Solid State

I've just received word that Michael Tonn, guitarist for The Toes, Sons of Dawn and Trainwreck Kelly, was recently the victim of a burglary. According to an email sent by Tonn's roommate, Dan Fancher, their North Avenue house was broken into at some point between July 4 and July 6. The thieves got away with two of Tonn's guitars. Here are Fancher's descriptions of the instruments:

One is the electric that Michael usually plays with The Toes (pictured):

Baby blue Fender Jag-stang, mismatched knobs, mother-of-pearl-look inlay, orange circular sticker below the bridge.

The other is the guitar Michael has written most of his songs on over the past decade:

Seagull acoustic steel string, cedar top. Identifiable by plain headstock with no decoration. Seagull guitars usually have a seagull on the headstock; this one has been replaced 3 times and is plain wood now.

Now, if I were to break into someone's home and steal instruments, I might aim for less distinctive pieces. But then, maybe that's why I'm not a crook. Well that, and, generally speaking, I'm not a total asshole. But I digress.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Burlington police, or Michael Tonn directly. He can be reached at 363-4962.

You didn't hear this from me, but a little birdie told me that Ed Kowalczyk, the former lead singer of Live, will play a secret show at 2 p.m. today at Halvorson's on Church Street. Kowalczyk is playing a sold out gig tonight at Higher Ground. And for those of you younger than 25, if you don't know who Live was, picture a grungier, artsier(ish) version of Daughtry. Gawd, I feel old.

Anyhoo, since I'm also feeling a little nostalgic today, here's Live's "I Alone." And yes, I realize given the title of this post, you probably were expecting "Lightning Crashes." But I hate that song. Also, lightning "flashes." Thunder crashes. That's bugged me for years …

Due to blowing my entire column this week recounting the Furthur fracas, your regularly scheduled BiteTorrent has been moved to the friendly confines of this here blog. And a day early, to boot! Buckle up.

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Fourth of July weekend is generally overloaded with live music — and even though there are few things more quintessentially American than Journey cover bands, I'm not just talking about Breakwater before the fireworks. This year is no exception, highlighted by what's quickly becoming a yearly staple: The fourth annual Speaking Volumes July Third Party in the parking lot of the kooky Pine Street shop — which, incidentally, offers a nice vantage point for taking in our annual simulation of bombs bursting in air. This year, the rain-or-shine BBQ (and raffle!) features four up-and-coming, and appropriately eclectic local outfits, including Prana, Brother Through Glass, The Feverbreakers and How to Stay Alive in the Woods. Admission is a $5 suggested donation the Cystic Fibrosis Lifestyle Foundation.

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Meanwhile, just a short jaunt south to Bristol, those who prefer their music a smidgen harder — and a lot louder — should check in with the second annual Screaming for Change Festival at The Hub, which gets under way on Saturday. The two-day hardcore hootenanny features a jaw-dropping array of local and regional hardcore and punk bands. Rather than mention a few, and since I'm not restricted by a word count here — and mostly because I just friggin' love hardcore band names — here's the complete breakdown, in order, from headliners to openers:

Saturday: Bane, Unrestrained, Word for Word, Mantra, Our Fight, Sacred Love, Crucial Times, Problems, Born Under A Bad Sign, As We Were

Sunday: My Revenge!, The Effort, Battle!, Dead Icons, Outlast, Under Anchor, No Love Lost, Coughing Fit, Alive and Well, The Control, Crown of Lions

A two-day pass to all the festivities is $30. Single day passes differ depending on which day you go: Saturday is $20, Sunday is $15.

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Should your tastes veer more toward the experimental, I'd suggest the post-fireworks bash at Radio Bean on Saturday. The mind-bending bill includes B-town micro-label Aether Everywhere's the le duo, B-town micro micro-label/brewery Mars Pyramid's VIKOMT and a really cool ambient psych-rock duo from Allston called 28 Degrees Taurus. For that last band, imagine if My Bloody Valentine took a fistful of uppers and got really into Jefferson Airplane and/or Burt Bacharach, and you're sort of in the ballpark. Should be a fun show.

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Happy trails to local local soul man Joshua Panda, who embarks on a summer-long busking tour following a pre-fireworks send-off show at The Skinny Pancake on Saturday. Panda will hit the left coast for a spell, busking and playing clubs across the country before returning to celebrate a new album with a big homecoming show at the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival in late August. Safe travels, Josh.

**UPDATED FRIDAY, 4:05 PM**

The hippies are coming! The hippies are com … wait a sec. They're not?

