Why He's The Boss - Magic Tour Highlights

Springsteen has wrapped up his nearly year long 'Magic' tour and has performed some of the best shows of his career during the course of the tour. I've been lucky enough to have seen 7 shows on the tour and each one was fantastic. I've put together a small live mp3 album of some of the songs that I feel best sum up the tour and others that were just great performances. The tracklisting is:

1. Then She Kissed Me
2. Radio Nowhere
3. Trapped
4. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
5. Something In The Night
6. Reason To Believe
7. Because The Night
8. Livin' In The Future
9. Incident On 57th Street
10. Long Walk Home
11. Detroit Medley
12. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
13. Dancing In The Dark
14. American Land

You can download it from here

Thanks to all the tapers and uploaders for these great bootlegs. Much appreciated. Most of these performances are taken from the fantastic bootleg of the show in San Jose in April 2008 and also the radio broadcast of the 4th July show from Gothenburg. These shows along with nearly every other Springsteen concert ever, can be downloaded at the amazing BTX MP3 Index.

Also here are a few of my favourite videos from the tour

So Young And In Love


Tenth Avenue Freeze Out


Incident 0n 57th Street


Thunder Road


Born To Run


Born In The USA


Reason To Believe


Then She Kissed Me


Crush On You


I'm Goin Down


I'm On Fire


Backstreets


For You

For You , Paris from Willem2 on Vimeo.

I'm A Rocker

i,m a Rocker , Antwerp from Willem on Vimeo.

Point Blank

Point Blank , Antwerpen from Willem on Vimeo.

Thundercrack

ThunderCrack from Willem on Vimeo.

Wilco & Fleet Foxes - I Shall Be Released

Thundercrack Playlist #28

#28 this week and a fairly packed playlist. Any issues with having the songs up, please contact me and I'll take it down. Enjoy


Download it here


01. Ben Folds Five - Alice Childress

02. Gregory and The Hawk - Grey Weather

03. Chad Vangaalen - Willow Tree

04. Oakley Hall - Confidence Man

05. Velocity Girl - Sorry Again

06. The Baseball Project - Past Time

07. Voxtrot - Firecracker

08. The New Pornographers - The Speed Of Luxury

09. Anders Osborne - When I'm Back On My Feet

10. Ryan Adams & Gillian Welch - Helpless

11. Robyn Hitchcock - Bad Case Of History

12. Elvis Perkins - Weeping Pilgrim

13. Pearl Jam - Little Sister

14. Handsome Furs - What We Had

15. Low - Like A Forest

Thundercrack Playlist #27

Bit later than usual but same idea. Again any issues with the songs being available, please send me an email and I'll remove the song immediately.


Download it here.


01. Catfish Haven - Are You Ready

02. The 1900s - Two Ways

03. Of Montreal - Id Engager

04. The Broken West - Auctioneer

05. Port O'Brien - Stuck On A Boat

06. Loretta Lynn & Jack White - Portland Oregon

07. Anthony da Costa - Ain't Much Of A Soldier

08. Tegan & Sara - Walking With A Ghost

09. Ween - Baby Bitch

10. Mark Erelli - Five Beer Moon

11. Paleo - In The Morning Linda Dies

Review: The Killers, The Academy, Dublin - 20th August 2008

It's hard to imagine the Academy hosting a better gig than The Killers last night. A fantastic performance matched with brilliant quality sound made for a great evening. Opening with For Reasons Unknown followed by Somebody Told Me was a perfect way to start the concert. There were many highlights over the course of the show, with all three albums well represented. For me, the high points were Bones, When You Were Young, Tranquilize, Under The Gun and the two new songs, Spaceman and Neon Tiger. Spaceman in particular is definitely one of the best songs they've written so far on the basis of tonight's performance. Let's hope it translates on to the album. Sam's Town as well was amazing with it being a lot closer to the Abbey Road version than the one on the album.

It was my first time seeing the Killers and I'd heard a lot about Brandon's voice being weak in concert but I didn't find that in the slightest. His voice was very strong and really shone. He's a great frontman and the Academy stage was clearly too small for him. He'll have no problem working the crowd at Marlay Park tonight. The sound helped and really added to the gig. The crowd was good, especially during the big crowd pleasers, All These Things That I've Done, Mr. Brightside etc.

