Local music junkies, rejoice. This blog's for you. Before you go out, let Play's scenesters scout it out for you: Who's hot, who's coming to town, who's got a new disc. We're on it.
This is the soundtrack of our city. Pay attention.
Push Play Pulls Plug - 3/11/2008 3:41 pm
Kenny G's return imminent - 1/22/2008 1:22 pm
Review: Misfits show raucous, nostalgic - 12/30/2007 1:49 pm
Delmag returns ... sorta - 12/28/2007 10:36 am
Sad news for civilians on the Cyrus front - 12/20/2007 3:28 pm
Hannah Montana's dad schedules show in Alaska - 12/13/2007 11:27 am
Toryn Green: From Colony High to Fuel in 15 years - 12/13/2007 10:45 am
Misfits: Confirmed - 11/19/2007 4:05 pm
Misfits: An early Christmas present? - 11/16/2007 5:59 pm
Review: Glen Phillips and Po'Girl - 10/26/2007 6:35 pm
Review: Maui's reggae ambassador jams long and hard at First Tap party - 10/5/2007 6:16 am
Review: Bow Wow's stab at mature content an ill fit for lil' audience - 9/24/2007 11:38 am
Review: Bright Eyes concert raw as open wound - 9/20/2007 1:02 am
Meg White's breakdown causes White Stripes to cancel local concert - 9/12/2007 11:27 am
Weekend music round up - 9/4/2007 12:39 pm
Shiny Toy Guns can't keep it in their holster - 8/30/2007 11:59 am
Review: Charlie Daniels doesn't show his age, but often left stage - 8/26/2007 11:06 am
Where my dogs at? - 8/24/2007 4:13 pm
Ready to pick up (A profile on Eric Howk) - 8/19/2007 11:24 am
Are protest songs becoming more tame? - 8/16/2007 6:19 pm
Fairbanks loses, Bright Eyes show cancelled - 8/14/2007 6:41 pm
Cake never too sweet for the Tooth - 8/13/2007 2:20 pm
MARCH 11, 2008 - 3:41 PM
If you're reading this, you may have an old bookmark.
Push Play is moving on to make way for new internet product here at the Daily News.
To all our readers and contributors, thanks and farewell.
- Mike Dunham, Arts & Entertainment Editor
JANUARY 22, 2008 - 1:22 PM
Smooth jazz fans can look forward to a return visit by Kenny G this spring.
Sourdough Productions confirmed this morning that the sax player has a show booked for 8 p.m. March 10 in Atwood Concert Hall.
The Kenster will also play a Fairbanks show on March 9 in Hering Auditorium.
Kenny G played an Atwood show last May that sold out several weeks ahead of time.
Ticket prices and on-sale dates for both shows have not been confirmed. We'll keep you posted.
DECEMBER 30, 2007 - 1:49 PM
By Sarah Henning
Anchorage Daily News
The current incarnation of the Misfits was aptly represented Saturday night by its skull mascot – both the band and the skeleton have seen livelier days.
Jerry Only sneers on Saturday at the Egan Center. Photo by Bob Martinson.
The group’s intense punk sound and horror schtick was rousing enough for the 1,200-plus Egan Center crowd, a churning pit of jostling bodies, candy-colored hair, flying sneakers and ripe armpits.
But everything about the performance felt dated and predictable, and about as edgy as the band’s line of bobble-head dolls.
DECEMBER 28, 2007 - 10:36 AM
The time machine took us back to 2002 on Thursday night (Dec. 27) as the crunching post-grunge songs of Delmag, one of Anchorage's greatest homegrown rock bands, filled a downtown club.
But this wasn't quite Delmag - that legendary trio has been shut down for more than a year and hasn't even logged onto its MySpace page in two months. This was Never Quite That Low, a Delmag tribute band conceptualized and fronted by Sleep Machine's Erik Braund, who like most 20-something local rock scenesters, was heavily influenced by Delmag. The venue was the all-ages Downstairs at Club Millennium and the scene was comprised of about 35 teenagers, three band members and two thirtysomethings - this writer and the sound guy.
DECEMBER 20, 2007 - 3:28 PM
If you were all geared up to see Billy Ray, I hope you've got some army green in your closet.
It turns out the Cyrus show Feb. 12 at the Sullivan Arena is being thrown for military families. There will be no tickets sold to the public, said Bob Hall, a spokesman for U.S. Army Alaska.
Army Entertainment booked the show, which will also feature pop/punk band Bowling for Soup and 16-year-old country singer Katie Rae Davis.
Military families looking for concert details can call 384-2261.
