Amadou & Mariam

As you may remember from the past couple of years, "Summerstage" now encompasses more than just Central Park, but Central Park Summerstage will still always be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the series. Here's the 2012 schedule. Check it out below...

Continue reading "Central Park Summerstage 2012 schedule (Alabama Shakes, Dawes, Kurt Vile, Gary Clark Jr, Amadou & Mariam & more)"

Lollapalooza (more by Grant MacAllister)

Chicago Sun Times reports:

Lollapalooza has revealed its official 2012 list of performers -- a typically wide-ranging smorgasbord of genres and styles topped by nearly a dozen mainstage headliners: the Red Hot Chili Peppers, freshly reunited bands Black Sabbath and At the Drive-In, the Black Keys, Jack White, Florence + The Machine, the Shins and Passion Pit, plus spotlighted electronic music including Swedish house titan Avicii, French dance duo Justice and DJ-producer Bassnectar.

The annual music festival is scheduled for Aug. 3-5 in Chicago's Grant Park.

Rumored lineups have circulated widely, as they usually do, and Lollapalooza itself stoked the speculation in recent weeks via a series of CTA and online advertisements that seemed to hint at who would be playing.

The ads featured lyrics from such acts as Sigur Ros, Santigold, Jack White, Kimbra, Twin Shadow, the Weeknd, Bloc Party and more -- all bands that wound up on the bill.

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2012 lineup (Jack White, At The Drive-In, Sigur Ros, Black Keys, RHCP, Afghan Whigs, M83, Weeknd, SBTRKT, Black Sabbath & more)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

"Saw Givers last night at Williamsburg Music Hall, so good to hear amazing music live again!!" - Roxy Faridany

Givers @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Givers kicked off a tour at Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 5, two days before they played Carnegie Hall with Preservation Hall Jazz Band, My Morning Jacket, Mos Def, and others. Pictures from the Brooklyn show are in this post.

The Brooklyn show was also with Yellow Ostrich who Free Williamsburg says has the "ability to make a three-piece sound like a thirteen-piece." FW, who were at the show, also wrote Givers "play a version of Louisiana Cajun music if it were shaken inside a Diet Coke with Mentos." The engergetic crowd was loud and dancing.

Givers, now on the road, are part of the recently announced Coachella lineup, and play a string of dates with Dr. Dog in March.

In other news, Yellow Ostrich will release the followup to 2010's The Mistress with Strange Land on March 6 via Barsuk. Like The Mistress, the new album was self-produced by the band, but unlike that album, which was recorded entirely by frontman Alex Schaaf, Strange Land also features the work of multi-instrumentalist Jon Natchez (Beirut) and drummer Michael Tapper (Bishop Allen, We Are Scientists) and was engineered by Beau Sorensen (Death Cab for Cutie, Sparklehorse). The album art and tracklist for this album is below.

More pictures and video from the MHOW show, and Yellow Ostrich album info below too...

Continue reading "Givers played MHOW w/ Yellow Ostrich (who announced a new album) -- pics & video"

Radiohead @ Roseland Ballroom in 2011 (more by Bao Nguyen)

Coachella which is taking place over the course of two weekends this year (April 13-15 and 20-22) revealed their 2012 lineup. Last week, Azealia Banks was the first artist confirmed, and earlier today they confirmed The Weeknd (maybe he found a band?), and before that, Jimmy Cliff, Breakbot, and Housse De Racket. The reunited Pulp then announced itself. The full lineup also includes headliners The Black Keys, Radiohead, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, not to mention, as predicted, the reunited At the Drive In and the reunited Mazzy Star (!), and Madness and Refused (!) and Jeff Mangum and many, many more that you can see below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2012 lineup announced (two weekends worth)"

Givers at Deluna Fest in October (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Givers have announced a North American tour which will take place this January, and be followed by an Australian tour in February. The North American tour includes a NYC show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 5. Tickets are on sale now. Two days later, they'll participate in the 50th anniversary Preservation Hall Jazz Band show at Carnegie Hall (1/7) with My Morning Jacket, Mos Def and others. Tickets for that show are still on sale. Most of the dates on the tour are with Young Man, though no opener has been announced for the MHOW show.

The PS22 Chorus recently covered Givers' song "Up Up Up." Check out a video of that cover, along with all Givers dates below...

