It’s hard not to love The Swell Season. Since winning the hearts of audiences — and an Oscar — with the 2006 film Once, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova have maintained that adoration through rigorous touring, refreshing humility, and the recent release of their second album, Strict Joy.
Before The Swell Season took the stage at House of Blues on Tuesday, singer/guitarist Ryan Bingham opened up with some astonishingly derivative blues and folk. His raspy voice dripped with affectation as he rambled on about times changing and winds blowing like some copy of a copy of a copy of Bob Dylan. Continue reading…
This summer has been an unseasonably cool one for San Diego, but the mercury is finally about to rise. On Saturday, August 21, the chilliness will come to an abrupt halt when the Belly Up cranks up some Hot Hot Heat. Wordplay!
Hot Hot Heat are the Canadian party-pop band responsible for 2002’s Make Up the Breakdown and its marble-mouthed hit single, “Bandages.” Along with other popular bands of the era like The Strokes and The Vines, Hot Hot Heat were welcomed as rock saviors, come to make the airwaves safe for good music and rescue us from boy-band tyranny. Their intentions were noble, but you need only turn your radio dial to whichever Justin Bieber songs are playing right now to see that it didn’t work. Continue reading…
Weezer‘s enduring popularity can be a sore spot for the band’s early fans.
Following the success of its first two albums, the band took a three-year hiatus in the late nineties before finally returning to the spotlight. That period is more than just an empty space on Weezer’s resume — it serves as the wedge between the band’s two distinct groups of devotees.
On one side, there are those who were weened on the classic Blue Album and the almighty Pinkerton, and who view the band’s last five albums as, at best, a goofy waste of time, or, at worst, a pillaging of their youth and cynical cash-grab on the same insidious par as the Star Wars prequels. Continue reading…
Meat Loaf played at the first concert I ever went to.
That little fact isn’t something I typically share with people. and certainly not on a first date. It’s not that I regret going — the concert was a blast, and certainly the best one I’d ever seen at that point. No, it’s not regret that drives me to secrecy, it’s that — despite the flamboyant singer’s penchant for flying motorcycles and leopard-print vests — people for some reason don’t think Meat Loaf is cool. Continue reading…
In a shocking report, the Surgeon General just revealed that Americans aren’t getting enough rowdy folk in their diets. If you’re among the folk-deficient, bleary-eyed masses, look no further than Monday’s Roadside Graves show at West Coast Tavern to get your life back on track. (NOTE: The show was originally to be held at the Tin Can Alehouse, but was canceled. Thanks to SD Dialed In, the show has found a new home at West Coast Tavern.)
I can’t think of a better way to start your week than experiencing Roadside Graves’ joyous, knee-slapping live set. The band is currently touring in support of the critically acclaimed EP, You Won’t Be Happy With Me, out now on Autumn Tone Records. Continue reading…
