The Head and the Heart at Sasquatch (more by Josh Darr)

"Call The Head and the Heart the poster child of indie rock. Not only has the band opened up for The Decemberists, Iron & Wine and The Walkmen, but it's also on the cover of Billboard's new independent music issue. The sextet got its start playing in coffee shops. All of the bandmates but violinist Charity Rose Thielen have a fondness for facial hair. And the group is based in Seattle. "So many bands that we like come from here," says frontman Josiah Johnson, 26, a California transplant who found his way to Seattle by way of grad school. "This area has a strong independent spirit."" [USA Today]

Updated tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Head & the Heart add 3rd NYC show --- updated dates"

The Head & the Heart @ Sasquatch 2011 (more by Josh Darr)

To quote Sub Pop:

Seattle's The Head and the Heart have been on the road since February and clearly have no plans to slow down anytime soon. They've recently played shows with Death Cab for Cutie in Europe, My Morning Jacket in London, Iron and Wine in the Midwest, and have an upcoming string of US dates with The Decemberists. And, the band just announced their first ever headlining tour, which starts immediately after they play at the Austin City Limits Festival on Sept 18th, and ends October 20th in Vancouver, BC. Thao with the Get Down Stay Down will open these dates, with Devil Whale and Lemolo playing select shows as well.

Sub Pop released The Head and the Heart's self-titled debut full-length on April 16th of this year, and to date the album has scanned over 50,000 copies in the US. So far this year the band has performed at the Sasquatch and Bonnaroo festivals and before year's end will play the Newport Folk Festival, Capitol Hill Block Party, the Doe Bay Festival, and ACL.

Continue reading "The Head & the Heart & Thao with the Get Down Stay Down -- 2011 Tour Dates"

DOWNLOAD: Mister Heavenly - "Pineapple Girl" (MP3)

Descendents at FFFFest (more by Tim Griffin)

Much like last year, FYF Fest 2011 is poppin' off with some incredible bands, many of whom recently reunited. This year the LA fest will host a coveted Descendents appearance, a Death From Above 1979 show, Guided By Voices, another Kid Dynamite reunion, The Dead Milkmen, Explosions in the Sky, the return of The Weakerthans and many, many notable others. Full lineup is below. The show goes down at 1st and Main in downtown Los Angeles on September 3rd. Tickets are on sale.

Future Islands plays FYF Fest and plays Death By Audio in Brooklyn TONIGHT (6/28).

For Kid Dynamite, which features members of Lifetime, Paint it Black and None More Black, the reunion is their first since re-emerging for This is Hardcore last year with Ink & Dagger. The band called it quits in 2000 and reunited in 2005 at CBGB and some other times too. I hope they schedule another NYC show, but it's just LA for now.

This is Hardcore THIS YEAR features an appearance from Ressurection, which also featured Dan Yemin on guitar. Tickets for This is Hardcore 2011, taking place in Philly's Starlight Ballroom, is mostly sold-out, with tickets for the Sunday show still available.

The Descendents appearance at FYFest is one of several dates scheduled for the reunited band, NYC's Roseland, Chicago Riot Fest, and Philly's Riot Fest included. Tickets are still available for the 9/23 Roseland show.

Mister Heavenly will hit the road for a string of dates on the West Coast leading up to FYF Fest. Check out their full tour schedule below, and look for their new LP Out of Love on 8/16 via Sub Pop. Check out "Pineapple Girl" from that record above.

The Death From Above 1979 appearance is one of several slated for the band in the coming months, including a 7/22 appearance at Williamsburg Waterfront. Tickets are still available OR, you can try your hand by winning a pair at our Facebook. The full set of DFA1979 dates are below.

The Weakerthans have a few other dates slated for Europe and Canada in the coming months. Hopefully they add more US dates too. All dates for now are listed below.

A few bands on the FYFest lineup (namely, Cults, Off!, and No Age) will also appear in NYC at the House of Vans this summer, and for FREE. The FYF-presented House of Vans series of shows starts this Thursday (6/30). You just have to RSVP to get in (and maybe get there early).

All Weakerthans, DFA1979, and Mister Heavenly dates, some video, and the full FYF Fest lineup is below.

Continue reading "FYF Fest in LA, This is Hardcore in Philly, Future Islands in BK, Mister Heavenly on tour, a DFA1979 contest & more"

Dead Milkmen @ Fun Fun Fun Fest 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

The NYC Descendents / Suicide Machines show is one day before both bands descend upon the first-ever Riot Fest East at Festival Pier in Philly on 9/24! The killer lineup also includes Dead Milkmen, Naked Raygun, X (playing Los Angeles in full like they'll do two nights in NYC), Hot Water Music, Weston, Samiam, Plow United, The Menzingers (who play Santos on 6/24), Excitebike, Shot Baker, Larry and His Flask, The Holy Mess and more. Tickets for the Philly festival go on sale Friday (6/24) at 10 AM. A Flier and more info below.

