The Round Table

Attention New Yorkers: The National – July 27th- with Beach House – Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn.

Buy tickets to see The National – they go on sale today!

Justin Bieber, the Justin Timberlake to the Miley Cyrus generation, will headline the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam concert series on Feburary 4th in Miami, Florida. Beiber will be joined by Rihanna who will perform songs off her latest release R Rated.

The Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam concert series is a two-day event prior to the Super Bowl XLIV sponsored by NFL and Pepsi. Free tickets for both concerts will be available at Ticket Master beginning Monday, January 11 on a first-come, first serve basis.

Meanwhile, Nelly Furtado, Paulina Rubio, and Pitbull, are headlining the second concert which is scheduled for Friday, February 5.

You can catch the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam live from Miami Thursday, Feb. 4 @ 9PM ET/PT on VH1.

The phenomenon known as Sublime rose to fame as acts like No Doubt brought punk-ska to the mainstream world. The band’s self-titled major label debut hit #1 with the single “What I Got” even after the the untimely death of lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Brad Nowell in May of 1996. The album Sublime went on to sell 5x platinum, but more importantly became the soundtrack of much of ‘96 and is forever rooted in the hearts of twenty-somethings (approaching 30).

But encompassing the sense of place and purpose long associated with Sublime’s music, Badfish, a Tribute to Sublime continues to channel the spirit of Sublime with a fury not felt for some time. What separates Badfish from other tribute bands is that they have replicated Sublime’s essence, developing a scene and dedicated following most commonly reserved for label-driven, mainstream acts. Badfish make their mark on the audience by playing with the spirit of Sublime. They perform not as Sublime would have, or did, but as Badfish does!

Badfish hits New York City this Saturday, Dec. 19th as they play Nokia Theater. The show starts at 8p, doors open at 7p. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster. Check out the band doing their rendition of “Santeria” after the cut.

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Benjy Davis Project came to rock as they headlined a Rock Ridge Music showcase at Sullivan Hall last night. The often subdued Davis released his inner showman as his band wailed behind him complete with guitar solos and pulsating drums as they brought some southern heat to a chilly November night here in NYC.

It was a noticeably different lineup for BDP, which only included original members Benjy Davis (no brainer there) and Mic Capdevielle (drums). The new addition, Patrick Thorton (bass) and Brian Fechino (guitar), definitely brought a fresh sound to the group. Though, I’d venture to guess the liquored up college-crowd failed to notice the new lineup as they faithfully sang back all the lyrics while groping each other. Seriously, kids are talented these days and clearly have no shame.

But BDP managed to stay focused as they played the standard crowd favorites off their latest release Dust, including “I Love You,” “Same Damn Book,” “Sweet Southern Moon,” and “Still Sweet.” They also mixed in some older material in “Do It With The Lights On,” and “Louisiana Saturday Night.” Have to admit, though I enjoy BDP unplugged, witnessing them plugged in up made for a nice change of pace.

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Usually the New York Yankees don’t have to vie for attention when it comes to post season play, but this year, things are a bit different. Before the MLB World Series started, fans and sportswriters alike pretty much crowned the New York Yankees victors and opted to focus on celebrity a-listers in the stands and pre-game performers.

Namely, two New York natives in Alicia Keys and Jay-Z were anointed to rock the home crowd prior to first pitch vs. (the underestimated) Philadelphia Phillies with their ode to the city in “Empire State of Mind.” The song just so happens to be Yankee captain Derek Jeter’s anthem as he approaches the plate to bat. Weather postponed the duo’s performance prior to yesterday’s game and the Phillies went on to take Game 1 behind a gem of a pitching performance by Cliff Lee.

Music fans were disappointed that the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performance was canceled, but have more reason to tune in for tonight’s Game 2 action as Grammy award winning John Legend has been added to the star-studded lineup. Legend will sing the national anthem after Jay-Z and Alicia Keys warm up the audience starting around 7:30p est on Fox.

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Stephen Jenkins and the guys of Third Eye Blind are set to hit this fall in support of their latest studio effort in Ursa Major. It appears Third Eye Blind is looking to rock a few college towns from the looks of the band’s 20-city stint, which include stops at SUNY Binghampton, James Madison Univ, and University of Iowa as well as a few local club spots like The Cannery in Nashville and Starland Ballroom in NJ. Check out all the dates below.

THIRD EYE BLIND TOUR DATES:
Sep 25-Mississippi State University-Starkville, Mississippi
Oct 1-Ritz-Tampa, Florida
Oct 2-Revolution-Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Oct 5-The Cannery-Nashville, Tennessee
Oct 6-Valarium-Knoxville, Tennessee
Oct 7-The National-Richmond, Virginia
Oct 8-James Madison University-JMU Convocation Center-Harrisonburg, Virginia
Oct 11-SUNY Binghamton-Binghamton, New York
Oct 12-State Theatre-State College, Pennsylvania
Oct 14-Lincoln Theater-Raleigh, North Carolina
Oct 15-North Georgia College – Memorial Hall-Dahlonega, Georgia
Oct 18-Neighborhood Theatre-Charlotte, North Carolina
Oct 21-Starland Ballroom-Sayreville, New Jersey
Oct 22-Utica College – Stanley Center-Utica, New York
Oct 24-University of Connecticut-Jorgenson Center for the Performing Arts-Storrs,CT
Oct 26-MSU East Lansing, Michigan
Oct 27-House of Blues Cleveland, Ohio
Oct 29-Ferris State University Big Rapids, Michigan
Oct 31-Freakfest Madison, Wisconsin
Nov 2-University of Iowa-Iowa City, Iowa

The Canal Room was rocking as the Evening of the Feeling Song Tour touched down in NYC on Tuesday night. Matt Duke, Tony Lucca, and Jay Nash provided hours of incredible music, a mini-jam session, as well as a few surprise guests including the lovely Sara Bareilles and talented Curtis Peoples. While the clear headliner appeared to be Jay Nash, it was Matt Duke’s and Tony Lucca’s sets that stole the show.

So, who is Matt Duke? Well, he’s a pint-sized (in comparison to the towering Jay Nash), singer-songwriter who has an affinity for a four letter word that rhymes with “duck.” His songs were poignant and emotional, his delivery was intense and focused. He commanded the stage he even though a rather noisy audience didn’t give him the respect he deserved on stage, which seemed to be an issue for all of the performers. Tony Lucca and Curtis Peoples confided with us post show that “the audience thinks you can’t hear or see them when you’re on stage. You can and you do. Trick is finding a way to politely say ’shut the f-ck up.”

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