fIREHOSE on Tour
4/05 Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s
4/06 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
4/07 Seattle, WA @ Neumos
4/09 Bellingham, WA @ Wild Buffalo House of Music
4/10 Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall
4/11 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
4/12 Santa Cruz, CA @ Historic Coconut Grove Ballroom
4/13 Fresno, CA @ Fulton 55
4/14 Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
4/17 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
4/18 Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theatre
4/19 Tucson, AZ @ Plush
4/20 Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival

According to Sonic Living, the show will take place on April 5, 2012 at 8 p.m. Harlow’s has not yet posted the show information on their site, so stay tuned and check often.

fIREHOSE formed in 1986 following the death Minutemen front man D. Boon. They performed more than 900 shows, and last played on February 12, 1994 at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, California.

1/9 Update: fIREHOSE will perform at Coachella 2012, a two-weekend event taking place April 13-15 and 20-22 in Southern California.

1/12 Update: fIREHOSE have announced their 2012 tour dates!

Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth have separated after a 27-year marriage. The couple have played in Sonic Youth since 1981, and were married in 1984. They have a 17-year-old daughter, Coco.

Matador Records released the following statement:

“Sonic Youth, with both Kim and Thurston involved, will proceed with its South American tour dates in November. Plans beyond that tour are uncertain. The couple has requested respect for their personal privacy and does not wish to issue further comment.”

With that in mind, here are what could be Sonic Youth’s final dates:

11/05 Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Personal Fest 2011
11/08 Montevideo, Uruguay @ Festival Primavera
11/10 Lima, Peru @ Explanda Monumental
11/13 Santiago, Chile @ Maquinaria Festival
11/14 Sao Paulo, Brazil @ SWU Music and Arts Festival

• FYF Fest

• Broken Social Scene

• Broken Social Scene

• Broken Social Scene

• Broken Social Scene

• Cold War Kids

• Cold War Kids

• Avi Buffalo

• Avi Buffalo

• Descendents

• Descendents

• Death from Above 1979

• Death from Above 1979

• Girls

• Glass Candy

• Glass Candy

• Glass Candy

• Guided By Voices

• Guided By Voices

• Title Fight

• Title Fight

• Olivia Tremor Control

• Olivia Tremor Control

• Olivia Tremor Control

• Olivia Tremor Control

• Twin Sister

• Ty Segall

• Ty Segall

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download “Girlfriend” by Ty Segall

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download “Nothing With You” by Descendents

• Descendents

• Descendents

• Descendents

• Descendents

• Epic Merch

• Fucked Up

• Fucked Up

• Fucked Up

• Fucked Up

• Fucked Up

• Fucked Up

• Fucked Up

• Fucked Up

Toronto’s hometown hardcore band Fucked Up took the stage on Thursday night, June 16th, at Yonge-Dundas Square as a part of a dedicated punk/hardcore night at NXNE’s largest venue. The 30-minute set took a heavy turn through the band’s recently released David Comes to Life in front of a rabid fan base, complete with the requisite mosh pit and those who travelled a ridiculously long way to see the concert, with a small but vocal contingent of Icelandic fans in the crowd.

From the moment lead singer Damian Abraham took the stage he was nowhere near it, instead performing almost the entire set from the audience or from the railing in front of the stage. Abraham whipped the crowd into a frenzy, culminating in an awesome performance of “The Other Shoe.” At some point, Abraham ended up with the microphone cord wrapped completely around his head and continued performing.

Although the set was far from musical — since being in the crowd is not conducive to the compelling vocals Abraham is capable of — it provided a brilliant spark of energy that lasted for the rest of the evening. Although the outdoor set limited some of the classic hardcore antics that Fucked Up are capable of, the whole set was well-performed. Fucked Up evoke the days of punk where if the lead singer wasn’t bleeding, then it wasn’t a good show.

—

Thursday night’s headliner at Yonge-Dundas Square was the seminal SoCal punk band Descendents. There are no words to describe the impact of the band on modern punk music, with every element of pop-punk coming out of their playbook.

The set started at a torrid pace, with classics like “Pervert” and “Silly Girl” marking the early set. During the middle of “Nothing With You” it seemed as if lead singer Milo Aukerman’s voice was about to give out. Then a moment of magic that only occurs at punk shows happened: someone in the crowd threw a water bottle onto the stage and hit Milo square in his trademark glasses. Instead of losing his calm, Milo finished the song and came on stronger for the remainder of the set, producing vocals reminiscent of the band’s heyday in the 1980s.

The 23-song set took a tour through the entirety of the Descendents’ catalog, including the first live performance of “Lucky,” a track the band contributed to the Godmoney movie soundtrack. “Lucky” was the emotional high point, with every bit of Milo’s soul coming through the vocals and every ounce of energy the band could muster coming into the song.

The oddest and most endearing moment of the show came when Milo had his two children onstage reading the opening of “All-O-Gistics.” It was reminiscent of The Clash’s child version of “Career Opportunities,” in which the same song with different vocals lead to an entirely new experience of the song.

The rest of the set was filled with newer and older classics, marked with an incredible performance of “Suburban Home” in which the band was firing on all cylinders. The night ended with a two-song encore, consisting of “Coolidge” and the classic “Bikeage.”

Even though the band has a few more grey hairs than in the past, the Descendents did far more than go through the motions. They injected life and passion into the music, and it sounded as fresh as it did when it was first recorded. It was a mind-blowing set from a classic band, and anyone who wasn’t a punk fan entering the square left — at the very least — a fan of Descendents.

