We will be playing shows in Italy with Vinicio Capossela in the next two days - Rome (al' Ippodromo Le Capanelle nel July 1) and Venaria Reale (alla Reggia nel July 2). Here is a little video clip teaser.




"La Faccia della Terra" by Vinicio Capossela featuring Calexico:

http://www.viniciocapossela.it/alive_calexico.html

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Ancienne Belgique - Live In Brussels 2008:

 

Recorded live in concert in Brussels and mixed by Craig Schumacher of Wavelab studio fame. It will be available on tour in Europe this summer and at casadecalexico.com soon!

 

Until then you all get to be the first to hear four samples with added video! Enjoy. Be sure to click the HQ button and watch it high quality (this also will give you near CD quality audio).

 

"El Gatillo" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVqafjjUrqs

"Inspiracion" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12wGG5XKnCM

"Fractured Air" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knP9oYMBlVY

"Red Blooms" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE064lFr-oY

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June 1, 2009

John and I are here in Seattle enjoying a day off with our booking agent, Ali Hedrick and her family. The Neko Case tour has gotten off to a great start. All of the crowds have been very receptive to the two piece version. I wish we could do more dates as we've been having a blast hanging with Neko and the whole band and crew. The last time we did the two piece was in 1998 opening for the Dirty Three across The States. There's an openness with playing as a two piece that allows for room to improvise that feels really good. You learn to appreciate the space and elasticity of time with phrasing, segues and tempo. I feel like we are just now finding our sea legs and sadly the portion of dates is coming to an end this evening at the beautiful Pantages Theatre in Tacoma. John has been sitting on 'Red Tide' and I have been playing some 12 string acoustic guitar on 'This Tornado Loves You' every night. The visuals on this tour have been stellar and all coordinated by the lovely Kathleen Judge. Hey does everyone know that Neko deisgned all the t shirt art? I try to help Kelly at the end of every night at the merch booth. Jon Rauhouse designed the tractor shirt. All in all an amazing touring team and super fun to hang with.

I hope we can all meet up again on the road with band and crew again soon. Thanks to Neko, Amy Lombardi, Ali Hedrick, Kong, Kathleen, Tim, Shelley, Kelly, Barry, Tom V Ray, Paul Rigby, Kelly Hogan (come to record at Wavelab!!) and Jon Rauhouse.

p.s. Go Lakers!!

setlist for the neko dates

01. All The Pretty Horses
02. Not Even Stevie Nicks...
03. Spokes
04. Man Made Lake
05. Bisbee Blue
05. Bend To The Road
06. Slowness or Quattro
07. Two Silver Trees
08. Fractured Air
09. Scout
+Slowness and Bend To The Road (w/ Craig Schumacher- harmonica) Denver
+In The Reins (with Jon Rauhouse - pedal steel) Salt Lake City and Tacoma

Keep a look out for more updates coming your way soon - great new pictures, words, and maybe even some exclusive music.

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Joey and John of Calexico will be the house band of the evening for  a special collection of artists performing the songs of the legendary alternative rock group from Athens, Georgia -- R.E.M.

 

All information, including ticket availability, video contest entry rules, and the evening's lineup can be found at the following link: http://www.remtribute.com/

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It rains when we arrive in Athens. 3 hours sleep and we feel like Zombies. They feed us bananas and honey. We regain life and incubate for a short spell before being taken to the Derti Club. It's a disco with a stage. We unpack and set up. I am interrogated by 3 journalists. They go easy on me. Release me in time for soundcheck. It sounds like rubber balls bouncing off gymnasium walls. Elastic. Our tour manager Oliver, says there's a greek woman backstage who wants to talk with us about Eric Burdon. Is this a secret code word? I order another raki. Her name is Marianna and works for Burdon whom me met years ago in Joshua Tree CA. We all pile into a van and go to a restaurant nearby but traffic is at a stop so we get out and walk three blocks and are there.

Backwards can be forwards sometimes here in Athens.

And we roll with it.

We go to a sefood restaurant and almost everyone in band and crew orders steak and fries. I opt for the swordfish. The old men that work here are a funny crew. They seem to speak the same backwards code that you might imagine a submarine crew lost at sea to speak with abbreviated sentecnes and gestures. I nod my head and comply. I too have drfited from shore for 3 weeks now. So I feel a bit at home here.

