Rogue Wave - Saturday, April 17th

Things have not been easy for Oakland's Rogue Wave over the last couple of years, but you would not have known it from their energetic performance at the first of two sold-out shows at, new Chicago hot-spot, Lincoln Hall. Zach Rogue may have spent a good portion of last year paralyzed and in pain from to slipped discs, but the brighter outlook found on the latest album came through just as well live.

The band dove into the set with half-a-dozen tracks off their latest release, Permalight. Opener, "Stars And Stripes" felt like it was all vocals and beat, with the two guitars barely audible. Things got a little better with the thumping rhythm and flickering disco ball of the danceable "Good Morning", but the energetic, synth-fuelled party track was still largely lacking guitar to balance out the sound. A quick switch of guitars on "Per Anger" for Rogue helped add a little oomph missing from the first couple of songs. It helped that Rogue's voice began to warm up some, to reveal the same compelling frayed tenor found on the albums.

The acoustic-based "Sleepwalker" and "Solitary Gun" served as definite highlights out of the batch of new material, but even they seemed to lack the same spark found on the album versions. It was clear at the show just how much care went into fine tuning the songs in the studio, which failed to translate in a live setting. The crowd roared enthusiastically when Rogue asked if they wanted to hear some older material, and a few moments into fan-favorite "Publish My Love" revealed why. The older material has a much heavier, more guitar-driven thrust to them. It would serve the new songs well if the band roughed them up a bit live, similar to the more aggressive turn they gave "Permalight" at the end of the encore.

Without exception, the older material trumped the new songs on-stage; despite how great the new material plays on album. Nothing off Permalight came close to matching the feel-good rock-stomp of "Harmonium" or the drum-happy euphoria of "Lake Michigan". It felt a bit like the band has a little work to do with the new material live, but the songs, and the band, are certainly good enough for them to tweak them into crowd-pleasers quickly.

Stars And Stripes
Good Morning
Per Anger
Sleepwalker
Solitary Gun
I'll Never Leave You
Publish My Love
Every Moment
Bird On A Wire
Eyes
Lake Michigan
Harmonium

Kicking The Heart Out
Permalight

Podcast 13 - Is This Thing On?

This week, we discuss the recent Rogue Wave show at Lincoln Hall, drool over upcoming albums from AM Taxi, The Mynabirds, and The Dig. We also recommend a handful of great upcoming shows - including The Whigs this

You can get the podcast by subscribing by iTunes or Zune, or by using the podcast feed in any podcast provider, or just listen to it using the streaming widget on the right side of the page.

**Small programming note - Tonight's Bad Lieutenant show has been canceled due to the volcanic ash cloud travel restrictions.

Upcoming Shows - Week ending April 18th

Thursday, April 15th – Lincoln Hall – 9pm - $14
Headliner: Cloud Cult
Opener: Roma di Luna
We have ourselves an early copy of Cloud Cult's upcoming EP, Running With The Wolves. Every so often you run across a show you know you will regret missing for years to come. This is that kind of show. The EP is comprised of only one track from their upcoming new album, but just that little taste is so amazingly rich and euphoric that it makes this chance to catch a bigger glimpse into the new album a must-see show.

Thursday, April 15th – Schubas – 9pm - $15
Headliner: Adam Green
Opener: The Dead Trees

We saw this tour as the opening act to The Cribs a few months back, and were amazed at the excellence of The Dead Trees and the strangely compelling nature of Adam Green. The punk-lounge singer-songwriter is not everyone's cup-of-tea, but it is hard to take your eyes off his unique, clever act.

Saturday, April 17th – Lincoln Hall – 7pm and 10:30pm - $15/SOLD OUT
Headliner: Rogue Wave
Opener: Man/Miracle (early), JBM (late)

With a Lollapalooza announcement and a great new release, Permalight, on their side, it is no surprise that one of two of Rogue Wave's shows on Saturday night has sold-out. The surprise is that the other one has not… yet. Get your tickets now, because their grungy acoustic pop tunes are an excellent fit for Lincoln Hall.

Lollapalooza Announces Lineup

Vana White has turned over all the letter tiles over at Lollapalooza's site, revealing the full list of bands for this year's festival. The weekend-long event, August 6th - 8th, will again be held in Grant Park, and features a fantastic, diverse line-up that offers something for everyone.

Head over to the official site for the full list, but the headliners are Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady GaGa, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, and Phoenix. Arcade Fire gets our vote here as the one you skip any of the others for. In terms of the non-evening sets, we think you should check the, yet unreleased, schedule and pray that the following bands are not playing against each other (in the order listed on the site - trust us, we'd have Company Of Thieves and Frightened Rabbit listed one-two):

MGMT
The Black Keys
Spoon
Grizzly Bear
Wolfmother
MUTEMATH
Metric
Frightened Rabbit
Stars
The Cribs
Minus The Bear
Rogue Wave
The Antlers
The Soft Pack
Company Of Thieves
Miniature Tigers
The Morning Benders
Royal Bangs
These United States

Indie Music Watch

If you have ever wondered why we do not really review albums here, it is because we're dedicated to uncovering great LIVE music... and because we review the albums elsewhere. If you want to know what we think of the latest from Alkaline Trio, Portugal. The Man, Rogue Wave, The Right Now, One eskim0, or We Were Promised Jetpacks, you can see it here...

Single Of The Week 1

As we mentioned at the end of this week's podcast, we're going to start offering a free single in the same RSS feed as the podcast - so if you're subscribing (and we hope you are), your podcast feed should get it to you the next time you open it. If not, you can get it here.

The song this week is an early listen to Rogue Wave's new Permalight album, not out until March 2nd. We're giving you a sneak peek to it with "Good Morning". Enjoy!

Rogue Wave Announce New Album, Tour Dates

Bay Area indie rockers, Rogue Wave are set to unleash their fourth album, Permalight, on March 2nd. It will mark the band's second release on Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records, and marks a shift in their sound described by frontman Zach Rogue as, "for lack of a better word, fun." The band sets out on two months worth of dates in late February, including a stop at the fantastic Lincoln Hall in Chicago on April 17th.

Tracklisting

Solitary Gun
Good Morning
Sleepwalker
Stars and Stripes
Permalight
Fear Itself
Right With You
We Will Make A Song Destroy
I’ll Never Leave You
Per Anger
You Have Boarded
All That Remains

Tour Dates

02/24 - San Francisco, CA @ Noise Pop
02/26 - Toronto, ON, CA @ Mod Club
03/01 - Club Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock
03/02 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
03/03 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
03/04 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church Sanctuary
03/05 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
03/06 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
03/08 - Atlanta, GA @ The Loft
03/09 - Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
03/10 - Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree
03/13 - Orlando, FL @ The Social
03/15 - New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
03/16 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
03/17 - Dallas, TX @ The Loft
03/18 - 03/20 @ SXSW
04/07 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Rio Theatre
04/09 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
04/10 - Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
04/13 - Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
04/14 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
04/15 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Cafe
04/16 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
04/17 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
04/20 - Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s
04/21 - Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
04/24 - Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
04/27 - Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
04/29 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
04/30 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore