The Darkness at Irving Plaza, NYC (more by Chris La Putt)

Last night (2/6), Irving Plaza was witness to call-and-response sing-a-longs with the audience, epic guitar solos played while riding a roadie through the crowd, and a trust fall into the congregation. And that was just one song. It could only be The Darkness.

This was the second of two nights at Irving, their first NYC shows in five years or so. (We have pictures from Saturday too.) It was also after that Superbowl ad thrust the band back into public conscious, but it didn't seem like anyone there had forgotten about them. This crowd -- which included Dee Snider -- was primed to rawk and frontman Justin Hawkins had them eating out of the palm of his hand. When he yelled "I wanna see some thumbs!" we instantly obliged. [BV]

Continue reading "The Darkness playing Austin and Dallas this weekend (dates)"

Reggie Watts in new Hot Chip video

As mentioned, Reggie Watts will making his way to Austin on his tour to play Scottish Rite Theater on May 26. That show has since sold out but since we last spoke, Reggie added a second date at the same venue one day later (5/27). Tickets for the newly added show are on sale now.

In related news, Reggie makes an appearance in the new Hot Chip video for "Night & Day" off their upcoming album, In Our Heads. Check out that video, along with a list of updated dates below...

Continue reading "Reggie Watts touring, playing 2 shows in Austin this weekend; appears in new Hot Chip video"

by Andrew Sacher

LA rockers Joyce Manor are about to kick off a short southwest tour which comes to TX for four shows surrounding Chaos in Tejas. Those shows include Rubber Gloves in Denton (5/30) and the previously discussed Chaos in Tejas show at Beauty Ballroom on June 1 with No Age, Ceremony, The Young and Gun Outfit (tickets). Screaming Females were supposed to play that show too but unfortunately had to cancel. They'll follow that with another Chaos in Tejas show at Scoot Inn on June 2 with Touche Amore, Japanther, Creem, Post Teens, and Hounds of Hate. Tickets for that show are on sale now. That show is the first on a three-date run with Touche Amore, which also includes a Lubbock, TX show at Jake's on June 5.

The band released their second LP and first for Asian Man Records, Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired, last month. When I first wrote about that album, I mentioned it's combined approach to both emo and indie rock. I'd also like to mention that it begs for repeated listens and despite consisting of 9 songs in only 13 minutes, each track has got a hell of a lot of individuality. In addition to their trademark pop punk blasts, we're given two raw acoustic tracks, the slow-ish jam, "See How Tame I Can Be," the punky jangle pop of "Bride of Usher," and a fun, but slightly out of place cover of "Video Killed the Radio Star." If you still haven't heard the album, stream the whole thing over at Punknews.

All dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Joyce Manor touring southwest, playing 4 TX shows (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Guided by Voices - "Class Clown Spots a UFO" (MP3)

Guided by Voices in Brooklyn in 2011 (more by Tamara Porras)

Late last year, Guided by Voices denied rumors of re-breaking up (they reunited in 2010) and quickly followed that with a new album, Let's Go Eat the Factory, which came out this past January. But it wouldn't be GBV's style to do a reunion album without one or two more the same year, right? They'll release another 21-song full length, Class Clown Spots a UFO, on June 12 and a third new LP, Bears for Lunch, should see a release this November. Rolling Stone recently premiered the title track from Class Clown Spots a UFO, a track that's actually been floating around in the band's repertoire for years and has been finished and re-recorded for the new album. Download that above, or stream it below, along with the album art and tracklist.

Guided by Voices will be playing the CBGB Festival in NYC this summer, and in September they'll kick off a tour with Detective which comes to TX for shows in Houston at Warehouse Live on 9/24 and Austin at Emo's East on 9/25. Tickets for the Austin show are on sale now.

A list of all dates, stream, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Guided by Voices releasing more albums; playing Houston and Austin on tour (dates)"

After teasing us with lineup additions day by day over the past few days, the full lineup of Austin City Limits 2012 is finally here. Check it out at BrooklynVegan, or below...

Continue reading "2012 ACL Fest lineup announced"

UPDATE: Check out the full lineup WHICH DOES NOT INCLUDE BON IVER (the card was fake)

Bon Iver at an ACL taping (more by Tim Griffin)

ACL Fest has been revealing artists via lottery tickets who will be at this year's festival, which goes down in Austin from October 12-14. So far, they've confirmed Jack White, Bon Iver, Zola Jesus, The Black Keys, Black Lips, Alabama Shakes, A-Trak, Kimbra, Punch Brothers, Andrew Bird, Steve Earle, Childish Gambino, Delta Spirit, LP, Quiet Company, Freelance Whales, Barrington Levy, Esperanza Spalding, A-Trak, Gary Clark Jr., Bombay Bicycle Club, and Two Door Cinema Club.

This past Friday (5/18), we posted that Red Hot Chili Peppers are playing, due to a lotto ticket that appeared on ACL's Facebook page (and it's still there). CoS is however reporting that the ticket is a fake and the ACL publicist has confirmed the same to us. Does that mean they're not actually playing? Is there some kind of conspiracy going on????? (Does anyone even actually care?) ACL Mike says:

Flea and I discussed this, among and other things, and the truth? Well, I'm not sure if you can handle it.

An excerpt of our conversation:

Me: So Flea, what's up in October?
Flea: Hey buddy, we don't hang anymore, it's like we're drifting apart. What's up with THAT?!

The date would certainly fit in RHCP's schedule. Stay tuned for the full lineup announcement in less than 24 hours to find out..

photo via

Previously: ACL Fest 2012 lineup being revealed via scratch ticket lottery (Steve Earle, Delta Spirit, Punch Brothers & more so far)

David Lee Roth at MSG earlier this year (more by Chris La Putt)

Van Halen just cancelled a ton of tour dates including a 9/13 Austin show at the Frank Erwin Center that was supposed to go on sale today. However, their previously announced Texas shows which are scheduled to happen much sooner seem to still be happening.

"#ACL scratch off spot number two" (photo via jamesdrinkard)

As ACL Fest reports:

tching to know who's playing Zilker Park this October? Well, scratch this! Play the ACL Lineup Lottery every day between Friday, May 18th and Monday, May 21st to discover the acts appearing at the 11th annual Austin City Limits Music Festival!

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter and check THIS website at 10AM CT each day when we will announce the names of 7 unique, local Austin businesses where scratch & win tickets can be found.

Swing by one of those fine establishments, pick up your ticket and scratch away to reveal a band playing at ACL Festival, October 12-14. Once you figured out who is playing, head over to Facebook and Twitter to spread the word!

Don't miss your chance to win! Match 3 bands and win awesome prizes including, VIP Passes or 3-Day Passes to ACL 2012, official merch, haircuts from Bird's Barbershop, cupcakes from Sugar Mama's Bakeshop, Ice Cream Sammys from CoolHaus, and $15 for grub at Galaxy Café! Good luck!

LP is the one who sings the song in that Citibank commercial...

Continue reading "ACL Fest 2012 lineup being revealed via scratch ticket lottery (Steve Earle, Delta Spirit, Punch Brothers & more so far)"

DOWNLOAD: YACHT - "Le Goudron" (Brigitte Fontaine Cover) (MP3)

YACHT at Treasure Island 2011 (more by Autumn Andel)

YACHT are currently in Europe on their 2012 Shangri-La tour, and upon returning to the US later this month, they'll kick off the Southern USA portion of that tour with fellow Portlanders Onuinu. That tour includes TX shows happening on June 7 at Club Dada in Dallas, June 8 at Mohawk in Austin with local faves Love Inks, and June 9 at Fitzgerald's in Houston with The Illegal Wire Taps.

In honor of their European tour, YACHT recorded a cover of French avant-garde artist Brigitte Fontaine's "Le Goudron." It's the band's first recording in French, which is actually Claire Evans' first language. Grab an MP3 of the track above or stream it below.

All dates and stream below...

Continue reading "YACHT touring Southern US, playing Austin, Houston, and Dallas; covered Brigitte Fontaine (listen)"