Tickets are on sale for the newly-announced benefit show in Woodstock, NY (ticket link is in the right column of venue site). More dates and info on new box set/tracks HERE.

Kathryn Calder on stage with The New Pornographers (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Kathryn Calder, possibly best known for her contributions to a certain supergroup that contains her uncle, is currently on the road with Himalayan Bear on the West Coast. The dates are in support of Are You My Mother?, her own album which dropped in August of last year. So far a full slate of dates on the Eastside have yet to be determined, but NYC has a show to call their own: Mercury Lounge on June 14th. Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon on Wed (5/11) and regular sale on Friday. All dates are listed below.

Meanwhile Neko Case is going about to embark on a dueling tour that kicks off on 5/11 in Rhode Island and makes a stop at Bearsville Theatre in Woodstock, NY one day later. If you're confused about the date of the Woodstock show, it might be because it was supposed to happen in February but was postponed due to bad weather. All current dates are listed below, Pitchfork Fest included.

The New Pornographers have upcoming dates at both the previously discussed B.O.M.B. Fest in CT on May 29, and Festival for Humanity in Vernon, NJ on May 30th. The band's video for "Sweet Talk" in support of Oxfam's Gulf relief efforts has been nominated for an Emmy. If you havent seen it, check it out below along with all tour dates.

Continue reading "Kathryn Calder on tour (adds dates), Neko Case kicking off tour (adds dates too) "

DOWNLOAD: The New Pornographers - Your Hands Together (MP3)

The New Pornographers are gearing up for their album-supporting shows this summer in Europe and North America.

The new disc, Together, comes out May 4th, and their first show after its release (which comes more than a month before their other North American shows) will happen on May 6th at Woodstock, NY's 250-seat Bearsville Theater (about 2 hour drive north of NYC). Tickets are on sale now.

That show and the others on their tour will feature the band's full eight-member lineup: A.C. Newman, Blaine Thurier (keys), John Collins (bass, etc.), Todd Fancey (guitar), Kurt Dahle (drums), Kathryn Calder (vox, keys), Neko Case (vox) and Dan Bejar (vox, guitar, et).

Their full tour comes to NYC directly on June 19th for a show at Terminal 5 with tourmates The Dodos and The Dutchess and the Duke. Tickets are still on sale.

Neko Case is currently touring as part of Jakob Dylan's band, and they play two nights in NYC starting tonight (4/21). You can catch them on Letterman tonight too.

Together's first single is posted again above. The second, "The Crash Years," is available on iTunes. There's also a series of listening parties in various cities (NYC TBA) for the record coming up. More info on those, all tour dates and a new video with actor Adam Goldberg interviewing members of the band (and album guests Zach Condon, Will Sheff and Daptone's Neal Sugarman) are below...

Continue reading "New Pornographers confirm full band for tour, kick things off w/ a small show upstate, Neko here now, new video & more "

Kurt Vile @ Woodsist/CT Fest July 4th (more by Tim Griffin)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Warm Up w/ Growing @ PS1
* Richie Havens @ City Winery
* Woodhands @ Tribeca Grand Hotel
* Marduk, Tombs @ Gramercy Theatre
* Antifolk Festival @ Sidewalk Cafe
* The Pietasters @ Rocks Off Boat Cruise
* Vic Thrill, Aliens @ Santos Party House
* Cable, Naam, Lapdog of Satan @ Union Pool
* Plastic People of the Universe @ Joe's Pub
* Trashcan Sinatras, Brookville @ Bowery Ballroom
* Sweethearts, Wild Yaks, Barry & Eastenders @ Lit
* Painus, Quinn Walker, Tearist, Wild Yaks @ Coco 66
* Six Finger Satellite, Pterodactyl, POP1280 @ Southpaw
* The Phenomenal Handclap Band, Tanlines, Q&A @ BKLN Yard
* Fishbone, The Prigs, Drunken Sufis @ Rocks Off Boat Cruise
* Animal Collective, Dam Funk, Zomby @ Prospect Park Bandshell
* The Warlocks, The Morning After Girls, The Vandelles @ Maxwell's
* Kurt Vile, Blues Control, Birds of Maya, Daily Void @ Silent Barn
* Galaxie w/ Publicist (DJ) (Trans Am/Ian Svenonious) @ Market Hotel
* Hercules and Love Affair, Jason Kendig @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
All Leather, Team Robespierre, Chinese Stars, Rice @ Death By Audio
* Drink Up Buttercup, Blind Man's Colour, Beach Fossils, Lights On @ Union Hall
* Teengirl Fantasy, Ecstatic Sunshine, Lucky Dragons, Growing @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Morphoses & The Wheeldon Company (dance) w/ Martha Wainwright @ Central Park Summerstage
* Donner Party Picnic, Bad Credit No Credit, Back Pockets, Apollo Heights, No Mas Bodas @ Shea Stadium

Free outdoor music tonight includes dance from Morphoses & The Wheeldon Company with music from Martha Wainwright at the Central Park Summerstage.

