'Quite a buzz' as Them Crooked Vultures debut completely original set in Chicago; online forum and store unveiled night of show

Advance promotion of the gig roughly told ticket buyers they were going to see a band called "8436276653388588737." When split into three words, "8436 2766533 88588737" translates in phone number code to "Them Crooked Vultures."

Wyatt, a concert goer three rows from the stage, where he spotted a keyboard in front of him at stage right, said Josh Homme confirmed the band's name toward the beginning of the midnight set at Metro.

All reports Tweeted, texted, phoned and otherwise communicated either during the show or immediately after it seemed to agree that between 10 and 14 songs made their debut during the show.

Titles revealed from the set list include "Scumbag Blues," "Elephant" (or "Elephants"), "Caligula" (or "Caligulove") and "Spinning in Dandelions" (or just "Dandelions"). Wyatt recalled one song title as "The Last Breath You Take After You Give Up," which one Twitter user said he recognized as the original title for the Queens of the Stone Age track "Turnin' on the Screw." If true, cool.

Apparent concert goer JohnEPark writes on a newly launched official forum for Them Crooked Vultures, "Unreal show. I came in with what I thought may have been ridiculously high expectations and they blew em out of the water in the first 2 minutes. ... Josh and JPJ both rocked balls. JPJ plays the bass 90% percent of the time, keys for a couple songs and the keytar for a song."

Wyatt confirmed the keytar, adding he saw Jones playing the keyboard as well, plus "a sort of portable lap steel" and all sorts of basses -- some with four, five, 10 or 12 strings each! On Twitter, NC17 mentioned, "John paul jones on strapped slide guitar."

Says logan5ive on the band's official forum, "The 1st song, Elephants, kicked major ass! That felt, without question, like witnessing an inaugural musical eruption."

NylonBandoleers wrote on Lollapalooza's official forum, "Pretty awesome show. ... Everyone looked like they were having a good time and they put on a hell of a show. Great way to end Lollapalooza. As for the sound, it didn't really bear a striking resemblance to any of their previous work. Josh Homme handled nearly all the main vocals, and John Paul Jones played some of the most ridiculous basses ever."

Twitter user DannyWirtz wrote, "Them Crooked Vultures is what happens when a good idea is also well done. a nice mix of all 3 bands ... Bring on the record."

Greg Kot's "Turn It Up" blog for the Chicago Tribune said the band "sounded like it was on to something fresh, invigorating and just plain nasty." The meat and potatoes of Kot's review:

Homme handled lead vocals and guitar, and was unusually clear-eyed and affable, playing with more precision than he usually musters in Queens. And Jones, whose music with Led Zeppelin is an obvious touchstone for both his bandmates, was a huge presence with his variety of four-, six- and eight-string basses, a match for Grohl’s power and a counterpoint for Homme’s melodies. The group was rounded out by Queens alumnus Alain Johannes on guitar.

The set’s foundation was hard rock and hard edges, with Jones and Grohl going toe-to-toe in the engine room. Homme played more with texture and layering sounds on his guitar, the first memorable riff showing up four songs into the set on “Dead End Friends.” His high vocals were often bolstered by harmonies from Grohl, Johannes and even Jones. There were a couple of red herrings: “Bandoliers”” flirted with tenderness (Homme introduced it as a love song) and “Interlude w/ Ludes” came off as a prank, with Jones on keytar and a shimmying Homme in lounge-crooner mode. Otherwise, it was wrecking ball time, with the arrangements sometimes taking several turns before resolving.

Two epic tracks stood out. “Daffodils,” which hinted at psychedelia with reverb effects on the vocals and a massive bass tone, was capped by a Jones piano solo. And “Warsaw” ebbed and flowed, winding down to a low-key guitar-bass exchange before building back up into a slamming finale.

History tells us that super groups usually don’t last very long. But at least this particular one is off to a rousing start.

Then, Kot includes a transcribed set list:

Elephants
New Fang
Scumbag Blues
Dead End Friends
Bandoliers
Mind Eraser
Gunman
Daffodils
Interlude w/ Ludes
Caligulove
Warsaw
Nobodys Loves Me

A review of the show on the blog Hightower and Jones is heavy on the adulation, if not the hyperbole:

To call it the greatest debut ever is like calling Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a mere center or Bruce Lee a simple martial artist. To call it promising would severely downplay the talent of the band's members and the songs that spanned their 77 minute debut.

Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones took the stage with nothing to lose and nothing really to prove other than to simply rock and they did exactly that. Accompanied by an additional guitarist, Them Crooked Vultures performed a set of unheard, unreleased material that left the remants and sounds of their more familiar bands at home. Instead, they brought forth a sound that rocked, was funky, bluesy and, overall, nothing short of jaw dropping.

... There are bands who dream of sounding as perfect as this, even during a rehearsal. ...

Them Crooked Vultures isn't just another supergroup. Based off tonight alone, they're a group that could singlehandly bring Rock back to the top of the Billboard charts.

