dates/tours/fun!

Matt Nathanson at the Fox again, oh yeah. Dude puts on a fucking great show. I had to throw the "fuck" in there because Matt says "fuck" approximately 83 times per show. Not for the kids.

Jan 19 2008 The Rockboat Miami, Florida
Jan 25 2008 Jack Rabbits Jacksonville, Florida
Jan 26 2008 The Social Orlando, Florida
Jan 27 2008 Workplay Theatre BIrmingham, Alabama
Jan 28 2008 40 Watt Club Athens, Georgia
Jan 29 2008 The Handlebar Greenville, South Carolina
Jan 31 2008 Recher Theatre Towson, Maryland
Feb 1 2008 Toad’s Place New Haven, Connecticut
Feb 4 2008 The State Theatre State College, Pennsylvania
Feb 5 2008 St. Andrew’s Hall Detroit, Michigan
Feb 7 2008 Knickerbockers Lincoln, Nebraska
Feb 9 2008 The Fox Theatre Boulder, Colorado

Glen Phillips has been to town several times in the past few years, but I haven't seen him since summer 2000. Oh my! Lookit, he's even visiting the western slope, the mountains and the lovely Fort Collins.

01/19/08 The Rock Boat Miami FL
01/24/08 The Rock Boat Miami FL
01/26/08 Ann Arbor Folk Festival Ann Arbor MI
02/07/08 Steve's Guitars Carbondale CO
02/08/08 Far East Center Grand Junction CO
02/09/08 Avogadro's Number Ft. Collins CO
02/10/08 Fox Theatre Boulder CO
02/15/08 AcousticMusicSanDiego San Diego CA
02/16/08 McCabe's Santa Monica CA
02/17/08 Freight & Salvage Berkeley CA
02/21/08 WOW Hall, Comm. Ctr. for the Perf. Arts Eugene OR
02/22/08 The Aladdin Theater Portland OR
02/23/08 Triple Door Seattle WA
03/26/08 Club Passim Cambridge MA
03/27/08 Tupelo Music Hall Londonderry NH
03/28/08 Wilde Auditorium West Hartford CT
03/29/08 Joe's Pub New York NY
03/30/08 The Avalon Theatre Easton MD
04/02/08 Jammin' Java Vienna VA
04/03/08 World Cafe Live Philadelphia PA
04/04/08 Club Cafe Pittsburgh PA
04/05/08 Brighton Center For the Performing Arts Brighton MI
04/06/08 The South Gate House Newport KY
04/09/08 The Music Mill Indianapolis IN
04/10/08 High Noon Saloon Madison WI
04/11/08 Old Town School of Folk Music Chicago IL
04/12/08 Shank Hall Milwaukee WI
04/13/08 Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis MN

Everything Absent Or Distorted - local heroes make an appearance at the Hi-Dive. Yee-haw.

02-16 Hi-Dive, Denver, CO

Pela - their MySpace page lists this show on March 10, the Hi-Dive says March 3... At any rate they rocked the house last time they played there.

03-?? Hi-Dive, Denver, CO

Grand Archives, the current band of former Band Of Horses dude Mat Brooke. This is gooooood stuff.

03-04 Hi-Dive, Denver, CO

Sons & Daughters are coming to the Hi-Dive with Bodies Of Water (one of my new favorite bands)!

03-17 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
03-18 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
03-21 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
03-22 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
03-23 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
03-24 Cambridge, MA - Middle East (Downstairs)
03-25 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
03-26 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
03-28 Chicago, IL - Double Door
03-29 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
03-31 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
04-01 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
04-03 Seattle, WA - Neumos
04-04 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
04-05 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
04-07 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall

* with Citay
via

Get ready for the Hotel Cafe Tour 2008! This tour's artists include Ingrid Michaelson, Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Josh Radin, Bob Schneider, Dan Wilson, Meiko, Priscilla Ahn, Kate Havnevik, Eric Hutchinson, Greg Laswell, Jessie Baylin, Jim Bianco, William Fitzsimmons, AM & Christopher Denny. Above all I hope we get Jim Bianco and Bob Schneider...