Riot Fest East is also one day of the 2nd annual Philly F/M Festival: "A Four Day Event To Promote Music and Film In The City of Brotherly Love To Occur Thursday, Sept 22nd - Sunday, Sept 25th 2011."

The second annual festival will take place over four days, largely in the Fishtown / Northern Liberties neighborhoods of Philadelphia, which in recent years have become a cultural center for music and arts in the city. This year's festival will feature over 15 indoor and outdoor venues with capacities between 100-5,000. Participating venues include: The Festival Pier, Trocadero Theater, TLA, World Café Live and The Ukie Club.

Modeled after successful long-standing events such as SXSW and CMJ, Philly F/M looks to establish itself as the premiere multi-venue music and film festival for the U.S. East Coast entertainment and tourism market. Last year's festival took place in 30 venues with 300 artists and over 60 films from around the world. Philly F/M 2010 attracted 13,000 visitors across all events with little or no "headline" artists. This year the festival will host at least fifteen 'headline-level' artists of all music genres, more than 100 artists total. Attendance projections for the festival is more than 25,000 paid attendees, which will include a core group of at least 5,000 all-access badge holders.

Continue reading "Philly gets a Riot Fest (which is part of the F/M Festival) -- lineup announcements"

photos by Josh Darr

Robyn / Death From Above 1979

The four-day, sold out Sasquatch Music Festival is underway in Gorge, Washington this Memorial Day Weekend. Maybe you're listening to it online? Here are some pictures from the first two days, with more from Day 2 HERE (and Day 3 and 4 coming soon). They continue below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2011 in pics (Day 1, part of Day 2)"

The 10th Anniversary ACL Festival line-up is on the books. Stevie Wonder, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Coldplay, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Nas & Damian "Jr Gong" Marley and Cee Lo top the bill of the over 130 bands. Bright Eyes, Social Distortion, Empire of the Sun, Santigold, Pretty Lights, TV On The Radio, Skrillex, Big Boi and Randy Newman are also on tap to rock September 16-18.

Continue reading "Austin City Limits 2011 festival lineup is here, tickets on sale"

Like Chicago and Atlantic City, NYC & Washington will get iterations of the traveling festival with the extremely scary name (and headliner)...

"Dave Matthews Band Caravan" will come to New York City's Governors Island on August 26, 27 and 28 and The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, WA on September 2, 3 and 4. The events will feature a diverse lineup of musical talent performing on multiple stages during the day and a full set by headliners Dave Matthews Band each night. See below for ticket information.

In addition to Dave Matthews Band, the lineup for the Governors Island event will include Dispatch, The Roots, Gogol Bordello, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, The Head and the Heart, Vieux Farka Touré, David Wax Museum and many more to be announced soon...."

This is the second big Governors Island Fest to be announced this year. The other is the dance-oriented Governors Ball (Punk Island also returns this year).

More DMBC info below...

Continue reading "run & hide, Dave Matthews Band Caravan coming to NY (fest announces stops @ Governors Island & Washington's Gorge)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Damien Jurado

Twin Shadow

Catching up a bit. Here's what Dominick saw in Austin on Thursday, March 17, 2011 (St. Patrick's Day)...

Continue reading "SXSW 2011 Day 2 pics"

"An exciting mix of folk music's founding voices and modern favorites highlights the 52nd edition of the Newport Folk Festival® when it returns to Newport's Fort Adams State Park July 30-31, it was announced today by the Newport Festivals Foundation, the recently-formed 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization which produces the event.

Tickets go on sale worldwide on Thursday, March 31, at 10:00 am at www.newportfolkfest.net.

Continue reading "Newport Folk Festival 2011 lineup announced, tickets too"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

The [Dr. Dog] show started in an almost cult-like environment as the stage was adorned with abstract stain glass art that emitted a strange yet awe-inspiring light. As the band entered the stage, tribal hymns were piped through the sound system and the crowd greeted them with deafening applause. I felt as though I was entering the Temple of Dr. Dog and was about to take part in a right of passage or ritual into the band's world. The opening note was the monotone ring of Miller's organ as McMicken cried out the first line of "I Only Wear Blue," one of the more memorable tracks off the new record. It only got better from that point as Dr. Dog pleased the crowd with songs off all their records. The set featured a great balance of slower songs ("I Only Wear Blue," "Shadow People," and "The Breeze") and fast jams ("The Rabbit, the Bat, and the Reindeer," "Stranger," and "Mirror Mirror") that kept the entire venue swaying and jumping the entire night. Some memorable tunes were the band's cover of Architecture in Helsinki's "Heart It Races" (complete with an interpretive dance performance by a friend of the band), "The Ark," and "The Beach." -[Philadelphia City Paper]

Phantogram was originally scheduled to be on board for the Terminal 5 date, but were replaced by Jeffrey Lewis following a family emergency.

If you missed the show on Friday, The Head & The Heart are teaming with Daniel Wayne to play Maxwell's TONIGHT (2/21). Tickets are still on sale.

