FYI: Nine Inch Nails

For now enjoy the video for “We’re In This Together”.

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On June 19 my small group and I tailgated with some fellow Jammers in one of the beautiful parking lots in Camden. We had a great time chit chatting about the band, politics and whatever else, not to mention drinking some beers. I was getting a bit antsy towards 6:30 cause I wanted to snag a poster, but I decided to chill out and enjoy the moment. We finally got inside a little after 8 and I was able to still get a poster and hit the bathroom before the band hit the stage. After a couple of mishaps, like one of my friends getting taken away by security for a minute, we took to the lawn and found a great spot.

Pearl Jam came on around 9:15 and opened up with “Hard to Imagine”, which pretty much set the stage for a fantastic show. The guys were on fire with a set list that included rarely played live gems like “All Night”, “U” and “Who You Are”. Of course hits like “Corduroy”, “Better Man”, Even Flow” and “Given To Fly” made the cut, but they sounded fantastic. The addition of songs like “Rats” and “In Hiding” made the show even more spectacular. The crowd was also insane, singing along to almost ever song, which impressed the heck out of me. Throughout the night Eddie kept telling the crowd that there was no curfew, so I was expecting a lengthy show. However, the main set seemed all too quick as they ended it with “Why Go”, but I knew that two encores were coming up.

The two encores were sick. The band came out during the first encore with their unbelievable cover of the Who’s “Love Reigin O’er Me”, which was followed by “Better Man”, “State of Love and Trust”, “Black” and “Leash”! Now it was time for the second encore which kicked off with Eddie doing his protest tune “No More”. The rest of the band came back out and closed the night with “Crazy Mary”, “Porch” and “Yellow Ledbetter”.

Here’s the set list:
Hard To Imagine, Corduroy, Severed Hand, Do The Evolution, All Night, In Hiding, Small Town, Gone, Who You Are, Unemployable, Even Flow, Light Years, Grievance, Given To Fly, U, Rats, Why Go
Encore 1: Love, Reign O’er Me, Better Man/Save It For Later, State Of Love And Trust, Black, Leash
Encore 2: No More, Crazy Mary, Porch, Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner

Here’s “Love Reign O’er Me”, with a story about the expensive venue beer, from June 19.

With such a great show, I honestly didn’t know how they were going to top it on June 20.

I was extremely beat going into night two, but caught a second wind once I returned to Camden. I got inside around 8:30 and grabbed a shirt before finding my seats. They weren’t bad seats at all, thank you very much Ten Club, although some fan members were complaining.

The band came on earlier this night, just after 9, so I was expecting a longer show. They surprised me by opening up with “Severed Hand”, cause I was expecting a slower song, and was hoping for “Long Road”, but it was all good. The guys were once again on fire and delivered an electric set. They didn’t throw out any huge surprises, but it was still a killer set list and show. Some of my favorite songs of the night were the Binaural tracks “Nothing As It Seems”, “Thin Air” and “Insignificance”. They also whipped out “Low Light” and “W.M.A”, which was awesome. Funny moment of the night was when Eddie attempted to do “Love Boat Captain”, but forgot the words and moved on to “Corduroy” instead. The crowd was once again insane and the band seemed to relish in it.

They ended the main set with “Why Go”, again, and delivered a short, but thrilling, first encore of “Lukin”, “Comatose”, “Given To Fly” and “Rearviewmirror”. Right before the best version of “Rearviewmirror” that I’ve seen, Eddie put on a conductor’s hat and exclaimed “All abroad”. It was classic.

For the second encore the band came out with “Footsteps”, which was followed by “Once”. During this time it dawned on me that they were playing a reverse Mamasan Trilogy, and they did when they kicked into “Alive”. Just for folks that don’t know, the Mamasan Trilogy is a mini opera by Eddie, which were also the first three songs he put lyrics to in Pearl Jam. The trilogy tells the story of “Alive”, you know about the boy that finds out his real father has passed away, “Once” is about this kid going nuts and killing people, and “Footsteps” deals with the kid getting sentenced to death for his actions, which he blames his mom for. The reason it’s reversed is because “Alive” is no longer a curse and has a positive spin now. Anyways, for Pearl Jam freaks it was a special moment. The band then said goodbye to Camden with another rousing cover of the Who’s “Baba O’ Riley”.

Here’s the set list:
Severed Hand, Brain Of J, Animal, Dissident, Low Light, Down, Nothing As It Seems, Green Disease, Love Boat Captain (intro Only),Corduroy, Even Flow, Thin Air, Daughter/War, Insignificance, W.M.A., Do The Evolution, Whipping, Better Man, Why Go
Encore 1: Lukin, Comatose, Given To Fly, Rearviewmirror
Encore 2: Footsteps, Once, Alive, Baba O’Riley

Here’s “W.M.A.” from June 20.

