A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of attending one of FM 94/9's "Loud @" private sessions at the House of Blues Voodoo Room. What was fitting was that though I have seen Silversun Pickups probably a dozen or more times, my first time ever seeing them was in the same room (though Brian told me their first SD show was actually at the Casbah opening for Brendan Bensen). I have to say we were pretty spoiled because while the rest of the crowd assembled in the bar, we were allowed to be in the room while Nikki and Brian soundchecked. In fact, I was helping Nova with her homework as Darren parked the car and then joined us inside, which is always fun being privy to their banter, and just hearing the songs so pure without anyone standing in front of you or talking over the music. We got to chit chat a little before they opened the doors and let everyone in, and I have to say it was pretty great hearing their songs so intimately again. It was also pretty rad getting to share the moment with Nova, who came up while I was recording and started taking photos with my phone. After the set, she asked me if we would be able to see Silversun Pickups again. In fact, we'll be seeing them this Saturday at the Oceanside Pier for FM 94/9 Independence Jam. (Along with Metric, who I interviewed on NBC SoundDiego here.) I'm a little surprised there are still tickets available, to be honest, but there are and you can get them here.
Anyway, I was really lagging on posting these videos but the day this was filmed, I also worked for The Drums at the Irenic and then went to the Casbah for Rocky Votolato, Dave Hause, and Chris Farren, and have pretty much been swamped between then and now. In fact, I'm posting this as I'm slinging merch for The Church and Psychedelic Furs at The Observatory, and even so only because I'm procrastinating doing my actual work. So finally, my four videos from their set are below in the playlist. They played "Lazy Eye", "The Pit", "The Royal We", and their new single "Nightlight". I have a full concert of theirs from 2012 at The Observatory Santa Ana and another from 2012 at The Belly Up if you're really feeling their vibe.
Lest you feared that Dirty Parts Festival was the big show of the year for FM 94/9, yesterday they announced the 2015 Independence Jam, returning to the Junior Seau Amphitheatre at the Oceanside Pier. The show is September 12, all ages, and gates open at 3pm. The show is headlined by Silversun Pickups, and also features appearances by Houndmouth, Meg Myers, Civil Twilight, Bully and The New Regime. Tickets are onsale now for $28 and can be upgraded to VIP for an additional $15.
I dug through the archives for this old photo of me and Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups. It was taken at the Open Air Theatre a few years ago. I've been a fan for a long time now and have been lucky to see the band live several times as well as some cool meet and greets and such and I just think they're rad people, but yesterday's email from their publicist really made me smile. I haven't commented too much on this year's election, but of course I'm paying attention. One site I'm really appreciating is 90 Days, 90 Reasons which was launched by Dave Eggers and Jordan Kurland and posts a new essay daily from various cultural voices with reasons to support Obama.
SILVERSUN PICKUPS ISSUE CEASE AND DESIST TO ROMNEY CAMPAIGN
FOR ILLEGAL USE OF THEIR SONG "PANIC SWITCH"
Seems as if the GOP is once again whimsically ignoring our great nation's laws to do whatever it wants to do, and shooting itself in the foot in the process. Without any regard for copyright or intellectual property laws, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has, without permission, begun to use Silversun Pickups' 2009 smash "Panic Switch" at campaign stops across the country. Neither the band nor its representatives were contacted to gain permission for the use of the song and the band has no intention of endorsing the Romney campaign. The band's attorney issued a cease and desist today. "We don't like people going behind our backs, using our music without asking, and we don't like the Romney campaign," said Silversun Pickups lead singer/guitarist Brian Aubert. "We're nice, approachable people. We won't bite. Unless you're Mitt Romney! We were very close to just letting this go because the irony was too good. While he is inadvertently playing a song that describes his whole campaign, we doubt that 'Panic Switch' really sends the message he intends." (courtesy Big Hassle)
Last Friday night, Silversun Pickups performed at the Sun God Festival at UCSD, but the day before, they did a small media blitz, including performance at 94/9, 91X, and this one at the Belly Up for Slacker Radio. It was short and sweet and somehow I forgot to post these over the weekend. If you didn't see the full concert I shot in Santa Ana, you can watch that here (but all of the titles are off- I haven't had the chance to change them)
Last night, Jeff and I went up to The Observatory to catch Silversun Pickups. The band, whose new record Neck Of The Woods will be released on Tuesday with Dangerbird, have been busy making this record and with their only announced San Diego performance being at UCSD's Sun God Festival, this was a show I couldn't miss. You can hear the record in it's entirety below, and I shot video of the whole show, so that playlist is below, too. If you have the chance to check out the Observatory, it was an awesome venue with great sightlines everywhere, a liberal photo policy, and very chill security.
