Sunday, 8 June 2008

Three Day Threshold embarks on tour of duty

It’s as if Uncle Sam stared out from his famous 1917 U.S. military poster, looked at Three Day Threshold and said, “I want you.”
The ferocious local bluegrass punk band has been enlisted to fly down to Honduras later this month to perform live for U.S. troops. When Uncle Sam calls, it’s tough to say no.
“We got asked by the Pentagon - no joke - to tour military bases overseas to support the troops as part of their Fourth of July celebrations,” said Three Day Threshold bossman Kier Byrnes. “We got asked about doing Greenland and Honduras, but the Honduras tour schedule worked better with our schedule.”



The band will perform five shows starting June 30 and finishing with some alt-country fireworks on July 4.
Before heading out, Three Day Threshold kicks off a three-night stand Thursday at the Chicken Box on Nantucket. A new live CD, recorded earlier this year in Belgium - appropriately titled “Lost in Belgium” - will drop later this year.
All set for the Presets
It seems every week another top-notch electro act is hitting Boston. Tonight, the Presets, the creators of perhaps the best electronic album of 2008, are at the Paradise (7 p.m., 18-plus, $12).
The Australian dance duo’s sterling new album, “Apocalypso,” officially dropped in mid-May on the Modular Interscope label, the home to fellow Aussie’s Cut Copy. The album has been killing dance floors from Allston to Perth on the strength of the stylishly cool synth-pop pulse of current single “This Boy’s in Love” and the faux-industrial boot-stomp rallying cry of “My People” - which was spun to raucous applause by Ed Banger label boss Pedro “Busy P” Winter earlier this year at the ’Dise.
Despite a few fleeting moments of pure cheese (check the painfully laughable lyrics to “Yippiyo-Ay”), “Apocalypso” could thrust the Presets to mainstream success.
The only wrinkle is an appearance by the equally fantastic (though slightly less danceable) electronic act M83, which is performing across the Charles at the Middle East tonight, too.
Making rock Fantasy a reality
The Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp sets up shop at the Bank of America Pavilion July 31, but camp founder and music producer David Fishof will be holding court tonight at Guitar Center, 750 Commonwealth Ave., from 7 to 9.
Fishof will spill the details on how some lucky and talented camp attendees will find themselves opening for Extreme at the Pavilion later this summer.
The event is free and features a performance by guitar slinger Jay Geils and a chance to win a guitar signed by one of the camp’s rock-star faculty, which has included Slash, Brian Wilson and Roger Daltrey.