3/31 NEW RELEASES

Silverstein - Shipwreck in the Sand - (MySpace Link)
Filter - The Very Best Things (1995-2008) - (MySpace Link)

The Used in Omaha May 11th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May 11th, 2009
Sokol Auditorium
7:00 p.m.
$20
Advance Tickets:
All Ticketmaster Locations or ticketmaster.com or HuntIndustries.com

SOKOL AUDITORIUM WEBSITE: www.sokolunderground.com/

3/24 NEW RELEASES

Blue October - Approaching Normal (MYSPACE LINK)
PaPa Roach - Metamorphosis (MYSPACE LINK)
Beep Beep - Enchanted Islands (MYSPACE LINK)



Mastodon - Crack the Skye (MYSPACE LINK)

DevilDriver in OMAHA May 15th!

The DD boys will be back in Omaha but it happens to be on the same day as the Music as a Weapon Tour with Distrubed, Killswitch Engage, Lacuna Coil & Chimaira. Yikes!


MORE DATES TO BE ADDED TO THE DD TOUR

4/09 - The Pearl Room - Mokena, IL
4/28 - The Marquee - Tulsa, OK
4/30 - Southgate House - Newport, KY
5/01 - Alrosa Villa - Columbus, OH
5/02 - Harpo's - Detroit, MI
5/07 - Peabody's Downunder - Cleveland, OH
5/08 - The Emerson Theater - Indianapolis, IN
5/15 - Sokol Hall - Omaha, NE
5/16 - Marquis Theatre - Denver, CO
5/17 - Gator's Bar And Grill - Farmington, NM

Keep an eye on Sokol Underground's website for more information as it becomes available. www.sokolunderground.com/

KORN in Grand Island April 30th, 2009!

Yep. That's right. Korn will be making a stop on the island.

Thursday - April 30th @ 7:00 pm
Tickets go on sale Friday - March 27th ~ 10:00 a.m.at the Heartland Events Center TICKET OFFICE.

HEARTLAND EVENT CENTER WEBSITE - LINK

[Image via KORN official website - link]

1% Productions: Upcoming Shows to Note

I received my email update from 1% today. Here are a few from the list to make note of:

Tuesday, March 24th @ The Waiting Room
Hed PE with Dirtball, Mower, and DGAF

Tuesday, March 31st @ Sokol Auditorium
The Faint with Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship and UUVVWWZ

Wednesday, April 1st @ Slowdown
Railroad Earth with Split Lip Rayfield

Friday, April 3rd @ Sokol Auditorium
Blue October with Ours

Saturday, April 4th @ Sokol Auditorium
Blue October with Ours

Thursday, April 9th @ Slowdown
Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band with Mal Madrigal and Capgun Coup

Monday, April 13th @ Holland Performing Arts Center
Death Cab For Cutie with Cold War Kids and Ra Ra Riot

Wednesday, April 22nd @ Sokol Auditorium
Dragonforce with Cynic and Daath

Friday, April 24th @ The Waiting Room
Maria Taylor with The Whispertown 2000

Friday, May 8th @ Sokol Auditorium - 89.7 The River Presents
Opeth with Enslaved

Monday, May 11th @ Slowdown
Mogwai

Sunday, May 24th @ Sokol Auditorium
Taking Back Sunday with Anberlin and Envy On The Coast

Sportin' the Disturbed Hat

The Venaculas/Emphatic show Friday was awesome. The bands did an incredible job. The crowd was awesome. I met a ton of great new people and had many laughs.

This hat kept being put on my head so I took a photo for prosperity. LOL! Good times.

A Few Pictures from The Dreaming & Shinedown Shows

Myself & Jinxx from The Dreaming


Myself & Brent from The Dreaming


Myself & Halestorm: (Joe Hottinger (guitar), Lzzy Hale (guitar, lead vocals), Arejay Hale (drums) & Josh Smith (bass)


Brent Smith (Shinedown)


Eric Bass (Shinedown)


Check out all the pics:
The Dreaming/Trust Co./Salute The Dawn/Section Eight/Labeled/Evicted - Album

Shinedown/Saliva/Halestorm - Album

[ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY MY FRIEND JESSA (Simply Jem Photography)]

Corey Taylor's (Slipknot) New Dark Night Tatt

Listen to Dredg's New Single

Listen to "Saviour" - LINK

[Image via Internet]

Cursive Q&A & Letterman Performance

Alternative Press Magazine has a Q&A up with Tim Kasher of Cursive - LINK.


