Kanye on 'SNL'

Kanye West has had a busy weekend. On Thursday (5/16), he played a private show at Roseland for Adult Swim where he performed a few new songs. He also, as is his wont, let loose one of his stream-of-conscious rants, this time mostly about celebrity culture. You can watch video of that below.

One of the songs Kanye performed at Roseland was new track "New Slaves." A video for that song made its debut on Friday night (5/17), projected at, according to maps on Kanye's website, 66 locations around the world. Nine of them were in NYC, including two in Williamsburg: one being outside the Bedford Ave L stop, and the second on the Wythe Hotel, and there's video of the former below.

The song, which features a sample of 1969 single "Gyöngyhajú lány" by Hungarian rock band Omega and vocals from Frank Ocean, will feature on Kanye's follow-up to 2010's My Dark Twisted Fantasy which is, according to Pitchfork, titled Yeezus and has appearances from Daft Punk, Skrillex and more.

This activity was all centered around Kanye's appearance on Saturday Night Live's season finale hosted by Ben Afleck. (The teaser videos are below.) He performed "New Slaves" and debuted another new song, "Black Skinhead," and video of those, along with the other clips mentioned in this post, are below.

Continue reading "Kanye West played new songs from 'Yeezus' on 'SNL,' projected new video on buildings Friday"

Phoenix at Music Hall of Williamsburg, 4/5/2013 (more by PSquared Photography)

Two days after announcing the existence of the second edition of Jay-Z's of Made in America festival, here comes the initial line-up. Set to go down August 31 - September 1 at Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway, look for appearances from Beyonce, Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails, Kendrick Lamar, Miguel (who is collaborating with Kendrick), Solange, The Gaslight Anthem (who just announced two huge NYC shows), Phoenix (who just played MHoW and SNL), Drake, 2Chainz and more.

So far no details on ticketing. Full line-up is below...

Continue reading "Made in America fest initial 2013 line-up: Beyonce, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Kendrick Lamar, Gaslight Anthem + more "

A$AP Rocky at Public Assembly (more by Dylan Johnson)

As mentioned, A$AP Rocky, whose new album, Long. Live, A$AP, has been holding up pretty well this year, is on tour with Rihanna now and that tour will come to the NYC-area for shows at Prudential Center on April 28 and Barclays Center on May 4 and 5. But if you'd like to see Rocky do a headlining set a much smaller venue, you're in luck because he announced that he'll be at Highline Ballroom on April 28 with DJ Sinatra and "special guests" as an after show for the Prudential Center show. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Recently, A$AP Rocky made a video for his track, "Wild for the Night," which was produced by Skrillex (and he's featured in the video) and did a remix Jessie Ware's "Wildest Moments," which will appear on the North American release of her album, Devotion (due out 4/16 via Interscope). Updated dates are listed, along with that video and song stream, below...

Continue reading "A$AP Rocky playing Highline Ballroom during Rihanna tour (updated dates, new video & Jessie Ware remix)"

Frank Ocean performing at 2013 Grammys

The 2013 Grammys went down last night (2/10), and here's a quick recap of some of the winners and videos of performances.

The big ones: Gotye took home Record of the Year for "Somebody That I Used To Know" (beating The Black Keys, Kelly Clarkson, fun., Frank Ocean, and Taylor Swift), Mumford & Sons won Album of the Year (beating The Black Keys, fun., Frank Ocean, and Jack White), and fun. took Song of the Year and Best New Artist (totally robbing Miguel's "Adorn" and "Call Me Maybe," and Frank Ocean (!), respectively). Other wins included Skrillex for Best Dance Recording (sorry Al Walser), The Black Keys for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album, Gotye for Best Alternative Music Album (beating Fiona Apple, Bjork, M83, and Tom Waits), Usher's "Climax" for Best R&B Performance, Beyonce's "Love On Top" for Best Traditional R&B Performance, Miguel's "Adorn" for Best R&B Song, Frank Ocean for Best Urban Contemporary Album, Robert Glasper Experiment for Best R&B Album, Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Niggas In Paris" for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and their song, "No Church In The Wild" (feat. Frank Ocean and The-Dream) for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Drake's Take Care for Best Rap Album, Dr. John's Dan Auerbach-produced Locked Down for Best Blues Album, Jimmy Cliff's Tim Armstrong-produced Rebirth for Best Reggae Album, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross' The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo score for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, Bjork's Biophilia for Best Recording Package, The Beach Boys' long-awaited The Smile Sessions for Best Historical Album, Black Keys singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, and Mumford and Sons' "Big Easy Express" for Best Long Form Music Video. There were many other categories too and you can check out the full list of winners HERE.

And of course, during the Awards Ceremony a number of artists gave performances, which you can watch videos of below. You can see Miguel and Wiz Khalifa doing "Adorn," Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z doing "Suit and Tie" and then JT doing "Pusher Love Girl," The Black Keys, Dr. John, and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band doing "Lonely Boy," Jack White doing "Freedom At 21" with his all-guy band (he also played "Love Interruption" with his all-girl band but no video of that at the moment), Frank Ocean doing "Forrest Gump" with a thematically appropriate visual backdrop, a big tribute to Levon Helm with Elton John, Mavis Staples, members of Mumford and Sons, Alabama Shakes, and others, and finally, LL Cool J, Chuck D, Z-Trip, Tom Morello, and Travis Barker doing "Whaddup" with a small piece of Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Til Brooklyn."

Continue reading "Frank Ocean, Miguel, Bjork, Mumford, Black Keys, Jack White & more win & perform at Grammys (videos)"

Click it for the bigger poster.

by Andrew Sacher

Zomby

UK producer Zomby took to his twitter today to rant about EDM and called it "the garden gnome of music."

He first asked, "What the fuck is edm ...euphemism ?," and soon followed with "Need to be a bit more specific than the fact at some point electricity might have been involved in the making of the music." He continued saying, "Edm sounds corporate....nothing to do with the art of music," then "Music is art like sculpture is except u don't want to put garden gnomes in a gallery do you edm is the garden gnome of music not artistic." He then said "I'd sooner be called a dubstep producer than edm at least dubstep was something to be proud of at one point," but also noted, "I don't make dubstep." He then clarified, "Btw I'm no hater. I love what's good so much ill spend time defending it its nothing."

In other news, Skrillex released a new EP today. Some people are saying it sounds like Burial (we don't think so though). What do you think? You can listen below.

Continue reading "Zomby calls EDM the "garden gnome of music"; people saying new Skrillex EP sounds like Burial"

Check out the entire list of 2013 Grammy Nominations below...

Continue reading "2013 Grammy Nominations announced (full list)"

(via)

Michael Bolton, who seems to have a good sense of humor about his crappy music, will star as himself in new sitcom Michael Bolton's Daughter Is Destroying My Life according to Deadline. Look for the new sitcom on ABC next year.

Black Sabbath (sans Bill Ward) are finally going to do that album with producer Rick Rubin.

Gothamist wonders aloud if Barclays Center might have a racist metal detector policy (via an article in the NY Post).

I swear the BrooklynVegan not-CMJ day party lineups are coming very soon, though we've already revealed that we've got METZ, Deap Vally and Murals.

The 2012 edition of Austin City Limits, which is switching to two weeks next year, went down over the weekend (sans The Weeknd). Check out our photos from Day Two and Day One. Day Three on the way.

Speaking of the trend of having your festival two weekends in a row now, Ultra Music Festival announced they're doing it too.

Jon Carmanica at the NY Times talks about dance stars evolving to pop fame.

The same issue of the NY Times profiles Ellie Goulding who is dating pop fame dance star Skrillex (who she was hanging out with at Pianos the other night).

Adele's "Someone Like You" has topped another chart: most popular songs at funerals.

The Nick Waterhouse and Allah-Las tour hit Chicago last week. We got pictures.

Speaking of pictures, in NY we recently captured the butt shaking going on at Bowery for Nicky Da B, Flying Lotus and then SBTRKT at Terminal 5, Public Image LTD at both MHOW and Hammerstein, Menomena at Bowery (MHOW on the way), Revelation Records Anniversary Night Two (three and four on the way), and Morrissey not once, not twice, but thrice.

