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)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Grace Potter sat in the grass with her guitar Wednesday, outside her home in Waitsfield, and wrote a new song. Its called "The Mad Mad River."

For years, Potter had resisted the temptation to write about Vermont, she said. "I thought it was kind of cheesy," Potter said.

But in the sunshine Wednesday, a hint of fall in the air a beautiful moment three days after coming home from the road to flood-stricken Waitsfield, Potter wrote about the place "that is such a deep part of who I am."

The chorus is: "There's hope in the valley after the 100-year flood/because the Mad Mad River runs in our blood."

Potter, 28, will debut the song Oct. 9 at the Flynn Theater in Burlington, where she and her band, the Nocturnals, will play one of two benefit concerts for Vermont flood relief. [Burlington Free Press]

Meanwhile, after Wilco vacated the premises, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals (download an MP3 HERE) headlined their own show outside at Central Park Summerstage aka Rumsey Playfield on Saturday night (9/24). Here are some pictures. They continue below...

Continue reading "Grace Potter, Big Head Todd and the Monsters & Floating Action played Summerstage (pics)"

Lollapalooza last year (more by Josh Darr)

Lollapalooza celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with some huge names on its just-announced lineup. See it in full below.

The festival has obviously changed over the years. What started out as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction with a 'touring festival' lineup that included the Rollins Band, Nine Inch Nails, Butthole Surfers, and Souxsie & The Banshees, has turned into a one-weekend Chicago festival that Lady Gaga co-headlined last year. As leaked a while ago, Foo Fighters, Muse and Eminem all play this year, as will Coldplay, Cee Lo Green, and My Morning Jacket along with the reunited Cars and the continuing-to-be-reunited Big Audio Dynamite and Death From Above 1979, and a bunch of other bands which may or may not be worth the ticket price depending on how you feel about the headliners and generally seeing bands in big, hot, outdoor crowded parks (Lollapalooza happens in Chicago's Grant Park from August 5th - 7th).

Full 2011 Lineup and a couple of videos (one from 1991, one from 2010), below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2011 lineup announced"

Grace Poter in Prospect Park in 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Tickets go on sale at noon for the show Animal Collective is playing in Prospect Park.

Tickets also went on sale at noon for the show Cut Copy is playing in Prospect Park.

Tickets go on sale at noon for a show Grace Potter is playing in Central Park in September (Sat, 09/24/11, to be exact).

and speaking of Summerstage, they just announced their entire summer lineup (free shows included).

photos by Graeme Flegenheimer

getting ready backstage @ Higher Ground - 12/28/2010

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals kicked off a four-night New Years run at Higher Ground in Vermont last night (12/28). Pictures from that show are in this post, and they do it again tonight, and then on New Years Eve, and then one more time on January 1st. The Vermont band will then spend most of the first quarter of 2011 on the road. In March they'll play Irving Plaza in NYC two nights in a row - March 9th and 10th. Tickets are on sale. All dates and more Vermont pictures, below...

Continue reading "Grace Potter & the Nocturnals kicked off their New Years run @ Higher Ground in Vermont (pics), touring (2011 dates)"

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals @ Rockwood in April (more by Chris La Putt)

XPoNential Music Festival will take place over three days, July 16th-18th in the waterfront Wiggins Park in Camden, NJ. The lineup includes Rosanne Cash, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, The Walkmen, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes, Free Energy, Nicole Atkins and Dawes. Tickets and three-day passes are on sale now.

The current lineup as of now (more are TBA) and more info are posted below...

Continue reading "XPoNential Music Festival in Camden - 2010 lineup & tickets"

photos by Chris La Putt

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals played a secret show at Rockwood Music Hall's new Stage 2 last night (4/22). The gig came between the appearance they made in Times Square for Earth Day that morning, and the one they're playing for Earth Day at Grand Central today.

"Stage 2" has been open less than a month. Larger than Stage 1, the 150+ capacity room had tables set up but there was plenty of room for anyone that showed up. It got packed by the end of their performance though. Playing from 8:30 until almost 10, their set was a mix of old and brand new songs. Grace was talkative and thanked the venue for setting up the show so last minute. Nocturnals bassist Catherine Popper has played Rockwood (Stage 1) many times by herself (and with others). Pictures and videos from the show continue below.