Kurt Vile and Blues Control play at Silent Barn with Birds of Maya and Daily Void.

Hercules & Love Affair play the second of two NYC shows, tonight at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Animal Collective also plays their second NYC gig tonight with Dam Funk and possibly Zomby at Prospect Park Bandshell.

PS1 hosts another Warm Up today with Growing on the bill. More places to dance are also listed in This Week In Dance.

Marduk and Tombs play Gramercy Theatre. Did you meet Marduk last night at Duff's?

Reunited synth post-punk band Six Finger Satellite visit Southpaw with Pterodactyl and POP1280. The Juan Maclean has a show coming up at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

A veritable who's who of TWII bands comes to Union Hall. Catch Drink Up Buttercup, Blind Man's Colour, Beach Fossils and Lights On at the venue tonight.

The Warlocks and Morning After Girls perform at Maxwell's with The Vandelles. How was the show last night at Bowery Ballroom?

Trashcan Sinatras gig at the Bowery Ballroom with Brookville.

Woodstock happened 40 years ago today, which means all the tributes and celebrations will be over soon. In the meantime, today is the Bethel Woods Music Festival "starring the Heroes of Woodstock" in Bethel, NY, School of Rock "Presents Woodstock 40th Anniversary Festival with Doomsand" at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ, Richie Havens plays City Winery, and there's there's a party happening tonight at Water Street in DUMBO. Flyer below for the latter below.

The Antifolk Festival brings Jaymay, Daniel Bernstein and Crazy and the Brains to the Sidewalk Cafe.

New Six Organs of Admittance video for the song ""Anesthesia", below...

Dinosaur Jr. plays Central Park Summerstage on Sunday. Del The Funky Homosapien plays the Williamsburg Waterfront on Sunday.

Creed plays Jones Beach tonight!

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

'As an authentic Woodstock attendee (or should I say victim?), I hate to rain on the procession of warm memories and good vibrations, but I will say this: wake up, folks. For some--maybe quite a few of us--who made the journey, Woodstock was, if not a nightmare, then a massive, teeming, squalid mess. If you like colossal traffic jams, torrential rain, reeking portable johns, barely edible food, and sprawling, disorganized crowds, then you would have found Woodstock a treat. For those of us who saw those things as a hassle, good music did not necessarily offset the discomfort' [Newsweek]

This week is the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, and the 6-CD em>Woodstock: 40 Years on: Back to Yasgur's Farm captures the best of the legendary music festival. The box set features 38 previously unreleased live recordings from The Grateful Dead, The Who, and many more artists.

If you are feeling nostalgic, the Jimi Hendrix Live 1968 Paris/Ottawa box set copmes with 2 CDs and a t-shirt.

As the summer gets hotter, the music release lists get shorter. Still, I can ecommend Anna Ternheim's Leaving On a Mayday, Box Elders' Alice and Friends, and Patrick Wolf: The Bachelor (which finally gets its stateside release) among this week's list of new releases.

The reissue of the week is definitely the UK legacy edition of The Stone Roses' self-titled debut album, but I can wait until September 8th for the 3-CD, 3-LP, & DVD US edition.

What new music can you recommend this week? What's on your shopping list? Have I left any interesting releases off the list?

Continue reading "Largehearted Boy's Interesting CD Releases This Week"

Kelli Garner, Demetri Martin & Paul Dano in Taking Woodstock

While [Woodstock Ventures'] most promising idea -- a one-day mini-Woodstock in Prospect Park in Brooklyn this August -- fizzled when they could not find sponsors, that doesn't mean others haven't coaxed a few more marketing miles from the creaky Woodstock bus.

Dozens of projects are planned to commemorate the August 1969 concert, including an Ang Lee movie called "Taking Woodstock" [starring Demetri Martin, trailer below], a Heroes of Woodstock concert tour (with Jefferson Starship and Melanie) and at least 13 books, including one for children co-authored by a second cousin of Max Yasgur, the farmer who lent his land in Bethel, N.Y., for the original event. Target is set to run a "Summer of Love" promotion featuring licensed Woodstock merchandise, like beach towels with the symbolic white dove perched on a guitar neck.

