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Festivals 2013: Governors Ball, Future Music, Detestival, Eastern Electrics Festival, New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, ArcTanGent

Remember Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival last November? Just a brief update, but I'm told that the sold out weekend proved the event was a success. The organizers have also made available six live sets recorded at the festival on Souncloud. Performances taken from Braille, Wildlife!, Lauren Flax, Dave P, Mess Kid, and Fantasy Thrilla.

And now for the 2013 Music Festival Guide:

GOVERNORS BALL MUSIC FESTIVAL
Website: govball.com
Date: June 7-9, 2013
Where: Randall's Island Park, New York
Price: $160 (pre-sale 3-day)

The third annual Governors Ball Music Festival extended now to three days (June 7th to June 9th) and will feature over sixty acts. Limited presale tickets are already sold-out, which is quite impressive considering that the lineup hasn't even been announced. Based on last year's headliners of Beck, Passion Pit, Modest Mouse, Duck Sauce, Fiona Apple, Kid Cudi, expect more or less the same sort of caliber.

Looking at their "cryptic" flyer, one of the artist on the third day has a really, really long name. Perhaps it is the obnoxious ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead or Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin or I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness or My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult or Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

PS, their javascript-heavy website keeps returning unresponsive errors on my Firefox. Go there at your own risk.

FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL ASIA
Website: futuremusicfestival.asia
Date: March 15-16, 2013
Where: Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
Price: RM138 (Friday), RM178 (Saturday)

I previously mentioned that Future Music teamed up with EMI Music Australia to produce their music label. On the music festival side that Future Music is famous for, they've announced some upcoming festival dates in Malaysia.

The two shows are in different styles - Friday is all about Armin Van Buuren. Apparently, he's the world's number one DJ and he's doing his "A State of Trance 600" (otherwise shortened to ASOT600). Expect to hear a lot of trance music, with W&W, Egyptian legends Aly & Fila, Finish producers, Super8 & Tab, Cosmic Gate, and Ben Gold.

Personally, I'm more interested in Saturday's lineup, which includes 90s sensation The Prodigy, known for "Firestarter" and "Smack My Bitch Up" and the number one youtube video guy - PSY for his "Gangnam Style".

It seems like both shows are meant for different audiences (clearly I'm not in the trance fanclub).

DETESTIVAL
Website: wetnuns.com
Date: March 30-31, 2013
Where: Queens Social Social Club, Sheffield
Price: £14

I am guessing Wet Nuns detest festivals. Ironically, they've unveiled their own festival lineup for 2013, sponsored by Kraken Rum.

When asked about why they are putting together their own festival, Wet Nuns issued this statement, "Detestival is basically an incredibly selfish opportunity for us to put on what we think is the best line up of bands in the UK, every single band performing on the weekend we have either played with or seen in the last couple of years. We adore and hate every single band with a fiery intensity, they are all far too good and talented and we hate and love them for it. Now we have created an opportunity for us to play with them all, in the city where we have honed our sloppy talent."

Expect more artists to be announced, but the first acts, I am told, are:

Wet Nuns, Bo Ningen, Wolf People, Hookworms, Kult Country, John J Presley, and Blood Presley

EASTERN ELECTRICS FESTIVAL
Website: easternelectrics.com
Date: August 2-4, 2013
Where: Knebworth Park, near London
Price: £145 + BF (Camping)

Man, these guys sent out a lot of emails. It's like "we're sending out information soon" then "you can't talk about these until xxxx date" then "just wait until tomorrow!" Of course, when the official press release was sent out, they fail to include the dates in text.

Well the official Eastern Electrics Festival lineup is announced along with location and pricing.

Seems this is a camping festival for electronic music fans, lineup announced:

Seth Troxler, Magda, Chris Liebing, Ellen Allien, Michael Maye, Guy Gerber, Claude VonStroke and Justin Martin, Eats Everything, Joy Orbison, Pan-Pot, Cassy, Catz N Dogz, Damian Lazarus, Anja Schneider, Theo Parrish, Climbers, Droog, Âme, Dixon, Levon Vincent, Richy Ahmed, Subb-an and DJ Tennis.

More pricing options on the website. Also, I'm always confused by "BF" pricing, that's not "boyfriend", it's booking fees. Apparently in the UK, it's standard to call it BF. In America, they call it a "convenience fee", which also doesn't make any sense.

