Hello everyone, and welcome back for a new season of music news here on LA.CityZine.com. I wish I had some really cool guest star or medical mystery to kick of this first episode (or post, as we say in the industry), but unfortunately Ray Romano was busy and the stomach pain that our patient was experiencing ended up just being gas.
Without a special guest star, I wish I could lead off this article by telling you that some new exciting change has occurred in music, but instead Live Nation still owns everything, “Chinese Democracy” hasn’t hit music stores (or China) yet, and CD sales are still down in the dumps. In all honesty, besides a female VP and a well thought out disaster plan for New Orleans not much has changed in the past month. I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe they could have discovered a sea serpent, or warlocks or maybe even a good low fat cinnamon roll. But alas, it was just more of the same.
At least there are a few good music stories out there, so before I ramble on more about warlocks let’s get to it.
The Hollywood Palladium Re-Opens
My least favorite venue in the LA area, The Hollywood Palladium, is finally reopening after a year of refurbishing. Besides being cavernous and being about as warm as the inside of a Chinese Labor Camp, the Palladium had just about the most thorough and ridiculous security of any place I’ve ever been to, airports and political rallies included. Not only could you not take in pens, markers, stickers, cigarettes and cigarettes lighters, but they would also confiscate your change an the door. I’m talking quarters, pennies, dimes and nickles (maybe the occasional peso too). As a stretch, I can understand that maybe with a pen you could tage the side of the venue with graffiti reading “Disturbed Rocks!”, or decide to torch the place with your lighter after spending $10 on a beer, but change? Is there a strict no tipping policy towards the band or were they afraid that we were going to get so into the music that we would be like “Fuck, Kid Rock is so awesome, I’m going to through a 50 cent piece at him!”.
Regardless of my dreams of throwing things at the Cowboy, the improvements at the Palladium are supposed to be substantial with a new sound system, more food and drink stands and a general refurbishing to make the place look more friendly. Also a new VIP section is included up top for people who are way more important then me and you. Hopefully they will also allow security to take a chill pill so that we can get through the security line in less than an hour (yes, I used “chill pill” in 2008, so what?).
With the Palladium reopening its doors in October, the venue has announced a very impressive first round of shows to fill it’s schedule. They include:
- Jay-Z on October 15
- Gym Class Heroes/ The Roots on October 17
- Flogging Molly on October 25
- Rise Against/ The Alkaline Trio/ Thrice/ Gaslight Athem October 31-November 2nd.
- Dragonforce on November 7th
- One Republic on November 15th
- Of Montreal on November 21st.
Rise Against tickets went on sale last Friday and all the rest go on sale September 13th at noon.
The Decemberists Hit The Road
Besides a solo tour by lead singer Colin Meloy and some gigs opening for indie-rock “celebrity” Barack Obama, Portland’s beloved communist sympathizers The Decemberists have not seen a full tour in quite a fort night since their “Long of It/ Short of It” tour was cancelled last fall due to band illness. Apparently, Meloy and his merry band of musicians have fully recovered from their illness (scurvy perhaps?) and the band is ready to hit the road for their just announced “Bridemailds Revisited” tour, which visits just coasts (and nowhere in between) starting November 5th in New York City.
The band will be supporting their new three part singles series entitled, naturally, ”Always The Bridemaids: A Singles Series”. The first single, “Valerie Plame”, is an ode to the one time secret CIA operative written from the perspective of one of Plame’s inside sources upon discovering her true identity (one of the forgotten gems of the Bush administration, if you ask me). The band will play said song live on Late Night With Conan O’Brien on November 3rd, or election eve for you political folks. Those pinko bastards, trying to poison American minds the night before they hit the polls.
The band play the Wiltern on November 24th with fellow Portland-ite Loch Lomond opening (thanks to Pitchfork.com for all the info).
Don’t F–k with Axl Rose
In this edition of “As The Axl Turns,” internet blogger Kevin Cogill faces three years in jail and $250,000 in fines as he is the first California resident to be charged under an anti-piracy law that makes it a felony to distribute a copyrighted work on computer before it’s release. And what did he release you might ask: nine previously unreleased tracks from Guns N’ Roses soon-to-be-eventually-upcoming “Chinese Democracy” album.
The FBI arrested Senor Cogill (he’s not Spanish, just thought I would pepper the story up a bit) last week following suspicion he had violated federal copyright law. Cogill previously had admitting to leaking the songs, but was not required to enter a plea deal at the time of his release on $10,000 bond.
Look, I know the copyright law is at it’s core a necessary law so that band’s don’t lose control over their product. A band should be able to distribute it’s finished product when they are ready to do so. But I just can’t feel sorry for Axl Rose when it comes to this. When you mess with your fans this long things like this is going to happen.
By the way, as we have news regarding the supposed release of “Chinese Democracy” almost every day, Axl Rose would be an idiot for ever releasing a finished product. Besides the fact that the music could never live up to the hype, have you ever seen a band get more press over nothing more than a rumored release date? Furthermore, do we have any substantial evidence that this album even exists? Maybe good ol’ Axl is putting one over on us and never intended to release an album. Instead maybe this whole “release” is just a social experiment to see how long people will pay attention to an album ten years in the making that has had dozens of release dates, no singles and no concrete information on recording or production. Does it seem to any else like we are getting into “Lost” territory now? Is JJ Abrams producing the album or something?
What’s next: Warlocks?
Photo of Palladium by Omar Omar
Photo of the Decemberists by CommandZed
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1 response so far ↓
1 naren // Sep 7, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Palladium. Feh. The whole stupidity of its security keeps me away from that place. I _had_ fond memories of seeing some great shows there back in the early 90s, like the Jane’s Addiction/Primus/Pixies lineup, or various Fugazi shows, but it didnt take long for the security to turn the place into hell. It would take some huge band that I’d _have_ to see to go back. I think I can see why they might have such high security — too many people to control — but it still turns the entire situation into theater of the absurd.
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