The operators of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, on the grounds of the original Woodstock concert, gave up trying to work with Woodstock Ventures and announced on May 4 that they were going ahead with their own commemorative concert Aug. 15, called the Bethel Woods Music Festival, which will include acts from the Heroes of Woodstock tour.

...[Woodstock promoter Michael Lang] has not given up hope that he can pull off another last-minute event. He said they were speaking with a potential sponsor and city officials for a free concert in Prospect Park in the fall. "We would have 150,000 ticketed and an overflow area for 150,000 more with video screens," he said, speaking more animatedly when the logistics of a show were being discussed than he was when the subject was finding sponsors and working out issues with Mr. Rosenman.

"It would be noon to 11 p.m., eight to 10 bands on the main stage," Mr. Lang continued. "On-site solar and wind power; biodiesel for generators; organic and local produce; recycled paper goods. We'd like to give away one-day free passes on city transit with a ticket." [NY Times]

As stated above, that's far from the only thing celebrating Woodstock this summer. Tickets are on sale for The Bethel Woods Center show. Levon Helm (who hosts regular jam sessions in his Woodstock, NY studio), Jefferson Starship, Canned Heat and others are on the bill.

And as stated above, many of the acts at that event will be traveling with the Heroes of Woodstock tour. That show has dates across the US, including a Wednesday, August 12th show at NYC's Nokia Theatre Times Square. Tickets are on sale.

NYC is also hosting its own set of Woodstock anniverary concerts at Castle Clinton, with four nights of free music planned. That kicks off with the Music of Sly & the Family Stone: "It's a Family Affair" on Thursday, July 16th.

Not actually related, but close enough... this weekend (May 29th-31st) in the Catskills, not too far from Woodstock, Mountain Jam is happening in Hunter, NY. Bands on the bill include the Gene Ween Band, The Hold Steady, Girl Talk, Coheed & Cambria, Gov't Mule, Allman Brothers Band and more. Tickets are still on sale.

One place that won't be having a "Woodstock" anniversary event is San Francisco, where its tribute concert organizers were recently served with a cease and desist order from Lang and Woodstock Venture for using the trademarked name.

Check out the trailer and poster for Taking Woodstock, with all Demetri Martin and Heroes of Woodstock dates, below...

Continue reading "Demetri Martin stars in 'Taking Woodstock', Prospect Park show status & other 40th Anniversary news "

"Veterans of the original Woodstock festival, including Levon Helm, Paul Kantner and Country Joe McDonald, have organized a scheduled flashback of sorts: they and several other musicians who performed at that 1969 concert will play a new show on Aug. 15 to celebrate the festival's 40th anniversary, The Associated Press reported. The new concert, whose lineup also includes the Woodstock alumni Big Brother and the Holding Company, Ten Years After, Canned Heat and Mountain, will be held at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in upstate New York, where the first Woodstock festival took place. Mr. Helm, who played at Woodstock as a member of the Band, will be appearing with his Levon Helm Band, and Mr. Kantner, who performed at Woodstock with Jefferson Airplane, will appear at the anniversary concert with the upgraded Jefferson Starship." [NY Times]

Four free shows at Castle Clinton in NYC this summer...

July 16 - Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra Plays the Music of Sly & the Family Stone: "It's a Family Affair"

July 23 - Richie Havens

July 30 - Arlo Guthrie

Aug 06 - John Kelly Sings The Joni Mitchell Songbook: "Songs for a Shiny Hot Night"

Sly and the Family Stone @ Woodstock

July 16, 2009 7:00pm
FOUR NIGHTS OF PEACE, LOVE & MUSIC: A CASTLE CLINTON TRIBUTE TO WOODSTOCK - "IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR" STEVEN BERNSTEIN'S MILLENNIAL TERRITORY ORCHESTRA PLAYS THE MUSIC OF SLY & THE FAMILY STONE

Castle Clinton National Monument, Battery Park at State Street Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra creates an evening that features the music of Sly & the Family Stone with special guests that include legendary Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell, and an array of vocalists including Sandra Saint Victor, Shilpa Ray and others. Steven Bernstein is a trumpeter, bandleader, arranger and composer who lives outside of musical convention. Join us for this one-of-a-kind show that pays homage to Woodstock's 40th anniversary year. Tickets will be distributed 2 per person, outside Castle Clinton on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 5:00PM on the day of the show.

