![\"Lloyd](\"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Lloyd-Cole-Tour-photo1-213x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Lloyd Cole<\/p><\/div>\n
Three bands who will be performing in the area, over the next week, have met this criteria along with solo artist, Lloyd Cole, who went back to old friends and his old way of writing songs to make a refreshing new album.<\/p>\n
\nIf people don\u2019t pay close attention, it\u2019s easy for them to get false impressions about Lloyd Cole, who was the leader of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984-1989, and has been a solo artist ever since. For example, a lot of people think that Cole is Scottish because he formed Lloyd Cole and the Commotions when he and the rest of the band were students at the University of Glasgow. The truth is — he\u2019s British.
\n\u201cI grew up in a small town just south of Manchester, England,\u201d said Cole, during a phone interview Tuesday morning from his home in western Massachusetts. \u201cLater, my family and I moved to Scotland.\u201d
\nCole is a huge fan of the Premiership, the top tier competition of British football (soccer). Logically, people might assume that — based on where he grew up — he probably was a fan of one of Manchester\u2019s two big football clubs — Manchester United or Manchester City. \u201cI wasn\u2019t a fan of either of the Manchester teams,\u201d said Cole. \u201cMy favorite team has always been Chelsea. I\u2019m still a very big Chelsea fan.\u201d
\nAnd, because several of Cole\u2019s more recent albums were reflective solo works rather than rock-oriented discs, people might be thinking that Cole has settled in to making comfortable \u201cage appropriate\u201d music. That is also far from the truth. Cole, who will be performing on July 7 at World Caf\u00e9 Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, philly.worldcafelive.com), released his latest record \u201cStandards\u201d a few months ago on Omnivore Recordings and the album rocks — flat-out rocks.
\nIt\u2019s been 30 years since Cole and The Commotions released their impressive, hard-hitting, debut album \u201cRattlesnakes.\u201d Cole has enjoyed something of a renaissance with \u201cStandards,\u201d which is described as \u201ca gloriously electric rock \u2019n\u2019 roll record that fans and critics alike have hailed as his best work since \u2018Rattlesnakes.\u2019\u201d
\n\u201cA big influence on the making of my new album was \u2018The Tempest\u2019 album by Bob Dylan,\u201d said Cole. \u201cThere are great songs on that record. I don\u2019t think Bob Dylan has any idea how old he is. It made me think about \u2018age appropriate\u2019 music. I never wanted to make the error of trying to hold on to a link. I think maybe I got too cautious with my music there for awhile. On the new album, I wrote songs I didn\u2019t expect. I took the risk. As a songwriter, I couldn\u2019t exist without Ray Davies (Kinks), Lou Reed (Velvet Underground) and Bob Dylan. I\u2019m one of those people who came after Dylan. But, I don\u2019t think my music is really Dylanesque. There is a similar flamboyance with language. I have fun with language. The language becomes the entertainment value of the song. I\u2019ve always leaned toward that. I\u2019ve always thought that the sonic value of words is important. Initially, I wasn\u2019t thinking of the songs in a band format. But, I was leaning toward a rock record. I thought — if I\u2019m going to make a rock record, I need a rhythm section.\u201d
\nThe band Cole put together to record \u201cStandards\u201d featured Fred Maher (drums) and Matthew Sweet (bass) — the rhythm section from Lloyd\u2019s first two solo albums in the early 1990s — along with Joan (As Police Woman) Wasser (piano, backing vocals), Commotions\u2019 keyboardist, Blair Cowan, and guitarists Will Cole (Lloyd\u2019s son), Mark Schwaber, and Matt Cullen.
