Jimmy Gnecco - Bring You Home (Full Band), Bowery Ballroom NYC

At Jimmy's Bowery Ballroom show in NYC last Tuesday, the 25th, we got a glimpse as to how Bring You Home will be full band. Brian Wright, Static and Race joined Jimmy on stage, and now, even more, I'm itching for a full band show. I really love this song, and I love it more now, I think. And besides, its nice seeing Jimmy as the front man again, without the guitar. Don't get me wrong, I love acoustic Jimmy and I love watching him play guitar. But there's just SOMETHING about him as the front man to the band. Many thanks to Hayley and Jeri for taping and sharing this. :)

Here's the link to it, since for some reason, the video won't embed.

Bring You Home

Kris Allen - Bring It Back Live!

Tonight, concert goers in Benton, AR at the Saline Summer Days Festival got quite a treat from Kris Allen. He sang Bring it Back for the first time live and it's beautiful. Other setlist highlights included a cover of Alison Krauss's Maybe, Is It Over, and Red Guitar.

Here's the video of Bring it Back - Enjoy!




And the full setlist: Can't Stay Away, Lifetime, Man In the Mirror, The Truth, Bring It Back, Alright With Me, Maybe (Alison Krauss cover), Before We Come Undone, Is It Over, Red Guitar, Heartless/Gangstas Paradise, Live Like We're Dying, Falling Slowly, Come Together

If this is any indication of the summer tour - its going to be a good summer!

Jimmy Gnecco - Paradise Rock Club, Boston 5.27.10

Last night was my second Jimmy concert - and it was a hometown show for me. Out of the 9 times I've seen him, I have only seen him in Boston-ish 3 times. I've traveled for the rest. Not that it matters, because I don't mind traveling, and he's always worth it. Anyway. I digress. I left my house early last night - knowing I would hit traffic, and hit traffic I did. I arrived at the venue around 7:30 (doors at 8), met up with Lisa for a drink at the bar, and killed time before the doors opened. Funny enough, I had ordered a drink and then gone to the ladies room, and promptly almost ran into Jimmy as he was coming out of the hallway where the bathrooms were. He didn't see me, and was kind of engrossed in something he was doing, so I didn't want to interrupt.

Anyway - we got right up front (I was pretty much sitting ON the stage) and Brian Wright opened the show. The sound was much better in Boston then in Philadelphia, and while I am not a huge country-folkish fan, Brian was really quite good. I enjoyed his music a lot, and he was funny too, interacting with the crowd. He played for a good 40 minutes or so, and the last song he totally jammed out with Marco and Eric from Greg Laswell's band. It also bears mentioning that Brian is Greg's band as well, but he's done some solo stuff on his own. I don't think I'd ever buy his album, but I definitely enjoyed it for what it was. He wrapped up around 9:40 or so, and we had about a 15 minute break while Brian broke down, and they set up for Jimmy.

Jimmy took the stage about 10, and opened with Here is the Light. That song has so much energy and I really love when he plays it acoustic - he just wails on the guitar and its awesome to watch. The entire set list was as follows: Here Is the Light •
Light On the Grave • Mystery • The Bells • Bring You Home • Gravity •  Darling • Ran Away To Tell The World • The Heart

Ryan Star 11:59 Album Release Party 8.3.10

I know I already did a little blog about this, but I just wanted to share the information that there's going to be a release party in NYC on August 3! The tickets are already are sale - lets see if we can sell this out! I'm going - are you?

Tuesday 08/03/10 at 7:30 PM
The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
New York, NY
http://www.livenation.com/edp/eventId/422776

Jimmy Gnecco - The Heart - 7.20.10

Jimmy Gnecco's self-produced solo album, The Heart, is dropping on July 20! It'll be available on vinyl as well as on CD, and I'm beyond excited for it. I've been an OURS for the last two years, and to hear Jimmy's voice so clear like this, will be incredible. I will be doing a first reaction blog when I finally get the album, so be on the lookout for that. In the meantime, here's the tracklist.

Jimmy Gnecco - Tin Angel, Philadelphia 5.22.10

Last weekend I traveled to Philadelphia to go see Jimmy Gnecco perform with Greg Laswell at Tin Angel. When the dates got announced I thought it was a headlining tour and Philly was a Saturday night, so of course I was going to go. Then when I realized it was an opening spot and not a headlining one, I rethought it. Then I decided it was a Saturday night and since I'd never been to Philly, why not.

