Train Plots Extensive North American Tour To Promote ‘California 37’

Carrying on the tradition of great rock bands from San Francisco, Train released its sixth studio album, California 37, in mid-April.  To promote the opus, Train—Patrick Monahan, Jimmy Stafford, and Scott Underwood—has announced plans for a lengthy summer tour.  In fact, their itinerary has more than 40 dates (not 37) and only two are in California: Train in Berkeley on Sept. 28 and Train in Los Angeles on Sept. 29.

The Train’s 2012 North American trek begins July 10 in Montreal.  It ends Sept. 30 when they play the Comerica Theater in Phoenix, Arizona.  Key stops on the band’s schedule include July 11 when Train plays Toronto, Aug. 18 when Train performs at the Mann Center in Philadelphia, and Aug. 27 when Train rocks New York City with a set at the Rumsey Playfield-Summerstage in Central Park.

Train will also be at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois on Aug. 11 & 12.

To celebrate Train’s upcoming tour, Clickitticket has compiled a list of the top ten greatest bands named after modes of transportation.  We made sure to stick to things that are actually used to take people, and in one case members of the animal kingdom, from point A to point B.  For example, Drive-by Truckers was excluded because a “trucker” is an occupation, not a form of transport.  Nor did we include bands with names like The Rolling Stones or Blur as their appellations refer to motion/movement.  And after much discussion, we decided to exclude Van Halen and Van Morrison.  Keep reading to find out where Train arrives on our list.

10 Greatest Bands Named After Modes of Transportation

10. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is the first of four bands on our list that has ties to San Francisco.  They take their named from the motorcycle gang found in the 1953 Marlon Brando film, The Wild One.   BRMC’s first album dropped in 2001.  It was called B.R.M.C.

-The first motorcycle was created by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in 1885.  Today, nearly two-thirds of the world’s 200 million motorcycles are in Asia. 

9. The Tubes
The Tubes’ biggest hit is 1983’s “She’s a Beauty.”   The video to that song aired frequently on MTV.  While formed in Phoenix, the band is now based in San Francisco.  The two core members of The Tubes are lead singer Fee Waybill and drummer Prairie Prince. 

-“The Tube” is the nickname of the London Underground, basically the Brits subway system.  There’s also a “tube” in San Francisco.  The Transbay Tube shuttles passengers under the bay from Embarcadero Station in The City to West Oakland Station in Oakland.

8. Death Cab For Cutie
“Death Cab For Cutie” comes from the title of a song performed by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band in the 1967 Beatles’ film Magical Mystery Tour.  Benjamin Gibbard never expected the name to stick but it did.  Between 1998 and 2011, Death Cab for Cutie released seven albums beginning with the appropriately named, at least for this article, Something About Airplanes.

-While there are slight differences depending on where you are in the world, there are basically four types of taxicabs or cabs: public hire, private hire, taxibuses, and limousines.  We all agreed that “taxibuses” would make a good band name.

7. The Fabulous Thunderbirds
The Fabulous Thunderbirds are one of those bands that are well-respected and liked by their fellow musicians but have a tough time selling albums.  There is of course one exception, their 1986 release, Tuff Enuff.  The opus contained the singles “Tuff Enuff” and “Wrap It Up.”

-Ford released their first generation of Thunderbirds in 1955.  The T-Bird was the first of what is now known as the personal luxury car.

6. REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon released their first album in 1971 but they didn’t really hit their stride until their 1978 offering You Can Tune A Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish.  Their best-selling record, and their only number one album, was Hi Infidelity from 1980.  In total, they’ve sold more than 40 million albums worldwide.

-The REO Speed Wagon was a light truck manufactured by the REO Motor Car Company from 1915 through the early 1950s. REO Speedwagon founder, Neal Doughty, learned of the truck while attending the University of Illinois. 

5. Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the 1960s San Francisco Bay music scene to hit it big.  Their name is slang for an impromptu roach clip.  While it seems natural for a ‘60s band from San Fran that played Woodstock and sang “White Rabbit” to be named after drug paraphernalia, that’s not where they got their name.  “Jefferson Airplane” was a pet name given to Jorma Kaukonen by one of his close friends

-The Wright Brothers made the first flight of a heavier-than-air powered air craft in December of 1903.  Their real claim to fame was inventing the controls that made fixed-wing airplanes a reality. 

4. Train
Train and Led Zeppelin have another connection besides being named after modes of transportation.  Train’s lead singer, Patrick Monahan, used to be in a Led Zeppelin cover band.  Train formed in 1994 and released their self-titled debut album in 1998.

-In the olden days, travelers would have given their train tickets to a conductor or a Pullman conductor.  The conductor was in charge of all the passengers on a train while the Pullman conductor only supervised those in the sleeping cars.

3. The Cars
It was drummer David Robinson who christened the band “The Cars.”  Fellow member Ric Ocasek liked the name because it was easy to spell, impossible to mispronounce, and artistically straightforward.  We appreciate that they didn’t replace the “s” with a “z.”

-Steam powered automobiles date back to the 17th century but Karl Benz is traditionally credited with inventing what we now know as the car.  He created the vehicle about 90 years before it was used to name a new wave rock band in Boston.

2. Wings
Paul McCartney came up with the name “Wings” at a hospital while praying for Linda and his daughter Stella.  It was a rough delivery and he almost lost them both.  During his intense prayer sessions, visions of wings filled his mind.  So powerful were these images that he decided to call his new band “Wings.”

-A wing produces a lift to drag ratio great enough to produce flight.  Wings, in and of themselves, may not be a mode of transportation for humans but they are for birds, insects, and bats.

1. Led Zeppelin
The legend goes that the idea for what eventually became “Led Zeppelin” would go down like a “lead balloon.”  To avoid miss pronunciations, the band dropped the “a” in the word lead and to make the oxymoron even more exaggerated they swapped balloon for zeppelin.   What a wise decision.  “Zeppelin” sounds like the name of a hard rock band, “Balloon” does not.

-Zeppelins are rigid airships based on the designs of Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin.  The zenith of their popularity occurred after World War I and until the Hindenburg disaster of 1937.

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Reykjavik isn't really known as a hotbed of rock. But, still, there are a few successful bands to come out of Iceland. Pretty much everyone knows of the Sugarcubes and/or former front woman Björk. The second most well-known Icelandic act may well be Sigur Rós, with the now-defunct Without Gravity coming in third. Of the three, only Sigur Rós is currently active, although Björk continues to pilot a soaring solo flight of a career.

Sigur Rós is just coming off a bit of a hiatus and fans couldn't be happier. Their first gig back after the break which began in 2008 was on the Coachella stage in 2010. That was followed by a live CD/DVD package, 2011's Inni, previously captured on their 2008 tour. A new album is slated for May of 2012 with a half dozen shows and two festivals in North America to back it up.

The dates begin on July 30 with Sigur Rós in Philadelphia at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts' Skyline Stage. The following day Brooklyn hosts Sigur Rós in Prospect Park at the Bandshell.

Hopping the border, Sigur Rós plays Toronto's Echo Beach at Molson Canadian Amphitheatre on August 1 just ahead of the Osheaga Festival in Montreal on August 3 and Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 4 and 5.

The remaining three shows all happen on the West Coast. First up is Sigur Rós in Seattle on August 8 at the Paramount Theatre. Heading down the coast, Sigur Rós stops in Portland on August 9 at McMenamins Historic Edgefield Manor for their penultimate North American bow.

Last but not least, the Hollywood Forever Cemetery gets the Sigur Rós show in Los Angeles on August 12. Bon Iver, Belle and Sebastian, and The Flaming Lips have all done shows at this Hollywood hipster hangout.

