by Bill Pearis

While the rest of the world was asking who the #$%@ Bonny Bear and Paul McCartney were, I was asking that same question of Of Monsters and Men who are playing here in April. They've already sold out their 4/5 show at Music Hall of Williamsburg and 4/6 show at Bowery Ballroom, though the Bowery show was moved to Webster Hall (tickets are still on sale, but maybe not for long). Actually, half their US tour is already sold out (all dates at the bottom of this post).

Then I remembered I had actually seen Of Monsters and Men -- who are from Iceland --  at last year's M for Montreal at teeny tiny club Casa Del Popo. Their name is a bit on the generic side which is why I think I couldn't place it. (You also see a lot of bands at festivals. It's a blur.) Anyway, here's what I wrote then:

The other Icelandic group, Of Monsters and Men, made more of an impression with their stirring folk rock that was augmented by horns and an especially fancy accordion. (It had LED switches on it.) While also similar to a lot of other sweeping ensembles (fill in your favorite here), the songs were memorable and I did wish their set had been a couple songs longer. So it goes with festivals.

I don't think a folk band has snuck up like this since Mumford and Sons (or maybe The Head and the Heart).

They're already huge in Iceland (which is like being huge in Rhode Island, but still), where their debut album, My Head is an Animal, was released last year. Of Monsters and Men signed to Universal who rushed out the Into the Woods EP in America late December, which contains the KEXP hit "Little Talks". The band will be at SXSW too and are surely one of the "Bands to Watch" this year for some folks.

Click through for all Of Monsters and Men tour dates, plus some videos as well.

Continue reading "are Of Monsters and Men Iceland's Mumford & Sons? (MHOW sold out; Bowery moved to Webster Hall) --- 2012 Tour Dates"

"Superfly Presents and A.C. Entertainment are excited to announce the initial lineup for the 2012 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The 11th annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 7 - 10 on the same beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. A full list of confirmed acts follows, and more will be announced in the coming weeks. The final Bonnaroo 2012 lineup will total over 125 bands and over 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days.Tickets for the event will go on sale on this Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 12 noon EST exclusively at bonnaroo.com."

Radiohead, Beach Boys, Phish, Little Dragon, SBTRKT, The Antlers, Bad Brains, Laura Marling, St. Vinent, Tune-Yards, Flying Lotus, and many more are playing Bonnaroo this year. Full list below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2012 lineup announced"

Gabriel & the Hounds aka Takka Takka frontman Gabe Levine & band is releasing an album called "Kiss Full Of Teeth" via Ernest Jenning on 2/28. The album was co-produced by Gabe and Sean Greenhalgh of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and features a large cast of guest musicians including other members of Takka Takka, CYHSY and The National. The full credits are listed below along with the cover art and a song you can listen to.

Still need Valentine's Day plans? Gabriel & the Hounds play an early record release show at Mercury Lounge in NYC TONIGHT (2/14), and many of the same guests who appear on the album, and more, are expected on stage (such as Bryan Devendorf & Conrad Doucette on drums, the horn section from the National & Mia Riddle).

Gabe also has a UK tour planned for March. All dates and the other stuff, below...

Continue reading "Gabriel & the Hounds (aka Gabe of Takka Takka) releasing LP, playing NYC tonight (w/ members of The National)"

Beach Boys @ The Grammys

Though the Bonnaroo lineup won't be announced until later today (via Spotify), Knoxville.com has supposedly leaked some of it via a photo gallery which includes Beach Boys, Radiohead, Bon Iver, Phish, Foster the People, Alice Cooper, Ludacris, Black Star, Skrillex, Punch Brothers, The Avett Brothers, The Shins, Flogging Molly, Feist and Aziz Ansari. We can't know for sure if this is all correct, but I did hear that the Beach Boys were playing, and many of those bands have been rumored for a while, and the Beach Boys have promised more dates, so... well, we'll see soon! UPDATE: Yep, they are!

If it is all true, I really hope that this time Foster the People stay off the Beach Boys' stage unlike at the Grammys, as you can watch below...

Continue reading "Beach Boys played the Grammys, playing Bonnaroo? (we'll know for sure soon)"

Bad Brains will play Boston & Manhattan with H2O and then Brooklyn & Philadelphia with GZA. As you can see in the poster, tickets go on pre-sale Saturday. Lionize also opens the Philly show, and there's a show happening on 4/20 with GZA in a TBA city. Stay tuned for more info. All dates are listed with more info below....

Continue reading "Bad Brains announce East Coast shows with GZA & H2O"

"I was really surprised. I didn't know anything about it. I wasn't happy about it," Madonna told Seacrest of M.I.A.'s flipped bird.

"I understand it's punk rock and everything, but to me there was such a feeling of love and good energy and positivity, it seemed negative. It's such a teenager...irrelevant thing to do," she continued. "What was the point? It was just out of place."

Madonna's September 6th Yankee Stadium show sold out this morning, so they added a 2nd show. The new date is September 8th and tickets go on presale Tuesday morning...

