photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Public Enemy

STEREOGUM: What appealed to you about getting involved with All Tomorrow's Parties?

GEOFF BARROW: I just like that, for the most part, you wouldn't want to be there if you aren't actually into the music. It's not like Coachella where there are loads of girls walking around in bikinis and stuff like that. It's basically people enjoying what is often some really indulgent music. For us, it's like a Charlie in the Chocolate Factory moment. You win the golden ticket and you get to see how the candy is made. You get to choose the bands that play with you, which is just ... amazing. It's like, wow, yes, please.

STEREOGUM: Who in particular are you most excited about seeing?

GEOFF BARROW: We've been really lucky over the years. We've done three of these ATP festivals and it's always such a good experience. I'm always, always, always very into watching Public Enemy. Also, Ultramagnetic MCs because they are just mental and so important to hip hop. I'll also be watching Swans ... with earplugs. I want to watch everything. I want to watch as much as I possibly can.

Jeff Mangum played his second of three Asbury Park sets on Sunday (10/2), though like his Friday show, we don't have pictures of his set (he doesn't like pictures). We do have pictures of a lot of other sets from Sunday though, and they continue, along with shots of the general Asbury Park scenery (the conclusion of our ATP NJ 2011 coverage), below...

Continue reading "I'll Be Your Mirror 2011 -- pics from ATP Sunday (Public Enemy, Company Flow, Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Deerhoof, Earth & more)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Chuck D on stage with Portishead @ ATP

Portishead completed their NYC & NJ adventure with a 2nd show at Hammerstein Ballroom last night (10/5), and an appearance on Fallon where they performed two songs. On air they played "Chase The Tear" which they first released in 2009 to help raise money for Amnesty International. Jimmy pointed out that you can get a new release of that single exclusively at the XL Records table at the Brooklyn Flea Brooklyn Flea's Independent Label Market this weekend. They also played 1994 song "Mysterons" at Fallon as a web exclusive. And much to the chagrin of the groaning tourists who were trapped in their seats at the show's taping yesterday, the band actually played "Mysterons" in full twice because apparently something went wrong the first time around. You can watch the version they kept, and what aired on TV, below.

Also in this post is a set of pictures (including the setlist) from Portishead's Sunday set at ATP I'll Be Your Mirror in Asbury Park. As mentioned in the post of pictures from their Saturday show, Chuck D joined the band on stage during "Machine Gun" on Sunday. As not mentioned, Simeon from Silver Apples joined them on "We Carry On" to help close the show. Chuck D video HERE. Simeon video below.

Silver Apples plays Public Assembly in Brooklyn TONIGHT (10/6).

Portishead associate Anika plays Glasslands tonight.

Portishead's Adrian Utley visited Criterion Cinema while in town, and is involved in a show happening in NYC on 10/29.

ATP pictures & Fallon videos below...

Continue reading "pics from Portishead's 2nd show @ ATP, both videos from Fallon last night ++++ Silver Apples & Anika tonight"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

After leaving us hanging for over 14 years, Portishead finally returned to the east coast of the United States to play one of my personal favorite shows of all time at Asbury Park's Convention Hall as part of ATP's "I'll Be Your Mirror" on Saturday night (10/1). Unfortunately I couldn't stick around to see them do it again on Sunday (with special guest Chuck D of Public Enemy who played before them that day), but I do plan on being at one or both of the Hammerstein Ballroom shows this week to relive it again. I'll definitely watch Fallon too.

Much like Radiohead recently, Portishead's live lineup included two bald men. Like Radiohead, one of those bald men was Clive Deamer on drums (at least I think it was). The guy is keeping busy.

Jeff Mangum, who played the night before, and the two days after (including tonight) was in the audience to check out the NJ fests's co-headliner. From my seat I could see him talking to the drummer of Shellac (who also played the night before and who also plays tonight). Beth Gibbons crowdsurfed on top of that audience at the end of the amazing set.

More ATP coverage coming. For now, here are the Portishead pics from Saturday (with setlist), and a video of Chuck D joining them on "Machine Gun" on Sunday (like he did in 2008 at Primavera). It all continues below...

