Cold War Kids will be appearing at Stage AE on Saturday, June 8th. It's been several years since they made their last appearance in Pittsburgh at Mr Smalls. The Long Beach, CA based band burst onto the scene back in 2006 with their debut album Robbers and Cowards retiring from house shows and performing in large venues. The band is now touring behind their fourth LP Miss Lonelyhearts recently released this past April. We are happy to be giving away a pair of ticket giveaway to the show. As usual just email us your name to pghmusicreport@gmail.com to enter.
From their press:
The record takes its inspiration from a smart work on self-examination, Nathanael West's novel "Miss Lonelyhearts." "'Dear Miss Lonelyhearts' is taken from a book about an advice columnist who has a crisis about his readers suffering and his inability to truly help them unless he examines himself," vocalist Nathan Willett told HuffPost. "The struggle of his character worked their way into many of the songs."
On "Tuxedos," Willett opens with a simple series of thoughts ("I think about eyes that watch you, I think about changes I've made, I think about all this fancy food poured down the drain...") spoken plainly. The song eventually takes off, but it's quiet moments like these that stand out on the disc (a similar moment of dissolution occurs on "Jailbirds," when the frenetic track drops out to once again leave almost nothing but Willett's charming wailing). The album's title track is an especially well-paced, almost elegiac masterwork that sounds like a slightly less "post"-rock take on Explosions in the Sky.
Show begins at 8p with doors at 7p. Doors can be found here.
A very good double bill happen on Thursday, 6.6 at Stage AE. Cults, the 60's infused rock duo on Columbia Records, will be appearing with dance instilled Brooklyn based Passion Pit (also on Columbia). Passion Pit was here not too long in November and played to a sold out crowd at Stage AE. We had the pleasure of seeing Cults play a sold out as well back in 2011 at the Brillobox with their brother act Guards. Like Passion Pit, a fun live performance is always in the cards. We are happy to be giving away a pair of tickets to the show. As usual, just email us your name to pghmusicreport@gmail.com to enter.
From Cults press:
New York City based duo Cults have announced their first set of 2013 tour dates in anticipation of their sophomore release. Cults will join Passion Pit for an east coast string of dates starting June 3rd at Cains
Cults is Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion. The duo is currently finishing the follow up to their critically-acclaimed, 2011 debut release. Heralded by the New York Times for playing “a simple, entrancing and intuitive strain of indie rock indebted to clean-cut ’50s rock with flashes of ’60s haze,” Cults will be performing with their five-piece live act that includes Gabe Rodriguez (guitar), Nathan Aguilar (bass) and Cory Stier (drums).
Passion Pit press:
The band's first full-length studio album, Manners, was released in 2009. The song "Let Your Love Grow Tall" was featured in the TV series Ugly Betty. The album's second single, "To Kingdom Come," was used in the Rhapsody commercial for its iPhone application. The song "Moth's Wings" was used in the CW teen drama Gossip Girl and in the closing credits of HBO's Big Love.Gossamer, which was released on Columbia Records, debuted at #4 on the Billboard top 200 and immediately earned rave reviews from the New York Times, The Guardian, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone magazine.
"We did the vast majority of the vocals for the record with the Copperhead," continued Chris Zane. "It has a super-natural and very pleasant curve to it. Warm, but clear — not jumpy or spiky, just very smooth. It sounds like the way you want a vocal to sound without having to do anything to it. I’ve been using it ever since Gossamer on a bunch of records, with great results every time."
Show begin at 8p and doors at 7p. Tickets can be found here.
Mr Smalls is celebrating their 10 Year Anniversary in the upcoming weeks stretching from May 28 through June 14. The theater has curated quite a line up for this special occasion including Louts, Metric, The Dandy Warhols, Alt-J, The Starting Line, Baroness, Frank Turner and Bloc Party. We are happy to be giving away a pair of tickets to two of the shows: Bloc Party 6.1 and Anti-Flag 5.30 & 5.31 (your choice). To enter just email us your name to pghmusicreport@gmail.com and which show you would like to attend.
From Bloc Party Press:
Bloc Party will release their first new album in four years, entitled FOUR, on August 21st via Frenchkiss Records. Produced by Alex Newport (The Mars Volta, At The Drive-In, Polysics), the album was recorded and mixed in New York City, and is the band’s first full-length since 2008's acclaimed Intimacy.Bloc Party has released three full length albums, including their Mercury Prize-nominated debut, Silent Alarm, helping to shape the sound of modern British guitar music. The announcement of the band's forthcoming album and return to the road mark the beginning of what will undoubtedly be a very special year.
