The Soft White Sixties, and I'm hooked.

I went to see Beware of Darkness on Sunday, expecting to be very-much entertained by the headline act, wishing it wasn't a Sunday because I had to be up for an early start on Monday and knowing that Sacramento doesn't really go all out to attend Sunday shows. I didn't know any of the support acts, and I had few expectations. I was going to see Beware of Darkness, to take photos, to enjoy the show, because they are one of the outstanding new bands of this decade, in my humble opinion.

I wasn't expecting to be blown away by the support act.

Soft White Sixties, Sacramento

The Soft White Sixties, from San Francisco, did just that.

Octavio Genera, Soft White Sixties

You might call them "pop"--but it's pop of a bygone age, when pop was rock and rock'n'roll and soul, not Gaga and Beiber and wish-wash-insipid; when "pop" was bad-boy Thin Lizzy, and glam-boy T Rex, the wonderful Queen and Freddie Mercury, and a touch, a hint, of Northern Soul, when pop was outstanding and strong and loud and tough-but-approachable and pop because it stood for "popular", not just a limited set of notes and chords. This is real. This is music that takes me back to my roots, and yet feels so much like tomorrow it's haunting. (Indeed, TSWS played the best cover of Children of the Revolution I've heard, and there have been a few of those because it's a great song and most fail badly to do it justice.. Singer Octavio Genera too, he has something reminiscent of Phil Lynnot in the way he performs.) I'd call them rock, and fun, and darnit... you need to get out there and see them, hear them, listen to their album "GET RIGHT". Seriously...

Soft White Sixties

(If you don't know what I mean by Northern Soul, I guess you didn't grow up in England, did you?)

These photos are by no means the best I've ever taken. They are grainy and obscure. (I am soooooo ready for some summer-daylight shows, or some shows where the lightman does some magic and illuminates the bands.) But if any one of these pictures inspires any one of you to go check out this band, these Soft White Sixties, it will have been worth the effort to wring some drops of light out of the camera.
And... I just found another good reason, if not the best reason, to head to BottleRock in Napa. The Soft White Sixties are playing on the Saturday.

Let's go!

Find The Soft White Sixties on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, and music is available from their website through iTunes and Amazon.

More photos from the show:  http://alisontoon.com/tsws

(And if you like the energy of The Soft White Sixties, you might also enjoy Blackjack Billy.)

Today's soundtrack: The Three Way and The Soft White Sixties

I'm listening to "The Three Way" by The Three Way, and The Soft White Sixties "Get Right" as I work today... and they go together very, very well.

Now that's a lineup for a fun show. Yes, please!

Beware of Darkness at the Assembly, Sacramento, 27 April: thoughts, review

Dear Beware of Darkness,

I have seen you three times in just over a year: at the first Aftershock, then late last year at the Ace of Spades, and then last night, at Sacramento's Assembly.

Beware of Darkness, Sacramento April 2014

Each time, I've enjoyed your show very much. And I really, really rate your first album, Orthodox.

Beware of Darkness, The Assembly, Sacramento

So keep on coming back to Sacramento. Every time you do, you gain new fans. Soon you won't be able to wander down K street, thinking no-one knows who you are. Until then, keep doing what you're doing.

Beware of Darkness, Sacramento April 2014

Thank you,

Alison

P.S. More photos from the show in the Toon's Tunes Beware of Darkness photo gallery. Yes, it was a tad on the dark side last night!

Beware of Darkness, Sacramento April 2014

(Everyone else: if you still haven't heard Orthodox, take a listen. Might just be the breath of fresh air you're looking for. And catch them on tour: tonight at The Alley in Sparks/Reno, then in LA)

Beware of Darkness, The Assembly, Sacramento

The Dandy Warhols, and The Warlocks, and darkly-mystic psychadelic rock?

Last night, The Dandy Warhols, ably supported by The Warlocks, put on an almost-mystic, trance-like, almost-psychadelic show at the Ace of Spades in Sacramento.

I hadn't realised that The Dandy Warhols have been around for quite as long as they have, but it's already twenty years since they played Sacramento's Old Ironsides! And no doubt, there were more than a few fans from those days in the audience.

Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols

The previous night's show in San Francisco, and tonights/tomorrows dates in Los Angeles, sold out: there were still a few tickets available in Sacramento, but the room was full by the time the Dandys came on stage.

The Dandy Warhols

I really enjoyed the music from both bands. I just wished there had been a little more in way of visuals. The lighting was almost non-existant... and while darkness does help set the mood for this type of music, I really wanted to see the performers, too.

The Warlocks had a cool video projected across them, their faces, and the back of the stage. It added to the atmospher, but it didn't add any light--hence the lack of quality photos.

But then, it's about the music, and not about the photographer!

Earl V. Miller, The Warhols

More tour dates here: http://www.dandywarhols.com/news/shows/

More about The Warlocks and more about The Dandy Warhols on their websites: click the links!

So who's going to BottleRock? Nice lineup! The Cure! Really!

So who's up for a trip down to Napa?

BottleRock is Friday, May 30th until Sunday, June 1st. Lineup includes The Cure, Outkast, Barenaked Ladies, Heart (Heart?), Ed Kowalczyk, Third Eye Blind, and many, many, many more.

Full lineup here:  http://www.bottlerocknapavalley.com/lineup 
And you can buy your tickets here:  http://www.bottlerocknapavalley.com/tickets

For full details of the festival, go to http://www.bottlerocknapavalley.com

Lots of shows this week: New Kingston, The Dandy Warhols, Beware of Darkness...

I've been travelling for three weeks out of the past four, and am now back in Sacramento. There's a whole lot of music in town this week!

- The Dandy Warhols at the Ace of Spades on Thursday
- New Kingston at the Assembly on Wednesday
- Beware of Darkness, at the Assembly on Sunday!

Beware of Darkness, December 2013, Ace of Spades, Sacramento

These are just the ones that I've picked out--there are many other shows. Check out the full lineups from these venues:

Ace of Spades
Assembly 
Boardwalk

Best albums ever... revising my list, and adding one

There are few albums on my best-ever list. I have well over 20 days of music on my iPod, but there are few albums that have that everlasting, always-listen-to-it-and-hear-something-new, appeal.

They have to be albums that are timeless. They don't become dated.

They have to be musically intricate and technically strong.

They have to have meaningful lyrics.

There can be no more than one naff song on the album (and that's only because I like Dire Straits too much to say, "not one"). And they are not "best of" albums, because that's cheating, (though at some point I'll have to make an exception for a "best of 5FDP gentle songs").

The songs might be played by a classical orchestra, and stand up--because the music is that detailed and that strong.

If you hear the songs played live, you know that each performance will be unique, because the musicians are living the music, and the music is alive.

Gemini Syndrome, Sparks, Nevada, 2013

So...

AP, Gemini Syndrome, Sacramento Aftershock 2013

After several plane journeys, many subway rides, and a few long-distance east-coast train rides during the past couple of weeks, I am in no doubt that Gemini Syndrome's "Lux" is way, way up on my list of best albums ever. I don't say that lightly.

Brian Steele Medina, Gemini Syndrome, Sacramento Aftershock 2013

Together with Marillion's Marbles, and Brave, and Afraid of Sunlight, and more; Peter Hammill's Silent Corner and the Empty Stage;  Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms; Stevie Nicks' Belladonna, and a few more, Lux is going to be on my playlist for a very long time.

Peter Hammill, 1994, Grenoble, France

But then, you say, what comes next?

There's a lot of time, and many years, and hopefully many more albums to come.

Ask some of the oldies (and not-so-oldies, but very very good-ies) on my list. They are still making music, still out there, still living the song.

Thank you all, very much.

Marillion, Wolverhampton, England, 2013

The Three Way's CD is about to arrive!

This week is a week of new arrivals. First, very very early on Wednesday morning, my first grandbaby arrived!!! She is beautiful and adorable and it's all very very exciting. More about this soon!

And tomorrow, another new arrival of a different kind--The Three Way's first album is being launched at a party in Sacramento. It's being held at the Midtown Barfly, 1119 21st Street, Sacramento. The event will include live performances by (of course) The Three Way and also Island of Black and White, the Soul Shine Band, Hans Eberbach and Joshua Dale Krage, and Jesse Guerra, as well as comedy by Garrett Wildgust.

