We’re happy to announce a few headline shows in the US.

Sep 17th in Tucson (Plush),
Oct 3rd in Nashville (Exit/In)
Oct 4th in Atlanta (Masquerade).

We’ll add the rest of the STP dates we’re on soon, but now off to the airport.

From stuff.co.nz

By Vicki Anderson – The Press
Review of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at AL’s Bar, Sunday, July 25.

My head hurts and I can hardly walk today but let me share my experiences from last night.
Wandering down Colombo St a Brazilian guy in a beanie asks where the action is in Christchurch on a Sunday night.

The epicentre of all action for me was the sold-out show AL’s Bar on Dundas St where American cool-as-f… trio Black Rebel Motorcycle Club would take the smoke-filled stage in the final of three New Zealand shows, their first here since 2003.

The Christchurch gig was the smallest they’ve done in some time and the opportunity to see one of my favourite bands in such a space was not lost on me.

Outside it is painfully obvious that ticketing is a bit of an issue, with several people on the door scrolling through a list of names on a Ticketmaster list before allowing entry.

Inside on a small stage near the door, support act Christchurch punks The Transistors are blasting out tunes from their debut self-titled album. The Kiwis have one small amp.

Down the other end of the room the stage set-up is monstrous, with the $400,000-odd PA system from the Christchurch Town Hall installed in the bar in honour of the Americans’ visit.

Trying to get close to the stage in the human crush is always a fine art.
I got lucky and had a smooth glide to the front in the wake of a 6ft something prop and end up in the second from front row.

The crush of bodies was so intense that the band had trouble getting to the stage. We had to be pushed back to allow enough walk-on room for Peter Hayes, Robert Levon Been and newish drummer, Swedish Leah Shapiro (The Raveonettes).

That was the only glimpse I got of Shapiro for the whole night, aside from the occasional view of a drumstick feverishly in motion at opportune pogo moments.

From the moment B.R.M.C. slickly launched into War Machine, a wall of gritty, dirtily fuzzy guitars, off their latest album Beat the Devil’s Tattoo, the crowd went for it, glancing around me I saw nothing but thrashing limbs, ecstatic faces and a cluster of Peter Hayes wannabes in leather jackets writhing as much as they could in the two inches of space available to them.

Angular Robert Been busted out the classic rock God moves, taking on vocal duties for most of the night, saying only “Pete’s been told by the doctor not to sing but he said f… it”.

It should be mentioned here that Pete Hayes has laryngitis. Pretty impressive that he was there at all, right? Sound engineer for the night was Mike Been, Robert’s dad. Mike is a former member of Californian group The Call and the sound was superb – clean and clear and and brain-thuddingly loud in all the right places. The trio were apparently meticulous during soundcheck and this shone through.

Justifying their numerous Jesus and Mary Chain comparisons with their ardent dark vibe, BRMC played for around two hours last night – a swag of songs from their sixth studio album Beat The Devil’s Tattoo, and from their extensive back catalogue including 2001 debut B.R.M.C. and other classics from Howl, Take Them On, On Your Own and Baby 81.

BRMC swapping easily from sexy psychedelic stomping rock `n’ roll, to organic blues, to trippy Spiritualised-like moments.

Highlights for me included the swaggeringly delivered title song Beat the Devil’s Tattoo – the title taken from an Edgar Allen Poe poem (gorgeous AND literary, be still my drumming heart), old fave Spread Your Love, Stop, the distorted glory of Shadow’s Keeper and the frenzied Whatever Happened To My Rock `n’ Roll, during which someone crashed down on my foot and, I realised later, severed the entire nail from my little pinkie toe.

Generally people up front were well behaved, the only minor altercation I had involved a chick digging her nails into my arm, trying to prise me out of her way so she could get a bit closer.

Shooting me a grin, the guy with emo-hair next to me and I stood our ground despite every trick in the book. She ground her beer bottle into my back, tried to hook my foot with hers and force me to fall over etc. Where did she think she was going to go?