Also below, a set of never-before-published pics from a show Grace Potter headlined at the much larger Webster Hall in 2008. It's the same venue she'll headline on June 12th of this year. Tickets go on sale at noon. Pictures below...

Continue reading "Grace Potter & the Nocturnals played a secret show (pics)"

Rockwood Music Hall's rumored new space opened earlier this month with a show by Zach Williams. It's right next door and they call it "Stage 2". Now I've Heard Everything reports that, "Stage 2 will have a capacity of 150 to 200, depending on the configuration, is adjacent to the current Rockwood Music Hall (which will get the retronym Stage 1) but must be entered separately...

"But one note: the name Stage 2, while true and accurate has absolutely no pizazz. Some friends and I decided a while back that this new larger place should be called The Rockwood Colosseum. And to some of us, that is what it will be."

Poundcake (Teddy Thompson, Jeff Hill and Ethan Eubanks) was scheduled to play the Rockwood Colosseum tonight (4/22) at 8pm followed by Teddy playing his own set at 10, but now Rockwood lists Poundcake at 10, and "Special Guest" at 8. Who is the special guest? Rumor says is it's the band that played a free show in Times Square this morning and who stays in town to play another Friday at Grand Central.

Full Rockwood Music Hall schedule (stage 1 and 2) at their website.

A video of Poundcake performing live, below...

Continue reading "Rockwood Music Hall "Stage 2" now open (Grace Potter playing there before Poundcake tonight?)"

Grace Potter played a short 15 minute set in an even shorter shiny purple dress in the middle of Times Square in honor of Earth Day this morning (they went on around 11:30am). The Earth Day festivities continue as I type this. Backed by her band The Nocturnals, there was a cheering crowd in front of her and completely random passerbys to her left - many who didn't even turn their heads to see who was performing to their right. The pictures in this post were grabbed from the live feed.

If you missed it, there's an even longer and also free and more conveniently timed Grace Potter and the Nocturnals show happening outside Grand Central on Friday, also in honor of Earth Day ("6:00PM. 45 minute set. Free Show. Outside of Grand Central Station on Vanderbilt, between 42nd and 45th")

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals will then return to NYC again on June 12th for a headlining show at Webster Hall. It's part of a few new dates they announced in support of their new album "set to be released digitally on iTunes on 5/25 and physically on 6/8". The NYC show and a Boston one are on fan presale now. The NYC show then goes on general sale Friday at noon (Boston goes on sale Saturday).

All dates, the band's new video, and couple more screencaps from Times Square below...

Continue reading "Grace Potter played Times Square, playing outside Grand Central, Webster Hall & other shows - 2010 dates "

Pete Seeger @ Clearwater Festival 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Clearwater Festival, the annual benefit for the Hudson River environmental group of the same name, will be happening this year at Croton-on-Hudson's Croton Point Park on June 19th & 20th. Pete Seeger, the non-profit's founder, plays every year - joining him this year will be Steve Earle, Rhett Miller, Joan Osborne, Buckwheat Zydeco, Felice Bros and more. More of the initial lineup is below. Tickets to the fest are on sale (and currently almost half the door price). Pictures from last year's day one are HERE and day two are HERE.

A bit farther Upstate in Hunter, NY, the three-day Mountain Jam will be happening June 4th-6th. The lineup for that includes Gov't Mule, Levon Helm & Friends, Drive-By Truckers, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, The Avett Brothers, Dr. Dog, Les Claypool, Jay Farrar (of Son Volt), These United States, Justin Townes Earle (note dad, playing above) and Tao Rodriguez-Seeger Band (the same, except grandpa). The full current lineup is below, and tickets are on sale.

Later this summer (in July), Camp Bisco will be in Mariaville, NY.

Lineups so far for both fests are below...

Continue reading "Mountain Jam (6/4-6) the Clearwater Festival (6/19-20) have announced initial 2010 NY concert lineups & tickets "

Lilith Fair, which has been dormant since 1999, will reform this year for a North American tour this summer. Exact dates and venues are forthcoming, but the ongoing list of confirmed acts is impressive (though they won't all play every city). The lineup currently includes Beth Orton, Cat Power, Emmylou Harris, Erykah Badu, the Gossip, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Heart, Indigo Girls, Janelle Monae, Ke$ha, La Roux, Lights, Loretta Lynn, Mary J. Blige, Metric, Miranda Lambert, Norah Jones, Rosie Thomas, Sarah McLachlan, Serena Ryder, Sheryl Crow, Tara MacLean, Tegan and Sara.