And oh yeah, don't forget the New York Comic Con shots.

Stream Divine Fits' appearance on NPR's World Cafe from earlier today.

Xbox's iTunes-esque new music service debuts tomorrow. Surprise: you're going to have to update your firmware to use it.

Kitty Pride, who plays CMJ this week, hates fellow redhead Tori Amos. For weird reasons.

More stuff below...

Continue reading "ALSO: Michael Bolton's sitcom; Adele tops new chart; ACL, Black Sabbath, PS 22 does Tame Impala, Madonna stripped ++ more"

Gary Clark Jr. at Coachella 2012 (more by David Andrako)

As mentioned, Philly's Made In America Festival goes down this weekend (9/1 - 9/2) on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Since we last spoke, the lineup was expanded and now includes Drake (who was rumored but not on the initial lineup announcement), Jill Scott, Chris Cornell, The Hives, and Run DMC, who are all playing the second day (9/2), in addition to blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr., who will be on the only performer on the bill playing both days, and others. Day 1 (9/1) will be headlined by festival head Jay-Z, and also includes Skrillex, Passion Pit, D'Angelo, Dirty Projectors, Janelle Monae, and others, and day 2 (9/2) will be headlined by Pearl Jam and also includes Odd Future, X, Santigold, and others. Tickets for the festival are still available.

If you're going to the fest, Philly is only about a two hour drive from NYC and this FAQ should help you find your way over (for directions use the address of Ben Franklin Parkway at Eakins Oval in Philadelphia or the Philadelphia Museum of Art). Once you're there, that FAQ will also help you find your way around, parking tips, and more. There will be a free filtered water service at the festival site, but you can't bring glowsticks (sorry Skrillex fans).

A #MadeInAmerica video for Gary Clark Jr. and the lineup for the festival are below.

Continue reading "Jay-Z's Made In America Festival is this weekend; Gary Clark Jr. playing both nights (full lineup, directions & more)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Hundred Waters - "Thistle" (TOKiMONSTA Remix) (MP3)

After recently finishing up the Full Flex Express Tour with Skrillex, Diplo, Grimes, and others, art pop group Hundred Waters announced that they signed to Skrillex's label, OWSLA, and that their first release for the label will be the Thistle EP (due out 8/21). The EP features remixes of the track "Thistle" from their excellent self titled debut LP by Araabmuzik, Star Slinger, TOKiMONSTA, Lockah, Different Sleep, and Troublemaker. Our first taste of that EP comes today (via P4K) with a remix of the track by TOKiMONSTA (who was also on the Full Flex Express Tour). It's a great listen and hearing how natural Hundred Waters sounds with screwed vocals and heavy beats makes it a little less wtf that they signed to Skrillex's label. You can download the remix above and check out a trailer for the EP below. If you haven't heard their LP yet, you can stream it in full below.

As mentioned, you can catch Hundred Waters in NYC when their tour with fellow art pop musician Julia Holter hits Bowery Ballroom on August 31. Tickets for that show are still on sale.

Since we last spoke, Moon Diagrams (aka Deerhunter drummer Moses Archuleta) was added to that Bowery Ballroom show too. Moon Diagrams will also be supporting a number of dates on Ariel Pink's upcoming tour, but not the NYC show at Webster Hall (9/14) with Bodyguard and TEEN (tickets).

A list of all Moon Diagrams dates and the Hundred Waters stream and video are below.

Continue reading "Hundred Waters releasing remix EP on Skrillex's label (MP3); Moon Diagrams opening their NYC show w/ Julia Holter"

The Virgin Mobile FreeFest returns to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD on October 6 with a lineup that includes Jack White, Skrillex, M83, Nas, ZZ Top, Santigold, Alabama Shakes, Ben Folds Five, The Dismemberment Plan, Allen Stone, Trampled by Turtles, Portugal. The Man, Das Racist, Future Islands and Justin Jones. There is also a "Dance Forest" that will feature Above & Beyond, Porter & Zedd (Back to Back), Thomas Gold, Nervo, Alvin Risk and Penguin Prison, with others to be announced.