Dr. Dog recently released a video of "I Only Wear Blue" made with compiled tour footage. Check that video out, as well as more NYC pictures and the T5 setlist below...

Continue reading "Dr. Dog played Terminal 5 w/ The Head & The Heart & Jeffrey Lewis (pics & setlist)"

Phantogram at MHoW (more by Jessica Amaya)

"NYC fans, we're very sad to announce that we've had a family emergency and have to cancel the T5 show w/ Dr Dog this Fri, 2/18. We can't offer refunds, unfortunately, but please go enjoy the amazing Dr. Dog w/out us, and email phantogramterminal5@gmail.com tell us how it went. We'll work on something special for you, and you'll be the 1st to know about our next NYC show." - Phantogram

Recent Sub Pop-signees The Head and the Heart are on tour with Dr. Dog, are playing Terminal 5 still, and have added their own NYC-area show at Maxwell's on 2/21. Daniel Wayne opens and tickets are on sale. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Jeffrey Lewis replaces Phantogram on Dr. Dog show, The Head and the Heart playing Maxwell's & other shows"

Bonnaroo (June 9-12 in Manchester Tennessee) has announced the 2011 lineup (slightly early), and like the rumored Lollapalooza lineup, Eminem is among the headliners. Bonnaroo also has Grammy winners Arcade Fire and the Black Keys, in addition to Lil Wayne, Mumford & Sons, the Strokes, The Decemberists, Florence & the Machine, Girl Talk, Beirut (haven't seen them in a while), and many more. Full list below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2011 lineup is here"

The Head and the Heart

Phantogram, whose Barsuk labelmates the Dismemberment Plan released emergency & i for the very first time on vinyl this week, have been added as support on the February 18th Dr. Dog show at Terminal 5. They'll play 2nd on the bill that also includes The Head and The Heart who go on first. Tickets are still on sale for that show. The only other appearance Phantogram has coming up at the moment is Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Wed, Feb 2nd (their TV debut).

The Head and the Heart, unlike Phantogram, is also opening all dates on Dr. Dog's January-March tour (updated dates below), and the Seattle band just announced that they've signed to Sub Pop...

"We here at camp Head and the Heart are extremely excited, happy, elated, and possibly over-the-moon for the relationship that has been consummated with Sub Pop Records. They've released so many seminal albums that we all in the band cherish and to be a part of that history is amazing. We're all still learning their nicknames, inside jokes and neurotic tendencies, but it feels good. It feels like home. We have no idea what this new year will bring (hopefully more Wine Fridays, am I right guys?), but with Sub Pop backing us, we're ready to find out."

All tour dates and some Head and the Heart KEXP video sessions below...

Continue reading "The Head and the Heart sign to Sub Pop, touring w/ Dr. Dog (Phantogram also opening in NYC)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Blood Red Shoes @ MHOW

After Chris left the BV Loft Party all the way back on Friday, October 22nd, he headed over to Music Hall of Williamsburg for the Blue Flowers-presented CMJ showcase for a lineup of mostly UK bands including Chapel Club, Everything Everything, and Blood Red Shoes (who toured North America with Sky Larkin in October). Pictures from that show are in this post.

The occasion (to post these belated pics)? SXSW has already announced an initial lineup of bands playing in Austin from March 16-20, 2011, and Chapel Club is on that list (and I wouldn't be surprised of the other 2 mentioned bands end up coming too). Also on the list: Lia Ices, Braids, Asobi Seksu, Wye Oak, Suuns, Sun Airway, A Place to Bury Strangers and more. Full list under the rest of the MHOW pictures, below...

Continue reading "Chapel Club played CMJ w/ Everything Everything & Blood Red Shoes (pics), playing SXSW 2011 (intial lineup)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

While Pavement was waving goodbye across town, Ra Ra Riot played Music Hall of Williamsburg with Anamanaguchi on 9/24. It was RRR's fourth and final show of their residency across two venues (Bowery pics from night one and night two). Now that the four dates are over, the Syracuse band can get to the business of hitting the road, where the band will be for the remainder of the year. They play Toad's Place Tuesday with their tour-mates Chikita Violenta and We Barbarians.

In other news, Ra Ra Riot was on NPR's Soundcheck last week and recently announced a new split 7" with Stornoway. The split, which is limited to 1000 pieces and will appear on 4AD, features 'Fuel Up' by Stornaway as well as Ra Ra Riot's "Boy", both of which appear on the bands respective new LPs. Reminder, Stornaway is scheduled to play Bowery Ballroom on 12/2 with Franz Nicolay (tickets) as part of a larger US tour. Their updated dates below.

Anamanaguchi's MHOW appearance meant two shows in two days, as the band also played Death By Audio with Tera Melos, Pteradactyl, and Fiasco the previous night. Pics from that show are on the way with a new song by Anamanaguchi. Stay tuned.

More pictures from the 9/24 MHOW show, with the Stornoway dates, below...

Continue reading "Ra Ra Riot on tour, played MHOW w/ Anamanaguchi (pics), released a 7" w/ Stornoway (who are touring soon)"