It took a really long time for me to post these photos, mostly because I took so many that night and with the LED lights, the ratio of crappy photos to decent ones was very high. Nevertheless, it was such a fun night, even for Soma, because I was with two great friends. Unfortunately my friend Steve brought the wrong tickets so Evan had to drive him back to his car in North Park, but it didn't take long for them to come back to hang out and enjoy the show. And it was a good one. Crowded and hot as all hell, but I think back to shows in my youth where I left a show completely drenched (in my sweat and the sweat of others) and I can handle a good crowded show every once in a while. It was fun catching up with The Henry Clay People, it was awesome seeing Everest slowly win over the crowd, and it was incredible watching Silversun Pickups absolutely dominating the stage.
I'm really excited about Saturday's Rumble, but before I hit Bar Pink, I'll be at the sweatbox known as Soma for Silversun Pickups, Everest, and The Henry Clay People.
I've seen all three bands, SSPU and THCP several times, and this is a stellar lineup. Plan on getting there early and staying through all three bands' sets. I have a plus one if anyone wants to go with me. I wish I had more to say about the show, but at this point you've already bought your tickets or are refusing because you hate Soma, so I doubt I'll really change any minds today. Still, I think this is gonna be one of my favorite shows this summer.
This is a recent video I shot of Everest, when they opened for The Whigs at the Belly Up.
This is a really old (and dimly lit) video I shot, pre-HD camera, of The Henry Clay People playing at the Casbah. I seriously love these guys and hope you make a point to see them. And don't tell anyone that I told you, but they have a headlining gig at the Casbah on September 11. I'll be adding that to the calendar soon.
What a week/weekend. I never got around to posting about day two of Street Scene for a couple reasons. One, the week just kinda got away from me with shows, some small projects, and family in town, sometimes that just happens. The greater reason was that perhaps I was a little bitter. I went back to Street Scene on Saturday ready for another action packed day, and instead found out that because of complaints, point and shoot cameras were not allowed in the photo pits. I honestly don't know how the situation could've been handled better because it is true that WAY too many people had photo passes, but I was irritated nonetheless. Then I realized I was kinda off the hook. Where Friday I was running around from stage to stage to stage and not really spending any real time watching any one band or hanging out with friends, on Saturday I was free to do whatever I wanted. That meant seeing fewer bands but for longer portions of their sets, bumping into and hanging out with a bunch of friends, and enjoying the way the beer garden was split right down the middle of the parking lot for the two main stages, Felana and Felano. So all in all, that worked out to be a pretty fun day.
Sidenote- since I was only allowed to take photos from the crowd for the most part (despite a media wristband and photo pass), Natalie sent over some of her leftover photos. I realize by juxtaposing her photos with mine, the harshness of my pictures is even more apparent, but you get the idea. If you want to see more of Natalie's photos, check them out on Spin.com or on her blog when she posts them. As for the other 100 photographers? No idea where you can find their photos so they can all bite me.
As I said, I had a fun day regardless. Read about it if you 'keep on reading'. The day kicked off on the main stage with Black Joe Louis. Call me politically correct, but this name bothers me. In spite of that, I checked them out and they got the party started. Unfortunately this was also when an Elite security came and let me know my point and shoot wasn't good enough and I'd have to get out of the pit. Boo. It was particularly annoying because unlike the majority of the media, there were only about 10 of us there who actually got to Street Scene on time for ALL the bands, not just headliners. Whatever. It was an excuse to go find a beer.