Continue reading "Givers covered by PS22, announce tour (dates & video)"

My Morning Jacket at Lollapalooza in August (more by Grant MacAllister)

My Morning Jacket are currently on a tour that will conclude in NYC at Madison Square Garden on December 14 with Band of Horses. Tickets are still on sale and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to enter to win are below.

My Morning Jacket will also be special guests at the 50th Anniversary of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at Carnegie Hall on January 7 along with Mos Def, GIVERS, Tao Seeger, Allen Toussaint, Blind Boys of Alabama, Del McCoury Band, and Trombone Shorty. Tickets go on sale Friday (12/2) at 11 AM.

MMJ were just nominated for a Grammy for "Best Alternative Music Album" and performed too songs off that album on Jimmy Kimmel last night. Check out videos of their performance below.

All dates, contest details and videos below...

Continue reading "win tix see My Morning Jacket @ MSG, see them play Carnegie Hall w/ Preservation Hall Jazz Band, watch them on Kimmel..."

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin, words by BBG

Weeze & Matt & Kim @ Deluna Fest

Do you think Matt & Kim ever get depressed? Like down-in-the-dumps, face-on-the-bathroom-tile, razor-to-the-wrist bummed? And do you think any of that anger is channeled into their music in ways not visibly noticed? Is that perma-simpleton-smile actually a front for an aryan-supremacy agenda spelled out in morse code via the band's shiny light show? Head to a New Year's Eve celebration at Hammerstein Ballroom with Super Mash Brothers to do some investigation and report back if you come across some leads. Tickets are on sale. All of their dates are listed below.

Matt & Kim was one of many artists to perform in Florida at Deluna Fest from 10/14 - 10/16, joining names like Ra Ra Riot, Stars, Ladytron, Girl Talk, Weezer, Cake and others. Belated pictures from the first day of that festival that Jane's Addiction also played, are in this post. Many more below.

Ra Ra Riot has been touring since Deluna. They don't have anything scheduled in NYC, but they will be on the road for a while and all of their dates are also listed below...

Continue reading "Deluna Fest Day 1 pics w/ Weezer, Ladytron & many more, a Matt & Kim New Year's Eve show, Ra Ra Riot tour dates"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

EMA @ the Ace Hotel

If you weren't running around on weekdays seeing CMJ shows this year, maybe you were listening to the ones that were being broadcast live on KEXP at the Ace Hotel. Dominick went and saw at least three of them live. His pictures continue below...

Continue reading "Zola Jesus, Givers & EMA recorded KEXP CMJ sessions @ the Ace Hotel (pics)"

UMO @ the recent Vice party (more by Ryan Muir)

As just mentioned, both DOM & Unknown Mortal Orchestra will make appearances in the "SmartLounge" at Thompson Hotel in NYC during CMJ. Both artists also play a Pitchfork/Brooklyn Brewery-sponsored event at the Aloft hotel on Duffield Street in Brooklyn on Saturday, 10/22. Unknown Mortal Orchestra plays later that same night at Brooklyn Bowl with Givers, Free Energy and others.

In November DOM heads out on tour with Architecture in Helsinki.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra are still currently on your with Toro y Moi and will tour in Novmeber with Gauntlet Hair who are also coming for CMJ. All UMO dates below...

Continue reading "Speaking of DOM/Unknown Mortal Orchestra CMJ shows in hotels... "

Zola Jesus at Pitchfork Fest (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Seattle's KEXP will present free daytime live radio broadcasts during CMJ from the lobby of NYC's Ace Hotel again this year.

On October 19, Zola Jesus, We Are Augustines, Portugal. The Man, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah will perform during the day with "Matador, 4AD, and Rough Trade DJs" at night. On October 20, there will be performances by Widowspeak, Givers(who opens for Portugal. The Man at Webster Hall), Dum Dum Girls (who also plays Bowery Ballroom), and The Lonely Forest, and DJ sets by Acephale Records and RVNG INTL. On October 21, there will be performances by WATERS (who has other CMJ shows), EMA (who has two other CMJ shows), Atlas Sound, and one more TBA, and DJ sets by Group Tightener and Merge Records. You can just show up and watch, or else tune into KEXP to listen on those days.

