It’s been a solid four years since my first Rogue Wave show. The gig was a part of the short lived Desdemona Festival here in Cincinnati down on Sawyer Point and even in a weekend filled with excellent live music, Rogue Wave stood out.

They have continued to stand out in the years since, releasing two excellent albums since, 2007′s Asleep At Heavens Gate and this years sleeper Permalight. The latter, released in March, is a sleeper because it seems to be under the radar and not getting the attention I think it deserves this year. Of course, the band continues to be less than under the radar live, and will be back in our area next week for what promises to be an excellent show.

We have two pairs of tickets to give away here at ENS and really want you to win. Just send an email to our contest line, enscontests at gmail dot com with the subject line Rogue. We will choose the winners around this time next week as the show is Thursday August 5th.

Good luck!

It will be a sort of homecoming this fall for Greg Dulli when he returns to the Cincinnati area for a show at the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley. Dulli, best known as the frontman to one of the most important Cincinnati bands of our generation The Afghan Whigs, is doing the first solo tour of his decorated career this fall.

Beginning in New Orleans on October 8th, ‘An Evening With Greg Dulli’ will feature Greg along with long-time Twilight Singers guitarist Dave Rosser and multi-instrumentalist Rick Nelson (Polyphonic Spree) performing a stripped down set. Dulli will lead his band through a wide selection of songs encompassing his entire career. ‘An Evening With Greg Dulli’ will be a limited run tour with only fourteen US shows along with stops in Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Belgium.

True to his roots, the tour includes a stop in Cincinnati on October 13th at the 20th Century in Oakley. This should make it a pretty intimate and special show for die-hard Whigs, Twilight Singers and overall Dulli fans. Dulli and his band are also said to be performing several new songs from an upcoming Twilight Singers album, which is said to be getting a release in early 2011 on Sup Pop Records. All the tour dates listed below.

OCTOBER

08 New Orleans LA- DBA

12 Nashville TN – Mercy Lounge 

13 Cincinnati OH – 20th Century Theatre

14 Chicago IL – Double Door 

15 Detroit MI – Magic Stick

16 Cleveland OH – Grog Shop

18 Cambridge MA – Brattle Theatre 

19 New York NY – Bowery Ballroom

20 Philadelphia PA – Johnny Brenda’s

22 Pittsburgh PA – Brillobox

23 Baltimore MD – Ottobar 

27 IRELAND DUBLIN – Whelan’s 

28 IRELAND BELFAST – Spring & Airbrake 

29 IRELAND GALWAY – Roisin Dubh 

30 IRELAND CORK – Cyprus Avenue



NOVEMBER

02 PORTUGAL LISBON – Santiago Alquimista

03 PORTUGAL PORTO – Hard Club

04 SPAIN VIGO – Teatro Salesianos 

05 SPAIN MADRID – Charada 

06 SPAIN MONDRAGON – Kulturate 

07 SPAIN ZARAGOZA – Lopez

09 SPAIN SEVILLA – Teatro Central
10 SPAIN BARCELONA – Sidecar

11 SPAIN PALMA – Teatre Lloseta
13 BELGIUM ANTWERP – Trix

16 Los Angeles CA – Troubadour
17 San Francisco CA – Café Du Nord 

18 Seattle WA – Crocodile Café 
20 Portland OR – Doug Fir Lounge

There are not too many bands that I legitimately miss when I haven’t seen their live set for awhile, but These United States are one of them. The guys just released one of my favorite albums of the year, What Lasts, it’s easily their best effort to date and if you have not already heard it, get on that right away.

But today I wanna bring this Take Away Show performance to your attention from the good folks at La’ Blogotheque. I would go into a description about how great this is, but I really want you to watch, so do it now…both of them!

Sometimes we get to a show and just want to give you a visual review of what went down. This is one of those times. Enjoy the photos by Keith Klenowski during Phosphorescent’s recent stop at the Southgate House in Newport.