Another forum user, this one posting at the Rekords Rekords forum, writes, "It was mind blowing. If you asked me what it sounded like, I can only answer 'it sounded exactly the way it should have'. Honest to god, some of the best music I have EVER heard. John Paul Jones was incredible and smiling the whole time ..."

As for the prospect a tour, which was never really in doubt until a MTV UK report questioning it, consider the Crooked Vultures logo on the drum kit an indication that more than one show is planned.

In addition, Antiquiet's Skwerl promises, "We’ll have news soon on a headlining tour."

Also take into consideration tonight's launch of Them Crooked Vultures official store, which so far contains but one black T-shirt in four men's sizes. The shirt sells for $30 and ships for an additional $10. Inside the shirt reads the slogan, "Deserve the Future." The shirt and a concert poster were sold at the gig.

Another addition to the official Web site of Them Crooked Vultures: The scourge doctor now breathes.

Update:

The beginning of the show is here on YouTube:


Through an iPhone's distorted recording, the minute's worth we can hear of this song sounds like a heavy basher in drop D tuning:


Here's a portion of a jam in the key of A:


This appears to be the end of "Daffodils" because it has John Paul Jones playing keyboard just before a round of applause and what could be Homme uttering Jones's name to the jubilant crowd:

Tonight's Them Crooked Vultures show a one-off?

Various rumors have been circulating about Them Crooked Vultures on the Internet. Although the band has its own official Twitter, Myspace and Facebook pages (update: official YouTube channel too!) as well as its own official Web site, all these communication platforms have done so far is confirm a single performance.

Rumors about a forthcoming album and the supposed preview of a demo of one song have hit the Internet this week, although not through the official channels and therefore of dubious authenticity.

One especially interesting facet of this all, particularly in light of the concert taking place 12 hours from now, is something sources close to Them Crooked Vultures have apparently told at least one media outlet about John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme. MTV UK reported on Thursday:

It is alleged that the musicians have been working together on and off for the past three years despite the new super-group being played down as: "a few friends talking".

Sources close to the three rock legends are insisting that the gig does not confirm reports that Them Crooked Vultures will continue to play live or whether the new venture will lead to an album.

The initially publicized hint of a Grohl-Homme-Jones collaboration, as posted June 20 on the blog Plastic Pizza Party!, said the three had been "been holed up in a Los Angeles recording studio working on a new record. The new band name and record release date are currently TBD … keep your ears peeled kiddos."

That wasn't the only statement to lead to an assumption the project would yield newly recorded material or a tour. Going back further, Jones said in April he hoped "to be everywhere this summer" with "a couple of other people" who've been "working [with him] on some other music, which is more rock based."

But he also said, "There are some exciting projects coming up, let's put it that way." Projects, plural! Maybe Them Crooked Vultures is one project, and it's not necessarily the one that's touring!

This is just way too much hype to be all aimed at only one show. Of course, I guess we thought that of Led Zeppelin's reunion concert in 2007 too, didn't we? The seminal moment came in late January 2008, when Jimmy Page told reporters in Tokyo, "I can assure you the amount of work that we put into the O2 [concert], for ourselves rehearsing and the staging of it, was probably what you put into a world tour." There was no payoff from this other than just that one show.

Unconfirmed rumors of a Vultures album title (Never Deserved the Future), release date (Oct. 23, unconventional in that it is not on the usual Tuesday for the United States), record label (Interscope Records, same as Homme's band Queens of the Stone Age), and the supposed leak of an instrumental demo called "Paved Death" are all believed to be fake.

One other rumor, however, comes from Nech on the For Badgeholders Only discussion group about Led Zeppelin, who has been famously correct on several Zeppelin-related events and elusive whenever prompted to reveal how he came to know things in advance. Nech says Them Crooked Vultures has at least one more gig this month: at the Reading Festival in the United Kingdom, which is to be held Aug. 28-30.

Folk musician Mike Seeger dies at 75

Mike Seeger died at his home on Friday night at the age of 75, NPR has reported.

An American multi-instrumentalist well known in the folk music community, Seeger once told LedZeppelinNews.com he did not know who Robert Plant was when he recorded for the album Raising Sand with Plant and Alison Krauss.

On Sept. 25, 2007, he said:

"I don't know if I should really make my ignorance known, but I didn't know who Robert Plant was. I've heard of Led Zeppelin, but I'm so engrossed in traditional music including bluegrass and country-western that I don't know other kinds of music much. ... I did know Alison Krauss. Alison is a wonderful singer and fiddler and bandleader ... and on the strength of her music, and with T Bone [Burnett] producing it, I thought I could help some."

Seeger's sole contribution to Raising Sand was on the closing track, "Your Long Journey." He proclaimed the track to be "one of the most beautiful songs in the genre." Fittingly, its lyrics surround the imminent passing of a loved one.

The version on Plant and Krauss's album bears a prominent autoharp track from Seeger.

When asked why he might have been selected to contribute to the album, Seeger told LedZeppelinNews.com, "Well, I think it was that I play a fairly traditional-sounding autoharp style, and it fits with the older songs."

"Your Long Journey" is credited to the husband-and-wife duo of Doc and Rosa Lee Watson, who originally recorded it for the 1963 LP Doc Watson & Family (available on CD since 1993 as The Watson Family).

Seeger deserved credit for being awfully open-minded in his musical tastes. He was raised on a steady regimen of recordings his parents often carried back from trips to the Library Congress.

"I'm interested in a lot of sounds," said Seeger. "I was reared on those field recordings and my parents' singing to us and my brother [Pete Seeger]'s music."

Seeger lived in Lexington, Va. NPR reports that Seeger had recently been "working on a video documentary project focusing on current Southern banjo players."

Them Crooked Vultures tickets hard to get, reminiscent of Led Zeppelin reunion concert

Great report today, with ongoing updates, about this morning's ticket sales for the Them Crooked Vultures debut show on Sunday night at Metro in Chicago: Click here.

Reminds me of the ticket fiasco to the 2007 Led Zeppelin reunion concert at the O2 arena in London: So many people logged on to get tickets that the system crashed. Click here to relive some memories.

And we're already seeing Them Crooked Vultures tickets on eBay and Craigslist. Reminds me of this.

Let the buyer beware: Don't forget, to get admission, the person whose credit card was used to purchase tickets must be present to receive the tickets upon entry to the venue. So don't buy a complete pair second-hand as the tickets will be unusable to you! You may buy a single ticket secondhand if you trust that the other person bought the pair himself or herself and will be attending with you. Only that buyer's identification will gain you entry!

One difference between the ticket sales method used by Them Crooked Vultures and that of the reunited Led Zeppelin in 2007 is the Ahmet Ertegun tribute concert involved being notified by e-mail and given a unique passcode with which to purchase tickets. Click here to recall why that didn't work smoothly.

Update: Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times reports tickets sold out in three minutes! He quotes a spokesperson for the band as saying, "They're doing paperless [tickets], so no scalpers. Make sure your readers know not to get ripped off!" See above; that's my advice.

Official: John Paul Jones to debut new band at Lollapalooza this weekend

It's official: Them Crooked Vultures will be debuting this weekend!

The supergroup including John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme has been scheduled to perform Sunday night after the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago has concluded.

The aftershow concert is scheduled for a midnight start time, and tickets are to go on sale Thursday morning exclusively online.

The concert will be a midnight show taking place after a full day's lineup closing the Lollapalooza festival this Sunday, Aug. 9. Doors are open at 10 p.m.

The appearance was officially confirmed when an e-mail from themcrookedvultures.com, the band's official site, linked to the official ticketing page. An image in that e-mail also contained the same three symbols -- the Foo Fighters symbol, the John Paul Jones symbol and the Queens of the Stone Age symbol -- that bloggers had earlier noticed were together on by an unnamed act.

Also this morning, the listing of aftershows at the Lollapalooza festival's official Web site and the venue site also began listing ticketing information for an unnamed act but identified only by those same three symbols.

Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times, in an online blog, mentioned a rumor this morning that John Paul Jones and his new supergroup would be playing Sunday night at Lollapalooza.

Soon afterward, Brent DiCrescenzo wrote in another blog about the rumor and pointed to a page on Etix.com with tickets to be sold exclusively online beginning this Thursday at 10 a.m. Central.

Word of the symbols on that ticketing page also appeared this morning on the Chicagoist blog and TankBoy's blog. Visitors to the venue's official site also spent some time guessing what the symbols meant.

Jones's management has not confirmed to LedZeppelinNews.com any aspect of the collaborative project the musician alluded to in an interview this April with Women's Wear Daily. Speculation began in June that Josh Homme and Dave Grohl were involved.

Over the past few days, the group's name has been floating around the Internet as Them Crooked Vultures. It is this name that both bloggers use in their postings today.

DeRogatis points out the festival's management has not confirmed the booking. If it happens, he says the Grohl-Homme-Jones appearance would "provide the much-needed icing on the cake largely missing from this year's festival lineup by closing things out with a special intimate after-show Sunday night at Metro."

DiCrescenzo calls this event "one of the biggest 'secret' shows to grace our Chicago stages in a while."

Them Crooked Vultures logo; is the vulture a relative of the Thunderthief?

Admittedly, I'm no ornithologist, but I get the feeling these two birds might be related.

The one on the left is the de facto symbol for Them Crooked Vultures, as shown at the Dave Grohl-Josh Homme-John Paul Jones supergroup's presumably official Web site, www.ThemCrookedVultures.com.

And on the right is the cover of John Paul Jones's second solo album in the last 10 years, The Thunderthief. The bird shown there was designed by Peter Blegvad. Click here for my review of that album, released in the United States and Europe in February 2002.

Incidentally, Jones credited Blegvad, who also contributed lyrics to two songs on that album, as influencing him to try writing his own lyrics for a few other songs on the disc. See this mentioned in part 20 of the transcript of my interview with Jones in December 2001.