VZ Magazine

There was another very special concert at the South Coasts hottest new venue, the Carpinteria Plaza Playhouse on March 17^th. The sold out show featured guitar legend Robben Ford, collaborating with local singer songwriter Jonathan McEuen, and the Mahlis/Pano Project with Dan Lutz. The tiny 200 seat theater, which already benefits from the best acoustics of any venue in the tri-counties now boasts a new upgraded sound and lighting system.

The evening began early with the Mahlis/Pano Project trio opening. The brainchild of multi instrumentalist Dimitirs Mahlis, the band also featured drummer Toss Panos and upright Bassist, Dan Lutz. The trio played a short impressive jazz jam of original material with a strong mix of Middle Eastern and Western influences. After a short break, well known local crooner, Jonathan McEuen took the stage for a short acoustic set. A child musical prodigy, McEuen began touring at the age of 12, with his famous fathers group, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Since then McEuen has had many successful musical collaborations. The Dobro playing singer was in peak performing mode, perhaps because it was St Patricks Day. McEuen has sited Irish jig music, as one of the original inspirations for his unique approach to American Bluegrass music. The clever singer songwriter is also known for his sarcastic wit as well as his musical abilities. When announcing that Robben Ford was about to join him onstage, he quipped that they always make him play acoustic in the venue but Ford gets to play Electric guitar. Sure enough, with the new sound system in place, this was one of the first fully amplified shows at the venue. McEuen himself, actually picked up and electric guitar and the two ax-men immediately began trading wailing riffs. The guitar duo were backed up by the opening acts, Panos on drums and Lutz on bass. Robben Ford, a self described harbinger of Blues music has been a musical force for five of the six decades that he has been alive. He has been a professional guitar player as far back as 1969, when his band with his brothers, the Charles Ford Blues Band, got a gig backing Charlie Musselwhite on a national tour. The Southern California Blues master, has long been a favorite of European fans of American Blues. In Europe he met many famous American jazz musicians. In 1976, Ford began to experiment with Jazz Fusion music which led him to many legendary collaborations, including a short stint with Miles Davies. But his guitar wizardry stretched across many other pop genres including hard rock. After contributing to the 1982 Kiss album “Creatures of The Night”, the band had asked him to replace lead guitarist Ace Frehley, who had left the band. Ford preferred to take a more hands off collaborative approach to the Kiss project, however and continued to experiment. His music catalog today is one of the most extensive of any recorded musician. Always evolving he has concentrated his recent energy on what he calls the new era of evolving Blues. The quartet in the old Carpinteria movie house on march 17^th proved a fitting platform for Ford to showcase his talents. McEuen and the other musicians held their own with the masterful musician by their side, as they performed iconic slices from Fords extensive library. The foursome sounded a bit like the Eagles but with a more free form jam band feel, sometimes bordering on the jazz fusion sound that Ford long ago embraced. The vocal harmonies between Ford and McEuen melted into a unique and refreshing sound that riveted the audience throughout the entire set.

This new venue is fast becoming one of the hottest tickets in the area. For more information on upcoming shows at the Carpinteria Plaza Playhouse http://www.plazatheatercarpinteria.com

Oh, Sub Pop. For one of the best record labels in the world, your fans have pretty closed minds. You started out as the masters of innovation in the ‘80s, putting out Nirvana’s first record two years before they changed pop music and inventing indie-rock clichés before they came to define the best music of the 21^st century. Over time, you’ve become one of the best, although less innovative, labels around, producing great acts like Beach House and Avi Buffalo. So, yes, your status as a guitar-rock label has won you fans, critical love, and cred. What happens when you try to expand your horizons?

Well, if the reaction to Sub Pop’s newly-signed act Spoek Mathambo influences them, I wouldn’t say Sub Pop is going to try something new anytime soon. Their Youtube video for “Put Some Red on It,” the best song on Mathambo’s new record, has 69 likes and 55 dislikes. For a Youtube video, that’s the equivilant of a bomb. Commenters say it’s awful. Commenters say it’s out of tune. Commenters say it’s the worst thing Sub Pop has ever released. Commenters don’t know what they’re talking about.

To be fair, later Mathambo videos on the Sub Pop channel have higher ratings, but the initial reaction says a lot about indie culture. Why do the same people who praise Beach House for being different than the mainstream attack “Put Some Red on It” for being different? Father Creeper is an extremely well-done album, one that experiments with sounds in a way that other Sub Pop acts would never dare to. I do love plenty of Sub Pop bands, but they don’t exactly have a wide-range. Even Avi Buffalo, who I considered the best new group of 2010, tend to stick to a specific sound. Spoek Mathambo, meanwhile, does so many different things on Father Creeper that it seems like a career-spanning compilation album. Even pinning down a genre is tough. It’s, for the most part, an electro album, but it’s also rap, and there’s an absence of electronic drums. And there are guitars. Lots of guitars.

The opening track, “Kites,” is confusing. It’s rock, electro, and rap’s love child, and that love child is bi-polar. At five-minutes long, this track leaves a lot of room to grow on you during your first listen. I quickly became accustomed to the sound at around two-minutes in and, by the end of it, I’d already gotten to love the originality and sound of the song. It’s followed by “Venison Fingers” which, despite being shorter (two minutes and forty seconds), has a lot of dynamics that are easy to miss on your first listen.

