Chicago's nu romantics KILL HANNAH woke up on the eve of wrapping their fall tour with Jet, Papa Roach and Morningwood to a find their 15-passenger van and 14-foot trailer stolen. Taken between 4am and 11am today, Wednesday, November 11 from the front of the Holiday Inn on 900 Packer Ave, Philadelphia, PA-the same location that rock trio Mae had their van stolen from just a week earlier-the band lost over $120,000 in gear and merchandise, including one-of-a-kind vintage custom guitars and vintage custom effects. The theft comes just over a year after a devastating fire in Europe destroyed everything on the band's bus.

Lead singer Mat Devine says, "We're devastated and speechless. We've been touring so hard around the world for the past seven years and this is the most evil thing we've witnessed. Special Crimes say this was a coordinated heist."

The band regretfully has to cancel their remaining tour dates, scheduled for the Electric Factory in Philadelphia [Wednesday] and the Nokia Theatre in New York City [tonight]. Their seventh annual "New Heart For Xmas" weekend of shows and events are still scheduled in Chicago on December 18 at Reggie's Rock House and December 19 at Metro.

Continue reading "another band's van was stolen in Philly (same spot as Mae) (band cancels dates on best tour ever)"

Public Enemy @ Roots Picnic (more by Tim Griffin)

WARREN, NJ, June 24, 2009 Speculation and predictions that have filled blogs and discussion boards can be put to rest. The Virgin Mobile Festival is returning, but with a catch. It'll be free.

Virgin Mobile USA, creator of one of the largest and most critically acclaimed music festivals in the U.S., announced today that it would host the 2009 Virgin Mobile Festival on Sunday, August 30, at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., free of charge. All tickets will be given away, and previous Virgin Mobile Festival ticket buyers and Virgin Mobile customers will have the first crack at securing the 35,000 tickets.

The move celebrates both a giveback to music fans in a bad economy as well as an effort to solicit donations to homeless youth agencies in need around the country via The RE*Generation, Virgin Mobiles charitable arm. Most sponsors, including premier sponsor Kyocera Communications, will be building awareness for the cause in their marketing efforts around the festival.

"Instead of focusing on layoffs or the state of the economy, we want to focus on concrete ways to provide assistance to those in need", said Dan Schulman, CEO, Virgin Mobile USA. "People need outlets to both lend a helping hand and to escape and relax, for free, even if just for one day. We want to throw some good news in the mix".

The 2009 Virgin Mobile FreeFest will be hosted on the beautiful, 40 wooded acres of Merriweather Post Pavilion. The grounds and facilities of Merriweather will be expanded to accommodate the multiple stage and dance tent set-up from prior Virgin Mobile Festivals. Those scheduled to appear at this years FreeFest include Weezer, Blink-182, Franz Ferdinand, and Public Enemy, Jet, The National, Girl Talk, The Bravery, The Hold Steady, St. Vincent, Wale, and Taking Back Sunday, as well as dance tent favorites that include HOLY F*CK, Pete Tong, Danny Howells and Lee Burridge.

Continue reading "MD Virgin Mobile Fest returns in 2009 as a free event (lineup)"

Dear Ian,

Thanks for your review of our record. It's clear that you are a good writer and it's clear that you took a lot of time giving us a thorough slagging on the site. We are fans of Pitchfork. And it's fun to slag off bands. It's like a sport -- kind of part of the deal when you decide to be in a rock band. (That review of Jet where the monkey pees in his own mouth was about the funniest piece of band-slagging we've ever seen.)

Continue reading "an open letter to Pitchfork from the Airborne Toxic Event"