The entry fee for the launch party is $10, and includes a free copy of the Three Way’s new CD. You have to be 18 or older to go to the launch party--if you're not, you'll still be able to purchase the CD! Look out for it everywhere you usually buy music!

There's a great interview with The Three Way online in this week's Submerge magazine. If you live in Sac, you'll also be able to find the print version. (I had the great pleasure of taking the photos!)

Personally, after seeing their show just a few weeks back, and playing their EP ever since, I can't wait to hear all the album.  It will be great!

Flying again... oh my ears!

Flying across the USA in daylight, never failing surprise at the vast, enormous areas of uninhabited wilderness. Desert, mountain, forest, snowfield, lake. It's beautiful and its wild and its crazy how people cram into tiny city apartments and traffic jams.

Sacramento to Chicago. Midway to East coast. Soundtrack: metal spinning, and then I created a random new one:

Shinedown, 45
Linda Sharrock, Until you come back to me
Calvin Russell, I gave my soul to you
Radiohead, Creep
Picture Me Broken, Mannequins 
Richard Peikoff, Mirrors
Pearl Jam, Breath
One-Eyed Doll, Liar
Sinead O'Connor, Nothing compares to you
Mumford and Sons, The Boxer
Marillion, When I meet God
Marylin Manson, Sweet Dreams. 

Steve H, Marillion

The mix was a tad insipid. Good songs, good musicians, but it came across a little flat. After that? I needed more H, more Marillion, and more Ivan Moody. You need strong vocals to cut through the plane-pressure hearing loss!

Ivan Moody, Five Finger Death Punch

Istanbul: art and music and memories

A few years back, my daughter and I were sitting on the beach in Dahab, on the Red Sea, and hearing some very haunting music. That music was B-Tribe, and for me, it's synonymous with Dahab, with sitting under shade at a waterside cafe, eating Fuul Mesdames, playing backgammon with the Bedouin girls. Flamenco meets New Age and some electronica... not from the desert, not from Sinai, but very much linked in my mind with the two.

In Istanbul, I was wandering the streets last Thursday, doing my own walkabout thing, my way of getting to know a place; meeting strangers, haggling in the market, seeing the backstreets as well as the tourist attractions (which in Istanbul's case are not to be missed: Hagia Sofia is incredible, the Blue Mosque beautiful, the Suleieman mosque totally tranquil). I was about to return to the hotel, or to find a boat across the Bosphorus and back, but something pulled me up a steep, steep street, up towards Hagia Sophia. (The top of the street is where Bored Security Guy sits at night, playing with the alley cats. The bottom is close to the tram line that circles around the peninsula.)

Artist Ilhami Atalay

On my left, a cafe, tables stepped up the street. On my right, another cafe... with some very interesting graffiti running behind, and above, and around, the tables. "Don't be afraid of the art", "Don't be afraid of your mind": quotes from Polish photographer, Maciej-Meru Adamczewski. The quote is right. Never, ever, be afraid of art. And this street is full of it. Everywhere.

More exhuberant and vocal and colourful graffiti-art, even over a street sign, which becomes a part of the picture. More signs pointing to an exhibition. More art. More walls. Again, don't be scared, you will like!

And like I did. It's the home of artist Ilhami Atalay. A wonderful treasure-trove of artwork-in-progress, major canvases, paintings to buy. Stacks of them.

If I lived in Istanbul, my home would be full of his paintings. I love the colours. I love the energy and the life and the heart and soul. I had to run away before I spent this year's mortgage on a load of artwork. (That's not to say the pictures are really expensive: for this calibre of art, they are affordable. I just wanted lots!)

That red and yellow and turquoise canvas? It would be perfect in my living room. Maybe I need to go back to Istanbul... soon.

And why did I start this post with the music from Dahab? Because... if you go to Ilhami Atalay's website, the music that plays is Turkish and New Age and electro. It's the music of Can Atilla. And his music will now, for me, be synonymous with Istanbul.

Go look, go listen. Don't be scared: you will like!