From there on out, it's all about festivals. The Summer Sonic Festival in Tokyo, Rock En Seine in Paris, Steinberggasse in Winterthur (Switzerland), and more. By mid-September, Sigur Rós will also have played Ireland, Italy, Austria, Germany, England, and Poland.

The new album, titled Valtari, drops on May 28. It was recorded in the band's studio, Sundlaugin, which was once a swimming pool. That sort of feisty spirit is a Sigur Rós trademark. Despite having critical and commercical success around the world, front man Jónsi continues to not sing in English, preferring either Icelandic or a language entirely of his own.

The first single “Ekki Múkk” was recently released in honor of Record Store Day with a B-side of “Kvistur.” It was the first new music fans and critics have heard from the band since Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust in 2008. Early word is that the tune is sparse and airy, understated in ways unlike much of their previous efforts.

And such is the tone of the album as a whole. Descriptors like atmospheric, lush, glistening, meditative, majestic, and so on have been bandied about in efforts to capture the essence of this “suite of songs” in words.

Valtari Track List:
“Ég Anda”
“Ekki Múkk”
“Varúð”
“Rembihnútur”
“Dauðalogn”
“Varðeldur”
“Valtari”

But words often fail to capture music of any kind; and Sigur Rós is certainly no exception to that rule.

Jimmy Buffett Replaces Eddie Vedder At New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

Jimmy Buffett to the rescue.

The Mayor of Margaritaville has been tapped to replace Eddie Vedder at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on May 3.  Vedder was forced to drop out of the festivities, as well as cancel his 15-date trek of the States, due to nerve damage caused by a back injury.  Buffett has played the Heritage Festival before and will do so in 2012 via an acoustic set.  He’ll be joined by Mac McAnally.

Four weeks after partying in the Big Easy, Buffett will embark on a 13-date tour of the United States.  His outing begins May 30 with a Jimmy Buffett concert in Austin, Texas.  It ends Sept. 1 with a Jimmy Buffett gig in Bristow, Virginia—although all of July and most of August are open.  For the trek, Buffet and his famous Coral Reefer Band will delight Parrotheads with classics like “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Changes in Attitudes,” and “A Pirate Looks at Forty.”  

Another song you’re sure to hear if you have Jimmy Buffett concert tickets is the famous “Margaritaville.”  It’s not only one of his most popular songs, but it’s one of those songs that everyone can (and does) sing-a-long too.  Yet, where does it stand among the greatest sing-a-long songs?  You know the kind, no matter what type of party you’re throwing when one of these ditties comes blasting through the stereo everybody stops what they’re doing and start singing along.  Keep reading to learn the ten greatest sing-a-long songs of all-time.

10 Greatest Sing-A-Long Songs of All-Time

10.  “I Heard It through the Grapevine” – Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye’s 1968 classic “I Heard It through the Grapevine” was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong.  Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and Gladys Knight & the Pips both released versions before Gaye, but his rendition is the one everyone knows and loves.

I heard it through the grapevine/Not much longer would you be mine

9. “Blister In The Sun” – Violent Femmes

This 1983 single from Violent Femmes is a bit obscure, and probably the only song on our list to be featured in a segment of “Stump the Band” on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, but even the mere mention of this tune inspires hipsters to flex their pipes.  The song is found on the band’s self-titled debut album and can also be heard in the film Grosse Pointe Blank.

When I’m walkin’ I strut my stuff, man I’m so strung out/I’m high as a kite I just might stop to check you out

8. “Fight The Power” – Public Enemy

How many hours have we spent trying to rap like Chuck D and dance like Flavor Flav while listening to their 1989 single, “Fight the Power?”  Made at the request of Spike Lee for his film Do The Right Thing, “Fight The Power” not only gets you up on your feet, it gets you rapping into your beer bottle.