On Anti-Flag:
Anti-Flag is an American punk rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, formed in 1988. The band is well known for its left-wing political views, focusing on anti-war activism, imperialism, class struggle, human rights, and various sociopolitical sentiments. The line-up includes singer/guitarist Justin Sane and drummer Pat Thetic, who founded the band; later members are guitarist Chris Head, and singer/bassist Chris Barker (#2) who replaced Jamie "Cock" Towns, who had replaced original bassist Andy Flag in 1997 following his departure one year prior. Anti-Flag is known also for their advocacy of progressive political action groups such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International. Most recently, the band has declared solidarity with the global Occupy Together movement.
More information about these upcoming shows can be found at these sites:
Silversun Pickups will be making a stop in Pittsburgh at Stage AE Sunday, 6.9. The band has not made an appearance here since October 2009 at the old Ches-A-Rena. Also making an appearance is Surfer Blood and Blondfire, two much hyped bands in the blogosphere (unfortunately Foals dropped off the bill). Silversun Pickups is touring behind their latest LP Neck of the Woods which was released this past year. We were lucky enough to the see the group back in 2009 and they put on one heck of a show, plus one of the most dedicate fan bases. We also had the fortune of seeing Surfer Blood in North Carolina who also put in a solid performance. We are happy to be giving away a pair of tickets to the show. As usual just email us at pghmusicreport@gmail.com to enter.
From our previous review of SP:
Silversun Pickups followed CTE with a pretty lively, rocking set. I had seen these guys almost 4 years ago(?) when they played on Coachella's main stage in the early afternoon. They have definitely become even tighter since then with a look and feel of confidence that oozes from their stage presence. Lead Brian Aubert has a swagger that lead the rest of the band through a ferocious set along with a bit of over the top banter. They started everything off right by a few tunes from their new lp "Swoon". They mixed it up a bit with a spattering of songs off their previous albums.
From our review of SF:
All five members took the stage and I immediately was caught off guard on how young the band members looked. I was amazed how lead singer John Paul Pitts's voice echoed when he sang compared to when he spoke to the crowd. If you saw him on the street you would never think he was the lead singer of this indie surfer band. He would twist his torso from left to right staring straight forward while the rest of the Floridian youngsters started into opener "Fast Jabroni" then into of one of my 2010 favorites, "Take It Easy". Pitts after each song would banter with the crowd about their college campus and how great Chapel Hill was considering they had only been there once when opening for the The Pains at Being Pure at Heart.
Show begins at 8p with doors at 7p. Tickets are $25 and can be found here.
The Dandy Warhols will be appearing next Tuesday, 5.28 at Mr Smalls Theater. This will kick off Mr Smalls 10th Anniversary Celebration which includes many larges acts making an appearance at the venerable old church. For the first show the Dandy Warhols will be play their seminal album Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia which will be played in its entirety. This is the thirteenth (as the album suggests) release year which makes the anniverary coincidence even better. The Portland based band has produced over seven proper LPs, this one reaching their most commercial success ever.
From their press:
2013 marks the thirteenth anniversary of The Dandy Warhols’ Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia. To celebrate the occasion, the band has overseen a newly remastered and expanded 13th Anniversary Edition of the album, to be released June 11 in 2CD and digital audio packages by Capitol/UMe, and in a limited edition deluxe vinyl box set, available exclusively on www.thedandywarhols.com. The new edition adds ‘Thirteen Tales’ session outtakes, early and alternate mixes, and home demos of songs from the album. The remastered original album will also be released by Capitol/UMe on 180-gram vinyl with replicated original packaging.
The Dandy Warhols’ third album, Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia hit The Billboard 200 and reached No. 12 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart upon its 2000 release. The single “Bohemian Like You,” propelled by active radio play and a memorable music video, reached the Top 30 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart. Singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor fronts the Dandys with winking, irony-laced lyrics accompanied by a versatile range of arrangements, from space-rock jams to synth-driven popscapes.
Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia begins with the 16-minute opening suite of “Godless,” “Mohammed,” and “Nietzsche,” leading to signature songs including “Get Off,” “Cool Scene,” and the aforementioned “Bohemian Like You,” which, Rolling Stone praised, “combines a particularly wry sociocultural vignette with what may be the most muscular Stones guitar riff of the last 20 years.”
The shows begins at 8p with doors at 7p. Tickets are $35 and can be found here. More information about the band can be found here:
