FAIL: Tickethold.com's Logo

I love when I come across major failures in the "professional" business world. I found this gem of a logo on the homepage of tickethold.com. Apparently Tickethold is my source for "Cheap Permium tickets". Umm, the "r" goes before the "e" in premium people. Not to mention the word "ticket" is the only noun not capitalized in the tagline. Oops. Tickethold generates quite a bit of traffic on their website; it's a good thing first impressions don't mean much these days. I tried to be a good Samaritan by emailing them and pointing out their obvious failure, but it probably won't do any good. If this logo passed upper management they have much bigger problems. This logo is the definition of Karma. That's what you get for contributing to the death of live music by being a shady ticket broker.

Cloud Cult - First Avenue - Nov 17, 2010

I love the concert reviewers that work for the City Pages. True professionals. Real fans. And much better writers than I. Here's Erik Thompson's review of last nights show:

(yes I was there and yes it was amazing)

There is something truly celebratory in watching a local band who have cut their teeth touring for a while make a stop back in Minneapolis for a triumphant hometown show. It's refreshing to hear how the road has strengthened both the band's performance and their songs, and for them it must feel quite heartening to see so many friendly and familiar faces again, as well as a completely full First Avenue Mainroom there just to see you perform.

That was clearly the case Wednesday night, as Cloud Cult returned to Minneapolis to play a stirring 90-minute set of road-tested songs to a packed and faithful First Ave crowd. It was an uplifting, spirited performance that really found the band coalescing splendidly, with all of the members focused on delivering their new batch of songs adeptly to a dedicated and adoring crowd that couldn't wait to hear them.


The set started with the prolonged horn and string-laden introduction to "Unexplainable Stories," the first track on Cloud Cult's inventive new concept album Light Chasers, which found frontman Craig Minowa faintly singing into a megaphone over the bands stirring arrangements. It proved to be the perfect warm opening that immediately connected the crowd and the band, as if that was ever in any doubt. I was surprised, since I had last seen the band years ago, how pronounced the brass and strings influence has become on their sound. Those lovely flourishes (provided by Sarah Elhardt, Shawn Neary, Shannon Frid, and Sarah Young) really give their songs depth and a sincere sense of benevolence that only serves to add to the raw emotion of the numbers.

It was clear throughout the performance how thrilled the band was with the support shown to them by the overflow audience. And the band were ready for the spotlight, with songs that were earnest and on-point all evening. Minowa stated before a rousing version of "Brain Gateway," that the band has been "touring around our new album for a while now, and we're coming home the most together we've ever been." And that tight togetherness was on display all evening, as the band tore through a well-paced, focused set that captivated everyone in attendance.

It takes a lot of confidence to boldly rework a Bob Dylan song in front of a Minnesota crowd, but Cloud Cult's magnetic version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" was impassioned and original, imbued with a modern electronic enhancements that instilled the song with a fresh new pulse. Being a massive Dylan fan, it was one of the highlights of the set for me. Their current single "Running With The Wolves" was another, with a couple members of the band offsetting the inherent elegance of the number by banging on flat pans, which gave the rousing song an interesting organic element.

Of course, no Cloud Cult show would be complete without the gorgeous paintings of Connie Minowa and Scott West, who crafted two poignant portraits while the band was performing (in addition to adding their vocals to an electric version of "Today We Give Ourselves To The Fire," as well as other songs throughout the set). Their work always give the music of Cloud Cult an interesting visual interpretation, and I'm always amazed by the whirlwind talents of these two splendid artists. [Side note: the painters have recently added 360 degree rotating easels to the performances which adds a lot of emotion and energy to the stage]

The main set closed with the dynamic combination of "Take Your Medicine" and "There's So Much Energy In Us," which found all the members of the band and the crowd singing along in full voice. The encores were also quite stirring, as both "The Exploding People," which featured a wild, percussion-driven finish, and "Everybody Here Is A Cloud" resonated resoundingly with the rapt audience. It was obvious that the band has clearly come a long way since being told years ago that they would "never play First Ave [Minowa also announced that First Ave was honoring them with a star on the wall as well!] as Minowa and West tried to hand out cd's in front of the club. They have progressed both sonically and commercially, and judging by their engaging, inventive performance on Wednesday night, they don't show any signs of slowing down.

