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Seven
Must See Mainstream Summer Shows
By Brian Spiegel
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
So here we are, thoroughly immersed in summer. Some of us are going to summer
school, others are working hard at undesirable summer jobs, some of us slept
until 3 p.m. today.
Trust me, I’m not here to judge. I am here to let you know about some really
cool shows, seven to be exact, coming your way this summer. Notice my liberal
use of summer in this article. Hey, it’s still pretty
warm here in October.
7. The Alkaline Trio — The Wiltern July 20, The Ventura Theatre July 21.
Ok, so I really want to see Alkaline Trio but the Glasshouse show is sold out.
So do I swallow my pride and go to the Clear Channel-owned Wiltern LG or take
a road trip and see them in Ventura? Hmmm, it is a pretty drive to Ventura. All
I know is that Skiba and Co. better play "Radio" or Ventura might just "accidentally" burn
down. (Note: Neither the author nor the Daily Forty-Niner suggests that you burn
down Ventura)
6. Devo — August 4-5 at the House of Blues-Anaheim, 6-7 at House of Blues-LA
All right, so Devo has written some of the best songs of all time and are a band
every person should see before they die. But for $65 a ticket? This brings up
a very rational question for me: do I eat for the next month or see Devo? I’ll
get back to you.
5. Beck — The Pacific Amphitheater July 21, Gibson Amphitheater July 22
and
23
Beck is a super musician, a great performer and an awesome human being, but the
real reasons to go to these area shows are his openers. July 21 and 23 features
the English degree-toting Decemberists (one of the better bands of the Pitchfork
generation) and the show on July 22 has the feminist rock troupe Le Tigre. Both
bands should blow Beck out of the water, which again should prove my theory that
you should never pick an opener who could make people walk out on you.
4. Street Scene — Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, July 29 and 30.
Possibly the U.S. festival show of the summer (south of Bumbershoot), Street
Scene contains of litany of great bands ready to serve your needs: The White
Stripes, Pixies, the Killers, the Flaming Lips, Social Distortion, Garbage, the
Locust, Death Cab, the Black Eyed Peas, Dashboard, Flogging Molly, etc. Fun game
alert! See who delivers more marijuana references during their set: Snoop Dogg
or Method Man.
3. Green Day and Jimmy Eat World — The Home Depot Center, Oct. 8 and 9.
Well, now that the world has again jumped on the Green Day bandwagon (note that "Boulevard
of Broken Dreams" is being featured on Kidz Bop 8), the band is now able
to play really big places, which is well deserved after "American Idiot," an
album which I am beginning to believe may be this generation’s "Abbey
Road." And now that the cup doth runneth over again with fans that want
to hear the songs of their youth like "Basketcase" and "Longview," the
band no longer plays fan favorites like "Armatage Shanks" and "Platypus." Oh
well, I’ll cry a little later. It’s all good though: Green Day is
an amazing live band (even if a bit too scripted at times) and since the ninth
is the last day of scheduled touring for "American Idiot," I’m
expecting something special. How about they play "Homecoming," please?
2. System of a Down, The Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip—The Long Beach Arena,
Aug. 4 and 5.
I’m convinced System of a Down hates playing headlining shows in Los Angeles.
For the "Toxicity" album the band never actually played an official
headlining show in this town (though they did play sets at Ozzfest, Weenie Roast,
Acoustic Christmas and Pledge of Allegiance). So who knows, this might be your
only chance to see System go deep into their pockets and play some non-singles
from their new album, "Mezmorize." The Mars Volta: well, expect a lot
of free form jams and bitching to the audience. If you’re coming to see "The
Widow" you might as well go to the merchant tent or something.
1. The Arcade Fire—(TBA). Sorry, but there is no information here on when
or where this eight-piece rock savior will be playing. After a cryptic message
on KROQ three weeks ago (their return dates have been set, but not announced
yet), I would have to bet that the band will set foot back in Los Angeles in
either late September or early October—or November, or December—whatever.
The fact is that if you miss the Arcade Fire then you, kind sir or ma’am,
are an idiot. And take it from me, you’ll never forgive yourself.
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