Black Joe Louis
It wasn't long before Crocodiles were gonna start of the Casbah stage. Despite a couple WTF moments on this blog, I really like Chuck and Brandon and I think they're talented musicians, and on top of that, to me they have to be just about the savviest guys around, always just that much ahead of the curve as far as being on the cusp of what's next. They had a good amount of people at there show, dancing and singing along to the familiar songs, and I'm sure there were people just there to see them fail, too, but fail they did not. In fact, of all the shows I've seen these guys play, the sound was probably the cleanest. Crocodiles
After Crocodiles, I mostly stayed in the beer garden between the two main stages. For one, the sun had begun to drop behind Petco Park, so this was the shadiest area, and honestly, I was stoked about the bands coming up between the stages. Ra Ra Riot is one of those bands that I always forget how much I love. I've seen them a couple times in small venues as well as opening for Death Cab at Rimac and there's such a distinct vocal softness that I love about this band...at the violin and cello and the intrumental flourishes yank on my soul. This band just makes me happy, and I was surprised how many people were there watching and singing along to the music. Where are these people at small venue shows??
Ra Ra Riot
After Ra Ra Riot, I was waiting for Josh to text and let me know he was there so I could give him his ticket, but I was hoping I wouldn't miss Public Enemy when I had to go deliver. He called about 2 minutes before PE was supposed to start, so I raced to the gates, found him, and kinda rushed him back over with me to the stage. And then we waited. And waited. I saw PE at House of Blues a while back...maybe last year sometimes...and the same shit happened. I go to enough shows to know that most bands stick to set times, whether by choice or the venue is just on top of it, and I think it's really disrespectful to other bands because now you've gone and changed the entire lineup for the night. There was some behind the scenes drama going on too, and rumors about bands not playing, but I don't need to go into what I heard other than I was just hoping everyone would play as scheduled.
20 minutes after they were supposed to start, PE's hype man came out on the decks for 10-15 minutes before they finally performed. OPP? Really? I guess the better thing for me was I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a really long time so we had plenty of time to catch up. As for Public Enemy? Flava Flav? Fun set playing everything you'd want them to play to feel like 1996 all over again.
Public Enemy
Back to the drama, Of Montreal was tweeting about nearly getting kicked out of their trailer, about consuming mass amounts of alcohol while waiting for their 30 minute late set to begin, but they finally performed. It was my first time seeing them since I'd missed their Soma Sidestage show when they played, and it was every bit as ridiculous and over the top and theatrical as I expected and I couldn't be more pleased. As we wandered back to the beer line, they played Heimdelsgate Like A Promethean Curse and I was a happy camper.
Of Montreal
After Of Montreal's set, I was convinced things would get back on track time-wise and perhaps they did, perhaps they didn't. I didn't really care. I stopped looking at the clock and just let the night play out and enjoyed myself with good friends. It's no secret I love Silversun Pickups and they delivered a set that made a superfan like me happy, even if my photos were reduced to just taking pictures of the LED screens.
SSPU
We had amassed a group of friends somewhere between Of Montreal and SSPU. Incidentally, this is when I bumped into Seth Combs and he told me that while backstage, he mentioned me to Brian Aubert of SSPU and Brian asked if Seth worked for sd:dialedin. That made me laugh a little. Seth wasn't going to stay much longer and gave me his working badge, but it was a bit late in the night to really test access to anyone. Plus, I was with friends and didn't wanna leave them.
More beers were purchased as we watched Dead Weather but I wasn't really that into their set so much. It got much more crowded in the beer garden and Josh left, so I decided it was time to wander to other stages for a bit. Dead Weather
And with that, I ended up over at Zarabunda waiting for Sharon Jones to play. I did go backstage over there, but it was mostly just crew and stagehands setting stuff up, so I found a chair and rested my achy tootsies while they set up. I have the Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings record and I've read blogs and articles about the band being amazing, and it's true, they certainly are, but I kinda feel like San Diego has our own Sharon Jones in Lady Dottie and The Diamonds, so where Sharon is perhaps an anomaly in the greater world of contemporary music, San Diegans know what to expect. I'm not saying this woman and her band don't totally bring it, it's just not all that unique a sound for us here.