Continue reading "Portishead played ATP NJ -- night 1 pics & setlist, night 2 video w/ special guest Chuck D"

ATP I'll Be Your Mirror begins in Asbury Park TODAY (9/30). Tickets are still available. Take a look at the previously posted stage times, but note that Sunday at Convention Hall now looks like this:

DD/MM/YYYY - 2.45pm-3.45pm
Deerhoof - 4.15pm-5.15pm
Company Flow - 5.45pm-6.45pm
Public Enemy - 7.15pm-9.15pm
Portishead - 10.00pm-11.30pm

DD/MM/YYYY also plays in NYC tonight.

by BBG

Company Flow at Santos (more by Brook Bobbins)

WOW. As El-P confirmed, Company Flow will return AGAIN on the Sunday (10/2) of ATP's I'll Be Your Mirror in NJ. Other additions to the Asbury Fest's already-great lineup are Public Enemy who will their classic Fear of a Black Planet LP in full on Sunday, and Thought Forms, who are on Portishead's whole tour, on Saturday. Full updated lineup is below, and tickets are still available in different formations.

In other news, El-P recently released a new track for Adult Swim, following up with an uncensored version for "Drones Over Brooklyn".

Some videos and the current ATP lineup below.

Continue reading "Company Flow & Public Enemy added to Asbury Park ATP"

Slayer at Izod Center (photos by Samantha Marble)

Slayer, Thee Oh Sees, Public Enemy, Girls, Danzig Legacy, (Danzig + Doyle von Frankenstein playing Misfits, Samhain & Danzig), Hot Snakes, Diplo, Major Lazer, Henry Rollins, Ted Leo & The Phramacists, Spank Rock, Murder City Devils, Hum, Lykke Li, Passion Pit, Four Tet, Rakim, The Damned, Austra, Purity Ring, and Flynt Flossy are just a few of the acts announced today as part of the Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 lineup. Another amazing year! Check out the full lineup below and stay tuned for more announcements coming in August and September.

The new additions to the Austin, Texas festival, which takes place from 11/4 - 11/6, are in addition to the the previous "lineup leaks" that included Brian Posehn, Odd Future, Okkervil River, M83, X (performing "Los Angeles"), Reggie Watts, Flying Lotus, Tune-Yards, Ra Ra Riot, Kid Dynamite and others

2011 is the festival's sixth year, but first at its new home Auditorium Shores (no more Waterloo Park). Tickets are on sale now.

Slayer also has a NYC performance coming up with Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth as part of the "Big Four" show at Yankee Stadium on 9/14. Tickets are still available.

Fun Fun Fun 2011 flyer and almost-full lineup is below.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 lineup (Danzig Legazy, Passion Pit, Slayer, Lykke Li, The Damned, Henry Rollins & much more)"

photos by Andrew St. Clair, words by BBG

Flavor Flav, in a rare moment of sanity, is sans clock and reality show video crew!

There was a moment between songs yesterday during Public Enemy's rollicking performance in the middle of a rain-streaked Central Park where Chuck D likened his legendary rap outfit to the venerable thirst quencher lemonade..."Take the water and the lemon out of that equation, and you get diabetes," Chuck said, referring to his scrawny partner in crime's recent reality show foibles. "VH-1 gave America diabetes."

While the crowd guffawed heartily, Flav took the diss in stride with a slight smirk on his face. The truth is the be-clocked rapper's turn on "Flavor of Love" probably only served to help Public Enemy in the long run. -[Crawdaddy]

"Son of Bazerk has the greatest voice ever!" That's according to Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, praising the lead rapper for the grandiosely monikered Son of Bazerk Featuring No Self Control and the Band, a Bomb Squad-associated group from Freeport, Long Island, who secured cult status in hip-hop off the back of 1991's critically acclaimed Bazerk, Bazerk, Bazerk album-and then promptly disappeared for nearly 20 years...

Hip-hop folklore attributes Son of Bazerk's vanishing act to one of two factors: Their sound was either ahead of its time, or they were stymied by Bomb Squad producer Hank Shocklee, who released their debut album through his M.C.A. imprint, S.O.U.L., but allegedly refused to sanction a follow-up, compelling Bazerk to characterize Shocklee as "one of the dirtiest motherfuckers I ever seen in my life" in a 2008 interview reprinted on the rap blog Unkut. -[Village Voice]

More pics from the Summerstage show are below...

