Eddie Vedder is embarking on a month-long solo tour this summer. The shows will most likely be very similar to the West Coast solo concerts that Vedder played last fall, promoting his work on the excellent Into the Wild soundtrack. [Dates, MP3s and video after the jump] The setlists should be a mixed bag, combining tunes from Into the Wild , various Pearl Jam favorites, and a selection of covers. If you go, you're guaranteed to get something political, something by The Who, and something on [...]

Temperatures over the weekend here in Vermont peaked at 93 degrees, with a nice dose of humidity to boot. Summer has officially returned to Vermont. I'm not a huge fan of excessive, damp heat, but warmer temperatures are always nice after a Vermont winter. Here's a handful of songs to help celebrate: In The Summertime - Mungo Jerry Boys of Summer - Don Henley Summer - Goodtimes Goodtimes [...]
A few tunes from a great show he did last April. Eddie's solo shows are great. He's one of the few real rock stars left in this world-one of the few guys who can belt out a tune, make money with music, fill stadiums, and still stay true to his roots. If [...]

Ah, it's covers. I love covers. I'm not sure why I have such a fascination with one band playing another's music, but it always has (and always will) intrigue me. Sometimes they bring something new to the song or emphasize it in a way you never thought of it. Sometimes it's just really, really shitty. We'll try to avoid those ones. To start things off, I (Kraig) will take you out to Africa for my selections. Mysterious Ways - Angelique Kidjo (originally by U2) Both of the tracks [...]
This week's cover is one that I've really been looking for for months. Last year, the movie Into the Wild was released to theaters, and is now out on DVD. I have yet to see it, but I did pick up the soundtrack, which doubles as a solo album for Eddie Vedder, and it's quite a good one at that. The big song was Hard Sun , which I later learned was a cover by a guy named Gordon Peterson, also known as Indio. Vedder's version is very similar to the original [...]

With summer Festivals and concerts quickly approaching, now would be a good time to stand up for yourself and stop taking it in the rear from this evil company. Stop PAYING 5$ to print your tickets out using your own ink and paper. I don't really have any answers (maybe Eddie Vedder does) but I do know one thing you can do to save some money, and stickit to the man! If you plan on attending the My Morning Jacket show this August, do yourself a favor and head down to Slugger Field and [...]
Movies: Into the Wild; Wow, this was one hell of a movie. It's not often that a book translates this beautifully to the big screen, but the makers of Into the Wild did one hell of a job with this one. Obviously it's a long movie, but I wasn't bored for a second as the time was spent truly grasping the life of Christopher McCandless. It's wonderfully told, beautifully filmed, and perfectly acted,
So, I finally got around to watching Into the Wild and I have to say it is one of the most fascinating and involving films I've ever seen. I had wanted to watch it when it first came out in theaters but with a full class schedule at Berea as a science major, that says otherwise. So, I put it into my Netflix queue on a whim and not a few days later a friend of mine mentioned I would love it. I was pretty confident I was going to enjoy the movie. I knew only vague [...]
The Burn To Shine DVD series artfully combines two of my favorite things: cool old buildings slated for destruction, and terrific bands, performing their songs within the doomed walls. The cameras roll for the band alone, and by the time we see the footage, the building no longer exists. This series is a project of Fugazi dummer Brendan Canty and filmmaker Christoph Green (the pair also directed the Wilco Sunken Treasure DVD ). Musicians representing the regional scene are [...]

Remember the movie Almost Famous when Billy Crudup's character dropped acid at a high school party and ended up on the roof shouting "I am a Golden God" before jumping into the pool? Well at SXSW 2008, we witnessed the same scene only it was on top of the Flamingo Cantina during a Dr. Dog performance. And instead of Billy Crudup, it was some guy in bright red pants. It was a sunny afternoon and I was sipping my ice cold beer. I soon became fearful that something might be amiss when I saw the a [...]

One of the things I am most looking forward to about seeing Ed Vedder solo next Monday in Berkeley is the variety of rare and semi-rare tunes I'm hoping he'll play. I've seen Pearl Jam so many times that they'd have to dig quite deep to throw something I'd never seen, but within the framework of a solo setting there are many songs that I'd love to see live for the first time. Judging from the setlists at the two secret shows Vedder played to fewer than 150 people this Monday and Tuesday night [...]

further the program last night , mckibben mentioned the need for art that rather than focus on the collisions between people, as predominates bookshelves and screens across contemporary america, takes instead as subject the collision between people and nature. one recent (and fine) example that comes immediately to mind is sean penn's adaptation of jon krakauer 's book of christopher mccandless 's life, into the wild . though the film does not explicitly take up the mantle of global climate change, it's an unmistakable subtext of the camera's patient, loving embrace of [...]

Being single for the first time since............really about grade 3. Being sick for the past 8 months, the act of sex has fallen from just below eating and breathing to somewhere around cutting my toe nails. Sad yes, but it has been a nice break and brought alot of new things and old things into my life. A few being my love for story's, traveling, and film.... And "Into the wild" has been one of the best films I have seen in way to long. If you ever were male. If you ever hated [...]

Petit tour d'horizon des disques dont je n'ai pas fait la chronique en ce début d'année et qui demandaient tout de même un peu d'attention (les pauvres...), à commencer par Syd Matters et son troisième album Ghost Days , tellement beau et simple que je n'ai pas trouvé quoi que ce soit d'intéressant à en dire. Suivent Cat Power et son Jukebox assez décevant malgré quelques merveilles, les anglais de British Sea Power et leurs singles assez efficaces, The Mountain Goats avec Annie Clark en guest sur ce titre, [...]
a.g. favorite eddie vedder provides original music for the documentary body of war , about a 25 yr old disabled iraq war veteran paralyzed from a bullet to the spine protesting the conflict and set for release on 9 april. looks like there will be two new tracks from eddie in the film, including this song, "no more," which will also appear on the film's soundtrack , along with music by ben harper, rage against the machine, the boss, neil young, tori amos, bright eyes, spearhead, public enemy, tom waits, talib kweli & cornell [...]

Every year during January and February, I end up playing catch up on most of the best-of movies from the year before, and 2007/2008 has been no different. Recently I caught Into the Wild , a film I had meant to see when it was first released but never quite made it. Rather than going into specifics of the film, I'll just say that I thought it was one of my favorites from last year and that it is worth seeing. There are some great themes throughout and the ending is striking. I will [...]
Tom Morello at SXSW 2007 - more photos... photo by clint gilders - staff photographer In case you missed it, over the past couple days SXSW has listed a few more artists for this years music festival. Van Morrison will be playing a SXSW gig at La Zona Rosa in addition to his non-SXSW gig at the Austin Music Hall. Legendary punk band X will also be performing over at Emo's. For all those doubting Thomas's and those that overlooked the fine print, there [...]

Toronto - Alaska. The final frontier. For hobos. If you've ever wanted to leave the world behind, leave all the social pressures, all the materialism and trappings of the world and live out on your own and be free and happy.. Do not. I Repeat. Do Not. Go to Alaska and be all on your own. You will die. This is the conclusion I have made after watching Sean Penn's Into The Wild . I also saw Grizzly Man last year and that person also went to Alaskan and he was eaten by a frickin bear. What [...]