Sharon Jones
To close out the night I wandered back over to catch MIA for a bit. Every time I see her I'm a bit visually overstimulated, mostly just by her outfits alone. There were mixed reviews on the performance, but I was pretty content with this being the end of my Street Scene 2009 experience. I'm just gonna throw this out there to Rob Hagey, but I've got plenty of input if they need help next year. I don't want to see Street Scene end, ever, and while overall they've had their successes and failures, I think it can once again be the climax of San Diego's summers.
A couple weeks ago, I postedabout Silversun Pickups and their huge accomplishment in cracking the top 10 for Panic Switch, but I'm happy to say they went even further and have now hit #1. Click 'keep on reading' for the full announcement from Dangerbird Records. I cannot say enough how amazing they're going to be at Street Scene.
Silversun Pickups Hit #1 With Lead Single "Panic Switch" Monday June 15, 2009
It’s been 11 years since an independent artist ranked #1 on Billboard’s Hot Modern Rock Songs chart (Everlast’s “What It’s Like” hit #1 in December 1998) and today, Silversun Pickups are the proud title-holders. Lead single “Panic Switch,” from Swoon, has impressively jumped over tracks from Linkin Park and Green Day, which were also in the running. This is truly a triumphant day for Dangerbird and the band, as only three songs by artists on independently distributed labels have reached this position: The Offspring’s “Come Out And Play (Keep ‘Em Separated)” [#1, July 1994], the aforementioned Everlast, and now Silversun Pickups this week.
As co-founder of Dangerbird Records, Jeff Castelaz appreciates the significance of infiltrating a predominantly major label-ruled chart. “’Panic Switch’ hitting number one proves that the moving parts of the rock and roll experience are still in good working order: great band, great song, great listener response,” he says.
The quartet is currently making their way across Europe and will return in August for festival appearances, as well as a string of newly announced tour dates.
It's no secret that I'm a huge Silversun Pickups fan. I think I've been to every show they've ever played in San Diego, including their first one at House of Blues sidestage to about 25 people. Unfortunately I didn't catch their private 94/9 or 91X shows, but I'm pretty sure I've been to all the others, and was ecstatic to see them at Coachella this year. Well, the little engine that could is blowing up with their sophomore album Swoon, which is not only great for the band, but also for Dangerbird Records, which has an impressive roster of LA bands in their own right. (Eulogies, The One AM Radio, etc.) Their radio single "Panic Switch" has made it to #2 on the Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Songs chart. It is the first time an independent band has done that since 1998. Congrats to them. Make sure to catch them at Street Scene this year!
Full Press Release after the jump.
SILVERSUN PICKUPS’ LEAD SINGLE “PANIC SWITCH”
ACCELERATES INTO #2 SPOT, BEHIND GREEN DAY
LOS ANGELES, June 2, 2009 — It’s not often a truly independent artist reaches the #2 spot on Billboard’s Hot Modern Rock Songs chart and Silversun Pickups have done just that with lead single, “Panic Switch.” Culled from their Dangerbird Records’ release Swoon, this song is the highest ranked by an artist on an independently distributed label since Everlast’s “What It’s Like” hit #1 in December 1998. The Pickups have set their sights on the #1 position, currently occupied by rock giants, Green Day. Since 1994, only three songs by artists on independently distributed labels have reached the chart’s top two: The Offspring’s “Come Out And Play (Keep ‘Em Separated)” [#1, July 1994], the aforementioned Everlast,and now Silversun Pickups this week. “Panic Switch” has continually ascended the chart since its release at thisradio format 12 weeks ago.
