Yeasayer @ SS Coachella 2012 (more by Greg Cristman)

Speaking of festivals, maybe you've seen commercials on TV for Living Social's Backyard Festival which happens on July 13 at Randall's Island. The fest features Aerosmith, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and... Yeasayer? Yep. The fest promises more bands but they haven't been announced yet. In addition to the music, food is from NYC restauranteur Dany Meyer's Union Square Events with a beer garden featuring 150 craft beers on tap. Tickets -- which include drink tastings and range from $89 general admission to $999 "Ultra VIP" -- are on sale now.

Yeasayer also play Governors Ball next month.

Krallice at Saint Vitus in April (more by Fred Pessaro)

Krallice will play an all-ages event at Public Assembly on July 14, joined by support from Vaura, Psalm Zero (mems Extra Life & Castevet) and MV Carbon. The show is the only Krallice show on deck, and the last show in the back room at Public Assembly until the fall due to upcoming renovatiosn. Tickets are on sale.

In related news, Vaura will enter Colin Marston's studio to record the follow-up to their Selenelion LP. Look for that to surface this fall on Profound Lore.

Vaura frontman Josh Strawn has been busy with personal endeavors, Azar Swan and now another new project Vain Warr. The band, the name of which is derived from Milton's Paradise Lost, are preparing to release a pair of songs via Sacrement. Look for the Sanford Parker-mixed Deadline Season to see the light of day this summer.

Azar Swan isn't slouching either, readying a new single for Pendu's Single Series, and scheduling a local show as well, this time with LA goth-electronic band Bestial Mouths. Look for the pair to team up for a show at Glasslands on July 15. Tickets are on sale, and you can stream some Bestial Mouths material below.

Stream fromAzar Swan, Bestial Mouths and Vaura are below.

Continue reading "Krallice playing NYC one-off w/ Vaura & Psalm Zero; Azar Swan playing Glasslands; Vain Warr ready debut"

Coachella 2013 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Multi venue UK festival The Great Escape began today (5/15). The big lineup includes Brooklyn's Parquet Courts, Phosphorescent, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, a keynote speech by Billy Bragg, a set by Mikal Cronin who is one of ten acts this year that NME says you have to see, and much more. Head to Brighthelm Center on 5/16 for a show BrooklynVegan is co-presenting with M For Montreal with AA Wallace, Husky Rescue, Blue Hawaii, How to Dress Well, Phantom and Cloud Boat. The flyer for that is below.

In other festival news, Sasquatch is right around the corner, Lollapalooza has announced set times, Bonnaroo announced theirs earlier this month, Austin City Limits recently announced their lineup, Governors Ball recently announced the schedule and is basically sold out, GoogaMooga is this weekend in Prospect Park, and FYF Fest, which recently announced its lineup, goes on sale Thursday.

Our Great Escape flyer is below...

Continue reading "Great Escape happening now, Lollapalooza set times, FYF Fest tickets & other music festival news"

Flaming Lips in Toronto (more by David Andrako)

The Flaming Lips were planning on landing in Simsbury, CT on July 15th, but Simsbury, CT has decided Wayne Coyne and crew will need to make other plans:

The town has decided against having The Flaming Lips play at the performing arts center at Simsbury Meadows this summer.

First Selectwoman Mary Glassman said the concert was conditionally approved pending a permit but that after conversations with Police Chief Peter Ingvertsen officials decided against the concert.

Glassman said the issue came down to staffing, and that it would have been difficult to get the necessary police officers in place for the concert, especially since the previously approved Emmylou Harris concert is planned for the following night. [Hartford Courant]

Meanwhile, the Flaming Lips have arrived in the NYC-area for a three-night run that looks like this:

Flaming Lips are here:
May 15 - The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon
May 16 - Montclair, NJ The Wellmont Theater
May 17 - Prospect Park Brooklyn, NY - GoogaMooga

All tour dates and the band's newest (and very) NSFW video below...

Continue reading "Simsbury, CT cancels the Flaming Lips (who play Prospect Park at 6PM Friday) ++++ Fallon tonight, NJ Thursday"

by Bill Pearis

(via @SoundbitesNYC Instagram)

Pinback are never too far from my thoughts. Mainly because their billboard for new album, Information Retrieved, which the erected for the "Proceed to Memory" time-lapse video, is at the end of my block in Williamsburg and I pass by it every day.

Pinback won't be too from you either, most likely, as they'll be on an extensive North American tour this summer which hits NYC at Irving Plaza on September 13 with  Deathfix (the project of Fugazi's Brenden Canty). Tickets for that show go on LiveNation and Music Geeks presales on Thursday (5/16) at 10 AM (Music Geeks password is "musicgeeks") with the regular on-sale happening Friday (5/17) at 10 AM.

All tour dates are listed, alongside the "Proceed to Memory" video, below.