Speaking of Zola Jesus, her great new LP, Conatus, came out today via Sacred Bones. Stream the entire thing at The Guardian. She has other CMJ shows at Knitting Factory and Le Poisson Rouge.

Full CMJ KEXP schedule below...

Continue reading "KEXP recording CMJ sets @ the Ace Hotel, new Zola Jesus out today (and still streaming)"

Wild Flag at Williamsburg Waterfront (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

The first round of CMJ 2011 artists have been announced. The initial list includes Neon Indian (Webster Hall with Purity Ring), CSS (Webster Hall with EMA and MEN), Zola Jesus (KF and LPR), Wild Flag (Bowery Ballroom with Eleanor Friedberger and Hospitality), Metronomy (MHOW), Portugal. The Man (T5 with Givers and Alberta Cross), Viva Brother, Wombats, The Good Natured), Kvelertak, Handsome Furs, Memoryhouse, Pharoahe Monch, and more.

The Viva Brother show is on October 19 at Bowery Ballroom with 1,2,3 and Kitten. Tickets are on sale now (or you can try to get in with your CMJ badge). All dates below.

The Wombats show is on October 19 at Webster Hall with The Postelles and The Good Natured. Tickets are on sale now (or you can try to get in with your CMJ badge). All dates below.

Other bands scheduled to play that aren't part of CMJ's initial announce include Still Corners, Shonen Knife at Public Assembly, PS I Love You, and Revolver. Full list below...

Continue reading "CMJ 2011 initial lineup (Handsome Furs, Viva Brother, Wombats, Memoryhouse, Kvelertak, Pharoahe Monch, more)"

Lykke Li @ Webster Hall in May (more by Amanda Hatfield)

today in NYC
* Whiplash @ UCB
* The Quavers @ Barbes
* Chia's Dance Party @ Barbes
* Half-Handed Cloud @ Cake Shop
* Ben Lee, Alexa Wilding @ City Winery
* Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen @ Littlefield
* Surfer Blood, Grand Rapids @ Mercury Lounge
* Jamie xx (DJ set), Brenmar @ Le Poisson Rouge
* The Raveonettes, Eternal Summers @ Maxwell's
* Mother Mother, Kevin Calaba @ Knitting Factory
* PardiGras, Oax, Martin Crane @ Mercury Lounge
* Tony Scherr Trio, Joey Hebdo @ The Living Room
* Karl Berger's Stone Workshop Orchestra @ The Stone
* Lykke Li, Timber Timbre @ Central Park Summerstage
* Robbers On High Street, Blackbells, Only Son @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Nitty Scott, Jasmine Solano, Genesis Be, Angel Haze, Ana Tijoux @ SOB's
* Kottonmouth Kings, Kingspade, The Dirtball, Johnny Richter, D-Loc, DJ Bobby B @ Highline Ballroom

So Percussion, Dan Deacon (Students from So Percussion's Summer Institute (SOSI) play the music of Dan Deacon) @ Le Poisson Rouge

Houston's Oax as seen HERE and HERE and HERE, are at Mercury Lounge tonight.

The TBA Martin Luther King Jr. free concert scheduled for Wingate Field tonight has been cancelled.

Lykke Li, who recently announced another tour, headlines a sold out Central Park Summerstage tonight. Get there early for Timber Timbre who just put out a new video.

Givers, who recently announced a tour with Portugal the Man, recorded a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR. Check it out below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"

Portgual. The Man at SXSW 2011 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Portugal. The Man released In the Mountain in the Clouds this week on Atlantic Records. Purchase the album as LP/MP3/CD on Amazon. The band will tour extensively in support of the album after they play Lollapalooza. The tour includes many dates with Alberta Cross including one during CMJ on October 20 at Terminal 5 with Givers also on the bill. Tickets are on sale now.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Portugal. The Man, Alberta Cross & Givers dates"

photos by Dana (Distortion) Yavin & Graeme Flegenheimer

Primus

Arcade Fire

Two New York men who got arrested here Friday never made it to Bonnaroo. That's because law officers allegedly found they were carrying over a pound of cocaine, 1,000 ecstasy pills, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.

Alberto R. Almonte, 40, and Joseph Cruz, 29, both of the Bronx, N.Y., are charged with possession of drugs for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia. Almonte is also charged with speeding.