1989 the number another summer (get down)/Sound of the funky drummer

7. “Livin’ on a Prayer” – Bon Jovi

You’ll find “Livin’ on a Prayer” on Bon Jovi’s 1986 release, Slippery When Wet.  The song, penned by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Desmond Child, was the second single from the aforementioned album and the band’s second straight number one hit.  Amazingly, Jon was not enamored by the song.  He had to be convinced of its awesomeness by Richie.

She says we’ve got to hold on to what we’ve got/Cause it doesn’t make a difference If me make it or not

6. “Sweet Caroline” – Neil Diamond

Every list needs a little adult contemporary.  Neil Diamond wrote “Sweet Caroline” and released it in September of 1969.  The song, inspired by a picture of Caroline Kennedy, is frequently played at Fenway Park during Boston Red Sox games.  If you’re really into this song, you not only sing-a-long to it, you scat the cool organ part too.

Hands/Touching hands/Reaching out/Touching me/Touching you

5. “Bust A Move” – Young MC

“Bust a Move” by Young MC dropped in 1989.  The catchy hip hop track not only went to number seven on the Billboard 200 but won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance.  Of course, no one at the party cares about any of that when this classic carol is pumping wattage through your cottage.  Even if you don’t know all of the rhymes, you do know the über catchy chorus.

You run over there without a second to loose/And what comes next, hey bust a move

4. “Back In Black” – AC/DC

Written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Brian Johnson, AC/DC’s “Back in Black” is fun to sing-a-long and air guitar too.  The song is a tribute to the band’s former lead singer, Bon Scott (he died months before the song was recorded).  Johnson, his replacement, was tasked with writing the lyrics.  All in all, he did a pretty good job.  “Back in Black” is the title track of the band’s seventh studio album which first hit stores shelves on July 25, 1980.

I got nine lives/Cat’s eyes/Usin’ every one of them and running wild

3. “Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison

A favorite of hippies and college “woo” girls, Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” is more than just a great sing-a-long, it’s the song that launched his solo career.  It was the first single Van the Man released after leaving the rock band Them.  We defy you to attend a wedding where this opus is not part of the deejay’s playlist.

Chances are also good that you’ll hear this popular ditty at a Jimmy Buffet concert, say his show in Spring, Texas on June 2.  Buffett has been performing this song as part of his encore.  It’s the second-to-last song he sings before “Fins.”

Whatever happened to Tuesday and so slow/Going down the old mine with a transistor radio

2. “Margaritaville” – Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett released “Margaritaville” in 1977.  It’s included on his album, Changes in Latitudes and Changes in Attitudes.  From wine tastings to keggers, when this ditty is selected in iTunes and blasted through the docking station, a sing-a-long is destined to occur.  By the way, the lyrics on the original record sleeve read “waistin’ away” but Jimmy sings “wasted away” on the track used in the video game Rock Band and occasionally in concert.

Highlights of his upcoming tour include a Jimmy Buffett concert in Atlanta, Georgia on June 9; a Jimmy Buffett performance in Mansfield, Massachusetts on June 23; and a Jimmy Buffett gig in Tinley Park, Illinois on June 30.

I blew out my flip-flop/Stepped on a pop-top/Cut my heel had to cruise on back home

1. Any song by The Beatles

It feels like we’re cheating by selecting the entire catalog of one band, but there’s really no way of getting around it.  Every Beatles song is perfectly composed, both lyrically and melodically.  Since their songs are so well written they are extremely easy to sing-a-long too.  From “Love Me Do” to “Get Back” the Fab Four’s repertoire gets even the quietest wallflowers singing.

Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman/But she was another man/All the girls around her say she’s got it coming/But she gets it while she can

- From “Get Back” 

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White Sox Hurler, Phillip Humber, Throws Perfect Game

What does 27-up and 27-down equal?  At Safeco Field, as well as at every other ballpark in North America, it equals “perfection.”

On April 21, 2012, Chicago White Sox pitcher Phillip Humber threw a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners.  The final score was 4-0.