Two great nights from Pearl Jam, as usual, makes me even more amped for the upcoming Madison Square Garden shows.

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Anyways, since the Toadies are on the road this summer (it actually starts tonight) let’s revisit an FYI on the band from last September. By the way, you can check out their tour itinerary right here.

FYI: Toadies

Here’s a cool acoustic version of “I Come From The Water”, sorry that it starts with ad.

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The Offspring deliver us their 8th studio album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace. The 12 track album is getting some decent reviews, even though it was produced by one Bob Rock. Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace is also available in vinyl form, which also comes with access for a free digital download. That is a great idea, wish more bands would do that. Based on their first single, “Hammerhead”, I would say give this album a shot.

Here’s a live performance of a new track, “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” from this year’s Download Festival in the UK.

Speaking of The Offspring, the band has also reissued two of their previous albums. 1992’s Ignition and 1994’s Smash. The albums have been remastered from the original master tapes, which means they should sound even better than ever. Want an added bonus for buying, or re buying, Smash? It comes with a new 24 page booklet!

Here’s the video for “Self-Esteem” from Smash.

Sister Hazel returns with a live, acoustic disc entitled Before the Amplifiers – Live Acoustic. The 16 track album was recorded in front of one hundred fans at Atlanta’s Nickel and Dimes Studios in January of 2008. The band delivered hits, like “All For You”, and fan favorites to please the hardcore fans, known as the Hazelnuts. This sounds kind of interesting, it could be worth a listen.

Enjoy the video for “All For You”.

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The Danger Mouse produced project will hit shelves on July 8 through DGC in North America and July 7 in Europe through XL Recordings. Besides announcing the release date, the track listing for Modern Guilt has also been released.

The track listing is:
“Orphans”
“Gamma Ray”
“Chemtrails”
“Modern Guilt”
“Youthless”
“Walls”
“Replica”
“Soul of a Man”
“Profanity Prayers”
“Volcano”

Folks have been on stand by for the release date of Modern Guilt since the end of May, when Beck informed the world that the album would drop in the coming weeks.

I can’t wait to pick this up. I can’t get enough of “Chemtrails”, and with Cat Power showing up on tracks like “Walls”, it should be a great album.

Here’s a video of the track “Modern Guilt” from Beck’s surprise show at the Echo in L.A. from June 9.

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R.E.M.: The Athens natives have been on the road in support of their fantastic new album Accelerate, but there’s still time to catch them. They’ll be in St. Paul tonight and will continue their North American tour until June 21 with a show in Atlanta. They’ll then spend the rest of the summer over in Europe.

Radiohead: The band already wrapped their first leg of
their North American tour, but they’ll be back in
August with their second leg, which begins August 1 at Lollapalooza. Until then you can perhaps check the band out over in Europe, which kicks off tomorrow night in Dublin .

Pearl Jam: The mighty Seattle band will embark on a small U.S. tour beginning on June 11 at West Palm Beach. The east coast run will conclude on June 30 in Mansfield, MA. They’ll also be a part of this year’s Bonnaroo, as well as an intimate charity event for the Robin Hood Foundation in NYC on July 1 and will also honor the Who in L.A. on July 12.

Stone Temple Pilots: The band that a lot of people loved to hate have reunited for a lengthy summer tour. The tour began on May 17, but it will run until their August 31 performance at Bumbershoot in Seattle, as long as Scott can keep it together.

Nine Inch Nails: Trent Reznor will take Nine Inch Nails on an arena tour this summer, which kicks off July 25 at the Pemberton Festival in Vancouver. NIN will cross the country until September 6 when they wrap things up in Inglewood, CA.

Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl and company will kick off a small European tour tomorrow night, June 6, at Wembley Stadium in London. The Foos will then return to North America for another small tour, beginning July 9 in Seattle and ending on July 29 in East Rutherford, NJ. They’ll also be a part of the Virgin Festival in Baltimore on August, 9 and another Virgin Festival on September 6 in Toronto. Austin City Limits will get the Foos as well on September, 28.

311: 311 will be journeying out for another installment of their Unity Tour, which includes Snoop Dogg this summer. The festivities begin on June 24 in Phoenix and conclude on August 3 in Austin. They’ll also be in Hawaii and Japan in August.

The Black Crowes: The Brothers Robinson and company will be hitting the road yet again! This time though they’ll be out supporting they’re great new album War Paint. They have shows running through the rest of the year, including some opening band duties for Dave Matthews Band.

