by Mike Breen
05.11.2012
15 days ago
The world's most expensive concert T-shirt and Greg Dulli turns 47 today
On this date last year, somebody paid $10,000 for a T-shirt. An Australian man purchased a 1979 Led Zeppelin concert T-shirt on eBay for that amount, making it the most expensive concert T-shirt ever sold. (Though I bet The Eagles got close on their various, outrageously-priced reunion tours in recent years.) The shirt appears to be a "back stage pass" from the concert.After the sale, Denver weekly Westword posted a story on its blog counting down the next 10 most costly shirts purchased. From their research, they deemed a James Brown shirt with a bad caricature of the Godfather of Soul and the words "I'm Black and I'm Proud," an early Nirvana shirt featuring a parody of John Lennon's Two Virgin's album cover and a "Metal Up Your Ass" Metallica shirt as the next most rare, each going for $1,000. Currently, the most costly concert shirts available on eBay are a 1976 Stones shirt (yours for $7,900), a 1973 Who concert "staff" shirt ($4,691.82), a different Zep shirt (from, I believe, the same concert as the one that cost 10 grand; $3,949.21) and a Johnny Thunders shirt from 1984 ($3,909.72). Here are a couple of Ohio tunes written in honor of those crucial concert souvenirs. Early Hamilton, Ohio, Punk band ChemDyne and Columbus' Watershed both had songs called "Black Concert T-Shirt."Born This Day: Musical movers and shakers sharing a May 11 birthday include legendary songwriter ("God Bless America," "White Christmas") Irving Berlin (1888); one of the greatest white Soul vocalists ever with The Animals, Eric Burdon (1941); drummer and founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, Butch Trucks (1947); producer and founding member of avant-garde Pop group the Art of Noise, Gary Langan (1956); original MTV VJ Martha Quinn (1959); and frontman for one of Cincinnati's all-time greatest Rock bands, The Afghan Whigs, Greg Dulli (1965). Dulli — born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio — is currently gearing up to begin performing once again with his Whigsmates John Curley (still living, working and playing music in Cincinnati) and Rick McCollum (now living in Minneapolis). Tickets for the group's first show in 13 years — May 23 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City — go on sale today at noon. According to the band's website, the fan pre-sale sold out and there are "a very limited number of tickets" left. The band will warm up for the show on May 22 with a performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.Will the Whigs merely do a reunion victory lap then go their separate ways again? It's unclear so far, but in interviews with Dulli, he seems very inspired playing with his old pals again. In terms of a possible new Whigs album, he told the website www.thisisfakediy.co.uk, "I am going to keep the book open and keep the possibility, all possibilities available. We're going to see what happens, and react to what happens, but right now it's wide open. Yes, maybe, maybe not, we'll see. I hate to be ambiguous, but in this particular case, I think it's best." (He also said re-issues of the band's back catalog are "definitely going to happen.")Raise a glass and wish Mr. Dulli a happy 47th birthday. Here are a few clips of Dulli's extracurricular activities during his days with the Whigs to help you celebrate:• In 1994, Dulli sang John Lennon's parts on the soundtrack to Backbeat, a film about early Beatles bassist Stuart Sutcliffe. On the soundtrack he was part of a band that included Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum) and Foo Fighter/ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Here they are doing a song originally made a hit by Cincinnati-born music icons The Isley Brothers.• Dulli teamed with Grohl again in 1995, playing guitar on his debut album, Foo Fighters. Grohl played all of the instruments on the album except for a guitar part on "X-Static," which Dulli provided. In 1999, Dulli recorded a cover of "Dixie Peach Promenade (Yin for Yang)," a tribute to late Moby Grape member Skip Spence and his cult classic album, Oar.