3/6/2008 San Diego, CA — Belly Up Tavern
3/7/2008 Santa Barbara, CA — Stateside
3/8/2008 Anaheim, CA — House of Blues
3/9/2008 Los Angeles, CA — Hotel Café
3/10/2008 Tucson, AZ — Club Congress (WxSW)
3/11/2008 Tempe, AZ — The Club House
3/13/2008 Austin, TX — Parish (SxSW)
3/14/2008 Dallas, TX — House of Blues
3/15/2008 Houston, TX — Red Room
3/17/2008 Birmingham, AL — WorkPlay
3/18/2008 Nashville, TN — Exit/In
3/19/2008 Atlanta, GA — Center Stage
3/20/2008 Chapel Hill, NC — Cat's Cradle
3/21/2008 Annapolis, MD — Ram's Head Tavern
3/22/2008 Philadelphia, PA — World Café Live
3/24/2008 New York, NY — Fillmore @ Irving
3/25/2008 Boston, MA — Paradise Rock Club
3/26/2008 Ithaca, NY — State Theatre
3/27/2008 Pittsburgh, PA — Mr Small's Theatre
3/28/2008 Chicago, IL — Park West
3/29/2008 Madison, WI — High Noon
3/31/2008 Minneapolis, MN — Fine Line
4/1/2008 Kansas City, MO — Record Bar
4/3/2008 Boulder, CO — Fox Theatre
4/4/2008 Denver, CO — Bluebird Theatre
4/5/2008 Salt Lake City, UT — Avalon Theatre
4/7/2008 Boise, ID — Big Easy
4/8/2008 Seattle, WA — Neumos
4/9/2008 Portland, OR — Wonder Ballroom
4/11/2008 San Francisco, CA — Great American Music Hall
4/12/2008 Los Angeles, CA — Henry Fonda Theatre

purchase tickets

Blitzen Trapper is returning! I missed them twice last year and don't intend to do so again...

02-22 Seattle, WA - University of Washington #
02-28 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
02-29 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour *!
03-01 San Diego, CA - Casbah *
03-02 Phoenix, AZ - Modified *
03-04 Denton, TX - Hailey's *
03-05 Houston, TX - Walter's on Washington *
03-06 Hattiesburg, MS - Thirsty Hippo %
03-07 Tallahassee, FL - The Beta Bar *
03-08 Everglades National Park, FL - Langerado Festival
03-09 Jacksonville, FL - The Eclipse *
03-11 Birmingham, AL - BottleTree *
03-13 Austin, TX - Yard Dog Gallery (Schubas SXSW party)
03-14 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-15 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-16 Norman, OK - The Opolis *
03-17 Columbia, MO - Mojo's *$
03-19 Nashville, TN - Exit In *
03-20 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn *
03-21 Columbia, SC - New Brookland Tavern *
03-22 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle *
03-23 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 *
03-25 Washington, DC - Black Cat *
03-26 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's *
03-27 Cambridge, MA - Middle East *
03-29 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
03-30 Worcester, MA - Clark University *
04-01 Montreal, Quebec - La Salla Rossa *
04-02 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo *
04-03 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place *
04-04 Cleveland, OH - The Grog Shop *
04-05 Detroit, MI - The Magic Stick *
04-06 Chicago, IL - Schubas *
04-08 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon *
04-09 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry *
04-10 Grinnell, IA - Grinnell College *
04-11 Omaha, NE - The Slowdown *
04-12 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot *
04-14 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive *
04-15 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *
04-17 Vancouver, British Columbia - Media Club *
04-18 Seattle, WA - Neumo's *
04-19 Portland, OR - Holocene *

# with Menomena
* with Fleet Foxes
! with Grand Archives
% with Beach House, Papercuts
$ with Mahjongg
via

Cloud Cult - the only date that matters. Yay!

