Record collectors show coming to Raleigh

Have you been searching the used bins at CD Alley or Schoolkids for years looking for one certain record or CD? Search no more.

A CD and record collector show is coming to Raleigh on Sunday, March 11. According to a press release, the show will cover "nearly all genres of music" and include new release CDs, music collectibles, vinyl LPs and 45s. Vendors will buy, sell and trade and some collectors even come with "unwanteds" from their collection to trade with others in attendance.

If you want to check it out, head on over to the Holiday Inn at Crabtree Valley Mall (at Glenwood Ave. and the I-440 beltline) next Sunday, March 11 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free and a portion of the sales generated will be donated to Alzheimer's research.

If you're feeling impatient or are in the mood for a little road trip, the show will be in Greensboro Saturday, March 10, at the Holiday Inn Express, located at I-40/85 and E. Lee Street, exit 128/41, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Death Cab front man brings rare solo performance to the Cradle

Death Cab For Cutie frontman, Ben Gibbard, will play a rare solo show in the Triangle. The show will be on May 11 at the Cat's Cradle. Gibbard will bring friends David Bazan (formerly of Pedro the Lion) and Johnathan Rice with him.

Tickets will go on sale on March 2 at 9 am. They will be available through etix.com for $20. Get them before they're gone, because they'll go fast.


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John Mayer coming to Walnut Creek

John Mayer's Continuum Summer Tour, announced today, will make a stop at Raleigh's Walnut Creek Amphitheatre on July 31.

The 37-stop tour kicks off June 1 in Ridgefield, WA and will continue through August 8 in West Palm Beach, Fla. Ticket info has yet to be announced.


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Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes bares it all

Anyone going to Of Montreal's March 5 show at Cat's Cradle may end up getting more than what they paid for.

You may remember from our gallery of the group's Duke performance that front man Kevin Barnes doesn't really like clothes. But he took that a step further at a recent show in Las Vegas when he went naked for about half a dozen songs while porn played on the video monitors.

I guess not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Pitchfork has the photographic evidence, but I'll warn you that these pictures are very NSFW!!

Tickets to Of Montreal's show are still on sale, $12 in advance, $14 day of show, through Etix.


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Van Halen: Not ready to make nice

Surprisingly, there are many things we can all learn from rock stars. Today let's look at a chapter from the book of Van Halen entitled "Quitting While You're Ahead."

As some of you may have heard, it was rumored that Van Halen's reunion tour — starring David Lee Roth, not that weird guy with a perm — would kick off in North Carolina this summer. However, before one tour date was ever officially announced, the band scrapped the whole thing. According to Pollstar, the tour is "officially postponed indefinitely."

We can apply this lesson to this summer's Police reunion tour. The band is scheduled to do one leg in the U.S., head abroad and then come back to the states for a second leg of the tour. Hopefully they'll come somewhere near North Carolina before they realize they're not that good of friends after all and cancel the rest of the tour.


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The Comas "Red Microphones" from Spells

Check out "Red Microphones," the first song released from The Comas upcoming album Spells. The track is a departure from the somber, dark tones of the band's last album, Conductor. The song has a strong chorus hook and driving guitars that the whole family can enjoy.

Spells will be released via Vagrant Records on April 17.

http://www.thecomas.com/media/noises/Red_Microphones.mp3

Flaming Lips coming to Raleigh

The Flaming Lips announced plans for a short tour through the south in April. The tour will include a stop at the Disco Rodeo in Raleigh on April 18.

The news of the tour follows the band's two Grammy wins Sunday night. They won the award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

Ticket information is not available yet, but keep an eye out here and on the calendar for more information on the show.

UPDATE: Tickets to the show are $35 go on sale this Friday, Feb.23, through Etix. will be $35 through Etix.

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Review: Dave Rawlings Machine at Cat's Cradle

Several years ago I wrote in a review that somewhere inside Dave Rawlings hides a rock god. Well folks, I stand corrected, because it looks like the real Dave Rawlings has come out to play.

Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt — a stark difference from his usual concert attire of a suit and dress shirt — Rawlings took the stage as the Dave Rawlings Machine Sunday night at Cat's Cradle with Gillian Welch providing backup.

