Live videos of The New Regime/Ilan Rubin

by hardrockchick [about 11 months, 20 days ago.]

Ilan answers questions about his album, favorite composers, and what he likes to do in if ‘off time’:

Take Control Intro – The New Regime

The New Regime Live Video Performances

Here are a couple of my favorite songs off the album:

Take Control:

Take Control (LIVE) – The New Regime

Order Restored:

Order Restored (LIVE) – The New Regime

You can see more live videos and interview clips here and can catch Ilan live with NIN this summer.

Genre(s): Rockin' Videos

1971Comments (2)2009-03-31+05%3A06%3A47hardrockchick

The Justice Tour w/ Tom Morello The Nightwatchman @ Slim’s, 3/26/09

by hardrockchick [about 11 months, 24 days ago.]

Tonight I was literally blown away.

Yeah, I was standing in front of a fan the whole time. But for $15 dollars, donated to Project Open Hand, I saw the following:

-Tom Morello: from the political fist in air speech giver, to the wah wah wah guitar god, to the whiskey sipping Shake That Shit man, Morello was the evening’s “lion tamer”.
-Wayne Kramer: Kick Out the Jams, Mothafucka!
-Joe Satriana: OK, so he was my low point. Cheesy riffs and that hat. Oh, how I hate that hat. But the man can play a guitar.
-Sammy Hagar: Surprise! Mr. Cabo Van Halen himself.
-Corey Taylor: The mask wearing Slipknot guy has quite a voice!
-Steve Earle: Americana troubadour extraordinaire

Also featuring: Spider Stacy of The Pogues, and Damian Kulash from OK Go. Oh, and the guitarist from Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party.

So it went down like this:

Tom Morello comes out and introduces the night, reiterating the value to us, the cause it supports, and to be quiet during the acoustic parts.

First up was Wayne Kramer, of MC5 fame. He plays a two song acoustic set, which I happily listen two while eying his iconic flag guitar wondering if and when he’s gonna play THAT song.

Tom came back out and played a selection of his Nightwatchman songs. After showing us the first round showcasing his skills, he introduced Joe Satriani with some statement of how Satriani bests him in skill. Hm. Hmmmmmm. Really?

satriani

I get it, Satriani is some kind of technical wonder. But…to me, Satriani sounds like instrumental butt rock, guitar masturbation, and just boring.

After a couple of songs of that, Morello comes out and introduces Sammy Hagar. He must have been a very last minute addition, as he apologized for not rehearsing for this. With Satriani and Morello still on guitar, they ran through a couple of songs, highlighting Hagar’s still high pitched eighties rock vocals.

Next up, Corey Taylor of Slipknot. The crowd was really enthusiastic for him, this one dude in particular constantly clapping during the acoustic set. I’ll have to say- I didn’t know what to expect from him- but it was really good. And I wanted to shut down the clapping guy. At least keep with the beat.

Steve Earle performed several songs, including “Pancho and Lefty” from his upcoming album of Townes Van Zandt covers. He also brought out Spider from The Pogues to sing and play flute with him.

Next was my sneak peek at what I will be seeing multiple times in a few months when I follow NIN and Jane’s around: Street Sweeper. Boots Riley comes out and really amps up the crowd. Morello plays along, but introduces it as a ‘Boots Project’. After playing a couple of songs, including ‘Fight! Smash! Win!’, they do a cover of ‘Paper Planes’. Now, I loved this M.I.A. song before it blew up, so I was very excited to hear it. Can’t wait to see what they do on the big stage.

Last were the collaborative efforts to finish up the night, including a Taylor fronted ‘Play That Funky Music’ and ‘You Really Got Me’. They were like the coolest wedding band ever!

And yes, Kramer played THAT song.

