photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Wu-Tang Clan / Father John Misty / Grimes / the crowd @ Coachella, 4/14/2013

As the wind whipped through the final day of Coachella's first weekend, it became clear to those at the front of the stage that the techs getting the stage set up for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' festival-closing headlining set had a choice: take down the video screens that clearly were a part of the Peppers' production, or leave them up, risking them blowing uncontrollably around the stage. So they chose the former, leaving behind grandiose production elements in favor of solid -- but not-quite-revelatory -- musicianship.

It's a sort of metaphor for this year's edition of the festival, which never quite hit the watercooler moment. On the final day of the first weekend (the lineup repeats next week), there were no superstar surprises, no Daft Punk appearance and, during the Chili Peppers' set, not even a new song: just a major band, playing through their major hits, for a major audience.

It's been the story of this Coachella from the start, when the two-weekend blowout nearly sold out before the lineup was even announced, but on the field it became immediately obvious: This festival, at least this year, no longer was about "music fans" but about "Coachella fans" -- that is to say, the tens of thousands of revelers who packed the field had no specific allegiance to a band, a genre or an affiliation. - [Hollywood Reporter]

Other acts that played Sunday: Cloud Nothings as a three-piece, Ghost BC (who played too early for our photographer to catch), Jessie Ware (who also made an appearance during Disclosure's set) and San Francisco psych-garage kings Thee Oh Sees, who we also missed but were joined on sleigh bells by fellow Bay Area resident Ty Segall.

Pictures from day 1 are HERE and HERE, pictures from day 2 are HERE. More day 3 Coachella pictures below...

Continue reading "Coachella Day 3 Photos (Wu-Tang Clan, Vampire Weekend, Father John Misty, Grimes, Kurt Vile, James Blake ++ more)"

The Gaslight Anthem at Deluna Festival 2012 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

As mentioned, The Gaslight Anthem are going on a tour this year which hits the NYC area for shows in NJ this May and a Long Island show in June, but didn't previously include anything actually in NYC. That's changed now because the band have just announced two big summer shows happening at Pier 26 @ Hudson River Park on July 26 and 28. The first night is being opened by their Jersey punk forefathers The Bouncing Souls and the second night is being opened by their Springsteen worshipper forefathers The Hold Steady (who also play one of The Gaslight Anthem's NJ shows). Tickets for both Pier 26 shows go on sale Friday (4/12) at noon with a fan presale starting Tuesday (4/9) at 10 AM and an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (4/10) at 10 AM.

The Gaslight Anthem's other upcoming NYC-area dates include The Stone Pony in Asbury Park on 5/25 with The Hold Steady (sold out) and 5/26 with The Felice Brothers, and The Paramount in Huntington, NY on 6/9 with Tift Merritt. Tickets for the Stone Pony show with Felice Brothers and the Paramount show are still available.

Updated dates are listed, along with a video, below...

Continue reading "The Gaslight Anthem add Pier 26 shows with Bouncing Souls and The Hold Steady (separately) to tour"

Gaslight Anthem @ Deluna Fest 2013 (more by Dana [distortion] Yavin)

The Gaslight Anthem have a few summer tour East Coast dates, including a few in the NY area: two shows at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ on May 25 (w/ The Hold Steady) and May 26 (w/ Felice Brothers), and then The Paramount Theater in Huntington, NY on June 9 with Tift Merritt. Tickets to those shows are currently on artist presale and go on general sale on Friday (3/22) at 10 AM.

Tift Merrit will be joining The Gaslight Anthem on a bunch of their dates, but if you'd like to see Tift Merritt in NYC much sooner, as mentioned, she plays The Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Hall on Thursday (3/21), which is a collaboration with Simone Dinnerstein. Tickets are still available.

All upcoming Gaslight Anthem tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "The Gaslight Anthem announce East Coast dates, NY-area shows w/ The Hold Steady, Felice Brothers & Tift Merritt"

Click it for the bigger poster.

