"Following last year's 10th anniversary, which crushed previous attendance records and set a new mark for the speed with which tickets sold out, the Sasquatch! Music Festival unveils its 2012 lineup which once again features 4 days of music. The festival, hailed as "a model of well-paced programming...in a four-day schedule as efficient and natural feeling as an expertly built algorithm" by NPR Music while Wired notes, "leave the landscape out of it and Sasquatch! has a lineup to kill for," runs May 25-28 (Memorial Day Weekend) at The Gorge, the internationally acclaimed concert venue carved in the basalt cliffs high above the Columbia River Gorge in Quincy, WA."

The Sasquatch! Music Festival takes place, as usual, at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington over Memorial Day weekend (May 25-28). And this year's lineup is:

Continue reading "Sasquatch! 2012 lineup announced (Bon Iver, Jack White, Beck, Tenacious D, Shins, Portlandia, Spiritualized & more) "

by Klaus Kinski

Demetri

There are some big time comedy events upon us that require your immediate attention. First off, the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival kicks off TONIGHT (9/16) at The Bell House with An Evening of Comedy From 1986 featuring Emo Philips, Tony V., Larry Murphy, Ron Lynch and Jon Glaser, and Eugene Mirman. I am baffled that tickets are still on sale, but they are, so GET EM! The Fest continues through Sunday with some of the best line-ups this city has seen in ages. Participating venues include The Bell House, Union Hall, and The Rock Shop. See the full schedule below.

If you're a Manhattanite, just plain too lazy to make the trek out to Gowanus, or both, Tenacious D's less annoying half Kyle Gass will be tearing The Mercury Lounge a new one tonight with his band Trainwreck. This late show has doors at 9:30pm and tickets are still up for grabs. If you're a Brooklynite, just plain too lazy to make the trek out to Manhattan, or busy tonight, or all three, Trainwreck's tour also takes them to Brooklyn Bowl on September 21st. Tickets available for that too. All dates below.

Wait, are you telling me that neither of these shows are floating your boat? WTF? Well, howsabout a very titillating plan C? Longtime friend of BV Aziz Ansari headlines the massive Town Hall tonight. Looks like tickets for the show are gonzo, but check in with the box office later (or Craigslist) (or outside the venue) as they may have a few kicking around. You can alternatively go see him at the Beacon Theatre in November. Tickets are still available to that show that is part of this year's New York Comedy Festival.

And while we're on the subject of comedy happening at Town Hall, Demetri Martin has a whopping TWO SHOWS happening there on Friday September 24th and Saturday September 25th. Tickets to both shows are currently still on sale. I realize that in these tough times, it might be difficult to buy tickets for such a show. Luckily for you I have a pair of FRONT ROW TICKETS to give away to one, super lucky winner (for the Saturday show). Follow the procedure below and maybe, just maybe, you'll get all Charlie Bucket and whatnot. All dates and stuff down there too....

Continue reading "Mirman Fest kicking off, Demetri Martin playing shows (WIN FRONT ROW TIX), Trainwreck on tour (NY shows, other dates) "

After a hectic day of updating the constantly updating Bonnaroo lineup page, the entire thing has been announced. Gwar, Norah Jones, and the rest of the lineup below...

Continue reading "the complete 2010 Bonnaroo lineup (Stevie Wonder, The Melvins, Kings of Leon, Isis, Local Natives & many more) "

photos by Chris Graham

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

For what was the worst day weather-wise for San Francisco's Outide Lands Festival, its last day (Sunday, August 30th) may have been the best musically. Cold fog and wind took the place of cloudless, sunny skies, but those who attended witnessed sets by Modest Mouse, the Dead Weather, the Avett Brothers, Band of Horses, Calexico, Matt & Kim , and soul legends Robert Randolph and Betty Layvette, and MIA, who complained via Twitter about the fest's substitution of Tenacious D for the Beastie Boys, then covered two Beasties songs, "Intergalactic" and "Sabatage, in her set.

