Weezer guitarist/keyboardist, Brian Bell sat down for an interview during this past weekend’s Mile High Music Festival. In it, he discusses a number of topics including where the title of their upcoming album Hurley came from, why they chose the face of a Lost character for their cover, and most interestingly, a possible tour where the band plays their 1996 classic album Pinkerton from start to finish. Turns out, the band’s previous label, Geffen is reissuing the album on October 5th, trying to squeeze out one last revenue stream as the act is now signed to Epitaph. Have a look above.
Lollapalooza JUST ended. As in, 3 days ago. Yet for some reason, the organizers (along with those of Coachella) have decided to announce the dates for the festivities next year. Lollapalooza is returning to Chicago and will take place between August 5th – 7th. Coachella fans don’t have to wait as long to revisit Indio, California as they’ve chosen April 15th – 17th as the 3-day period to host their festival.
With all the talk this year of how the touring leg of the business is getting destroyed, it’s interesting to see the major festivals looking to capitalize by planning out their events so far in advance. But honestly, announcing it this early seems a little ridiculous. No?
From October 29th – 31st, Asheville, North Carolina will be the place to see live music. Moogfest 2010 revealed their lineup which includes a few festival staples like MGMT, School of Seven Bells, Big Boi and Hot Chip. You can see the full lineup here. The event is also said to include “exhibitions, installations, films, workshops, and discussions celebrating the spirit and expansive vision of Bob Moog.” For those who don’t know, Robert Moog was a pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer. He was also a resident of Asheville.
Austin, Texas has been known as a musical hotbed of the U.S., largely due to its annual SXSW Festival. Well now we can add Fun Fun Fun Fest as another reason to visit the city. The event is expanding this year to 3 days (t was previously only 2) and will be taking place between November 5th – 7th at Waterloo Park. Have a look here at the full lineup which includes names like MGMT, RJD2 and Hold Steady. Tickets can be purchased now right here.
Over the weekend, Drake headed home to Toronto to headline his first OVO (October’s Very Own) Festival. Throughout the show, he brought a number of special guests out to perform including the 2 top dogs in the game, Jay-Z and Eminem. Have a look above as he performs “Forever” with the latter of those two and the building goes ballistic.
With Michael Jackson‘s passing last year, the title for best dancer/artist alive has been seemingly split between 2 guys… Chris Brown and Usher. Well over this past weekend during the Reggae Sumfest in Jamaica, both men were on stage together in the midst of Elephant Man’s set. Have a look above at the video taken by one of the members of the crowd.
Although the LA version of the Hard Festival was cancelled (likely due to lack of ticket sales), the NY version did go on as planned over the weekend. However, it wasn’t without problems. M.I.A. headlined and apparently had her set cut short due to the threat of lightning. Although, her set itself was also an issue as there were reportedly a ton of sound issues. Pictures also circulated afterwards of the singer spitting on a photographer in the front row, which obviously wasn’t appreciated. No one can be sure if it was the sound, the potential weather or M.I.A.’s performance that made people leave early but lots of reports are saying that people filed out long before her set came to an end.
Well now, M.I.A. has taken to her twitter to vent a bit. In a series of posts, she had this to say about the event problems and how she plans to win her fans back…
“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!”
“Fuck it! im gonna do a free show in nyc when i get back, tho i dont have powers over rain! if u still have the hard ticket u free! Xxxo”
We’re not sure that this is gonna be enough to bring the masses back. The album is getting killed in the press and her antics aren’t exactly helping. Do you think her career is on the way down? Or will she find a way to get past this all? Let us know your thoughts.
Over this past weekend, there were 2 live performances which made headlines. On Saturday (7/24), a dance music festival called The Love Parade took place in Germany. Its an annual event which has taken place since 1989 (originally in Berlin) and features a number of the world’s leading DJs and dance artists. Somewhere around 1.4 million people showed up however the grounds were unable to support that many people. Although it’s not entirely clear how it happened, 19 people were killed when a stampede occurred in a tunnel leading to the site of the event, an old industrial railway station. An organizer for the event held a press conference afterward stating there will never again be a Love Parade out of respect for those who lost their lives.
On a much lighter note, Kings Of Leon stopped playing after just 3 songs in St. Louis on Friday (7/23), due to an infestation of pigeons who continuously crapped all over the stage and the band themselves. The group’s bassist, Jared Followill, even got some in his mouth, according to reports. He told the press “We couldn’t believe what [opening acts] The Postelles and The Stills looked like after their sets. We didn’t want to cancel the show, so we went for it. We tried to play. It was ridiculous.”
Live Nation said they are giving full refunds to ticket holders and the band said they will return as soon as possible.
Here is some amateur footage taken as the staff of the venue announced the show was over…
Although they haven’t officially played in the U.S. in 4 years, Guns N’ Roses have decided to make their way out of the wood work to play a show… at a biker rally of sorts. On August 13th, Axl and crew will perform during the Rock ‘n Rev Festival which is also being called the “World’s Largest Biker Event.” This will be the first time the band takes the stage in the states since the last 4 dates of their Chinese Democracy tour were cancelled so that Axl could go back to the studio and finish the long awaited album back in 2006. That album did end up coming out at the end of ’08 with underwhelming results.
The 3 day event starts on August 9th and takes place in Sturgis, South Dakota. Other acts confirmed to play include such names as Daughtry, Stone Temple Pilots, Godsmack, Eagles of Death Metal, Creed, Wolfmother and Alice In Chains.
For the record, yes… that really is Axl in the picture above. Looks like he won’t be wearing his 80′s spandex any time soon.
On September 25th, Columbia, MD will be the place to be for music. The Virgin Mobile FreeFest will be taking place at the Merriweather Post Pavillion and will feature a strong list of artists. T.I., Jimmy Eat World, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Matt & Kim and The Temper Trap are all included on the bill. Click here for a full lineup and for information on tickets, which yes… are free!
