Oasis And Ryan Adams Kick Off North American Tour At Oracle Arena Tonight

We're guessing that if you're planning on going to this show, you probably don't need to be reminded. You already have tickets, and are most likely barely concentrating on whatever it is that you're supposed to be doing this afternoon. But, just in case, here's one last reminder: tonight will be host to a super rock blowout over at Oracle Arena as Ryan Adams and The Cardinals join Oasis for a night of rock massivity. The show kicks off two weeks of a North American tour for the two bands, leading right up to Christmas. Be there or be square.

Ryan Adams And The Cardinals and Oasis, Winter 2008 Tour:
December 3 - Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
December 4 - Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
December 6 - The Pearl, Las Vegas
December 8 - Broomfield Events Center, Denver, CO
December 10 - Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
December 12 - Allstate Arena, Chicago, IL
December 13 - Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI
December 15 - John Labatt Center, London, ON
December 17 - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
December 19 - Susquenhanna, Camden, NJ
December 20 - GMU Patriot Center, Washington DC

Another Planet Entertainment Reopens The Fox Theatre In Oakland

Image courtesy John Mattos

Well, if you felt the Easy Bay was sorely lacking in midsize concert venues, you're about to get your fill: Another Planet Entertainment has renovated and reopened The Fox Theater as a Warfield-sized music venue in Uptown Oakland. We have to say we're curious how this will pan out, but judging by Oakland's hipster-cache, and APE's variety of musical inroads, we're guessing it could become 2009's hot alternative to The Fillmore. The initial artist lineup will be announced on January 5th (with an opening gala on February 5th), so in the meantime you'll have to busy yourself by looking at pretty renovation pictures over at the official site. Looks pretty awesome, folks. Neat-o.

The Sea And Cake Played Great American - Pics, Review

Last night at the Great American, The Sea and Cake returned to San Francisco for an awesome, career spanning show. Despite GAMH only being about two thirds full, we're pretty sure we've never heard a louder or more enthusiastic crowd in that space. Not only did the band deliver a lengthy main set, but they were compelled to return for two solid encores by fans who just couldn't get enough.

Openers The Ugly Suit definitely delivered a solid dose of rock to the beginning of the evening. In general their live set was considerably more loud and jammy than anything they've got on the web. It would probably be fair to say that they had something of a My Morning Jacket vibe, although the songwriting and vocals weren't really up to Jim James standards. We enjoyed the Suit's set, but when they finished, we have to admit that we were eagerly awaiting the main act.

The Sea and Cake started off their set with all pistons running, and never really let up from there. They started with "Aerial", the opener from Car Alarm, and for the first part of the night proceeded with a set that drew quite heavily on the last two albums. For us, this was ideal, as the last two records have really been our most solid intro to the band. Still, it was clear that there were a number of long time fans in the audience who were dying for some older stuff.

The band didn't fail to deliver, and the second half of the set drew far more heavily on the older material, including "Nature Boy", "Parisol", and "Jacking The Ball". Still, we were glad to see that the band doesn't relegate their new material to beginning of the set fodder: they closed the second encore with a fantastic version of Everbody's "Lightning".

One of the more noticeable aspects of The Sea and Cake's live show is that while their tunes tend to maintain their intricate arrangements and sound, they tend to rock a bit harder. The drums, and guitars all seem to have a bit more of an edge, while Eric Claridge (amazingly) keeps his remarkably intricate bass lines going, even in a live setting.

For a band with such a lengthy history, and devout group of fans, we're really glad to see The Sea And Cake still delivering not only brilliant records, but a brilliant live show as well. These guys are all extremely talented musicians, and could easily rest on their laurels of being an indie rock institution. Instead, they're really getting out there and delivering a clear and resonating message about just how much they love every second of it. Cheers to that.