\n\u201cThe last time I recorded with Fred and Matthew was in 1991,\u201d said Cole. \u201cI contacted them and both said they wanted to do it. When we were making the record, Fred\u2019s wife was due to have a baby. So, I had eight-to-nine weeks to finish all the songs. I was working 8-to-10 hours a day. It\u2019s easier when you know what you\u2019re writing for. So, this album wasn\u2019t difficult to make. I made sure I had all the lyrics finished before I headed to L.A. Some of the songs took hours to write and there were some that took years to finish.\u201d The album was recorded in late 2012 and early 2013.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Marianas Trench<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWe had fun,\u201d said Cole. \u201cNo demos — we just went in and played. A deadline is great because you know you have to finish. After doing the rhythm tracks with Fred and Matthew, I had about three months to work on finishing the tracks. The album came out in Europe in 2014 but it didn\u2019t come out here until this year. I won\u2019t be playing with a band on this tour. I\u2019ve been 95 per cent solo for the last few years. About 15 years ago, I was in a band with some New York musicians called the Negatives. Now, there is talk of some Negatives shows in the foreseeable future.\u201d Video link for Lloyd Cole — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=YCBJ8BVy49w. Cole\u2019s show at the World Caf\u00e9 Live on July 7 will start at 8 p.m. with tickets priced at $25. On July 8, the club will host Janeane Garofalo.<\/p>\n
Mariana Trench is deep — the deepest known ocean trench, and the deepest known location on Earth itself. The band, Marianas Trench, is also deep — just listen to the band\u2019s lyrics. Marianas Trench, which will be performing on July 2 at the Theatre of the Living Arts (334 South Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1011, http:\/\/www.lnphilly.com), is an indie-pop band based in British Columbia. The group broke into the Canadian music scene in 2006 and met with immediate success.
\nOver the years, the four-piece band from Vancouver — Josh Ramsay (lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, pianist, songwriter), Matt Webb (lead guitarist, backing vocals), Mike Ayley (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Ian Casselman (drums, percussion, backing vocals) — has been making inroads in the American market. Two years ago, Marianas Trench made its first real tour of the U.S. — a tour that included a stop in Philly at the TLA. Now, the band is coming back to the TLA with a bunch of new songs and an album called \u201cAstoria\u201d waiting in the wings.
\n\u201cThe album is ready,\u201d said Ayley, during a recent phone interview from his home in Vancouver. \u201cWe\u2019re finally done recording it. We\u2019ve been grinding away. We\u2019ll do all of the album\u2019s mixing when we get back to B.C. We have 12 new songs that no-one has heard. We\u2019ll be playing four of the new ones live on this tour. It\u2019s great. There are symphonic parts with string sections. It\u2019s a concept thing.\u201d
\nMarianas Trench has released three albums in Canada — \u201cFix Me\u201d (2006), \u201cMasterpiece Theater\u201d (2009) and \u201cEver After\u201d (2011). Two years ago, the band won the Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys) for \u201cGroup of the Year.\u201d
\n\u201cOur first album \u2018Fix Me\u2019 was just an album with 11 or 12 songs,\u201d said Ayley. \u201cOur second album \u2018Masterpiece Theater\u2019 had just three songs — beginning, middle and end. They were longer songs — more like Act I, Act II and Act III. The last one played as a continuous piece of music. As soon as one track ended, the next one began. A lot of it was written after the initial recording to make the songs flow together. Some we knew would go well into the next, while others, we had to work on connections. The new one has string sections linking songs that were written while we were recording. They are almost like soundtrack moments — moments to set tones or indicate a change in direction. We also used a full brass section\u2026Josh writes all the songs and we approve of what he writes 99 per cent of the time. He writes the song and then we do the tracking for our own instruments. All the songs have all our fingerprints.\u201d
\nRamsay has already had a serious introduction to America\u2019s young music audience. He was producer and co-writer of Carly Rae Jepsen\u2019s smash hit single \u201cCall Me Maybe\u201d — a song that topped the pop charts in over 30 countries last year. With worldwide sales of over 13 million copies as of May 2013, \u201cCall Me Maybe\u201d was one of the best-selling singles of all time.<\/p>\n
The band\u2019s frontman owns a recording studio in Vancouver called The Umbrella Factory and it is there that Marianas Trench makes its records. Ramsay plays a large number of instruments and frequently plays all of the instruments on the songs he produces for other artists.
