In what I think may be one of the oddest pairings I've seen in a while, Tegan & Sara are going out on a "Honda Civic Tour" with pop punk superstars Paramore (and other openers). Tickets for the New York show, August 6th at Jones Beach, go on "Citi Cardmembers" and "Live Nation" (password = keyboard) presale at 10am, and then general sale starts Saturday at 10am...

"We know a lot of you are big fans of Paramore already, but if you are not, please go check them out. I've had the pleasure of listening to their music for years and seeing them open for NO DOUBT! last summer. Not only are they wonderful songwriters and incredible performers they are also the nicest people you'll ever meet. We're proud and beyond excited to share the summer, the stage and 2 months of our lives with them. We hope to see you there!!!" [Tegan & Sara]

Hmmm. The twins play all Paramore dates except two which happen to coincide with day that Tegan & Sara make their sole Lilith Fair appearance this summer. The July 30th Boston (Mansfield) show at Comcast Center also has Kelly Clarkson, Carly Simon, Cat Power, and Sarah McLachlan on the bill. Tickets for that are currently on about 15 different presales and go on general sale Saturday at 10am.

Paramore don't play any Lilith shows, though they would probably be welcome if they wanted to. Metric are. All dates and a video for Passion Pit's remix of "Alligator" below...

Continue reading "Tegan & Sara going on tour with Paramore, playing a single Lilith Fair show (dates)"

the bus crash

The lead singer of the rock band Weezer was involved in a bus accident Sunday that left him and another passenger in an upstate New York hospital.

Rivers Cuomo, 40, complained of rib pain and was transferred, along with one other passenger, to St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam, New York.

Cuomo's wife, daughter, and a fifth passenger on the bus were uninjured. The bus was traveling from Toronto, Ontario, to Boston, Massachusetts, for a show Monday night at the Agganis Arena at Boston University. [CNN]

Weezer and Paramore are the first artists announced for the 2010 NJ emo & pop punk fest (that occasionally throws in acts like Weird Al, Gwar, MC Hammer and Andrew WK) known as The Bamboozle (May 1-2). Tickets go on sale Friday.

Luckily Rivers and his family are ok (relatively speaking), but according to a statement on Weezer's site, "the rest of the December Raditude Tour has been cancelled". Their full statement and more pictures from the crash, below...

Continue reading "Rivers Cuomo injured in bus crash, December tour dates cancelled, but Weezer playing Bamboozle 2010"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Of Montreal - First Time High (Reconstructionist Remix of "An Eluardian Instance") (MP3)

Janelle Monae @ Irving Plaza, 2008 (she opened for Gnarls Barkley) (by Bao Nguyen)

Janelle Monae has an upswept hairdo that's part R&B pompadour, part Mohawk, and perfectly strategic. For most of an afternoon [SXSW] party set at Peckerheads, a club with nonexistent sightlines, the crest was the only part of the petite singer visible from 10 yards away -- a shame, since she has some sharp dance moves.

But her voice was vivid as she belted socially conscious neo-soul songs, rapped about feeling like a stepchild and an outcast (she has worked with OutKast) and crooned a melismatic version of the ballad "Smile." And for her finale, after singing about apathy that turns people into the "walking dead," she gave everyone a chance to see her: fearlessly jumping into the crowd and surfing it from front to back to front. [NY Times]

Janelle Monae will open all three of Of Montreal's sold-out shows at MHOW (April 15th-17th). After that she shares two more bills with the band - one in CT, and Bonnaroo in June.

Of Montreal has other shows scheduled too. That includes a stop at Sasquatch. All dates are listed below. The track above is from the band's Jon Brion Remix EP, which came out on Polyvinyl in January.

This June, Janelle Monae will kick it up a notch (exposure-wise) when she opens several dates for the newly reformed No Doubt, who have a nearly-three-month tour planned. The band brings Monae along when it plays NYC-area shows at PNC Bank Arts Center on June 26th and the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on June 27th (all dates below). No Doubt is also at work on a new, sixth album - their first in nine years, due in 2010 (in case you were wondering).

Other bands opening on the No Doubt tour include Paramore, The Sounds, and Bedouin Soundclash.

Of Montreal videos, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Janelle Monae opening for Of Montreal and.. No Doubt (dates)"

...featuring Pete 'The Pete' Steinkop and Michael McDermot of Bouncing Souls, DJ Values of Let It Burn, Frank Iero of My Chemical Romance, Andrew Everding of Thursday and Matt Scara of Pitch Black Blonde. Theyre playing Highline Ballroom in NYC tonight (June 27) with Bee Gees tribute band Tragedy and God Saves The Queen ("New York's Ultimate Sex Pistols Tribute")

On a related note, Mr. Brownstone are playing Bowery Ballroom on the fourth of July.

On another related note, Thursday were added (a while ago) to that Hot Water Music show at Terminal 5 (still not sold out).

On a related related note, Paramore are playing... JUST KIDDING!