Check out Cursive's Letterman performance:


Cursive's MySpace: LINK

[Photo via internet. Image by Tonya Howell]

Simple But True View of the Music Industry Today

I have read and experienced a couple of things in the past few weeks that have made me feel a sadness towards this plummeting music industry. What's great, despite the doom and gloom, is that there will always be music. These talented gems that write pieces that touch us or help us through hard times aren't going away. It's our turn to show them our appreciation.

Realizing we all are amidst tough times these days, one doesn't have to fork over $50 for a hoodie if they can't. That said I am sure everyone could slip $1 into the tip jug that so many artists have at their merch tables. That Morgan & Coke your downing cost you at least $3.75, I think you could spare one more dollar to thank the artist you came to see for moving you in whatever way they have to get you to come see them live. Ya know? Simple.

Take a second and read Alternative Press President Mike Shea's blog post: www.altpress.com/specials/blog/mike/2009/03/why-is-it.html

I tried to find this next piece online, but was unsuccessful, so if you have some extra dosh and can pick up the April 2009 issue of Alternative Press you will find and interesting OP-ED article that Amanda Palmer (of Dresden Dolls fame) wrote concerning artists making money creatively in these different times.

Another person that has great insight on the industry (that I wish the suits would listen to) is Bob Lefsetz. If you don't subscribe to his newsletter, you should. It can be somewhat spammy, but the gems he puts out are worth it. I promise!!! Here are a few posts I found particularly insightful. Take the time to read them:
--THE FUTURE
--DOING BUSINESS
--SAVING THE MUSIC BUSINESS
--ENEMIES LIST
--TOURING
--END OF THE CENTURY
--TRENT'S QUESTIONNAIRE
--THE CONCERT BUSINESS & THE ECONOMY

Lastly, I attended a concert here in Grand Island this past Friday that had some great bands (The Dreaming, Trust Company, Salute the Dawn, Section Eight, Labeled & Evicted). Three being national acts, three being local acts. The show was awesome. I was, however, very disappointed in the turn out. This was due to a compilation of unfortunate factors.

There was a Battle of the Bands put on by the local rock station a few weeks back. The winner of this battle won a slot playing this Friday gig. What shocked me? More people attended the battle then attended the winning gig. Why would that be? People in Grand Island are *always* complaining there isn't ever anything to do, so why would they snub such a great rock show? I surmise part of it was lack of promotion, not to mention correct promotion. The local rock station didn't put this event on, a local promoter did. From what I hear they didn't do a very good job with promotion (Isn't that their job?) and that venues changed and the bands didn't know about the changes until last minute and therefore couldn't do their own accurate promotion via MySpace or what-have-you. A sure fire killer of show attendance for sure.

That is really too bad because despite the low turn out, every single band played their hearts out including the national acts. That is class in my opinion. They all could have easily said F-it and done a half-assed job, but they chose to give those of us that wanted to be there a proper rock show. Major kudos. Especially when you consider how unglamorous the touring life-style is.

These bands aren't traveling in big fancy tour busses with an unlimited amount of expendable income to spend on food, gas and lodging. Rather they are shoved like sardines into cargo vans, scrape by what money they can for gas and food and often sleep in their vans and never know when they might get to take a shower. That is why I offered the Long Island, NY band Salute the Dawn some floor space and a shower as a thank-you for putting on a great show for us in middle-of-nowhere Nebraska. What was awesome to see is how grateful they were to me for that very small (IMO) gesture. Living in basic poverty proves how much these people LOVE TO PERFORM THEIR MUSIC. We, as an audience, should appreciate that and give of us what we can to give them the means to continue bringing us good tunes.

And that is my two cents.

GWAR Show Carnage

[Images via SPIN Magazine @ http://digital.spin.com]

Cover Project Celebrating Warner Bros. Records' 50th Anniversary

Artists such as The Used, Disturbed and Avenged Sevenfold cover popular songs from the past.

