2010 Cleveland Concert Season Playlist

Well the snow is melting, the Indians are almost through with spring training, and the Cavs are getting ready for the playoffs. Spring is here, and with it comes a whole slew of bands and musical artists coming to the Cleveland area. My spring/summer concert lineup is filling up fast. There's a lot of good acts touring this year. Here's what I plan on, am considering seeing, or would like to see if I didn't already have plans:

April 4 - Julian Casablancas - House of Blues Cleveland
April 8 - Fanfarlo - Grog Shop
April 11 - Wilco - Carnegie Music Hall, Pittburgh
April 13 - The Hold Steady - Beachland Ballroom
April 13 - Wale/K'naan - House of Blues Cleveland
April 30 - Yeasayer - Grog Shop
May 5 - Frightened Rabbit - Grog Shop
May 11 - Pearl Jam/Band of Horses - The Q
June 9 - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - House of Blues Cleveland
June 10 - She & Him - House of Blues Cleveland
July 20 - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers/Drive-By Truckers - Blossom Music Center
July 26 - Kings of Leon - Blossom Music Center

That's my schedule. What's yours? Are you going to any of these shows too? Am I leaving out a group that I simply MUST SEE live?

I leave you with my Summer Concert playlist featuring all of the artists listed above. You'll find it on the right sidebar under my Twitter feed. Give it a listen, and feel free to create and share your own similar playlist in the comments. I love discovering new music, and we all need something to listen to to make it through the work day. Read more!

Live Music Week: Hodgepodge

We have reached the end of Live Music Week. What a long, strange trip it's been. For my encore performance I am featuring a random mixture of a bunch of performances.

First, K'naan. If you aren't familiar with K'naan, he is a Somali-born rapper who fills his songs with his unique outlook on the world, and the troubles of his home country, all to soul, pop, reggae, and even rock beats (Metalica guitarist Kirk Hammet guests on his new album Troubadour). Here K'naan performs three songs, stripped down and unplugged as a part of NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts. Watch it here.

Next up, Blakroc, a new collaboration between Akron's own The Black Keys and some talented MCs including Mos Def, RZA, Jim Jones, Nikki Wray, Billy Danze, Raekwon, and others. The combination of The Black Keys dirty blues sound works well with these artists. Their album "drops" on Nov. 27. Here is the first single from it, Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)-featuring Mos Def and Jim Jones. Yes, I realize I'm cheating here a little. The song itself is not a live performance, but the video is ... kind of. Just roll with it.

Blakroc: Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) Ft. Mos Def and Jim Jones from Jonah Schwartz on Vimeo.

Finally, a little something from Beck's Record Club. This is a little experimental project that Beck and his friends are doing. I'll let him explain:


"Record Club is an informal meeting of various musicians to record an album in a day. The album chosen to be reinterpreted is used as a framework. Nothing is rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track is posted once a week. As you will hear, some of the songs are rough renditions, often first takes that document what happened over the course of a day as opposed to a polished rendering. There is no intention to 'add to' the original work or attempt to recreate the power of the original recording. Only to play music and document what happens. And those who aren't familiar with the albums in question will hopefully look for the songs in their definitive versions."


So again, I'm kind of cheating, but these songs are recorded live and then released. It's almost like a live performance. Last week the Club started their third album: Skip Spence's 'Oar.' I'll be honest, I know nothing about that album, but now I want to check it out. The album was recorded by Beck and Wilco along with special guests including Feist and Jamie Lidell. Check out the Beck's Record Club website to listen to the songs and watch video of the recording sessions. There are two songs from the album posted to date. If you wish to hear the album in order, scroll down to the second post and work your way up.

And that concludes Live Music Week. What did you think? Did I leave out something big? If so, leave a comment and share it with everyone.

THANK YOU, CLEVELAND! GOOD NIGHT! Read more!

Live Music Week: Wilco in Amsterdam

It's Live Music Week here at Pot Kettle Blue. Why? Because I can make it any week I want, that's why! Plus, I've come across a lot of cool live music over the past few days that I want to share with you.

First up: Wilco live from the Paradiso in Amsterdam

If you've never seen Wilco perform live, you're missing out. They are consistently considered one of the best touring bands around right now. They are a group of very skilled musicians that know how to bring it. I've seen them 10 times in different venues across the US and they have yet to disappoint me.

They are touring Europe right now and THIS AFTERNOON @ 2:45 they are streaming their concert from Amsterdam live. I repeat: THIS AFTERNOON, MONDAY NOV. 16 @ 2:45 PM EST (ignore the time on the poster above. They changed the start time).

I'm not sure if the concert will be archived after the fact. If so, I will update this post. Either way, click here to spend the end of your work day rocking out (Quicktime required).

If you give it a listen be sure to stop back here and let us know what you thought of it. Enjoy!

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