Many more pics at the HAD Archive

Spoon Offers Up A Live Version of "Beast And Dragon" For The Holidays

Okay, well, maybe it's not for the holidays: the band has been offering up a free track every month for well over a year now. But still, it's nice to see that their generosity isn't letting up any time soon. This month's freebie is a live version of "The Beast And The Dragon Adored", from 2005's Gimme Fiction. It's nice to hear that guitar freak-out at the end burn just a little bit more, and if we're not mistaken, isn't that chord at the end the lead-in to "Me And The Bean"?

mp3: Spoon - The Beast And Dragon, Adored (Live)

Reminder: Sea And Cake Is At Great American Tonight

Between last year's album pick, and gushing over the new material, we couldn't be more psyched for tonight's Sea And Cake show. We got our copy of Car Alarm two weeks back, and we couldn't be happier with it. It's like Everybody's rockier, more enthusiastic sibling - and the two make quite a pair! Unfortunately, it looks like Field Music isn't on the bill (as originally announced), but Oklahoma's The Ugly Suit will be there instead. From the sounds of things, they're producing somewhat angsty, poppy tunage that holds its own, at least in the context of myspace. We'll have to see how it goes in the flesh - either way, we are uber-psyched for this evening's festivities! Rawk!

Doors at 7, show at 8. Tickets are still on sale.

Al Green's Latest Caught Us By Surprise

One of the advantages of running a music blog is that we get exposed to a far wider range of artists and releases than we might otherwise see. Unfortunately, the advantage can also be a hindrance, as the sheer volume of releases allows for some stuff to slide by unnoticed. Luckily, the folks at record companies are more than happy to send out droves of end-of-year emails to try and remind you of their overlooked masterpieces.

It was one such email that alerted us to Al Green's latest record Lay It Down. The record caught our eye (aside from Green's obviously huge legacy) because it was produced by none other than The Roots' ?uestlove. For us here at HAD, The Roots have a special signifigance: When they backed Jay-Z on 2001's Unplugged, they drew us into hip-hop in a way that no other band had done before. Allowing hip-hop to escape the now-standard heavy studio production values and venture into the realm of completely live music was a move of total genius. As such, we had high hopes for the Green album: not only has Green made a self-proclaimed return to R&B, but with ?uestlove producing (which he also did for Jay-Z's record) it seemed like a solid bet that this record would deliver in a way that Green's hadn't in quite some time.

Thankfully, our suspicions were completely accurate. While the record does include some much-hyped duets with modern singers (John Legend, Corrine Bailey Rae), the thing that really makes it a fantastic record is just how vintage it sounds. The production yields not even the slightest hint of synths or drum machines, and the arrangements are laced with solid horn and string sections. In short, the record is a classic R&B record, in the best sense of the word. What's more, Green's voice is in top form, and if the years have done anything to affect his classic timbre, they've only served to make it warmer.

There are many reasons why hearing a record like this is such a treat: the realization that an R&B legend is still making it happen, and the fact that a modern hip hop artist is also a killer producer with insight into why genres need to be handled differently, to name two. But more than anything, it's great to hear an R&B album that has such a solid sense of soul and musicality. So much of the R&B material today is sickly-sweet and painfully smooth. Even much respected artists are releasing records that make us cringe a bit. They seem to lack personality and any real sense of generating a true musical groove and persona. By contrast, Lay It Down is the polar opposite: Green and ?uestlove have delivered a classic R&B album that transcends both its time and place by delivering something far more lasting: real music.

Stream: Al Green - Lay It Down

Coldplay's Prospekt's March Fails To Deliver

Coldplay's latest release dropped last Tuesday, and we have to admit that despite eating crow in regard to Viva La Vida, we were still looking at Prospekt's March with a high degree of skepticism. For one, the EP is a collection of B-Sides from the Vida recording sessions, which makes one wonder about the quality bar. For another, three out of the EP's eight tracks are "versions" of album tracks: "Life In Technicolor II", "Lost +" and "Lovers In Japan, (Osaka Sun Mix)". Still, Coldplay does have a decent track record with B-Sides, so we figured the best way to decide was to just go have a listen.