It wrapped up with an albeit slightly imperfect rendition of Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land is Your Land’, in traditional Nightwatchman form. The full cast, minus Hagar, plus some other guys including the guy from OK Go, took turns singing verses. Like some of the songs before this, printed lyrics were provided. The house lights went up on everyone, after a bit of coaxing by an impatient Morello, and the venue and audience became a place of hope and action, just as Morello intended.

What a show. I’ll remember this $15 when I’m buying my Bridge School tickets later this year.

OVERALL: 9.25/10
venue (Slim’s): 8/10
crowd/scene: 7/10
value ($15.00/ticket): 10/10
memorable: 9.5/10

My past review of Morello’s Nightwatchman
I started the Tom Morello Appreciation thread on nin.com!

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

1966Comments (9)2009-03-27+09%3A07%3A09hardrockchick

Wintersleep @ Hotel Utah, 3/25/09

by hardrockchick [about 11 months, 25 days ago.]

Tonight made twice in one week that I tested out new venues in SF. And let me tell you, Hotel Utah is an odd one. There are tables and chairs in parts, making finding a place to stand a bit awkward. The ceiling is low until you get right to the stage. And the stage is as big as the audience space. But it is packed, giving a smaller show better energy than a larger venue could.

Judging by the conversations I was eavesdropping on while they set up, Wintersleep has acquired some fans. They launch into their first song, under the guidance of the mermaid that crowns the stage. There’s a long instrumental portion, guitar feedback screaming and the keyboardist leveraging the fragile folding chair he’s standing on to delve into the keys. They ease into their more mellow songs, the guitarist and bassist switching up on occasion. In the middle of the set, lead singer Paul gets attacked by the mic. The precarious set up has jostled the mic stand free and he catches it without missing a beat, only to have it happen again, until it is finally fixed.

Their lyrics, often an intelligent love letter, lull me deep in thought. They play effortlessly to a captive audience. “Archaeologists” and “Weighty Ghosts” both open and close with enthusiastic clapping from the crowd. They also played a new song called “Baltic”. By the time they reached the end of the set, we’d all forgotten that there was still a headliner to come.

You can view snippets from a couple of the songs below.

Read my interview with Paul Murphy here.

OVERALL: 7.5/10
Wintersleep performance: 8/10
venue (Hotel Utah): 6/10
crowd/scene: 7/10
value ($10.00/ticket): 7.5/10
memorable: 7/10

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

1964Comments (0)2009-03-26+08%3A51%3A50hardrockchick

Interview with Paul Murphy of Wintersleep

by hardrockchick [about 11 months, 25 days ago.]

Wintersleep is an indie rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia that dabbles in the psychedelic and hard rock spectrum. I’ve seen them once before, and they put on a great live show.

Lead singer Paul Murphy answered a few questions for me. Don’t miss your chance to see them tonight at Hotel Utah.

HardRockChick: How did the band get together?

Paul Murphy: Fans of each others bands. We all moved to Halifax to finish up schooling and to play music. We all knew each other via our bands Kary and Contrived.

HRC: Where did you come up with the name Wintersleep?

PM: It means hibernation. The last song on the first Kary record was called hibernation. It kind of sounds as similar to Wintersleep as that band really gets, not that that song was the reason Wintersleep exists or started. I just liked the image and the word. It is rooted in the German word for hibernation, “Winterschlaf”

HRC: Is there something in the water in Canada? It seems like all the good
new bands are from there.

PM: Yes The beer is also better
You have Hot Snakes and Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr and Kyuss. All I gotta say about the band thing

HRC: Did you recover any of your stolen gear?

PM: No.

HRC: How was your European tour and SXSW?

PM: Dope. The European tour was the first time we did it up proper over there. Great crowds and yummy food. A good touring experience.. SXSW is my favorite festival. $10 to park our van for the day.. Free food options. Great bands.. Warm weather in March.. What more can a Canadian rock band ask for really.. ?!

HRC: What do you think about using Twitter to keep in touch with fans?

