Adventures In Stereo

So, in between going to work and playing Gears of War on the Xbox I’ve been reading Slash’s autobiography (SLASH) and it’s pretty damn good.  Those Gn’R fellas were pretty wild … as I’ve said many times, I don’t care much for anything past Appetite for Destuction, but back when I was ‘discovering’ music I sought out everything Gn’R.  Although I don’t listen to much of their post-Appetite output, there is a good album within the Use Your Illusion double.  I can’t even be bothered discussing this ‘Chinese Democracy’ and the best of all the post Guns projects was Duff McKagen’s record with his old 10 Minute Warning pals.  However, I just had to listen to some early Gn’R stuff that I had kicking around so as to hear what Slash was talking about. 

Here’s a few early Guns N’ Roses tracks (available for 1 week only):

November Rain demo from 1986, Welcome to the Jungle, Bad Obsession (early Use Your Illusion demo)

… and away from this Guns N’ Roses stuff, the Connect Festival (held in the ancient grounds of an 18th Century castle in the Scottish Highlands) will feature some mighty fine bands this year (as well as not so mighty fine) and although the tickets are pretty pricey, you can expect your weekend of Friday 29th to Sunday 31st August to include entertainment from Sigur Ros, Grinderman, Elbow, Spiritualized, Mercury Rev, Howling Bells, Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band and … The Gutter Twins! (for the full list of the announced acts visit the Connect Music Festival dot Com).

Speaking of The Gutter Twins, here’s some more dates that are shown on their MySpace:

JUNE

28 - Sled Island Festival, Calgary

JULY

10 - The Roxy, Hollywood, CA
12 - Showbox, Seattle, WA

AUGUST

2 - Lollapalooza, Chicago, IL
6 - Tavastia, Helsinki, FI
7 - Way Out West, Gothenburg, SE
8 - Voxhall, Aarhus, DK
9 - Haldern Festival, Haldern, DE
11 - Zodiac, Oxford, UK
12 - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK
13 - Shepherds Bush Empire, London, UK
15 - Pukkelpop Festival, Hasselt, BE
16 - Lowlands Festival, Biddinghuizen, NL
17 - Highfield Festival, Hohenfelden, DE
19 - Beatpol, Dresden, DE
20 - Ampere, Munich, DE
21 - Palac Akropolis, Prague, CZ
23 - Proxima, Warsaw, PL
25 - Forum, Bielefeld, DE
26 - Komedia, Brighton, UK
27 - Leadmill, Sheffield, UK
29 - Electric Picnic, Stradbally, IE
30 - Academy, Liverpool, UK

Also on tour is Tom Waits.  Hopefully I’ll get the chance to catch one of the Edinburgh shows, but here’s a list of dates from the Anti- website …

JUNE

17 & 18 - Orpheum, Phoenix, AZ
20 - Plazza Theatre, El Paso, TX
22 - Jones Hall, Houston, TX
23 - Palladium, Dallas, TX
25 - Brady Theatre, Tulsa, OK
26 - Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO
28 - Ohio Theatre, Columbus, OH
29 - Civic Auditorium, Knoxville, TN

JULY
1 - Times Union Centre, Jacksonville, FL
2 - Saenger Theatre, Mobile, AL
3 - Alabama Theatre, Birmingham, AL
5 - Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA
12 - Auditorium Kursaal, SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN
14 & 15 - Auditorium Forum, BARCELONA, SPAIN
17, 18 & 19 – Teatro Degli Arcimboldi, MILAN, ITALY
21 & 22 – KCP, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
24 & 25 – Grand Rex, PARIS, FRANCE 
27 & 28 – Playhouse, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
30 & 31st - The Ratcellar, DUBLIN, IRELAND

AUGUST

1 – The Ratcellar, DUBLIN, IRELAND

There’s loads of other stuff happening (Festival season and all), but I’ve been to busy playing Gears of War to notice! … oh, and Sunday at Devil Dirt (the new Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan album) was released on May 12th, not May 5th! … but it’s a great album.  I also got my hands on The Panic Channel’s (ONe) for £3 out of Fopp: it’s anything but brilliant, but enjoyable enough (hopefully something comes from the NME jam with the original Jane’s Addiction line up). 

I’ll be getting May’s bootleg posted in the next few days, but in the meantime enjoy those Gn’R tracks and this smashing video from Mr. Waits.