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A few things you should know about Jucifer, the main attraction at Hell’s Kitchen last Saturday night:
- The band is a husband and wife duo, consisting of vocalist and guitarist Amber Valentine, and drummer Ed Livengood. Their web site calls dubs them “veterans of volume,” and I’d put money down that they’re the loudest couple in rock, hands down.
- The band formed in 1993 and hails from Athens, Georgia. But these sludge-metal nomads have long since pulled anchor and spend most of the year touring in their RV.
- Their moniker comes from a quote from something Ron Goldman said during the O.J. Simpson trial: “If he’s guilty, then he’s the devil and The Juice is Lucifer.” (Even though I’ve interviewed Valentine – audio here -, I just learned that one from the ol’ Wikipedia.)
- On CD, Valentine’s voice provides a dreamy counter-balance to the overwhelming lahar of power chords that oozes through “Centralia” and “Lambs, pt. 1 to 4″ (a few of my favorite cuts.) But in the live setting the Jucifer sound grows more abstract and visceral, and it’s more about screaming and blasting the crowd with that intimidating fortress of amps stacked up behind them. Seriously, earplugs were not optional last weekend.
Look and listen for yourself. I love these guys, but I warn you that the ambient intro clip is probably for die hard fans only. But I picked up most of the set, and you can always hit the “more” button and skip around to whatever melts your butter. Ciao!
We’re switching to a new blogging system here at The News Tribune and hope you’ll like the changes. We also hope you’ll try it out and give us your feedback.
A few of the changes you’ll notice:
• We’ve separated content and advertising by implementing the right ad column you’ll see on the rest of our site and a left content “widget” column.
• In that left column, we’ve added a tag cloud that shows the most blogged current topics. The tag cloud also allows us to streamline our category lists which got out-of control after awhile (sorry about …
Tacoma Rock City hasn’t officially relaunched with our new WordPress software, as mentioned in the boss’s column this morning. But I have started to add new content. Check out Grit City Bootlegs No. 25, with video from a promising, new local band called The Legend of Bigfoot at Bob’s Java Jive at the new link, which is blog.thenewstribune.com/tacomarockcity. Don’t forget to bookmark, y’all.
Jucifer’s Amber Valentine said it was kosher to share some footage from her band’s monster set last night at Hell’s Kitchen. So make
…No, this post isn’t about a mysterious, furry dude who occasionally shows up in people’s Super 8 footage. It’s about a new psych-rock band that’s emerged on the Tacoma scene. I’ve got some footage from the Legend of Bigfoot’s recent set at Bob’s Java Jive (a spot where I’ve been meaning to shoot some boots for a while.)
Appropriately enough, I didn’t bring a tripod, so some of the camera work is about as shaky as those old Sasquatch clips from the ’60s. But, hey, it’s a bootleg, right? And I got the whole set if you’re curious about this promising, new outfit. (If you’re short on time, I’d hit the “more” button and skip down to the third clip, a song called “Lonesome Being,” which was my favorite.) Check it out, then learn more on their MySpace page.
There’s yet one more reason for teenage girls to freak out when the “Twilight” sequel hits theaters in November. Death Cab for Cutie wrote the lead single for the soundtrack for “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” The forthcoming new cut is called “Meet Me at the Equinox,” and bassist Nick Harmer, a native of Puyallup, issued a statement originally posted at StephanieMeyer.com, reprinted here.
…“We are very excited to be a part of this amazing series of novels set in our own backyard. It just seemed a perfect synergy that a band
Sounds like Pearl Jam’s set at San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival was amazing based on Rolling Stone’s report. I’m kind of worried about the line about Eddie Vedder’s vocal chords being “shredded” by recent touring, though. Here’s hoping he’s well rested by time the band gets to KeyArena on Sept. 21.
“‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is a song that we’ve had at the top of our wish list ever since I came to Guitar Hero," Activision’s Vice President of Music Affairs Tim Riley tells Rolling Stone. "So it’s been a while." Read more about yesterday’s announcement on Rolling Stone’s Rock Daily blog.
As promised on the Tacoma Rock City Twitter page (follow here if you’re not already, slackers), I’ve got footage of Tacoma punk vets I Defy performing last Friday at Hell’s Kitchen.
You may notice the guy playing guitar is not Carl Zook, who has gone on to form a new band, called Zook (featured on Grit City Bootleg No. 9 and on the South Sound Mix Tape.) It’s another one of their rotating roster of bald guitarists, Shug Lewis, who has been playing with I Defy since March.
But enough
…R&B/pop star Ne-Yo has called off his Sept. 18 date at the Puyallup Fair grandstand due to “unforeseen circumstances,” fair organizers announced on their site Tuesday.
Fans can be reimbursed for ticket costs and still receive free gate admission to Puyallup Fair. Learn more here.
A replacement show will likely be announced soon, said Fair spokeswoman Karen LaFlamme.