Rothbury 2009 (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

Today, festival organizers for the ROTHBURY music festival announced that they will not host a 2010 event.

According to event producers Madison House Presents and AEG Live, a contributing factor in the decision is that, due to various artists' recording and touring schedules, timing will not allow them to assemble the cutting edge roster that has been associated with ROTHBURY. Madison House Presents' Jeremy Stein explains, "The result for this year is that we are not able to move forward with the integrity and high standards that we demand from ourselves and for the festival."

Despite the 2010 postponement, organizers intend to move toward continuing ROTHBURY in 2011. According to Stein, "This event is something very special, and we are unwilling to potentially tarnish what ROTHBURY is, and can become, by working under conditions that will produce anything less than a magical experience. Our efforts are certainly not coming to an end."

For ongoing information regarding ROTHBURY, please monitor www.rothburyfestival.com.

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)"

To our Tristate Funkateers and Chromettes,

We'll be doing ONE SHOW in the NY area this fall. This is special...and just for our peeps in our, er, second hometown. This is the only show until the new album comes out -- more info on that in a bit, -- so who knows...maybe we'll test out a couple of the new songs too *cough cough*... [Chromeo]

The duo will play that NYC gig on Friday, October 16th at Irving Plaza. Tickets are on sale.

In other news, Chromeo put together a new mix for !K7 Records' DJ-KiCKS series. Arists mixed and remixed on the disc include oldies Leo Sayer, France Joli and Alan Parsons Project, and new acts Lifelike and Chateau Marmont. Chromeo's contribution will be the first in the series since Booka Shade's Numbers in 2007.

Their cover of the Eagles' "I Can't Tell You Why," which appears on the mix, is currently available for free through Chromeo-DJKiCKS.com.

Before the Irving Plaza show, Chromeo's upcoming schedule brings them to L.A.'s Hard Fest in August (but not the NYC edition happening on October 10th) as well as Monolith Festival in September. They've been on the festival circuit this summer, most recently playing a set at Camp Bisco on July 17th (where it looks like the weather was not so nice). A video from their set at Rothbury Fest in June, which isn't the best quatlity but gives you a good idea of their live show, with a clip from their appearance on Yo Gabba Gabba (the song is about washing your hands), with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Chromeo - new DJ-KICKS album & an Irving Plaza show"

photos by Graeme Flegenheimer

King Sunny Adé @ Rothbury 2009

Celebrate Brooklyn!'s annual all-day festival of music, food and crafts features a lineup of music selected to keep dancers moving into the night. This year's headliner is the great King Sunny Adé of Nigeria. The bill also includes a rare U.S. appearance by South Africa's Freshly Ground; The Mandingo Ambassadors, from NYC by way of Guinea, whose music "has been structured to make you feel good" (The New York Times); the wild Senegalese drum troupe Cheikh M'Baye & Sing Sing; the powerful Brooklyn-born, Ghanaian vocalist Abena Koomson; and whirling traditional Egyptian dancer, Yasser Darwish.

King Sunny Adé, who plays juju music, "a Nigerian style characterized by interlocking guitars, talking drums and lap-steel," will also be inducted into the Afropop Hall of Fame at the free concert. He recently played a set at the 2009 Rothbury Music Festival. More pictures from that, with Saturday's times and videos of King Sunny Adé, below...

Continue reading "African Music Festival in Prospect Park Saturday - lineup includes King Sunny Adé (who played Rothbury - pics) "

Mutek banner in Montreal - May 27, 2009 (bneely)

Mutek, the electronic music festival celebrating its tenth year, is currently underway in Montreal. The five-day fest runs to Sunday, May 31st, and it's streaming online. Moderat, the Modeselektor & Apparat supergroup, performed at Mutek on Thursday, May 28th; the group plays NYC's Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, May 30th (the show was originally planned for Webster Hall). Tickets are still on sale.