It’s been a couple of years since Wolf Parade made their sold-out debut in Cincinnati. After touring in support of their second LP At Mount Zoomer, the band took a year off so its two frontmen, Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner, could focus on their other projects, Sunset Rubdown and Handsome Furs. When the band reconvened, they pumped out what became their third full-length release, EXPO 86, a frenzied, focused record that hits just as hard as their debut, Apologies to the Queen Mary. Wolf Parade is touring once again in support of their newest release, and returned to the Southgate House on Friday for another sold out show.

The band opened with “What Did My Lover Say” and the whole crowd lost it, pumping fists and thrashing around. You would think that kind of energy would be lost after the third or fourth song, but the audience kept it up for the entire show. Who could blame them, though? Wolf Parade put on one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time. The band blew through several songs off EXPO 86 and At Mount Zoomer, but it was still songs from Apologies to the Queen Mary that made the crowd freak out. I have to admit, it’s a pretty amazing sight from the balcony to watch the whole crowd screaming the words to “I’ll Believe In Anything.” The band ended with an extended militant march-turned-fuzzed out, guitar freak out version of “Kissing the Beehive.”

While the crowd’s energy definitely made an awesome show even better, one of the most interesting things about a Wolf Parade show has to be the stage dynamics between singer/keyboardist Spencer Krug and singer/guitarist Dan Boeckner. There’s Krug, who sways and lurches like a man possessed as he pumps the keys. Krug admitted to being really hungover, but it didn’t stop him from throwing himself full force into every song. Then there’s Boeckner, a tall, reedy dude in a black cut-off t-shirt and boots who plays with sharp, jerky movements as he wails on guitar, cigarette in mouth. While the band’s music prowess is something to be reckoned with, the stage presence of its members might be one of the band’s defining qualities.

-Caitlin Behle @cutelin

Wolf Parade – EXPO 86 by subpop

Setlist:
1. What Did My Lover Say (It Always Had to Go This Way)
2. Language City
3. Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts
4. Palm Road
5. Oh You, Old Thing
6. This Heart’s on Fire
7. Ghost Pressure
8. I’ll Believe in Anything
9. Fine Young Cannibals
10. Two Men in New Tuxedos
11. Yulia
12. Kissing the Beehive

If you have ever been to a multi-day music festival, you know that the day after a long day of heat can be pretty tough to keep going. I think that is the way we felt when the day started, but the lineup for the final day of this years festival was more than enough to keep me excited about the day.

The heat was back in a big way, but it didn’t keep us from hitting up some local music to start our day from Pop Empire. The Cincinnati duo started the day right with a set of seven brand new songs, and each one got me more and more excited for their next recording. After their set I didn’t need to budge because the good folks that make up Vandaveer was up next. Mark was joined as usual by his lovely sister Rose and was also flanked by Robbie from These United States on percussion. They had a good deal of family in the crowd and kept the afternoon heat away with their crisp, cool set.

After taking in part of Sara Watkins set over on the main stage, I needed some shade and H2O and thankfully found it to recharge a bit. I heard the crowd gathering not long afterwards for Minus the Bear and made sure to get over there for a good spot. It was worth the hustle too, as Minus The Bear sounded as tight as ever while performing alot of new material from their excellent new album Omni.

No more time to relax at this point in the day, as the rest of the evening was jam packed with headliner material. She & Him were up next for me, and as a huge M. Ward fan, this was a set I wasn’t missing no matter what. Both She & Him albums are fairly boring but who passes up a chance to see Zooey croon while Matt plays his guitar unlike most can. Surprisingly, a couple M. Ward songs made their way into the She & Him set as well, including “Rave On” and “Magic Trick.” The well attended set was the only one in which I actually saw the band come out for an encore all weekend as well, and it was an encore worth it’s wait because an M. Ward led cover of “Roll Over Beethoven” started it while Zooey brought it home with a great version of Screaming Jay Hawkins “I Put A Spell On You” which was every bit was enticing as Nina Simone’s version of the classic.

Once again I stayed put, this time to wait for Spoon, who I knew would be in fine form for the Louisville crowd. And in fine form they were, opening with “The Beast, The Dragon Adored” and playing a set that was in my opinion, the best from front to back of the entire festival. No offense to the Smashing Pumpkins and Flaming Lips, who did an amazing job themselves, but Spoon’s set the king of the weekend for this reviewer.