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Pearl Jam at Deluna Fest 2012

Over the two hours and 15 minutes that followed, [Pearl Jam] would play 28 songs, which included two encore breaks, that spanned 21 years and nine studio albums. Two of the band's most popular cover versions, "Interstellar Overdrive" by Pink Floyd and "Baba O'Riley" by The Who, were included, while Mike McCready took the second encore's final song, the oft unintelligible "Yellow Ledbetter" into a "Star Bangled Banner" guitar solo, a la Jimi Hendrix. The crowd was, as expected, one of the two biggest of the weekend... The band played seven of the 11 tracks from its legendary debut Ten, including: "Once," "Even Flow," "Alive," "Why Go," "Black," "Oceans" and "Porch." Vedder boasted of the band's terrific relationship with one another, one that has kept it in tact for more than two decades.

...the festival's most memorable moment came during Gaslight Anthem's Friday set. Lead singer Brian Fallon invited Eddie Vedder onstage, suggesting that anyone that came was there to work and there would be no "phoning it in." Vedder proceeded to perform Pearl Jam's "State of Love and Trust" with Gaslight Anthem... The early festival collaboration was its most talked about and its defining moment. -[al.com]

Continue reading "Deluna Festival 2012 -- day 1 in pics (Pearl Jam, Guided By Voices, Ben Folds Five, Fishbone, Band of Skulls + more)"

The Gaslight Anthem just kicked off a huge international tour in Canada last week and as mentioned, it hits NYC on November 28 and 29 at Terminal 5. Both of those shows are sold out but the band just added a third date happening at Terminal 5 on November 30. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (9/21) at noon. Still no openers have been announced for any of the three T5 shows.

An updated list of dates and the video for "45" are below.

Continue reading "The Gaslight Anthem add 3rd Terminal 5 show to tour (the other 2 are sold out) -- updated dates"

by Andrew Sacher

The Gaslight Anthem at Lollapalooza - 8/5/12 (via Daniel Johnson)

The Gaslight Anthem released their first major label album and fourth overall, Handwritten, late last month and have been touring profusely for it throughout the year. They've already hit NYC twice this year, with shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Webster Hall. Now they've got a ton of more international dates scheduled for late summer into fall, and they'll return to NYC on November 28 and 29 at Terminal 5. Tickets for both NYC shows go on sale Friday (8/10) at noon.

Handwritten has been receiving pretty mixed reactions. SPIN, Guardian and Pitchfork gave the album pretty mediocre to negative reviews, whereas the punk scene is loving it; Punknews and Altpress gave it near-perfect scores and Absolute Punk did give it a perfect score. It's not just the punks though, Stereogum awarded it 'album of the week' the same week that Passion Pit and Purity Ring's excellent albums were released. I think Handwritten is pretty great, and definitely the band's best since The '59 Sound. It doesn't quite reach the heights of that album, but opening track/lead single "45" is the most immediate single since "The '59 Sound," and if Handwritten is an example of what major label rock sounds like in 2012, I'm very okay with that. What do you think?

The Gaslight Anthem were just in Chicago for Lollapalooza over the weekend. They performed on Sunday (8/5), playing mostly off '59 Sound and Handwritten. If you haven't been keeping up with our Lollapalooza coverage, pics of day 1 are HERE and pics of day 2 are HERE. Pics of day 3 are coming soon.

You can check out a video of their entire Lollapalooza set, the setlist, and a list of all upcoming tour dates below.

Continue reading "Gaslight Anthem played Lollapalooza, expand tour, playing 2 Terminal 5 shows (dates, video & setlist)"

Stickers covering the wall tell some of the story.

Bold letters and designs shout out names such as Spredhaus, All Eyes West and Dinosaur Eyelids -- as well as dozens of other bands who performed there.

"People have told me, 'Don't take down that wall,' " said Mike Barrood, new owner of the Court Tavern, the legendary New Brunswick bar and music venue that closed in January.

Barrood, 33, is renovating the place and hopes to open within a month.

"A lot of the old customers called and offered to help and work for nothing," he said.

"Actually, people don't want it fixed up," he said of patrons who affectionately remember the scruffy-grungy atmosphere at the Church Street venue that gave bands their start.

Drummer Benny Horowitz remembers playing at the Court Tavern with six bands.