The duo played two sets of songs familiar to most in the crowd, including Ryan Adams' "To Be Young," (co-written by Rawlings) Bob Dylan's "Queen Jane Approximately" the old standard "Big Rock Candy Mountain" and even Cyndi Lauper's 80s classic "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." No, seriously — and it was fantastic.

It's an inspiring thing to watch Rawlings play, if you want the sappy truth of the matter. As an audience member, you're never quite sure what he's going to do when he takes over for a solo, his body writhing behind his guitar and his fingers straining. But you also get the feeling he's not quite sure either as his face is in a near constant state of wonderment.

Gillian helped explain the "bemused" looks on both their faces at one point during the show after Dave had thrown her off with a song they'd never played. (There's no set list for these shows by the way, it's all spur of the moment.)

"We're still not quite sure what this machine does," Gillian said. "So when we finish a song I think, 'Oh! Cool, we know that one.'"

But even if they'd messed up, the two were having too good a time to care.

The Dave Rawlings Machine doesn't have any future local dates scheduled, but if you're intrigued, head on down to Charlotte Thursday night, Feb. 15, to see the two play at the Neighborhood Theatre.

Third time's the charm?

That's what owners of Raleigh Music Hall may be hoping. The club, which only reopened about a year ago after its former life as Martin Street Music Hall, has closed its doors once more. (We'd been wondering why their website recently vanished.) Owner Rob Farris cited a "bad lease situation."

In other not-so-good news on the local scene, King's Barcade, a couple blocks away on McDowell Street, will close in April.

Their building is being torn down to make way for a parking deck and shiny new condominiums. Owners are taking tips for a new location at kingsbarcade@mindspring.com.

Both of these clubs are, of course, in the shadow of the construction zone caused by the "new and improved" Fayetteville Street and demolished convention center. Hmm, you think there's a connection there?

As the only local venue where I can play Pole Position between sets, I'm sad to see King's go and hope they'll find a new home soon. In the meantime, let's all get out and support the clubs that are left.

More big shows in the Triangle

There are more big shows coming to the Triangle and near-by. Here's a few of the stand-out shows.

• The Shins at the Millenium Center (Winston-Salem, NC) - March 10 - tickets on sale February 13
• Butch Walker & the Let's-Go-Out-Tonites! at Lincoln Theatre - Mar 22 - ticket info TBA
  
• Sean Lennon at Cat's Cradle - April 6 - tickets on sale February 17 at 10:00 am

Tickets for all of the above shows are or will be on sale via etix.com. For more information on new shows, check out the Triangle Music calendar. It's updated daily, so check back regularly for new additions.

Ozzfest 2007 to be dubbed "FreeFest"

One of the largest summer festival tours will offer free tickets to fans this year in an attempt to bring in a larger audience.

Ozzfest, known for Ozzy Osbourne's crowd-mooning-antics and also for launching bands like Linkin Park and Incubus, will be dubbed "FreeFest" this year, as announced yesterday by Sharon Osbourne.

"We're reaching the same point we did years ago when kids no longer wanted to pay for overpriced CDs," Sharon Osbourne said. "As a result, they found alternative ways of getting music. That's what's happening with summer touring in this country, it's out-pricing itself."

"This will change everybody’s impression of the way touring in the summer in America should be," Sharon said.

That's for sure.

Since the money's gotta come from somewhere, Ozzfest founders, tour producer LiveNation and various sponsors will band together to underwrite the costs.

To get tickets, fans will go to www.ozzfest.com or www.livenation.com to find links that will direct them to special sponsor sites where tickets can be secured.

The 25 city tour will kick off July 7 in Los Angeles and move on to San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Charlotte, Atlanta, West Palm Beach, Nashville. A final list of confirmed cities and dates will be announced later.


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Oh yes, there's more on Annuals

Annuals have a UK only EP entitled Big Zeus out now. It's not available here in the States (except via import which is quite pricey), but here's an mp3 on one of the songs. It's called "Easy My Mind."

Also, the band recently recorded an acoustic live session and an interview for the AOL podcast, The Interface. Stream/download that performance HERE or on iTunes. It features the songs "Dry Clothes," "Ease My Mind," Ida, My" and "Bleary Eyed."

It never ends.


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