, Dispatch, The Word which features John Medeski, Robert Randolph and The North Mississippi Allstars, Umphrey’s McGee, Dumpstaphunk and ALO.

Check out the initial artist announcement after the jump.

Bonnaroo 2012 Initial Artist Line-Up

Radiohead
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Phish
The Beach Boys Featuring Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David
Marks
Bon Iver
The Avett Brothers
The Shins
Foster The People
Skrillex
Aziz Ansari
Dispatch
Feist
The Roots
Alice Cooper
SuperJam
Black Star
The Word featuring John Medeski, Robert Randolph and North Mississippi Allstars
Ludacris
Ben Folds Five
Flogging Molly
Spectrum Road featuring Cindy Blackman Santana, Jack Bruce, John Medeski, and Vernon Reid
Mac Miller
Childish Gambino
Major Lazer
tUnE-yArDs
Afrocubism
Flying Lotus
Umphrey’s McGee
Little Dragon
St. Vincent
City and Colour
The Civil Wars
Young The Giant
Two Door Cinema Club
Punch Brothers
NEEDTOBREATHE
Fitz & The Tantrums
Bad Brains
Yelawolf
Dawes
Battles
Danny Brown
The Black Lips
SBTRKT
Phantogram
Kendrick Lamar
Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires
The Kooks
The Joy Formidable
The Antlers
Kathleen Edwards
Mimosa
Kurt Vile & The Violators
Alabama Shakes
Das Racist
Delta Spirit
Gary Clark Jr.
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk
Laura Marling
Trampled by Turtles
Mogwai
The War On Drugs
Ben Howard
Grouplove
Blind Pilot
ALO
The Devil Makes Three
White Denim
EMA
Here We Go Magic
K-Flay
The Lonely Forest
Mariachi El Bronx
Big Freedia
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
The Soul Rebels
Kvelertak
SOJA
Steven Bernstein’s MTO Allstars Plays Sly
Big Gigantic
Sarah Jarosz
Orgone
Darondo
Fruit Bats
Moon Taxi

More artists to be announced soon.

Steve Aoki @ Verizon Wireless Theater

Cheese Grits — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:55:01 +0000

With the release of his debut studio album, Wonderland, Dim Mak Records founder Steve Aoki has embarked on his 2012 North American “Deadmeat” tour. Aoki kept the energy alive and kicking throughout his late night set in Houston last week.

Check out the rest of the review and more photos after the jump.

The night began with a lackluster performance from dubstep/hip hop duo Terravita. Featuring a vocalist while on tour can often be a slippery slope for any electro artist, and Terravita didn’t make the grade, in my opinion. The translation from the studio to the stage was muddled, and the combination did not mesh well together. Nonetheless, the group of concertgoers at the barricade seemed to enjoy it. I’m not sure whether they were Terravita fans or their excitement was drug-induced (I have a feeling it was the latter).

Datsik redeemed Terravita with a dynamic, wobbly, bass-filled set. My heart was literally vibrating in my chest. The audience instantly became more rambunctious the moment they saw his name light up on stage. With grimy hit singles such as “Swagga” and “Nuke ‘Em”, it would be difficult for Datsik to falter. He has a knack for blending dubstep with hip hop influences and even snuck in Ice Cube’s classic club hit, “You Can Do It”. You know Houston appreciated that one.

As soon as Datsik vacated the stage, the crowd’s anticipation reached its peak. The venue was filled with the deafening chants of “AOKI! AOKI! AOKI!” while the stagehands scurried to reveal the new lighting setup. As soon he ascended to his home for the next couple hours, Steve Aoki announced that he would only be spinning his own original productions. In a world of constant regurgitation and remixing, it was refreshing and respectable for Aoki to change it up and stick to his own music. Although he spun several tracks from his new album, Aoki brought us back with classics such as “Warp 1.9” (one of my personal favorites).

At any moment, you could catch Aoki crowd surfing, standing atop his booth, skipping across the stage, or showering the audience with an array of beverages (including champagne, cranberry juice, and orange juice). His constant crowd interaction kept everyone fully enthralled. Amid the mayhem, the lighting and video displays were also well-orchestrated.