\nRamsey tackled some deep topics on the soon-to-be-released album. \u201cThis is a real chapter of Josh\u2019s life,\u201d said Ayley. \u201cIt\u2019s about personal relationships, family stuff and health issues\u2026We\u2019ve been recording it for quite awhile, but the bulk of it was done over the last six months. We did eight of the songs in the last six months. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll play the album front-to-back. In Canada, we have three albums out already so there are songs that our fans definitely want to hear us play. It\u2019s not quite that way in America, yet. Our U.S. fan base is more diverse. In Canada, we play arenas. I would really love to do a tour where we play the new album start-to-finish. With an album like the one we just recorded, it\u2019s something that definitely should be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Video link for Marianas Trench — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=EKIPh1w4s18.<\/a> The Marianas Trench show at the TLA will start at 7 p.m. with Ivy Levan, Mariana Trench\u2019s label mate at Cherrytree Records, as the opener. Tickets are $23.On July 7, the TLA will present Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Dillon Coope and Darq.<\/p>\n Most of the rock music tours this summer feature line-ups with bands that have similar audiences — line-ups such as Smashing Pumpkins, with Marilyn Manson; or Steely Dan, with Elvis Costello and The Imposters. But, there are exceptions. One glaring exception is the \u201cKid Rock\u2019s First Kiss: Cheap Date Tour\u201d that touches down on July 7 at the Susquehanna Bank Center (1 Harbour Boulevard, Camden, New Jersey, 800-745-300, http:\/\/www.lnphilly.com). Packway Handle Band<\/p><\/div>\n In 2008, Packway Handle Band released a self-titled album and followed with its sophomore album — \u201cWhat Are We Gonna Do Now?\u201d in 2010. The band continues to play frequently in the Southeastern United States. Freedom Williams<\/p><\/div>\n On this tour, Too Close To Touch will be performing in support of its debut record \u201cNerve Endings.\u201d which came out on Epitaph in April. \u201cFor this record, we picked a finite direction where we wanted to go,\u201d said Moore. \u201cEveryone in the band had this idea of what they wanted us to be and we\u2019re all in tune with that. We wanted to focus on the emotions as well as the catchiness of the songs. We met with our producer Erik Ron in California. He kept us in line — and co-wrote some songs. The album was written over the course of a year and we went out to L.A. three times to work in the studio with Erik\u2026At first, we had a five-song EP. Then, we needed some additional content. We recorded more songs and expanded the EP to a full-length. With three trips out west, we had grown a little more each time. It brought diversity to the record and allowed us to focus on each segment.\u201d Video link for Too Close to Touch — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=x20a3n__zuk<\/a>. The Too Close to Touch show at the Voltage Lounge will start at 8 p.m. and will also feature I the Mighty, Hail The Sun, Kaonashi and Brock Landers. Tickets are $10 in advance and $13 at the door.<\/p>\n On July 3, Harrah\u2019s Casino Philadelphia (777 Harrah\u2019s Boulevard, Chester, 484- 490-1800, https:\/\/www.caesars.com\/harrahs-philly) will host a free \u201c1990s Dance Party\u201d at its brand new music venue, The Block Entertainment Center, at 8 p.m. This holiday party will feature dance megastars Freedom Williams from C&C Music Factory and Rob Base as the headliners. Other area performances include: By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times Two major factors a band needs to achieve success and longevity are the ability to write good songs and the maintenance of a high level of friendship among band members. Three bands who will be performing in the area, over the next week, have met this criteria along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3497,4],"tags":[6375,6372,6370,6371,6373,6374],"class_list":["post-16527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-featured","tag-freedom-williams","tag-kid-rock","tag-lloyd-cole","tag-marianas-trench-band","tag-packway-handle-band","tag-too-close-to-touch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nObviously, Kid Rock is the headliner. Robert James Ritchie, known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor. His biggest success has been in the rap-rock genre. The middle act in the show is Foreigner, a British classic rock band that has been around in one incarnation or another since 1976. The band has had numerous mega-hits — the biggest of which has been \u201cI Want to Know What Love Is.\u201d And, in the opening slot is Packway Handle Band, a five-piece bluegrass band from Athens, Georgia featuring Josh Erwin (guitar), Tom Baker (banjo), Andrew Heaton (fiddle), Michael Paynter (mandolin) and Zach McCoy (bass).
