Goddamn, You Fake-Japanese Tourmates! Weezer to Play with Tokyo Police Club… Who Are Actually Canadian
By Sarah Dupuis on 08-07-2008
Seems Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo’s Japanese fetish doesn’t just apply to cello-players, wives, sumo-wrestlers, meditation, and fragile stationary. For the first time since 2005’s Foozer, America’s favorite eponym addicts are out of the black-walled apartment and back on the road with some super friends to promote their latest self-titled, Weezer (The Red Album) (TMT Review).
But this time around, the tour support doesn’t come from a compatible act like Dave Grohl & Co. Weezer’s enlisted the show-opening help of premature eject-ulators Tokyo Police Club, whose last two whiny releases (TMT Review) both clocked in under 30 minutes. Ticket holders will also have to sit through Blink-182 spin-off Angels and Airwaves. Do not want!
C’mon, Cuomo; if you’re going to indulge a passion, why not do it right? You’re telling me Geffen couldn’t get you Yuka Honda? OLIVIA? Not even the Harajuku Girls? That shit is bananas. B-a-n-a-n-a-s.
Rage Against the Machine Announce Show in Minneapolis During Republican National Convention
By Kid Midnight on 08-07-2008
News Story Color Key:
Black = Me standing next to a tree
Blue = Me in my soapbox
Just days after playing a headlining show at Lollapalooza in Chicago, RATM have announced a show September 3 in Minneapolis. The band will play the local “venue” Target Center. Interested? Tickets will be available this Saturday morning. Don’t forget your riot gear!
As you may have heard by now, Rage’s set at Lollapalooza was like a pile of oily rags inches away from a lit match. Attendees near the front of the stage were being pulled out of the crowd in large numbers and required medical attention. Later in the set, police officers on horseback responded to a large crowd of citizens, non-attendees, who attempted to storm through a fence and make their way to the show. Throughout the violence, the band even stopped playing for several minutes on multiple occasions, making efforts to calm the more aggressive fans. Singer Zach de la Rocha pleaded with the multitude of listeners to step back, make room for everyone, and treat each other with respect. Following a second interruption of the music, in a truly disappointing and frustrating moment, de la Rocha’s appeals for calm were followed by the declaration of their next song: “This next one is called ‘Bullet In Your Head.’”
I laughed at first; the total opposite nature of the two moments seemed ridiculous. Then I realized that the irony was unintentional: did Rage really hope to put out a blaze by tossing in more wood? How can a band honestly expect peace when even their band name signifies action and protest? Can you really expect a throng of excited people, already annoyed with a day spent in the blazing sun, desperate for release, to mellow out to the hardcore sounds that Rage Against the Machine has to offer? Does anyone else see the utterly ludicrous nature and darkly humorous laughs that this situation has to offer? “Please calm down... Bullet In Your Head.”
That’s why this next date in Minneapolis has me worried. Rage Against The Machine's Target Center show coincides with this year's Republican National Convention, which will be held in St. Paul, a short highway drive away from where Rage will be performing. You’ll be able to taste the tension in the air; you may be able to cut it with a spoon. Now, I'm not suggesting that RATM are planning a violent demonstration. I know that this is just a single show, not a multiple-day festival with the antagonizing nature of heat, exhaustion, and long lines to irritate the crowd. However, with the potential for very high tensions due to the RNC invading the generally democratic Minneapolis, I fear the worst. The early days of September already look to be unstable, and a band like RATM, who seem intent on motivating their fans to action, only adds more unease.
Just try to say with me!), Wolfmother officially went on hiatus late last year, emerging in April to road-test their new material. But alas and alack, band member tensions remained, and following an appearance at the Australia's Splendour in the Grass festival, the painful decision was reached to split up.
