Rooney announces tour with Eisley, coming to Carrboro

Good time, California pop band Rooney are gearing up for a run of dates in early 2011 to support their latest album Eureka and will be bringing the Texas family pop band Eisley along for the trip.

The tour will stop at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Saturday, February 19. Tickets for the show go on sale on Friday, December 3 via etix for $15.

Eureka is Rooney's first album since parting ways Geffen Records. Check out the feel good, roller skating music video for the song "I Can't Get Enough" below. If you're allergic to sugary pop, you've been warned.

Hanson and Rooney team up for tour, coming to Raleigh

After all these years, the Mmmbopping Oklahoma trio Hanson is still at it. The group has a considerably smaller, yet still fervent following that keeps them going. With that sentiment, they have a new album titled Shout It Out due out on June 8 which will be followed by a month long tour with opening act Rooney.

The tour will bring the bands to Raleigh's Lincoln Theatre on Saturday, July 31. Tickets will go on sale Friday, April 30 via etix for $28.

Rooney has a new album coming out on June 8 too. It's titled Eureka and will be the band's first since parting ways with Geffen Records. Follow the link below to download the song "I Don't Wanna Lose You" from the new album.

Jay Sean, Flogging Molly & more coming to Duke

UNC has already lined up an awesome line-up for it's last day of classes party and Duke has a big party planned to, but is far more mainstream, as it tends to be (past headliners have included Ben Folds, The Roots and Kanye West).

This year Jay Sean will headline the big event on April 28 and I have to admit his hit song "Down" is damn catchy. Other performers will include Flogging Molly, Rooney and Big D & the Kids Table. There will be daytime sets too, but those haven't been announced yet.

The Polyphonic Spree liven up Cat's Cradle

You can't say The Polyphonic Spree don't know how to open a show.

The 22-person group opened their show at Cat's Cradle Tuesday night in a particularly grand fashion. After raising a makeshift red curtain to block view of the stage during setup, frontman Tim DeLaughter made his first appearance to the audience by cutting a heart-shaped hole in the center of the "curtain"

The show was truly great from start to finish, though I’ll admit I didn’t enjoy it as much as my last Spree show, which I enjoyed from right near the stage. This time I avoided the crush and stood by the sound board and I must admit there’s something to be said for standing in the middle of a crowd as they go absolutely crazy, singing, dancing and flailing around.

A Polyphonic Spree show definitely qualifies not as a show but as a “concert experience,” with confetti cannons being shot off at random and a literal army of people on stage.

Songs like “Hanging Around the Day” and “Soldier Girl” truly came alive on stage, though I think the highlight of the evening (for me at least) was the band’s cover of Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die.”

“We all reminisce,” DeLaughter said following the song. “Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad and sometimes it’s downright scary.”

I’m guessing that when the Spree reminisce, it’s almost always good.

But The Polyphonic Spree wasn’t the only great band that evening. In a rare moment of concert greatness, I was actually looking forward to all three bands on the bill that night, and they didn’t disappoint.

The Redwalls opened the show with a bang with their late-60s inspired rock and roll. The group played a short set mainly containing material from their new album that seemed to make a fan of everyone in the room.

Fronted by brothers Logan and Justin Baren, The Redwalls combine the best of Brit pop and good old fashioned rock ‘n roll grit. It’s no wonder Liam Gallagher once said they’re the only new band he likes.

Rooney, in their second Cat's Cradle appearance since July, made all the girls scream with their poppy love songs and California hipster vibe.

Frontman Robert Schwartzman (full name Robert Coppola Schwartzman, and yes he’s related to all the people you think he is) definitely knows how to play to the group’s fan base, asking the crowd “How many of you are in school?” (about half the audience raised their hands) getting the audience to clap and sing along and making sure to tell them the names of all their songs.

Rooney seemed to have developed a, uh, playful relationship with the band and crew for Polyphonic Spree. About two-thirds through Rooney’s set, a crew member for the Spree approached the sound board and asked the engineer “So should I cook his ass with the spotlight for a while?” Schwartzman may have squinted a bit for the following three songs, but at least we could see him a little better!

Set Lists

The Polyphonic Spree

Section 22: Running Away
Hanging Around the Day
Section 23: Get Up and Go
It's the Sun
Section 12: Hold Me Now
Section 30: Watch Us Explode (Justify)
Live and Let Die
Section 29: Light to Follow
Section 24: The Fragile Army
Section 26: We Crawl
Section 32: The Championship
Encore:
Lithium
When the Fool Becomes a King
Soldier Girl

The Redwalls

Hangman
Love Her
Put Us Down
Game of Love
They are Among Us
Falling
Build a Bridge
Been Done Before

Rooney
Blueside
Don't Come Around Again
Calling The World
Daisy Duke
Believe In Me
Tell me Soon
I'm a Terrible Person
Runaway (Del Shannon cover)
Are You Afraid of Me
I Should've Been After You
Our Love
All In Your Head
Shakin'
When Did Your Heart Go Missing

[all photos by Kevin Norris]

Symphonic pop, California rock and Chicago swagger coming to the Cradle

One of the best tours of the fall just added a stop at the Cat's Cradle. The Polyphonic Spree, Rooney and The Redwalls will play the Cradle on November 13.

The Polyphonic Spree are touring in support of their third album, The Fragile Army, released in June. The Spree played the Cat's Cradle in May, just before the release of the album to preview new songs and play old favorites. Check out the review here.

Rooney is also touring in support of a new album. Their second full-length, Calling the World, was released in July. Just like The Polyphonic Spree, Rooney stopped by the Cat's Cradle in June, just prior to the release of their new record, to play a headline show in the midst of a tour with Fergie. Check out the review here.

Last but certainly not least, Chicago's The Redwalls will start the show. The Redwalls will release their third album, a self-titled record, October 23 via their new label Mad Dragon. The band's last record, De Nova, was released via Captiol Records, but like most good bands, they have moved to an indie to kick-start their career.

Both The Polyphonic Spree and Rooney pulled sizable yet very different crowds earlier this year while all the local colleges were out for the summer. It's safe to say that this show will most likely sell out, so get your tickets early.

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The Polyphonic Spree, Rooney and The Redwalls will play the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Tuesday, November 13. Doors will open at 8 p.m. and the show will start at 8:45 p.m. Tickets will $15 in advance and $18 the day of the show (if there are any left). Tickets will be on sale via etix.com. There's no on-sale date yet.

Review: Rooney at Cat's Cradle

California pop group Rooney came to town and along with them hordes of screaming fans. At first it was a bit disconcerting to see my favorite local venue transformed in to the set of TRL, but it was actually quite refreshing to see people actually get excited at a concert — even if it meant I wish I'd brought ear plugs.

The band, gearing up to release a new album July 17, played a nearly even mix of material off their 2003 self-titled release and their forthcoming album, Calling all the World.

In their new material, including songs "When Did Your Heart Go Missing," "Are You Afraid" and "Tell Me," the group sounds as if they were literally hit over the head with all things 80s — and I mean that in the best way possible.

As if to cement their appreciation for the decade, Rooney entered the stage to the theme from Beverly Hills Cop.

In all, the show reminded me how much I like the songs off their self-titled debut. This group represents pop rock at its purest and, dare I say, its best.

[photos by Kevin Norris]