Website: http://www.ilhamiatalay.com/ 
More pictures from Toon's Tunes visit to Ilhami Atalay's gallery, click here.

Guess where I was last week?

It's obvious where I've been, from the books I'm reading. 

A good trip always generates good reading material... and new recipes to try!  The recipe books by Greg and Lucy Malouf are beautiful, and worth buying for the photos as well as the food. And I will now have to read all of Orhan Parmuk's books, beginning with this one: Istanbul, Memories and The City.

Talk Turkey, but don't tweet it. Please. OK if you really must...

This week, I'm in Istanbul, Turkey, for a work conference--GALA 

Twitter, as you may have read on the international news, is currently blocked by the Turkish government. You just can't tweet or receive tweets: it's simply not working... or the tweets are flying off into the internet black hole. And rumour has it that there may be no internet service at all tomorrow, for most of the working day. 

What is this doing? It's creating a nation of internet and network geniuses. Outside Turkey, see what's reaching you.

That apart, tonight I saw an amazing show... the men dancing were great, but Asena, Turkish belly-dancer and tabloid favourite, was just incredible. I had no idea we were going to see her... wish I'd taken a decent camera and not just cell phone!

William Control, new album "The Neuromancer" out April 4th. And it's good. Very good.

The WBTBWB show left me feeling a little overdosed on screamo-hard-metal-death-post-whatever-whatever-WHATEVER-the-heck-too-much-screaming-too-little-singing-applecore, and so for the past two weeks I've been listening to more melodic and tuneful vocals: Zucchero's "La Sesión Cubana", the Gipsy King's "Savor Flamenco", I'Octane's beautiful new reggae album "My Journey", and to the wonderful EP, "Fourplay", from The Three Way (don't forget their CD launch party, April 12th).

And also to a preview copy of Willam Control's new album, The Neuromancer, which will be released on April 4th. (William Control, electronic project of wiL Francis, vocalist with the band Aiden.)

The first time I listened to it, I very much was taken by William Control'spoken voice... it's a stage actor's voice, a poet's voice... but then my brain dragged itself down a pedantic, mental, pronunciation-of-English rathole, thinking about all the ways in which "mirror" can be pronounced. (I grew up saying "mirr-oh!", most of England says, "mirr-uh", but never had I heard a reflecting-glass be called "meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer" until I arrived in the USA years ago and yes, I still find it distracting, stupidly, as the first listening to The Neuromancer proved. Weird how one word can do that.)

The second time I listened to The Neuromancer, I heard a touch of Depeche Mode and Spandau Ballet, but with a raw edge. There are subtle reminders in the lyrics, too; you'll hear mention of a "personal Jesus" in God is Dead, and "new romantic boys" in Revelator.

The third time I listened to The Neuromancer, I started to grin, as the lyrics really kicked in. While the music is immediate and light and catchy and danceable, the lyrics are a snippet grim. A little black. A tad sacreligious, a touch resentful, but very clever and direct. With topics including S&M (Filth and The Fetish), love, hate, heaven and hell, the juxtaposition of the very-poetic, Plath-like words over the electro-dance beat told me there is a real sense of humour behind William Control. In a way, the album reminds me of Malcolm McLaren's Paris: not that there is any similarity in the music, but rather in the flow, the connection from the beginning to the end of the recording, and in the very clean production.

And then, the next time I listened to The Neuromancer, I truly heard it. It's a work of art.

Above all, the final track, Where the Angels Burn. It's part song, part poem, part longing, part despair. It's the eternal champion searching for his Ermizhad, in song, in word. It's compelling and beautiful and haunting.

(And yes, I've had the album on repeat and will continue to do so.)

The Neuromancer will be on sale on April 4th in the USA. You can also find out more about William Control on the website, http://williamcontrol.com/

"William. You will reveal a capacity to shock, to startle lifeless ones from their profound slumber..."  I think that about sums it up.

Go listen. You'll just have to wait a few more days... but you can preorder it here: http://williamcontrol.bigcartel.com/   And watch out for the tour: http://williamcontrol.com/tour/    And yes, he'll be in Northern California: April 24th at Slim's, San Francisco.