PM: We just started doing it. Sorta like Ben’s bread* of the internet communication world. It looks like bread, tastes like it.. but ultimately not really satisfying in the way bread should be. Certainly not home-made. I like it though. Tastes good with peanut butter either way. What doesn’t?

HRC: What can we expect to see from Wintersleep in the near future?

PM: Plenty o’ jams. Hopefully a new record soon. Hugs.

*”ben’s bread” is our local bakery bread sold in our region’s grocery stores

Follow Wintersleep on Twitter

Genre(s): Interviews

1959Comments (1)2009-03-25+19%3A47%3A17hardrockchick

Kowloon Walled City, Sod Hauler, Dark Castle @ Hemlock, 3/21/09

by hardrockchick [about 11 months, 28 days ago.]

Somehow I’ve avoided going to the Hemlock for a show. Perhaps it has something to do with my experiences at the bar there- a smug hipster meets rocker meets marina preppy joint where the bartenders act like it’s a pain in the ass to get you a drink. But they do host some good shows, so I finally seized the opportunity to go there.

To get to the music, you have to walk through the bar and go through a doorway covered in heavy plastic car wash style panels. Doing this kind of gives you the feeling of ‘Enter at Your Own Risk”. The space is a long narrow room dimly lit at the stage with seating along one wall and merch set up along the other.

Dark Castle is on stage, and let me tell you, they had me at their name. The two piece from Saint Augustine, Florida, consists of a male drummer and a female guitarist/vocalist. Their sound can best be described as fantasy down tempo metal, with sparse vocals expertly growled by Stevie. Note about female rock and metal musicians: most I have seen in up and coming bands have been…embarrassing. Stevie, on the other hand, makes me want to pick up the guitar again. When dealing with this kind of vocal, it’s easy to become a joke, but everything melds together well. It’s slow and heavy, with interjections of speed. I could definitely see this on a soundtrack.

There was absolutely no sense of urgency setting up for the next band. HRC pet peeve- please, hustle when you change sets. I’m going to loose the vibe, especially if I have to go outside to the bar and deal with that.

Finally, Sod Hauler, from Seattle, was ready. They place a Godzilla toy at the front of the stage, and launch into what was the longest set of the night. Sticking with the down tempo metal, their sound is pleasing, but I was not a fan of the vocals at all. It assaulted my ears in the not good way. The stand out of this band is their drummer, who makes great faces while he plays. Really fun to watch. I actually preferred them the most when they sped it up a bit- some of their stuff was was too dragged out. Their last song seemed like it was 20 minutes long.

When Kowloon Walled City got up there, in 5 seconds they showed everyone who was boss. Their song structures are really sophisticated, which is as much a testament to the band as well as how much more you can do as a four piece. They possess a muted energy that I find really interesting- they weren’t flailing around up there, but instead wore their intensity in their eyes, like a wildcat about to spring. These guys also don’t look like your typical metal band- they’re clean cut, piercing free- only the bassist has tattoo sleeves. There’s something really good-different about this band. It seemed like they had just kicked off the set with ‘Turk Taylor and Jones’ and it was over. I was riding a wave of their dark harmonies, losing my bad week in the angry vocals, and boom, done. Luckily, they are local, and I expect to witness great things from them in the future.

I quickly left the venue, and it was raining. I ran to my car in the dangerous Polk neighborhood, letting the sludge from the night wash off me.

OVERALL: 8/10
Kowloon Walled City performance: 9/10
Sod Hauler performance: 6.5/10
Dark Castle performance: 8/10
venue (Hemlock): 7/10
crowd/scene: 7/10
value ($7.00/ticket): 9/10
memorable: 7/10

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

1952Comments (0)2009-03-22+20%3A27%3A51hardrockchick

NIN News Update: Tickets, Scalpers, Twitter Spats, NINJA

by hardrockchick [about 11 months, 29 days ago.]

-Presales for NIN shows caused heart attacks around the U.S. So far, I’ll be at Chula Vista, Las Vegas, Shoreline, and Camden. This time I’ll be vlogging about my shows in lieu of writing, so look for that in May.

