THE BLACK KEYS
The Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival gives 40,000-60,000 ear-eager music fans a yearly opportunity to experience both music and art in one place. Atop the scattered stages you can find an abnormal yet effective line-up of musical artistry. Seeing a neighborhood cafe act lead into Erykah Badu was normal. The purgatory that lies between mega stardom and small-town-nobody is suddenly erased. Nor are any rules of artist seniority enforced. Divas mix amongst us normal folk, all egos aside, in the attempt to give awaiting fans what they're spending the weekend in San Francisco for: pure, raw musical talent. It didn't matter how many albums the artist sold --it only mattered if they were good. And to my surprise there weren't any "not so good acts" at this year's festival, which was held at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Coming to Columbia, Maryland on September 10, Virgin Mobile presents the annual FreeFest rock festival, held at the Merriweather Post Pavilion. In 2009, organizers made the event free to attend, however, tickets were made available for those who were unable to secure the free spots. This year, interested attendees must "like" Virgin Mobile Life on Facebook before they are eligible to receive free tickets, which will be available on Friday, July 15th at 10:00 AM EDT.
Stream three new albums in their entirety (visit NPR’s First Listen page) before they hit stores on June 28th!
1) 'Rave on Buddy Holly': a tribute to the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, features Holly covers by Paul McCartney, The Black Keys, Modest Mouse, Cee Lo Green, Fiona Apple, and many more. The album’s A-List artists make up a rather impressive and diverse collection, and all prove to be a remarkable fit for Holly’s timeless tunes.
Through the honored vocals of artists like The Black Keys, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Paul McCartney, Graham Nash, Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket and Fiona Apple, rock 'n' roll pioneer Buddy Holly continues to live on long after his tragic death. The sonic sweeping star would be 75-years-old on September 7th of this year and the highly anticipated release of Rave On Buddy Holly proves that his music is still more relevant than ever and his influence has not ceased to spread across all music soundscapes.
The production of Rave On Buddy Holly celebrates the rock icon's 75th birthday and enduring legacy with a 19-song collection of outstanding Holly covers by an eclectic assemblage of today's most talented musical visionaries. Due on June 28th from Fantasy Records/Concord Music Group, the album was overseen and produced by the esteemed film-music supervisor Randall Poster, who is known for his collaborative works with directors such as Martin Scorsese, Todd Haynes, and Wes Anderson.
The blues rock duo were up against stiff competition during the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, but still managed to come away with two wins. The duo received “Best Alternative Album,” for Brothers, and also “Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals,” for their hit “Tighten Up.” Both looked bewildered when they were called to the stage, recalling the last time they wore suits was at a funeral.
The band was also nominated for “Best Rock Instrumental Performance,” and “Best Rock Song.”
They weren't the only suprises at this years awards, though. Esperanza Spalding won "Best New Artist," as Arcade Fire won "Album Of The Year."
The music industry just keeps getting better, which generates the gloomy realization that the radio will have to suffice instead of hearing the tunes in the past college bar scene. Some artist's have continued creating catchy tracks while others have blown up, showing that they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
In short, 2010's music can most be remembered for Lady Gaga, Bruno making all the females swoon and an exhilarating formal introduction to Mumford & Sons. Not to mention the satisfaction in knowing that Kings of Leon will continue to be the best rock band for years to come with their Southern root melodies and lyrics that without a doubt will catch listener's pressing repeat on their playlist.
Well Joonbuggers, it's that time again, Festie time! This time we are preparing for Austin City Limits. This is one of my favorite festivals of the year, not only because Austin is home, but also because it might be one of the most musically diverse. We are seeing some of our electronic, oldies, Texas country and pop favies this year. Here is what we were looking most forward to.
If you missed our ultimate preparation guide for a festival, please click here to get the scoop on how to get you and your group ready for a weekend of music.
The Edgewater neighborhood in Chicago cranks it up for the third annual, all-ages street festival in the heart of Chicago's north end, as a part of the 2010 World Music Festival. There will also be, in addition to live music, beer, food, educational tents that support environmental awareness and kids corners with child-related activities.
So come out to Chicago's north side and enjoy one of the last temperate weekends and one of the most impressive bands to come out of the midwest before the grip of fall and winter clenches the the Windy City.
The Sunday Snapshot:
The festival set-up, sound and acoustics, as well as operations were extremely professional. It's obvious they have done this before. I loved how they had two stages by each other with back-to-back shows. I parked it at the Budweiser/Playstation stages for most of the weekend due to the line up, but it was incredible to see 10,000 people stacked to see the headliners on the BMI stage. Kudos Lolla.
Sunday Musical Delights & Awards:
Chiddy Bang: Award for Band Best Listened on a CD. I was personally pumped to see Chiddy play. My friends produce their music videos and I have been rocking to their cool remixes/raps for a bit now. Think, Girl Talk meets Drake for their vibe. I was sadly disappointed in the live bit, but I still like them a lot. But the electronic Perry’s stage was a sick addition to the festival. We would be visiting again.
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