Into the 1mm space in front of me? As it was the guy in front of me kept complaining that my boobs were squished into his neck. Eventually she gave up but hissed “bitch” in my ear, leaving several nasty scratches. The scars were worth it.

A friend positioned near the rear of the room later told me that the sound was superb from their vantage point but that they didn’t see the band once in two hours.

Those wishing to pogo appeared unsettled by the serenely detached acoustic junctures offered by Shuffle Your Feet and Open Invitation, with Hayes on harmonica, but to me they just added depth, glorious in their subtlety.

Bassist Been’s Shuffle Your Feet effortlessly ranged the gamut of Native American-type chanting, rock beats, elements of metal-style guitar and country and blues-type harmonica.

One leather-jacketed wannabe in the crowd took the opportunity to climb his mate’s shoulders and wave back to the crowd, searching for a mate who had been dispatched to get beer but had been tardy making his way back. Humorous.

Because of the stage set-up at AL’s Bar, it’s difficult for bands to do the customary walk off, wait for the encore cries and come back out spiel, so B.R.M.C. didn’t attempt it, instead playing four more songs than they had intended to play before leaving the stage and heading out the back to the housebus at the rear of the venue.

This didn’t stop the cries of “encore”, “encore” from the well-oiled crowd. One guy leaning against the wrought iron fence and yelling “encore you assholes”.

As it happens Peter Hayes and Leah Shapiro were keen to come back out and were having a conversation about what songs to do next.

Then they opened the door to their temporary abode and took one look at Robert Been and realised they wouldn’t be doing anything.

He’d been fine earlier in the day but had come down with a virus that was just rearing its head. Let’s just say his pale face made Casper the Friendly Ghost look like he had a tan.
You’d never have guessed they were under the weather from their powerful performance last night which they felt was their best New Zealand gig.

I hope it’s not another seven years before B.R.M.C. rev up Kiwi crowds. My ears are ringing today to the pleasingly unending refrain “I bled the needle through, you beat the devil’s tattoo…” Wild.

We are pleased to announce we will be joining Stone Temple Pilots for a series of shows this fall.

In addition to a performance at De Luna Festival, we will be opening for STP on the following dates:

September 16 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
September 19 – Houston, TX – Woodlands Pavillion
September 21 – El Paso, TX – County Coliseum
September 22 – Lubboc, TX – Lone Star Ampitheatre
October 2 – Clemson, SC – Littlejohn Arena
October 5 – Raleigh, NC – Raleigh Ampitheatre
October 12 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock
October 16 – Pensacola, FL – De Luna Festival

We will be announcing more information – including some headlining shows! – soon.

BRMC will be DJing along with Lady Hawk and Dan Mancini @ Bar ‘Tabac’ in Auckland this Thursday July 22nd!
There will be an additional live set from ‘The Hairdos.’

Dr. Martens
To celebrate our 50th Anniversary, we asked 10 artists to record their version of a cult classic track which represents the spirit of the people who've worn DM's over the past 50 years. We also asked 10 directors to make videos for each of the tracks.

Listen and watch here.

Awaiting december gig in Ambassador Theatre in Dublin....i was just thinking to share my great memories from first BRMC concert that i've seen...

I've arrived late at foggy and rainy Dublin...full of excitment to see the guys for the first time...
Came to the theatre good few minutes before the gig...venue looked great, old theatry style....great for that music

Went inside, dark and full of people already...grab the pint of...god beer and awaited...

They CAME OUT !!! and there it started...i will end here and let You hear and see what happen...

Peter went down the stage and hand over case of buzz...

 



 

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 5:43a.m.

In the history of music many bands have been broken apart by the arrival of a woman on the scene. Californian band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club needed the help of one to bring the passion back to their music. 