Another, much bigger Woodstock 40th Anniversary concert is hoping to happen in Prospect Park this summer.

Shilpa Ray also has many other shows coming up.

Conor Oberst and Jenny Lewis are also playing a free show in Battery Park this summer.

Continue reading "a tribute to Woodstock & Sly Stone @ Castle Clinton in 2009"

by Andrew Frisicano

Outdoor music fest fun...Woodstock '94

Tickets for the Austin City Limits festival - happening this year on October 2nd-4th in Austin's Zilker Park - go on sale today (Tuesday, April 7th) at 11am EST. That sale happens in advance of the fest's official lineup announcement, scheduled for April 28th.

Calgary festival Sled Island hasn't announced its lineup either. But Sled Island does have a pre-fest fundraiser planned for Saturday April 11th (tickets on sale). Headlining that show at Calgary's Royal Canadian Legion will be 2008 fest performer Fucked Up (video below). Sled Island itself takes place June 25th-28th. Curating this year's festivities will be Colin Newman from Wire (who also played Sled Island '08).

Camp Bisco, a three-night fest headlined by The Disco Biscuits, is happening on July 16th-18th in Mariaville, NY. The artists playing include Nas, Chromeo, The Orb, Dr. Dog and more (full lineup below). Tickets are on sale now.

Monolith Festival is happening again this year in September at Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Colorodo. No acts or dates have been announced yet - but last year's lineup was pretty stellar with TV on the Radio, Justice, Band of Horses, and more playing.

Merge Records is running its own 20th-anniversary festival, XX Merge, on July 22nd-26th in North Carolina. The lineup has been partially announced - with acts like Superchunk, Spoon, Conor Oberst, and M. Ward confirmed. Five-day passes go on sale Wednesday, April 8th at 10am.

Glastonbury sold out its last batch of tickets this week. The UK festival, happening June 26th-28th, has confirmed acts that include Lily Allen, Fleet Foxes, Neil Young, Blur, Bruce Springsteen, Emiliana Torrini, Doves, Franz Ferdinand, The Ting Tings, and Echo And The Bunnymen.

Other previously reported summer fests include:

Coachella in Indio, CA, on April 17th-19th. Tickets on sale.

Sasquatch in Quincy, WA on May 23rd-25th. Tickets on sale.

Northside Festival in Brooklyn (June 11th-14th). Badges are on sale.

Bonnaroo is happening too, from June 11th-14th in Manchester, TN.

Pitchfork Festival is taking place July 17th-19th in Chicago's Union Park. The fest recently added The Flaming Lips to its already announced lineup. Tickets are on sale now.

The Flaming Lips will also be co-curating and headlining one night of ATP NY, September 11th-13th in NY's Catskills. Tickets for that are still on sale.

All Points West July 31-Aug 2nd in Jersey City. Tickets on sale

Lollapalooza on August 7th-9th in Chicago, IL. Tickets (and VIP passes) are on sale now. There have been some rumored bands, but the official lineup comes out April 21st.

Bumbershoot in Seattle on September 5th-7th. Three-day passes are on sale now.

There are more confirmed festivals, but I think that's enough for this post. In the unconfirmed department, Woodstock '09 is currently shoping for a venue.

Camp Bisco's lineup, video of Fucked Up at last year's Sled Island Fest and Green Day at Woodstock '94 below...

Continue reading "ACL tix, Sled Island's 2009 curator, Camp Bisco lineup, Monolith, Glastonbury & other music festival news"

David Byrne @ Radio City Music Hall (more by Chris La Putt)

Celebrate Brooklyn's opening night gala (and first concert of the season) will take place at the Prospect Park Bandshell on June 8th.

The Green Gala will be an exciting eco-friendly evening with a zero waste goal that launches other green initiatives including cycling and recycling efforts to reduce the Festival's environmental impact and to promote eco-friendly practices. All proceeds from the gala provide vital funds for Celebrate Brooklyn's free programming and will also support our green initiatives.

5:30 Cocktails & Dinner
7:30 Remarks
8:00 Performance (reserved seats)
10:00 Dance Party

Most of the shows at the Brooklyn bandshell are free (like did I mention David Byrne on June 8th???), but a few are benefits (aka cost money) to help make the free ones happen. MGMT and Kuroma (sold out), Animal Collective (still on sale), and Jackson Browne (still on sale) all fit into the benefit category. Now you can also add Bonnie Rait and Taj Mahal to that list. They are on tour together and will play there on August 12th (on sale date TBA) (all dates below).

