The 10th Anniversary ACL Festival line-up is on the books. Stevie Wonder, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Coldplay, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Nas & Damian "Jr Gong" Marley and Cee Lo top the bill of the over 130 bands. Bright Eyes, Social Distortion, Empire of the Sun, Santigold, Pretty Lights, TV On The Radio, Skrillex, Big Boi and Randy Newman are also on tap to rock September 16-18.

3-Day passes are sold out. 1-Day passes go on sale at 10am. Full lineup below...

Continue reading "Austin City Limits 2011 festival lineup is here, tickets on sale"

"After a brief respite from the road, we're coming back to the good ole USofA. We've confirmed a two-week run of shows in the midwest and along the eastern seaboard in July. We're kicking things off on the weekend of July 8th-10th with a couple of festival performances... [and] then head east, including a return to Terminal 5 in New York City on July 14th." - Gomez

Though the full slate of dates for Gomez's US trek have yet to be revealed, tickets are currently on fan presale for their NYC show at Terminal 5 on July 14th. Tickets go on regular sale on Friday (4/15). The Gomez dates are in celebration of the band's new LP, Whatever's On Your Mind, due this June. The band is giving away a new track for the price of your email.

At least one date on Gomez's trek (Chicago) is part of the previously mentioned DMB Caravan (thats Dave Matthews Band, for rills), a touring festival that includes a bro party in Atlantic City from June 24 - 26th at Bader Field. Though Gomez isn't on board for the NJ stop, the three-day NJ festival will feature appearances from The Flaming Lips, Damien Marley, Ray LaMontagne, Bassnectar, Dr. Dog, Fitz & The Tantrums, The Budos Band and many, many others. Full lineup is at the DMB Caravan site, and AC tix are HERE.

Based on what is posted on the Flaming Lips' own tour page, and on the Dave Matthews festival site, it looks like the Lips will not be performing a full album in NJ, though it's confusing because they will be performing "Dark Side of the Moon" at the Chicago stop (which is the same weekend they perform "The Soft Bulletin" in the same city which is also confusing). Regardless, there are still no full album shows in NYC, or NYC dates at all.

Gomez dates below...

Continue reading "Gomez announce dates, The Flaming Lips playing Dave Matthews thing in NJ (but not performing a full album?)"

Bettye Lavette at Highline Ballroom (more by Jacob Blickenstaff )

A quick reminder that one of the greatest songwriters of all-time, Neil Young, will be celebrated at Carnegie Hall in two days (2/10) as part of a benefit for music & arts programs of underpriviledged youth. The bill is beyond diverse, featuring The Roots, Nada Surf, Glen Hansard, DeVotchka, J Mascis and Bettye Lavette just to name a few of the twenty+ that are on board. "100% of the net proceeds from this event" will benefit charities like Fixing Instruments for Kids in Schools, Church Street School for Music & Art, The Pinwheel Project, Music Unites, The American Symphony Orchestra and Young Audiences New York, so pick up your tickets with a clear conscious!

Meanwhile, quite a few of the Neil Young-tribute artists have recently been or will be very active. Glen Hansard recently played City Winery and the Doveman show at LPR. Patti Smith & Jesse Smith are scheduled to play the Tibet benefit at Carnegie Hall in March. When Questlove of The Roots isnt going to see Prince or spinning at Brooklyn Bowl, he can be found on Jimmy Fallon. Nada Surf recently played Mercury Lounge and Rock Shop. DeVotchKa will play Highline in March with El Mariachi Bronx. Juliana Hatfield & Evan Dando were just at Maxwell's and the Bell House. J Mascis has his upcoming tour with shows at Mercury Lounge and MHoW.

Ben Ottewell of Gomez plays the Neil Young event and an early solo show at Mercury Lounge the next day.

And last, but certainly not least, Bettye Lavette, besides paying tribute to the great rock'n roll patriarch from the North, also has quite a NYC residency in the spring when she'll set up shop at Cafe Carlyle from 5/24 - 6/3 (no shows on 5/29, 5/30). Ticketing info is forthcoming, but all tour dates, the full Neil Young Tribute lineup and some videos are below...

Continue reading "Neil Young tribute show coming, Bettye Lavette playing shows at Cafe Carlyle & elsewhere, Ben Ottewell will be at Merc"

photos by Graeme Flegenheimer

The eighth annual Bonnaroo drew about 75,000 people to 700 acres of farmland here in Manchester, 60 miles from Nashville, for a lineup headlined by a jam band (the reunited Phish, playing three-hour shows on Friday and Sunday), rockers whose careers are measured in decades (Bruce Springsteen, Nine Inch Nails and David Byrne) and rappers who now qualify as old school (the Beastie Boys). [NY Times]

Far from a complete representation of what went down in Tennessee from June 11-14, but nonetheless, one set of pictures from the fest (catching up this weekend), below...