Strange dynamics and mixing of styles can often turn out to be a mess. Like a lot of things in music, this type of experimentation can often seem like an attempt at tricking the audience, and getting them to see you as an innovator. Spoek Mathambo does it well, though, because his lyrical themes (often very dark and disturbing, as on the closing track, “Grave”) and vocals fit the bizarreness. This isn’t an album that is weird for the sake of weird; it’s weird because it wouldn’t work any way else. Every song has meaning and, for once, the sound is shaped by the meaning, and not the other way around.

Sub Pop will probably continue putting out some of the best guitar music around, and I applaud them for that. But, Father Creeper shows that they’re capable of more. Maybe, eventually, the next big thing will, once again, get their start at Sub Pop.

Vans Warped Tour 2012

Founder Kevin Lyman Throws Massive Pre Party

For Lucky Music Fans at Club Nokia.

L. Paul Mann

The Vans Warped Tour 2012 was officially unveiled at a huge party, on March 29^th at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. While Lakers fans were swarming the Staples center across the street, young rock fans were lining up for a marathon blow out party at the luxurious club. The event kicked off early with a press conference attended by global media and offering up a swarm of musical performers scheduled for this years tour. The tour will also go England for the first time this summer. Frenzied interviews with founder Kevin Lyman and the various performers took place, amidst a bombardment of Vans swag, and fueled by a full bar. Lyman has been criticized in the pat for putting such a huge corporate face on one of the longest running music festivals in the country. In fact, with each one of the nine stages sponsored by a different corporation, and Vans the crowing sponsor, the festival is one of the biggest corporate sponsorships in the music industry today. But, in reality, Lyman has been able to ingeniously get the top echelons to sponsor one of the most socialist and artistically free expressions of modern music on the planet. At the same time he has given a launching platform for up and coming independent new bands, that exists nowhere else in the music world. Rock music in general is one of the most corporately controlled entities in the world today. Typical live music shows program fans when to sit when to stand and when to leave a venue, offering up live performances with the same vigor as a Saturday afternoon matinee. Add to that ticket prices that disenfranchise most of the youthful fans that wish to attend and many shows end up with an underwhelmed crowd of pompous boring patrons. But Vans Warped Tours harkens back to the earlier days of live rock shows that were adventurous, unpredictable, and at times even dangerous events, where true young music fans could express themselves in complete freedom. The Warped Tour has also become a social experiment of sorts, where musicians from many different genres of music are forced to work together as a cooperative.

For young music fans at the Nokia Club, the festivities kicked off early with a premiere of the documentary film “No Room For A Rock Star”, by Santa Barbara filmmaker Stacey Peralta. The film eloquently illustrates the social experiment on the road where a cooperative democracy exists with the bands on the tour. The film also portrays the pure joy and passion that young music fans have for the festival. For many young American music fans, the Warped Tour ii their first experience with a live music event. The tour, which features over 90 bands this year, on no less than eight stages, immerses young fans in a sea of eclectic performances, which this year includes music from hip hop, rap , reggae, dub step, and rockabilly. But it is the hard rock, metal, and punk acts that have always been the glue that holds the tour together. In a sea of frenzied fans, there are scantily clad young crowd surfers, slam dancers, and stage divers, that would make any normal venue security cringe. The Warped Tour offers up one of the most uninhibited environments for dancing fans to celebrate the music. Young fans also stand in long lines to have their swag signed by most any of the music celebrities on the tour. The bands loyally endure long hours at the signing tents to please the enraptured young fans.

After the film, young fans quickly swarmed the stage for a six band marathon of diverse Warped tour performers. Opening the show was a young band from the remote desert town of 29 Palms, Forever Came Calling.

Featured in the movie, “No Room For A Rockstar”, the band is a classic Vans Warped Tour success story. The young group of dedicated musicians spent one summer relentlessly following the tour in their van across the country. They camped out in front of each show, trying to sell people their CD and sign a petition to get them a spot on the the tour. Their relentless and exhausting efforts were finally rewarded with a one shot slot on the tour which led to their break through as professional touring band. Their short opening set was well received by the young crowd. Matt Toka and his band followed with an explosive extended set, showcasing this animated singer songwriters skills as a seasoned performer. The crowd responded ecstatically launching into the first full slam dance mosh pit of the night during his opening song. Since his debut with his original band Cherry Monroe, in 2005, the young singer from Youngstown, Ohio, has already become a veteran song writer. His musical style shaped by his gritty personal life growing up in “Murder City”, is an amalgamation of all things revered by most Warped Tour music fans, including metal, punk, and classic hard rock. Backed by an impressive hard rocking band, Toka kept frenzied fans entertained throughout the extended set. The third act to perform at the pre party, may be the next big breakthrough in pop music. Dead Sara performed the most musically intense set of the evening, sounding a bit like Led Zeppelin with a female singer, or a pair of female singers to be precise. The four piece band plays classic Indy hard rock jam music and is fronted by explosively animated singer and guitar player, Emily Armstrong. The enthralling performer prances about the stage, writhes on the floor, and jumps from speaker tops, all while wailing like a 70's rock star in an outdoor stadium concert. It is easy to overlook the comparatively demure Siouxsie Medley, who also exhibits remarkable vocal skills, while laying down wailing lead guitar riffs. The male rhythm section composed of bassist Chris Null and drummer, Sean Friday, complete this powerhouse quartet, most likely destined for a chart topping assault on pop music in the future.