According to their website, Grateful Dead redux Furthur have been forced to cancel their upcoming Concerts on the Green performance scheduled for 7/5 at stately — and now 99% hippie free — Shelburne Museum. Here's the announcement:

July 5th Shelburne Vermont Show CANCELLED
To All Of Our Fans Who’ve Purchased Tickets To Our July 5 Show in

Happy Thursday, Solid State.

All week long I had hoped to offer some choice words on Friday's Bear in Heaven show at the Monkey. But betwixt recovering from a weekend of wedding fun (not mine, thank you), banging out this week's issue, cobbling together next week's issue, working on the next edition of our What's Good college guide, keeping tabs on the World Cup and that crazy ass epic Wimbledon match, buying a smart phone (I caved), figuring out how to use said smart phone, surviving an earthquake, getting in some exercise (for me and my half-crazy, half-pitbull Buckley) and catching up on the new season of Top Chef, frankly, I'm pooped. But enough of my problems.

Instead, I offer you the attached video from the Brooklyn band's episode of The Take Away Shows. I would also urge you to pop over to Pitchfork and dig into this remix of BIH's "Ultimate Satisfaction" by The Field that dropped yesterday. It's pretty cool in a hazy, sprawling, druggy kinda way.

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't rehash this week's column love for the debut of Daniel Munzing's (My Dearest Darling) new electro indie outfit Errands, who will open for BIH. Check 'em out here.

And last but not least, have you seen the Monkey's awesome new website yet?

This just in from our old pals Waylon Speed: the promo video for the band's appearance at this year's Gathering of the Vibes.

Hey, Burlington. I have a modest proposal for you. Ready?

Can we just all agree not to have really cool shows on Wednesday nights anymore? Maybe have that be the music scene's collective night of rest or something? (Rock 'n' roll sabbath?) Because frankly, Wednesday shows are a huge pain in my ass, logistically speaking.

Obviously, the paper hits newsstands every Wednesday. So the problem is that I never know whether it's better for me to mention a Wednesday show a full week in advance (and hope you, dear reader, either make note or remember it a week later), ORRRR if it's better to hold the mention until the day of the show  — and hope you both pick up the paper that day and flip directly to my column, which I'm sure you all do anyway, right? Ahem.

What's a music editor to do? (Complain about it on a blog, clearly.)

Anyway, I made a quick mention of the killer psych-rock show at Club Metronome tomorrow night featuring The Asteroid #4, The High Dials and the Queen City's own The Vacant Lots in my column last week. But in case you missed it (or forgot), I thought I'd highlight said show again using the magic of the Internet, where there is no such thing as a street date. So to that end, here's a video of Philly's The Asteroid #4 and their song "Here We Go." Enjoy!

Ignoring the most obvious question — which is of course, "Why?" — here's a vid from the kids at the Ben & Jerry's flagship scoop shop on Church Street. It's a, um, tasty send-up of Lonely Island's "I'm On A Boat."

According to an article in today's Times Argus, Montpelier alt-venue The Lamb Abbey has been shut down by the city's Building Inspector due to numerous code violations. Here's a snippet from TA staff writer Thatcher Moats' piece outlining the infractions:

"A broken sprinkler system, inadequate exits, no emergency lights, combustible drapery, inadequate exit signs, unlevel surfaces near the exit, inadequate handrails, and a door that opened into the building instead of out were among the code violations [Building Inspector Glenn] Moore found last Friday. There also was no valid Certificate of Occupancy for the building, which regulates how many people can be there."

Thatcher goes on to write that LA co-founder Duffy Gardner is unsure how long it will take to bring the space up to code and that "he and others will have to weigh whether to invest the money it would take to make the place code compliant for concerts and other events."

Translation: uh-oh.

We're awaiting direct word from Gardner himself on the topic. Though a brief email response characterizes the closing as "Just a minor setback." Stay tuned.

I have a love-hate relationship with Lawrence Welks & Our Bear to Cross. On one hand, I honestly appreciate the notion that a band so seemingly unconcerned with conforming to convention (social, musical or of any other kind, really) exists. Also, I really dig their name.

On the other hand, I genuinely despised their last album, Cam Cougar, which I found so willfully obnoxious that it lost any artistic significance it may otherwise have had. On still another hand, I sincerely doubt the band cared what I thought about the record, which really only makes me appreciate them more.

What then to make of this new video for their song "Wet," from their forthcoming "palindromic concept album," Binary Execute Now, directed by Nose Bleed Island's Joey Pizza Slice? On one (more) hand, it is about as, um, "revealing" a music video as has ever breached our local shores. On still another … well, I'll just let you decide.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is really, really, ALLCAPSFREAKINGREALLY NOT SAFE FOR WORK — or school, or church, or old folks homes or polite company of any kind. Please, if very skinny, very moustachioed and very naked dudes offend you, click here.

Everyone else, take a deep breath and click past the jump.