Upcoming Indianapolis Roots Rock Shows

Vulgar Boatman's Jake Smith and Dale Lawrence

Some Indianapolis alt-country/roots rock gigs you should know about:

Nov. 13: The Elms w/ Special Guest Henry French and the Shameless, The Vogue 8 p.m.
Nov. 14: David England, Vulgar Boatmen, Old Flames, Radio Radio, 1119 E. Prospect St., 9 p.m.
Nov. 18: The Fox Hunt, Joey Welch, The Complete Unknowns, The Vollrath, 118 E. Palmer St., 8 p.m.
Nov. 18: Carrie Rodriguez, Royal Theater, 59 S. Washington St. Danville, 8 p.m.
Nov. 21: Will Hoge, Radio Radio, 1119 E. Prospect St., 9 p.m.
Nov. 21: Rusty Bladen, Louie’s, St. Rd 37, Fishers, 9:30 p.m.
Nov. 21: Vagabond Opera, Royal Theater, 59 S. Washington St., Danville, 8 p.m
Nov. 22: Alexa Woodward, Elam Abraham Blackman, Adam Kuhn, The Accordions, Earth House, 237 N. East St., 8 p.m.
Dec. 4: The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Jascha, Joey Welch, The Vogue, 6259 N. College Ave., 9 p.m.

You guys know I think The Elms are the real deal, right?  They work hard, tour around in a van, playing sweaty, greasy, soulful music for 10 or 100 or 1,000 people at a time.  The Elms seem to think rock and roll matters.  Gotta get behind that, because it’s the difference between music that means something and all the rest of the stuff out there.  Here’ s the new video for the hook-laden “Back to Indiana”. (I think it’s golden when bands make MTV-ish videos today.  The new retro…). Rock forward…

VIDEO: Todd Snider (Live) “The Last Laugh”/”Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”

Me and Todd Snider. We go way back. All the way back to 1995 at his show at the legendary (and now defunct) Patio in Indianapolis. Todd and the Nervous Wrecks. The band was fuckin’ amazing. Hell, I didn’t know what to expect. I had heard “Alright Guy” on the radio and thought there might be somethin’ there. There was, times a million. Long about 1998, he dropped the band and went solo. (Though I saw he had a reunion show not long ago, so there is always the sliver of selfish hope that they return to rock again). Meanwhile, he has proven to be the real deal, and tours endlessly as a solo act. The lyrics are unbeatable, he writes tunes that are anthemic in their own little (or big) way and he is funny as shit too. Plus, as he would say, the songs mostly rhyme…
– - Found this up-close video with awesome sounding soundboard audio bootleg of a song from a show in South Carolina…

So you know…this is what the band looked and felt like when I saw ‘em about 15 years ago. Hang on until you get to the middle of the video and they throw in a killer cover song. It’ll be worth it. Trust your friend Rob.

U2 concert live this Sunday on YouTube

See. This is what the web was meant to do. Live events. Stuff that TV won’t do.
U2 live webcast of their concert this (10.25.09) Sunday night from the Rose Bowl in CA. – 11:30pm (ET).
Will be an interesting piece to watch, and see if it translates well to the web and if the images and audio rock appropriately.
Oh yeah – U2 ain’t bad either.

VIDEO: Springsteen Brings Elvis Back in Philly

Who knew? Elvis joined Bruce Springsteen on stage at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on Monday night. On the third night of his four night stand at the soon-to-be-demolished arena, Bruce took some requests from the audience midway through the show, and dusted off “All Shook Up”. Keep an eye out for “The King” midway through the tune – and watch the surprised reaction of the band – and Bruce…. Only at a Springsteen show can rock & roll and comedy and a long lost King come together. Excellent audience video from up close.

VIDEO: Bottle Rockets Live in the studio

Outstanding up-close video of Brian Henneman and the great Bottle Rockets at the KEXP radio studios out in Seattle. Perveyors of sturdy, soul-grabbing American rock and roll, the B-Rockets’ new record (“Lean Forward”) is a return to the country-rockish sounds of albums like their excellent 1997 release “24 Hours a Day”.
 

see two more videos from Seattle - from the KEXP youtube channel.  Lots of other great live rock and roll on here – worth checking out.  They’ve done a nice job of blending a live performance space with outstanding audio and intimate camera work.