\nIt almost makes you want to ask — what\u2019s wrong with this picture? \u201cWe\u2019ve always been able to fit into different types of lineups and festivals,\u201d said McCoy, during a phone interview Tuesday from a tour stop in North Jersey. \u201cThis tour\u2019s show is interesting from start to finish with a wide range of music.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nIn a press release, McCoy commented on a parallel to this tour and the album title \u201cWhat Are We Gonna Do Now?\u201d McCoy was quoted as saying, \u201cI think I can finally answer that question. We are going to flood millions of ears this summer with the wisdom and charisma that is the Packway Handle Band\u2026Seriously though, the reason we\u2019re here is because of our fans, and we\u2019d like to show our appreciation by being the best damn band we can be for them this summer. At least until Foreigner and Kid Rock take the stage.\u201d
\nIn Tuesday\u2019s interview, McCoy said, \u201cWe played with Kid Rock on his last two cruises. On this tour, we play for awhile, moving around the stadium grounds and then we go up onstage for the final 20 minutes of our set. Then, Foreigner comes on with this huge amount of equipment and this massive sound. They\u2019ve had a lot of hits over the years and fans love them. They are a really good band. After that, Kid Rock comes on with his band and plays a two-hour set.\u201d
\nPackway Handle Band is closing in on its 10th anniversary but the band\u2019s roots go back a lot further, \u201cWe were all in grade school together in Georgia,\u201d said McCoy. \u201cWe\u2019ve known each other for as long, long time. That\u2019s the biggest reason we\u2019re still a band. We\u2019ve been friends for so long we have the ability to get past the rough days and the flaring of tempers. Andrew, our fiddle player, is the only outsider. We went to Virginia Tech. The rest of us went to UGa (University of Georgia) in Athens. That\u2019s where we started — playing music on the side just to have fun. We started playing locally in Athens. Our old bass player initiated the whole band thing but then he left the band to pursue other things. We had our first outing as a full-time band in February 2006. We were finalists three consecutive years at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition in Colorado, and finished fourth, third and second.\u201d
\nPackway Handle Band released its debut album \u201cChaff Harvest\u201d in 2004. \u201cOur music has evolved a lot,\u201d said McCoy. \u201cThe early music was a mix of traditional and original. And, the music was all bluegrass. With the bluegrass songs back then, we all gathered around and sang into one microphone. A lot has changed since then. \u201cWe\u2019ve added electronic instruments and percussion. And now, everyone has his own mic and monitor. Michael is our songwriter and his writing has matured a lot over the years — not just with the lyrics but also with the arrangements. Ironically, we\u2019ve all become better soloists but we do less soloing.\u201d
\nThe band\u2019s latest recording is the Jim White-produced album \u201cTake It Like A Man,\u201d which blends the roots poet\/Southern surrealist Jim White with the straight ahead bluegrass of the Packway Handle Band. The collaboration is billed as \u201cJim White vs. the Packway Handle Band.\u201d
\n\u201cWe had been fans of Jim White\u2019s music for awhile and then we realized he had moved to Athens,\u201d said McCoy. \u201cHe approached us to be his backing band on the song \u2018Israelites.\u2019 Then, we approached him to produce our album. He agreed and then asked to share the album half-and-half. We thought it was a great idea.\u201d Video link for Packway Handle Band — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9OYK9DFrC_c.\/<\/a> Packway Handle Band, along with Foreigner and Kid Rock, will start their show in Camden at 6:45 p.m. on July 7. All tickets are $20.