City Pages
Erik Thompson

Mumford & Sons - First Avenue - Oct 29, 2010

Mumford & Sons are known for energetic live performances packed with spontaneity, varying setlists, and impressive musical ability. The band has stated many times that live gigs are by far their favorite part of the music experience, and that they strive for a lively, inclusive atmosphere. First Avenue was packed beyond capacity for the bands show last Friday night. By looking around at the crowd you quickly realized that everyone felt the same way; like we just won the lottery.

The show turned out to be absolutely amazing. They played with lots of energy and sounded spot-on. They did have a few hiccup's through out the set though. In the middle of their new song "Lover of Light" they lost power on the stage so they played "Wagon Wheel" completely unplugged. It was nice to see them roll with the punches and keep playing while the crew fixed the problem, but the acoustic version was completely drowned out by the crowd. The first two rows loved it, no one else heard it. My friend I was at the show with looked over at me while this was happening and said he felt like he was on the outside of an inside joke. In the encore King Charles and Cadillac Sky joined them where they played a King Charles tune. They also played this unplugged, again. Why acoustic? Uugh. They made up for the quiet acoustic encore opener when they plugged in again and revisited "Lover of the Light" since they hadn't completed it earlier due to the power outage. They also ended the show with a big version of "The Cave", which happens to be one of my favorite songs!

Even though there were a few growing pains during this young bands set, it was easily one of the best shows I've ever been to at First Avenue (if you know me, you know that's a lot of shows).

89.3 The Current is streaming the show here.

Edit this setlist | More Mumford & Sons setlists

Roger Waters - The Wall - Xcel Energy Center - Oct 27, 2010

I was planning on writing my own review of the show because news outlets such as the Pioneer Press usually butcher their reviews with a lack of talent and by pushing their own skewed and warped opinions upon the readers (which they did for this show as well). But then I came across Andrea Swensson's review from the City Pages website. I couldn't have said it better myself, Thank you Andrea for a review that is actually objective and well written.

Review:

Spoiler alert: despite the rumors, David Gilmour didn't make an appearance. Regardless, Roger Waters' front-to-back performance of The Wall was the ultimate in Pink Floyd fan indulgance, incorporating themes from the film of the same name into a multimedia explosion that kept the audience entertained for two and a half hours.

Even before the show started, there was excitement in the room as a series of "woooo!"s rippled throughout the most middle-aged, baby boomer crowd. As the overhead speakers blared clips of everything from South Park and Family Guy to old political speeches, an older man in a white coat pushed an overstuffed shopping cart through the crowd and periodically stopped to shake people's hands; the men in front of me theorized that the actor was Waters himself, but I was too far away to get a good look. If it was, it would have been a fascinating way for him to begin the show.

The show exploded -- literally -- with opener "In the Flesh" culminating in a small prop plane flying over the audience and smashing into a series of pyrotechnics on stage. Throughout the first set, a real-life gigantic wall was constructed off the front of the stage, beginning with edges that extended all the way out into the bleachers and moving toward the middle of the stage, eventually barricading the band behind the bricks as they played.


All the while, a series of gigantic marionette-style props helped tell the tale of The Wall, starting with a haggard teacher monster that loomed over the right side of the stage. During "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2," the teacher monster faced off with about two dozen young children from the Neighborhood House on St. Paul's West Side, who were given the opportunity to sing and dance the schoolchildren portion of the song in front of the sold-out arena crowd.

About halfway through the first half, Waters finally addressed the crowd. "Good evening, Minneapolis!" (We were in St. Paul, but close enough.) "Here we are 30 years later, still at it!"

And with that he announced that he was going to sing "Mother" as a duet, but not with the guest that so many were anticipating this evening. Instead, he would sing a duet with himself, using a recording from the original Wall tour in 1980. "It'll be a double track with that miserable young Roger from many years ago," he proclaimed. "Wish us both luck."

The taller the wall on stage became, the more images could be projected onto it, and the last half of the first act relied heavily on projections and visual effects. At one point the wall looked like it was starting to crumble, and people in the crowd actually gasped before realizing that it was actually an advanced style of animation that was being projected onto the bricks. Before long, the band was completely covered, and it became mesmerizing watching more and more bricks being placed onto the wall by workers from behind the structure. When there was only a small hole left in the very bottom of the wall, Waters stood peering out of it and sang "Goodbye Cruel World" before placing the last brick and fading away.

With the whole wall built, the second act was going to be intriguing. Would they play from behind the wall the entire time? Sure enough, for the first couple of songs the band returned to the stage but we could not see them, so it became more like watching a movie than a concert.