"I celebrated my 21st birthday there," said Horowitz, now with the Gaslight Anthem, a New Brunswick-based group that tours internationally. The band's first show was at the Court Tavern. [NJ.com]

The Gaslight Anthem's song "The Diamond Church Street Choir" is about the Court Tavern. They play Webster Hall tonight, and talk about the club and its booker Andy Diamond, in the video clip below...

Continue reading "Court Tavern renovating and reopening with new owner"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Bamboozle wrapped up with their third and final day of the festival on Sunday, 5/20. Day 3 was the one headlined by Bon Jovi, and needless to say... we weren't so sure how that one was gonna go over. Hollywood Reporter loved it, saying "Bon Jovi still manages to get a huge crowd reaction simply by flashing his million-dollar smile." Meanwhile, Amanda Remling in her IB Times review, said, "The set wasn't bad...but as someone in their early 20's, I didn't go to Bamboozle pumped up to see Bon Jovi perform, even though he received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities from my Alma mater."

Bon Jovi wasn't the only artist to close out the festival who call Jersey home. Day 3 also had sets by Jersey natives Bouncing Souls and Gaslight Anthem, both of whom are pictured below. We've also got pics of comedian/actor Andrew Dice Clay, NYHC mainstays Murphy's Law, Buckcherry, and The White Panda.

Pics of day 1 are HERE, pics of day 2 are HERE, and more from day 3 below...

Continue reading "Bamboozle Day 3 pics (Bon Jovi, Bouncing Souls, Gaslight Anthem, Andrew Dice Clay & more)"

The Gaslight Anthem at Radio City in 2010 (more by Chris La Putt)

The Gaslight Anthem, who previewed material from their upcoming major label debut, Handwritten, at MHOW last week before playing Bamboozle over the weekend, have announced an extensive tour of the US and Canada this summer and fall. The first leg will go down this July after they play the Metallica-headlined Orion Music & More festival in Atlantic City. That run culminates in a NYC show at Webster Hall on July 24. Tickets for the Webster Hall show are not on sale yet but check ticketmaster for updates.

After heading to Europe in August, they'll return for more North American dates which include shows with Hot Water Music (who play their second of two NYC shows TONIGHT [5/22]) and Rise Against, but none of those dates are in NYC.

The Gaslight Anthem have released more details on Handwritten, which is due out July 24 via Mercury, including the first single, "45," album art, and tracklist, all of which you can check out below. They've also announced that surrounding the July leg of their tour, they'll appear on The Late show with David Letterman on June 28 and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on July 27.

A list of all Gaslight Anthem tour dates, the "45" song stream, album art and tracklist are below.

Continue reading "The Gaslight Anthem announce North American tour (dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

A$AP Rocky at Coachella 2012 (more by David Andrako)

As mentioned, the Bamboozle festival goes down in Asbury Park this weekend (May 18-20). The festival, which has a continuing history of booking some of the lamest pop punk bands around, like Boys Like Girls, The All American Rejects, and Never Shout Never, has a few interesting/odd inclusions this year. For one, Bon Jovi is one of the headliners. Not only could they probably sell out an Asbury Park show without the rest of the Bamboozle lineup, but do any pop punkers want to see them anyway? Or did mom just need somewhere to be while her kids were seeing The Maine?

The other two headliners don't exactly fit the Bamboozle stereotype either: brostep tycoon Skrillex and grunge torchbearers Foo Fighters. But what's most interesting to us is within this odd mix of mall punk and Grammy Awards Winners, there's actually a handful of acts that we'd love to see, including many of our favorite new rappers, and some emo/pop punk forefathers that knew the difference between throwing a little melody into their punk and straightening their hair. If you do plan on making the trek to NJ this weekend, here's some recommendations of who to check out at the fest:

On Friday (5/18), bounce music party-starter Big Freedia, former Odd Future member Casey Veggies (who actually deserves to exist without that prefix), and Kreayshawn play the Beach Party Stage. Meanwhile, Anamanaguchi will be at the Temple of Boozle Stage. You can also catch Big Freedia in NYC on Thursday (5/17) at Santos before Bamboozle. Tickets are still available.