Originally released on cassette in 1988 via  SST Records, this is the first ever reissue of a Dinosaur Jr. album on its original cassette format. Available in extremely limited quantities, the Bug cassette is limited only 250 hand-numbered copies, on high-quality purple tapes, with eight-panel original artwork. One-hundred-twenty-five copies are available for purchase online, while the remaining 125 will be available at the band’s merch table while on tour.

Dinosaur Jr. on Tour
6/21 Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theatre  (with Thurston Moore, Henry Rollins spoken word)
6/22 Boston, MA @ The Paradise (with Off!, Henry Rollins interviewing)
6/23 New York, NY @ Terminal 5 (with Fucked Up, Off!, Henry Rollins interviewing)
6/24 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory (with Off!, Henry Rollins interviewing)
6/25 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club (with Off!, Henry Rollins interviewing)
6/26 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse (with Off!, Henry Rollins interviewing)
6/27 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle (with Off!, Henry Rollins interviewing)
7/01 London, England @ Alexandra Palace (with Flaming Lips and Deerhoof)
7/02 Paris, France @ Gaite Lyrique
7/03Ferrara, Italy @ Ferrara Sotto Le Stelle
7/04 Milan, Italy @ Magnolia
7/05 Antwerp, Belgium @ Rivierenhof
7/07 Helsinki, Finland @ Tavastia Club
7/08 Stockholm, Sweden @ Gota Kallare
7/09 Oslo, Norway @ Rockefeller Music Hall

The album, entitled Dos y Dos, features both members on bass and Kira’s vocals, and little else.  The album was recorded in Watt’s makeshift studio in his apartment in San Pedro, and produced by Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto, also Watt’s bandmate in Floored by Four. The album will be the second release on Watt’s label, clenchedwrench.

“We’ve been together since the fall of 1985,” says Watt. “This is my longest running band. I really dig playing with Dos… What we try to do is develop converstations between our two basses and create a landscape of low-end dynamic. In Dos, there is no hiding. This is both the challenge and the reward.”

In May, the Meat Puppets will be performing Up On The Sun at this years’ All Tomorrow’s Parties festival curated by Animal Collective.

Meat Puppets on Tour
4/27 Lexington, KY @ Busters
4/28 Knoxville, TN @ The Valarium
4/30 Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
5/1 Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
5/3 Des Moines, IA @ Simon Estes Amphitheater
5/5 Fargo, ND @ The Venus
5/6 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
5/7 St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
6/8 Lubbock, TX @ The Blue Light
6/9 Santa Fe, NM @ Santa Fe Brewing Co.
6/10 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
6/11 Phoenix, AZ @ The Clubhouse
6/14 San Diego, CA @ Casbah
6/15 Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar
6/16 Los Angeles, CA @ Echo
6/17 San Francisco, CA @ Independent
6/18 Arcata, CA @ Humboldt Brews
6/20 Bellingham, WA @ Wild Buffalo
6/21 Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
6/22 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
6/23 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
6/25 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
6/26 Durango, CA @ Abbey Theater
6/29 Denver, CO @ Bluebird
6/30 Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar
7/1 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
7/9 Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest

Dinosaur Jr. will be doing a brief summer tour, hitting up the East Coast and London, and will be performing their 1988  album Bug in its entirety. They will be supported by Thurston Moore, Fucked Up, and Off!,  as well as Henry Rollins providing a spoken word performance and interviewing Dinosaur Jr. They will be joined by The Flaming Lips and Deerhoof in London.

For more information, visit the Dinosaur Jr. website.

Dinosaur Jr. on Tour
6/21 Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theatre  (with Thurston Moore, Henry Rollins spoken word)
6/22 Boston, MA @ The Paradise (with Off!, Henry Rollins interviewing)
6/23 New York, NY @ Terminal 5 (with Fucked Up, Off!, Henry Rollins interviewing)
6/24 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory (with Off!, Henry Rollins interviewing)
6/25 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club (with Off!, Henry Rollins interviewing)
7/01 London, England @ Alexandra Palace (with Flaming Lips and Deerhoof)

Edward [Crawford] called me last summer and he asked me that he wants to write some new songs and maybe try some more fIREHOSE. He helped me a lot. Edward came to me in a very hard part of my life. fIREHOSE did 20 tours, seven years, a lot of work. And George Hurley–for 14 years I played with him and little more than half of that was with fIREHOSE. So, I have a lotta respect for those two men…

As far as the reunion, Edwards asked about it and he said Georgie’s into it. Edward would have to come to Cali though. He’s in Pittsburgh, takin’ care of his folks. I have a lotta respect for edfromohio. I think fIREHOSE came at a period where Minutemen hadn’t gotten to college people yet and with fIREHOSE it was more there. There was more of an open audience.

I spoke to Georgie before this tour and I’m going to record some songs with him. Georgie’s one of the greatest drummers I’ve ever played with in my life. Also, me and Georgie got asked by this Neutral Milk guy–sorry, I don’t know his name. Neutral Milk Hotel? He’s curating All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in December and he asked me and Georgie, as a duo, to do some Minutemen songs.

fIREHOSE formed in the spring of 1986, several months following the death of Minutemen vocalist and guitarist D. Boon. fIREHOSE played their last show on February 12, 1994 in San Pedro, California.

Click here to read the interview, or go here to read Verbicide’s recent interview with Mike Watt.