\nToo Close to Touch is a fitting name for a band that is playing a show at a club called the Voltage Lounge. — A show with the potential for an \u2018electrifying\u2019 performance.<\/a>
\nThe Kentucky-based band Too Close to Touch will visit the area on July 8 for a show with I the Mighty at the Voltage Lounge (421 North Seventh Street, Philadelphia, 215- 964-9602, www.facebook.com\/Voltagelounge). The band\u2019s line-up includes guitarists Mason Marble and Thomas Kidd, bassist Travis Moore, drummer Kenneth Downey, and vocalist Keaton Pierce.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re just a bunch of friends who were hanging out in Lexington,\u201d said Marble, during a recent phone interview from Fort Collins, Colorado (where the band was waiting for its broken-down van to have its transmission repaired). Me, Ken and Travis were here in Lexington. Keaton moved up from Benton, Kentucky and Thomas had moved to the area from Arizona. We just all clicked immediately. The music just came out of the overflow of our friendship. We started writing songs together three years ago and the first gig with this line-up was in late summer 2014. We write songs all different random ways.\u201d
\nThe band\u2019s chemistry was obvious from the start. \u201cWhen you get a bunch of creative people together, it just happens,\u201d said Moore, who was also in on the interview. \u201cOur first hit \u2018Deep End\u2019 was one of the first songs we wrote. It didn\u2019t take us long to vibe off each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThe show will also feature with the legendary DJ Jeff Rice from the once-popular-and-now-long-gone dance club \u201cPulsations.\u201d Rice will be spinning all of the dance favorites from that unforgettable decade. The show\u2019s line-up will also include local hit maker Felicia Punzo, a popular singer from South Philadelphia. The show on July 3 will be a free event, but attendees must be 21 years or older and tickets are required to enter the show. Video link for C&C Music Factory — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LaTGrV58wec<\/a>. To reserve a free general admission ticket, which includes $10 in Casino Match Play, and a free valet parking voucher courtesy of Harrah\u2019s Philadelphia, click on this link — http:\/\/msk-events–design.ticketleap.com\/rob-base–cc-music-factory-concert-at-harrahs-philadelphia\/<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThe Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com) presents legendary blues guitarist Buddy Guy, on July 3, with Quinn Sullivan as the opening act.
\nOn July 3, 4 and 5, the Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389, www.ardmoremusic.com) will present \u201cA Celebration of the Grateful Dead\u2019s 50th Year\u201d with live music by Dead tribute band Splintered Sunlight along with a live stream of \u201cGD50 Chicago.\u201d
\nThe Steel City Coffee House (203 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, 610-933-4043, www.steelcitycoffeehouse.com) will host a pair of \u201cSteel City Local Artists Nights\u201d with Bacton Hill and Armani Mayberry on July 3 and the Pecan Sandies on July 4.
\nChaplin\u2019s (66 North Main Street, Spring City, 610-792-4110, http:\/\/chaplinslive.com) will host a \u201cBluegrass Jam\u201d on July 2; Last Chance, Jake Currie and Eric Reavey on July 3 and Hooch, Brick Nova and Just The Architects on July 4.
\nThe Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com) will have Les Dudek on July 2, Red Molly on July 3, Calan on July 7 and Mike Zeto & The Wheel on July 8.
\nThe Grand Opera House (818 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-652-5577, www.thegrandwilmington.org) will host the legendary Ukrainian dance company Kazka on July 7.
\nThe Chameleon Club (223 North Water Street, Lancaster, 717-299-9684, http:\/\/www.chameleonclub.net) will have Quincy Mumford & The Reason Why on July 2, former Skid Row lead singer Sebastian Bach on July 5, and Say Anything on July 6.
\nThe Rainbow Dinner Theatre (3065 Lincoln Highway East, Paradise, 800-292-4301, www.RainbowDinnerTheatre.com) is presenting \u201cToo Many Cooks\u201d now through August 8. Matinee performances are every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and selected Saturdays. Evening performances are every Friday, Saturday and selected Thursdays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"