But then for "Nobody Home," a panel of the wall opened up to reveal Waters, seated in a lounger in front of a television, as he sang right out into the crowd. And for "Comfortably Numb," the big hit and the moment when we would find out once and for all whether Gilmour would make an appearance, Waters came out in front of the wall to sing as two different musicians appeared on the very top of the wall to perform Gilmour's parts: Robbie Wyckoff on vocals and Dave Kilminster on guitar. There was another guitarist holding down Gilmour's parts throughout the night, G.E. Smith (yep, from SNL's old house band), meaning that it takes three professional musicians to accomplish what just one man could in Pink Floyd's heyday. Longtime Pink Floyd touring member Snowy White was also pitching in on guitar.

The ending of the show led up to one inevitable point when the wall was shoved back down, and the crowd went wild at the sight of those giant white bricks falling to the floor. Waters and his crew came out in front of the bricks to play the cute acoustic "Outside the Wall," then he thanked "Minneapolis" one more time and left the stage, leaving the hazy, smoke-filled room a bit dazed.

Edit this setlist | More Roger Waters setlists

Guide To Being a Widespread Panic Fan

Summer has come and gone, which means all of the summer tours have come to an end. This being said, I was cruising around the interconnect yesterday (that ones for you Rusty) to catch up on the Jam Band circuit and find out what I missed out on this summer and I came across a post on a Phish fan site called week4paug.net. The post is labeled "Guide to being a Widespread Panic fan" and it's amazing.

If you don't know who Widespread Panic is I feel sorry for you because their the best mother [insert expletive here] band in the world. If your a true fan, you'll find this hilarious. True WSP fans reside on a plateau of enlightenment; you probably think you do as well, but chances are you should get your pencil out and take some notes (you know who you are).

Warning: This guide is quite long, deal with it:

"While it is true anyone can be a fan of widespread panic, only the truly unoriginal and most sheep-like of men and women can elevate themselves to the status of super fan or true fan, as it will be referred to through the rest of this little diatribe. There are a number of things that make one a true fan of wsp, none is more important than the rest, the true fan learns to balance all attributes, and exhibit each and everyone when they enter into a discussion about or relating to wsp. The following is a detailed list of things to remember when talking about wsp, if you manage to follow this list then you will surely be considered by all you meet to be a true wsp fan.

1. The terminology:
*acceptable terms for widespread panic: these of course vary by region and time, but any of these is acceptable, The spread, Panic, or the boys . Unacceptable terms: Spread , The panic , WP or WSP the use of letters is restricted solely to writing, writing wsp is okay but saying it is a dead give away that you are either a newbie or a tool
*acceptable terms for wsp concerts, here there is only one option, concerts are shows, any other word is not cool
*band members names: john bell= jb
dave schools = schools
Todd nance = todd
Domingo Ortiz = sunny
John Herman = jojo
George McConnell= Gmac
Michael Houser= Mikey

2. The scene: While panic attracts a hippy scene as a true panic fan it is your duty to hate hippies, try coming up with demeaning terms for them like Wookie, but never take credit for inventing them, because if the term sucks hell you didn’t make it up. Also speak derogatorily of the scene at any and all opportunities, because you aren’t there for the scene, which by the way is getting worse every tour because of all the lot/tour rats and wookies.

3. Drugs: true panic fans do drugs but don’t buy drugs in the lot, because drugs in the lot are bad, you have your own dealer, and you bring your own drugs to the lot, it is important to remember that true fans do drugs, but not so many that they start acting like a hippy and most importantly they don’t do so many drugs that they cant remember what sucked about a show.

4. Beer: it has to be expensive and micro brewed if possible, when talking to other true panic fans remember your favorite beer is fat tire, this is the only great beer out there, it is okay on occasion to say Siera Nevada or sweetwater are your favorites, but if someone else mentions fat tire always nod in agreement that fat tire is in fact superior.

5. Hating Other bands: True panic fans only like panic, but they have to be well versed in other bands so as not to see uninformed, so here is list of bands that suck, and more importantly why they suck, simply use this chart when talking about other bands and people will think wow this guy is pretty smart and definitely a true panic fan
*String Cheese Incident- they are gay, noodle around, and are soft
*Dave Matthews Band- used to be cool, but have since sold out and are now horrible musicians
*moe.- these guys had potential, back when they were on further, now all they do is noodle, always mention that they play a mere 6 songs a set
*Phish- first and foremost mock their lyrics, but then mock ther fans, too many wookies.