Scrambling to find replacement headliners for the Beastie Boys was a common theme for festivals in summer '09, after the group was forced to cancel all dates when Adam Yauch was dianosed with cancer (he's since had sugery, and reports say that part of his health regiment is a vegan/organic diet). Beastie Boys' slot was filled by Jay-Z at All Points West and Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Lollapalooza

More pictures from Day Three below...

Continue reading "Outside Lands 2009 - Day 3 pics (Tenacious D, MIA, Ween, Modest Mouse, Band of Horses, Dead Weather, more)"

"CANT BELIEVE THEY REPLACED BEASTIES WITH TENACIOUS D ??????????????????????AND IF I PULL OUT THEY SUE! SO REALLY? TENACIOUS D AFTER ME? P.S I ORIGINALLY BOOKED ON SHOWS COZ BEASTIES WERE HEADLINERS , BUT NOW THEY AINT DOING IT AND I JUS WANNA SAY , WE HAVE TO GO HARD!!!" - M.I.A.

When Tenacious D was asked - eventually - to step in as the closing act for the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival next Sunday after the Beastie Boys were forced to drop out at the last minute, the guys didn't hesitate. In their mind, the substitution seemed like a natural fit.

"I think there are more similarities than differences, really, when you put us together," announced Jack Black, who formed the folk-metal duo with his friend Kyle Gass long before he became a big-time Hollywood star. The band may not have been up to much since starring in the feature film "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny" three years ago, but when we spoke to them last week they promised, "The D will be in fine form."

SF GATE: Who got the call when the Beastie Boys had to drop out?

Jack Black: I assume they just called our manager. We actually have the same manager as the Beastie Boys.

The Outside Lands Festival kicks off today, Friday, August 28th, and runs through Sunday in San Francisco, California. You can watch some of it live at YouTube.

Neither M.I.A. nor Tenacious D will be viewable on the stream, but Built to Spill and The Dead Weather will be. Full lineup below...

Continue reading "Outside Lands Fest in SF this weekend, streaming on YouTube -- Tenacious D playing, M.I.A. not happy"

Beastie Boys m- Get out the Vote Tour - Milwaukee, WI (eytonz)

When the song ended and both audience and artists caught their breath, Mixmaster Mike donned a cheesy Uncle Sam Hat and the "Get Out And Vote" logo flashed on the video screens. An energetic (and skinny) Mike D. shed his green button-down sweater and addressed the fans, thanking them for coming out and encouraging them to vote this Tuesday.

"We're doing big things on this stage," he said with conviction and to applause, adding that the tour's been fun -- unlike the last 8 years of politics. "I voted absentee at home and personally, I voted for Barack Obama." Then they asked the audience to throw their hands up in the shape of 'O' for Obama, kicking off a set of tracks from Ill Communication with "Flute Loop," "Alright Hear This" and an amazing live version of "Sure Shot," Ad Rock's robust energy carrying the set. [Minneapolis City Pages]

AFTER YOU VOTE: places to watch the results in NYC

Flight of the Conchords @ Gramercy Theatre, NYC - June 13, 2007 (CRED)

by Klaus Kinski

It has been a very very very long time since I last saw Flight of the Conchords perform live. I actually even sort of forgot about them for a while. But all of a sudden they've exploded back onto the scene with a vengeance and now seem to be everywhere. Of their two "sold out" * shows at Blender Theater at Gramercy I was able to catch second show on 6/14. I had high hopes because my pal Matt went the first night (6/13), and told me this:

The show was great. Really hilarious. Eugene Mirman came out around 8:40 and did a solid 45 minutes (or so), then instead of an intermission, he brought the Conchords right out and they performed till around 10:45. They did all the big songs (Business Time, Think about It, Jenny), and encored with ‘Bowie’s in Space’, which is probably the most brilliant Bowie homage ever.

The opener was their HBO series co-star Rhys Darby whose forté, really, is making funny sound effects a la Michael Winslow. I saw him a while back at the final Hot Tub Variety Show at Comix and found him a bit corny. However, this time around he was extremely funny and balanced his sound effects with actual stand up much better than before. He was phenominal and I got the sense the crowd was digging his schtick.

Continue reading "Flight of the Conchords @ Gramercy Theatre, NYC"