Swoon made a most impressive debut at #7 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart in April and remains in the Top 100 for the sixth week. Previously, the band’s first LP, Carnavas, spawned two Top 10 radio hits, “Lazy Eye” (#5)and “Well Thought Out Twinkles” (#9), and surpassed the 350,000 sales mark.
Silversun Pickups will continue to make appearances at festivals this summer, interspersed with touring overseas. This Thursday, June 4, they will perform live on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic.”
SILVERSUN PICKUPS LIVE SHOWS
August 2 Jersey City, N.J. All Points West
August 9 Chicago, Ill. Lollapalooza August 28 San Francisco, Calif.
Outside Lands Festival August 29 San Diego, Calif. San Diego Street Scene
Silversun Pickups recorded a session on Spinner. You can watch all the videos and download the podcast by going here. For now, here's the clip with "Panic Switch".
I'm cleaning out emails and trying to get organized and realized I haven't done a diary post about anything in April so I've got some catching up to do, but in the meantime, I wanted to post these interviews.
First, I picked up Silversun Pickups latest album "Swoon" on Friday night at Coachella. Their performance knocked my socks off and I'm really hoping they make a couple appearanced here soon...perhaps Indie Jam? X-Fest? Anyway, we listened to the CD at least 4 times on the drive home and I'm definitely a fan. No sophomore slump for this band.
Shockhound also has a great interview from The Bronx, and since I had such a good time at their recent Casbah show, I thought I'd post their interview as well.
The video for the Silversun Pickups new single "Panic Switch" was released this week, and starting today, the entire album is available online for streaming on MTV's "The Leak".
The album will be available from Dangerbird Records on April 14.
Silversun Pickups has also teamed up with Coachella, Virgin America and FILTER to offer one lucky fan a VIP flyaway trip for two complete with round-trip airfare, Coachella tickets and campground passes. For more information and to enter, Go Here to Filter's Contest.
Let's keep out fingers crossed that they hit the summer festivals, which likely won't be announced until after Coachella.
After a late night at the Melvins on Wednesday, then a long day at work on Thursday, I had to get in a power nap before heading out. The nap resulted in my missing the CityBeat Red Party at SideBar downtown. Instead, I went to Balboa Park and am glad that Aguirre stood up for the public when he took a stand against the valet from The Prado using public spots because for the first time in a long time, I had no problem finding parking. This was actually surprising because the event was sold out. Apparently Brooke and Owen and the other organizers from FM 94/9 expected about 500 people; instead, they had to cut off sales at 700. I was pleased that the event was successful because it only encourages similar events in the future. Unfortunately, when I arrived, security was clearing out the museum and filtering everyone into the outdoor sculpture garden area, but I wasn't really there for the art anyway.
After a few minutes of waiting, I was handed my will call tickets and we were in the event. There was food from Modus, but we were only able to snag a couple of the crab lettuce wraps, and we didn't bother with the bar because we heard they were on the verge of running out of booze. We made our way into the auditorium where the crowd left a nice 7 foot "too cool gap", so we found a spot against the stage.
Film School comes from the whole Silverlake scene, so it's no stretch to see how they fit in with bands like Silversun Pickups. In fact, Dave, the guitarist from Film School, toured with SSPU early on, and I recognized him from the first time I saw them out the HoB sidestage.
The auditorium was a really great space. The stage was huge and I guess it's used mostly for classical performances, but it would serve all of us well if they hosted more rock shows, because the sound was great, the lighting was spot on, and the crowd had room to move. It is my understanding that FM 94/9 is hoping to make this a monthly event and I really hope that is true. TNT has lost some momentum of late, it seems, and I actually think that Sights + Sounds might revive interest in the whole art + music concept.
From the Museum of Art, Andrea and I headed to The Melvins show, which I already wrote about, then afterward we went to Modus, where Film School was hanging and spinning records. That point of the night was just silliness and we had a good time, pretty much having the run of the bar.
My guess is that in a few months Film School will be where SSPU are now, so I'm glad I got to see them in a semi-intimate venue since I'd missed their Beauty Bar show a month before. I'm also glad that there seems to be a new LA scene going on, getting away from the dirty Sunset Blvd scene and moving into a broader indie scene that I can really get behind. It's about time.