I'd be interested to hear how people got their tickets (I got incredibly lucky on Ticketmaster) because it certainly wasn't an easy ticket. Based on tonight I would say the band are still trying to find their true audience as it was a real mix tonight. The front row was almost exclusively young girls (certainly on my side) with the crowd getting more diverse further back (and more energetic. Still don't understand the fascination with watching the gig through a phone in order to get a crap video of it rather than just enjoy the show as it happens but maybe that's just me) . The differences between their first two albums are pretty clear and it'll be interesting to see what direction the next album goes in. It'll be tough for them to top this gig at Marlay Park later on tonight. It was most definitely a stadium sized show in a small venue and the songs were clearly built for big audiences. It was a pleasure to see them so up close and personal.

Here's a performance of Spaceman from America not so long ago. Trust me that live, this song goes to a whole different level. They've really got it nailed now.

The Mary Janes

The Mary Janes are often forgotten in discussions of great Irish bands but their two albums were two fantastic records. In particular Sham is a great cd. Fronted by the genius of Mic Christopher, they were a great rock group, before they broke up in 1999, when Mic went solo. Unfortunately, his career was cut short in 2001 when he died in Holland. His solo record 'Skylarkin' was released after his death and is another wonderful record.

I've always preferred Mic fronting this rock band than the more acoustic style of his solo record, even though 'Skylarkin' is a fantastic album too. 'Sham' is great from start to finish and an essential purchase if you can find it, which isn't easy to do although you can get their excellent debut album 'Bored Of Their Laughing' on iTunes. Here's a few mp3s from the album.

Sham

Part Of Me

Cut Me Loose


And look at this fantastic documentary from 2003, 2 years after Mic's death.







And finally, a great video of Mic and Glen Hansard on Grafton Street.

A Few New Videos

Some decent videos have popped up recently. Here's a few:

Travis : 'Something Anything'



Bettye Lavette w/Drive By Truckers : 'Talking Old Soldiers'



Still prefer the original though. One of Elton's best



Calexico - Two Silver Trees



Cure - The Perfect Boy

Thundercrack Playlist #26

#26. Just under 50mb.(Any record companies want a track removed, just send me an email and I'll remove it immediately.) O'Death, Blitzen Trapper and Okkervil River all have upcoming dates in Dublin.

Download it here



1. Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band - Diddy Wah Diddy

2. Son Volt - Windfall

3. Fred Prellberg - Tornado Alley

4. Blitzen Trapper - Furr

5. O'Death - Lowtide

6. Okkervil River - Coastlines

7. Van She - Changes

8. Patterson Hood - Heavy And Hanging

9. Damien Dempsey - The Rocky Road To Dublin

10. The Band - Long Black Veil

Newport Folk Festival Live

You can stream live performances from Jim James, She & Him, Jakob Dylan, Steve Earle & Gillian Welch on the npr website. They'll be available as podcasts soon enough I'd say. The Steve Earle & Jakob Dylan shows have already been released.

Richard Swift - Ground Trouble Jaw EP

Richard Swift has released a new 5 song ep which you can download for free from here. Some really good tracks on it. Only available for a limited time so get downloading.

New Conor Oberst Video - Souled Out

Been listening to Conor Oberst's new album the last couple of days and been mightily impressed. I was a bit sceptical when he dropped the Bright Eyes name for the record but there was no reason to fear. A really strong set of songs, it's well worth picking up. Here's the video for 'Souled Out' off the album.

Thundercrack Playlist #25

The Dagger Lees are part of this year's Hard Working Class Heroes Festival in Dublin at the start of September. New Michael Franti album out soon too.

Download it here



01. She & Him - I Was Made For You

02. Missy Higgins - 100 Round The Bend

03. The Duke Spirit - The Step And The Walk

04. Michael Franti & Spearhead - Remote Control

05. The Dagger Lees - Stagger Stomp

06. Music Go Music - Light Of Love

07. Sonya Kitchell - For Every Drop

08. Vivian Girls - Where Do You Run To

09. Wilco - Don't Fear The Reaper (Live)

10. The Pogues - The Body Of An American

Video of Wilco Lollapalooza Performance

You can download a video of Wilco's show from the weekend at Live Mp3s. It's ripped from the webcast so the picture is quite fuzzy but more than watchable. The sound is great so well worth the download. Excellent show.

