Weekly Top Concerts/Shows To Check Out ...

 Monday, September 27th 

   
  World Cafe Live:

  Headliner: Avishai Cohen

  Opening Act: None Listed

  Doors: 6pm / Show: 7:30pm 

  Tickets:$22

  Trumpeter Avishai Cohen is a leading figure on the international jazz scene. As an assertive and accomplished trumpeter with a taste for modernism who is deeply rooted in the bebop and post-bop tradition, Avishai is taking jazz in new directions. He's making waves as an improviser, composer and bandleader. Originally from Tel Aviv, he began performing at age 10. He toured the world with the Young Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and went on to become the trumpet player of choice for many leading jazz, rock, pop, studio and television projects. He received a full scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and in 1997 he placed third in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Trumpet Competition.

Tuesday, September 28th 

  Trocader:

  Headliner: The Swans

  Opening Act: None Listed

  Doors: 7pm / Show: 7:30pm 

  Tickets:$30.65 

  This band has been an influential American post-punk band who was initially active from 1982 to 1997. Led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira, the band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. The Swans employed a shifting lineup of musicians until their dissolution in 1997. Besides Gira, the only other constant members were keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter Jarboe from 1984 to 1997, and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg. The band was noted for droning vocals and strange instrumentation.  After dissolving Swans, Gira formed Angels of Light, continued his work with Young God Records and Jarboe continued her solo work. In 2009, Gira hinted that he may one day resurrect Swans In January 2010, Michael Gira reactivated Swans and began work on a new album, titled "My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky." The official MySpace page for Swans was changed to display "SWANS ARE NOT DEAD",and a bulletin was posted containing a link to Young God Records' MySpace, where a new song had recently been uploaded. To help raise money for the upcoming new Swans album, Gira released a new solo album, "I Am Not Insane," via his Young God Records website. In January 2010 LAS Magazine posted an article on alternative financing in "a cash-strapped music industry, unable to rely on record label financing, [that] is positioning its own quid pro quo: fan dollars to fund projects in exchange for exclusive material and a sense of involvement" that cites the Swans selling out of the 1,000 signed and numbered copies of "I Am Not Insane" as an example of reverse financing where proceeds from one project are rolled over to finance the next.  The album is set to be released on September 27, 2010.

Wednesday, September 29th

  Theater of the Living Arts:

  Headliner: Justin Nozuka

  Opening Act:  Alex Cuba / Ry Cuming

  Doors: 7pm / Show: 8pm 

  Tickets: $25

  Justin Nozuka, when performing live, is completely engaged with the crowd and music. He doesn’t just sing, he performs and feels the music. Gifted with a voice and talent that's difficult to categorize. His music is a mixture of singer-songwriter storytelling, with elements of rock, soul, reggae, and funk. Several songs are anthemic, while others are chill, mellow and inspiring. He is a story-teller and his songs have immense depth and are positive/inspiring. 

Thursday, September 30th 

  World Cafe Live:

  Headliner: Howie Day

  Opening Act: John Wesley Satterfield

  Doors: 7:30pm / Show: 8:30pm 

  Tickets:$24 - $34 

  Several years after releasing his commercial breakthrough album "Stop All The World Now," singer and songwriter Howie Day breaks his silence with his long-awaited third studio album "Sound the Alarm." The album is a stunning collection of the kind of emotionally resonant, melody-minded pop-rock gems that have earned Day a legion of devoted fans over the past 10 years.His one man band shows rocked both intimate venues and arenas alike. Howie's shows were best known for his live and "ad-lib" style of making the music as he feels it and as the energy of the crowd creates it. With his fancy pedals and mics and soundboards, his current shows don't stray too far from what made millions of fans love him even before all of his commercial success... and that's a GREAT thing!!

  Electric Factory:

  Headliner: Bullet For My Valentine

  Opening Act: Escape The Fate / Black Tide / Drive A

  Doors: 6:30pm / Show: 7pm 

  Tickets:$32.70 

  This Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998 is composed of Matt Tuck - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, Michael Paget - lead guitar, Jason James - bass guitar, backing vocals and Michael Thomas - drums. First formed under the name Jeff Killed John, they started their music career by covering songs by Metallica and Nirvana. Jeff Killed John recorded six songs which were not released; two of these tracks were reworked later in their career as Bullet for My Valentine. Financial difficulties dictated the name change, which was followed by a change in music direction. In 2002, the band secured a five-album deal with Sony BMG. The band has stated that their music is influenced by classic heavy metal acts such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Slayer. The band is part of the Cardiff music scene. Bullet For My Valentine — which sounds and acts like a band trying to be the Metallica of this generation have heavy radio hit “Your Betrayal” to kick things off on their show, followed by two songs with fast, aggressive opening riffs that wouldn’t be out of place on the first three Slayer records.