DECEMBER 13, 2007 - 11:27 AM
Still got a death grip on those ‘90s line-dancing moves?
They’ll come in handy in February, when Billy Ray Cyrus is scheduled to perform in Alaska.
According to the artist’s Web site and Pollstar, a concert industry magazine, Cyrus will play the Sullivan Arena on Feb. 12.
Billy Ray Cyrus
His daughter, Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) currently has the sixth most popular North American tour, according to Pollstar. All 55 of her shows sold out in minutes, and scalpers are getting four-to-five times the tickets’ face value.
DECEMBER 13, 2007 - 10:45 AM
Toryn Green may be a Palmer boy at heart, but a year singing with Fuel and he’s already on rock star time.
Generally, the more famous you are, the later you are to interviews. Some stand a reporter up for hours, even days. (Yes, Al Jourgensen, I’m talkin’ ‘bout you.)
Green called about 15 minutes later than promised. But he had a good excuse.
He was buying drugs.
Fuel
“Sorry I’m late. I was in Mexico,” he said. “We are down playing a club in El Paso and we had the chance to hop across the border after soundcheck. We walked over, had some food and went to a pharmacy. They got all the cheap antibiotics, and on tour we get all kinds of sick.”
NOVEMBER 19, 2007 - 4:05 PM
Local promoter Eric Lizer has confirmed the Misfits will play the Egan Center on Dec. 29.
Tickets cost $29.50 in advance or $35 at the door, and go on sale at noon Saturday via Ticketmaster.
Music starts at 7:30 p.m. This is an all-ages show, with a bar for those who are 21+.
Lizer's touting a 30th Aniversary lineup including original members Jerry Only on bass and vocals and Robo on drums, plus Dez Cadena of Black Flag on guitar.
NOVEMBER 16, 2007 - 5:59 PM
Get out your corpse paint: All signs point toward the Misfits bringing their blood-spattered punk sound back to Anchorage.
Misfits
The band’s Web site lists a Dec. 29 show at the Egan Convention Center, a date and venue that are echoed by concert industry magazine Pollstar.
Tanya Pont, a representative for the Egan’s management company, said she could not confirm or deny the concert at this time.
Formed in 1977 and led by Glenn Danzig, the Misfits became famous fast for throwing horror-movie theatrics into the hardcore punk scene. They disbanded in 1983, but metal bands such as Metallica kept their music alive with covers and shout outs.
The reconstructed Misfits lineup last played up here to a sold-out crowd at Chilkoot Charlie’s in June 2005, led by the only original member left, bassist Jerry Only.
Keep checking Push Play. We’ll let you know when the official word comes down the pipe.
OCTOBER 26, 2007 - 6:35 PM
By Laura Carpenter
Whistling Swan Productions opened its 2007-08 season with a double bill — one of several this season — on Saturday night at the Discovery Theatre. With only a sprinkle of seats empty, the crowd hummed, sang and snapped along to nearly three hours of folk music that drifted from introspective and romantic to jazzy and bluesy.
First up, Glen Phillips showed us why Toad the Wet Sprocket went platinum in the early ‘90s and how his music is much better now. His rendition of “All I Want” took me back to high school and how I listened to the boot-legged tape over and over on my Walkman (with Annie Lennox on the B side). But the stories, lyrics and charisma of his more recent and personal songs made his set rock.
OCTOBER 5, 2007 - 6:16 AM
By Dawnell Smith
Anchorage Daily News
My legs ache and my eyes keep ditching their post, so don't expect much from me right now, not after nearly five hours of reggae at the Bear Tooth Theatre Pub. If First Tap means anything at the moment, it means tapped out, weary, dehydrated and beat.
Marty Dread sure knows how to show a crowd a good time.
The imposing, but charming man from Maui mingles roots reggae and hip-hop with R&B and pop, contemporary in style and yet mindful of his forebears. One minute he rattles off gravelly, spitfire lines as if representing the Way Way West Coast, and the next he sings as sensually, longingly as Marvin Gaye.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2007 - 11:38 AM
By Barry Piser
Anchorage Daily News
Rapper Bow Wow and friends performed Sunday night at the Sullivan Arena under the theme “Back to School” – capitalizing on the headliner’s teen idol status. The show itself came off like an awkward teenager, unsure of itself but yearning to be cool with macho posturing and bragging.
Bow Wow live in ANC: Bow Wow rocks the mic Sunday night in the Sullivan Arena. Bill Roth/Daily News
National hip-hop star Bow Wow himself is 20-years-young and trying to make a transition to an older audience. The problem is that the more mature audience was definitely not among the thousand or so fans at the Anchorage show.
