After ending their supporting slots for Clutch‘s annual holiday tour (review here), Wino, Saviours and Mondo Generator for a round of tour dates that’s currently winding down on the West Coast. I missed them when they started off the run in Brooklyn owing to illness, but the kind souls at Digitalive Productions taped the entire Wino set last Friday, Jan. 4, at Pittsburgh’s 31st St. Pub with three cameras in HD and with soundboard audio. I don’t mind saying I watched the whole thing this morning and short of being in 3D or actually being the show itself, it’s about as close as modern technology can bring you to the real thing.

Of particular note is the finale of Savoy Brown’s “Hellbound Train.” Wino‘s been kicking the song around for a while now — he also played it on tour with Conny Ochs last year — but as it closes out the set here, he’s joined on stage by Nick Oliveri of Mondo Generator and Saviours’ Sonny Christopher Reinhardt and Scott Batiste. The four-piece run through a pretty basic arrangement of the song, though flourishes like Scott Batiste‘s cymbal crash near the finish are worth noting, but still, just to have those dudes on stage at the same time is pretty killer. Not that Wino can put out a record with every tourmate he has, but a collaboration with Oliveri on bass would be awesome.

Other highlights of the set include “Crystal Madonna,” which is another song he performed with Ochs, and “Adrift” and “I Don’t Care” from the Adrift acoustic debut. If you’ve got 35 minutes, I’d recommend a front to back viewing session, full screen if need be.

Happy Wino Wednesday:

It’s strange, because Nick Oliveri has such a reputation for being predictable and reliable, but Mondo Generator has canceled their previously announced US tour. Insert your own “rejoining Queens of the Stone Age” rumor here. The PR wire sent over this brief statement:

Mondo Generator have had to postpone their current US tour. The band are very sorry about this and would like to apologize to all involved; The shows will be rescheduled to run in December and January. New dates will be announced shortly.

I don’t think I’m breaking any new critical ground when I say that Mondo Generator‘s last full-length, Dead Planet, wasn’t exactly blowing the doors down. Nonetheless, as the figure so critical in bringing any kind of edge to the songwriting of Queens of the Stone Age, to whom I can only hope and imagine he’ll return eventually if not sooner, I have faith in Nick Oliveri to pull a killer record from out his often-seen ass, and I look forward to the Time to Destroy LP that will follow the band’s new single, Dog Food.

The PR wire has the goods on Dog Food, which features Happy Tom (Turbonegro) and Dave Grohl, and some Mondo Generator tour dates. Be friends with it:

Mondo Generator have announced a run of shows through August and September in support of their new single Dog Food (available on August 10). Special guests for all shows will be Tweak Bird with Its Casual and Violent Soho also joining for selected shows. Tickets are on sale now at venues and usual outlets…

Aug. 4- Elbo Room, San Francisco CA
Aug. 6- Dante’s, Portland OR
Aug. 7- Studio 7, Seattle WA
Aug. 9- Club Vegas, Salt Lake City UT
Aug. 11- 3 Kings Tavern, Denver CO
Aug. 12- Riot Room, Kansas City MO
Aug. 13- Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis MN
Aug. 14- Frequency, Madison WI
Aug. 15- Double Door, Chicago IL
Aug. 16- Southgate House, Newport KY
Aug. 17- Smalls, Hamtramck MI
Aug. 18- Bug Jar, Rochester NY
Aug. 19- Santos, New York NY
Aug. 20- Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge MA
Aug. 21- North Star Bar, Philadelphia PA
Aug. 22- 37th & Zen, Norfolk VA
Aug. 24- Casbah @ Trenton Music Hall, Charlotte NC
Aug. 25- Stella Blue, Asheville NC
Aug. 26- Hi Tone Cafe, Memphis TN
Aug. 27- The Conservatory, Oklahoma City OK
Aug. 28- Emo’s, Austin TX
Aug. 29- Skillman Street Bar, Dallas TX
Aug. 31- Launch Pad, Albuquerque NM
Sep. 2- Spaceland, Los Angeles CA

Nick Oliveri (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Mondo Generator, Dwarves, duh) has been playing solo acoustic shows out west for a couple years now, but following the release of his album, Death Acoustic, he’s heading east for two weeks next month. The PR wire has the details:

Nick Oliveri has taken his Death Acoustic tour to Australia, New Zealand and Europe, now he is heading home with a run of solo shows across the United States east coast during January/February and west coast dates set to follow shortly after. Catch Nick in intimate, solo mode at :

Fri, January 22nd – Middle East, Cambridge MA
Sat, January 23rd – Pianos, New York NY
Sun, January 24th – Khyber, Philadelphia PA
Mon, January 25th – Velvet Lounge, Washington DC
Tue, January 26th – Volume 11 Tavern, Raleigh NC
Wed, January 27th – Casbah @ Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte NC
Thu, January 28th – Lenny’s, Atlanta GA
Fri, January 29th – The End, Nashville TN
Sat, January 30th – Hi Tone, Memphis TN
Mon, February 1st – Double Door, Chicago IL
Tue, February 2nd – Frequency, Madison WI
Wed, February 3rd – Southgate House, Newport KY
Thu, February 4th – Grog Shop, Cleveland OH
Fri, February 5th – Small’s, Hamtramck MI
Sat, February 6th – Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh PA

…Here he is in a clip from when he and Josh Homme were on tour with Masters of Reality (note the “We don’t give a fuck!” reference that shows up on the Flak ‘n’ Flight live record), talking about how much he hates corporate rock. You even get to see Chris Goss for a couple seconds. Charm abounds!

Whether it was his screams, on-stage nudity or actual bass playing, what Nick Oliveri has always brought to his bands — Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Mondo Generator, Moistboyz and The Dwarves, among others — is intensity. Indeed it?s an intensity much missed from Queens of the Stone Age since his 2004 departure from the band, and an intensity carried over even unto his solo full-length debut, Death Acoustic on Impedance Records/MVD Audio. Although it?s mostly covers, the immediacy in Oliveri?s performances of these songs is organic and undeniable.

It?s a neat half-hour set, and since it kicks off with Raw Power?s ?Start a Fight? and ends with ?Outlaw Scumfuc? by G.G. Allin, you know it isn?t going to be your typical sensitive singer-songwriter fare. Oliveri?s solo punk aesthetic manages to keep a sense of anger and spontaneity while being grown up and drugged out at the same time. His composition, ?Invisible Like the Sky,? is stylized like ?Six Shooter? and every bit as tense, and his version of The Dwarves? ?Dairy Queen,? highlights the fuck-all attitude that is so much a part of that band while giving the song a shot of class (all things relative).

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Probably not much of a surprise to anyone who’s been keeping tabs on all the solo shows Nick Oliveri (ex-Kyuss, ex-Queens of the Stone Age, Mondo Generator) has been doing of late, but the guy who brought us “Auto Pilot” on Rated R is about to release his first acoustic record, Death Acoustic, in October. Some new material, some old. No word yet on whether or not the title is making fun of Metallica, but we can all hope.

Here’s the latest from the PR wire:

Impedance and MVD Audio are pleased to announce the release of Nick Oliveri, Death Acoustic for North American distribution on October 6, 2009.

You may know him as the long-haired bass player on the early Kyuss albums or as the mysterious Rex Everything in The Dwarves. Others will know him as one of the creative partners behind Queens of the Stone Age and more recently the screaming frontman of Mondo Generator. He is of course, Nick Oliveri… A man that should need no introduction to rock fans across the world.

Starting his musical career as a teenager with some friends from Palm Desert, California, Oliveri played bass and wrote a number of songs on the first two albums of desert rock pioneers Kyuss. The band would go on to establish them as a cult band worldwide and ensure high interest in all the members’ future projects.

Throughout his career delivering audiences wild and loud rock shows with the aforementioned bands, Oliveri has found time to play intimate, solo acoustic shows. Just him and his guitar, blending songs he has written for the bands he has played in, specifically written songs for the solo shows, and well chosen covers. In this format he has further showcased what a great songwriter and musician he is.

Death Acoustic is the result of these efforts; Oliveri spent the last 12 months in his home studio recording tracks for his solo album. In October it is unleashed with touring to back it up across the world over the last few months of this year and into next year.

Death Acoustic Track Listing:

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