Friday, October 1st

  Kung Fu Necktie:

  Headliner: Fight Amp

  Opening Act: Batillus / Kowloon Walled City / Ladder Devils

  Doors: 7pm / Show: 7:30pm 

  Tickets:$8 

  Hailing from South Jersey, this group spent most of their six-odd-year career playing shows in and around Philadelphia. Anyone who’s spent much time in Philly knows that it’s a tough, pessimistic town, and its urban filth and nasty attitude radiate from this band. They are supporting their second album, "Manners and Praise" from Translation Loss Records. Their sound is brutal noise rock/punk played with single minded focus and very real intensity. They’ve clearly done their homework and have a sound that embellishes the music of Melvins, Black Flag, The Jesus Lizard and various other sundry  abusive rock bands of the last twenty years.  Bassist Jon Dehart’s über-gravelly bass tone coats even the band’s more restrained moments in knee-deep sludge, and Mike Howard’s tom-heavy skinsmanship is equally propulsive during both speedy segments and the band’s miles-deep grooves. The guitars sound bristling and barely in control at times, but the band as a whole never gets mired in their own murk. These guys draw just as much from a punk-rock sense of unease as they do from metal’s sonic firepower. 

  Electric Factory:

  Headliner: B-52's

  Opening Act: Gang

  Doors: 7pm / Show: 8pm 

  Tickets:$49.70 

  Get in and be put on with panache by Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, Keith Strickland and Fred Schneider of the iconoclastic band that makes the glockenspiel seem like the coolest instrument on the globe. Yes, they're kitschy as all get out, and therein lies the appeal. Schneider should get things going by belting out the question, "What's that on your head?" Cindy Wilson, magnificent in a black, shiny micro-mini and go-go girl hair will step in to keep the groove on with their sounds that are prime examples of the punk-y, camp-y, rock-y cool music and wackadoo lyrics that make sense somehow in their shows, but nowhere else. Many of their tunes are fizzy and irresistible, they give listeners no choice but to cave in and come along for the ride as most of the crowd will buckle in for the loop-de-loop that is a B-52s show.

  Trocadero:

  Headliner: Teenage Fanclub

  Opening Act: None Listed

  Doors: 8pm / Show: 9pm 

  Tickets:$25.75 

  This band has been around for about 20 years now and they’ve still got it.  The Scottish power poppers are touring behind "Shadows," their first album in 5 years.  The new material is good and their harmonies are still solid … although physically, the 20 years are starting to take their toll.  These guys are starting to look a bit like Dads … which we guess they probably are, but that’s neither here nor there.   

Saturday, October 2nd

  Electric Factory:

  Headliner: !!!

  Opening Act: Les Savy Fav / Fol Chen.

  Doors: 7pm / Show: 8:30pm 

  Tickets:$24.70 

  Known for their dance punk music, the Sacramento-based group has the perfect genre to set the mood for any show night. !!! will be taking to the main stage with their bright funk and disco-infused dance punk music. Their fans and newcomers will altogether love the grooves in their music, but will get a kick out of watching lead vocalist, Nic Offer. His little boy shorts always seem to add a slight endearing, comedic effect to all his dancing - according to most of his loyal concert followers.  The entire collective works really well together on stage. There is a dynamic that both rock and electronica fans can both enjoy as you will take notice when you look around and all the moving bodies around you are in agreement.

Sunday, October 3rd 

  Electric Factory:

  Headliner: Switchfoot

  Opening Act: The Almost

  Doors: 6:30pm / Show: 7:30pm 

  Tickets:$30.10 

  This long time American rock band from San Diego, California is composed of Jon Foreman - lead vocals, guitar, Tim Foreman - bass guitar, backing vocals, Chad Butler - drums, percussion, Jerome Fontamillas - guitar, keyboards, backing vocals and Drew Shirley - guitar, backing vocals. Their style from earlier albums with independent label Re:think Records consisted primarily of guitar-driven alternative rock, characteristic of a three-man lineup, though they also incorporated string arrangements with slower songs. After early successes in the Christian rock scene, Switchfoot first gained mainstream recognition with the inclusion of four of their songs in the 2002 movie "A Walk to Remember." This recognition led to their major label debut, "The Beautiful Letdown," which was released in 2003. It went on to sell over 2.6 million copies and produced the band's best-known singles, "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move". Switchfoot is hailed as one of the greatest bands of the modern rock era. According to Jon Foreman, the name "Switchfoot" is a surfing term. It stuck with the band due to all of them being involved in surfing and loving the sport/activity. The name is about change and movement, a different way of approaching life and music.