According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, it was around 2 p.m. Friday when Trooper Matilda Mahaney clocked a 2006 Chevrolet Impala doing 83 in a 55 mile-per-hour zone on Highway 111 in Putnam County.

The trooper stopped the car "and discovered that the two occupants were enroute to Bonnaroo in Manchester," says a news release from the THP. [Herald Citizen]

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2011 -- Day 2 in pics (Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, NOFX, Grace Potter, Lil Wayne, Primus & more)"

photos by Tim Griffin

Givers @ Antone's

Givers made their television debut last night (6/14) with an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The band performed "Up, Up, Up" from their new LP In Light which was released June 7th on Glassnote. Check out their TV performance below.

Givers are currently on tour and play Bowery Ballroom on June 16th with Pepper Rabbit and Caddywhompus, both of whom were added as openers on multiple dates of the tour. Tickets to the NYC show are still available. Updated dates are below.

The same tour recently brought them to Bonnaroo and Sasquatch and to Austin on June 8th when they played Antone's with Family of The Year and Caddywhompus. Pictures from the Texas show are in this post (though none of Caddywhompus). More of them, the Fallon video and dates, below...

Continue reading "Givers on tour w/ Pepper Rabbit (updated dates), played Fallon & Antone's (video & dates)"

photos by Josh Darr

Wilco / Guided By Voices

"Wilco never makes the second record twice, which makes it doubly remarkable that so many of them are tremendous. As formidable as frontman Jeff Tweedy's catalog is, the sonically inventive rock band really stands out on stage -- the place where extreme technical skill meets the chemistry and rousing showmanship of passionate rock veterans. Of course, it helps that the group has the luxury of drawing highlights from seven very different records when it performs. To see Wilco on stage is to hear the best of the best."

And with this post, our 2011 Sasquatch basically concludes. Previous posts contain The Decembersts, Noah and the Whale, Rebecca Gates, Day 3 pictures, Archers of Loaf, Day 2 pictures, and more Day 2 pics with Day 1 too. The rest of the pictures from Day 4, below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2011 - the rest of Day 4 in pics (Wilco, Guided by Voices, Sharon Jones, Deerhunter, Chromeo & more)"

Here is the initial lineup for Willamette Week's MusicfestNW, scheduled for Sept. 7-11, 2011 in Portland, Oregon, and it's pretty great. The multi-venue fest includes big outdoor performances by Band of Horses (Sunday, Sept. 11), Explosions in the Sky (Saturday, Sept. 10), and Iron & Wine (Friday, Sept. 9), in addition to shows with everyone from Archers of Loaf to Big Freedia to Butthole Surfers to Neurosis. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 3rd. Check out the full list below...

Continue reading "MusicfestNW 2011 -- dates & initial lineup"

The Tulane Hullabaloo: For people who have never heard your music before, can you give a description of it?

Taylor Guarisco: It's celebratory, for sure, but it has direction, and that direction likes to change in odd places sometimes. It's from the South, so it's danceable. We used to call it afro-beat, dancey pants, country, folky, love music, but we prefer "feel good music" these days.

The Tulane Hullabaloo: What do you hope to accomplish with your debut album?

Taylor Guarisco: I think a big part of it, honestly, was everybody's undying focus and undivided attention on making these songs better and better every show that we played. Everybody really dedicated everything to it. We all had a huge question before this band existed which was: "Is playing music in a band what we're supposed to be doing right now?" Then we started this band, and it felt right. Everyone just focused on the fact that this was an opportunity to go further into that calling. Everybody dropped out of college, quit other bands or quit jobs and just focused on making these songs better.

The band will tour in May and June, hitting Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, and Bowery Ballroom on June 16th. Tickets for the NYC show are on sale now. All tour dates and a couple of videos below...

Continue reading "Givers releasing an LP on Glassnote, touring (dates)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Blood Red Shoes @ MHOW

After Chris left the BV Loft Party all the way back on Friday, October 22nd, he headed over to Music Hall of Williamsburg for the Blue Flowers-presented CMJ showcase for a lineup of mostly UK bands including Chapel Club, Everything Everything, and Blood Red Shoes (who toured North America with Sky Larkin in October). Pictures from that show are in this post.