Continue reading "Public Enemy played Central Park Summerstage w/ Blitz The Ambassador, Kendo And The Almost Famous Band, DJ Kool Herc AND Son of Bazerk! (pics, video)"

Central Park Summerstage (more by Chris La Putt)

The schedule for the 2010 SummerStage series, which has music not just at Central Park, is out, and there are some great looking shows to highlight.

At Central Park, the first "rock" show happens on Saturday, June 5th with Living Colour, Ebony Bones!, Pillow Theory and CX KiDTRONiK. Baaba Maal, who just played Irving Plaza, will be at Central Park too on Monday, June 14th The Tinariwen show on Saturday, June 26th also features Syrian beat & mikeman Omar Souleyman. Gil Scott-Heron plays Central Park in June and Marcus Garvey Park in August.

There's also El Guincho, Bostich and Fussible and others in Central Park on July 7th. Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff plays Central Park on Sunday, July 11th. Raphael Saadiq performs there Saturday, July 17 at 3pm. The Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba/Fool's Gold show on Sunday, July 25th will also feature "West African electronica" band Burkina Electric.

On Wednesday, July 21st, there'll be a Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Friends Central Park gig hosted by Lewis Black with John Oliver, Rob Riggle, Wyatt Cenac, Adam Lowitt and Rory Albanese.

There's also music from St. Vincent, Tune-Yards and Basia Bulat on August 1st at Central Park. The xx play with Jack Penate and Chairlift there on August 8th. At the same spot, Public Enemy play an August 15th day show to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Fear of A Black Planet, and the Specials play on August 22nd with Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears and $mall ¢hange.

The borough-wide shows kick off with Jay Electronica in Red Hook Park on June 1st. Also at that park is Dan Deacon on Tuesday, June 15th. White Rabbits play East River Park on August 12th.

There's lots of great jazz too: McCoy Tyner plays with Ravi Coltrane, Esperanza Spalding and Francisco Mela as part of the CareFusion Jazz Festival on June 23rd. He also plays in the Charlie Parker Jazz Fest, which comes at the end of the summer with an incredible lineup. McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Scott, Jason Moran and the Bandwagon and Revive da Live play during the day at Marcus Garvey on Saturday, August 28th. Then the next day, James Moody, Catherine Russell, Vijay Iyer and The JD Allen Trio play at Tompkins Square Park.

The park benefit shows include John Butler Trio and State Radio on June 15th (tickets on sale), The Flaming Lips on July 26th, The Black Keys with the Morning Benders on July 27th and 28th, Hot Chip/Hercules & Love Affair/Holy Ghost on August 4th, Govt' Mule on August 11th (tickets), and one of the four Pavement shows September 21-24. Plus there's a "songbook of Simon & Garfunkel" benefit on June 8th.

Not all "Summerstage" shows are in Central Park anymore which drives home the point even further that the name of the venue in Central Park is actually "Rumsey Playfield" which hosts non-"Summerstage" shows too. Those so far include Coheed/Torche, CAKE, Ween, and Broken Social Scene.

The full Summerstage free show schedule is below...

Continue reading "Summerstage (Central Park & elsewhere) - full 2010 lineup "

Hopscotch Music Fest will be happening at ten venues in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, September 9th-11th. The three-day fest's two headlining shows are Panda Bear & Broken Social Scene with The Rosebuds on September 10th, and Public Enemy with No Age & The Love Language on September 11th. Other acts at the fest include Tortoise, Akron/Family, Best Coast, Burning Star Core, Atlas Sound, Fucked Up, Harvey Milk, Lucero and 9th Wonder. The lengthy full list is below. Tickets are on sale now.

Panda Bear's only other tour date currently is at Pitchfork Music Fest on July 17th in Chicago.

Another person at the fest with only a handful of shows beforehand is songwriter Richard Buckner. As of now he has four gigs before Hopscotch in September, and one comes Saturday, April 17th at Union Hall in Brooklyn with Willy Vlautin of Richmond Fontaine. Tickets are on sale.

Richard Buckner hasn't had much in the way of news since three of his older records got reissued by this label Merge last year. He did stop by for a Daytrotter session that was posted March.