Bands help fund music scholarships for kids with help from Soundz of NorCal: Clockwork Hero, The Three Way, Pushing The Son and Skin of Saints

I was lucky enough to grow up in a place, and at a time, when music, art and theatre/drama were part of fundamental education. That, and being taught to read at a very early age, provided me with the tools to be "me", no matter what. Today, this education in the arts and early appreciation and understanding of music is to a great extent ignored within the school curriculum--at least here in the USA. Parents must choose, instead, to provide this learning outside of school. And to pay for it. And to support and nurture the idea of a child exploring music in the first place.

The Three Way

That's the main reason behind last night's fundraiser organized by Soundz of NorCal at Sacramento's Starlite Lounge: raising money for 10 musical scholarships through the Gold Lion Arts music instruction scholarship fund. The scholarships will pay tuition for ten children for one year. Nice work!

The other purpose of the show: to have fun, and to showcase some local music.

Pushing The Sun

The venue was by nature, dark: it's a large room, upstairs in a Sacramento mid-town bar. The stage was lit, but even so, I was under-exposing shots at 1.1:8, 1/80 and 3200 ISO. And then the first band had the brilliant idea of switching off the stage lights and relying on three LEDs... so what you see is what you get, apart from the fact that while the human eye can gradually adjust to very, very low light, the camera lens doesn't. (Happily the next two bands kept the stage lights on: I was not able to stay to see Skin of Saints, will have to catch them another time.)

Clockwork Hero

I really, really enjoyed The Three Way. They have a CD launch party coming up soon and I'm looking forward to that. Their music is bluesy-rock'n'roll with a snip of Tom Waits thrown in along the way. Powerful and fun and real music from real musicians. And I always love slide guitar.

The Three Way

Lineup and Toon's Tunes photo galleries:

Clockwork Hero, from Stockton: http://www.alisontoon.com/clockworkhero
The Three Way, from Sacramento:  http://www.alisontoon.com/thethreeway-mar2014
Pushing The Sun, from Concord: http://www.alisontoon.com/pushingthesun
Skin of Saints, from Sacramento.

Huge thank you to the organizers for setting this up, and to the bands for providing a fun and entertaining evening, and helping to raise money for this worthy cause.

The Three Way

Lineups announced for Sac Music Fest and for Concerts in the Park

Sacramento Music Festival is held each year in Old Sacramento, on Memorial Day weekend. The initial lineup has been announced and includes some of the performers from last year. Lineup can be seen here on the festival website: http://sacmusicfest.com/artists/

And the 2014 lineup and schedule for Concerts in the Park has been published, too. The lineup, which includes loads of local bands, is here: http://downtownsac.org/events/concerts-in-the-park/ 

And Aftershock have set dates and will announce lineup soon...  http://aftershockconcert.com/

It's going to be a fun and musical outdoor summer in Sacramento!

(Sadly, there won't be a Sunrise at Night concert series this year. Hopefully it will be back in 2015.)

Deftones, new album? Festivals? What when where?

According to a Rolling Stone article published today, Deftones have begun work on a new album. They are also touring--including lots of dates in Texas, one in St Petersburg, Russia, and the Sonisphere Knebworth festival in the UK.

Deftone's Chino Moreno, Aftershock festival 2012

I wonder if they'll be in the lineup for Aftershock 2014? What do you think?

Honour Crest, Lions Lions, and The Iliad and the Odyssey

Three more bands, so full of energy that I swear they spent as much time in mid-air as they did grounded; I don't know how they play, let alone sing, while jumping like that, but they do.

The Iliad and the Odyssey

The Iliad and the Odyssey; young and local Sacramento band, opened the show.

The Iliad and the Odyssey

Second in the line up were Honour Crest, and my personal favourite of the evening. Not least because they spell honour properly. Yes, I'm English. Honour Crest recently released their debut album, Spilled Ink, and it's well worth a listen.

Honour Crest

A bit like an artist not being able to truly create abstracts until they have mastered classical painting, I don't think a vocalist can succeed completely with screamo unless they can really sing, too... and I like to hear evidence of that. But that's just my personal opinion. I'm sure you have yours.