NEW ENGLAND METAL & HARDCORE FESTIVAL
Website: metalandhardcorefestival.com
Date: April 19-20, 2013
Where: The Palladium, Worcester, Massachusetts
Price: (Not available until January 16th)

New England Metal & Hardcore Festival is celebrating their 15th anniversary this year. Three days of the music festival is not enough, there is also a "pre-party" to kick things off on April 18th.

Festival's founder Scott Lee of MassConcerts commented on this event: "I am excited with how far we have come and am ecstatic for this to be on our 15th year! It has been a long, interesting journey. We always try to make it a memorable event and we really hope you all enjoy the festival this year."

The two stages will include these confirmed bands:

Anthrax, Hatebreed, Opeth, Suicidal Tendencies, After The Burial, Alpha & Omega, Antagonist AD, Ark Of The Covenant, Black Breath, Born Of Osiris, The Contortionist, Dead By Wednesday, Death Before Dishonor, Ensiferum, Erra, Exodus, Expire, Fit For An Autopsy, Heidevolk, Hellsot, Holy Grail, I Declare War, Incendiary, Katatonia, Legion, The Mongoloids, Mother Of Mercy, Municipal Waste, No Mercy, Power Trip, Rude Awakening, Saving Grace, Shadows Fall, Suburban Scum, Those Who Fear, Trap Them, Trollfest, Twitching Tongues, Tyr, Within The Ruins, and Xibalba

ARCTANGENT FESTIVAL
Website: arctangent.co.uk
Date: August 29-31, 2013
Where: Fernhill Farm, Compton Martin
Price: £59 (presale, tix available to buy January 14th)

No idea where Compton Martin is - somewhere in the middle of England, I reckon. This looks like another camping festival.

Co-founder James Scarlet had this to say, "with ArcTanGent we wanted to take the festival template we’ve laid down with 2000trees and have more leftfield, experimental and post-rock orientated bands. We think that this first line up announcement gives our audience an idea of where we are coming from musically and there are loads more exciting bands to come over the next few months!"

Speaking of artists, here are the first round announced:

65daysofstatic plus Three Trapped Tigers, Tall Ships, Rolo Tomassi, Maybeshewill, Johnny Foreigner, Castrovalva, Yndi Halda, This Town Needs Guns, That F***ing Tank, The Physics House Band, Among Brothers, Axes and Brontide.

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SXSW 2012: March 15

Read More SXSW SXSW 2012 starts on March 9th, but the music portion doesn't actually kick in until March 14th.

SXSW day two. Continuous updates from Dan. Please read our previous SXSW coverage. Artists we previously covered: Blitzen Trapper, Norah Jones, Band of Skulls, Counting Crows, Poliça, Kaiser Chiefs, and Lucero.

waterloorecords.com is live streaming their shows. They are also offering a free 2012 MP3 compilation album, featuring these tracks:

Blitzen Trapper - Love The Way
Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Honey Honey - Angel Of Death
Howlin' Rain - Phantom In The Valley
Ruthie Foster - Welcome Home
Shearwater - You As You Were
Spoek Mathambo - Let Them Talk
Tribes - Whenever
Jimmy Cliff - World Upside Down
Truvium - In Waves

Like the live streaming, the free download might be only temporary, so grab them while you can.

Updates:

Lucero at Waterloo Records (03/15/12)

LUCERO
luceromusic.com

We got there really late and only heard about one song. Great crowd and you can tell they have been playing together for a long time.

The Shins at Austin Skyline (03/15/12)

THE SHINS
theshins.com

The Shins. I love James Mercer's hooks. But when it comes to playing to a big crowd, he has work to do. The band is really good, but there is very little interaction with the crowd. The place was reasonably close to full from what I could tell. But the between banter was minimal.

As my sister tells me, Austin loves a cheap show; I guess the Counting Crows will have another big crowd. I know Adam [Duritz] will be more engaging.

Now off to plan for tomorrow... We decided against the wrist bands so we are living off of the free stuff.

Keane at Filter Showcase (03/15/12) KEANE keanemusic.com Keane was a lot like the Kaiser Chiefs. Play the hits and a few new ones. With a 30 min slot it's what you'd expect. The lead singer isn't as good front man as the guy from the Kaiser Chiefs. Now at St Auditorium Shores to hear The Shins. Way to crowded to stand and watch inside. So we are across the street and will hope fully see them on the jumbo screen.

