Just wanted to remind you Madison folks to head downtown to catch The Black Keys and Dr. Dog at the Majestic Theater.  I’ll be honest we’re big on the older Black Keys stuff, but hoping the new stuff translates better in a live setting.  Always dug the Dr. Dog sound hoping they’re as good live.

Myspace: The Black Keys
Myspace: Dr. Dog

A friend of mine directed me to this wonderful post over at sissorkick about a Madison band that has completely blown me away.  Cougar is a band you may not be familiar with but after heading to their myspace site today I sure became a fast fan.  I’m not sure I can say things better than how Sissorkick does, so I’m just going to direct you to their post where they have an MP3 for you to check out as well.

There’s a good chance the roof may be leaking at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee after My Morning Jacket attempted to tear the roof off the joint this Tuesday. After seeing them open for Pearl Jam in Toronto and Chicago as well as their brief set in Chicago for Lollapalooza I was looking forward to seeing the band in a more intimate venue.

I found it disappointing that this was actually my first show at the Riverside Theater after living in Milwaukee for over seven years. One thing that was evident right away was the incredible lighting that MMJ had for this show. In some instances it reminded me a lot of the lighting used when I saw Radiohead in Chicago.

The ability for My Morning Jacket to have the entire headlining time allowed me to finally see the band where they rightfully belong. All of the previous times I’d seen this band they had been limited to either 45 minute or 1 hour sets. With a full two hours to work with the band is free to extend any jam in any direction as they see during their performance and they definitely took advantage of that in Milwaukee. In fact, one of my reservations about my favorite track, “Off The Record” on last year’s fantastic (and MoB favorite) album, Z is that the song ends with this two minute jam that just seems out of place. In a live setting they managed to make me understand that part and really enjoy it now as I’ve listened to the album since.

I really don’t think it’s possible to go wrong with a My Morning Jacket performance. As long as Jim James is behind the microphone I’m going to be pretty willing to listen to anything that’s going on. With such a strong back catalogue, my only complaint would be that they don’t dip into that reserve of greatness often enough, and instead choose to focus only on their most recent tunes leaving behind a lot of my favorites off earlier records.

Rally sons of Notre Dame:
Sing her glory and sound her fame,
Raise her Gold and Blue
And cheer with voices true:
Rah, rah, for Notre Dame
We will fight in ev-ry game,
Strong of heart and true to her name
We will ne’er forget her
And will cheer her ever
Loyal to Notre Dame

Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame,
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send a volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky.
What though the odds be great or small
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to victory.

I’m in LA for the weekend. I was supposed to be checking out the Mates of State and Asobi Seksu show tonight at the El Ray Theater but my flight got in late and I missed out. Tomorrow I’m heading to the LA Coliseum for the Notre Dame vs. USC match up, and praying that Notre Dame can pull off the upset. I’d love to see the type of game that last year’s pairing entailed, except with a different result of course.

Tomorrow evening I’ll be meeting up with Justin from Aquarium Drunkard at the Orpheum to see Cat Power. Needless to say, tomorrow should be a pretty great day.

While I was in Milwaukee checking out My Morning Jacket (review coming soon), MoB contributor Travis headed over to catch the great bill of The Lovely Feathers and The Slip at Cafe Montmartre. Here’s his report:

The Lovely Feathers 2006 debut, Hind Hind Legs, on Equator Records] is pop similar to The Hold Steady, a little more dance than Tapes ‘n Tapes, slightly less rock than The M’s, Oxford Collapse, and The Stills. They opened the show on Tuesday night at Cafe Montmartre not really the ideal venue for the group. The crowd sat at their tables along the wall, sipping wine. No matter how hard the band tried, it couldn’t get people on their feet [well, most people]. Their newest track, hopefully on the My Best Friend Daniel EP [out in the U.S. Dec. 12], was their most substantial song. It felt more developed, sophisticated, mature. I hope the band continues to move in that direction.

Between sets, the crowd changed entirely. The room filled with old fans who huddled at the front of the stage and knew every word. I was relatively unfamiliar with The Slip before the show. A friend mentioned they were “hippie jam.” I don’t think the rumor fits, at least not their new work. While they were much more relaxed than The Lovely Feathers, and a few songs certainly lasted long enough to be “jams,” they didn’t have a granola feel. It was jazzy rock, no electronics. Ironically, the crowd was so into their show, they could have upped the energy, but chose to stay low-key. The Slip is touring in front of the new release, Eisenhower, on Bar/None Records.