It’s the 21st perfect game in Major League Baseball history and the first since May 29, 2010 (Roy Halladay).  It’s also the third perfect game and 18th no-hitter in White Sox history.

Humber stymied Mariners hitters all day.  In the fourth inning, Chicago outfielder Alex Rios made a nice running catch in right field to squelch one of the few times Seattle batters threatened to get on base.

The 27th out was courtesy of a generous call.  Pinch-hitter Brendan Ryan successfully checked his swing on ball four but the umpire said he went around (it should have been a walk).  Ryan, who argued the call with the home plate umpire and didn’t run, was then thrown out at first base to become Humber’s 27th and final out.  Apparently, MLB umpires are wary of making a big call when a perfect game is on the line after Jim Joyce ruined Armando Galarraga’s bid for perfection in 2010.

Despite the fact that their hometown team was going down in defeat, Seattle fans were on their feet cheering for Humber.  It’s likely to be the best thing to happen at Safeco Field in 2012.

Oh yeah, we’ve made the necessary calls, and checked with the proper authorities, and throwing a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners, the worst hitting club in the majors, does count.  No asterisk is needed.

The 29-year-old right hander from the great State of Texas was actually drafted by the New York Mets.  He was selected third overall in 2004 amateur draft.  The White Sox’s fifth starter has appeared in 55 Major League games, complied an 11-10 record, and a career ERA of 4.06.

The question Chicago White Sox fans now want answered is will Humber’s perfect game be a portends of good things to come in 2012 or the lone highlight of what many are predicting will be a long season?

After years of spending big bucks and enduring the antics of dictator-loving Ozzie Guillen, the White Sox find themselves with a depleted farm system, a bloated payroll, a rookie manager, unproven talent at the leadoff spot, and no Mark Buehrle (he followed Guillen to the Miami Marlins).  The current White Sox skipper is former White Sox player Robin Ventura.  While he was well-liked and known as a team leader, he has never coached or managed at any level prior to this season

Furthermore, the team’s best player, Paul Konerko, is 36-year-old.  Slugger Adam Dunn is coming off an awful year where he hit lefties just a tad bit better than my grandmother.  Their best right-hander, former Cy Young award winner Jake Peavy, desperately needs to stay healthy.  And their best left-hander, John Danks, was just plain bad in 2011 and struggled with his control.

On paper, see the preceding two paragraphs, the White Sox look like they will be lucky to win 80 games.  Yet, when you watch this team play you sense something special.  Maybe not first place special, but the club seems to be playing loose and fancy fee, like they’re using the house’s money, i.e. Humber’s perfect game.  They won’t win their division, but capturing the second wildcard spot is a possibility—perhaps a remote possibility, but a possibility nonetheless.

While we don’t want you to ignore when the Chicago White Sox battle the Detroit Tigers, you can take it to the bank that no one is going to catch the Motown Nine in the American League Central.  In fact, no one in Major League Baseball is going to catch the Tigers in 2012 (can we say World Series champions?).  

Instead, the important games for the South Siders are against possible wildcard teams: White Sox against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, White Sox taking on the Boston Red Sox, and White Sox tangling with the Tampa Bay Rays.  If they do well in those aforementioned games, then Chicago White Sox playoff tickets will be sold in 2012.

We think the 21st perfect game thrown on the 21st day of April will inspire the White Sox to overachieve, shock the critics, and contend for that second wildcard berth.  It’s the start of streak, not an anomaly.  

Yes, we’re leaning on our gut more than our intellect, but White Sox general manager Kenny Williams, one of the best in baseball, won’t be unloading talent as the trade deadline approaches but looking for a couple key pieces to bolster his team.  

And if we’re wrong, and the White Sox are on the wrong side of .500 come July, the team can at least take comfort in remembering Phillip Humber threw a perfect game, on the road, way back in April.

