Shows: They Might Be Giants

TMBG@The Vogue 05/30/2013

They Might Be Giants will be playing The Vogue in Indianapolis on May 30th 2013.

After two kids albums, They Might Be Giants return to making music intended for gorps with their new album Nanobots released just this year. "They" are John Flansburgh and John Linnell and formed in Lincoln, Massachusetts in 1982. Their 15 studio albums have sold four million copies - not bad for an alternative band whose large following wasn't made on Top 40 radio and MTV. The bands name comes from a chapter in Don Quixote where the hero mistakenly believed that windmills were actually evil giants.

The band broke out of brainy obscurity in 1988 with the album Lincoln and their first hit song "Ana Ng". Their next album, Flood released in 1992, featured two hits. "Particle Man" and "Build A Birdhouse In Your Soul" both were featured in children's programming and commercial broadcasts due to the innate humor and unflinching good nature of the melodies that didn't wander into saccharine meaninglessness but instead created a kind of uplifting release from the repetitive and the mundane. This last bit was something that both kids and adults could enjoy.

After winning two Grammy Awards for scoring and song-writing for television, the band released a fresh and vastly entertaining double album reviewed here at Blog Foot called The Else. Today they are embarking on a new world tour in support of their new album Nanobots. They will also be appearing at the beautiful Madison Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 3rd 2013.

References:

• They Might Be Giants , Official Site
• Wikipedia, TMBG
• The Vogue, They Might Be Giants Tickets
• Rolling Stone, Nanobots

Shows: Zero Boys, Hives and Black Angels

The Hives@The Vogue 04/04/2013

The Zero Boys open for the The Hives at the Vogue in Indy on March 4th 2013.

This Spring there are two incredible shows coming to The Vogue in Broad Ripple in north eastern Indianapolis. On March 4th 2013, punk institution The Zero Boys are opening for Swedish post-punk phenomena The Hives. The Hives are a dynamic band with heavy influences coming from Iggy Pop and The Stooges and MC5 with a wild, irreverent nod to some modern post-punkers including Franz Ferdinand and in the same "high energy" style and tempo of The Vines.

The Hives began as a high school house party band in 1993 and went to on to major label success in 1997. Their hits include "Main Offender" from their break-out album Veni Vidi Vicious in 2002 and "Tick Tick Boom" from 2007's The Black And White Album. In 2006, Spin Magazine rated The Hives in the top ten best live rock shows. Notably The Hives covered "Civilization's Dying" by The Zero Boys in 2010 on an EP titled Tarred and Feathered.

The Black Angels@The Vogue 05/07/2013

The Black Angels based in Austin, Texas will be playing the Vogue in Indy on May 11th 2013.

The next can't miss show is also at the Vogue on May 11th 2013. The Austin Texas based psyche-rock (neo-psychedelic) The Black Angels have begun to explode in terms of popularity in the past 10 months beginning with headline the Austin Psyche Fest in 2012 and being featured on NPR's "Tiny Desk" pod and telecast.

Formed in May 2004, the band's name comes directly from the Velvet Underground song "The Black Angel's Death Song".

Each of The Black Angels four albums (Black Angels, Directions To See a Ghost, Phosphene Dream and Passover) are each amazing. There are Doors inspired vocals from frontman Christian Bland and guitarists Rishi Dhir and Alex Maas and plenty of fresh originality as they flesh out a genre that ended when The Ramones broke folk's collective back once-and-for-all in the early 1970's.

References:

• The Vogue, Hives Tickets
• The Vogue, Black Angels Tickets
  
• Wikipedia, The Hives

Shows: Fall/Winter 2012

Gig posters for Local H, Mason Jennings and Buffalo Killers all on tour now.

There are quite a few good indie, rock and Americana shows coming to Indianapolis this Fall and Winter. Many are off-beat, original and interesting acts that are on tour during the last of good traveling weather and won't be seen again in central Indiana for many months!

Friday 10/19/2012 Here Come The Mummies @ Piere's
Just before Halloween Here Come The Mummies play Piere's in Fort Wayne.

Friday 10/19/2010 Trampled By Turtles @ The Vogue
Trampled by Turtles are an intense blue-grass folk started in Duluth, Minnesota known for their intricate performances of traditional instruments. The group has found a place on Billboard's bluegrass charts and stayed for for 52 consecutive weeks. Their music has been featured in TV shows including Squidbillies.