As the name of the show implies tickets to the FreeFest are free and will be available via ticketfly.com on Friday, August 24 at noon. A presale on August 23 will be announced via their Twitter. There are also some not-free "freemium" packages to buy that include early admission to the festival grounds, a donation to charity and other incentives. Details on that are here.

Speaking of The Dismemberment Plan, the indie rock vets began playing shows again in 2011 and at their Baltimore show on Friday (8/10), they played multiple new songs! Hopefully this means we'll be getting a new D-Plan album (it'd be the first since 2001's Change). Check out videos of the new songs played at the Baltimore show below.

Continue reading "Virgin Mobile FreeFest lineup announced - includes M83, Nas, ZZ Top, Jack White, Skrillex, Das Racist, Future Islands, Dismemberment Plan (who recently played new songs live)"

by Tim Griffin

The Cure & fans @ day 1 @ Rock Werchter - 6/28/2012

Flanders is a Festival! That was a new phrase to me prior to last week, and I've learned a lot since then underscoring the truth of it. For the uninitiated - Flanders (which includes Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels and Leuven) is rife with more than 280 music festivals per year. Belgium's Rock Werchter is one of the biggest, with three stages spanning four full days of music. It's been around and growing since 1974, and as it has grown, its line-up has grown with it -- this year's included The Cure, Garbage, Justice, Skrillex, Amon Tobin, and more, and that was just on day one.

I ventured to Belgium to cover Rock Werchter this year, and though exhaustion slightly delayed this report you're reading now, it was a great time, visits to Leuven and Brussels included (beautiful places to hang your hat for a visit). More pictures from the first day of the music festival along with some general shots from around Belgium, and video & the setlist from The Cure's set, below...

Continue reading "Rock Werchter 2012 -- day 1 pics from a trip to Belgium (Garbage, the Cure, Justice, Skrillex, Amon Tobin, Maccabees & more)"

The 14th annual Voodoo Music & Arts Experience happens from October 26 - 28 at City Park in New Orleans. Among the 70+ acts at this year's fest are Jack White, Green Day, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Skrillex, Justice, Silversun Pickups, Thomas Dolby, Die Antwoord, The Dirty Dozen Brass, and Bootsy Collins. Tickets are on sale with a variety of options as is the usual with festivals these days.

Full Voodoo Experience line-up is below.

Continue reading "Jack White, Green Day, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Justice & more playing the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans (lineup)"

by Andrew Sacher

Squarepusher

Back in May, drill & bass master Squarepusher announced a North American tour which included a TBA NYC show set to happen on October 30. Well it turns out the NYC show will actually be on November 1 and it happens at Terminal 5 with a great list of openers; Bonobo (DJ), Holy Fuck, and Mount Kimbie. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (6/29) at noon with an AmEx presale starting today (6/27) at noon. All Squarepusher dates are listed below.

Squarepusher released his new album, Ufabulum, in May and it's a pretty solid one. It opens with "4001," which is just about the only song that sounds like classic Squarepusher, and is then followed by, "Unreal Square," which brings in a bit of brostep bass wobble. The rest of the album sees Squarepusher diving into nutty jazz fusion and unstoppable breakbeats. You can stream three of its tracks below.

Speaking of Mount Kimbie, they've signed to Warp, the label which Squarepusher also calls home, and currently at work on their second album which will be released on the label. The Terminal 5 show appears to be their only announced North American date at the moment.

Holy Fuck and Bonobo will be in NY even sooner for Camp Bisco, which goes down from July 12-14 at Indian Lookout Country Club in Mariaville, NY. They'll be joining a lineup which includes Tycho, Simian Mobile Disco, Skrillex, Amon Tobin ISAM, Big Boi, Crystal Castles, Yacht, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Shigeto, FaltyDL, Thundercat, and more. Tickets for the festival are still available. The full lineup is listed below.

In related news, You can also catch Holy Fuck frontman Brian Borcherdt in NYC right after Bisco with his new project, Dusted, who play Glasslands on July 15. Tickets for that show are still available.

A list of all dates and song streams below...