After only catching part of a raucous Ted Leo & The Pharmacists set because I was glued to what Spoon was dishing out, it was time to hit the main one last time for The Flaming Lips.

What more can you say about The Flaming Lips. Well, this is the fourth time I’ve seen them and no matter how similar their festival show is, it’s always beyond spectacular. I think our photographer Keith Klenowski not only captured their set in a perfect way, but the whole festival, so I encourage you to go through his photoset below. It will give you a good view of what this years Forecastle Festival looked like, and we hope it gives you cause to be in attendance next year down in Louisville when the midwest connects again. Ahoy!

The Forecastle Festival is where the midwest connects. In the ten years the festival has been going on, one of my favorite things about the event is the fact that bands from the midwest are always represented. So this year, when the likes of The Flaming Lips, Smashing Pumpkins and Spoon were announced as headliners, I wondered if our boys from Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Louisville would still be represented.

Of course they all were, and they were the perfect compliments to the big boys throughout the weekend. When we arrived on Saturday, the first thing that really turned my head was the new venue. Forecastle is now on Waterfront Park, taking 70 plus acres over for the entire weekend. The park is right on the mighty Ohio river and the backdrop and logistics of the entire place are perfect for an outdoor festival.

The rest of the afternoon was good but nothing was really helping me overcome the rising temperatures. Of course, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals looked the part, but had a sub-par set in my opinion, possibly due to the heat as well. Walking around more I saw energy domes everywhere on peoples heads, a sure sign that DEVO was near and ready to save the day. And they pretty much did just that. Their set was as high energy as bands half their age and complete with four costume changes to boot. The new stuff is not what anyone came for and the band knows that, mixing in the big hits and satisfying festival goers from 18-55.

When the sun finally gave us some relief in the evening, I made a bee line towards the east stage again to see Cloud Cult followed by We Were Promised Jetpacks. Even though I have seen both bands a few times, both are a real treat live and I was interested in Cloud Cults new material. Sadly, both sets were not up to par for different reasons. Cloud Cult had the most frustrating time, dealing with tech issues that could have amounted to a poor representative behind the boards. While WWPJ’s issues were with their pedals and the suddenly attacking mayflies around the stage. I fear that neither band was happy with the end result but both were good natured and I know I enjoyed their sets regardless.

Of course, all of this was to set up the night featured headliner, Smashing Pumpkins. Talk to anyone that is a fan of the band or a casual observer and you are likely to get some snark in return. After all, Billy Corgan has not exactly been the nicest guy to front a rock band in the past 20 years. He has run off band-mates and fans alike but the Pumpkins are still alive and kicking, even if I did hear some fans refer to the latest iteration of the band as “The Billy Corgan Experience.” So imagine my surprise when the Pumpkins not only opened their set with “Today” but sounded really amazing in the process. The new material is pretty forgettable, but the hits are still the hits, and for this night at least, Corgan had Louisville eating out of the palm of his hand.

all photos by Keith Klenowski

This interview took place during one of the worst weeks of Matthew Houck’s life as a musician. The singer, songwriter, and leader of the New York by way of Athens, Georgia indie folk/country project Phosphorescent just lost some of his most important possessions in the world. A few days before we spoke, the band’s touring van was stolen in Brooklyn, New York. Inside the vehicle was all of the band’s equipment; guitars, basses, drums, amplifiers, and effects; as well as all the T-shirts and other merchandise they had planned to sell on tour.

Even after one of the most discouraging events a band can undergo, Matthew Houck and his Phosphorescent bandmates found a way to soldier ahead. The tour is still on and they’ll be hitting the Southgate House on Wednesday, July 14th. As the band was finishing up the process of putting the pieces of their live setup back together, Matthew Houck agreed to talk with Each Note Secure about the incident, as well as everything that went into their new album, Here’s to Taking it Easy.

Each Note Secure: I don’t know how much you can talk about it, but I understand your van got stolen a couple days ago. Are you able to go on with the tour?