The two surprise acts for the evening were both well known veterans of passed Warped tours, and both have returned to the spotlight after recent hiatuses. Yellowcard, can trace their roots back to 1997, as a band from Jacksonville Florida. The band returned to playing in 2010, after a two year break. The band distinguished themselves with their own brand of pop punk highlighted by their integration of a violinist. Members of the band including singer guitarists, Ryan Key and Ryan Mendez and violinist, Sean Mackin, played a soothing acoustic set. The Used, another veteran band of the warped tour was also coming out of a tumultuous hibernation period. The hard rocking band, who revel in the fact that they are hard to define in any particular hard rock genre, are poised to play their first significant summer tour since 2010. In the decade since the band was founded the group has sold well over 3 million records worldwide and their explosive and unpredictable live shows have become legend

in the alternative rock world. Fans responded emphatically to the bands short intense set. As the midnight hour approached, the final act of the evening, the Las Vegas screamo band Falling In Reverse, hit the stage. Fronted by lead singer Ronnie Radke, formerly in the band, Escape The Fate, this fast rising new group is reminiscent of The Ramones with their simplistic and witty anthem rock approach to Indy rock. It was obvious by the frenzied response, that this was the band that many of the youngest rockers in the crowd came to see. Led by the animated anamorphic expressions of the bombastic Radke, the crowd swirled in a frenzy, like a mas of mice following the pied piper. The band laid down strong solid music and the party ended in a sweaty dance craze, nearly seven hours after it began.

Tickets for the Vans Warped tour are now on sale for just $35.00, with the closest venue, The Ventura Fairgrounds, occurring on June 24^th, The venue is one of the favorites for many of the veteran performers on the tour for many reasons. These include the cool summer sea breezes, and the location right on surfers point allowing many to actually go surfing during the stop. Other Southern California dates include: Irvine June 21^st, and Pomona June 22^nd.

Bonnie Raitt is an interesting artist, albeit one I’ve often been critical of. She began recording in the early ‘70s, and became a critical darling with albums like Give It Up and Takin’ My Time. Over time, she became more commercially successful and, by 1990, she had an album at the top of the charts. Still, even with the critical acclaim and the public love, I’ve often been wary of Raitt. Her new album, however, may be the best she’s ever released.

On Slipstream, Raitt’s new record, she seems very comfortable, mixing country and blues as well as she ever has. Something’s different, though. I didn’t really understand what I found so appealing about this album until, while listening to it, I got into a conversation with my mom about Lucinda Williams. When we were done talking, I realized how much Slipstream sounds like Gravel Road-era Williams. When I made that comparison, the album made a lot more sense to me.

Raitt covers two Bob Dylan songs on Slipstream: “Million Miles” “Standing in the Doorway.” The Dylan covers are what everybody’s talking about, and for a good reason. Dylan covers don’t seem to be prevalent as much as they used to so, when somebody pulls one off, it’s magical. Not only do her covers sound good, though, but they’re also fitting. “Million Miles” and “Standing in the Doorway” were two highlights of Time Out of Mind, Dylan’s comeback album after years of disappointments. If Raitt didn’t know she was recording her best album in years (or, as far as I’m concerned, ever), she wouldn’t have picked such perfect choices.

Slipstream does have its flaws, though. Over-length is the biggest problem. Complaining about over-length is annoying, I know, but if a 12-track album is going to be 57 minutes long, it has to prove every one of those minutes worthwhile. Take Dr. John, who just put of the best album of his career (and the first perfect album of 2012). Whenever a song on that album went over the four minute mark, it felt like it deserved to. The songs on Slipstream too often feel like they’re over-staying their welcome, especially “Ain’t Gonna Let You Go,” the least memorable track on the album and one that, for some reason, is nearly six minutes long.

Still, when you get past the length, Slipstream is quite an enjoyable record. Raitt feels right at home, and her confidence with the material shows. Best track: “Marriage Made in Hollywood.”

This year, some of shoegaze and psychedelic music's biggest names are releasing new albums, and are embarking on lengthy tours.  Here are three tours and album releases that bring assurance that shoegaze rock is not dead:

BAND: Brian Jonestown Massacre
ALBUM: Aufheben
RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2012
TOUR: World Tour
SHOWS: 52

http://www.brianjonestownmassacre.com



BAND: Dandy Warhols
ALBUM: The Machine
RELEASE DATE: April 24, 2012
TOUR: Europe/North American Tour
SHOWS: 30

http://www.dandywarhols.com/



BAND: Spiritualized
ALBUM: Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
RELEASE DATE: April 17, 2012
TOUR: Europe/ North American Tour
SHOWS: 30

http://www.spiritualized.com/