Category Archives: Music

REDLANDS: Terraplane Sun lands at Hangar 24

Swiss Alps is from Redlands. (Swiss Alps Facebook/Contributed Image)

Up-and-coming Los Angeles band Terraplane Sun is headed to Hangar 24 Brewery in Redlands on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

The buzzworthy band just finished a U.S. tour and will be joined on Wednesday by Redlands locals Swiss Alps.

7 p.m. Wednesday, Hangar 24 Brewery Tasting Room, 1710 Sessums Drive, Redlands, free.

Visit www.facebook.com/terraplanesun for more on the band and www.hangar24brewery.com for more on the show.

Watch performances from Swiss Alps’ PE Live session.

Check out the interview with Swiss Alps.

Swiss Alps perform “Chris.”

PE LIVE: Watch a performance by The Higgs

The Higgs performed some music for PE Live. (The Higgs/Contributed Image)

We all need some music to kick off this Sunday morning and PE Live can help with that.

The Higgs performed an impressive set at the Hangar 24 Tasting Room in Redlands a couple of weeks ago that we were lucky enough to capture for PE Live.

Take a look and have a listen to the band’s song “Meet My Baby.”

PE LIVE: The Higgs perform “Meet My Baby.”

I’m really excited to share the news that our next PE Live band will be The Dangers. We’ve got some special performances from the band from the amazing new album “Gold!!” coming up this week.

You can see one of the performances from the great night of music early if you sign up for the PE Live newsletter. You’ll get the email from yours truly on Tuesday afternoon, two days before we post PE Live to the public. If you’re already subscribed, thank you for supporting local music.

Subscribe to the PE Live newsletter.

MUSIC: Hobo Jazz releases video for ‘Bonnie’

Hobo Jazz has released a new video for “Bonnie.” (Matthew Schoenmann/Freelance Photographer)

In the decade-plus that the great Hobo Jazz has been together, the band had not released a video, until now.

Check out the beautiful cinematography, beautiful music and beautiful story in Hobo Jazz’s video for “Bonnie,” which was directed by Lei Tao.

The song is available on their latest album, “The Curse of Tramp Life.”

The poignant song is only part of the Hobo Jazz story. Get to know the magic of the Hobos by watching our interview with Marquis and Matt from Hobo Jazz on a recent edition of PE Live.

Watch Hobo Jazz perform “One Glance.”

Your next chance to see the band live is Saturday, Nov. 30 at The Vault in Redlands.

RIVERSIDE: The garage comes to Mission Tobacco Lounge

Crystal and the Cutthroats are playing Mission Tobacco Lounge on Saturday, Nov. 16. (Contributed Image)

Saturday is going to be like an in-person session of “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” with the lineup of bands headed to Mission Tobacco Lounge.

LA band Prima Donna, which just opened for Adam Ant on his recent tour, tops the night of music.

Also, the Inland’s own Vicky and the Vengents are celebrating the release of their new 45 rpm record.

The excellent Crystal & The Cutthroats and Undercover Monsters are also on the bill.

8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, Mission Tobacco Lounge, 3630 University Ave., Riverside, $6, 21 and older only.

LIVE CHAT: Who will play the 2014 Coachella Festival?

Watch our Coachella 2014 Live Chat on Spreecast below.

You can also access the Coachella live chat directly at the Spreecast site.

Ready to talk about Coachella 2014? Join us for a live chat. (File Photo)

The rumors and predictions of who will be playing the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival are already out in the ether as bands such as Arcade Fire and Mogwai have announced their touring schedules through the spring and have conspicuous holes around April 11-13 and April 18-20, when the festival returns to the Empire Polo Club in Indio.

Vanessa Franko will be chatting live, answering your questions, and responding to comments about all things Coachella at 5:45 p.m. Thursday on PE.com.

For the last few years, I’ve been doing my Coachella prognostication, which I call Coachellaology, and every year it seems to be growing with more tips from fantastic readers and music fans like you.

On Thursday, Nov. 21 at 5:45 p.m. Pacific, let’s get together and talk about Coachella, from the probability of Daft Punk showing up to what the reunion acts will be this year.