I had made dinner reservations at Serrano (the restaurant that Tin Angel is above) because we would be guaranteed reserved seating for the show. The food was very overpriced and just OK - Lisa's burger was very overcooked and the waiter looked at us weird when we tried to tell him that. So we got into line and headed upstairs and when we were shown to our table, we were about 8 tables back against the wall. We asked the waitress if we could move and she told us that it was assigned seating. We decided to just sit on the stools in the non-reserved seating and be done with it. Bottom line - if you get there early, you can get better seating then the 'reserved' seating. Not to mention, the room setup is very strange - its long and narrow, with a stage in front and a bar in back. They should move the stage to where the sound board is (in the middle of the room) and the setup would be much better. However, the acoustics in that room are amazing.

It's Time....11:59....Ryan Star ALBUM RELEASE

Yes, you all read that correctly. After about a year or so of delays, the album 11:59 is finally being released August 3. I really can't wait. I discovered Ryan's music when he opened for David Cook and have been hooked ever since. Its honest. And it makes me think. I love it. Not to mention, he's a great performer and a total sweetheart. He takes the time after shows to talk to everyone who wants to talk to him. There's going to be an album release party on August 3 in NYC of which I am going to try to figure out how to get there. I'm more than likely going to be in NYC 2 weeks prior for a different show - but Ryan's worth no sleep over. I haven't decided if this is happening yet or not.

Anyway, here's the press release from Atlantic.

SafetySuit - Manchester, NH 5.8.10

To round out my busy weekend last weekend, was the SafetySuit concert at Manchester Community College Saturday night. I had kind of seen them perform once before, last summer at the Collective Soul show - they were the second opener after Ryan Star performed. And since I had really only gone to the show to see Ryan, I didn't pay attention to their set much, if at all. I had heard their single, Stay, and my friend Heather told me to get their album because it was good. And she was right. I picked it up and loved it immediately. From then on, I was adamant to get to a show and see these guys live.

I had missed out twice earlier in the year - I just couldn't make the January show at the Paradise work for me logistically, and then didn't get to the Mohegan Sun show because it was a Friday night and a bit of a drive (It was dumb of me to not suck it up and go, I admit it now), so when I heard they were playing Manchester Community College's Spring Bash, I got tickets, and with Lisa and Christy in tow, we headed north.

Seventh Room - Plymouth 5.7.2010

Anyone who knows me knows how into music I am, and I think it's always important to support local bands. Because sometimes their music is the best. In the last few years, I've discovered a lot of my favorite music that way and they're generally the nicest people too. But I digress and am going to back up here because a bit of backstory is important.

About a month ago, Lisa asked me if I'd be interested in going to see a local band called Seventh Room with her at Copperfields in Boston. I came up from the Cape that day where I had been at my grandparents, and off we went. Unfortunately, the sound was so horrible at Copperfields, all I could hear was music. And noise. I couldn't hear any of the vocals, and since I was not familiar with their music at all, I really didn't enjoy myself. I felt bad mentioning it after to them, when Ian asked me what I thought, but it was the truth. But I did get a CD that night and when I finally had a chance to listen to it - I loved it. So when Lisa asked me if I wanted to go to the Guru Room with her last weekend, I said absolutely - even though it's a long ride - it was totally worth it.

The Guru Room is an interesting venue. It's a small Indian restaurant with a music room in the back. Its a unique space, with a stage in front, a bar on one side and some seating on the other side - leaving a good size space in front of the stage. If I had to guess - it maybe holds 300 people total. And I very well could be overshooting that. Lisa and I walked into the room as the first band was playing (who's name I don't remember). They looked 12 (probably couldn't have been more than...16-17 at most), and while their music wasn't bad, I had a hard time watching them. They finished up and the second band (who's name I also don't remember - I wasn't taking notes!) took the stage - as Seventh Room was playing last. This band was definitely better - they had a great sound and had a group of people up front dancing during the end of their set. They finished up and Seventh Room took the stage around 11:30.

USMC Silent Drill Platoon - Boston

Last week was Marine Week, and Boston was the host city this year. There were a number of activities going on around the city all week - and Marines from all over the country were here. Since my brother is in the service, his battalion was hosting so he was in town all week working, and I thought it would be nice for my mom and I to go in on the last day (Mother's Day) to see what was going on, attend the dedication of the Marine Barracks at the Navy Yard, and watch the Silent Drill Team perform.

If you've never seen the Silent Drill Team perform - its absolutely amazing. They drill without cadence (spoken commands) and the whole audience just falls silent when they walk in. It was windy as hell that day but not one of them wavered - and the Saturday prior, they were performing and it started to hail. They just stood there because none of them had been dismissed. When they were finished performing, we were able to go and talk to the Marines - we asked them how they get onto the team. It's basically invitation only. Its a huge honor to get asked to be in the silent drill platoon.

Anyway, I have some pictures of the drill team, plus a video.