Orange County Music Blog

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After the death of guitarist Ron Asheton, many hoped Iggy Pop and his bandmates would recruit former axeman James Williamson and keep the band going. Well, they did and by clicking this link, they'll get to hear a bunch of professionally shot videos from the new lineup's first show.

Of note is the band's inclusion of Iggy solo songs "The Passenger" and "Lust for Life," along with Stooges outtakes such as "I Got a Right," "Cock in My Pocket" and "Kill City."

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In the '90s, Pavement were the band to mention liking if you wanted to sound cool, even if all you really knew was "Cut Your Hair." There's probably no current act that fills that role--thanks to the Internet, everyone knows every band and is sick of them after a couple of weeks.

They haven't played together since 1999 (though lead singer Stephen Malkmus has kept busy with current band the Jicks), so this scoop from the ever-newsworthy Brooklyn Vegan blog is a Big Deal: according to "reliable" sources, Pavement will be playing New York City's Central Park Summerstage in September...2010. They also go on to speculate (why not?) that the official reunion will start at next year's Coachella, because that is the place influential alternative rock acts go to reunite, after all (Pixies, Jesus and Mary Chain, Portishead, etc.).

There's still no real concrete details on this thing, but seeing as how Pavement has been one of the most rumored/desired reunions of the past decade, you can see how people are psyched. Feel free to wildly speculate about what might happen next, or just enjoy this video of Pavement's most mainstream moment.

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Public Image Limited (or PiL) is getting back together for five shows in December. The group, headed by John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols), is reuniting to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his band's record, Metal Box, and has not played together in 17 years.

The new version, which includes former guitarist Lu Edmonds, former drummer Bruce Smith and a new bassist named Scott Firth, will play five gigs in the United Kingdom, which means they should hit OC by summer 2010.

The band says it will play material from all eras, not just Metal Box.

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The original line-up of one of Southern California's first punk bands, the Zeros, is playing Alex's Bar in Long Beach Aug. 21.

Before punk became synonymous with mohawks and chains, the genre was like a sped-up version of '60s bubblegum rock (basically, what the Ramones did). The Chula Vista -based quartet was often called the Mexican Ramones and are credited as the first band from the San Diego area to play LA clubs.

The members have reunited in the past, but the last time that happened was more than a deacde ago, which means if you dig the Zeros, don't sleep on this show.

PS That's not a new pic. I think it was taken 7,000 years ago, but I assume they don't look much different.

PPS I got through this post without mentioning El Vez is in the band. Wait, damn it...

Okay, so maybe this blog post is a bit premature considering the Look Daggers' show at The Prospector is a solid 10 days away. After all, 10 ten days in the bloggosphere, might as well be 10 years. But somehow, I'm convinced that fans of Ikey Owens' progressive hip hop side project will need some advanced notice.

The band seemed to be in hibernation for a while following the release of their debut CD/DVD release Suffer in Style back in October of 2008. You may or may not remember the article I did on them waaayyy back then. Check it HERE. But in between the busy schedules of Owens, rapper 2 Mex and the rest of the band (Travis Laws, Chris Clawson, Mendee Ichikawa and Jesee Wilder) the delay is pretty understandable.

The band is playing their first show of 2009 down at The Prospector in Long Beach on July 23 at 9p.m. (well, probably not right at 9p.m. but you probably already guessed that). In preparation, the bands label, Up Above Records, is offering a sale on their album along with a copy of the Before You Say No 7" single with FREE  shipping anywhere in the Continental U.S. until the day of the show. That deal is definitely worth taking a stab at.

If you call yourself emo and don't know Sunny Day Real Estate, then it's time to learn your history. The foursome -- singer/guitarist Jeremy Enigk, guitarist Dan Hoerner, bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith -- helped create the template for dudes with loud guitars to play music that shunned anger and welcomed sadness.

The orginial quartet broke up in 1998, but Enigk, Hoerner and Goldsmith reunited a few times with a couple of different bassists once Mendel joined this little group called the Foo Fighters (Goldsmith was also in Foos in the early days).

But the show at the House of Blues on Oct. 10 is the og foursome and is part of a month-long national tour the emo pioneers are embarking on beginning Sept. 17 in Vancouver. Rumor has it the band will focus on material from the Mendel era, which includes the unfuckwithable Diary and the untitled follow-up that kids who used to hang out at Koo's or the Huntington Beach Library used to call The Pink Album or LP2.

Both discs are being re-issued by Sub Pop two days before the tour begins. Tickets for the October show go on sale Saturday. 