6. Liking Other bands; as a true panic fan you must admit to likeing other bands, but only certain bands and they most either be closely related to panic or the dead, or a new band that no one but you has heard of
*Government Mule: schools plays with them
*Phil and Friends- warren plays with them who is in govt mule whom schools plays with, also lesh was in the dead, this makes phil and friends a solid choice for a second favorite band, but if you claim to have second favorite band make sure to clarify that they are no where near as cool as panic
*Grateful Dead- this is an easy one because everyone who likes panic and wants to be a true fan HAS to like the dead
Karl Denson/Dirty Dozen Brass Band/Robert Randolph/Blodkin/Vic Chesnutt/Jerry Joseph- these bands play with panic a lot so you should like them, you must like the first three, and the last to it is okay to dislike, but the dislike cant be as adiment as your dislike for the bands true panic fans hate

7.Gmac- true panic fans can either hate or love Gmac, but they cant be apathetic on this issue, if you hate gmac you have to constantly say that gmac is a b rate player and it should have been Jimmy Hearing or Sam Holt, gmac lovers have to talk about how gmac fits in with the band, and needs time, in either situation you have to honestly believe your opinion towards the band actually matters.

8. Randall Bramblet- true fans are glad he is no longer playing with the band, but always take the time to say how cool it was of him to step up and help the boys out

9. Sources - true fans always have a source close to the band so that they can be the first to start a rumor, even if you don’t have a source pretend like you do and just confirm the rumors other people have said their source told them. Not having a source is as uncool as liking the string cheese incident.

10. What Sucked about a show - this is a tricky topic not to be ventured into by the new true fan, saying a song sucked or a show sucked before anyone else is dangerous, because other true panic fans may disagree, and a show only sucks when a lot of true fans say it does. Saying certain songs sucked is a much easier route, to determine if a song sucks use this simple formula, the first 3 times a song is played it can’t suck because seeing a song played for the first, second, or third time is cool, after that the song sucks until it has been in the rotation for at least 2 years, only exception to this rule is cover songs, that is unless the cover song is on the most recent album. An example ‘Sometimes’, this song sucks, even though it is a cover it sucks because it hasn’t been in the rotation long enough and most importantly it was on the new album. This brings us to the second rule, songs on the newest album suck, and will continue to suck until the next album is put out at which point those songs suck, occasionally a song on the new album wont suck, but it is okay to say it does, such as Big Woolly Mammoth. Third, some songs will always suck due to overplay, such as All Time Low, and One Arm Steve. Songs that were played before 1996 can not suck, because they are old school. If a show contains many songs that suck you may consider the show to suck, but be careful because even one rare original or cover can make a show a classic, also consider the venue, shows at traditional panic venues like oak mountain or UNO Lakefront Arena can not suck.

11. Shows that are Incredible. Saying any show was incredible is also dangerous because it may appear as though you are neither discerning nor cynical . That show was the greatest show I have ever seen should never under any circumstances be said, because great shows are determined by the masses, not by individuals. Again it is safer to stick with songs, so here are some basic rules, all covers are good, Steve Winwood and Warren Zevin covers are AWESOME, and the rarer the cover the better, here it is important to remember that true fans memorize every stat on the everyday companion, and if you don’t know what that is you will never be a true fan, any cover in medium to heavy rotation is good but never great, example ride me high. Original songs can rarely be great unless they have been played over 500 times, example: space wrangler. Overall the true panic knows that only one or two songs per show can be great, so don’t say that more than 2 songs were great.

12. Number of Shows you have seen; Never reveal how many shows you have actually seen unless it is over 100, and if forced to always frame you number in a small time period, for instance, “I have caught 29 panic shows in the last 9 months” while you have only seen 29 shows you saw them in a small window and the person you are talking to may be lead to believe you have seen more than 29 shows.

13. Why you go to shows; for the music, no other reason, if you are there for any other reason you may come off as less than a true fan

14. Show trading/show collection; in order to be a true fan you must posses a huge collection of panic shows, and you must listen to nothing but panic shows, then when talking about panic try to reference as many shows you have on disc as humanly possible

15. Talking to other fans; always assume your panic shlong is bigger until the other person/people prove to you they are also true panic fans, and know that while there can be smaller panic fans than you there can be no bigger fans, just equals because you reside at the top of the plateau of panic fans as a true fans

Follow these steps and you will soon be the envy of every panic fan you know."