The Little Willies at Waterloo Records (03/15/12) THE LITTLE WILLIES thelittlewillies.net Norah Jones and company playing old country covers: Dolly Patton, Hank Williams, and Loretta Lynne. Sounded great. The lead guitar player is amazing. Version of "Jolene" was a highlight of the day!

KAISER CHIEFS kaiserchiefs.com Great set they know how to work a crowd. I have seen footage from Glastonbury and now live in a courtyard. They played "Ruby", "I Predict a Riot" and were really tight. The lead singer is working the crowd getting them jumping up and down... They rated highest so far for my wife this year.

UPDATES Tried to get into NPR party for Poliça. Hundreds in line, so no chance. Just saw Adam from Counting Crows walking down 4th Street. Listening to the Band of Skulls at the Filter show. Can't get in, line is way too long... New fashion statement here is cut off jeans for guys and some of the guys who man the cyclecabs wear tan colored bodysuits. It's gross.

BLITZEN TRAPPER
www.blitzentrapper.net

Blitzen Trapper, these guys rock. Call it alt country or southern rock, either way they know what they are doing and they do it well.

Great tunes, three part harmonies and a really good lead guitarist. Well worth checking out.

They played three songs that have gotten airplay in Minneapolis so I knew some of the material.

vu and dan ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

SXSW 2012: March 14

SXSW is here. I will be updating reports from Dan as I get them. Please read our previous SXSW coverage. Artists we previously covered: La Sera and Howler. Photo album: SXSW 2012.

Showcasing Scotland SHOWCASING SCOTLAND smia.org.uk We made an early night of it. Tango in the Attic. I didn't get them at all. They tried at times to be a band with twin guitar interplaying, and then they would thrash and use samples/loops. At one point the bass player was playing a Tom Tom, which my wife Judy said reminded her of the SNL skit about more cowbells. French Wives - I really liked these guys. They sounded more of a traditional Scottish pop band, really good lead singer; the bass player was the best we had seen all day. The harmonies were great and they were unique enough that you didn't think they were ripping any other band off.

Howler at Waterloo Records HOWLER howlerband.com These guys are pretty tight as a band. For a bunch of 19 year olds, I was impressed. I think the singer sounds better live than on the record. The other thing about the singer is he is a smart ass. He made several remarks that in Hugh school someone might have punched him. So if you like the Strokes then you would like these guys. The crowd was ok not great. They don't get as much buzz here in the States as they have in the UK.

La Sera at Warby Parker Circus Event LA SERA facebook.com/la-sera This is the band with the lead singer is female and a redhead. Good 4 piece pop band from Los Angeles. They play 3 minute pop songs with jangly guitars. Both guitarists can play lead, one tends to favor a surf sound in his solos. Think The Ventures and you get the idea. I'm having a hard time judging her voice. She is buried in the mix. I do like them and will hear most of the set.

Quilt at Warby Parker Circus Event QUILT facebook.com/quiltmusic Quilt is the second band of the day. We found them as we searched for the Third Man Records truck. They sell SXSW exclusives so it's worth searching for. As for the band, Judy thought they sounded like Low. Three piece band with male/female harmonies. They play repetitive dream pop with some 60's organ and twin guitars. It's great to sit in the grass and listen to music that isn't thrashing like the first band we saw.....

Bass Drum of Death at Waterloo

BASS DRUM OF DEATH
bassdrumofdeath.tumblr.com

First band of the day is Bass Drum of Death. Loud three man band. The crowd is much younger than I am. Lots of power chords and thrashing.

vu and dan ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Music Festival 2011

Please see other music festival listings here.

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SPRINGFESTIVAL
www.springfestival.at
June 1-5, 2011
Graz, Austria

If you live in Austria, it's not too late to attend this year's Springfestival. Headliners that I'm interested in are mostly Caribou, Atari Teenage Riot, Patrick Wolf, and Jungle Brothers. See complete artist listing below.

Springfestival is mostly electronic music (with "springsessions"/conference) and costs as much as €198.00 for the complete five days/four nights, but as low as €21.00 if you only want to see certain dates.

Nôze Live, Caribou & Band Live, DELS Live, Egyptrixx Live, Frittenbude Live, Sizarr Live, Bodi Bill Live, Egotronic Live, The Koletzkis Live, