From the Denver Post

By Billy Thieme and Jennifer Cohen

The correct use of mere volume is amazing — it can make or break a band’s performance. Case in point: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, who, in their 12-year existence, have used volume as a separate instrument in itself.
Tuesday night’s show at the Gothic was no exception — the place seemed to vibrate at times with the band’s intoxicating sound. The audience in the nearly sold-out house succumbed completely to its magic for over two hours, meandering in and out of a sort of hypnotic daze — sometimes lucid enough to sing along, but mostly just swaying, fist pumping and throbbing en masse.

View a full photo gallery of this concert here.

The trio — Peter Hayes (guitar, vocals), Robert Been (bass, guitar, vocals) and Lean Shapiro (drums, who filled in for long time BRMC drummer Nick Jago, and has formerly acted as touring drummer for the Raveonettes) — filled those hours with signature, barreling rhythms and blues-based psychedelia to produce one of the more satisfying shows Denver has recently hosted.
Their performance showcased a genre of music that follows on tracks laid in rock ‘n roll by ‘60s bands as divergent as Blue Cheer, the Byrds and the Doors, as well as more contemporary groups like Echo & the Bunnymen, Loop and the Jesus & Mary Chain. But BRMC also added an intrinsic style that came straight out of the gig bags of Delta Blues artists such as Blind Willie McTell and the legendary Robert Johnson, though they (respectfully) broke these bluesmen’s musical molds to make their loud, brilliant and fuzzy mixture work.
“Ain’t No Easy Way” was a perfect example, as Been abandoned the bass (something he did repeatedly throughout the show) and joined Hayes’ expert slide work with a second rhythm guitar. Dripping with folky Americana, the tune wavered from there into a total psychedelic swirl, and then rejoined the easy blues again and again, at times recalling Black Keys’ methodology.
Later, in songs such as “Spread Your Love” and “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo” (the new album’s title song), the trio drew on more frantic rhythms, deeply echoed vocals and furious bass and guitar, which riled the audience perfectly. Then, on cue, the band members thrust themselves into one of the frenzied high points of the set with “Whatever Happened to My Rock ‘n Roll.” The hit brought the audience up to an adrenalized comprehension, just before pushing them back into bliss with “Stop.”
There were some endearing flubs as they played some of the forthcoming new album (due to be released March 8 in Europe, March 9 in the U.S.). Evidently the material is still new enough to be challenging, and definitely full of promise. On one tune (missed the title), Been tuned his low bass string up and down to the rhythm, producing an arousing, deep sway that vibrated across the crowd.
After a short break in the second hour of the show, they came back for another hour of encore — almost another complete set — and the crowd happily stayed with them note for note.

View a full photo gallery of this concert here.

 

www.blackrebelmotorcycleclub.com 

The Time Of Darkness is coming :)

New official website is back again and running with the new redesign look...

(...) Welcome to the new official BRMC Website. We’re sorry for the delay in the launch, we had some technical issues with the site last week. Long time friend David McCrindle will no longer be handing the official BRMC website. The new site, designed by The Uprising Creative, will be managed and run by Michele Lydon who has operated Rebels With A Cause [dot] com for the past 9  years. There will be more changes and updates coming to the site soon, but for now we hope you enjoy the new Black Rebel Official site! (...)

still few bits-n-pieces to be done before we can fully enjoy new site...

(...) Just a quick note to let everyone know of a few issues we’ve had in relation to the site transition.

As you probably noticed, all avatars were lost in the move. We apologize for any inconvenience, but it was an unfortunate necessary evil that came along with the new design.  You can easily upload your avatar again through the ‘Members’ section in the same way you did on the old site.
Also, there are still some bugs we’re working hard to fix over the next few days. We’re trying our best to get to everything as quickly as we’re alerted to it, but because of the heavy traffic we’re experiencing, it might not be as fast as we’d like.
We appreciate your continued patience.
Thank you,
BRMC (...)

"Rolling Stone" ( french edition ) has made "Beat The Devil's Tattoo" their album of the month!

Click HERE to read the review (if you speak French of course).

I've found this interview while looking for Hard Rock's Wasted Space gig review...

Laura Davis

Fri, Feb 26, 2010 (1:21 p.m.)

 

Tessa Angus

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club rides back into town Sunday at Wasted Space.

Two years after their show at the Beauty Bar in 2008, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is riding back into town to rock Las Vegas once again, this time at Hard Rock’s Wasted Space. This time around the tour is in honor of the folk rock band’s fifth full-length album, Beat the Devil’s Tattoo, whose title was taken from the Edgar Allen Poe short story The Devil In The Belfry. Bypassing major labels, Beat the Devil’s Tattoo, out March 9, is the first to be released on the band’s own label, Abstract Dragon.
The Weekly caught up with one of BRMC’s founding members, Robert Levon Been, as the band was driving out of their hometown of L.A. going, “70 miles per hour on the freeway ... trying to get to the bus before it leaves town without us.”


How are you feeling about the tour? Anxious? Excited?
It’s pins and needles; nervous, but like a good nervous. We haven’t really played these songs for anyone, so it’ll be interesting getting people’s reactions for the first time. There’s nothing like the first impression.

With a reputation for having a changing sound and style with each album, how would you describe the sound on Beat the Devil’s Tattoo?
Shit, I guess we were kind of a little off balance at first with the falling out with our drummer Nick [Jago] at the end of our last tour, and Leah [Shapiro], our friend, she filled in for him on that tour, and it sounded cool. It kind of gave us a new way of looking at things, recording with her. I guess there was just an ease to it and something that we hadn’t really felt since we started, and it was good to have that back, where you can just turn off your brain and kind of lay back instead of having to go somewhere all the time.

She’s definitely been a positive force to add to the recording process then?
There’s just like a joy to playing music again that we kind of lost, because its 10 years of being a band. You know there’s going to be things built up from years of playing music in a rock band, which is all good as long as it adds to the music. … We kind of had to look at it like a new band, or the first record, when you kind of wipe the slate clean and it lets you put yourself into it in a new way.

What was the song writing process like?
We just played, and it was like one of the things I think as a band that we got good at was writing and just kind of jamming and letting things come as they may. Someone starts on a guitar rift or a drumbeat or a bass line and the rest of the song just follows and it’s not really written out. We just pray and hope by the time we’re done playing that it sounds good. There’s a lot of communication that’s unspoken, that’s really instinctual, and that’s the thing, it sounds funny when you talk about it, but the music can speak louder than you can, so it’s best to keep your mouth shut. ... That’s when the real good song writing comes in, when it’s just instinct without words getting in the way.

I read that in modern times the phrase, “beat the Devil’s tattoo” is used to reference people nervously drumming their fingers on a countertop, is that anxiousness reflected in the album, or the reason behind why you chose it as the namesake?
 It’s just a sign of the times. ... I don’t meet a lot of still people, people that can kind of just sit still in their skin and be. We’re running out of friends because I don’t really like people that don’t know how to sit still, don’t know how to be. But that’s kind of our own thing too, wrestling those demons in my head, telling me to be stronger, be faster, be quicker than the last guy and that just kind of runs its course. There’s this hyper-anxiousness in people’s skin — I blame it on technology. Or blame it on the universe expanding and shrinking time or whatever theory you want to get into, but it’s pretty obnoxious and that’s the state of affairs right now. As far as the Edgar Allen Poe thing, people are running with that, making it more than it is. There are a lot of influences to this record that I don’t really think he deserves that much credit for. There were a lot of things we were writing and things we were [listening to], everything from Elvis Presley to NIN. That it was 10 below zero outside was a pretty big influence on the record. Things that come into play that steer the ship more than one dead writer.

How did the cold weather affect it?
Well, cold makes you not be able to go anywhere. It keeps you stuck. And often your music benefits the most when you’re stuck, when you have nothing else to do. Then you run the risk of cabin fever, which can drive you batty. But you just hope that you can get the record done before that creeps into the room. And takes the room over.

Did any cabin fever end up creeping in?
It did at the very end. It was the best of times, and then it was definitely the worst of times near the end of the session. We all got a little spooky, and you didn’t want to look anybody in the eye too long. So it was wonderful most of it, and then I think we pretty much got out right in time before we started getting the twitches.

Did you return to Philly to record because it was where you recorded Howl?
We did half of Howl there and we didn’t really live there for too long. This time we set up camp there for six months, and they let us take over. It was this friend of ours’ home, and the father still lives there. That was the only thing we were nervous about was keeping him up at night — until we found out that he’s up even later than we are.

So the family was living there with you during the six months of your stay?
Yeah, they were there. It was definitely a strange existence. We thought we’d get kicked out within a week, cause we play fucking loud. We got kicked out of our rehearsal space a couple weeks ago because we played too loud. Other bands couldn’t hear themselves, so that’s how fuckin’ ridiculously loud we play. … I think three or four days in we were playin’ and [the dad] comes walking downstairs, and he’s got a Scotch in hand and we where like, ‘Ah fuck, here it is.’ Then he says, ‘Play that one again, that one from 10 minutes ago.’ … Every week or so he’d invite his friends down from the local bar to hang out, all these people that were like characters out of some strange Twin Peaks things. It was cool, though. And we were like, ‘This is the most bizarre fuckin’ experience ever,’ but I love the guy. He’s like an old crooner that sings Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra all day — and he’s really smooth with the ladies actually. I want him to come up on stage when we play Philly on this tour and do “Fools Rush In.” He’s really good. He’ll totally top us — he’ll make all the girls melt. He’s just that kind of cat.

Switching gears, in a past interview Peter was quoted saying that starting your own labels doesn’t work and businessmen should be businessmen while musicians should be musicians. What changed the band’s mind?
We were broke and tired of people calling themselves businessmen and really just being thieves with ties. I’d rather have a bit more say in where our music goes and how it gets given to people. … I had to learn to release records. The only good thing we got going for us is no one knows what the fuck they’re doing, and anyone that tells you different is just lying through their teeth. Because everything’s just upside down right now in the industry, and we ended up doing a lot of our own shit over the last couple records because our label every time would drop off the map. … I’d rather let myself down than let someone else let me down again. I take more honor in failing, just ‘cause we tried.

How did you choose which songs to include on the new album?
That was the only really hard part about the album, because we recorded a lot of songs. We could have put out two albums, and we actually thought about it for a second, but then we decided instead to put ourselves through agony and try and cut half of the songs we loved. That was really difficult because you get pretty attached to some things. Everyone agreed with the songs that are on the record right now, but everyone disagreed with the ones we cut. It worked out but I mean... it’s a high-class fucking problem to have. I shouldn’t be complaining that we have too many songs.

Do you think you’ll play any of them live during the tour?
We’re kind of a little nervous right now because we’ve been rehearsing and having five records is a lot different than having four or three albums for the amount of songs. … It’s another one of these high-class problems. I know a lot of people are really attached to certain albums, and some nights we only get to play one off the second record or this and that, so for me it’d be really fun playing B-sides and new shit people haven’t heard before. But I can see people also wanting their money’s worth. I’m not too worried because I know we’re just pretty much going to disappoint everyone, so there’s just kind of some freedom in that (laughs), that no one’s really going to go home that satisfied.

Why do you say that?
If you come into it with any sort of expectations, there’s no way to please everyone. I think in the past we could because we just played all the songs we had, but now someone’s going to go home mopey, at least it won’t be me. (Laughs). And I’m happy with that, I ain’t fuckin’ mopey anymore. I grew out of that.

