(as seen in Nashville, TN photo : Garland Gallaspy, CEO, Dreams Unlimited)

Sure, they’re closed on Sundays. But you know damn well what we do on Saturdays.

Photo by marcus jb

It’s odd that of all the congeries of dead-end weird ass rock places around CBGB, Mars Bar is the last to go. Apparently it will be at the end of this month, to be replaced by a “12-story luxury high rise.” There is no more CBGB, there is only DBGB and John Varvatos, a good miniature for what this city has become.

I was at Mars Bar at 8 PM on a Monday night a couple of months ago – apparently early enough to avoid the throngs of tourists who now crowd into it nightly. There were regulars hunched over their bourbons, and a shuffling personage programming and barking over the jukebox. It was the first time I’d been there in years and years. It was the place where I first did cocaine (summer of 1988). Nothing had changed.

You have to wonder where the equivalent places are nowadays. I’m guessing the inner suburbs.

Mostly because he’s more of a Don Dokken George Lynch kind of guy.   Tracii Guns on “The Price Is Right”, Ladies & Gentleman.   For no other reason other than I’m pretty sure that no matter what happens next, your weekend can only get better after this.

So, the time of Primavera and ATP festival (sadly their last ever May weekender) rolls around again and a ton of our bands decide it’d also be a good time to visit our (at the moment, rather sunny) shores. Just like last year.

With 3 European tours starting over this weekend, plus more to come over the next we have the following shows taking place over the next 25 days….. (though I’m not sure how much Golf they’ll have time for)

 

Esben and the Witch

9th – Manufaktur, Schorndorf, Germany

10th – Mascotte, Zurich, Switzerland

11th – Spazio 211, Turin, Italy

12th – Circolo degli Artisti, Rome, Italy

13th – Plastic, Milan, Italy

14th – Covo, Bologna, Italy

16th – Palace, St Gallen, Switzerland

17th – Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Germany

18th – Doornroosje, Groningen, Netherlands

19th – Bitterzoet Club, Amsterdam, Netherlands

20th – Rotown, Rotterdam, Netherlands

21st – Charlatan, Ghent, Belgium

22nd – Les Nuits Botanique (Orangerie), Brussels, Belgium

24th – Gleiss 22, Munster, Germany

25th – Karlstorbahnhof, Heidleburg, Germany

26th – Atomic Cafe, Munich, Germany

27th – B72, Vienna, Austria

28th – Seewiesen Festival, Linz, Austria

29th – K4, Nurnberg, Germany

 

Kurt Vile (& The Violators)

8th : King Georg, Koln

9th : Feierwerk, Munich (+ O’Death)

10th : Chelsea Club, Vienna

11th : Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin

12th : Vega (Small Hall), Copenhagen

13th : Voxhall, Aarhus

14th : All Tomorrow’s Parties. Minehead (curated by Animal Collective)

15th : Tivoli, Utrecht

16th : Bitterzoet, Amsterdam

17th : Les Nuits de Botanique (Rotunde), Brussels

18th : Charlatan, Gent

19th : Rough Trade East, London (free in-store, 1pm)

19th : Corsica Studio, London SOLD OUT

20th : Kazimier, Liverpool (Sound City)

21st : Captain’s Rest, Glasgow (Stag and Dagger Festival)

22nd : The Hope, Brighton SOLD OUT

23rd : La Maroquinerie, Paris

24th : L’Abordage, Evreux

25th : Place Saint Michel, Bordeaux

26th : Top of the Folk @ L’antipode, Rennes

28th : Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona

29th : Ghetto, Istanbul

June

29th : Vega, Groningen

30th : Uebel & Gefährlich, Hamburg

 

Fucked Up

6th – White Rabbit, Plymouth – UK (tickets)

7th – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff – UK (tickets) *MATINEE SHOW

7th – The Croft, Bristol – UK

8th – Institue, Birmingham – UK

9th – The Well, Leeds – UK

10th – Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh – UK (tickets)

11th – The Cluny, Newcastle – UK (tickets)

12th – Future Sonic – Sound Control, Manchester – UK

13th – Vera, Gronigen – Netherlands (tickets)