For months, I had planned on not going to 91X’s kinda-annual X-Fest show. I say “kinda” annual, because there were a couple years when the show was SunFest, and I think in a couple of the ClearChannel years, the event was skipped for some experimental concert series type events, but for the sake of argument, I guess more or less it’s an annual event. And I had planned on not attending. For one, I thought the lineup was pretty weak, and the whole LiveNation thing just really puts me off. I haven’t been to Coors Amphitheatre in a long time, and in general I prefer smaller events. When CatDirt asked me if I wanted to join him, however, I thought it would be at least interesting to cover for this here blog.
We arrived at Coors Amphitheater just before 3pm, taking the back road off the 905 into the venue. Unfortunately, it didn’t make any difference, as all traffic was being sent into the same entrance, forced to wrap around and park in the parking lot of Knott’s Soak City. There was still VIP parking on the east side of the venue, but all the east side dirt parking was reserved for “crew” and left closed. Parking in the lot in front of the main entrance was $20 for a car and $40 for RVs. You go, LiveNation, get the money anywhere you can. After sitting in two lines of cars we were directed to a spot, parked, and made our hike into the venue. I leave the mocking for Scott, but let’s just say I felt really, really old. 91X, you were my junior high station. Maybe even high school. Now I feel like you’re like an ex-boyfriend who never grew up, still making bongs out of apples or coke cans.
We were given pit passes, so for that I have to be appreciative. I smuggled my camera in, but it became obvious that wasn’t necessary as lots of people had cameras. There was one gate open with a line of close to 200 people in, but we got to bypass in the Pit line.
We arrived while The Used were onstage. We noticed how empty the entire venue was, each section maybe 25% full of capacity. We assumed that later that would change. Scott and I watched the people around us- some really into the show, some just really into their own look. One young girl in the 100 section sang along to a song I can assume is called “Liar Liar” and I envied her passion. I wish I felt anything when I heard this music, but I did not.
We decided to walk around. It was cool bumping into Aaron from Stranger’s Six and chatting for a little bit, then just observing the happenings in the vendor area. We watched some of the interviews in the broadcast booth, then wandered to see if there was anything going on in the east part of the venue. There was not, but we bumped into a couple of my friends so we hung out with them until Silversun Pickups took the stage. I love the band a lot, and including this performance, I’ve now seen them 6 times. Maybe this was good exposure for them since 91X has recently added them to their playlist, but this crowd doesn’t seem like the type who appreciates a band without a gimmick. I guess they prefer a singer spitting a loogey on them. Scott was even bored, so we left back to the mezzanine area, wandered a bit, I gave in to buying a $10 beer (ouch) and then we went back into the pit to catch SSPU them play Lazy Eye.
Brian of Silversun Pickups photo by Rosey
I’ve mentioned here before that I worked in advertising for several years. There was this guy Rob, back then he was a sales manager for some of the ClearChannel stations, I imagine he’s still at that capacity or higher now with Finest City Broadcasting, but I’m not sure. Still, it was pretty perplexing to spot him in the pit area with his 91X VIP access sticker on his pants, getting asked to leave by security because apparently that doesn’t include the wide open pit area. Corporate trumps corporate and even he couldn’t slip past the strict rules of LiveNation. wtf.
Back on the sidestage, they were gearing up for Sum 41 and a huge crowd was developing. They eventually made their way to the stage with an entourage of security escorting them up, along with Miss Avril Levigne. I struggled up toward the front for some pics but was not letting one drop of my $10 beer spill, so I made my way out and saw what all the other screaming was about.
Avril Lavigne Photo by Rosey
Next to the sidestage, 30 Seconds To Mars came out to get interviewed. I became paparazzi and had no interest whatsoever in Sum 41, thought I recognized a couple hits.