You guys have played many different venues here in Vegas: Double Down, Jillian’s, Beauty Bar, Hard Rock … which has been your favorite?
I really like the Double Down. Well, I like drinking there. I hung out in Vegas for a while. I have a friend of mine there, but it’s a bizarre place. It’s different when you actually go to hang with friends rather than like go on vacation, so it’s cool seeing the other side of it. I kind of know the city now. My only real concern is getting out in time before our crew has a chance to get proper fuckin’ hungover for the next show. That’s really the only thing I’ve got in mind for Vegas, is put the animals back in their cages. They tend to be way more rock star than we are as far as antics. They just really like money and women and booze, so go figure. I don’t know where they come up with these particular things that they enjoy, but God help ‘em.

I've found some great review from that show...


The Men in Black: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ Harlow’s, Sacramento, 2/26/10

by hardrockchick


(...)On what would have been Johnny Cash’s 78th birthday, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club kicked off their tour in Sacramento, sharing new songs from their upcoming album Beat the Devil’s Tattoo for the first time. Last time I saw BRMC was their two night acoustic/electric stint at Great American Music Hall. It was a magical couple of nights, and I’d been anxiously awaiting this new album and tour for a year and a half.
The weather was supposed to be really bad for my drive to Sacramento, but it miraculously cleared up in time for me to make the 1.5 hour trek. I picked up my sidekick for the evening, Floraisadora, who I know through our shared NIN fandom. We arrived at Harlow’s, which was not at all what I would expect for a venue for this band. It’s kind of a swanky bar with a tier of booths in the back. But the stage is small and curved, and there’s a perfect spot on the right side that we gladly claimed.



The crowd slowly grew as we waited for the opener, but in chatting with people around us it seemed like a lot of them don’t really know the band. The place might have held 300 people by the time The Whigs hit the stage.
I didn’t have a chance to listen to The Whigs beforehand, and their opening statement that they are from Athens, GA concerned me. I have historically not liked bands out of the Athens scene- they tend to be a bit too indie rock for my tastes. However, The Whigs’ sound is psychedelic tinged enough to capture my interest for their set. Lead singer, Parker Gispert, wears his guitar very high up on his body. We nicknamed the bassist, Tim Deaux, ‘Hot Jesus’. I thought they were a good warm up for BRMC- but part of my attention was focused on Peter Hayes standing off to the side, tweaking the guitars and the setlist up until the very last minute.



I was excited to find out that this would be Floraisadora’s first BRMC show- it’s great to know when someone truly loves a band, and is seeing them for the first time and I KNOW they aren’t going to disappoint her.
BRMC’s music fills a void for me that no other band is really able to touch. It’s true rock ‘n roll that’s dark, sexy, romantic, and psychedelic. It possesses haunting gospel qualities which always takes me back to my Southern roots. The band has a certain mystique and they do their own thing, which has included releasing albums that have alienated some of their core fanbase (Howl, The Effects of 333). There’s been some skepticism regarding the new album and what direction it would take, and I had avoided listening to it so that I could hear the new tracks live for the first time. I love being able to do that, and I’m so glad I was able to do so with this band.
This is probably going to sound weird (well, maybe not, coming from me), but the number 333 has been appearing all over the place for me. Like when you look at the clock, and it’s 3:33. I know other people have this, too- in my teens my number was 23, then it became 666, and now it seems to have changed. I thought it was symbolic considering the last album title and took it as meaning I was going to have a really good show.
We spied the setlist and couldn’t resist analyzing it. Several scratched out songs confirmed my suspicion that Hayes was altering the setlist until the last minute. We could also see that it was very heavy on the new songs, and, as Floraisadora pointed out, contained ‘Red Eyes and Tears’, which she knew was my most listened to BRMC song thanks to Last.fm.
The stage dimmed and became veiled in fog. As soon as the band positioned themselves on stage, they started with the new track, ‘War Machine’. It was so loud I thought perhaps my earplugs weren’t in properly, but they were. Immediately I was reminded of how great this band is to watch; Robert and Peter are both such emotional performers, and the way that they trade off on every aspect of the music makes for a lot of variety. And I would be remiss not to mention Leah, the new-ish drummer, who is an intense, focused performer. I feel bad dismissing her from this piece’s title…but….you know.