Continue reading "Squarepusher adds T5 date to tour (dates); Mount Kimbie signed to Warp; Bonobo and Holy Fuck playing Camp Bisco"

Due to reactions to something EDM DJ-producer, megastar Deadmau5 said in the new Rolling Stone (that he is on the cover of), Deadmau5 posted the following clarification to his Tumber:

we all hit play.

its no secret. when it comes to "live" performance of EDM... that's about the most it seems you can do anyway. It's not about performance art, its not about talent either (really its not) In fact, let me do you and the rest of the EDM world button pushers who fuckin hate me for telling you how it is, a favor and let you all know how it is.

I think given about 1 hour of instruction, anyone with minimal knowledge of ableton and music tech in general could DO what im doing at a deadmau5 concert. Just like i think ANY DJ in the WORLD who can match a beat can do what "ANYONE else" (not going to mention any names) is doing on their EDM stages too. have a look, then let me explain:

Continue reading "Deadmau5 admits "we all hit play""

We try to keep tabs on various festivals around the world here on BrooklynVegan, many of which you'll eventually see pictures from. Today we focus on Belgium.

Pukkelpop goes down from August 16 - 18. That festival includes The Stone Roses, Bjork, Bloc Party, The Black Keys, Refused, Wilco, The Hives, The Shins, The Afghan Whigs, Lykke Li, Hot Chip, Feist, Flying Lotus, tUnE-yArDs, Chromatics, Cloud Nothings, The Tallest Man on Earth, Baroness, Ceremony, A-Trak, Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, and more. The full lineup is listed below. Tickets for the festival are on sale now.

Rock Werchter, which falls a bit more on the mainstream side, happens in Belgium even sooner, running from June 28 - July 1. That lineup includes The Cure, Jack White, X, Mastodon, Garbage, The xx, M83, Metric, Amon Tobin, Skrillex, Perfume Genius, Bat For Lashes, Michael Kiwanuka, Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket, Regina Spektor, Florence + the Machine, The Vaccines and more. Tickets for the festival are on sale now sold out.

The full lineups for both Pukkelpop and Rock Wercher are listed below.

Continue reading "full 2012 Pukkelpop & Rock Werchter lineups"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Das Racist / Battles... get a leg up

While Bonnaroo's roots come from the jamband scene, the festival's outlook has grown each year. The Red Hot Chili Peppers set provided a nod from the festival's past without losing the band's foothold in the present day. In various combinations, members Flea, Chad Smith and Josh Klinghoffer along with touring percussionist Mauro Refosco improvised their way before returning to the next number on the setlist... Earlier in the day, HR of Bad Brains looked and acted nowhere near the part of a hardcore hero. His bandmates kept the music's mix of powerful, fast numbers with an occasional reggae cooldown. The latter style was necessary after a dust cloud erupted from the crowd moshing and bodysurfing. A pleased Flea of the Chili Peppers watched from the side of the stage. -[Jambands]

More photos from Day 3, including Bad Brains, Das Racist, Battles, Santigold (who plays a free show in Chicago Thursday), Gary Clarke Jr., Mogwai (who performs in NYC twice this week), Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alice Cooper, Skrillex, Danzig Legacy (who went on an anti-photo tirade), GZA with Grupo Fantasma (who perform together in Brooklyn twice this week) and more are below. If you missed it, check out photos from Bonnaroo's first day HERE and second day HERE.

Continue reading "Bonnaroo Day 3 in pics (Battles, Das Racist, Danzig, GZA, Mogwai, Alice Cooper, Bad Brains, Skrillex and more)"

The following items are NOT ALLOWED
• Weapons of any kind
• Fireworks or explosives
• Illegal or Illicit substances of any kind
• Outside food & drink (except your factory sealed water)
• Pets (except service animals)
• Flyers, handbills, posters, stickers (no solicitation allowed)
• Chairs
• Glass containers
• Skateboards, motorized vehicles or Scooters
• Coolers
• Professional recording devices or cameras (no-detachable lenses or tripods or other commercial uses)
• Glowsticks
• Laser Pointers
• Items to obstruct other fan's views (kites, flag poles, large signs, etc)

PREVIOUSLY: Pearl Jam, Passion Pit & Dirty Projectors & others playing Jay-Z's Made in America Fest

Pearl Jam says:

We are pleased to announce that Pearl Jam is headlining Made in America Music Festival curated by Jay-Z. Made in America takes place Labor Day Weekend (Saturday, September 1st - Sunday, September 2nd) at Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.

