November 18th, 2009
Tonight In Shows
Laura Veirs
7:30pm, $18-$25. World Cafe Live.
The natural world is often the star of Pacific Northwest singer-songwriter (and one-time geology major) Laura Veirs’ music—birds and eels and oceans and cliffs and caves and constellations tumble together in surreal lyrics that actually speak to love, loss, and life’s mysteries if you stop to consider them. Veirs’ imagery is as captivating as her husky, cloudy voice and her sophisticated arrangements, which sometimes get alt-folky with acoustic guitar, banjo, piano and violin, and other times go pop in a ’70s Laurel Canyon kinda way while making room for jazz-tinged grooves and dabs of electronics. Veirs and band come to town with a whole new batch of arresting melodies courtesy of her new album July Flame, due in January. (Michael Alan Goldberg)
The Emotron
8pm, $5. Danger Danger.
In his biggest YouTube hit, the Emotron, a.k.a. Jason Kyle Knight, ogles the naked porn girls of 2 Girls 1 Cup, eventually becoming so worked up that he spews Yoo-hoo soda all over the keyboard. (The Yoo-hoo upchuck is apparently a signature move, and figures in several of Emotron’s videos.) His live show—which may include costumes, nakedness, obscenity, sex acts and a variety of body fluids—is similarly bizarre and offputting, drawing as much from Atom & His Package’s synth-punk-comedy as from GG Allin’s shock and eew. Not for the squeamish. (Jennifer Kelly)
Also, the legendary and briefly reunited Jesus Lizard comes to the Starlight Ballroom [8pm/$20]; Bishop Allen, Throw Me the Statue, and Darwin Deez team up for a show at Johnny Brenda’s [9pm/$12]; and erstwhile Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer returns to town for a solo show at the TLA [8pm/$23].
November 17th, 2009
R5 Productions Switching To TicketFly
This just in from independent Philly concert promoter R5 Productions, which is ditching TicketWeb for TicketFly:
We are switching to a fully independent ticket company for our 2010 shows. We dont like the idea of Live Nation possibly owning our current ticketing provider, (Ticketweb) if this pending merger is approved.
Doesn’t really effect you, but we’re excited about it! Lots of new services coming soon including print at home and rewards for posting our shows! More details to come.
November 17th, 2009
DJ AM’s Mother Blames Plane Crash For Overdose Death
In more DJ AM news, his mother, Andrea Gross, has added a wrongful death claim to the $20 million lawsuit first filed by her late son last December against Clay Lacy Aviation, Global Exec Aviation, Inter Travel & Services, Goodyear, Learjet and the estates of the two pilots killed when the jet carrying DJ AM, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, and others crashed in South Carolina last year, killing a total of four people and severely burning both AM and Barker.
According to People, court papers filed by the Goldstein estate state that “The crash ultimately caused Adam Goldstein’s death at a later date.” His mother believes that the medication DJ AM was given in the hospital, coupled with lingering trauma from the crash, is what compelled him to start using drugs again after a decade of sobriety, which led to his overdose death in August.
Learjet has denied all responsibility for the crash. The trial starts in early March.
November 17th, 2009
J. Tillman Tonight
If you’re still on the fence about hitting indie-folk singer (and Fleet Foxes drummer) J. Tillman’s show tonight at First Unitarian Church, you might want to watch this clip:
…and also take it from us, having seen him play live — he’s even more compelling and affecting a performer when you see him in person, if you’re at all into the solo acoustic troubadour thing. You can also read our interview with Tillman from last month.
November 17th, 2009
DJ AM’s Sneaker Collection Up For Auction
Following the late-August overdose death of Philly-born Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein, some people have been wondering who can step into his shoes. The answer: You. See, AM was a celebrated collector of sneakers, and now 800 pairs of his kicks — many of them limited-edition and rare — are going up for auction on eBay between now and December 14th. All proceeds from sales of the worn and unworn sneakers will go to the DJ AM Memorial Fund, which “maintains the legacy of Adam Goldstein and his commitment to helping others struggling with addiction. Utilizing media partnerships to garner support and increase awareness, contributions will help organizations and projects committed to addressing issues of addiction and recovery.”
As he explains in the above clip, AM’s love of sneakers went back to the second grade, when his grandmother took him shoe-shopping here in Philly and he spotted a pair of Nike Air Force 2s. “It just looked like a spaceship to me and I just had to have it, and I begged my grandmom to buy it and when she saw how much they were she was like, ‘You’re trippin’.”
We just took a look at the first round of shoes up for auction — mostly some sweet Nikes and Pumas — and the bids are already piling up, so you might want to get in on the action. It’s for a very good cause, after all.
November 17th, 2009
Free At Noon With Grant-Lee Phillips And Bob Schneider
This coming Friday’s XPN “Free at Noon” show at World Cafe Live is a double-header featuring former Grant Lee Buffalo frontman Grant-Lee Phillips — who has an excellent new album, Little Moon, out — and veteran Americana singer-songwriter Bob Schneider, who just released Lovely Creatures, his 11th solo album. As always, the show is at noon, it’s free, but you have to RSVP here to get on the list.
November 17th, 2009
Comcast Gets Involved In Live Nation/Ticketmaster Merger
As Brian McManus explained in his summer PW cover story about the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger that’s in the works, we’re all basically screwed — in terms of rising ticket prices and fees — if it goes through. And now it looks like Philly’s own Comcast is getting in on the screwing. According to a piece today from Bloomberg, the cable company is getting involved with making the merger a reality, even though there’s some serious anti-trust issues that could prevent the whole thing from happening. So why is Comcast getting involved? According to Bloomberg:
The company may receive spinoffs of ticketing software and client contracts as part of a proposal to alleviate Justice Department concerns that the Ticketmaster-Live Nation deal would inhibit competition, said the people, who declined to be identified because the deliberations are private. Comcast has met with Justice Department officials to discuss the proposal, the people said. Antitrust regulators must determine whether it’s enough to let the Ticketmaster-Live Nation deal go through, one of the people said…
Comcast controls the 76ers, the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team and Wachovia Center in the city. The move to expand its ticketing operations is another example of Comcast trying to grow beyond its core cable television business. The largest U.S. cable provider also is in talks with General Electric Co. to create a company that would include GE’s New York-based NBC Universal, people familiar with the matter have said.
Consumer advocacy groups have asked regulators to block a Comcast-NBC deal because the transaction would leave Comcast with too much power over content viewers see.
And, of course, nobody is talking:
A Justice Department spokeswoman, Gina Talamona, declined to comment. A spokesman for Ticketmaster and Live Nation declined to comment. John Demming, a spokesman for Comcast, had no immediate comment.
In the event we can get anyone to go on the record discussing the deal, we’ll bring that to you … and we’ll certainly keep you posted as the screwing unfolds.