Continue reading "Pinback touring this summer, playing Irving Plaza with Deathfix (dates)"

Every year NYC's Madison Square Park, located at 23rd Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues, hosts a series of free "Oval Lawn Series" concerts in the summer. This year is no different...

Continue reading "Madison Square Park 2013 Free Concert Schedule"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Big muff superfuzz: ZZ Top @ Bergen PAC, 5/14/2013

Legendary, bearded, and legendarily bearded (except for the drummer, whose name is Beard) Texas hard rock trio ZZ Top, who will be at Bonnaroo this year, played Bergen Performing Arts Center in NJ last night (May 14), part of a larger ongoing tour for the band that puts them in Westbury NY for a sold-out show at Theater at Westbury tonight. Pictures from their show are in this post.

If you missed it, we also recently caught Billy Gibbons back with his old band Moving Sidewalks in Austin and NYC.

The ZZ Top shows are in celebration of the band's massive legacy, compiled into a single, similarly massive chunk -- a 10-disc collection of their studio albums due on June 10:

The set, including the albums initially released on the London label as well as the string of Warner Bros. hits that followed, includes ZZ Top's First Album (1971), Rio Grande Mud (1972), Tres Hombres (1973), Fandango! (1975)*, Tejas (1976), Degüello (1979), El Loco (1981), Eliminator (1983), Afterburner (1985) and Recycler (1990). Each album is presented in a wallet sleeve that faithfully reproduces the original artwork, including the gatefold designs used for Tres Hombres and Tejas. The set presents, for the first time on CD, the original LP mixes for: ZZ Top's First Album, Rio Grande Mud and Tejas that have long been on the wish lists of the band's most fervent fans.

Continue reading "ZZ Top are on tour, played Bergen PAC (pics, dates)"

PAWS @ BVSXSW 2013 (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

Scottish indie rock trio PAWS were last in North America around SXSW but they'll be coming back next month for a short US tour. That includes a stop in NYC for a free show at The Seaport Music Festival on June 14 with other bands TBA. The Seaport Music Festival this year looks like this:

SEAPORT MUSIC FEST 2013 LINE-UP:

June 7: Oblivians w/ Ex Cult
June 14: PAWS
June 21: Fear of Men
June 28: Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Continue reading "PAWS touring in June, playing Seaport Music Fest (dates)"

Happy 10th anniversary to Rock the Bells, who have announced their initial, rotating 2013 lineup featuring hosts Peter Rosenberg & MURS 3:16, as well as names like Bone Thugs N Harmony, Danny Brown, Black Hippy (who just played NYC), Common, E40 & Too Short, Earl Sweatshirt (ditto), Flatbush Zombies, Juicy J (who played a Fader show on Monday and Irving Plaza last night), Rakim, Wu-Tang Clan (who play Summer Jam soon), Tyler the Creator (who just announced an NYC show as part of Odd Future), Eazy E, Ol Dirty Bastard and more. Confused? Yes, I did just say Eazy E and Ol Dirty Bastard, both of which will be "virtual performances" as part of the travelling festival. AllHipHop reports:

Ol Dirty Bastard and Eazy-E's spirits will return to the stage at Rock The Bells this year, AllHipHop has learned.

The pair of Hip-Hop legends will have holograms performing this year at the 10-year anniversary of the rap festival.

Eazy-E will perform virtually with Bone Thugs-In-Harmony and ODB will rock with Wu Tang. Organizers said Eazy never blessed the Rock The Bells stage and ODB only did once.

Also, the "holograms" are approved by Eazy-E's wife Tomica Wright and Ol Dirty's mother, Cherry Jones.

Tupac's Coachella appearance inspired the new virtual performances at Rock The Bells, organizers admitted.

Initial lineup (at least 15 more artists TBA), dates and some video below.

Continue reading "Rock the Bells 2013 initial lineup (Wu-Tang, Earl Sweatshirt, Juicy J, Tyler the Creator... + hologram ODB & Eazy E)"

UK rock act The Cult are 30 years old this year and still going strong, having released Choice of Weapon in 2012. For their pearl anniversary, the band are celebrating the album that broke them big: 1987's Electric that found them shedding their goth beginnings in favor of big, AC/DC-style riffs, as exemplified on the album's hit, "Love Removal Machine." The band will perform the album in full on the "Electric 13" tour.

In related news, Beggars Banquet announced they will be releasing a box set titled Electric Peace, that combines Electric with their aborted 1987 album Peace (most of which was released on odds-n-sods comp Rare Cult a while back).

The Electric 13 tour will hit NYC at Roseland Ballroom on August 22. Tickets for that show go on CITI presame at 10 AM today, a LiveNation presale starts Thursday (5/14) at 10 AM, and the general on-sale happens Friday at 10 AM. All tour date are listed, along with an album stream and "Love Removal Machine" video, below.

Continue reading "The Cult performing 'Electric' in full on 2013 tour (dates)"