Saturday 10/20/2012 Local H @ Radio Radio
Local H is a longtime alternative rock duo, formed by Scott Lucas (lead vocals, guitar, bass) as a trio in Zion, Illinois outside Chicago in 1987. They've their share of struggle and massive success with "Bound To The Floor" in 1996. The band, now on Slimstyle Records, is touring in support of their new album Hallelujah! I'm a Bum.

Friday 10/26/2012 Mason Jennings @ Radio Radio
Mason Jennings is an excellent musician and performer of alt-country and bluegrass music who began his career as the bar band for the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. Today, at 37, he has 15 nationally released albums and a documentary titled "Use Your Van".

Thursday 11/15/2012 Buffalo Killers @ Radio Radio
The Buffalo Killers are a Cincinnati based band who bring back to life the psychedelic and rock-folk rhythms of Buffalo Springfield and CCR. Their track "Get Together Today" takes layers of dust off the late 1960's rock movement and re-charges it with urgency.

Friday 11/16/2012 Here Come The Mummies @ The Vogue
Just after Halloween Here Come The Mummies play The Vogue.

Friday 11/23/2012 Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band @ The Vogue
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band is a three-piece American country and blues band from Brown County, Indiana, living in a rural area north of Nashville, IN. They play more than 250 dates per year at venues ranging from bars to festivals. To date, they have released eight albums. On August 7th 2012 they released their newest album "Between the Ditches".


References:

• Radio Radio, Official Site
• The Vogue, Official Site
• Local H, Official Site

Shows: Jane's Addiction@The Murat

Alt-rock originals Jane's Addiction will be playing in Indy on Thursday August 23rd 2012.

Jane's Addiction. A powerful force in alt-rock and rock 'n roll with very little else to compare them to. With three official studio albums Jane's Addiction (1987), Nothings Shocking (1988) and their final "classic" album Ritual de lo Habitual (1990) the group cemented their place in music as frenetic (Mountain Song, Ocean Size), alluring (Outside/Jane Says) and sometimes harsh brutally view of American culture (Whores/Stop).

One of lead singer/founder Perry Farrell's favorite taunts during shows, directed at drunk hecklers, is screaming "America killed John Wayne!" to which stunned crowds would either cluelessly cheer or mostly look in confusion as a clearly gleeful Farrell explains that John Wayne lived too near atomic bomb proving grounds and contracted cancer as a direct result. All of which is completely untrue, but, it seems to fit his picture of a crass and poisonous consumerism as an enemy in American society in a way that many fans haven't forgotten.

Farrell, almost accidentally, started the long running Indie Music festival Lollapalooza in 1991 as the first farewell tour for the band. The national show featured Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nine Inch Nails, Living Colour, Ice-T, The Butthole Surfers, The Rollins Band, Violent Femmes, Fishbone and Rage Against The Machine.

The show, now with a one city date for three days, is running strong today with bands like The Black Keys and Jack White wowing crowds in Chicago.

The band has put out two new albums, Strays in 2003 and the new one The Great Escape Artist in 2011. Their sound has evolved into a sound very much like Velvet Revolver with more rock anthem influenced tracks.

The band is currently touring with 2/3rd's of the original line-up including amazing guitarist and star in his own right Dave Navarro and the unmistakably original Stephen Perkins on drums.


References:

• Jane's Addiction, Show Dates
• Wikipedia, Jane's Addiction

Off The Shelf: Hello, Cruel World

At first, Hello Cruel World by Indianapolis artist Ron Braun seems to simply follow a small group of friends as they struggle to adapt to life after college, but things start to go a little supernatural after a mysterious stranger appears in their lives!

Fans of all things zombie and vampire will love this collection that features the entire run of the Hello Cruel World and Dakk Waggitt, Platypus For Hire! comic strips, original concept sketches, guest and fan art, promotional material, never-before-seen strips, celebrity fan photos and much more.

You can get your own copy for only $9.99 here and if you use the coupon code FALLBOOKS at LULU and you can get another 20% off that price!

References:

• Toon-It-Up, Graphic Novels
• LULU Store, Hello, Cruel World