On Saturday (5/19), the Zumiez Stage will be graced by '90s greats Hot Water Music (who play Gramercy on 5/21-22) and The Promise Ring (who play Irving on 5/20). You can also catch some solid hip hop sets at the Beach Party Stage from A$AP Rocky, Action Bronson, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire and Iggy Azalea (who plays SOBs on Thursday (5/17)). Blink-182 were also supposed to play on Saturday but they had to cancel their May dates due to illness and were replaced by My Chemical Romance.

On Sunday (5/20), fellow Jersey punks The Gaslight Anthem (who will preview new material at their sold out MHOW show TONIGHT (5/16)) and The Bouncing Souls (who celebrate their new record at Webster Hall on June 9) will be at the fest. Catch the Gaslight Anthem on Main Stage and the Souls on Zumiez Stage. Star Slinger will also play the Temple of the Boozle stage.

And last, literally last, but not least, well maybe least, and defintely WTF, this year's Paramount Stage will be closed down by none other than comedy legend Andrew Dice Clay who plays after fellow 80s & 90s entertainers Dramarama (who also play the afterparty at Stone Pony) who play after 1996 hit makers Spacehog (who you can also catch at Brooklyn Bowl Thursday).

Tickets for the festival are still available.

Did we leave anyone good out? Check out the set times below...

Continue reading "A guide to Bamboozle's wtf lineup: (Big Freedia, Skrillex, A$AP Rocky, Bon Jovi, Hot Water Music, Mr. MFN eXquire, Promise Ring, Bouncing Souls, Action Bronson & more) "

The Gaslight Anthem at Radio City in 2010 (more by Chris La Putt)

The Gaslight Anthem have finished recording their new album, Handwritten, which they hope to release this summer. The album will be their major label debut (it's due out on Mercury Records) and was produced by Brendan O'Brien.

Plans for a North American tour are forthcoming, but before that, they'll be previewing material from the new album in Brooklyn on May 16 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. It will be an intimate show for the band whose previous trip to NYC was a Radio City show in late 2010. Artist presale tickets went on sale yesterday and are sold out. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday (4/13) at noon. The show is doubling as a benefit for Food Bank NYC. Here's what the band has to say about the benefit:

For this show, The Gaslight Anthem and Bowery Presents are working with Food Bank For New York City to hold a Food & Fund Drive to collect canned goods and funds for hungry New Yorkers. Please join us in bringing nonperishable food donations and putting them in the white food drive bins located by the front door of the venue. The top ten most needed items include canned beans, milk, fruit, vegetable, juice, meat, fish, soup, stew and peanut butter.

We are also holding a Virtual Food Drive as another way to donate, information/link coming shortly.

All announced dates are listed below...

Continue reading "The Gaslight Anthem will preview new material at a small Brooklyn show before touring Europe (dates)"

Lupe Fiasco is currently in Australia as part of the Big Day Out Festival, touring with names like Iggy Pop, Deftones, Grinderman, and countless others. After returning back to the states, he'll get ready to welcome his new LP Lasers into this world, due on March 8th. The Chicago MC will celebrate the release with a date at Webster Hall the night before it hits the streets and tickets go on sale at noon today (1/28). Lupe recently released the first single from the LP, the Modest Mouse-sampling "The Show Must Go On" via iTunes.

Tickets also go on sale at noon for Rick Ross at Best Buy Theater on March 4th, and fortunately if you can't make that show you can make it out to see him support Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj at Nassau Coliseum on March 27th as part of the I Am Music II tour. Ticket info for that show hasn't been released yet. All dates below.

Those of you who want to see Lil Wayne but might prefer to see him in a much (much) different setting than the third of three hip hop acts (instead with Motley Crue, Waka Flocka Flame, Insane Clown Posse & Bruno Mars?) can catch the recently freed MC at Bamboozle 2011 in New Jersey. Tickets are still available for the festival in multi-day, and single day pass increments.

