February 3, 2012 in 12, 2, 2b, 3, 31, 50, 9, a, acoustic, after, Again, Against, age, all, am, an, and, Are, as, at, away, ban, band, bands, Bass, beginning, book, brother, brothers, brown, Burn, but, by, ca, can, cat, center, Chant, charlie, City, classic, community, Crazy, Crowd, dance, does, Dust, en, Encore, end, Eve, expo, fee, fi, First, FOR, four, frank, Friend, From, front, gain, Genre, get, gin, glow, Good, great, Guitar, hampton, hi, How, ice, in, inspired, into, is, IT, IX, jam, John, kids, King, know, las, Last, late, Led, Like, live, live music, long, lot, love, MA, Main, metal, MI, mix, moon, Music, My, Nat, nc, New, News, night, no, ny, of, on, one, op, organ, out, PA, Part, Phish, play, player, Pop, pro, Pt, rain, raz, read, reggae, rock, room, row, rs, San Francisco, SC, set, show, Shows, So, Something, song, sound, SPAC, St, stage, start, Starting, stick, sticks, style, super, tab, That, the, to, tone, tour, track, Train, two, us, va, van, venue, vocal, WA, war, Waste, Way, ways, we, Weigh, with, words, years, You, Your, Zero |
Words & Images by: Annelise Poda
Authority Zero and Voodoo Glow Skulls :: 01.20.12 :: Slims :: San Francisco, CA
 Authority Zero by Annelise Poda |
Authority Zero and Voodoo Glow Skulls brought their co-headlining tour to Slim’s, and they rocked the place late into the night with their speedy, grinding guitar riffs and melodic, clear toned ska interludes. The weather on the night of this show was the classic San Francisco mixture of sudden wind and rain, and everyone arriving through the door fit somewhere on the scale of damp to soaking wet, and all very ready to warm up with a drink and some punk rock rowdiness. Ska is a genre that hasnt gotten a lot of love from the mainstream music industry in recent years, but the zealous enthusiasm of the crowd at Slims proved that the Bay Area punk scene is still packed with wild fanatics, singing the words to every song and getting sweaty while crashing into friends in the pit.
The nights mayhem began as an organ track of vampire inspired music played through the speakers as the six-members of the Voodoo Glow Skulls swaggered out onto the stage. They grabbed their instruments and shredded out the distorted, well-known riff of Ozzy Osbournes Crazy Train, and the crowd pushed to the front of the room and against each other, the beginning stages of a mosh pit already forming. The metal guitar was cut short as the Glow Skulls horn section came in and rushed the band away into their set. Frontman Frank Casillas jumped across the stage clad in a menacing Mexican wrestler mask, with his two brothers Eddie and Jorge Casillas flanking him on either side with their breakneck speed guitar and bass playing.
 Voodoo Glow Skulls by Annelise Poda |
The Voodoo Glow Skulls have had a lot of time to perfect their stage show after their formation in 1988, and they have since mastered the art of balancing great instrumentation with an intense stage presence. Frank constantly sang out Spanish and English lyrics in different styles, from choppy ska vocals to heartfelt, drawn out wails at song peaks. Jorges bass parts were my favorite part of the music, as he really utilized the whole fretboard and picked out winding, dynamic lines that drove the songs forward and pushed people to dance harder. Trumpet player Mark Bush and trombonist Brodie Johnson played fast and scaling notes in perfect unison, adding that raw, brassy element that bumps the tracks up to the next boisterous level. The audience was most excited about hearing Charlie Brown, Shoot the Moon, and the bands upbeat ska cover of I Wanna Be Like You from Disneys Jungle Book, which had everyone singing along. The band dedicated one of their last songs to Jose in the Slims kitchen for always cooking them great food when they came through the Bay Area, which I thought was one of the best dedications Ive heard at a show. He waved through the swinging door from the back as they rocked out in his honor.
Authority Zero wasted no time once they had set up on stage, starting right out with the heavy rocking crowd favorite A Passage in Time. The boundless energy of the bands deep voiced singer Jason DeVore contagiously hit the rest of the audience and both the band and their fans seemed to be fueled by Four Loko for the entire show as the surf punk tunes bled out from the stage. DeVores rich voice mellowed considerably during the few slower and more reggae influenced songs of the night, which provided a cool contrast to his usual forceful singing that spares no lungpower. He mentioned that this was their seventh show of a 50-date tour, and that his voice was already strained. He definitely does not hold back in any way, and its what makes people go so crazy at Authority Zero shows.