by Mike Breen
02.28.2012
87 days ago
Hamilton native talks to 'Spin' about why one of Cincinnati's greatest bands is returning
The Afghan Whigs first show in America in 13 years takes place Sept. 22 in Asbury Park, NJ, heading up a killer lineup at the I'll Be Your Mirror fest, presented by All Tomorrow's Parties. The fest is being curated by ATP and the Whigs' frontman Greg Dulli, whose first selections for the other acts on the bill was released last week. Dulli's picks: comedian Louis C.K., The Roots, Jose Gonzalez, Mark Lanegan, The Dirty Three, The Antlers, The Dirtbombs, Sharon Van Etten, Emeralds, Vetiver, Quinton and Miss Pussy Cat, Charles Bradley, Reigning Sound, a DJ set from The Roots' ?uestlove and Scrawl, the Whigs' Columbus-based pals (might Scrawl singer Marcy Mays reprise her vocal turn on the Whigs' classic, "My Curse"?). The show will also feature bands like Autolux, Hot Snakes and The Make-Up, part of the lineup chosen by ATP.Greg Dulli gave Spin an interview and a little insight into the band's decision to get back together. In the interview, Dulli jokes about doing a set of all new songs at the reunion shows ("Oh, we're playing all new material," he says. "No old songs, just new stuff we’ve come up with. Wouldn’t that be amazing?") and says he finally got the bug to reunite after hanging out with bassist John Curley (who still lives in Cincy) and guitarist Rick McCullom (who is in Minneapolis). He also said when they first got together to rehearse, right before Thanksgiving last year, "the hair on the back of my neck stood up." Read the full Spin interview here. The article says Dulli was "cagey" about revealing
whether or not the band would do any other shows in the U.S. (the band is
doing four dates in Europe beginning with the May 27 I'll Be Your
Mirror festival in London). But in another just-published interview — with the great music site The Quietus — Dulli said the band will probably do "at least" another 20 shows in addition to the five announced. (Fingers-crossed, Cincinnatians!) Check out The Quietus interview here. The Afghan Whigs' also have a spiffy new website with lots of archival videos, a cool "This Date in Whigs History"-type feed and a lot of other info on the band. Visit the site here. UPDATE: This morning, the Whigs site announced that the band has added six more shows to their reunion itinerary — all in Europe. But that means still 14 or so more to go, right?
by mbreen
10.26.2011
Music Tonight: New Orleans Jazz/Funk wunderkind Trombone Shorty grooves into Oakley tonight for a show at the 20th Century Theater. The young musician (who appeared on the HBO series Treme) will be joined by his band Orleans Avenue, delivering his unique mix of Funk, Jazz and Hip Hop. Last month, Shorty released For True, his followup to last year's breakthrough, Backatown, which spent nine weeks atop the Jazz charts and was nominated for a Grammy. For True is loaded with special guests, including Kid Rock, Warren Haynes, Jeff Beck, The Rebirth Brass Band and Lenny Kravitz, who gave Shorty his start as a member of his touring horn section in 2005. Showtime tonight is 8 p.m. and tickets are $25 at the door. Below, check out the video for new album track "Do To Me."
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by Mike Breen
10.25.2011
Posted In:
Music News at 08:25 AM |
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"Live in New York" due Nov. 15
Area native Greg Dulli and his successful band The Twilight Singers are set to release their first live album next month. Live in New York features 21 tracks that cover the Twilights' entire career, recorded during a gig at NYC venue Webster Hall this May. The album will be available digitally Nov. 15; a special, limited "deluxe edition," two-disc CD set featuring the entire concert is available now for pre-order (for $20) at the band's site here (the CD package will not be available in stores and must be ordered prior to Nov. 15). Below is a clip of the band from 2006 performing "Teenage Wristband" live in NYC, plus the entire track-listing (sorry fans — no Afghan Whigs songs are included) of the forthcoming album, with CD-only tracks marked with a "*."
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Oct. 13 • 20th Century Theatre
0 Comments · Monday, October 4, 2010
The Greg Dulli/Craig Wedren appearance in town is a fascinating and perhaps unintentionally appropriate pairing of artists. Although both will be in solo form on this brief tour, Dulli and Wedren share a couple of interesting bullet points on their résumés: They were both members of acclaimed if somewhat underground bands in the '90s and enjoyed equal amounts of adulation and derision in those roles.
Shake It releases tribute series to Southern Soul marvel Eddie Hinton
0 Comments · Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The busy job of being co-owner of Shake It Records shop and label hasn't stopped Darren Blase from launching a series of limited-edition 45-rpm vinyl singles by the likes of Greg Dulli, Drive-By Truckers, Heartless Bastards and Wussy in tribute to the late Eddie Hinton.