And lets say, for some godforsaken reason you felt like a double dose of Insane Clown Posse.... that can be arranged. Insane Clown Posse has taken time off of their busy wrestling schedule to shower New York City with Faygo on April 29th at Gramercy Theater. Tickets are still available all of you Juggalos and Juggalettes!

Full Bamboozle lineup and all Lil Wayne tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Lupe Fiasco adds record release show, Rick Ross playing NY before tour w/ Nicki Minaj & Lil Wayne (who plays Bamboozle w/ Insane Clown Posse) -- lineups & dates"

In what is now an annual tradition, we're playing catch up during this final week of the year. If this post seems outdated, that's because it is. Happy Holidays!

photos by Chris La Putt

Gaslight Anthem @ Radio City

After 2008's breakthrough album, 'The '59 Sound', The Gaslight Anthem found themselves pigeonholed as Springsteen wannabes. Sure, he's a huge inspiration and the band quoted a few of The Boss' lyrics on that record, but they're equally as infl uenced by punk and soul - previous lyrical citations include Sam Cooke, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and The Clash. Still, with this year's sublime third eff ort, 'American Slang', the band decided it was time to move away from all of that. "There are no quotes on this record," explains singer Brian Fallon. "This is our record. It's not Bruce's record, it's not Bob Dylan's record. It's ours, the record we made on our own." [Clash Music]

Continue reading "The Gaslight Anthem & Rival Schools played Radio City Music Hall (pics & setlist)"

Glassjaw pics by Nikki Sneakers, Rival School pics by Chris La Putt, words by BBG

Rival Schools have announced their new LP, Pedals, due on March 8th via Photo Finish/Atlantic. The release will be celebrated that day at Santos Party House as part of a short stint of tour dates for the band. Ticket info is forthcoming. Dates are below.

Pedals is currently up for pre-order at the band's site in various different incarnations (Rival Schools shoes? wow). The band also has a new video from the LP, for "Shot After Shot", which you can watch below.

Meanwhile, Sammy Siegler's old band Glassjaw were the secret guest headliner at Knitting Factory on Sunday (12/12) for the Sons Modern Holiday Party which also featured Unearthly Trance and Ultrageist. Much like they did last year at Maxwell's, Glassjaw's appearance was unannounced as they have a second upcoming show in the near future, January 1st at the sold-out Best Buy Theater. Pictures from the Brooklyn show are in this post.

Glassjaw/Thursday/Acid Tiger member side-project United Nations doesn't have any dates coming up, but both Acid Tiger and Thursday have some.

I Hate Our Freedom is another now-active Thursday side-project. Or to be more specific, they are Joseph Grillo (GARRISON, GOD FIRES MAN) Justin Scurti (MILHOUSE), Scott Winegard (TEXAS IS THE REASON, HOUSE & PARISH) and Tucker Rule (THURSDAY). I Hate Our Freedom plays Maxwell's on Thursday, 12/16 with Something About Death Or Dying who are "a new hardcore band featuring The Gaslight Anthem guitarist Alex Rosamilia."

Tucker Rule has also been playing drums in Murphy's Law lately. Maybe you'll see him behind the kit when Murphy's Law plays Trash Bar on New Years Eve with THE KRAYS, YUPPICIDE, SETBACK, CAUGHT IN A TRAP, and RUNNY.

Rival Schools' last NYC show was opening for Gaslight Anthem at Radio City Music Hall. A set of pictures from their set at that show is in this post too.

More Glassjaw pictures from Knitting Factory (sorry, none of Unearthly Trance or Ultrageist) and all Rival Schools tour dates, pictures and videos, below.

Continue reading "Rival Schools tour dates, Glassjaw secret show pics, new side projects & a Murphy's Law show on New Years Eve"

I wonder what he thinks of Wavves. Listen to him say it in the Sirius XM clip below...

Continue reading "Bruce Springsteen likes Best Coast... "

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) "

After a hectic day of updating the constantly updating Bonnaroo lineup page, the entire thing has been announced. Gwar, Norah Jones, and the rest of the lineup below...

Continue reading "the complete 2010 Bonnaroo lineup (Stevie Wonder, The Melvins, Kings of Leon, Isis, Local Natives & many more) "