Blur

On Tuesday at the Brit Awards in London, Blur returned to the stage for the first time in three years. The band received the Outstanding Contribution To Music award before closing the show with a five song set. The band is recording a new album and will headline a Olympic Closing Ceremony concert at Hyde Park on August 12. You can check out their performance of “Parklife,” “Boys and Girls” and “Song 2″ below.

Blur
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
O2 Arena
London, UK

Set: Boys and Girl, Song 2, Parklife#, Tender^, This is Low

Notes: # w/ comic Phil Daniels, ^ – w/ 32-piece gospel choir

[via CoS]

Wilco has announced a short run of shows leading up to their appearance at this years Hangout Music Fest. They will begin their Southeast run of shows on May 10 at the Arkansas Music Pavilion in Fayetteville, AR. After stops in Birmingham, AL, Jackson, MS and Tampa, FL, Wilco will take their talents to South Beach for a show at The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theater. A Wilcoworld pre-sale for all of the shows begins tomorrow morning at 10AM CST.

Wilco 2012 Southeast Tour Dates
May 10 @ Arkansas Music Pavilion, Fayetteville, AR
May 11 @ Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham, AL
May 12 @ Thalia Mara Hall, Jackson, MS
May 14 @ Morsani Hall, Tampa, FL
May 15 @ The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theater, Miami Beach, FL

Van Ghost - The Effect EP

Chicago based Van Ghost has released The Effect EP, which is now available as a FREE download. The EP features five tracks including “Domino Effect,” which the band has already released a music video for.

In other VG news, the band has announced a seven show tour of the Southeast. The tour kicks off on March 10 at Exit/In in Nashville and will conclude with a show on March 17 at  Pisgah Brewing Company in Black Mountain, NC. Van Ghost has also been added to this years Summer Camp Music Festival.

The Effect EP Tracklist:
1. Domino Effect
2. Burden
3. Modern Day Love Affair
4. Return to Innocence
5. Cage

Van Ghost 2012 Tour Dates
March 8 @ Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL^
March 10 @ Exit/In, Nashville, TN
March 12 @ Soul Kitchen Music Hall, Mobile, AL
March 13 @ Smith’s Olde Bar, Atlanta, GA
March 14 @ Handlebar, Greenville, SC
March 15 @ Music Farm, Charleston, SC
March 16 @ The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC
March 17 @ Pisgah Brewing Company, Black Mountain, NC

^ – Opening for John Oates

Photo by Loren Wohl

I think most Wilco fans would agree that the band should and needs to start a live download service. Bands like Phish, Pearl Jam and Umphrey’s McGee offer live show downloads and Phish has even rolled the price of the download into each ticket. Wilco has always been taper friendly, but Wilco shows don’t always show up on the torrent sites. During a morning visit to Via Chicago, the unofficial Wilco fan site, I came upon a thread titled “So Out Of Tune – Streaming Wilco Concerts.” It immediately caught my attention and I had to find out more.

So Out of Tune  was launched last month by a fan and features an ever growing number of Wilco shows streaming on the site. In addition to Wilco, you can stream shows by Jeff Tweedy, Uncle Tupelo, The Primitives (pre Uncle Tupelo), Kay-Settes (Jay Bennett, Jeff Tweedy and Leroy Bach) and The Minus 5 & Wilco.

From So Out of Tune:

Welcome to So Out Of Tune, the unofficial Wilco streaming audio archive. Here you’ll find a library of audience-recorded live Wilco performances available for streaming. It’s all free and in accordance with Wilco’s live performance recording policy.

Browse our selection and enjoy!

The site is in it’s infancy, but look for more shows to be added. If you get the chance, check out the site and give it a whirl. You can send an email with your feedback (good and bad) to info@sooutoftune.org.

Blur has announced via Twitter that they will be headlining the Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony Celebration Concert in Hyde Park on August 12. “Blur have accepted the invite to headline the Olympics Closing Ceremony Celebration Concert in Hyde Park on 12th August” read the tweet. The Specials and New Order are also be on the bill.

Last night at a War Child benefit show in London, Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon performed a new Blur Song, “Under the Westway.” You can check out that performance below. Blur will perform tomorrow night (February 21) at the Brit Awards.

Alabama Shakes

Perhaps one of the most buzzed about bands to hit the music scene in a while is Alabama Shakes. The band won’t release their debut album, Boys and Girls until April 10, but the band is already slated to appear at The Hangout Music Festival, Sasquatch! and Bonnaroo. I would expect the number of festivals on their tour schedule to grow as more festival lineups are announced.  I do like what I hear from this band including their very catchy first single, “Hold On.” The band will begin a world tour on March 9 at Lincoln Hall in Chicago.

After the tour dates, you can check out a video of the band performing “Be Mine” on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic.