All-in-all, Steve Aoki created the fast-paced dance party we all came to experience. As a wise man once said, “Once the music dropped, the shoulders never stopped.” With the relatively recent explosion of electronica into the American mainstream, Aoki’s persistence over the years is definitely paying off.

Big Easy Express

Eggs — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:00:33 +0000

Last spring, we packed up and headed west for a one of a kind show featuring the likes of Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show. Entitled the Railroad Revival Tour, the three bands took an old-fashioned train from Oakland to New Orleans, making six stops along the way to perform shows. While some bigger stops were closer to us on the tour, we headed all the way to far west Texas, to the small liberal town of Marfa to catch the tour at a really cool outdoor venue called El Cosmico. It was by far one of the best concert experiences I’ve ever had, between my company, the venue, the ten-hour road trip and the bands involved, specifically the many collaborations throughout the show. After that magical performance, we all headed back to our real lives knowing that it would be quite some time before we could experience something just as cool as that.

Now, after almost a year, filmmaker Emmett Malloy will be debuting his take on the traveling festival with documentary featuring the entire week of the trip. The film will first screen next month at SXSW in Austin, TX, and while nothing has been announced about a widespread release, I have a good feeling you’ll be able to get your hands on it sometime soon. I can’t wait to check out all of the great footage that Malloy assuredly got along the way – between the many hours on the rails with nothing but their music, and the six incredible 3+ hour shows, I’m sure it will be stock full of gems. Check out the trailer.

In other news, the official website is quoted as saying, “We are currently planning the 2012 Railroad Revival Tour with a new lineup and some great surprises. Look for news about the second tour this coming January!” I can’t wait to see what they have up their sleeves for the 2012 edition. I highly doubt they can top last year, but I could also find myself very wrong once the line-up and train route comes out. Hopefully I’ll see you all there!

Hangout Music Fest 2012

Eggs — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:33:35 +0000

For the past two years, I’ve been telling myself that I need to make it down to Gulf Shores, Alabama for the Hangout Music Fest. Now in it’s 3rd year as a festival, Hangout has announced it’s initial artist roster for the 2012 event which takes place May 18-20, and boy is it a good one. If anything, they built this festival for me. Seriously, the talent is basically a nice little chunk of my iPod. Leading the dance card, you have festival main-stay Dave Matthews Band and the one and only Jack White bringing his solo project, with one more major headliner promised to be announced later this week. While the festival has always swayed towards jambands, like the early days of Bonnaroo, this year has a wide variety of all types of music. Jambands are still highly represented with The String Cheese Incident, Dispatch, STS9, Michael Franti & Spearhead and G. Love & Special Sauce hitting the stages. A nice conglomerate of indie rock is also included with Wilco, The Flaming Lips who will be performing the classic Pink Floyd Album Dark Side Of The Moon in it’s entirety, Young The Giant, Dr. Dog, Cage The Elephant and Dawes. Bringing in the older concert goers, both Steve Winwood of Traffic and Spencer Davis Group fame as well as famed singer songwriter Randy Newman will be making appearances. Also, a dance tent will be featured this year being headlined by the likes of Skrillex and Paul Oakenfold.

I think I might try to make this one – being on the beach and packed with this many of my favorite bands, how could I possibly miss it! Check out the full line-up after the jump.

Hangout Music Fest 2012 Initial Artist Line-Up

Dave Matthews Band
Jack White
String Cheese Incident (two sets)
Skrillex
Wilco
The Flaming Lips Perform Dark Side of the Moon
Dispatch
Steve Winwood
Chris Cornell
STS9
Gogol Bordello
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Mac Miller
Flogging Molly
Coheed and Cambria
Paul Oakenfold
G. Love and Special Sauce
Randy Newman
Dr. Dog
Young the Giant
Cage the Elephant
Dawes
Alabama Shakes
M. Ward
Yelawolf
Switchfoot
Julian Marley
Zeds Dead
Mavis Staples
Shpongle
Gary Clark Jr.
Rebelution
Allen Stone
Big Freedia
The Devil Makes Three
Paper Diamond
Futurebirds
Hey Rosetta!
Sleeper Agent
The Lumineers
Archnemesis
Tribal Seeds
Rich Aucoin
Jamie Bergeron