The full lineup of free shows happening at the bandshell in Prospect Park this summer will be announced in a few weeks. Until then we can try and figure them out. One possibility is King Sunny Ade on July 18th. Do you know any others? We're also keeping track of who is playing Central Park Summerstage.

The bandshell is not the only place events happen in Prospect Park though. The Long Meadow, with the addition of a stage, can and has also become a venue (usually for opera, orchestras, and other more-high-art events). According to the Daily News, there's now also a chance it will also become the location of Woodstock's planned NYC anniversary concert...

"It's big, it's convenient. There's public transportation - and Brooklyn's cool," said Lang, 64. "I'd love to do it. But it's been a very tough year."

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe confirmed the city is in talks with Lang about the event.

"New York City has a wonderful legacy of great free concerts," said Benepe, adding Prospect Park would be a great spot for such a concert.

"It's a park we have been pointing concert promoters to," said Benepe. "There's no space anywhere in Central Park as large as the the Long Meadow in Prospect Park."

Lang, who grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, said he knows the clock is ticking and that to make the free daylong show work, he has to find the necessary $8 million to $10 million to pay for it by the end of the month.

If the money comes through, Lang is hoping to attract up to 150,000 people and feature a mix of Woodstock legends like Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Neil Young, as well as newer bands that fit the vibe, like Dave Matthews and Phish.

Bonnie Rait & Taj Mahal dates below...

Continue reading "David Byrne (!), Woodstock, Bonnie Rait, Taj Mahal & other Prospect Park concert news "

words and photos by Faith-Ann Young

Due to the snow, I suffered miserably to get myself to the Woodstock party at Santos Party House on Monday night. By the time I got there I had missed the first act Joanna Erdos and the Midnight Show.

Regardless, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy (male) Hookers are pretty much blowing my mind these days and this show was no exception. Shilpa has an addictive rasp that screams Fuck-all attitude... appropriate for a Woodstock-themed event. Santos, with its heart-shaped disco ball and neon psychedelic lights are a far cry from the sun-soaked open fields of Woodstock, but Shilpa did the best Woodstock she could - killer Hendrix "Fire" cover included, especially considering the crowd was pretty sober and there was definitely no one wandering around naked and tripping.

More pictures below...

Continue reading "Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers @ Santos, NYC - pics"

Chief Woodstock promoter Michael Lang is planning two free Woodstock concerts in Berlin, Germany and in New York in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the original 1969 festival. According to the press release, the New York show still doesn't have a venue, but will take place on the actual 40th anniversary of August 15th and 16th. The Berlin show will take place at the now-closed Tempelhof Airport on August 22nd and August 23rd.

Lang and his partners are hoping to snag some of the original participants that performed at Yasgur's Farm back in '69, including Santana, the Who, Joan Baez, Joe Cocker, Grateful Dead, Country Joe and the Fish, as well as current top acts. [The Rock Radio] (via)

Shilpa Ray performed at Santos Party House last night. The event was being taped for a "documentary about the upcoming 40th Anniversary of Woodstock."

According to The Woodstock Preservation Archives...

Lot's of things happening for 2009. Of course, the release of our 'book' is highest on the list LOL. Other events include great memoires from Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld, the re-release of the Woodstock documentary on blue ray, Ang Lee's movie "Taking Woodstock" recollecting the life of Elliott Tiber in theaters in the summer, and the 'semi-official' -- but not confirmed -- announcement of 2 free Woodstock anniversary concerts in Berlin and New York [see above].

Continue reading "40th anniversary of Woodstock - free shows & other stuff"

DOWNLOAD: Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers - Filthy And Free (MP3)

Shilpa Ray @ Bowery Ballroom 1/29 (by Ebru Yildiz)

Academy Award winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple is currently at work on a documentary about the upcoming 40th Anniversary of Woodstock.

On this night, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers and the Midnight Show will both be interviewed and filmed for inclusion in this documentary. Each act will be doing some Woodstock covers. If you feel like coming dressed like a hippie, now's your chance...

Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers 10 PM
The Midnight Show 9 PM

Continue reading "Shilpa Ray & her Happy Hookers playing Santos Party House TONIGHT & the BrooklynVegan official showcase @ SXSW "