Continue reading "a set of pictures from Bonnaroo 2009 "

"Though promoters around the country report strong early ticket sales for festivals and summer tours, the recession is causing jitters. This year Coachella, which has the most glamorous reputation of all American festivals, began selling tickets on layaway, and 18 percent of its customers took that option, Mr. Tollett said.

The proliferation of big festivals, like Bonnaroo near Nashville and Lollapalooza in Chicago, has not been without casualties. This year Langerado in Miami shut down, citing the economy. The Pemberton Festival in British Columbia is on hiatus after only one year, although its promoter, Live Nation, said the problem was permit delays." [NY Times]

With all the leaks of bands playing Lollapalooza this year, there are almost no surprises in the official lineup announcement, except maybe the Animal Collective DJ set... The whole thing below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2009 - the official & complete lineup"

Tickets are on Am Ex presale for the Phoenix show happening at Terminal 5.

Tickets are on Am Ex presale for the 2nd Shins show happening at Terminal 5.

Tickets are on Am Ex presale for the Gomez show happening at Terminal 5.

Other tickets also went on sale today.

The pic above (courtesy of Gomez's Twitter) comes from the group's Friday, April 3rd show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Gomez also played the Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday, March 31st, and other North American dates, including SXSW.

Next up for the UK band is a string of April UK/Ireland gigs, and then this summer they return for NYC for a June 1st show at Terminal 5. Tickets ($27.50) for that one go on sale Friday, April 10th at noon.

The Terminal 5 show is in advance of Gomez's scheduled stop at Bonnaroo, so expect more dates leading up to the June 11-14th fest.

All tour dates and a video of Gomez at SXSW below...

Continue reading "Gomez played Bowery & MHOW, playing Terminal 5"

ATO Records is proud to announce that Gomez will be embarking on a string of spring US dates in support of their soon-to-be released sixth studio album "A New Tide." The band will kick off the tour at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX, then head up the east coast to play a very special CD release show on March 31 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. Appearing on nearly half of the dates will be Josh Ritter, who will be performing with a full band...

...In celebration of the upcoming release, fans can get a taste of "A New Tide" via their official homepage. A free download of "Airstream Driver" is available now at gomeztheband.com. Set for release on March 31, the new album marks a return to the always-freewheeling British band's more experimental roots, with songs like "Win Park Slope" and "Airstream Driver" evincing a spirit born of boundless imagination and a longstanding collaborative relationship.

Tickets go on sale at noon for March 31st at Bowery Ballroom and April 3rd at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Josh Ritter is not playing either of those NYC shows, but he is headlining Wellmont Theater in Jersey on April 4th (one day after Gomez's Brooklyn show). Tickets for that are now on presale, go on regular sale Saturday.

All dates below...

Continue reading "Gomez & Josh Ritter - 2009 Tour Dates (some together)"

Crystal Castles @ MHOW - New Years Eve (more by Ryan Muir)

Al Green @ the Wellmont Theater - Nov 2008 (more by Eric M Townsend)

Superfly Productions and A.C. Entertainment are excited to announce the initial lineup for the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The eighth annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 11 - 14 on the same beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. Every year Bonnaroo seeks to make history by offering unique and exclusive performances by rock's greatest legends as well as its most significant newcomers. A full list of confirmed acts follows, and more will be announced in the coming weeks. The final Bonnaroo 2009 lineup will total over 120 bands and over 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days. Tickets go on sale exclusively through www.bonnaroo.com on Saturday, February 7 at 12:00 PM Eastern.

As rumored, Bruce Springsteen (who just played the Superbowl Halftime show) and Phish (who just had some trouble selling tickets to other shows) are headlining this year's Bonnaroo. Nine Inch Nails (who played Lollapalooza last year), Beastie Boys, David Byrne (who has two shows coming up at Radio City), Wilco, Al Green, Erykah Badu, TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs (who are also playing Coachella), Andrew Bird (who just played Carnegie Hall), The Decemberists, Bon Iver, Animal Collective (who are very popular right now), Neko Case, Jenny Lewis, Santogold, Grizzly Bear (who have a new album coming out), St. Vincent, Ted Leo, Crystal Castles, and many others are also on the bill according to the now-officially announced initial lineup.

Coachella announced their initial lineup less than a week earlier.

Metallica played Bonnaroo in 2008. Metallica played NY & NJ this past weekend.

Full (initial) 2009 Bonnaroo lineup below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo announces initial 2009 lineup (Bruce Springsteen, Phish, Beastie Boys, NIN, Wilco, Animal Collective...)"