MLB Perfect Games

1. June 12, 1880 – Lee Richmond (Worcester Ruby Legs) vs. Cleveland Blues, 1-0

2. June 17, 1880 – John Montgomery Ward (Providence Grays) vs. Buffalo Bison, 5-0

3. May 5, 1904 - Cy Young (Boston) vs. Philadelphia Athletics, 3-0

4. Oct. 2, 1908 – Addie Joss (Cleveland) vs. Chicago White Sox, 1-0

5. April 30, 1922 – Charlie Robertson (CHW) @ Detroit Tigers, 2-0

6. Oct. 8, 1956 – Don Larsen (NYY) vs. Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-0 (World Series)

7. June 21, 1964 – Jim Bunning (Philadelphia) @ New York Mets, 6-0

8. Sept. 9, 1965 – Sandy Koufax (LAD) vs. Chicago Cubs, 1-0

9. May 8, 1968 – Catfish Hunter (Oakland) vs. Minnesota Twins, 4-0

10. May 15, 1981 – Len Barker (Cleveland) vs. Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0

11. Sept. 30, 1984 – Mike Witt (California) @ Texas Rangers, 1-0

12. Sept. 16, 1988  - Tom Browning (Cincinnati) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0

13. July 28, 1991 – Dennis Martinez (Montreal) @ Los Angeles Dodgers, 2,0

14. July 28, 1994 – Kenny Rogers (Texas) vs. California Angels, 4-0

15. May 17, 1998 – David Wells (NYY) vs. Minnesota Twins, 4-0

16. July 18, 1999 – David Cone (NYY) vs. Montreal Expos, 6-0

17. May 18, 2004 – Randy Johnson (Arizona) @ Atlanta Braves, 2-0

18. July 23, 2009 – Mark Buehrle (CHW) vs. Tampa Bay Rays, 5-0

19. May 9, 2010 – Dallas Braden (Oakland) vs. Tampa Bay Rays, 4-0

20. May 29, 2010 – Roy Halladay (Philadelphia) @ Florida Marlins, 1-0

21. April 21, 2012 – Philip Hunter (CHW) @ Seattle Mariners, 4-0

White Sox No-Hitters

1. Sept. 20, 1902 - Nixey Callahan vs. Detroit Tigers, 3-0

2. Sept. 6, 1905 – Frank Smith vs. Detroit Tigers, 15-0

3. Sept. 20, 1908 – Frank Smith vs. Philadelphia Athletics, 1-0

4. Aug. 27, 1911 – Ed Walsh vs. Boston Red Sox, 5-0

5. May 31, 1914 – Joe Benz vs. Cleveland Indians, 6-1

6. April 14, 1917 - Eddie Cicotte @ St. Louis Browns, 11-0

7. April 30, 1922 – Charlie Robertson @ Detroit Tigers, 2-0*

8. Aug. 21, 1926 – Ted Lyons @ Boston Red Sox, 6-0

9. Aug. 31, 1935 – Vern Kennedy vs. Cleveland Indians, 5-0

10. June 1, 1937 – Bill Dietrich vs. St. Louis Browns, 8-0

11. Aug. 20, 1957 – Bob Keegan vs. Washington Senators, 6-0

12. Sept. 10, 1967 – Joel Horlen vs. Detroit Tigers, 6-0

13. July 28, 1976 – Blue Moon Odom & Francisco Barrios @ Oakland Athletics, 2-1

14. Sept. 19, 1986 – Joe Cowley @ California Angels, 7-1

15. Aug. 11, 1991 – Wilson Alvarez @ Baltimore Orioles, 7-0

16. Aug. 18, 2007 – Mark Buehrle vs. Texas Rangers, 6-0

17. July 23, 2009 – Mark Buehrle vs. Tampa Bay Rays, 5-0*

18. April 21, 2012 – Philip Humber @ Seattle Mariners, 4-0*

*Perfect Game

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