March 28, 2024

Gabba Gabba Hey

Aug. 2, 2006
It’s already been called “a trashed-up Grease on speed” and “a musical with a mosh pit” - and it kicks off on July 31 in the UK.  What is it?  Why, it’s The Ramones, of course - or, more specifically, The Ramones’ musical, reportedly the first punk rock musical, that’s been dubbed Gabba Gabba Hey! and will appear at London’s Koko Nightclub.  The show fuses 18 classic Ramones songs, including “I Wanna Be Sedated,” “Sheena is a Punk Rocker,” and “53rd and 3rd” into a downtown girl-meets-boy story that’s been approved by Tommy Ramone himself;  Ramone is contributing musical direction for the show and will make special nightly appearances. Rumors of a U.S. premiere of the show have been circulating, but nothing’s been confirmed yet; we’ll keep you updated...
Are you a fan of The Who?  If so, you’ll be thrilled to hear about this one - the band (well, the remaining members, anyway) are embarking on a rare world tour this fall starting on September 12 in Philadelphia.  It’ll be a series of live shows that will take them through five continents, playing such Who hits as “My Generation,” “Who Are You,” and “I Can See For Miles” - the original duo of Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey will be joined on the road by Ringo Starr’s son, Zak Starkey, on the drums, bassist Pino Palladino, Pete’s younger brother Simon Townshend on guitars, and longtime tourist keyboardist John Bundrick. The Who are also dropping a new album, Wire and Glass, that you can expect to see in stores this October...
Italian World Cup soccer team have adopted The White Stripes’ song “Seven Nation Army” as their unofficial rallying yowl, and the Stripes’ Jack White is said to be “honored” that the team has taken the song as their own, citing that that sort of song usage is akin to the traditions of “folk music.”  Meanwhile, The White Stripes themselves seem to be facing an uncertain future, as they remain on hold while White starts pondering songs for his next project, which is said to be a second album with his other band, The Raconteurs, who will be appearing at Chicago’s Lollapalooza Festival the beginning of August...
 
Ben Kweller is working on a new album of his own, and it’s really all his own this time - Kweller is writing all of the songs and will be playing all of the instruments himself, hence the album’s eponymous title, nothing more than Ben Kweller (except for producer Gil Norton, of course.) Kweller says that this next round of tunes are “very personal songs,” and among those songs are titles “Nothing Happening,” “Red Eye,” “Penny on the Train Track,” and “Magic” - Ben Kweller the album will be on CD store shelves on September 12, while Ben Kweller the musician will also be appearing at the upcoming Lollapalooza event...
 
MINI BUZZ:
It’s been said before to no ill effect, but it’s still worth a mention in case it (unfortunately) sticks this time around; Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo has just announced that the band is “done for the moment” and that he’s not certain they’ll ever make a record again - is this truly the end of Weezer?...
OutKast’s long-delayed film and album - both titled Idlewild - are now scheduled for release in August...
Dynamic rockers Vaeda, who are in the midst of a series of U.S. club dates, are prepping to see their State of Nature debut disc hit stores on August 22; check ‘em out at www.myspace.com/vaeda, or at www.vaeda.com...
Pseudo-punk pop diva-ette Avril Lavigne married Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley last weekend...
Massive Attack will embark on their first U.S. tour since 1998 this fall, with stops scheduled in both Detroit and Chicago... .
And Xiu Xiu is hitting the road this fall, too, in promotion of their newest album, The Air Force, which is due out on September 15; Xiu’s tour dates will include stops in Atlanta (10/6), NYC (10/12 and 10/13), Toronto (10/20), Detroit (10/21), Chicago (10/27), and Minneapolis (10/28)...
 
ON CD:  Spoon’s Telephono and Soft Effects... The Beautiful South’s Superbi... Alien Ant Farm’s Up in the Attic...  Los Lonely Boys’ Sacred... The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus’ Don’t You Fake It... Vienna Tang’s Dreaming Through the Noise... ON DVD:  Johnny Cash: Live in Denmark 1971... Fatboy Slim’s Why Try Harder - Greatest Hits... Anti-Flag: Death of a Nation Live... and the Beastie Boys’ long-awaited and fan-filmed Awesome! I... Shot That! ... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
 
Questions, comments, rants, raves about this column or your fave musicians?  Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com!
 
 

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