I love watching Hayes play the guitar. He truly treats it like his partner, and as I stated in my review before, he almost dances with it. This time I was able to see how he works all of the pedals and switches, which I find immensely interesting even though I don’t understand it. Floraisadora and I watched the Ground Control panel of switches, which had a screen of text as he would switch things up, indicating what song was coming.



The first three songs were new- and they sounded really good- but I was ready for it when they played ‘White Palms’. Then, I had forgotten how good ‘Shade of Blue’ is. ‘The Line’ is so beautiful- Robert is such a great singer to watch. You can just see the vocals emerging from him, and it reminds me that the voice truly is an instrument.



‘Aya’ was the first new song that I truly fell in love with. Slow and piercing, it is distinctly BRMC.
Then I remembered that I brought my Flip camera. The first song I recorded was the foot stomper, ‘Ain’t No Easy Way’.



Robert talked a little bit to the crowd, thanking people for coming out and saying that it’s been a long time. He also mentioned that this was the first time they were playing the new songs in front of strangers, reminding me exactly why I made the trek out there. It was a special night for us all.
At one point, Hayes lit a cigarette and crouched down to take a few drags before resuming playing. Yes, it’s a classic rock star move, and I love it.
At this point, Floraisadora turned to me and said, ‘we still have 9 more songs!’



Robert asked us what we’d like to hear. My choice was ‘Rifles’, but we got ‘Sympathetic Noose’. During these quieter songs, the chatting crowd was ridiculously loud. Next was ‘The Toll’, which I recorded again (quieter songs are easier on the camera).



And then I was able to capture a new song, ‘River Styx’:



It would be ‘Evol’ that instantly became my favorite new track, more for the lyrics than anything. “I wanna feel love again” pretty much sums up my life right now. It gave me goosebumps.
I knew ‘Red Eyes and Tears’ was coming, and I tensed up in anticipation. This song is so amazing live, particularly the rendition they did this evening. I really wish I had recorded it, but I can never do that with the songs I love. They did something to the ending that just took it to another level.

No more fear, no more fear I’m in love
Losing sensation for you my love I fear
Losing sensation for you my love I fear
No more fear, no more fear I’m in love



The set was almost 2.5 hours, and it still left me wanting more. We patiently waited to ask for setlists at the end, and Floraisadora graciously assisted me in getting a crew member to give me the one we’d been staring at, only to have someone take the other one we were trying to get for her. Then someone else handed us guitar picks. We were standing there looking at Floraisadora’s camera (she took 1000 pics- I’ll post some here soon), when Hayes’ guitar tech came over to me and asked if I’d like to have Peter sign my setlist. I was like…ummm…yessss, please! So he told us to wait there. I’m thinking that this is really funny, because obviously he saw me, mouth agape, the whole set in front of him, otherwise why would he have not said Robert? Mildly embarrassing. Anyway, we waited around but apparently he slipped by us and I was not going to go bug him outside while he was smoking a cigarette.



It was 2am by the time we left Harlow’s. After dropping Floraisadora at home, I sped back to San Francisco, arriving at my apartment at exactly 3:33 am.
I will be catching the record release show at Slim’s on March 9th, which just happens to be kind of a momentous day for me as well.
Visit Florisadora’s blog for amazing pictures of the evening.(...)

 

Band had took a quite unusual step letting everybody to listen the whole new album on there's MySpace website...

-- >> www.myspace.com/blackrebelmotorcycleclub <<--