Honour Crest

And then Lions Lions. Incredibly energetic. Find them on Facebook, too: Lions Lions 

Lions Lions

The Assembly wasn't full. It was a Sunday evening and people had to work the next day. But that left plenty of space for those who were there dance, pogo, and jump on command. And throw themselves from one side of the room to the other in exuberant celebration of the music.

Lions Lions

More photos from all three bands supporting We Butter The Bread With Butter can be found in separate galleries:

The Illiad and the Odyssey:  http://www.alisontoon.com/iliadodyssey
Honour Crest: http://alisontoon.com/honourcrest
Lions Lions:  http://alisontoon.com/lionslions

The WBTBWB tour continues: see all the dates here: We Butter The Bread With Butter 2014 North American Tour

Of Butter, and of silly band names (e.g., "We Butter The Bread With Butter")

Right now, there are so many bands around with names that consist of Verb-The-Noun (insert random Verb and random Noun around "the" and you'll understand--there must be an app for that already surely because there seems to be a blatant lack of creativity in band name creation), that to discover a band with a name like... oh really, I have to say it out loud????  Surely, to find a band with a name like "We Butter The Bread With Butter", or WBTBLB for short, (though it's no shorter to say and it's darn infuriating to try)... you'd think that band would stand out, simply by it's name, and I'd be drawn to them just because of that.

No?

It had the opposite affect.

I wanted to ignore them, because that name is so darn ridiculous.

Seriously guys, what were you thinking? The band is labelled as deathcore... and the name is smooth and bland and English teas and summer and cream and just well... buttery? Really? Shouldn't it be something heavy and Germanic, something that sounds aggressive even if the words mean something gentle? "Brot mit Butter", for example? Or "Ich Liebe Dich"?  Or something you can yell and make a song of, the name of an airfield, like "Rammstein"??? Oh. I forgot. That's been done already.

But here they were in Sacramento again, and I went to see, and hear. Online reviews of their new album, Goldkinder, are very mixed: some rave about how wonderful the blend of electronica, metal and Paul Bartzche's in-your-boots-growling vocals are; others just don't get it, not one bit.

I found them quite intriguing, both musically and visually. Appearing on stage in clouds of fog, they played almost in the dark for the first couple of songs. Then one by one, the band members donned strange devices or headsets that added to the light show, and a video played as a backdrop with images from WBTBWB videos. This didn't make for the best photos of a live band ever, but intriguing all the same.

Musically: a mix of electronica, hardcore metal, and something that sounded on the edge of pop. And very very deep screamo-growling vocals.

And a couple of hairstyles that somehow meld metal with Justin Beiber. Go figure.

All in all, a very entertaining show. But guys... fix the name. Please. It distracts from the music. And you make real music and you put on a good show; something a wider audience should hear, and see.

More photos from We Butter The Bread With Butter's show at the Assembly, Sacramento, can be seen in the gallery: http://alisontoon.com/wbtbwb

The WBTBWB tour continues: see all the dates here: We Butter The Bread With Butter 2014 North American Tour

For review and photos of the three support acts, The Iliad and the Odyssey, Honour Crest, and Lions Lions, click here or scroll up!

Mark your calendar: Aftershock 2014, September 13th and 14th, Sacramento

Keep up-to-date by checking http://aftershockconcert.com/ for lineup, tickets, and more.

Zucchero's "La Sesión Cubana" out in the USA. At last!!! And a USA tour too!

I was in the right place, at the right time, to see Zucchero performing songs from this Cuban-inspired album in Grenoble, France, in June last year. Here's the review: http://alison-toon.blogspot.com/2013/06/zucchero-summumgrenoble2013-lr-9000.html

Zucchero, at the Summum, Grenoble, France, June 2013

The album is now available in the USA through Amazon:  Zucchero, La Sesión Cubana

Wonderful voice. If you're in the USA and don't yet know Zucchero's music, check it out. This new album is just one facet of his career.

For more pictures from the Grenoble show, see http://www.alisontoon.com/zucchero

For more info about Zucchero, and for his upcoming USA tour, see:  http://www.zucchero.it/eng/  He'll be in San Francisco in April!