PLEASE NOTE: Made In America Festival will announce Pearl Jam's exact performance date and time in the coming weeks.

In addition to Pearl Jam, this 2-day music festival will include performances from fellow artists like Jay-Z, Passion Pit, Dirty Projectors and much more.

by Andrew Sacher

A$AP Rocky at Coachella 2012 (more by David Andrako)

As mentioned, the Bamboozle festival goes down in Asbury Park this weekend (May 18-20). The festival, which has a continuing history of booking some of the lamest pop punk bands around, like Boys Like Girls, The All American Rejects, and Never Shout Never, has a few interesting/odd inclusions this year. For one, Bon Jovi is one of the headliners. Not only could they probably sell out an Asbury Park show without the rest of the Bamboozle lineup, but do any pop punkers want to see them anyway? Or did mom just need somewhere to be while her kids were seeing The Maine?

The other two headliners don't exactly fit the Bamboozle stereotype either: brostep tycoon Skrillex and grunge torchbearers Foo Fighters. But what's most interesting to us is within this odd mix of mall punk and Grammy Awards Winners, there's actually a handful of acts that we'd love to see, including many of our favorite new rappers, and some emo/pop punk forefathers that knew the difference between throwing a little melody into their punk and straightening their hair. If you do plan on making the trek to NJ this weekend, here's some recommendations of who to check out at the fest:

On Friday (5/18), bounce music party-starter Big Freedia, former Odd Future member Casey Veggies (who actually deserves to exist without that prefix), and Kreayshawn play the Beach Party Stage. Meanwhile, Anamanaguchi will be at the Temple of Boozle Stage. You can also catch Big Freedia in NYC on Thursday (5/17) at Santos before Bamboozle. Tickets are still available.

On Saturday (5/19), the Zumiez Stage will be graced by '90s greats Hot Water Music (who play Gramercy on 5/21-22) and The Promise Ring (who play Irving on 5/20). You can also catch some solid hip hop sets at the Beach Party Stage from A$AP Rocky, Action Bronson, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire and Iggy Azalea (who plays SOBs on Thursday (5/17)). Blink-182 were also supposed to play on Saturday but they had to cancel their May dates due to illness and were replaced by My Chemical Romance.

On Sunday (5/20), fellow Jersey punks The Gaslight Anthem (who will preview new material at their sold out MHOW show TONIGHT (5/16)) and The Bouncing Souls (who celebrate their new record at Webster Hall on June 9) will be at the fest. Catch the Gaslight Anthem on Main Stage and the Souls on Zumiez Stage. Star Slinger will also play the Temple of the Boozle stage.

And last, literally last, but not least, well maybe least, and defintely WTF, this year's Paramount Stage will be closed down by none other than comedy legend Andrew Dice Clay who plays after fellow 80s & 90s entertainers Dramarama (who also play the afterparty at Stone Pony) who play after 1996 hit makers Spacehog (who you can also catch at Brooklyn Bowl Thursday).

Tickets for the festival are still available.

Did we leave anyone good out? Check out the set times below...

Continue reading "A guide to Bamboozle's wtf lineup: (Big Freedia, Skrillex, A$AP Rocky, Bon Jovi, Hot Water Music, Mr. MFN eXquire, Promise Ring, Bouncing Souls, Action Bronson & more) "

Diplo released the "Express Yourself" 7" this month, the single for that track from his EP of the same name. You've already seen the video for that song, which features bounce artist Nicky Da B, and below we're offering a stream of the single's b-side, "Move Around" (featuring Elephant Man and GTA). That's the cover art for the 7" above. Pick up a copy on green vinyl.

Diplo, Grimes, Skrillex (one of the greatest guitarists of all time), Tokimonsta, Pretty Lights, and others are set to head out on the Full Flex Express Tour, a tour of Canada on a train modeled after The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and The Band's 1970 Festival Express tour.

