Recent Articles in Music Festivals
The Aussie BBQ 2012 Comes Down to Brooklyn’s The Bell House 3.25.12
Despite the fact that all of the acts had just spent 10 hours on a bus (they made a BBQ pit stop in Toronto prior to NYC), and that immigration issues kept one of the bands from performing, the Aussie BBQ 2012 at the Bell House provided an energetic and diverse lineup from Oz, as always. It also provided some tasty barbecued pork and chicken; Vegetarians were out of luck but we omnivores snacked away.
SXSW 2012: $10 Diary Dreams (Thursday and Friday)
I went to SXSW with the same amount of money I always have: none. Thanks to some fancy footwork and swell generosity, I was able to make the trip there happen (thanks Madeline and Dmitri!). Thereafter, I was given a brief word of wisdom: when the sun is out, all is free; when the sun is down, everything costs.
Bleeding Knees Club Sneers at Us for IAMSOUND’s CMJ 2011 Showcase
Bleeding Knees Club’s Alex Wall has perfected the art of the sneer but it’s all in the name of good punk fun. Let’s say the band is updating fave 60′s rock classics with a California dreamin’-by-way-of-the-Gold-Coast trip for the teenager still lurking within us.
Weekend Play Cameo for MTV Hive: Weird Vibes and Popgun Presents
“If you think we were loud and obnoxious before, you’re gonna hate this,” says singer/bassist Shaun Durkan before Weekend blasted into a new song, (“Hazel” perhaps), with all the sonic command and immediacy of hits off their Sports album.
Lollapalooza Day 3: Foo Fighters Play to Mud People; Best Coast, The Cars and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Evade the Rain
Dripping from the torrential rain that plagued Sunday in Chicago, a white-eyed Dave Grohl confided to a sea of mud people, “You know what I like? A rock and roll band that actually gets up on stage and plays their fucking instruments,” before cuing a machine-gun “Monkey Wrench” march from Taylor Hawkins and throating that line about innocence, permanently etched into our early 90s conscious.
Lollapalooza 2011 Day 2: Kids Crashed Fences, Chain Gang of 1974, Ween, DOM and Eminem Played On
The kids were not alright yesterday, as hundreds of them evaded the new airport scanners and crashed a Western, 15-foot fence, booking into the concrete jungle for a taste of Day Two. At the time, Ween was at the tail-end of “Bananas and Blow.” But it wouldn’t be a bad typecast to say Southern headliner Slim Shady had some influence.
Lollapalooza 2011: Day 1 Heats Up with Coldplay, Cults, the Mountain Goats and Le Butcherettes
With sold-out, record-breaking ticket sales – 90,000/day – and a big proverbial 20th anniversary gold ring for Perry Farrell, the pops of touring festivals took its first breath of three on Friday in its adopted Chicago Grant Park home, humming a far different tune than its Alternative Nation meets circus shit show of yore. Once a breeding ground of Jane’s Addiction’s circle of grunge, I’m not sure anyone would have predicted Coldplay, one of rock’s most chastised mopesters, would be headlining some day.
The Village Voice 4 Knots Festival 2011: A Few of Our Favorite Videos and Old-Time Photos
Salty sailors and lusty-for-music fans did unite. The Village Voice 4 Knots Music Festival was successfully launched on July 16, 2011 at the South Street Seaport, NYC.
4knots Quick Recap Saturday, 7.16.11
We arrived to a sweet and short line for press badges at the 4Knots Festival Front Street hangout (much like Fader’s, with things to buy, DJ’s and drinks, but to pay for, with tickets), and then ran straight over to the stage since our East River Ferry was late and thus, we were late for the Eleanor Friedberger set.
Diamond Rings and Bell at Club Europa, Northside Festival, 6.19.11
We arrived early, shocked to find a mini line forming before 9pm to get in to see Diamond Rings. It was surprising to see such an impressive display of black-clad lovelies before sundown, one was tall and slim, with severe blond bob and sequined jacket and leggings…