What I think will make this so much fun is audience participation. You’re encouraged to send in questions, comments and more. Our interactive show gives you an opportunity to voice your Coachella knowledge.

If you’d like to chat or ask questions, please click on the widget to open a new window to participate in the live chat. Feel free to ask questions and add comments before we go live on Nov. 21, too.

You can also access the Coachella live chat directly at the Spreecast site.

Even if you can’t make it for the live chat, you can ask a question and watch it later. I’m hoping we can make this a semi-regular thing in the coming weeks and months as we go on the road to Coachella.

If you just found your way to the Audio File for the first time, welcome!

I’ve covered the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Stagecoach Country Music Festival since 2007.

For more Coachella news, photos, interviews and information, visit the iGuide Coachella page. If you want to follow me on social media, I’m at @vanessafranko on Twitter, the Audio File on Facebook and on Google+.

Below is a timeline of all of the Coachella predictions I’ve posted so far.

If you want to know about the next time we’ll be doing one of these Coachella live chats, sign up below for our Coachella newsletter.

PE LIVE: Get to know The Higgs

The Higgs are interviewed on PE Live. (Matthew Schoenmann/Freelance Photographer)

If you like jam bands, you will love The Higgs. If you don’t like jam bands, you will still love The Higgs. The Orange County outfit is just that good.

We caught up with the band recently at a PE Live taping at Hangar 24 in Redlands, where they played some fantastic music.

Check out The Higgs performing “The Right Way” at Hangar 24.

Want to know a little bit more about the band? Watch the PE Live interview with The Higgs.

Speaking of PE Live, you should come out and see a taping. We’ll be filming the Chase Walker Band on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. You will be awed when you see how talented this group of teens is.

Stick around and catch the blues-inspired rock of My Own Holiday, too.

6 p.m. Nov. 16, Hangar 24 Brewery Tasting Room, 1710 Sessums Drive, Redlands, free.

Visit www.chasewalkerband.com for more on the band and www.hangar24brewery.com for more on the show.

Watch My Own Holiday perform “On the Floor Blues.”

COACHELLA 2014: Signs point to Arcade Fire as festival headliner

Arcade Fire performs on the Coachella stage during the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio. (2011/File Photo)

It’s a special double-edition of Coachellaology today. Earlier I posted about Lorde and Flogging Molly, but this afternoon is an update on a Coachella favorite.

Arcade Fire announced a bunch of arena tour dates for the summer and guess what area is suspciously absent? That’s right, Southern California.

Also, if you look at the dates, you can see a big gap between a date in Austin on April 10 and a date in Denver on April 23. The 2014 twin editions of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival are set for April 11-13 and April 18-20 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.

The band has performed at the festival multiple times, most recently as a headliner in 2011. View the performance of “Wake Up” to see what happened during the headlining set.

Arcade Fire was my prediction for a headlining spot back in May when Coachella promoter Goldenvoice announced the 2014 dates. If you want to read even more about why Arcade Fire makes sense for Coachella 2014, check out this post I wrote at the end of October.

Many thanks to my Facebook friends Nate Hutchinson and Brian Blueskye and Twitter buddy @RJThomps for the tip-off on the tour announcement.

If you’re not planning to see the band at Coachella, I think the San Francisco date on July 30 will probably be near a SoCal date. I am personally hoping the band plays the Hollywood Bowl again because it was one of the bets concerts I have ever seen.

What do you think? Does the tour mean Arcade Fire is a lock for Coachella or will there be a big surprise?

Think I’m on the right track or totally off in my predictions? Sound off in the comments below. Flip through the interactive timeline or click the links below to read my other predictions.

I’ve covered the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Stagecoach Country Music Festival since 2007. All of the Coachella prediction posts here are tagged with Coachellaology.

Nov. 14, 2013: Flogging Molly, Lorde
Nov. 5, 2013: Mogwai, The Dismemberment Plan
Oct. 25, 2013: Arcade Fire, The Naked and Famous
Oct. 7, 2013: The Pixies
Oct. 2, 2013: Paul McCartney, Luscious Jackson
Aug. 2, 2013: Neutral Milk Hotel
June 16, 2013: The Replacements

REDLANDS: Bands battle for Hawaii show at Splash Kingdom

Inland bands will face off for a chance to play in Hawaii at Splash Kingdom in Redlands. (File Photo)

One Inland band will be headed to Hawaii to open for Everclear next month and who it is will be decided by two upcoming battles.