Georgios our local guide tells us about Santorini and that we must go there sometime soon in Summer. I am intrigued. Crete we played twice now and I still go back in my thoughts for inspiracion.

The show in Athens is a tough one. The sound never quite improves but we get the wings up and off the ground for 2 hours. The crowd is far away because there is an empty and unused bar in between us, so we are to some degree on our own island. It's always hard figuring out what the Greek audience likes about our music. Our friend Monika who is a local platinum selling artist (10K copies) tells us that after 30minutes the chatting will stop. She's right and I'm happy for it. The show builds n builds until the whole crowd and island of musicians are soaked with sweat and ready to be released into the stormy nights from which we descended.

Thank you for the raki. Christof good to see you here as well. Thanks Elias. Nice to have you back. Demetra and Georgia give our love to Noula and .....lights please.

 

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more pics in the the Travel album on this page

Calexico Tour Blog #6
Torino - Luzern - Ulm

I sent some photos from Torino, Luzern and Ulm today to Josh at TGREC. Thanks Josh and Celia at casadecalexico.com for helping transfer the transmissions. Tour is going really well. Torino was a dream and a welcomed change from the chill of Bologna. Thanks to Francesco for being our guide to all that is beautiful about touring in Italia. Happy Birthday to Valentina P as well. Nice comments from the folks after the show and the dinner moments before at the ristorante across the street from the Teatro Colloseo was sublime. Spaghetti vongole, vino rosso, espresso...boom! Run back to the Teatro to play to an enthusiastic and warm audience.

Serious partying on the bus leaving Torino thanks to Oliver and Jelle's bartending prowress. Slammer = vodka and champagne mixed spells disjointed dancing on the bus and queezy sleep across the border and into Switzerland. We survived and there are photos on Valerie's camera. Should we post them?

Better stick to the lofi cell phone shots for now.

Luzern's KKL Theatre is super modern and kickass. In the adjacent hall under the same roof Mischa Maisky is rehearsing a Haydn cello concerto with small ensemble. I am blown away and taken to a deeper level of inspiration. Later that day we rehearse with violinist, Anna-Sophie Mahler who we've been playing with in Europe for about ten years. She brings a whole different vibe to songs like "The News About William" and "Minas de Cobre". John and I recently recorded some original material for a verison of Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" that she is directing in Biel Switzerland (www.theater-biel.ch and www.theater-solothurn.ch). After the show Anna-Sophie and the whole cast present with us a gift of wine, cheese, olives, flowers as a thank you.

We arrive in cold, grey Ulm the next day. Time for laundry at the nearby washerei. Paul goes to the Apotheke for some supplies for Katja back home. Martin is on the street talking with his birthday gal Lena. Jelle rents a bike and rides of in search of crackers for our wine tasting night off. Patrick and I meet our friend Guni for espresso and pretzels. I sent some photos from the walk around town as the sun began to finally break from the clouds. We saw some old gates and buildings from the 1100's and 1400's. A man was taking his three greyhounds on a walk. There were decorations being hung for Mardi Gras. Tomorrow I will try to climb the gothic cathedral and get a bird's eye view of what the legendary Schneider von Ulm might have seen. Apparently, recent scientists figured out that he would have succeeded in flying across the Donau if he had tried flying 200 meters south from his original point of departure.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_Ludwig_Berblinger&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dder%2Bschneider%2Bvon%2Bulm%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den

wishing you all a safe flight
all those winged and webbed
a good night and sweet dream
joey


















 

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It´s cold outside. We are playing at Estragon outside of the city of Bologna. It´s even colder inside the industrial style hangar. Spirits are up. I stock up on vitamins and honey-lemon hot liquids. Seems like we are far awar from everyone and everything. Where are we? Bologna? Italy? I think about the times when people ask us, what we see when we are on tour. I would love to have gone into town, but energy is low, and we are far from the city center. So we huddle round a spaceheater and do our best to stay warm. Hoping the show tonight brings some good kinetic energy and direction. Missing the old streets and small shops, ristorantes, cafes, etc. Jacob just sneezed himself awake. Jairo is waiting for a call from home to wish his son a Happy Birthday. John looks ready to connect with his Italian roots, Martin was online and is now missing, Volker on the bus? Paul is laying low. Late night show and hours to wait around. Best wishes to all.

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