The list of bands at Hopscotch and Richard Buckner tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Hopscotch Music Fest in North Carolina has Panda Bear, Public Enemy, BSS & Richard Buckner (who plays other dates first)"

"We are having record sales to the tune of 27% higher than previous years and are fast approaching sell out on all 3 days. That said, tickets are absolutely still available for the time being, and I encourage those hoping to attend to make their purchases NOW!" [The Stranger]

Public Enemy are playing the Washington fest this year. "Harder Than You Think" below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch Festival on way to selling out quickly"

We'll get a more complete press release in the morning (and confirm what is listed below is 100% correct), but in the meantime below is a picture of the 2010 Sasquatch poster (that someone Tweeted) and the lineup as read by Bradford Cox at tonight's Atlas Sound show in Seattle (and being listed all over the Internet)....

Continue reading "Sasquatch announces 2010 lineup (includes Massive Attack & My Morning Jacket) (and many more) "

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)"

photos by Tim Griffin

"The marquee event [at this year's Roots Picnic - June 6, 2009 in Philly] was Public Enemy's performance of their epochal 1988 album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, performed for only the third - and, they have said, the last - time on American soil, and the first time with a band.

Public Enemy's Chuck D famously called rap music African Americans' CNN, an analogy that bodes ill for the exhumation of a 20-year-old album. But fueled by an expanded Roots lineup that included a horn section from the Brooklyn-based Afrobeat orchestra Antibalas, Nation sounded like anything but old news. Chuck D's stentorian voice has lost none of its power to command, and Flavor Flav washed away years of reality-TV embarrassment, seeming more like a sharp-witted jester than a fool.

Rather than approximating Nation's sonic thicket, the Roots added melody and depth. The prison-riot saga "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" gained a funk guitar riff and blaring horns, with ?uestlove's snare hits ringing out like rifle shots.
[Philadelpha Inquirer]

Continue reading "Public Enemy performed 'It Takes a Million' w/ Antibalas & The Roots @ the Roots Picnic in Philly - pics"

Amadou & Mariam @ All Points West 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

The contest to guess the lineup of this year's All Point West festival continues. I honestly don't even know the lineup yet - I'll be receiving it right before I post it at 7am Monday morning.

Will Coldplay be on the lineup? A lot of people seem convinced based on the band's current tour schedule (which you can see in its entirety below). If they are playing the fest, well, that will be weird.

UPDATE: yes, Coldplay are in fact playing the festival

Amadou and Mariam played All Points West last year, are touring the US with Coldplay in July, and have some headlining dates scheduled in June (including a show at Webster Hall on June 8th). The Mali duo was also just added to this year's Bonnaroo lineup.

Also recently added to Bonnaroo (music and comedy): Public Enemy, Ani Difranco, the Itals and Wailing Souls, Murs, Shadows Fall, High on Fire, Janelle Monáe, Pretty Lights, Tony Rice, Passion Pit, Hockey, White Rabbits, Jimmy Fallon, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, John Oliver, Rob Riggle, Rory Albanese, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, Aziz Ansari, Kristen Schaal, Arj Barker, Todd Barry, Nick Thune, Wayne Federman, Nick Kroll, Kurt Braunholer, Amy Schumer, Kumail Nanjiani and Pete Holmes. Full Bonnaroo (June 11 - 14 in Manchester, Tennessee) lineup below...

Continue reading "Coldplay, All Points West, Amadou & Mariam & Bonnaroo"

by Andrew Frisicano

The Roots announced the line-up for their 2nd annual "Roots Picnic" in Philly...

The Roots (2 sets), TV on the Radio, The Black Keys, Public Enemy (who will perform It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, backed by Antibalas and The Roots), Antibalas, Santigold, Busdriver, and Dirty Magazine featuring Zoe Kravitz.

On the second stage: Asher Roth, Writtenhouse, Back to Basics - King Britt & Dozia, Dave P. (of Making Time, etc), Kid Cudi and more.

Saturday, June 6th, 2pm
@ The Festival Pier, Penns Landing
Philadelphia, PA

Last year's event featured Gnarls Barkley, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Santogold, Deerhoof, J*Davey, Diplo, Esperanza and The Cool Kids.

In addition to being the new band for "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," The Roots play at Highline Ballroom tonight (3/19) as part of the band's ongoing series of gigs at the venue. Beginning next week Questlove will host his own Thursday night residency at LPR through May 28th. More information on those and other shows in our previous Roots rundown.

