Missing
last week’s appearance of the Darkness at Clutch Cargo disappointed
me greatly. Pitchfork and other places report that the Darkness
tour sells out almost everywhere, forcing the promoters to upgrade
the venues, which then sell out again. After the Clutch Cargo show,
the band had to cancel the next two dates due to frontman Justin
Hawkins blowing out his falsetto’d pipes. Now while the success
of this band is a good thing (hell, they sing happy, bouncy songs
about heroin, fer chrissakes), one fears the reaction from the major
labels, and the shite bands that try to grab on to the Darkness’
wake. Oh yeah, the band got a street AND a giraffe named after them!
Their legacy is secured!
Be on the lookout for the next issue of the Paper; I’ll be
doing an interview/preview piece with Mike Dykehouse, whose record
Midrange will be released the first Tuesday in May on Ghostly
Records. Dykehouse also has at least two record release shows soon.
Anyway, as the weather improves, the number of bands willing to
come to our wintry state increases. Rock comes in spurts, folks,
and several big ones are about to hit. A few years ago as a wee
undergrad, I always enjoyed the late spring/summer months as I could
afford to work enough to hit plenty of shows per week. Of course,
now I’m older and grayer, and the straight job starts too
early to make the prospect of driving back from the Lager House
at 2:00 on a Tuesday morning rather grim and unpleasant. Oh well.
--
Local
Shows:
At the Blind Pig, there’s a big twee-pop night on Saturday
the 10th with the big Fred Thomas band Saturday Looks Good to Me,
with Geoff Farina and Showdown at the Equator
Saturday Looks Good to Me will also be at the Hiscock House (over
at 289 Hiscock), with Sodastream and Summersault, doing an all-ages,
early evening show. Head to www.asaurus.org/hiscockhouse/ for more
info. We need more house shows around here. If you know of any,
please let me know.
The Elbow Room has recent Sub Pop-additions Wolf Eyes playing with
Kites, Hair Police, Purient on the 17th. The next night, on the
18th, the big city rock of the Giraffes perform with local Americana
Porchsleeper, the one-man Wormquartet, and the Kickass.
The East Quad Music Co-op has one of their last shows for the season
on April 9, featuring Mirah (on K Records), with the Weeds and Aliese
Barnett. Check www.eqmc.org for more info, how to get there, etc.
--
Detroit
Area:
Majestic Theater: hipster fuzz with the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
and the Rapture on April 8th, bloops and blinks and tinks with Stereolab
on the 9th, noise-rock extravaganza with Fantomas/Melt Banana/End
on the 10th, and the Electric Six with Midwest Product and Back
in Spades.
Magic Stick: The Ingham County Regulars are opening for the Legendary
Shack Shakers on the 7th, the Demolition Doll Rods doing a record
release show on the 17th, the reformed Sebadoh (with both Low Barlow
and Jason Lowenstien) with Scott Niblett on the 21st, and THE FALL
on the 23rd.
Shelter: The Singles with the Hard Lessons, the Grande Nationals,
and New Granada on the 8th, Local H with Cobra Verde and Novadriver
(stoner rock) on the 15th. Both shows are at 7p.m. Good luck getting
there on time.
Andrew W.K. will be at St. Andrews on the 21st, doing an early all-ages
gig with Chronic Future and No Motiv. This one will probably sell
out, so get your tickets early.
Oh, and go see Ron Jeremy. He’s at the Magic Bag in Ferndale,
doing two shows on the 17th. Lord only knows what he’s willing
to sign. A2P
Email getbent@annarborpaper.com
for any reason whatsoever.
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