-Trent Reznor vs. Chris Cornell twitter fight. Reznor wins in a KO.

-TR posts about ticket scalping. Fox ‘news’ falsely reports that he admitted to supporting scalpers. They rescind the statement after the NIN community attacks them.

-NIN iPhone app is submitted, expected to release in early April.

-Last year’s Google Earth scavenger hunt winners receive an email inviting them and 2 friends to the show of their choice and get a meet & greet.

-NINJA2009 site goes live. More free music, multitracks to remix, and a promise of giving away “physical things and opportunities” in the near future.

Genre(s): HRC loves NIN

1946Comments (0)2009-03-21+19%3A42%3A57hardrockchick

rockin’ you soon: NIN/JA!!!

by hardrockchick [about 11 months, 29 days ago.]

If you missed the presales, you can still score tickets for the sure to be epic Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction, and Street Sweeper show at Shoreline Amphitheater on May 22nd this Sunday @ 10am.

Otherwise, you can get your Jonas Brothers tickets here.

Genre(s): Rockin' You Soon

1944Comments (0)rockin%27+you+soon%3A+NIN%2FJA%21%21%212009-03-21+19%3A20%3A32hardrockchick

rock out SF: kowloon walled city, destruction, the S.I.G.I.T., wintersleep

by hardrockchick [about 11 months, 29 days ago.]

My picks for the week are:

saturday/march 21: kowloon walled city @ hemlock
sunday/march 22: Battle of the Bands @ DNA Lounge
monday/march 23: Destruction @ Slim’s
tuesday/march 24: The S.I.G.I.T. @ thee parkside
wednesday/march 25: Wintersleep @ Hotel Utah

Genre(s): Rock Out SF

1942Comments (0)2009-03-21+19%3A04%3A23hardrockchick

Want a free ‘Hi, How Are You’ Shirt? from Worn Free?

by hardrockchick [about 12 months, 1 day ago.]

If you are a size medium female and are the first to comment, you get a free Kurt Cobain approved ‘Hi, How Are You?’ shirt courtesy of HRC and Worn Free.

Genre(s): Miscellaneous

1937Comments (3)2009-03-20+06%3A38%3A04hardrockchick

Primal Scream, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Kuroma @ The Fillmore, 3/17/09

by hardrockchick [about 12 months, 2 days ago.]

I decided to go early tonight. I was viewing this show as a co-headliner affair: I love Brian Jonestown Massacre, and I really like Primal Scream.

The Fillmore was practically empty as I walked into the ballroom and claimed a spot at the rail. Promptly at 8, Kuroma opened the show. Lead singer Hank Sullivant is obviously the center of the show here, as he has been pegged as an industry rising star. He’s a founding member of The Whigs, a touring member of MGMT, and now Kuroma is his outlet for ‘expressing himself’. I got a little lost in the mix. I didn’t find the tunes particularly catchy, I found his vocals to be a poor man’s Tom Petty at times, and sometimes the execution felt a little messy. As soon as he announced they were from Athens, GA, I understood. I tend to not like Athens bands. From REM to Drive-By Truckers to the nearby Deerhunter, I get a little bored with their brand of rock. The song that they ended with was much better, but due to the lack of a myspace, I can’t tell you what it was…