Down at SXSW, half of The Black Keys (a.k.a. Dan Auerbach) played last night (3/18) - you can still catch him at Bill's Place on Friday, March 20th and at The Mean Eyed Cat for a Saturday (3/21) afternoon show.

Full press release and poster, plus Public Enemy with The Roots and Antibalas playing "Bring The Noise" on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" below...

Continue reading "Philly's Roots Picnic - 2009 lineup, presale ++ Fallon video"

Tickets are on Am Ex presale for the Andrew Bird show at Radio City Music Hall.

Public Enemy are celebrating Flavor Flav's 50th birthday at B.B. King Blues Club and Grill on Sunday March 15th. Tickets are on sale.

A "friends and family" presale begins for the Leonard Cohen Radio City show on Friday at 10 AM. A Fan Club presale begins Saturday at 10 AM. Regular sale begins Monday at 10 AM.

Seal (does anyone like Seal?) is playing Radio City Music Hall on April 16th. Tickets are on Am Ex presale.

Tickets are still on sale for the Tom Jones show at Beacon Theater.

Friday's Pentragram show at Webster Hall is still happening. Tickets are still on sale.

These Arms are Snakes arrive in Brooklyn on Saturday. Tickets are still on sale for the Music Hall of Williamsburg show.

A psychic looks into Lil Wayne's future, and 1965 footage of Tom Jones, in the videos below...

Continue reading "Andrew Bird, Leonard Cohen, Tom Jones, Public Enemy, Pentragram & other tickets "

photos by Chris La Putt

Valient Thorr bundled up, a snowboarder & Chuck D w/ Anthrax

Over the last three weeks, a massive snowboard ramp has risen in East River Park, in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge. Nine stories tall and 150 yards long, it required more than 100 workers to build, and it has lured 16 of the world's top professional snowboarders to compete in Thursday's Red Bull Snowscrapers, billed as the largest urban snowboard event in North America.

Riders, including the 2006 Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Shaun White, Travis Rice, and Terje Haakonsen, will zip down the ramp and soar 50 feet while performing aerial maneuvers before touching down on either side of a 36-foot-long ramp. A panel of judges will rate the best moves and style. The winner will get $50,000 of a $100,000 purse. [The NY Times]

Chris, who is no stranger to the Valient Thorr, got there too late to catch the opening band, but he did get lots of pretty pictures from the rest of the action, as you can see below...

Continue reading "Anthrax, Chuck D, Valient Thorr, Black gold & snowboarding in East River Park, NYC - pics & video"

Headliners Paul McCartney, The Killers and The Cure are among the 130-plus acts set for the tenth COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL (APRIL 17, 18 AND 19) at the beautiful Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA, the same grounds where the COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL debuted in 1999. Other artists confirmed for America's most critically acclaimed music festival include Morrissey, Amy Winehouse, Franz Ferdinand, My Bloody Valentine, Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Thievery Corporation, Yeah Yeah Yeahs (the complete line-up is listed below).

This marks the first ever U.S. festival appearance for McCartney who is currently supporting his latest release ELECTRIC ARGUMENTS.

"I have heard that Coachella is one of the greatest festivals in the world. I'm really excited to get out there and rock!" McCartney says.

Throbbing Gristle and the rest of the full (real) line-up (as of 1/30) is below:

Continue reading "Coachella 2009 - OFFICIAL lineup announced (My Bloody Valentine, Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, Morrissey, The Cure, Antony, Amy Winehouse...) - tix on sale"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Brother Ali - Truth Is (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Brother Ali - Original King (MP3)

"People think I'm in the independent category by choice."

Brother Ali is a minority, but not in the ways you might expect. First, he's a white rapper in a genre filled with mostly black artists. Second, Brother Ali is an albino.

Ali, who was born Jason Newman, converted to Islam when he was 15. He says that he felt like an outsider among white people, and has never identified with the word "white."

"I was taken in, early on, by black folks," he says. "Those are the people who taught me the things that I needed to know to survive being who and what I am." [NPR]

Brother Ali will be back in NYC to play a free show at South Street Seaport on Friday, August 1st (8 pm) with notorious DJ Crew The Rub (7 pm). We cornered Ali for a moment before that show as he dropped two pennies on working with Rhymesayers go-to guy Ant, the follow-up to The Undisputed Truth, and why he thinks 50 Cent is ill.