New York City is one of the tour's confirmed stops. The rest of those and the fest's so-far lineup are below...

Continue reading "Lilith Fair 2010 (Cat Power, Norah Jones, Tegan & Sara, Janelle Monae, Metric, Grace Potter, Gossip, Erykah Badu, Beth Orton, Sia, many more)"

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals @ Prospect Park in August (more by Chris La Putt)

Weekly Davespeak: I understand you have another album planned with T-Bone [Burnett] this year..

Grace Potter: Actually, we've already finished the record. We were in L.A. for a little under two months. We recorded the entire album in a very amount of time. It is coming out in October.

That T-Bone Burnett-produced album, Medicine, is set for an October 27th release on Hollywood Records.

The band will be on tour with Brett Dennen this fall. That jaunt includes a November 20th show at Terminal 5. Tickets for the whole tour are on presale now. Tickets for the NY show are also on AmEx presale. General sale starts September 11th at noon.

Grace Potter's last NYC show was with Deer Tick in Prospect Park. Deer Tick also just announced yet another NYC show.

The band has post-tour plans for a four-night New Years Eve run in their homestate of Vermont, a January gig at Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble in Woodstock, and a show after that in Jamaica (not Queens) with Gov't Mule (Grace is very popular in the jam band scene). All upcoming tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Grace Potter & the Nocturnals - 2009 tour dates (Terminal 5)"

photos by Graeme Flegenheimer

"It took Patricia Mudnich and Joshua Garcia two weeks, driving their RV about 3,100 miles in a winding route from Santa Cruz, Calif., to arrive at the Rothbury music festival in West Michigan.

Cool weather and a short wait in line after the campground opened Thursday morning didn't faze them in the least. The diehard fans of The String Cheese Incident -- the popular jam band which plays its only reunion show of the summer at the second-year festival Friday -- were all smiles.

"The lineup was so impressive, we could not turn it down," said Mudnich, 41, a high school English teacher who estimated the couple spent more than $2,100 on the long trip, including festival tickets, gasoline and side trips to tourist spots such as Yellowstone National Park and Mount Rushmore. "I used to go to these festivals all the time, but now I can only fit it into the summer."

For devoted rock fans flocking this week to the remote Double JJ Ranch from far-flung places across the United States and beyond, Rothbury has become THE summer destination.

Drawing an estimated 30,000-plus people again this year, many of the festival's devotees have logged impressive road and air miles to see their favorite bands -- from The Dead to STS9 -- with clusters of enthusiastic, colorfully adorned fans making the journey from Vermont, Florida, Texas, Nevada, Colorado and all points between in everything from compact cars and pickups to dilapidated Volkwagen vans and old school buses." [Mlive.com]

Rothbury happened July 2-5. Here are some (NSFW) pictures & videos...

Continue reading "pictures from the 2009 Rothbury Festival (NSFW)"

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 "

photos by Chris La Putt

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

"CROTON-ON-HUDSON, NY - The Great Hudson River Revival, Clearwater's annual two-day music and environmental festival at Croton Point Park, came to a rousing close here on Sunday evening as a rain-drenched crowd of several thousand people cheered for headliner Arlo Guthrie and a number of onstage guests, including Taj Mahal and Pete Seeger.

Exact attendance figures are not available, but Festival Director Jon Dindas said that advance ticket sales surpassed last year's totals, and that the overall number of festivalgoers for 2009 peaked near seven thousand on Sunday-a remarkable accomplishment considering the rainy weather throughout the weekend.

"The true Clearwater spirit shined forth at this year's Revival, as both audience members and nearly eight hundred festival volunteers were able to withstand the challenges of the weather and yet still celebrate music, environmental education and the willingness to work for change and to make a difference in the world," said Dindas...