Bring on BJM! Last time I saw them, also on a Tuesday night, but a headlining set at The Independent, the show was kind of a brilliant mess. And I couldn’t even make it to the end as they started so late and barely made it through four songs in the hour plus I was able to see them. Yet, here I am, standing right in front of Anton, begging for more, and wondering how they will pull this off as an opener at the strict timekeeper that The Fillmore is. The were on really good behavior. It took a bit for them to set up, and Anton apologized as they missed soundcheck. He started on one of his monologues, which I could barely hear even though I was standing right in front of him. He talked about how they’ve been playing this town for 19 years, and how their very first show they sold 700 tickets, twice. Everyone applauded Joel when he came onstage last. They launched into their first song, ‘Whoever You Are’. Their sound is so multilayered with four guitars up there. Anton, as usual, is constantly fiddling with his equipment, giving you the impression that he is never fully satisfied with the sound. A few songs in, it is apparent that he begins to play something different than the setlist spelled out, as they all look at him to catch on while he bends his knees and bobs his head to coax them along with him. Beyond this and a small moment where he seemed to instruct the drummer to sharpen up his beats, they played a set devoid of drama. Anton even dedicated a song to those that had recently lost their jobs. Regardless of this, Anton remains on my list of True Rock Stars- eccentric, unpredictable, reckless, and brilliant. They promoted their Independent show, saying “we’ll have tons of time for that tomorrow”. It was too short, very polished, and made me really want to go to their headlining set tonight…

Primal Scream. Kind of funny to see a Scottish band on St. Patty’s Day. They’ve been around a long time, but this is their first US tour in quite a while. They have constantly reinvented themselves, which made their two hour set some kind of genre tour. Lead singer Bobby Gillespie is an enigmatic front man, regardless of his Prince Valiant haircut and his somewhat awkward movements. He waves his hands and stomps his feet in his modest suit, as Barrie Cadogan handles rhythm guitar at his side, dressed in dapper biz casual with white pointy shoes. Mani, formerly of the Stone Roses (who are rumored to reunite), rocked the bass. On my side, original member Andrew Innes played a mean, loud guitar, dressed in an outfit reminiscent of the Skipper.

It was fucking loud. At the start of the set, it almost seemed that everyone had been there to see BJM, and was sticking around as a bonus. But as the set went on, the crowd’s energy surged, as did the band’s. When the lights weren’t temporarily blinding me, or the fog floating in my line of sight, a narrow stream of green lasers pulsed from the rear of the stage. Occasionally, Gillespie would stick his hands through the lasers, after encouraging us to clap. I hate being encouraged to clap, but I was in the front, so I felt compelled.

As usual, super drunk girls surrounded me. One was trying to get all up in the security guy’s business, seriously, WTF? Another girl and guy were ecstasy dancing- you know what I mean- and he took his shirt off and the security guy made him put it back on, to which his girlfriend responded “FAGGOT!”. Geez.

Highlights for me were ‘Swastika Eyes’, ‘Rocks’, and ‘Accelerator’. The energy level of the guys on stage had peaks and valleys. I don’t know if it was the long two hour set, the composition of the genres in the setlist, or age, but there were definitely some stronger moments than others. Mirroring this, there were moments were they had me, and ones where my mind wandered.

When they came back for the encore, Mani put on a (faux?) furry hat with two tails that looked like pigtails. It was quite hilarious. An additional four songs, and we left ears buzzing to collect our free posters (I’m 4/4 at The Fillmore this year!)

BJM Setlist:
Whoever You Are
B.S.A.
Nevertheless
Wasted
Oh Lord
New Song (from Iceland)
Got My Eye On You
Hide and Seek
Sailor

Primal Scream Setlist:
Kill All Hippies
Can’t Go Back
Miss Lucifer
Suicide Sally
Jailbird
When The Bomb Drops
Beautiful Future
Higher Than The Sun
Beautiful Summer
Deep Hit
Exterminator
Suicide Bombs
Sick City
Shoot Speed
Swastika Eyes
Movin’ On Up
Rocks

Encore-
Damaged
Necro Hex
Country Girl
Accelerator

OVERALL: 8.5/10
Primal Scream performance: 8/10
BJM performance: 9/10
Kuroma performance: 5/10
venue (The Fillmore): 9/10
crowd/scene: 8/10
value ($30.00/ticket): 9/10
memorable: 8/10

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

1932Comments (2)2009-03-19+05%3A25%3A44hardrockchick