On Friday, Nov. 15, Splash Kingdom in Redlands will host a round of performers, including Dead Moves, Kitty Carloff, Valiance’s Band, Heroes and Thieves, Box of Roxx, Gypse Rose, The StillWinter, Inside Wriot and Berdoo.

From there, five bands will move on to the finals at Stinger’s Bar and Nightclub in San Bernardino on Nov. 23.

The winner will be flown to Hawaii for the Honolulu show and will also get other prizes.

6 p.m. Friday, Splash Kingdom,1101 California St., Redlands, $15 at the door, all ages.

COACHELLA 2014: Lineup predictions with Flogging Molly, Lorde

Flogging Molly performs at the 2011 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. (2011/File Photo)

With Coachella prediction season warming up, I got an interesting email from reader Jay Neal about Flogging Molly.

He saw the band’s tour dates posted and noted there were no SoCal shows on the calendar (the band hits Oakland on March 14, Las Vegas on March 15 and Tempe on March 17) for the 10th annual Green 17 tour. Side note–Flogging Molly started the Countdown to St. Patrick’s Day themed tour after fans clamored for them to perform in their town on St. Patrick’s Day.

So Jay made a comment “No SoCal shows could it be another appearance at Coachella!” and mysteriously his comment vanished.

Given the timing and no SoCal dates, I could definitely see Flogging Molly headed back to Indio. The band last performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2011 and before that in 2008, so if it’s every three years that they appear in Indio, 2014 makes sense.

However, I haven’t heard anything about new music from them, so that weakens the case slightly for me.

Flogging Molly fans out there, what do you think? Do they usually hit SoCal on the Green 17 tour? Does the absence of SoCal shows mean Coachella for you?

Will Lorde perform at Coachella 2014? (Garth Badger/Contributed Image)

Moving on, Coachella always seems to get that one artist with the big crossover radio hit. In 2012 it was Gotye with “Somebody That I Used to Know;” in 2013 it was Alex Clare with “Too Close.” My prediction for 2014 is Lorde, the New Zealand teen who has been everywhere with the song “Royals.”

(This gets a tip of the hat to Twitter followers @Bham32 and @JBowen72 who have both mentioned this one.)

The teen phenom hasn’t announced any U.S. tour dates for 2014, but she is doing a run of West Coast radio holiday shows, including KROQ’s Acoustic Christmas, in December.

I like her chances for the fest unless she gets picked up by a big arena tour. Do you think she will be the Gotye of Coachella 2014?

Think I’m on the right track or totally off in my predictions? Sound off in the comments below. Flip through the interactive timeline or click the links below to read my other predictions.

I’ve covered the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Stagecoach Country Music Festival since 2007. All of the Coachella prediction posts here are tagged with Coachellaology.

Nov. 5, 2013: Mogwai, The Dismemberment Plan
Oct. 25, 2013: Arcade Fire, The Naked and Famous
Oct. 7, 2013: The Pixies
Oct. 2, 2013: Paul McCartney, Luscious Jackson
Aug. 2, 2013: Neutral Milk Hotel
June 16, 2013: The Replacements

TEMECULA: Band Wars continues Nov. 15 and 16

The Rare (2012/File Photo)

Band Wars kicked off last week at The Vault in Temecula and strikes back with a double feature this weekend.

The popular homegrown band battle series will include performances from Shaufrau, Friday Best, Imagery and Sticks N Stones on Friday, Nov. 15.

For the third installment of Band Wars, on Saturday Nov. 16, Twenty LB Sledge, The Lulu, Firing All Cylinders, Snakes N Reindeer, The rare and For All That’s Forgotten will perform.

The venue will also host SoCal’s Zebrahead (“Playmate of the Year,” “Get Back”) on Friday, Nov. 22 and Smile Empty Soul (“Bottom of the Bottle) on Saturday, Dec. 14.

6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 16, The Vault, 41607 Enterprise Circle North, Temecula, $10, all ages.

Visit www.thevaultconcerts.com for more information.