Alabama Shakes 2012 Tour Dates
February 22 @ Boston Arms, London, UK
February 23 @ Boston Arms, London, UK
February 24 @ Boston Arms, London, UK
March 9 @ Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
March 10 @ Pabst Theater, Milwaukee, WI
March 23 @ Bama Theater, Tuscaloosa, AL
March 29 @ Proud Larry’s, Oxford, MS
March 30 @ Crossroads, Huntsville, AL
March 31 @ WorkPlay, Birmingham, AL
April 5 @ Georgia Theatre, Athens, GA
April 6 @ Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC
April 7 @ Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD
April 9 @ World Cafe Live (Downstairs), Philadelphia, PA
April 11 @Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
April 12 @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
April 14 @ Higher Ground (Ballroom), South Burlington, VT
April 15  @ Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
April 17 @ Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ON
April 25 @ Gebaude 9, Cologne, DE
April 26 @ Molotow, Hamburg, DE
April 27 @ Magnet, Berlin, DE
April 29 @ Bitterzoet, Amsterdam, NL
April 30 @ AB Box, Brussels, BE
May 2 @ La Fleche d’Or, Paris, FR
May 3 @ Brixton Electric, London, UK
May 5 @ Academy 2, Dublin, IE
May 6 @ Kilkenny Arts Festival, Kilkenny, IE
May 9 @ King Tuts, Glasgow, UK
May 10 @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester, UK
May 11 @ Birmingham HMV Institute, Birmingham, UK
May 12 @ Komedia, Brighton, UK
May 18 @ The Hangout Festival at Gulf Shores Public Beach, Gulf Shores, AL
May 26 @ Sasquatch! Music Festival, George, WA
June 7 @ Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Manchester, TN

[via Jambase]

Photo by: Justin Wendt

While fellow Summer Campers moe., were in Chicago, Umphrey’s McGee was in the Motor City for a show at The Fillmore. Let’s take a look at the setlist and a video of “Forks” and the jam out of  ”Slacker.” Check out what Justin Wendt of Oh Kee Pah Blog had to say about the “Slacker” jam.

Slacker jam features three distinct sections @umphreysmcgee #jamoftheyear

— OhKeePah (@ohkeepahblog) February 19, 2012

Umphrey’s McGee
Saturday, February 18, 2012
The Fillmore
Detroit, MI

Set I: Nipple Trix > Phil’s Farm > 2×2 > Forks, Smell the Mitten, Morning Song, Nothing Too Fancy > The Linear > Phil’s Farm
Set II: Bridgeless > Hajimemashite, Slacker, Mantis Ghetts, Maneater^, Wappy Sprayberry > Bridgeless
Encore: Detroit Rock City^^ > Nothing Too Fancy

Notes: ^ with Nicholas Gerlach (The Twin Cats) on saxophone, ^^ first time played, Kiss

[via Oh Kee Pah Blog]

Al Shredding

Last night, moe. returned to Chicago for a show at the Riviera Theatre.  Fans were encouraged to bring three canned/packaged goods for the Summer Camp Field Day food drive, which benefited the Lakeview Pantry. moe.rons came out in force as the food drive generated 550 different items! Check out the setlist below.

moe.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Riviera Theatre
Chicago, IL

Set I: Smoke > NH Stranger Than Fiction, Bring It Back Home > Blue Jeans Pizza > NH Suck A Lemon, George > Lazarus
Set II: Paper Dragon, head. > Interstellar > Head, Captain America > Recreational Chemistry, Queen Of Everything, Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ > Buster
Encore: Downward Facing Dog

4AD and Jagjaguwar have collaborated on a very unique live session with Justin Vernon and Sean Carey of Bon Iver. The session was recorded in London and features the pair on grand pianos performing five songs including a cover of Bonnie Rait’s  ”I Can’t Make You Love Me.”  You can check out this truly unique performance below. It’s definitely worth the 25 minutes.

From Boniver.com:

Recorded in AIR Studio’s Lyndurst Hall - a building that was originally a church and missionary school designed in 1880 by the great Victorian architect Alfred Waterhouse (designer of the Natural History Museum) – Vernon was joined only by Carey, with the pair positioning themselves opposite one another at two grand pianos. Although neither Justin nor Sean’s first instrument is piano, they were able to remodel the songs in a way that showcases their complimentary vocals and, perhaps more strikingly, a seemingly effortless ability to experiment with form and structure.

Tracklist:
1. Hinnom, TX
2. Wash.
3. I Can’t Make You Love Me
4. Babys
5. Beth/Rest

To help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Woody Guthrie, Nonesuch Records will release Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions. The Mermaid Avenue Sessions were put together by Guthrie’s daughter, Nora. Billy Bragg and Wilco teamed up and wrote music to previously unheard lyrics written by Woody Guthrie.

Wilco has incorporated a number of these songs from both sessions into their live sets including “California Stars,” “Hoodoo Voodoo,” “At My Window Sad and Lonely,” “One by One,” “Hesitating Beauty,” “Airline to Heaven,” “Remember the Mountain Bed” and “Someday Some Morning Sometime.”

From Billy Bragg’s Blog:

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Woody’s birth, Nonesuch Records will be releasing ‘Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions’, a four disc set, comprising of remastered versions of Mermaid Avenue Volumes I and II as well as a new collection of 17 songs from the original sessions, ‘Mermaid Avenue Volume III’. The fourth disc will contain ‘Man in the Sand’, Kim Hopkins’ 1999 film, which documents the collaboration between Woody, Wilco and me.

As part of this year of celebration, I will be doing a number of shows which will focus on the legacy of Woody Guthrie as expressed through the Mermaid Avenue songs. I’ll be playing acoustic instruments and singing from the book of lyrics which I compiled from the archives and used during the sessions, quoting from Woody’s handwritten notes that are often tagged onto the manuscripts.

I hope to be able to announce details of these Woody100 shows in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned as we will be posting information on this exciting announcement as it becomes available.