SEPTEMBER 20, 2007 - 1:02 AM
By Sarah Henning
Anchorage Daily News
Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst stepped up to the mic looking orphan chic: underfed and big-eyed, with dark, greasy curtains of hair falling into his pasty face.
Bright Eyes in ANC: Bright Eyes' frontman Conor Oberst wails at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium Wednesday night. Bob Hallinen/Daily News
Out came a voice that was beautifully unnerving, like Tina Fey’s scar, or a starfish with an arm missing.
Wednesday night in the Wendy Williamson Auditorium, Bright Eyes walked a musical tightrope between Lyle Lovett and David Bowie, with Springsteen coaching from the platform. The band’s characteristically random changes in key, tempo and dynamics emphasized Oberst’s throbbingly honest lyrics about everything from holy wars to the afterlife to cougars. (The older woman predator kind, not the furry kind.)
SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 - 11:27 AM
Citing a drummer with mental health problems, The White Stripes has canceled its Sept. 24 rock concert at Sullivan Arena.
“Meg White is suffering from acute anxiety and is unable to travel at this time,” stated The White Stripes Web site.
The White Stripes 07: The White Stripes
The band’s latest album, “Icky Thump,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and is approaching 1 million in sales.
The tour cancellation affects U.S. dates through mid-October. At this time, no dates have been rescheduled.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2007 - 12:39 PM
It was another killer music weekend in Anchorage. And this is just the beginning of what September promises us.
Vincent "Mozzchops" Young captured some shots of Shiny Toy Guns, an L.A. synth-pop group who returned to Anchorage to rock three nights in a row.
Shiny Toy Guns: Photo by Vincent "Mozzchops" Young
The Riot, Delayed and Sorrow's End impressed Daily News reviewer Leland Smith, who wrote a glowing review of Rockapalooza at the fair.
AUGUST 30, 2007 - 11:59 AM
L.A. synth-pop darlings Shiny Toy Guns return to Alaska for a five-stop tour, including three shows in Anchorage Saturday through Monday.
Shiny Toy Guns: Shiny Toy Guns
Since they were last in the state promoting 2006’s “We Are Pilots” on Universal Motown Records, the band’s gotten heaps more national exposure. The single “Turn to Real Life” was featuring on an episode of “Ugly Betty,” and the band contributed “Stripped” to the “Blood and Chocolate” soundtrack.
AUGUST 26, 2007 - 11:06 AM
By Sarah Henning
Anchorage Daily News
PALMER -- Charlie Daniels burst onto the Borealis Theatre stage Saturday night with a string-smoking solo to open the feisty bar stool anthem “Drinkin’ My Baby Goodbye.”
Charlie Daniels: Charlie Daniels
In his red Western shirt, white cowboy hat and a belt buckle just shy the circumference of a pie plate, Daniels brandished his bow like nunchucks -- when he wasn’t using it to stun the fiddle gods.
Daniels may turn 71 in October, but he’s determined not to show it.
AUGUST 24, 2007 - 4:13 PM
They’ll certainly be at Sullivan Arena on Sunday, Sept. 23, when one of hip-hop’s top dogs, Bow Wow, performs.
Bow Wow: Paula Deanda, right and Bow Wow tape a performance on MTV's "Total Request Live" Aug. 20, 2007 at MTV Times Square studios in New York. The show aired Aug. 23. (AP photo)
Sullivan Arena staff announced Wednesday that Mr. “Puppy Love” himself is hitting Alaska for the big show (which oddly takes place one day before the White Stripes gig). Soccer dads should probably invest in earplugs now in preparation for the shrieks and screams that will come from the 8 to 38 female demographic at this show, which starts at 6 p.m.
AUGUST 19, 2007 - 11:24 AM
Eric Howk: Eric Howk of The Lashes
Play's Jessica Bowman offers a profile on Eric Howk of The Lashes, a musician from Alaska who developed a promising career on a major record label before he was injured at a party last spring. Bowman catches up with Howk, who is recovering nicely and whose band is on the ticket for Seattle's Bumbershoot festival Sept. 1.
AUGUST 16, 2007 - 6:19 PM
Today's protest songs are coming in bubbly packages, according to an article running on the cover of the Daily News Friday.
"They can be so hummable that people may mouth the words and never know they're dissing the president," the story reads.
Think John Mayer, Norah Jones and John Legend.
Ever found yourself singing along to Mayer's, "Waiting on the World to change" without thinking about the words?
These songs slip below the radar.
Here is a list of popular lyrics that you might have found yourself singing along to at one point.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.
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