Magic Bus Cafe

I was out for a ride on my road bike this morning and I decided to stop at the Midtown Farmers Market in Minneapolis. I'm sure glad I stopped because I discovered the Magic Bus Cafe. This old '78 school bus was transformed into a truly magical cafe on wheels.

I couldn't resist on getting a closer look. You walk up and all you hear is the Grateful Dead playing in the kitchen and the sound of dogs sizzling on the grill. The menu stays in-line with the buses concept by serving up dishes such as the Grateful Dog, Soulshine Dog and the Buffalo Sringfield Dog. I'll need to visit again soon to try their "psychedelic curry relish".


The owners are Cathy and Chris Lockyear, both natural Deadheads of course, as well as members of the food industry for many years. They keep a clean kitchen and the their door is always open. I'm not kidding, there is seating available for about eight inside the bus.

Magic Bus Website
Follow them on Facebook

"The bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began."-Weir

Ticketmaster is Killing Live Music

Live music has been a victim of higher ticket prices and lower attendance for years. According to the NY Times, the first half of 2010 ticket sales have dropped by 17%. Big named artists have been canceling shows all summer long due the lack of ticket sales. Sure, you could blame the economy. The economy is an easy target. I don't, I blame Ticketmaster. In fact, I think Ticketmaster is killing live music.

Ticketmaster has had a reputation for hiking prices and charging ridiculous service charge fees since the early 1990's. Pearl Jam went as far as the U.S. Department of Justice to open an antitrust investigation into the company's practices to stop Ticketmaster's injustice to music fans. The investigation was ultimately dropped because, according to former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, other competitors were entering the ticket industry, and there was a lack of evidence to proceed. The "other competitors" our "good friend" Mrs. Reno was speaking of secondary sellers such as TicketsNow inc and StubHub.com (I have a whole other bottle of hatred for ticket brokers, but I'll uncork that another time). Well, Ticketmaster decided to target the competition by merely absorbing it in 2008. They purchased the second-largest online ticket scalper TicketsNow Inc. for $265. Still not a monopoly Janet? Interesting. Last time I checked monopolies were illegal in America.

While reaping the benefits of no competition for primary ticket sales in America, Ticketmaster decided to make more money by pulling a "bait-and-switch" scam from 2008 - 2009. A Radiohead fan site reported the following in 2008:

For one of the first times since completing its acquisition of TicketsNow, Ticketmaster has begun scalping tickets by directing fans of a sold out show [that wasn't actually sold out] to its TicketsNow auctions. Ticketnews.com reveals that a source close to the situation, who requested anonymity, a TicketsNow executive helped assist with the sale of more than $1 million worth of Radiohead tickets on the TicketsNow website, which at a margin of 25 percent allowed TicketsNow to generate a gross of more than $250,000 from the deal.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged that Ticketmaster used this Web page to steer unknowing consumers to TicketsNow, where tickets were offered at much higher prices – in some cases double, triple, or quadruple the face value. Ticketmaster also displayed the same misleading Web page to consumers looking to buy tickets for many other events between October 2008 and February 2009, the agency charged. Thanks Ticketmaster. I love getting scammed out of my hard earned money.

Not only are they running illegal scams, their robbing us blind. Ticketmaster has been known for outrageous service charges for years. I recently purchased (2) Mumford and Sons (if you don't know who they are, you need to) tickets to their show in Minneapolis, here's a breakdown of their fees:

Ticket Price: $18.75 x 2

Facility Charge: $1.25 x 2

Convenience Charge: $5.90 x 2

Additional Taxes: $0.46 x 2

Order Processing Fee: $4.42

Total Price: $57.14

I paid $19.64 in fees for these tickets. That's 53% of the cost of the tickets! So, Ticketmaster deems it fair to charge me more than the price of a ticket in fees and send me 2 tickets in the mail. Pay for 3 and we'll send you 2! Awesome.

They do provide "free shipping", but they recommend you choose the "best" shipping method available called TicketFast for a mere $2.50.

*Stop and take a deep breath before you read on*

The $2.50 charge for the TicketFast option is to E-mail you your ticket so you can print it yourself. I cant make this up. Wow Ticketmaster. Shame on You.

I challenge anyone to try to justify these fees. Seriously, I dare ya.