The occasion (to post these belated pics)? SXSW has already announced an initial lineup of bands playing in Austin from March 16-20, 2011, and Chapel Club is on that list (and I wouldn't be surprised of the other 2 mentioned bands end up coming too). Also on the list: Lia Ices, Braids, Asobi Seksu, Wye Oak, Suuns, Sun Airway, A Place to Bury Strangers and more. Full list under the rest of the MHOW pictures, below...

Continue reading "Chapel Club played CMJ w/ Everything Everything & Blood Red Shoes (pics), playing SXSW 2011 (intial lineup)"

Stereogum listed the "40 Best New Bands of 2010". They have a lot more detail, but you can also check out their list, alphabetically, below...

Continue reading "Stereogum lists the "40 Best New Bands of 2010" "

Ra Ra Riot at BAM (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Ra Ra Riot will be making even more appearances in NYC in the coming month. The Syracuse band's onslaught begins on August 24th (Tuesday) when the band celebrates the release of it's new LP The Orchard (via Barsuk) with a FREE acoustic set at Soundfix Records at 6PM. Later that night, the band will be at a second FREE event, a 21+ DJ party at Brooklyn Bowl featuring the band and Vampire Weekend swapping turns on the wheels of steel (neither band is scheduled to play live music).

Less than one month after the band blesses NYC with those gratis events, Ra Ra Riot will play a two night stint at Bowery Ballroom (on 9/21 and 9/22) followed by another two night stint at MHOW (on 9/23 and 9/24). 9/21's support at Bowery has yet to be announced (tickets), but 9/22 at Bowery will feature Lower Dens (tickets), 9/23 at MHOW will feature North Highlands and We Barbarians (tickets), and 9/24 at MHOW will feature Amanaguchi (tickets). If each date will have two openers, then there's still a lot to be announced too.

As previously mentioned, the dates are part of a much larger tour that will see Ra Ra Riot play from sea to shining sea (and Bumbershoot) as part of a full US campaign towards total da-da-domination.

We Barbarians open much of the tour. Other tour openers and updated tour dates, and a video, below....

Continue reading "updated Ra Ra Riot dates, an in-store, DJ event, NYC openers"

Bear In Heaven is playing the Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 19th. Tickets are on sale now.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Deerhunter, Real Estate, Casino Versus Japan show at Webster Hall (you can also catch Deerhunter and Real Estate for free much sooner).

Tickets are on sale for the Thermals / Cymbals Eat Guitars show happening at Irving Plaza.

Paul Weller is playing Nokia Theatre on November 7th. Tickets are on sale.

Samiam, The Casting Out, I Hate Our Freedom, and Vs. Antelope are playing the Music Hall of Williamsburg on October 13th. Tickets are on sale now.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Wavves show at Music Hall of Williamsburg

Aziz Ansari is headlining the Beacon Theatre as part of the New York Comedy Festival on November 6th. Tickets are currently on presale. General sale starts Monday at 10am.

Other New York Comedy Festival tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster too., though the Louis CK show is on sale directly at Carnegie Hall.

Fitz & The Tantrums are playing The Mercury Lounge on September 25th. Tickets are on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Primus show at The Wellmont Theater

Sharon Van Etten and Kyp Malone are playing The Mercury Lounge on October 9th. Tickets are on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale at noon for The Sword show at Webster Hall

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Phantogram show at Music Hall of Williamsburg

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Black Mountain and Black Angels show at The Bowery Ballroom

Ra Ra Riot tourmates, Givers, are playing The Mercury Lounge on November 6th. Tickets are on sale at noon. It's Givers' only New York City show at the moment. They're not opening any of the four New York Ra Ra Riot dates.

Tunng is playing The Mercury Lounge on November 11th. Tickets are on sale at 9:30 PM.

Idlewild is playing The Bowery Ballroom on November 22nd and November 23rd. 2 Day Passes are also available for purchase. Tickets all on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale Monday, August 9 for the Joanna Newsom show at Carnegie Hall

ACL 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

October 8-10, 2010 | Zilker Park, Austin, TX

"The Austin City Limits Music Festival began as a modest, two-day event and now, as it enters it's 9th year, has become a perennial American music experience. Taking place at the heart of Austin, Texas in the legendary Zilker Park, ACL Festival has grown to 3 days, 8 stages and over 130 bands."

Continue reading "Austin City Limits announces 2010 festival lineup (Eagles, Muse, Phish, Strokes, MIA, LCD, Spoon, Gayngs, more) "