Grand Rapids outdoor venue opens summer season with Cake

June 15, 2008

Grand Rapids Outdoor Venue Opens Summer Season With Cake
The Meijer Gardens concert series in Grand Rapids is up and running again for this year’s summer season, with alt-jazz-pop-soulsters Cake kicking off the modern rock portion of the venue’s schedule as a little different change of pace. That risk was rewarded with a sold-out crowd (in spite of the impending rain) and a terrific show from Cake themselves, including an audience singalong, the donation of a tree to the Gardens from the band, and performances of Cake tunes, both old and new - plus a few surprises. One of those surprises for those unfamiliar with Cake’s eclectic song catalog was probably the opening number, their country-esque cover of a Kenny Rogers song, “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town,” while other songs were more expected (but none less welcome), including the band’s well-played renditions of their own funky hits, “Wheels,” “Never There,” and encore “The Distance.” Now let’s hope that Cake frontman John McCrea doesn’t trade music for farming, as he’s been threatening to do, so that Cake can continue to tour and put on great shows at great venues like this one...
Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore has collaborated with rock critic Byron Coley on a photo-filled book that hits stores this week. No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. is the title of the new tome, which chronicles the era of the New Wave musicians who lived and performed in NYC’s Bowery from the mid-70s through 1980. In addition to all of the pics, the book also contains tales of various musicians’ personal escapades, interviews, and a look into the bands and clubs of the “No Wave” scene...
Over on the Detroit scene, The Raconteurs ripped up the stage at the Motor City’s Fillmore club to support their new disc, Consolers of the Lonely. This particular tour schedule will wrap up on June 13 in Tennessee until the band’s next 2008 tour leg begins in September. Fans at the Saturday show were treated to a White Stripes reunion of sorts, as Meg White stepped onstage to play drums for a brief period, introduced by Jack himself. It was a short reunion, though, as Meg stepped off stage quickly to make room for the other Raconteurs, who were returning for their encore. No White Stripes dates have been announced as of late, but those upcoming Raconteurs dates will see the band making September stops in Vancouver (9/18), San Diego (9/24), Austin (9/28), and Nashville (9/30)...
Converse sneakers - the go-to shoe for hipster rockers everywhere - are launching a new music-focused ad campaign that will feature a plethora of indie performers new and old. A new track, dubbed “My Drive Thru,” will kick off the promotion, with the song being produced by N*E*R*D and featuring vocals by The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas. The song will be released online and will also be the music for the campaign’s upcoming TV ads, which you can keep an eye out for later this summer; other artists set to help promote Converse are MGMT and Bradford Cox...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Stephen Colbert likes indie-rockers the Apples in Stereo (recipients of a coveted Colbert “Tip of the Hat”), and you can decide if you like ‘em, too, by either checking out the band during their upcoming performance on Colbert’s show (set to air August 4), catching them live on tour (stops are set to include Chicago (7/20), Minneapolis (7/22), and Memphis (7/28)), or - wait for it - checking out their updated website at www.applesinstereo.com...

MINI BUZZ:
Weezer haven’t announced any formal tour plans for their new, self-titled Red Album, although Japanese and North American tour dates are definitely expected for fall; but you might catch ‘em in a town near you, as frontman Rivers Cuomo recently told MTV News that the band is planning a short, informal, unannounced jaunt during which they’ll invite Weezer fans (“100, 200 people, whatever”) to bring their instruments and jam with the band...
Liverpool band The Wombats have made a fan in Paul McCartney, who suggested he might just be willing to produce an album for the band, who say they’re “ridiculously flattered” by even the idea itself...
Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty has scrapped the solo album he was partway through recording, and has decided to start recording the set again from scratch, this time in Paris and Portugal...
A new music fest is set to take place in Pasadena, California - the Make Music event, which will be held at several different “unconventional” venues (including sidewalks, alleys, and building lobbies), presenting free shows from the likes of The Raveonettes, Autolux, and Dengue Fever...
British Sea Power will be playing a free gig at an unusual venue, too, namely the Natural History Museum in London, where the band will perform as part of the Exhibition Road Music Day event...
And fellow Brits the Gallagher brothers - otherwise known, of course, as Oasis - will be awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming Silver Clef Music Awards in London on July 4; previous winners include Paul Weller and U2...
And these winning discs will hit CD stores and multimedia outlets near you this week... ON CD: Coldplay’s much-anticipated Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends... The Byrds’ Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971... Calico Horse’s Mirror... Dwele’s Sketches of a Man... The Fratellis’ Here We Stand... and a new online-only version of The Eagles’ Long Road Out of Eden... ON DVD: Daft Punk’s Electroma... DJ Tiesto’s Elements of Life World Tour... Angels and Airwaves: Start the Machine... and U2’s Rattle and Hum... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column or your fave musicians? Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com