 Authority Zero by Annelise Poda |
Other popular songs were Over Seasons and their last song Superbitch, where DeVore gathered everyone who said it was their first show ever at the very front of the stage. He said that your first show experience is something that really sticks with you, and that he wanted to make it a memorable night, noting to one of the guys, You look terrified! Seeing those kids being pushed up to the front by their friends reminded me how great the feeling of community is amongst colliding strangers at punk shows, and when the band takes it upon themselves to make it a welcoming night for newcomers it heightens that happy, adrenaline-infused feeling exponentially.
The set ended and the crowd immediately started chanting for an encore. DeVore came back out and did a couple acoustic songs to promote their new live album, Less Rhythm More Booze (released January 31). DeVore demonstrated his lyrical prowess when singing the Irish drinking song Rattlin Bog, where he spat out words faster and impressively faster as the music progressed. Everyone clapped along and it was a great way to end the night while showing a different side to Authority Zero.
If this all sounds like a good time to you, theres a good chance this tour will be in your city on one of the many upcoming dates. So, grab your Vans slip-ons and get ready for a rowdy night in the pit with some great veteran ska-punk heavyweights.
Authority Zero Tour Dates :: Authority Zero News
Voodoo Glow Skulls Tour Dates :: Voodoo Glow Skulls News
JamBase | Bay Area
Go See Live Music!
Tags: acoustic, chant, charlie, crowd, dates, gain, kids, love, metal, Music, organ, super, van
February 2, 2012 in 10, 12, 2, 28, 3, 30, 9, a, Again, age, Also, am, an, and, as, at, ban, band, bands, Bass, big, brother, brothers, Burn, ca, can, cart, center, dead, dog, Dust, electric, en, Eve, fame, Famous, FEAT, fee, festival, FOR, frank, Free, Funk, gain, Gary, get, Ghost, GMA, hampton, hi, How, in, is, IT, IX, jam, jam band, Jr, July, June, las, life, MA, machine, MI, michigan, Mitchell, My, Nat, Nathaniel, nc, NJ, no, of, on, PA, Phish, Pt, rock, rs, SC, sci, Secret, show, Shows, So, solo, Soul, SPAC, St, steve, string, tab, talk, the, to, tub, Tv, us, va, van, WA |
CHEESE ONCE AGAIN ANCHORS WOODED REVELS IN MICHIGAN
The lineup for the jam band meets electronica gathering Electric Forest has been announced. The festival will take place June 28-July 1 in Rothbury, Michigan.
Electric Forest 2012 Lineup
 SCI |
* The String Cheese Incident (3 Shows)
* Bassnectar
* STS9 (2 Shows)
* Thievery Corporation
* Girl Talk
* Santigold
* Steve Aoki
* Ghostland Observatory
* Richie Hawtin
* Wolfgang Gartner
* Major Lazer
* The Travelin’ McCourys featuring Keller Williams
* Dada Life
* Big Gigantic
* Datsik
* Zeds Dead
* Rob Garza (Of Thievery Corporation)
* 12th Planet
* Borgore
* Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk
* Midnite
* MiMosa
* EOTO
* Das Racist
* Reggie Watts
* Paper Diamond
* Felix Cartal
* Gary Clark Jr.