05-17 Larimer Lounge, Denver, CO

hotel cafe tour!

Caught the Hotel Cafe Tour in Boulder last night. Check out more about the project here:

Hotel Cafe Tour

First, let me say I discovered that I definitely DO spend too much time at the Fox Theatre... see my Ben Kweller review for a bit of background. I went to pick up my ticket at the box office last night and the woman working said something about how I should enter their Halloween contest, with as much money as I spend there... I was going to ask her about this Halloween thing, but there were several people behind me and I thought I'd be polite. I figured I could learn about it on their website, but I can't find anything. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be there again before the end of the month.

I have been in charge of my sister's kids this week, and they tend to wake me up before 7:00 in the morning so I decided not to drink last night. Well, my favorite bar wench came by 3 or 4 times to see if anyone needed drinks. After telling her I was OK the last time she came by, she said "well, that's surprising!". Ha ha. I swear I am not a drunk. I just love the Fox.

Anyway, tonight the Hotel Cafe Tour featured 6 artists. There were no set breaks, and everyone got about a 25 minute time slot. Except for Brett Dennen, who went for about an hour.

First up: Schuyler Fisk. As soon as she came out on stage a feeling came over me that she was so familiar. Then Leah told me that she's Sissy Spacek's daughter. It's pretty obvious, she looks just like Sissy. But still, I really thought I recognized her from somewhere, I just couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe I was thinking of Carrie... I mean:

Schuyler -

Sissy -

Nevertheless, I couldn't help but IMDB her when I got home. Sure enough, she was in an episode of Law & Order SVU last season. She's also acted in a lot of other stuff, but I'm certain that SVU is where I recognize her from. Yeah, I watch SVU. I'm not ashamed to admit it.

I enjoyed her set - nothing earth shattering as far as her songwriting, but she has a fabulous voice.

Next up - Joshua Radin. I like Josh, I really do. I think he's a good singer-songwriter. But his songs put me to sleep. I don't mean that in a bad way, but he's so mellow... he did 20 minutes of music that really did make me want to sleep, then a great rendition of "Cecilia" with Brett Dennen.

Next was Cary Brothers. That's Cary Brothers, not THE Cary Brothers... lol. Guess you had to be there. Holy shit, that boy has a set of pipes. I was introduced to him via the Garden State soundtrack and promptly checked out his EPs from last year - All The Rage & Waiting For Your Letter. Good stuff, but he's so so so much better live. As it should be. I enjoyed his set a lot.

It occured to me that the first half of the show could have easily been called the "Zach Braff Soundtrack Tour". All 3 artists have been featured on the Garden State soundtrack, the Last Kiss soundtrack, and/or Scrubs.

After Cary was The Weepies. I was not familiar with them at all. Apparently they had a song featured in Grey's Anatomy. They were a fun, folksy duo.

It was during The Weepies set that we migrated over to a spot that would have been perfect if not for the crazy dancing woman in front of me. Now, I have no issues with people dancing and having a good time at a show. But. This woman seemed to feel that she was entitled to a 3 foot radius in which to dance. I started out standing a good two feet behind her, yet she still managed to step on my feet no less than 3 times, hit me with her elbow at least half a dozen times, and back right up into me several more times. On top of that, she never even acknowledged the fact that she kept hitting me!! I don't even think she was drunk.... unless she has really really good drunken balance.

Anyway, after The Weepies was Joe Purdy. His set was great, really rocking. More of the crazy dancing lady invading my personal space.

Last up was Brett Dennen, his last night on the tour. He put on a great show - got the crowd involved and was clearly having a great time. Cary came out about halfway through his set and talked him into doing the "Galapagos Turtle". It took Brett a moment to get into character (Terry, the Galapagos Turtle) then he proceeded to eat corn chips out of Cary's hand. I can't really describe the spectacle, but as Leah said, that alone was worth the $15... lol.

So, the Hotel Cafe Tour was fabulous. And for a good cause. Hooray.