Setlist:
01. Misunderstood
02. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
03. You Are My Face
04. Impossible Germany
05. It’s Just That Simple
06. Stage Banter
07. Handshake Drugs
08. Pot Kettle Black
09. One Wing
10. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
11. A Shot In The Arm
12. Jesus, Etc.
13. Hate It Here
14. Can’t Stand It
15. Walken
16. Monday
17. Outtasite (Outta Mind)

New Wilco Song - One Wing (Live at Lollapalooza 2008)

Wilco debuted a new song at the festival at the weekend called 'One Wing'. Here's the video. For good coverage of the festival head over to Rolling Stone where they have a lot of reviews and info.

Music Articles

Band Leaks Track to BitTorrent, Blames Pirates

Live Nation May Be Forced To Lean On Music Labels

New Ryan Adams & The Cardinals Record?

Dell Test Player To Renew iPod Battle

What The Hold Steady Are Listening To

U2: How They Have Stayed On Top Of The World

Thundercrack Playlist #24

Dr. Dog, Shearwater and Jeffrey Lewis are all playing in Dublin in the near future so check for tickets for those. The Dutchess and The Duke are a particular favourite of mine this week. (Any record companies want a track removed, just send me an email and I'll remove it immediately.)


http://www.mediafire.com/?bhyvnrsxm2m



01. The Dutchess and The Duke - Reservoir Park

02. The Walkmen - In The New Year

03. Dr. Dog - The Old Days

04. Shearwater - Leviathan Bound

05. The Replacements - If Only You Were Lonely

06. Jeffrey Lewis - I Ain't Thick

07. Kathleen Coffee - Justice?

08. Patchwork - Spaceships

09. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Live)

Bob Dylan - 'Dreamin Of You'

You can download an unreleased Bob Dylan track from the upcoming 'Tell Tale Signs: Bootleg Series 8' for free from his website. 'Dreamin Of You' is an outtake from the 'Time Out Of Mind' sessions of 1997 and well worth the download, excellent song.

Kings Of Leon - Crawl : Free Download

Kings of Leon have a track from their forthcoming album 'Only By The Night' available to download for free on their website. You can download it below through this widget, also check out the home movie for another short preview of the new album.

Paul Westerberg - 49:00

Downloaded Paul Westerberg's new album this morning for the princely sum of $0.49 (about €0.30). It's in no way a typical release but is definitely one of the best things I've heard in a while. It's only available as a single mp3 file lasting 43.55mins. There are no song titles, no smooth transitions, some songs last seconds, others are fully formed. It's a fascinating listen as songs play on top of one another before breaking into something completely different.

Westerberg played all the instruments himself and obviously felt liberated by the process. The music harks right back to the Replacements era and it all comes together brilliantly. It's a truly unique listen and for this price everybody should give it a listen. All the information you need is available on his website. It's available to download on Amazon but for us Europeans the only place you can get it is here.

Kick Out The Jams - NTV

Got this email recently and felt it was worth a post. Some good sessions by some really good Irish bands. Well worth subscribing to on iTunes.

NvTv is offering free video podcast subscriptions to its weekly music show 'Kick out the Jams'. The show regularly features bands from Northern Ireland but has recently recorded sessions with some of the best bands from the rest of Ireland, which are available for free download at the links below. Artists include The Flaws, David Geraghty and those sleazy mother funksters Republic of Loose. The most recent episode features a live acoustic session from Frank Turner.

Other Free Episodes available include...

And So I Watch You From Afar

The Rumble Strips

Two Door Cinema Club

Cat Malojian + more

HOW IT ALL WORKS...

Every fortnight or so will see the release of the latest programme (which usually lasts 20-30mins) to the World Wide Web, plus an occasional episode from the archives. You can subscribe for free to the podcast in various ways. If you have iTUNES, simply click on the link below, or simply go to the iTunes store and search for 'Kick out the Jams NvTv'. You will then be able to watch the episode on iTunes or transfer it to your ipod etc

iTUNES Link

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=269548726&s=143444

Alternatively you can use the RSS feed.

RSS FEED

http://www.kickoutthejams.btpodshow.com/feed.xml

For more info on the show itself - go to

www.myspace.com/kickoutthejamsnvtv

or

iheartau.com

or for info on NvTv - go to

www.nvtv.co.uk