There is a Game... That I Like to Play... And it is Called... KHANATE (Which Will Be Played No More)

By C. Schell on 10-09-2006

It seems like the year is almost over, musically speaking. Once we get a week or two into November, the only things coming out are the mainstream hip-hop and or r&b flavors of the moment, and little else. The new release map for the remainder of '06 is pretty well-defined, with no apparent gray areas. So, one must look to the New Year for the next musical surprise.

Enter Ted Leo and his gang of Pharmacists without white coats. According to the band's Touch & Go publicist, last week marked the end of recording for their as-yet untitled new album. The label is eyeing March 2007 for the release of the LP, the group's fifth and first for Touch & Go. The band committed the tunes to tape with producer/drummer (obligatory Fugazi name-drop) Brendan Canty at Longview Farm in Northampton, MA.

Left without a finished product to be leaked online weeks before its official release date, the band have decided the only way they can get the new songs into their fans' ears is to go and play about five weeks worth of shows. The beginning (and majority) of the tour has the band opening for Death Cab For Cutie and most certainly blowing them off the stage (as opposed to the groupies, who blow, aww nevermind, you guys are already way ahead of me). The last few dates are Rx headlining shows, with Chris Leo's band The Vague Angels opening up for big bro Ted. What a way to spend Thanksgiving. The whole deal is finished in Seattle, with an Rx/DCFC reunion (ft. DCFC) and a Christmas concert thingy (for KEXP) that radio stations seem to insist on having every year.

Tourdates:

10.24.06 - Northampton, MA - Pearl Street Ballroom (Benefit for Flywheel Arts)
10.26.06 - Upper Darby, PA - Tower Theater #
10.27.06 - Rochester, NY - Auditorium Theater #
10.28.06 - Ottawa, ON - Civic Center #
10.30.06 - Toronto, ON - Massy Hall #
10.31.06 - Toronto, ON - Massy Hall #
11.01.06 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis #
11.02.06 - Boston, MA - The Opera House #
11.03.06 - Boston, MA - The Opera House #
11.04.06 - Providence, RI - Providence Performing Arts Center #
11.06.06 - Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall #
11.07.06 - Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall #
11.08.06 - New York, NY - Theater at Madison Square Garden #
11.09.06 - New York, NY - Theater at Madison Square Garden #
11.10.06 - Norfolk, VA - The Norva #
11.11.06 - Bell Vernon, PA - Ice Garden Arena #
11.13.06 - Columbus, OH - PromoWest Pavilion #
11.14.06 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theater #
11.15.06 - Louisville, KY- Louisville Palace Theater #
11.16.06 - Birmingham, AL - BJCC Concert Hall #
11.17.06 - Atlanta, GA - The Fox Theatre #
11.18.06 - Clemson, SC - Littlejohn Coliseum #
11.19.06 - Orlando, FL - UCF Arena #
11.20.06 - Coral Gables, FL - Bank United Center at University of Miami #
11.22.06 - Jacksonville, FL - Jack Rabbit’s *
11.23.06 - Mt. Pleasant, SC - Village Tavern *
11.24.06 - Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle
11.25.06 - Charlottesville, VA - Starr Hill *
11.29.06 - Worcester, MA - The Grind @ Clark University *
12.09.06 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena #
12.10.06 - Seattle, WA - Neumo’s Crystal Ball Reading Room (KEXP Yule Tide Show)

# w/ Death Cab For Cutie
* w/ Vague Angels

By Papaya on 10-06-2006

If you're anything like most TMT readers, you're probably trying to survive on a pretty tight budget. After all, how were you to have known that working at a used record store wouldn't immediately pay off those student loans? [Editor's Note: You probably work side by side with a TMT editor.] Sure, it's only a temporary gig. Either way, you still don't have an abundance of surplus cash lying around waiting to be stuffed into the already bulging pockets of a billion-dollar corporation. For this reason, I'm sure it's especially painful when you ask a friend how much you owe for getting you that ticket to this or that show or festival, coming up on this or that weekend, and your friend replies: "Well, the tickets themselves were only, like, eight dollars. But with all those service charges, you know... well... (takes bong rip) I'm going to need $66.50." (He exhales.)

And then it happens: the blood rushes to your head. You feel sick to your stomach. Everything turns a dark shade of purple. We've all been there, and as time passes, we can all agree that this shit is getting far too common. You can't afford to eat for the next two weeks, and meanwhile Ticketmaster is looking more and more like Jabba the Hut circa the beginning of Return of the Jedi. And then you wake up one day to find Ticketmaster has your sister parading around in a gold bikini and your best friend frozen in carbonite. (Your money paid for that gold bikini! And that carbonite!)

The good news? If Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino can be trusted (FYI: Live Nation is a Clear Channel spinoff, with some Clear Channel hot-shots behind the scenes), you might have a new ally in your quest to make it out of the ticket-buying process without losing a hand. Apparently disturbed by the statistic that 70% of people didn't attend a concert at all last year, Rapino recently told the L.A. Times that he is working to secure lower ticket prices for the nearly 30,000 concerts that LN produces annually.

Although Live Nation is legally bound to Ticketmaster, the contract between the two companies expires in 2008 — which, as luck would have it, is the perfect time for a Third Eye Blind/Sugar Ray double-reunion tour. If LN opts to do most of its own ticketing rather than renew a contract with TM(not T!), prices for this super-tour and others could drop significantly. At any rate, service charges look to be substantially lower than the 25-35% TM has become notorious for demanding.

Take heart, hungry reader; 2008 isn't so far away. And in the meantime, enjoy some Ramen.