2010 Summer Concerts

Having warmed up this spring with an excellent show by Jakob Dylan and Three Legs at Rams Head and  The Nighthawks and Night of 1000 Dylans at the Creative Alliance, here is a list of the concerts on my schedule for this summer of 2010:

July 17 - Gov't Mule/Mambo Combo - Artscape

July 20 - Steve Earle and Hot Tune at Rams Head

July 31 - The Swell Season at Rams Head

August 6 - Arcade Fire and Spoon at Merriweather Post Pavilion

August 30 - Rodrigo y Gabriela  - Pier Six

And looking into fall:

October 10 - Roger Waters - Verizon Center

Got a good show that you want to let folks know about?  Post a comment below.

The Who's Gone

I was going to write something about the awful spectacle of Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey impersonating themselves and The Who during halftime at the most recent Super Bowl, but then I read this from Carrie Brownstein and decided the she says it all:

If you did watch Sunday's game, and you stayed put on the couch during halftime, then you would have seen The Who -- or at least its two surviving members, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey -- play an enervated, bordering-on-delusional medley of its greatest hits. Already performing as caricatures of their former selves ("Tommy" glasses: check; windmill: check, sort of), Townshend and Daltrey further sterilized the performance by playing in the center of a gargantuan replica, either of a Mod symbol or an LP. Nowhere near them were fans, so they really did look like a museum piece from afar, a middle-of-the-night TV ad for some golden-oldies CD collection that comes with toy versions of The Who playing atop a spinning LP. (Put it on your mantel!) The stage was lit up like a carnival ride and bursting with pyrotechnics, and not a single ounce of the fire or brightness was coming from the music. Relics, dusted off and propped up.

Read Brownstein's entire post at Hope I Die Before I Get Old: When Should Death Break Up A Band?  I would agree with Brownstein that that The Who departed this life years ago, if not with the death of their irreplaceable drummer, Keith Moon, then certainly with the death of their thundering bassist, John Entwistle.

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Stairway to Heaven

The quality of this video could be better, but this is a beautiful performance by some outstanding musicians!

in reference to: vNc5o9TU0t0 (application/x-shockwave-flash Object) (view on Google Sidewiki)

Stop the Merger of Ticketmaster & Live Nation

With due consideration of the wisdom "meet the new boss, same as the old boss", I pass along in its entirety an email received from the 9:30 Club (in Washington, D.C.) et al.:

Concert Fans Beware!

There’s a train wreck about to happen and consumer groups say YOU will be the victim if the two most powerful corporate interests in the live concert business get their way. But you can help stop the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation. The government needs to hear from music fans now. Tell the Department of Justice that you’re against these monopolies amassing illegal power over consumers, before it’s too late. antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov

As a concertgoer you have already felt the pain, and if Ticketmaster and Live Nation get their way, it’ll get worse. In the last 12 years, since Live Nation and its predecessor started its widespread takeover of the concert industry, concert ticket prices have shot up 82% while the consumer price index has gone up just 17%*. We are concerned that if the two concert industry behemoths, Live Nation and Ticketmaster, are permitted to merge, the variety and quality of artists coming to local venues will be affected, and your costs could rise further and faster.

Five of the nation’s most prominent public interest groups called on the Department of Justice to block the proposed merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation:

“Consumers deserve a fair deal in the entertainment marketplace, not the fewer choices and higher prices that would result from this merger,” said Susan Grant, Director of Consumer Protection at Consumer Federation of America

“This merger is an insult to both musicians and consumers,” said James Love, Director of Knowledge Ecology International

“We cannot envision a remedy that would ease this chilling impediment to competition… In the absence of other effective, expeditious remedies, the proposed transaction should be prohibited.” American Antitrust Institute White Paper

As described by Senator Herb Kohl (WI) in the House Antitrust hearing, “This merger will not only expand Ticketmaster’s control of the ticketing market by eliminating a competitor, but it is also creating an entity that will control the entire chain of the concert business – from artist management to concert promotion and production to ticketing and ticket resale.”

“This merger would be a disaster for consumers. Nothing short of blocking this takeover of the ticket market by two industry behemoths will be acceptable,” said National Consumers League Executive Director Sally Greenberg

“As president, I will direct my administration to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement. I will step up review of merger activity and take effective action to stop or restructure those mergers that are likely to harm consumer welfare…,” said Senator Barack Obama when he was campaigning for the presidency.

If you agree with the consumer groups and lawmakers, make a difference and LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD NOW.

Send a message to the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice telling them you support President Obama’s campaign promise to protect the American public from abusive monopolies.

antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov

To learn more, check out:

ticketdisaster.org

Public Interest Groups Call on Justice Department to Block Ticketmaster/LiveNation/Comcast Merger

American Antitrust Institute's White Paper TICKETMASTER - LIVE NATION

Philadelphia Weekly’s cover story “Monopoly Rules”

Signed,

The 9:30 Club, I.M.P., Merriweather Post Pavilion, Jam Productions, Metropolitan Talent, Another Planet Entertainment, Frank Productions, Stone City Attractions, Rams Head Live, The Black Cat ... and independent concert promoters and venue operators nationwide.

*Study by Princeton University economist Alan Krueger