photos by Andrew St. Clair

"The [Saturday night Governors Island HARD FEST] set started with "Steppin Up," with M.I.A. backed by about a dozen power drills as part of the rhythm track: noise triumphant. But M.I.A.'s vocals were often so buried in echo, and the bass so bloated, that her lyrics just became more of the din, and the songs that she segued together like a disc-jockey set were barely distinguishable. Instead of a barrage, it was a morass.

Her set was cut short by thunder and lightning, which she attributed to God and answered with a last defiant gesture: rapping "Born Free," which vows to speak her mind, a cappella as her backup group shut down. But an exodus from her set had begun well before the downpour." [NY Times]

I was there and I have to agree about the sound. M.I.A. agrees too, and not surprisingly, has taken to Twitter to deal with the accusations, and the rain. About the sound she wrote, "money doesnt buy u shit! i thought more money means better sound guys in america/\/\/\! i was wrong, the higher u go , they turn u lower!", and "fuck technology! even the stage broke + parts of it fell off in the storm". And about the rain, well, check out the Twitter screenshot above! Don't have a Hard Fest ticket? Don't worry because Maya also promises that "if u do me a lil dance , ill let u in too!" We'll make sure to keep you posted when and if more details emerge.

In related news, the rained-on Modest Mouse show that happened one night earlier has been rescheduled, and the rained-on Williamsburg Waterfront show that happened one day later went on as planned, but later and in a different venue.

OK, so if you're following along, you saw: "Die Antwoord steal the show while topless girl dances (video), M.I.A. spits on a photographer (pics), rain, lasers & more... (HARD NYC in review - part 1)" which was followed by "Die Antwoord played MHOW & Governors Island (pics, video)" which was followed by "HARD FEST NYC in pics (part 2.5) (Ninjasonik, Rye Rye, Theophilus London, MIA & more)". That makes this post PART THREE, and it includes photos from the same artists as well as more crowd pics and Skream + Benga who played too. Those pictures, which include a shot of M.I.A,'s planned setlist, continue below...

Continue reading "M.I.A. promises free NYC show for HARD Fest ticket holders! (and here's another set of pictures from that show) "

by BBG

Godflesh at Hellfest (photo by Shinji @ Salival)

Justin Broadrick issued a statement regarding Godflesh's recent reunion performance at Hellfest. You can read it with some videos from the show, below...

Continue reading "Godflesh reunion a disaster (according to Justin Broadrick)"

A new $250,000 sound system for Central Park's SummerStage concert series this year is giving back some peace and quiet to its Fifth Avenue neighbors.

The 2010 season of the free concert series at Rumsey Playfield, between East 69th and East 70th Streets, in the park will feature a new targeted sound system designed to rock for concert-goers, but leave residents undisturbed.

"We heard from some people that during the concerts, the noise was disturbing their peace and quiet, so we worked with SummerStage and the City Parks Foundation to address the issue," City Councilman Dan Garodnick said.

The new Line-Array System pinpoints sound more directly towards the audience and minimizes the ambient sound that spilled over into the neighborhood, said David Rivel, executive director of the City Parks Foundation. [DNAInfo]

This year's Summerstage schedule is HERE. Unrelated Yogi the Bear PSA below...

Continue reading "Summerstage installed a new neighbor-pleasing soundsystem"

Crocodiles @ Mercury Lounge (more by BB)

A slightly bizarre scene played itself out at the Firebird [Wednesday night], where Thunderkid, Crocodiles and Spelling Bee were set to play a show. Thunderkid opened, and a crowd of 30 or so people had gathered by the time California's Crocodiles were set to perform. For those unfamiliar, the band's a duo, and its beats are pre-programmed. And so a bit after 10:30 p.m., the pair slapped on sunglasses, the backing tracks started, and all systems seemed a go.

Just as quickly, Crocodiles stopped and said that apparently it would have to play acoustic tonight. In fact, the duo seemed really upset at the sound. I heard them say that it sounded "like a boombox" (exactly what that meant was unclear) while RFT writer/pal Todd McKenzie reported hearing them upset about "Fisher Price shit" sound. The Firebird's sound guy (who I didn't know off-hand) went up onstage and tried to fix things, but to no avail. After a short amount of time, the band moved its stuff offstage, and didn't play. [Riverfront Times]

They should have just made like Crystal Castles and started throwing things. The St. Louis club is issuing refunds.

Their shows in NYC this past weekend were much more successful. All tour dates HERE.

DOWNLOAD: Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart (MP3)

Sunset Rubdown @ Studio B - June 12, 2009 (in our hands)

-tons of sound problems. extremely frustrating for the crowd and the band. vocals kept dropping out.
-studio b could be blamed? venue sucks. also extremely hot.
-one of the lead guitarists got stuck in one of the stage pieces, couldn't get himself unstuck. very sad.
-spencer- many "best show ever"s, very sarcastically
-lots of people yelling out "JUST PLAY ANYWAY". band became visibly frustrated. i thought spencer was going to lose it at times.
-new song was just okay. the rest of the set was great. wish there was more stuff from older albums, but what can you do.
[Anonymous | June 12, 2009 11:26 PM]

Sunset Rubdown's new album Dragonslayer is out today (6/23)! You can stream it at NPR. Tour dates and Studio B setlist below...

Continue reading "Sunset Rubdown played Studio B ++ Dragonslayer released"

"Woah just watched crystal castles at sonar, sound was awful throughout kept cutting out so at te end alice started trashing the stage..." - Little Boots

Crystal Castles @ Coachella 2009 (more by Darren Kim)

"Toronto synth-rockers Crystal Castles were involved in a melee with security while onstage in Barcelona early Sunday morning. Their show, part of the Sonar festival, had been marred by technical issues. At some point during the set singer Alice Glass went into the crowd and punched a security guard. She then climbed back on stage, and pulled out the kick drum and appeared to be about to heave it when a sound technician grabbed her. And that's when her bandmate Ethan Kath jumped in and rushed to her aid." [National Post]

Videos below...

Continue reading "Crystal Castles fight w/ security @ the Sonar Festival (video) "