---

BrooklynVegan: Ant has produced each of your last few records. Is there something about Ant's production that you feel complements your own style/flow? Are there any plans on working with any other producers and if so, who?

Brother Ali: Ant and I have been working together for several years and he's one of my closest friends. Not only do I love his beats but we share a similar outlook on music and life. He's a true producer in the sense that he sees elements of the people he works with as human beings and creates musical beds that allow those things to come out in the work. He has an ability to read people and help them present themselves in a really raw and personal way. There are other producers that I like and respect but I just can't believe that I could have the same creative chemistry with someone I don't really know.

interview continued below...

Continue reading "an interview with BROTHER ALI + 2 MP3s & a free show"

photos by Elizabeth Weinberg

8:17 p.m.: Public Enemy takes the stage. Yeah!!!! Or, do they? No, wait, it's really their Bomb Squad production team --- Hank and Keith Shocklee --- laying down some dub-reggae beats on the turntables.

8:45 p.m.: The band shows up but seems in no particular hurry to get going.

8:50 p.m.: Air-raid sirens, three guys in Desert Storm camouflage (the S1W's, who double as dancers and security guards), and finally the megaphone voice of Chuck D. "Bring the Noise" begins a tour through "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back." This 1988 album served as a rite of passage for a generation in the way it distilled African-American dissent into a series of Molotov-cocktail songs. It still feels like the soundtrack to Eldridge Cleaver's "Soul on Ice" or "The Autobiography of Malcolm X." Its beats --- built on James Brown's "Funky Drummer" syncopations --- were every bit as fierce as Chuck's rhymes. It hasn't dated a bit.

9:10 p.m.: Flavor Flav, who shows up late and is chastised by Chuck D, trumpets his reality-TV show and the audience lets him have it. "Sell-out!" "Boooooo!" Flav is not amused.

9:17 p.m.: Flav momentarily redeems himself by restarting "Mind Terrorist." "Where the volume at?" Indeed, the volume is a few dozen decibels short of adequate. The band's urgency isn't matched by what's coming out of the speakers.

9:45 p.m.: Like a heavyweight boxer sensing a knockout, Chuck D closes in for the kill. "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" creeps with menace, and the music surges. The crowd is into it too, as the set closes with a furious "Rebel Without a Pause," "Prophets of Rage" and "Party for Your Right to Fight," before seguing into "He Got Game" and its central riff from Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth."

10:30 p.m.: The band roars through a half-hour's worth of hits after wrapping up "Millions." "Fight the Power" sends everyone home. Time to get home and recharge for Day 2.
[Greg Kot @ the Chicago Tribune]

Continue reading "Public Enemy performed 'It Takes a Nation..." @ the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, IL - pics"

Tickets are on sale for the three-day (July 18, 19 & 20) Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago this summer. Public Enemy will be performing "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" in its entirety on the first night. Animal Collective, !!!, Vampire Weekend, Dizzee Rascal, No Age, Atlas Sound, Fleet Foxes, Spiritualized, M. Ward, Boris, Extra Golden, El Guincho and The Ruby Suns are confirmed so far to play the other two days.

That same weekend in Brooklyn, NY: the 2008 Village Voice Siren Festival in Coney Island - Saturday July 19th to be exact, and it could be the last one ever (which is what everyone also thought about last year's)

...but not at the same show

* Rakim & Chuck D are playing Studio B this Sunday
* Spank Rock, The Rapture (DJ) & Le Tigre (DJ) are playing Studio B on Feb 1

Public Enemy play Irving Plaza in NYC tonight (Dec 19), and then again at Warsaw in Brooklyn tomorrow. I have four pairs of tickets to give away - to the show of your choice. To enter, send an email to BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: PE). Let me know your first and last name and what one of your favorite shows of the year is.

Also tonight: the benefit David Cross is taking part in @ Gramercy Theatre. Tickets have been been reduced to $25 - online & at the door.

Public Enemy will play The Fillmore New York At Irving Plaza on December 19, 2007 ($33.00), and then Warsaw in Brooklyn the very next day ($28.50). Tickets go on sale on this Saturday.

DOWNLOAD: Cypress Hill - Can U Handle This (MP3)

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Continue reading "more photos from Vegoose 2007"