Live: The York, PA natives will be in Holland for a few shows at the end of June, before hitting up the States again, which includes some shows with Collective Soul and Blues Traveler.

Toad The Wet Sprocket: Another somewhat forgotten 90’s band will embark on a scattered U.S. tour. The tour begins at the Troc in Philly on June 11 and wraps up August 30 in San Juan Capistrano, CA.

Toadies: The little band from Texas gets things started on June 20 in San Antonio and finishes up on August 2 at Lollapalooza.

The Breeders: The Deal sisters returned earlier this year with a new album Mountain Battles, and have pretty much wrapped up their North American tour, there are still a couple of shows left though. The band will then spend the rest of the summer in Europe.

Here’s a quick rundown of some other acts that 90’s fans may enjoy: Dinosaur, Jr. will mostly be in Europe with a few U.S. shows, Chris Cornell will unfortunately be a part of Projekt Revolution, the Counting Crows will join the ear bleeding pop sensations known as Maroon 5 following some gigs in Europe, the Flaming Lips and Beck are sticking to some festival appearances.

Now, here’s a taste of some festivals that you may want to check out.

Lollapalooza at Grant Park in Chicago from August 1-3: Remember when Lollapalooza was one of the biggest tours around? While, they’ve done pretty well for themselves in Chicago since the failed 2004 tour. This year the festival landed 90’s heavyweights Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine and Nine Inch Nails. Not to mention fellow 90’s acts like the Toadies, Blues Traveler, Perry Farrell doing a solo set and Pavement frontman Steven Malkmus performing with the Jikes. Oh yeah, there’s also a ton of other great acts like Wilco, The Raconteurs, Cat Power, The Black Keys and more! This is the festival to go to.

Virgin Festival at Pimilico Race Course in Baltimore on August 9 & 10: Foo Fighters, STP, Nine Inch Nails, and The Offspring are enough to make any 90’s fan jump for joy. But, the festival is rounded out by legends like Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Chuck Berry and Bob Dylan and newer acts like Wilco, Black Rebel Motorcycle, the Black Keys and Cat Power. This makes me want hope southbound on 95 this second.

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival at Golden Gate Park in San Fran from August 22-24: Radiohead, Beck, Primus and Ben Harper will represent the 90’s well in this inaugural festival. But, the real appeal to this festival is the blend of legends, like Tom Petty and Steve Winwood, with newer acts, like Wilco, Regina Spektor and Cold War Kids.

Bumbershoot at the Seattle Center from August 30 to September 1: STP and Beck anchor this legendary Seattle festival. Acts like the Black Keys and Ingrid Michaelson make the festival so much sweeter.

Virgin Festival at Toronto Island Park on September 6 & 7: Foo Fighters and Oasis are the headliners for yet another Virgin Mobile Festival. With Bloc Party, The Fratellis and Silversun Pickups also on board, this should turn out for a decent weekend.

And, if you happen to be in Europe, make sure to check out the Southside and Hurricane Festivals in Germany and Optimus Alive in Lisbon, Portugal.

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Since I’m pretty much devoting May to Pearl Jam, it only makes sense for me to select two songs from the greatest American rock band ever.

The first selection is an acoustic version of a song that you’ve probably heard a million times. But, have you heard their fantastic versions of “Corduroy” from some of the Bridge School Benefits? It puts a new spin on the classic song, and I just can’t get enough of it.

The second selection is another live track. This is a cover of “Soldier of Love”, which appeared on the 1999 benefit album No Boundaries. “Soldier of Love” though was overshadowed by “Last Kiss”, which was another Pearl Jam cover on this album. This is just neat song, cha-cha-cha.

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Vedder was supposed to perform with Flea and former Red Hot Chili Peppers/Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons. The reason for the cancellation was stated as  “due to a  personal  family matter with one of the band’s members”.

What a shame, this would have been an unforgettable performance. However, it still should be a great show with Neil Young, Metallica, Tom Waits, Regina Spektor and more on the bill. It also looks like My Morning Jacket will be replacing Vedder.

Check out this performance of Corduroy from earlier this year at Hullabaloo and see what could have been…

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Vedder is joined by the all-star band The Million Dollar Bashers, which features Nels Cline from Wilco, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelly from Sonic Youth, Tony Garnier, John Medeski and Smokey Hormel.

It’s a pretty good rendition, which you can check out here.

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The album is scheduled for a December 11, however there is currently no information on song titles or anything else for that matter.

Meanwhile, Weezer is still at work on their follow up to 2005’s Make Believe.

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