COVERED: A REVOLUTION IN SOUND MYSPACE - link

An explanation from the MySpace page:

As part of an ongoing series of releases celebrating Warner Bros. Records’ 50th anniversary, the label will release Covered: A Revolution In Sound — a truly eclectic compilation CD that features such contemporary WBR artists as The Used, Mastodon, The Black Keys, Against Me!, Missy Higgins, and James Otto performing new versions of classic songs associated with WBR artists over the past 50 years, including those by Madonna, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Joni Mitchell, Talking Heads, and Black Sabbath.

Each contemporary artist chose the song they wanted to interpret from Warner Bros. Records’ illustrious back catalog. Highlights include The Flaming Lips performing Madonna’s “Borderline,” Disturbed on Faith No More’s “Midlife Crisis,” The Used covering Talking Heads “Burning Down The House,” The Black Keys taking on Captain Beefheart’s “Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles,” and actor/comedian Adam Sandler giving his rendition of Neil Young’s “Like A Hurricane.”

Covered: A Revolution in Sound will be available both digitally and in CD form exclusively from Amazon.com, beginning March 10th, for two weeks.

Track-listing:

1. Mastodon: “Just Got Paid” (by ZZ Top)
2. The Black Keys: “Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles” (by Captain Beefheart)
3. Michelle Branch: “A Case Of You” (by Joni Mitchell)
4. Against Me!: “Here Comes A Regular” (by The Replacements)
5. Missy Higgins: “More Than This” (by Roxy Music)
6. James Otto: “Into The Mystic" (by Van Morrison)
7. Adam Sandler: "Like A Hurricane” (by Neil Young)
8. Taking Back Sunday: “You Wreck Me” (by Tom Petty)
9. The Used: “Burning Down The House” (by Talking Heads)
10. Disturbed: “Midlife Crisis” (by Faith No More)
11. Avenged Sevenfold: “Paranoid” (by Black Sabbath)
12. The Flaming Lips With Stardeath And White Dwarfs: “Borderline” (by Madonna)

[Image via "Covered" MySpace page]

NIN/Jane's Addiction Tour Dates Announced!!

Trent Reznor announced the NIN's upcoming tour dates with Jane's Addiction on the NIN website. No ticket purchasing information yet.

Dates are as follows:
May 8 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
May 9 - Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre
May 10 - Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
May 14 - Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
May 15 - Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
May 16 - Chula Vista, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
May 18 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Pearl
May 20 - Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
May 22 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
May 26 - Englewood, CO @ Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
May 27 - Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre
May 29 - Chicago, IL @ Charter One Pavilion (NIN Only)
May 30 - Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
May 31 - Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
June 2 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
June 3 - Darien Lake, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheatre
June 5 - Camden, NJ @ Tweeter Center At The Waterfront
June 6 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
June 7 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Music Theater
June 9 - Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 10 - Burgettstown, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
June 12 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

[Images from online and meshed by Tonya Howell]

Check out some new videos from the February 20th show @ The Waiting Room

Emphatic-Goodbye Girl



Emphatic -Hurting You

The Dreaming in Grand Island This Friday (03/06)

This Friday, March 6th @ The Tiki Lounge in the Howard Johnson Inn here in Grand Island The Dreaming (L.A., featuring Christopher Hall of Stabbing Westward), Trust Company (Alabama), Section Eight (Lincoln, NE), Evicted (Omaha, NE) and Labeled (Lincoln, NE) are playin' a rock show folks. These are all great bands and it will be an entertaining show, so come rock out with us.

SHOW DETAILS:
21+ Show Only!
Doors: 7PM
Tickets: $10 Advanced, $13 Day of Show
Purchase tickets here: www.lastcallentertainment.net


Tiki Lounge
3333 Ramada Rd
Grand Island, NE 68801
ph: (308) 384-5150
www.myspace.com/tikiloungegi
GET DIRECTIONS

Check out all the bands on MySpace:
The Dreaming MySpace: link
Trust Company MySpace: link
Section Eight MySpace: link
Evicted MySpace: link
Labeled MySpace: link