Image of the Day-"Better Way"

Brewer's Row

Thunderbird Cafe

Friday, October 28, 2011

Larryville

I was out and about on Friday and received an email blast from the band reminding me they were at the T'Bird. It's been too long since I have seen them and popped in for a little bit. Looking forward to new music soon from the band.

Between The Lines-Tony Mott

Rock 'N' Roll Photography is the New Trainspotting

Tony Mott

Rockpool Publishing/Trafalgar Square Publishers

2011

Tony Mott is a rock photographer based out of Australia. This collection gathers Mott's work from the last 30 years shooting almost anyone you can think of in music. What I really love about this book is the way in which Mott comments on his images. Similar to my style, he isn't interested in the music as much as the circumstances surrounding the photo. As an example, speaking on the Johnny Rotten picture below, he mentions that 10 punks were on top of him the whole time due to no barrier between the audience and stage. He goes on to mention, "Too much fun." This revised and updated edition from 2010 comes out this December, perfect for gift giving, wouldn't you say?

PiL, 1984

Björk, 1994

Divinyls, Mott's first image ever sold for $20, 1982

The Drones, 2008

Mott The Hoople, 2009

Image of the Day-"Oh Me Oh My Oh"

Gillian Welch

Byham Theater

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Downtown

The last time I saw them play was in 2002 at Farm Aid. They were on way early in thd day a round noon, right before Drive By Truckers. They also played the Lecture Hall in Oakland in 2004 I am told. This was the perfect venue for them. What amazed me was that the first three front row center seats were empty during the night. I found out that a buddy checked ticketmaster that day and saw those very same seats available but passed for financial reasons. Crazy that they were never gobbled up by anyone?.

Image of the Day-"All The Young Dudes"

Ian Hunter

Carnegie Music Hall

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Carnegie

What a surprise this set turned out to be. I know exactly two Mott The Hoople tunes and went solely on the basis that this was the first rock show in the refurbished music hall in Carnegie, which is where I practically grew up (full disclosure: I am a Crafton kid). Even though he refrained from playing his most well known tunes till the end of the show, he and his band sounded great throughout the entire night playing classic rock and roll covers and I assume originals. Really nice to see the dude still has the chops!

Image of the Day-"Sold Out"

 Good Night, States

Colonizing The Cosmos

The Space Upstairs

 Friday, October 7, 2011

East End

Two of my favorite local bands coming out of 'hiding' to play a double bill in a place I've never been? Nothing was stopping me from seeing this gig. Unfortunately, the fire code occupancy limit did stop several from attending and they were turned away at the door, even though there was PLENTY of 'space upstairs' available. The problem was that there is only one stairwell in the joint and I am guessing getting caught packing the place was just too much of a risk to all involved. Besides new music, both bands are working on changing things up in the 2012 and you can bet I will be covering it all.

Image of the Day-"The Valley Wind"

Tyler Ramsey

Club Cafe

Thursday, October 14, 2011

Southside

Solo shows are nice but sometimes my mood is better suited for a full band. I am not taking away anything from his set, it's strictly the "it's not you, it's me" thing.. He has a serious Sun Kil Moon vibe happening and it's a shame not too many people turned out for the gig. Believe me, if it was billed as "Band of Horses' guitarist Tyler Ramsey", it would have been more crowded. Wait, was it billed as such?

Image of the Day-"Girlfriend"

Matthew Sweet

Mr. Small's Funhouse

Friday, October 21, 2011

Millvale

This was the '20th Anniversary Girlfriend Tour' where he and his tight as hell band came out and stormed through the iconic album from start to finish. I was surprised when the next night a couple friends where unaware that he was even in town and that he was celebrating the album by playing it. The band sounded absolutely fantastic and you couldn't tell that illness required him to cancel his afternoon radio appearance that day.