Onsale to General Public
Start: Tue, 02/21/12 10:00 AM EST

Icon Lifetime Legacy Member Presale
Start: Tue, 02/14/12 10:00 AM EST
End: Thu, 02/16/12 05:00 PM EST

Icon Live Pass Member Presale
Start: Tue, 02/14/12 11:00 AM EST
End: Thu, 02/16/12 05:00 PM EST

Icon Live Pass Access Bundle
Start: Tue, 02/14/12 12:00 PM EST
End: Thu, 02/16/12 05:00 PM EST

Citi® Cardmember Preferred Tickets
Start: Tue, 02/21/12 10:00 AM EST
End: Thu, 08/16/12 10:00 PM EDT

In related news, though it wasn't that funny (but for the record), like "Lana Del Rey" before her, "M.I.A." appeared on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. M.I.A. was there to discuss her Superbowl Halftime incident from the week before. You can watch that, and "Bein' Quirky with Zooey Deschanel" from the same episode (Bjork guest appearance included), below.

Continue reading "Madonna adds 2nd Yankee Stadium show; "M.I.A." discusses middle finger on SNL (that Zooey Deschanel hosted)"

Now a three-time Grammy winner, Levon Helm, former drummer of the Band, took the award for best Americana album last night, with his record Ramble at the Ryman.

Unfortunately, Helm was unable to attend the awards show due to an undisclosed "medical procedure" which also forced the postponement of his February 10th show at the Wellmont Theater in NJ. He's also sitting out of the next Midnight Ramble. His site reads: "Levon will be undergoing a medical procedure that will necessitate his absence from the February 25th Ramble. We wish him the best and we know he will have a speedy recovery. We'll continue with the normal Ramble schedule with special guests joining the band." We also wish him the best and a speedy recovery!" The last Ramble happened on 2/4 (they've been on a break since).

Things are looking good though because tickets are already on sale for a makeup NJ show taking place April 6 at The Wellmont Theatre. All tickets purchased for the canceled performance will also be honored at the show in April. Levon's next scheduled show is March 2nd in MA. All dates are listed below.

Opening for Helm at Wellmont, is Deer Tick, who will also be headlining their own NJ show at The Stone Pony on April 20 (tickets).

All Levon Helm, and all Deer Tick tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Grammy-winning Levon Helm recovering from a procedure, schedules new NJ show; Deer Tick too (dates)"

Bjork in Queens (photo by Julieta Cervantes)

Bjork has extended her NYC residency by one more show, in part to make up for the show she had to cancel, though the new show is at Roseland and the cancelled one was at the New York Hall of Science.

In appreciation of her fans' support Björk is adding one final show at Roseland Ballroom on March 5. Individuals who purchased tickets for the February 9 show will be offered these tickets first in a pre-sale to begin tomorrow, Tuesday, February 14th at 10 A.M. Tickets will be available to the public at 10 A.M. Wednesday February 15.

The next Bjork show is 2/15 New York Hall of Science. All shows are listed with more information below...

Continue reading "Bjork adds another Roseland show (cancelled show people will get first shot at tickets)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Bill Pearis

Veronica Falls @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

The last time Veronica Falls were in town, singer Roxanne Clifford was under-the-weather, making for somewhat subdued performances. Thursday (2/9), though, the band were in fine health and form, the best I've seen since Popfest 2010. (Best-sounding too.) Clifford and James Hoare attacked their guitars in a furious jangle -- The Wedding Present by way of New Zealand -- when not producing minor key harmonies, while the rhythm section of drummer Patrick Doyle and bassist Marion Herbain kept the pedal to the medal. There's nothing twee about this sound, loud and fierce, assured and pretty. In addition to most of their debut album -- plus their awesome cover of Roky Erickson's "Starry Eyes" -- we got four new songs, including the Primitives-esque "My Heart Beats" which was the real standout.

Veronica Falls' tour and labelmates Brilliant Colors also played, bashing out scratchy C-86 style indiepop and were fun despite equipment problems. I missed local openers Grooms, as I was seeing Cate Le Bon at Mercury Lounge (sorry guys) but photographer Amanda Hatfield was there for the whole night and you can click through for lots of pics from all three bands.

Veronica Falls tour with Brilliant Colors continues, with Bleached joining as well starting in Minneapolis on 2/17. All tour dates at the bottom of the pictures...

Continue reading "Veronica Falls, Brilliant Colors & Grooms played Music Hall of Williamsburg (pics, review)"

Willie Nelson @ ACL Live in 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Willie Nelson has a number of dates scheduled for the next few months including two in the NYC area happening on May 16 and 17 at Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ. Both shows are billed as "Willie Nelson & Family", and as you can see from one of his recent Austin shows, they truly will be family affairs. Tickets ($95.00, $75.00 & $45.00) go on sale Friday (2/17) at noon with a presale starting Wednesday (2/14) at noon. All dates are listed below.

In related news, if you were watching the Grammys last night, you probably know that a Chipotle commercial aired with Willie Nelson covering Coldplay's "The Scientis.t" You can purchase his cover of the track on iTunes and watch the video for the commercial (which has actually been out since August) below.

All dates and video below...

Continue reading "Willie Nelson covered Coldplay for Chipotle, announces more dates, 2 NJ shows"