...The musical offerings on Sunday were filled with highlights. A succession of acts at the Circle of Song that included Rik Palieri, Work o' the Weavers and a Hudson River Sloop Singers Reunion drew a crowd of festival veterans while the Persuasions, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals and Cornmeal kept folks smiling. And then there was the inevitable full-stage hootenanny during Arlo Guthrie's festival closing set, which culminated in a rendition of "Let it Shine" with a backing band and chorus that featured Pete, Taj, Rainbow Stage performers Elvis Perkins in Dearland plus the aforementioned Jay and Molly, Tao and Mike and Ruthy.

Monday, Clearwater festival workers and volunteers are busy at Croton Point Park packing away equipment and mending the grounds. It is a Clearwater tradition to leave the park in better shape than it was before the Revival sets sail each year, and 2009 will be no different in this regard." [Clearwater]

The pictures from Saturday are HERE. More pictures from Sunday, below...

Continue reading "2009 Clearwater Festival - day 2 in pics (Grace Potter, rain, Elvis Perkins, soy power, Taj Majal, Arlo Guthrie & more)"

MSG photos & words by Jacob Blickenstaff, Columbia photos by Jens Schott Knudsen

Pete Seeger @ Columbia in April...

"Clearwater conducts innovative environmental programs, advocacy and celebrations in order to inspire and energize the next generation of environmental leaders.

Clearwater was founded in 1969 by music legend and environmental activist Pete Seeger." [Clearwater]

Pete Seeger's been busy lately, especially for someone who just celebrated his 90th birthday. The event for that occasion took place at Madison Square Garden on May 3rd, and is reviewed in full below, with pictures. A few weeks before that, on Earth Day (April 18th), Pete played a show at Columbia's Teachers College. Photos from that show are below too. Right after that he headed to New Orleans to perform at Jazz Fest. Prior to those, Seeger played the Clearwater benefit with Jeff Tweedy at Beacon High School on March 28th. We also recently noticed his name as the special guest on a show at Joe's Pub.

This summer Pete Seeger is scheduled to play the Newport Folk Festival (August 1st and 2nd), and will perform at his own Clearwater Festival, taking place in Croton-on-the-Hudson, NY this weekend (June 20th and 21st). The Clearwater Fest lineup includes Dr. Dog, A.C. Newman, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Richie Havens, Old Crow Medicine Show, Alejandro Escovedo, Arlo Guthrie and others. Its full schedule is below. Tickets are still sale at the gate.

UPDATE: we can confirm that Pete played his scheduled Saturday morning Clearwater Fest performance "with kids" for those who braved the rain. Pete will perform again at the festival on Sunday afternoon with his grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger.

A review of Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday Celebration at MSG, and all above-mentioned photos, with the full Clearwater Festival lineup & schedule, below...

Continue reading "Clearwater Festival this weekend - full schedule ++ Pete Seeger pics (from his 90th birthday & Columbia University)"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Easy (new MP3)

As previously mentioned, Deer Tick are going on a short tour with Jenny Lewis in June, June 9th at Music Hall of Williamsburg included. On July 4th, Jenny Lewis is playing a much bigger and much cheaper show (free) in Battery Park with Conor Oberst.

And I'm happy to announce that Deer Tick will be playing a free NYC show of their own this summer, though like Jenny Lewis, it will be as an opening band. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals headline the 'Celebrate Brooklyn' show in Prospect Park on August 7th. Other bands confirmed for free shows at the Brooklyn bandshell this summer are They Might Be Giants, David Byrne, Dr. Dog, and Phosphorescent. The entire schedule will be announced on May 4th.

And between June and August, Deer Tick will not be resting. After finishing with Jenny, John Joseph McCauley III (his full name according to MySpace) and crew (Deer Tick) will stay on the road, teaming up for a tour with Dawes for most of July, and then hitting the Bowery Ballroom for another headlining NYC show in that venue on July 24th (no opener or ticket info yet).

In October, Deer Tick is also scheduled to play Austin City Limits, and the Joshua Tree Roots Music Festival.

Deer Tick's new album Born on Flag Day will be released on June 23rd via Partisan Records. The first legally released track is available for download above. The entire track list, (new) cover art (they trashed the first design), more pictures from the 2009 BV SXSW show, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Deer Tick - new MP3, Prospect Park w/ Grace Potter, Bowery Ballroom, new album, more SXSW pics & 2009 Tour Dates"

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...)"