Category — Shows

Famed drone and Southern Lord Records band Earth will be touring certain parts of the US this summer. The band has just wrapped up a tour of the East Coast and now has dates announced on the West Coast.

I’ve personally been waiting to see this band live for a while, as I never have before and I’m interested in how their quiet multi-layered approach will go over in a live setting.

Drummer Adrienne Davies is not the most furious, fast, loud or even busy player, but her drum parts fit and blend perfectly with the songs. It seems like it might be challenging to play as minimal as she plays, and as gently. I’ve seen pictures of her playing both big Ludwig and Gretsch drums but I’m also interested to see what type of setup she has.

-Earth West Coast Dates (so far)-

Earth @MySpace.com

It hasn’t really been announced on any major music news sites such as Stereogum, Pitchfork, etc…but Russian Circles will be touring and coming through Los Angeles again. Witness Turncrantz drumming skillz in person!

The band will be playing The Troubadour in West Hollywood with the band Daughters and its $10 advance and $12 at the door. This is one show I will not be missing. You can expect to see a review up here after the show.

It’s pretty much a full US tour…

-Russian Circles, touring with Daughters-

Jun-03 Iowa City IA Picador
Jun-04 St Louis MO Bluebird Theater
Jun-05 Kansas City MO The Riot Room
Jun-06 Denver CO Marquis
Jun-07 Salt Lake City UT Burt’s Tiki Lounge
Jun-08 Boise ID Neurolux
Jun-09 Seattle WA Neumos
Jun-10 Portland OR Doug Fir Lounge
Jun-11 Chico CA Cafe Coda
Jun-12 San Francisco CA Slims
Jun-14 Pomona CA The Glasshouse
Jun-15 West Hollywood CA Troubadour
Jun-16 San Diego CA The Casbah
Jun-18 Phoenix AZ The Clubhouse
Jun-20 Austin TX Red 7
Jun-21 Ft Worth TX Lolas
Jun-22 Houston TX Rudyards
Jun-23 Baton Rouge LA Spanish Moon
Jun-24 Birmingham AL Bottle Tree
Jun-25 Atlanta GA The Drunken Unicorn
Jun-26 Chapel Hill NC Local 506
Jun-27 Wilmington DE Harmony Grange
Jun-28 Cambridge MA Middle East Upstairs
Jun-29 Brooklyn NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
Jun-30 Baltimore MD The Ottobar
Jul-01 Buffalo NY Mohawk Place
Jul-02 Detroit MI Magic Stick (*no Daughters)

Russian Circles @ Myspace.com

Most music fans know Danny Carey as the drummer of Tool. He is one of my personal favorites. He usually plays all sorts of odd-timed beats and fills, in Tool, while at the same time putting a lot of power and emotion into his playing. I’ve also seen him around LA hanging out, (sometimes with the other members of Tool) at shows in the Silverlake/Echo Park area. He seems like a really humble and down to earth guy.

So it is no surprise that once I found out he had another band he’d been playing in recently I wanted to check it out. That band is called Volto! They’re kind of a jazz band. Basically, they play original jazzy-type songs, but still feature Carey’s powerful drumming, they also do some covers. I’m not entirely sure what covers they do, besides “21st Century Schizoid Man” by King Crimson (I saw that one on youtube).

Carey I believe, (from the looks of it),  is still playing the same drum kit he plays in Tool, minus his electronic drum pads. The band as far as I know, only plays around Los Angeles, so I plan on checking them out at the La Vee Lee jazz club here in LA on the 16th of this month. I will definitely post about that show here.  Looking forward to it…

So I wasn’t able to get my camera in to the show, but I did see the drummer, Dave Turncrantz’ setup. I was surpirsed to see that he had a very minimal 4-piece setup. To the best of my recollection, at this show he was using 2 crash cymbals and a ride.

As far as Russian Circle’s set as whole, it was amazing. They played with the same tenacity that you hear on their album “Enter” but a lot louder, (obviously) and and with a lot more jamming. At one point during the song “Death Rides A Horse” they let the drums keep on playing this one hypnotic hip-hop style beat, eventually culminating in the rest of the band coming back in with it and just rocking.

The band is working on a follow up record that should be out soon. They should also be touring again soon, I strongly recommend seeing them live if you get the chance. They are phenomenal.