Orange County's Great Glass Elevator played their first show in about a year last night at Detroit Bar, headlining the final night of the Moostache/Evening Hour May residency.

Being here for less than a year, I had never seen nor heard Great Glass Elevator before, and I don't really know why they haven't played recently, but they were a real treat, bringing a sense of charisma and energy you don't often see in local bands. Talking (briefly) to lead singer Daivd Braun after the show, when asked if there were more GGE gigs in the future, he said "I hope so!" So, yeah, that's cool.

But while it was their first show back, it was the last show for Moostache keyboard player Bobby Waltman--so how else would he go out, other than lighting two foil panels on his keyboard on fire and violently smashing a melodica? It was pretty intense for a Monday night.

The history of the Stooges is long and complicated. Basically, the original group (singer Iggy Pop, drummer Scott Asheton, guitarist Ron Asheton and bassist Dave Alexander) recorded two albums that you should have (The Stooges and Fun House).

 

Alexander left, then after running through a few bassists, the group disbanded. Until they reunited. For its second go-round, the Stooges re-christened themselves Iggy and the Stooges and had a new lineup that included Pop and drummer Asheton with new guitarist James Williamson and former guitarist Asheton on bass. The version recorded Raw Power, another disc you should own.

 

Anyway, the Stooges broke up in the '70s and reunited with the Asheton-at-guitar lineup earlier this decade (Alexander passed away, so Mike Watt took his place). Well, Ron Asheton died in January, so there's really only one way for the Stooges to continue, and....you guessed it...it's the Raw Power lineup (with Watt on bass).

 

Whenever and wherever they hit the stage, Iggy and the Stooges are playing the album in its entirety. No word on whether that's coming our way, but my guess is, it is.

The recently reunited Blink-182 is bringing its summer tour to the Corporate Sponsored Outdoor Venue formerly known as Irvine Meadows Sept. 17. The show (and subsequent tour) also includes Weezer, Fall Out Boy and the All-American Rejects.

I hated Blink-182 when I was a teenager, but I've grown to like some of their tunes as I get old and lame. The less I considered them a punk band and the more I thought of them as a pop band, the more I liked them.

But...I saw Blink-182 a few times, mostly at festivals (no, I never paid money to see them). And while kids everywhere are stoked (teens still use that word, right?), I've got some pretty bad news for them.

Blink-182 was consistently the worst live band on the planet when they existed. Drummer Travis Barker is a phenom behind the kit, but his hip-hop/dance thing he does with the high hat never fit with what the other two guys were doing. Compared to guitarist/singer Tom DeLonge, bassist Mark Hoppus can sing (but not compared to many others). Unfortunately, Hoppus could never play a lick to save his life. DeLonge, on the other hand, was a solid guitarist and the worst singer to ever be in a chart-topping group.

Hearing them live was akin to hearing your parents having sex. The few times I had the misfortune of seeing Blink-182, within ten seconds I was asking myself how much studio time the band used to fix all its mistakes. My guess is, the members lay down one take of everything, because let's face it, it's not getting any better. Then ProTools worked its magic and auto-tuned all the faults.

And before this gets all sorts of anti-Blink comments, more than once I heard/read Hoppus and DeLonge mention how they couldn't play. At least they were up front about it. Plus, I really dig that "yeah my girlfriend song," whatever it's called.

Arguably (?) the most famous band in Orange County history, No Doubt, played their first official show in about five years last night at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, headlining the second day of the Bamboozle Music Fest out there (not to be confused with the Bamboozle Left that took place in Irvine a month ago, natch).

"I just heard the news today. It seems my life is gonna change."

The rumors are true! Terribly, terribly true. Creed, the go-to punchline band of the late '90s and early '00s, are back together, and have unveiled a rather ambitious touring schedule for this summer and fall. The trek includes a stop in Irvine on September 30, presumably at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, and not like, Amy's Hallmark at the Spectrum. Check out the press release announcing the reunion and a predictably ostentatious accompanying video on their official site.

Despite all the many, many, many jokes about Creed, it's clear that they were still really popular (even if it became increasingly difficult to find someone that admitted it). Given that this will be their first time together in five years, this tour will probably be a pretty big deal--the fans, such as they are, will be psyched, and maybe there will be a touch of revisionist "hey, Creed wasn't so bad, were they?" from the musical literati crowd. (Maybe.) Either way, I think I have to make it out there for the Sept. 30 show. It'll be a real enriching experience. Literally, "My Own Prison."