Although the Full Flex Express tour doesn't come to the US, Diplo, Skrillex, and Pretty Lights will all be in NYC later this summer for Electric Zoo, which returns to Randall's Island from August 31-September 1. Tickets are on sale now. The full lineup is listed below. Skrillex will also be in the NYC area for Bamboozle this weekend.

Speaking of electronic dance festivals in New York, the Electric Daisy Carnival will occur at MetLife Stadium this weekend from May 18-20. The lineup includes MSTRKRFT, Richie Hawtin, Fatboy Slim, Bassnectar, and others. Tickets are available. Full lineup below.

In more related news, the touring Identity Festival, whose lineup was a bit better last year but certainly bigger this year since it sold out in less than 24 hours, returns to NY on July 28 at Jones Beach. Artists playing include Datsik, Eric Prydz, Nero, and more. Full lineup below.

Festival lineups and stream below...

Continue reading "Grimes taking a train ride with Skrillex & Diplo; Electric Daisy Carnival, Electric Zoo, Identity Fest & other EDM news too"

The 2012 music lineup was announced today for Bumbershoot: Seattle's Music & Arts Festival, which is produced by non-profit arts organization One Reel and takes place over Labor Day weekend, Sept. 1-3, at Seattle Center. The 42-year-old urban festival stands on top nationally in its variety as it showcases both familiar and up-and-coming regional and national talent in many musical genres, as well as in comedy, theater, literary and visual arts, dance, film and children's programming.

Bumbershoot's Mainstage in KeyArena will feature two multi-act performances each day. Artists scheduled to perform there include groundbreaking alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, jazz legend Tony Bennett, electronic phenom Skrillex, a hip hop double bill with Mac Miller and Big Sean, M83, and AWOLNATION among others. Additional Mainstage acts will be announced in coming weeks.

Tickets are all-inclusive. All festival offerings, including Mainstage admission on a first-come, first-served basis (no separate pass required), and late-night electronic music curated by Decibel Festival for Bumbershoot After Dark, are included in the price of a single-day or 3-day ticket

Continue reading "Bumbershoot 2012 lineup (Jane's Addiction, Tony Bennett & Skrillex are the headliners)"

"Another Planet Entertainment, Superfly Presents and Starr Hill presents, in a partnership with the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, are proud to announce the lineup for the fifth annual Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival. The world's only gourmet music festival will once again take place in San Francisco's historic Golden Gate Park August 10 - 12, 2012. Tickets will go on sale Thursday April 19 at 12 noon PDT via www.sfoutsidelands.com. A significant portion of every ticket sold will directly benefit San Francisco's Recreation and Park Department."

Continue reading "Outside Lands 2012 lineup (Metallica, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Jack White, Foo Fighters, Beck, Skrillex...)"

"Superfly Presents and A.C. Entertainment are excited to announce the initial lineup for the 2012 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The 11th annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 7 - 10 on the same beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. A full list of confirmed acts follows, and more will be announced in the coming weeks. The final Bonnaroo 2012 lineup will total over 125 bands and over 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days.Tickets for the event will go on sale on this Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 12 noon EST exclusively at bonnaroo.com."

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2012 lineup announced"

Beach Boys @ The Grammys

Though the Bonnaroo lineup won't be announced until later today (via Spotify), Knoxville.com has supposedly leaked some of it via a photo gallery which includes Beach Boys, Radiohead, Bon Iver, Phish, Foster the People, Alice Cooper, Ludacris, Black Star, Skrillex, Punch Brothers, The Avett Brothers, The Shins, Flogging Molly, Feist and Aziz Ansari. We can't know for sure if this is all correct, but I did hear that the Beach Boys were playing, and many of those bands have been rumored for a while, and the Beach Boys have promised more dates, so... well, we'll see soon! UPDATE: Yep, they are!

If it is all true, I really hope that this time Foster the People stay off the Beach Boys' stage unlike at the Grammys, as you can watch below...

Continue reading "Beach Boys played the Grammys, playing Bonnaroo? (we'll know for sure soon)"