* Balkan Beat Box
Lineup also includes:
Big Freedia, Nit GriT, The Infamous Stringdusters, Nickodemus, Chali 2na & the House of Vibe, Alvin Risk, The Soul Rebels, See-I, Glass Candy, Battles, Gramatik, Elephant Revival, Ursula 1000, Minnesota, Nobody Beats The Drum, Congo Sanchez, Fruit Bats, The M Machine, Chromatics, Pictureplane, AutoErotique, Nathaniel Rateliff, Adventure Club, Afrolicious, Virtual Boy, The Funk Ark, Franki Chan, Brothers Past, Crizzly, HOTTUB, Zoogma, Cherub, Frank Mitchell Jr., Knocks, Vau de Vire Society, Morning Teleportation, DrFameus, Robert Rich, Quixotic, Chuck Flask & Keith Kemp, DJ SOLO, Ataxia, The Crane Wives, Secrets, WALA, Human Agency
Tags: adventure-club, brothers-past, fame, famous, festival, hampton, house, jam, life, mitchell, soul, spac, tub
February 1, 2012 in 12, 17, 2, 28, 29, 3, 30, 50, 9, 99, a, age, all, am, an, and, Are, around, as, at, away, Bad, ban, band, bands, Bass, Bill, Billie, Bridge, Burn, but, by, ca, cat, center, Chalk, chris, classic, community, cream, dave, Day, denver, down, Drums, dry, en, end, Eve, expo, FEAT, fee, fi, First, FOR, frank, Friend, From, Funk, get, golden, Good, gordon, Guitar, hall, hampton, hi, home, How, ice, ice cream, in, is, IT, jam, jazz, key, Keys, King, know, las, Last, late, Led, Lee, let, light, lights, Like, LITTLE, live, live music, long, MA, MI, moon, Mr, Music, nc, New, NH, night, no, North, NV, ny, of, on, one, op, Open, opening, PA, Phish, photos, pro, Pt, return, Road, rock, room, row, rs, saturday, SC, second, set, Setlists, show, Shows, So, song, sound, SPAC, spring, St, stage, state, steve, stone, story, super, tab, That, the, times, to, tone, tour, two, uic, us, va, Valley, venue, view, WA, water, Way, we, Wednesday, Weekend, with, words, years, You, Your, zappa |
Words by: Andy Gadiel | Images by: Josh Miller (Saturday) & Bob Minkin (Sunday)
Steve Kimock & Friends :: 01.28.12-01.29.12 :: Sweetwater Music Hall :: Mill Valley, CA
Photo gallery below review and setlists!
 Steve Kimock @ Sweetwater by Josh Miller |
Live music returned to downtown Mill Valley this past weekend as the newly renovated Sweetwater Music Hall opened its doors to the public. Just a stone’s throw away from the old Saloon, the nightclub includes a state of the art Meyer sound system, a beautiful bar and decadent cafe featuring renowned chef-restaurateur Gordon Drysdale (see full write-up here). While located in an idyllic, sleepy town just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, the walls, lights and exposed ceiling make the Sweetwater Music Hall feel like it could be a late night jazz club on the lower east side of Manhattan. There is little doubt that this venue and music community center will quickly become a rite of passage for any sized touring artist passing through town, or local legends just looking to sync back up with their friends.
Steve Kimock christened the first weekend by inviting some of his longtime musical friends to join him for a stellar musical double header. Guest musicians included a core group of Bobby Vega (bass), Jeff Chimenti (keys) and Prairie Prince (drums) who were join by Tim Hockenberry the first night and Bob Weir, Dave Ellis and Ray White (Frank Zappa, KVHW) for night two. Weir’s guest appearance at Sunday night’s show was the first of what will likely be many special sit-ins at the new hometown club, as he’s not only a local but was instrumental in helping to re-launch the Sweetwater. Ray White has rejoined Kimock on stage a couple of times over the past few years in Denver, but last night represented the first time Bay Area fans were treated to the sounds of the KVHW classic songs in over a decade. Kimock’s history in the Bay Area is well known, and it felt ever-appropriate for the guitar virtuoso to host the first two night stand at the new club, elevating the room to a special level of musical master class that will set a tone and standard for future performances.
January 28 Setlist
Set I: Rigor Mortis, Ice Cream, Baby Baby, Severe Tire Damage, Anorexia, You’re the One
Set II: Cole’s Law > Tangled Hangers, 5b4 Funk, Feelin Alright, Berm, Hillbillies on PCP
January 29 Setlist
Set I: Nanas Chalk Pipe, Thing One*, Good Mornin Lil Schoolgirl*, Dark Star* > Scarlet Begonias*, Goin Down The Road Feeling Bad
Set II: Spring Water, Point of No Return, Merles Boogie/Superbad, Ring around the Moon, Shotgun House
E: Its Your Thing
*w/Bob Weir and Dave Ellis
Ray White sat in for the whole second set
Dave Ellis sat in for the whole second set except Spring Water
1/28/12 – 1/29/12 – Steve Kimock and Friends @ Sweetwater Music Hall (Mill Valley, CA) View Photos
JamBase | Mill Valley
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Tags: age, classic, denver, drums, Eve, friend, friends, Guitar, night, open, row, tab, uic