Matthew Houck : It did. We played our first show at home in New York, and it got stolen later that night. We were going to leave early that morning, but we woke up without a van.

The tour is going ahead as planned, we just had to move the first couple dates. People have really come out of the woodwork. A lot of friends are really being amazing and helping. We’ve huddled together enough gear that everyone can play. It’s really been incredible.

ENS: If fans want to help you out, what can they do?

MH: Just come to the shows!

ENS: Your new album, Here’s to Taking it Easy sounds a lot fuller and even happier than Pride. Did you add different musicians to the sessions?

MH: I had been on the road a lot before this record. I was working to find people to play with when I went on tour. On Pride, I played all the instruments. When it came time to go on the road, I didn’t necessarily want to only do solo shows. So I got people involved. People had been involved in the past – it’s always been a pretty open system with the lineup.

I ended up running in with these guys, who are the best musicians alive. After they helped me out with the Willie album [Phosphorescent’s Willie Nelson cover album To Willie, released last year], I realized that I really wanted them on the next record. It definitely affected the writing.

ENS: How did the Willie Nelson tribute album came about?

MH: It had been in the back of my mind for a long time that I wanted to record some of his songs, because they’ve been some of my favorite songs for a long time. They’ve been with me since I was a kid – I’ve known them my whole life. One day I came across [some of his music from the 70’s], and it all seemed to click. I realized that the best way to [pay tribute to him] was to send out a full-length tribute album. This was right after I came off the tour for Pride, and I decided that rather than dive into another record of new Phosphorescent material, I’d work on some of Willie’s songs and just put them out there.

ENS: Some of Phosphorescent’s music sounds rather eerie and haunting. Are you looking to elicit a specific emotional response from listeners with the way your voice sounds or the way your instruments sound?

MH: Secondarily. But it’s never the first thought in that process. The songs themselves lend a certain way to do them, and you honor that. If you do your job right, it will evoke certain things.

I think a sound of a record is very import. I produce and engineer these things as well. I definitely spent a whole lot of time on Here’s to Taking it Easy, longer than any of the other records, trying to get the actual sonics to sound a different way.

ENS: It sounds like you have a lot of control over the whole recording process.

MH: Yeah, as far as the sound of the record, the production, artwork, and writing; it’s still very much my baby.

ENS: Is that harder to balance on a record like Here’s to Taking it Easy, on which there are so many additional musicians, versus Pride, where it was just you?

MH: That wasn’t so much the hard part, because previous incarnations of Phosphorescent have had thirteen or fourteen members. What was harder was the process of learning how to produce – learning how to make things sound the ways you would want them to sound, just in terms of engineering and mixing tricks and record production.

It’s like the opposite side of the creative spectrum, the really technical side, like electrical engineering. I ended up getting really deep into that, trying to get the sound like these old ‘70s records, which sound phenomenal. They had this great sound going on that you don’t hear much anymore on records, the way technology has gone.

ENS: You’ve clearly had a crazy start to this tour, but are you looking forward to anything on the tour specifically from here on out?

MH: Yeah, I’m just looking forward to making it happen and getting out there. So much has happened in the last couple days. I’m just looking forward to getting back on the horse.

-interview by John Crowell @terriblesounds

***UPDATE
From Matthew……
this is insane!
the police have recovered the van
and
all of our gear is in there
and appears to be un-damaged

speechless right now,
more soon, love phos

A great week of live music is being topped off with yet another killer show at Southgate House in Newport. This Friday, we get to see Wolf Parade, hot on the heels of their brand new album Expo 86. The band are out on the road and headed to Chicago for this weekends Pitchfork Festival, but make a stop in to see us first.

And as always, we want you to get out and see the show. So lets make this one a comment contest, leave me your favorite Wolf Parade song in the comments and you will be entered to win tickets to Friday’s show. This contest will be a quick one, and I will be closing it at the end of the day Thursday, so get your name into the mix fast.

Check out a great new tune from Wolf Parades latest below.

Wolf Parade – What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Be This Way)