Speaking of parties up North this summer... three other biggies are Ottawa Bluesfest (July 8th-19th), Vancouver Folk Music Festival (July 17-19th) and Calgary Folk Music Festival (July 23rd-26th). Each of those suitably transcend the "blues" and "folk" labels, hosting bands like The Dead Weather and Yeah Yeah Yeahs (in Ottawa), The Weakerthans and Rock Plaza Central (in Vancouver), and The Decemberists, Apostle of Hustle, Kid Koala and Akron/Family (in Calgary). Full lineup for the Calgary Fest (Ottawa in particular is much too massive to post) and ticket info below.

And don't forget about the previously reported Breeders-headlined Sled Island Fest in Calgary on June 24th-27th, Montreal's Osheaga, NXNE, and Toronto's Olympic Island Fest on July 11th, which will host Broken Social Scene and its Arts & Crafts cohorts.

Across the pond, UK's Glastonbury Festival, which runs from June 24th to 28th, has been sold out since February even though the full lineup wasn't announced until this week. Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and Blur will be joined by The Specials, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Spinal Tap, Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Madness, Tom Jones, Animal Collective and many others.

And finally in the States, Monolith Festival, which runs from September 12th to 13th at Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Colorado, has announced its intial lineup, Girl Talk, Passion Pit, and The Walkmen included. The whole thing is posted below.

The weekend before Monolith, Bumbershoot will take place in Seattle (September 5th-7th). That fest's lineup has been updated too. New additions include Vivian Girls, Akron/Family, and Elvis Perkins. All new additions, with previously announced acts, are below. Tickets are still on sale.

In Michigan, the Rothbury Festival over July 4th weekend will feature the only summer fest performance by The Dead, as well as sets by Bob Dylan, String Cheese Incident, Broken Social Scene and more. A few more jam-friendly acts were also just added to the bill. Full lineup below. Tickets are on sale.

Info on all the above fests, with ticket info, below...

Continue reading "Mutek underway, Monolith & Glastonbury lineups, Rothbury, Bumbershoot, Calgary Folk & other festival updates"

The name Rothbury confuses me. I immediately think it's a European festival, but in fact, the jam-band heavy music festival that premiered in 2008 takes place in Rothbury, Michigan. This year's lineup was just announced...

The Dead (their ONLY summer appearance!), Bob Dylan, The String Cheese Incident, Willie Nelson & Family, and The Black Crowes will top the bill of over 60 diverse and stellar artists at the second annual ROTHBURY Festival at the Double JJ Ranch in Michigan on July 2-3-4-5, 2009.

Also on the bill are Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley & Nas, STS9 (2 shows: full band/Live PA Set), G. Love & Special Sauce, Gov't Mule, Broken Social Scene, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Guster, Les Claypool, Chromeo, Girl Talk, The Hold Steady, Ani DiFranco and many others.

Full lineup below...

Continue reading "Michigan's Rothbury Festival - 2009 artist lineup "

people @ the 2008 Rothbury Festival in Michigan (cred)

Yoga @ the 2008 Rothbury Festival in Michigan (cred)

ROTHBURY -- A man and a woman who attended the Rothbury Music Festival in Oceana County over the weekend died from separate medical issues Sunday.

A 33-year-old woman from New York and a 28-year-old man from Ohio suffered medical emergencies hours apart at the Rothbury festival Sunday and later died at Lakeshore Hospital in Shelby, Michigan State Police Lt. Dave Roesler said Tuesday.

The two deaths were separate incidents. Roesler said there is no reason to suspect foul play or anything unusual about the deaths. However, authorities are waiting for toxicology reports from the autopsies, which should be available in about four weeks.

Festival organizers said the woman was accompanied by a service animal and had a previous medical condition. [freep]

It is not clear whether the deaths happened before, during, or after the mini Phish reunion (no disrespect to the dead) (no pun intended).

RELATED: Rolling Stone asks: Is Rothbury the new Bonnaroo? (aka the place for the hippes to go without being subjected to Kanye West)

Continue reading "2 die & some of Phish reunite @ the 2008 Rothbury Festival"

Gogol Bordello @ The Leeds Festival 2006 (Guy Eppel)

Continue reading "Gogol Bordello - 2008 Tour Dates (McCarren/ACL/Osheaga / Virgin/Coachella/Bonnaroo/Rothbury/Popped)"