14th – 013 Small Hall, Tilburg – Netherlands

15th – Melkweg, Amsterdam – Netherlands (tickets)

16th – Festaal Kreuzberg, Berlin – Germany (tickets)

17th – Underground, Cologne – Germany (tickets)

18th – Batofar, Paris – France

19th – Trix, Antwerp – Belgium (tickets)

20th – Stag and Dagger @ Village Underground, London – UK (tickets)

21st – Liverpool Sound City @ Kazimir, Liverpool – UK (tickets)

 

Perfume Genius

14 – Sheffield City Hall (Grand Ballroom), Sheffield

15 – Bodega, Nottingham (tickets)

16 – Bush Hall, London (tickets)

17 – The Kings Arms, Manchester (tickets)

18 – The Sugar Club, Dublin (tickets)

20 – Les Nuits Botanique, Brussels (tickets)

21 – De Duif Church, Amsterdam (tickets)

28 – Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona

 

Glasser

26th – Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, Spain – Pitchfork stage

 

Thurston Moore

28th – Paris, France – Le Grande Halle (Villette Sonique Festival) *playing a non-Demolished Thoughts set

29th – Brussels, Belgium – AB Concerts *playing a Demolished Thoughts based set

30th – London, UK – Union Chapel *playing a Demolished Thoughts based set

 

even the alumni are getting in on the act….

Matmos

14/05/11    Glasgow (UK), Old Fruitmarket

15/05/11    Birmingham (UK), MAC Art Centre *

16/05/11    Dublin (IE), Button Factory *

17/05/11    Belfast (UK), SARC *

19/05/11    London (UK), Auto-Italia *

21/05/11    Milano (IT), Leoncavallo (new venue!) *

23/05/11    Rome (IT), Circolo degli Artisti *

24/05/11    Bologna (IT), Scuderia (new venue!) *

26/05/11    Paris (FR), La Gaite Lyrique *

27/05/11    Brussels (BE), VK *#

28/05/11    Metz (FR), Les Trinitaires *

29/05/11    Berlin (DE), Hau1 *

30/05/11    Leipzig (DE), Centraltheater *

* w/ John Wiese

# w/ Oval

 

Yo La Tengo

Fast forward to June and they’re here to bring the ‘Spin The Wheel’ tour to the UK.

 

So if you live in Europe and none of those shows come by somewhere near you, well, its probably time to up sticks and move.

I consider myself a somewhat culturally aware, open-minded person. Heck, I’ve been to Canada a couple of times. And I don’t consider myself to have a knee-jerk, negative reaction when it comes to themes of overt sexualty, demonic imagery or collaborations with Klaus Meine. All of that said, I have NO FUCKING IDEA what is going on with the record cover above.

I am not hear to disparage Ms. Pesch’s impressive musical achievements (even if her website crashed my computer several times while composing this post) but I’m thoroughly baffled by this sleeve. Were the title of the album, ’25 Years In Torn Clothing While Presiding Over A Mass Burial Ground”, I’d have a much easier time with it. In any event, as someone in the music business who recently celebrated an important anniversary, I’m sure I speak on behalf of everyone at Matador in congratulating Doro on hitting the big 2-5.

God knows there’s a bunch of fun stuff going on during the annual College Music Journal Music Marathon, but we want to make sure everyone’s aware that we, along with the other Beggars Group labels — True Panther, 4AD, Rough Trade, XL and Young Turks — AND our buddies at Sub Pop, are going to be throwing a bit of a rager this Thursday, October 21, from 10pm to 4am. All the info is above on the flyer, and below for those of you on dial-up connections.

4AD/Matador/Rough Trade/Sub Pop/True Panther/XL/Young Turks CMJ Party

Thursday, October 21

10pm to 4am

Stanton Public (17 Stanton Street, btw. Bowery and Chrystie)

FREE, no RSVP needed

Ages 21 and up

DJ sets by Lemonade, True Panther Soundsystem, Dave Martin (Matador Records) and Gerard Cosloy (Matador Records), plus special guests (you never know who’ll show up to these things)

Drinks courtesy of PBR

Giveaways from Converse

Free t-shirts from the lovely folks at I Buy Music

Don’t miss it!