popwreckoning

There are few presents that can compare with this one in the upcoming holiday season; Ultimate Fakebook has announced a mini winter tour.

by Jenn Long

The Manhattan, Kansas band reunited this past year to release Daydream Radio Is Smiling Static (which you can still download for free from their website here) and even with the album’s release, live shows are sporadic and rare treats. The band just announced a 4-show tour in the MidWest that starts in Arkansas before returning the group to their hometown for a special New Year’s Eve show.

Advance tickets are on sale now and full information on the dates is below.

Tour Dates:

Saturday, December 18
Juanita’s 1300 Main St., Little Rock, AR
Doors: 8 pm Show: 9pm
Ashtray Babyhead/Ultimate Fakebook/The Dead Girls/The Dirty Streets
juanitas.com

Sunday, December 19
Firebird
2706 Olive St., St. Louis, MO
Doors: 7pm Show: 7:30pm
Ultimate Fakebook/The Dead Girls/The Orbz/Highway Companion
firebirdstl.com

Thursday, Dec. 23
RecordBar
1020 Westport Rd., Kansas City, MO
Doors: 9pm Show: 10pm
Ultimate Fakebook/Creature Comforts/Ashtray Babyhead
therecordbar.com

Friday, Dec. 31
Little Apple New Year’s Eve
Aggieville, Manhattan, KS
10,000 people in the streets approx 9:30pm
Ultimate Fakebook/TBA

Good things come to those who wait. So for those who have been waiting the very long, seven-year wait for a new release from Manhattan, Kansas’ Ultimate Fakebook, expect very good things. Heck, even if you’ve never heard of the band before this post, you can expect very good things.

After a seven-year hiatus, the power pop group is issuing a new full-length, Daydream Radio Is Smiling Static.  The album is a collection of lost recordings from 2000-2003: 16 originals and a Guided By Voices cover. You can stream it in its entirety below or at ufbrocks.com. Then, if you like what you hear (which we’re betting you will), you can download the album for free just by exchanging your email address for the album.

“Half of these songs were written and recorded to be a follow up to Laughing Week and the
other half were written after 2003’s Open Up and Say Awesome, which was our last album
as a band,” says vocalist Bill McShane of Daydream Radio. “This is 100% a gift to our fans, and we hope that we can gain some new fans as well. Sometimes it just takes awhile for the stars to align.”

July also commemorates the 10th anniversary of the band’s This Will Be Laughing Week, a record that gained the outfit some mainstream success with its Sony/Epic Records release thanks to its catchy hooks, which helped earn the band a loyal fan base.

If you haven’t heard: Blink-182 is back in business. The guys (Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker) reunited for the Grammys, but the official statement is that they are reuniting for a lot more:

Hi. We’re blink-182. This past week there’ve been a lot of questions about the current status of the band, and we wanted you to hear it straight from us. To put it simply, We’re back. We mean, really back. Picking up where we left off and then some. In the studio writing and recording a new album. Preparing to tour the world yet again. Friendships reformed. 17 years deep in our legacy.

Summer 2009.

Thanks and get ready…

Not really sure what this means for the future of Angels and Airwaves, but hey! More Blink!

So far 2009 is a big year for the reunions. Josh has already been to Ultimate Fakebook and Get Up Kids reunions shows and No Doubt shows are upcoming. Blink-182 just announced a reunion, and Absolute Punk is also suggesting Matchbook Romance will reunite. Want to place bets on any more reunions?

Blink-182: website | myspace

Liberty Hall is a breathtaking music venue, and sometimes a movie theater, with a blue ceiling with swirling, glittery stars. As much as I love the venue, I was a little surprised that Motion City Soundtrack was playing this particular place and I was even more surprised that there wasn’t a barricade for what I anticipated would be a rather pushy set.

To Reinvent started the show and these indie rockers seemed to enchant the audience with their female pianist Kari Gray, but they may have been too laid back to open for a group like MCS as their music came off as a little dull in the grand scheme of the show.

Next was the local group The Dead Girls (formerly Dead Girls Ruin Everything), a group sprung from the ashes of Ultimate Fakebook and Podstar, but this new project seemed to lack in the luster of the original Lawrence and KC staples it grew from. Although, they guys in this group did look more confident moving around the stage than the younger To Reinvent that preceded them.

Dear and the Headlights followed. I caught these guys opening for Jimmy Eat World in the spring and it was a blast to see them in a more intimate setting. Ian Metzger‘s vocals got mixed reactions. But, of all the openers these guys instrumentally shined and it was a thrill to watch different band members come up and hit cymbals throughout the set.

There is no doubt that Motion City Soundtrack deserved to be headlining this show. They delivered a killer set with a great mix of songs from all their albums. And even though they had a great set prepared for the show, they threw in “Hold Me Down” after the audience persistently requested it.

The special award for the night has to go out to their crew who kept really busy throughout the night grabbing the crowd surfers as they landed on stage. I’m sure they’ll rethink the no barricade thing next time. Although, Justin Pierre didn’t seem to mind sharing the stage with the surfers and even took the time to talk to a few.

“What’s your name?” Pierre asked one girl, who replied, “Katie.” When he asked her how to spell it, she yelled “K-State!” Which left Pierre looking a little confused, since I’m not sure he knew he was in the rival school of KU’s town, but he nicely recovered saying, “That’s not how you spell that. What are they teaching in these Kansas schools?” Everybody was in a playful mood and loving the show. Jesse Johnson threw a bottle cap at Pierre at one point during the set.

The music was fun, as usual, the band banter was hilarious, and this can be chalked up as yet another phenemonal performance from this band.

Set List:
Better
My Favorite Accident
When You’re Around
Make Out Kids
Capital H
Last Night
I Fell In Love W/O You
Attractive
Broken Heart
Time Turned Fragile
This Is For Real
L.G. FUAD
It Had To Be You
Hold Me Down
Perfect Teeth
Everything Is Alright
//
Point of Extinction
The Future Freaks Me Out

To Reinvent: myspace
The Dead Girls: website | myspace
Dear and the Headlights: website | myspace | interview
Motion City Soundtrack: website | myspace

Written by: Bethany
Photos by: Joshua