Swedish drummer Leah Shapiro replaced Nick Jago, who had spent more time in rehab than on the stage, and revived the band's focus and professionalism. With her behind the drums, Peter Hayes (guitar) and Robert Levon Been (bass) recorded their sixth album, Beat the Devil's Tattoo, and returned to the raw and dark rock n roll sound of earlier albums. 

"I think we wanted to strip everything down and start over because having Leah in the band was like a fresh start, so I don't know if it was going backward so much, than rather taking one step forward and the first step we had to remember why we were making music," Been tells NZPA. 

The band had to ask themselves if what they were doing still felt desirable, honest and passionate and what they had lost over the last couple of years. And then they fell in love with the band again, Been says.
"I think the road to it was just straight ahead rock 'n' roll songs, or rootsy blues songs. Sometimes the album feels like a blues album to me, where it is kind of basic and that is pretty true to our first love, to rock music and that is where our heart is," he says. 

On previous albums the band branched out into different styles "but it didn't feel like the right time to get clever and experiment, maybe next time", the band's singer says.

The leather-jacket-clad trio, founded by high school friends Been and Hayes in 1998, shot to fame during the garage rock revival at the beginning of the last decade. They soon recruited British drummer Jago, were signed by Virgin Records and released their much acclaimed debut B.R.M.C. 

The band was hailed as the new The Jesus and Mary Chain but eventually the hype around the new breed of garage rock bands died down and Virgin dropped the band. 

"I know a lot more people don't like us now but a lot more people love us. It's a lot more passion on both ends and I think before there were a lot of the hipsters who weren't quite sure what to make of us," Been says. 

After parting with Virgin the band signed with RCA and released their third album Howl, recorded without drummer Jago, who went through various rehab attempts and finally re-joined the band the following year.
"Labels never tried too much to tell us what to do. I think we scared them in the beginning..."

"The only thing that broke our heart was near the end of Take Them On, On Your Own, our second record, when we were on Virgin and they abandoned us, after the record came out they turned their backs on us, when we needed them most to push through and believe in us.


"And that happened again with RCA after Baby 81. When we needed them the most they ran away and that's the only thing about majors (record labels) we're kind of sick of. 

"They're not really in it for the long haul, but making the short term money and that's what it comes down to.
"It's natural, it's a business but we got a little tired of that so we're trying something different .... get around the world and have something to show for it," he says. 

So the band decided to release their latest two albums themselves, taking some of promotional aspects into their own hands. 

"I don't do that much besides I climb up on billboards and spray paint our album title. I like doing that, it's fun and I only got arrested a couple of times, but it was worth it still," he says.
The title for the band's latest album Beat the Devil's Tattoo is taken from US poet Edgar Allen Poe's 1939 short story The Devil in the Belfry. 

"I never liked Poe that much," Been says. "Leah gave me a book of his and I really got this Poe poem, 'Annabel Lee', which we made into a song and the album title is from a short story."
Been was intrigued by the line.

"It had the right feeling to the album, which is more or less the devil's crossroads, beating the devil's tattoo would be the restless spirit there is, the devil or the demons that won't never let you sit still and is inside of your skin. 

"I don't know why but it resonated for this album and I kind of wanted to give him credit for leading me down that path because it seems like the right one," he says. 

Even after spending more time reading Poe, the musician says, he was still not sure what to think about the poet. 

"He seems like the kind of guy who would have had a band if he could sing and he was around today. He writes really lyrically and so I think maybe he was a frustrated rock star.

"He probably didn't have a voice. I think if he had a voice it would have been a whole different thing.
"But we probably should be thankful he didn't, so we got a lot of good poetry out of him. If not it would have been a bunch of goth songs and they probably wouldn't have lasted the test of time in the same way," he says.

Tour dates: July 23 Auckland, July 24 Wellington, July 25 Christchurch.

NZPA

We are pleased to announce we have added a show at the Liquid Room in Tokyo on August 9th to our schedule.
Tickets go on sale Saturday, July 10th. More details to follow.

BRMC Facebook

We just finished mixing our iTunes Studio session. More info on the release coming soon.