The EP really almost feels more like an alternate version of the record than a collection of B-Sides. It's nice to hear "Life In Technicolor" fleshed out with a full lyric, and "Rainy Day" manages to delve into some clearly Eno-influenced polyrhythms reminicent of his collaboration with John Cale. On the other hand, "Postcards From Far Away" barely qualifies as a full track, "Glass Of Water" is a pretty de rigueur Coldplay radio fodder, and the remix of "Lovers In Japan" is barely discernable from the original. "Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground" and "Prospekt's March / Poppyfields" are both perfectly passable tracks, but neither one really goes anywhere beyond the realm of quiet acoustic ditty. And, well, for those who actually thought it might work: "Lost +" featuring Jay-Z is completely and totally laugable. Nice try, guys.

In the end, our conclusion falls decidedly on the "less than necessary" side of the fence. The EP is definitely in the same vein as Vida, and works well as a companion to the record. But it offers little that is new. If you haven't gotten either yet, picking up the deluxe edition is an easy way to check it out. If you're considering picking up the EP by itself, you'll probably find yourself favoring the actual record most (if not all) of the time. It simply doesn't have one track that makes it a "must have", and in the end seems to be angled pretty aggressively in the "let's have something for the holidays" space. Ah, well. At least you can stream for free...

Stream: Coldplay - Prospekt's March

Land Of Talk: New Bass Player, West Coast Tour, Bottom Of The Hill In January

We've really been digging Land Of Talk's latest record, not to mention their debut EP. As such, we couldn't be happier to see that they're finally making it out West! The band will be starting out in their Canadian homeland, and then gradually making their way down the coast before bouncing back up to Vancouver for the final show of the tour. For you locals, that means a January 24th show at Bottom Of The Hill.

We also happened to spy a myspace blog entry from the band dated October 8th this morning. Apparently original bass player Chris McCarron has left the band (on good terms) to play guitar for The Dears, and Joe Yarmush has taken his place. You can get your full up close and personal intro to Joe Yarmush as he intros the video above. Silly times, kids. Silly times.

Land Of Talk Tour Dates 2009:
Jan 14 2009 Ebar (Zeroes & Little Scream) Guelph, Ontario
Jan 15 2009 Horseshoe Tavern (Zeroes & Little Scream) Toronto, Ontario
Jan 16 2009 The grad club (Zeroes & Little Scream) Kingston, Ontario
Jan 21 2009 High Dive Seattle, Washington
Jan 22 2009 Doug Fir porland, Oregon
Jan 23 2009 San Bond’s Eugene, Oregon
Jan 24 2009 Bottom of the Hill San Fransisco, California
Jan 26 2009 Casbah San Diego, California
Jan 28 2009 Spaceland Los Angeles, California
Feb 7 2009 Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver, British Columbia

New Frightened Rabbit Audio/Video: "Set You Free"

We're perfectly willing to admit that we're obsessed with Frightened Rabbit. Guilt factor = 0. What's that, you say? So obsessed that we'd be more than willing to post and enjoy their cover of cheesey dance songs? Yes, that obsessed.

"Set You Free" is to be released on Engine Room's Guilt By Association 2, along with a bunch of other questionably ironic cover tunes. Video above, audio below. Take your pick!

mp3: Frightened Rabbit - Set You Free (N-Trance Cover, click through)
Stream: Guilt By Association 2 (Full Record)

Wolfgang's Vault Has Classic Elvis Costello From San Francisco Circa 1978

We're going to assume, given that it's Thanksgiving week and all, that many of you will have a fair dose of free time on your hands over the coming days. Well, all things being equal, you may as well fill that time with some of the good tunage that's out there waiting for you. If you manage to tear yourself away from all the awesome new music out there, then we encourage you to take a step back and head over to Wolfgang's Vault. The always-awesome archive of Bill Graham's concerts is hosting an Elvis Costello & The Attractions show from 1978, and it's not to be missed. It's a recording from The Winterland right in the midst of Costello's pissed off young man phase, and the set is rife with the frustration and angst of his first two records. Highly recommended.

Stream - Elvis Costello Live At Winterland 06-07-1978