Jared Leto, 30 Seconds to Mars Photo By Rosey
By that time, we’d seen enough, and the stage turnovers were gonna get longer, so we decided our own lives were calling and it was time to say goodbye. We heard the Bravery on the mainstage as we drove off through Chula Vista, a few people still entering the venue but there were no late swarms of people coming into the still maybe half full venue. This show was probably really cool to some of the kids there, but to me it was a sad demonstration of hanging on to something that worked before but cannot work any longer. I wish it could. I really do think a market is fortunate to have two alternative stations competing, but I guess this helped solidify that I’m not the demo for 91X. We still have 1991.
By the way, Scott CatDirt wanted to "borrow" my pics, but ended up putting them on his computer and deleting them from my camera, so I have a lot more photos to post when he returns my photos on CD. In the meantime, I think he put them on his flickr account. Check his site here.
Ok, so my sitemeter tells me lots of people are trying to find out the secret band (which I posted on here over a week ago, so I'm posting it all over again because I'm nice and when I push past you to take pictures, maybe you'll be more forgiving. Or maybe you'll let me cut in line with you. Or maybe you'll buy me a beer. Whatever...
shhh, don't tell...
I've been waiting for this moment all my life.
(note: that was enough of the sneak peek. if you didn't see it, sorry...)
Oh, looky there. Looks like I didn't give anything away.
Silversun Pickups will tour with indie label mates Sea Wolf, with their trek that kicks off tomorrow.
That will include a slot at Coachella on April 27th.
Expect the new Sea Wolf EP, Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low, on May 8.
Here are the dates-
April 2007 12 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards 13 - Seattle, WA - Neumo's 14 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom 16 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent 21 - San Diego, CA - 4th and B 27 - Indio, CA - Coachella Music Festival
May 2007 4 - Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse 5 - Tucson, AZ - KFMA Day @ Pima County Fairgrounds 8 - Rochester, NY - Water Street Music Hall 9 - Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre 10 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom 12 - Washington, DC - DC 101's Chili Cook Off @ Center City Lot 13 - Towson, MD - Recher Theatre 14 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero Theatre 15 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
June 2007 6 - Boston, MA - WFNX Radio Show 29 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
Silversun Pickups will tour with indie label mates Sea Wolf, with their trek that kicks off tomorrow.
That will include a slot at Coachella on April 27th.
Expect the new Sea Wolf EP, Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low, on May 8.
Here are the dates-
April 2007 12 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards 13 - Seattle, WA - Neumo's 14 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom 16 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent 21 - San Diego, CA - 4th and B 27 - Indio, CA - Coachella Music Festival
May 2007 4 - Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse 5 - Tucson, AZ - KFMA Day @ Pima County Fairgrounds 8 - Rochester, NY - Water Street Music Hall 9 - Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre 10 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom 12 - Washington, DC - DC 101's Chili Cook Off @ Center City Lot 13 - Towson, MD - Recher Theatre 14 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero Theatre 15 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
June 2007 6 - Boston, MA - WFNX Radio Show 29 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of attending one of FM 94/9's "Loud @" private sessions at the House of Blues Voodoo Room. What was fitting was that though I have seen Silversun Pickups probably a dozen or more times, my first time ever seeing them was in the same room (though Brian told me their first SD show was actually at the Casbah opening for Brendan Bensen). I have to say we were pretty spoiled because while the rest of the crowd assembled in the bar, we were allowed to be in the room while Nikki and Brian soundchecked. In fact, I was helping Nova with her homework as Darren parked the car and then joined us inside, which is always fun being privy to their banter, and just hearing the songs so pure without anyone standing in front of you or talking over the music. We got to chit chat a little before they opened the doors and let everyone in, and I have to say it was pretty great hearing their songs so intimately again. It was also pretty rad getting to share the moment with Nova, who came up while I was recording and started taking photos with my phone. After the set, she asked me if we would be able to see Silversun Pickups again. In fact, we'll be seeing them this Saturday at the Oceanside Pier for FM 94/9 Independence Jam. (Along with Metric, who I interviewed on NBC SoundDiego here.) I'm a little surprised there are still tickets available, to be honest, but there are and you can get them here. 
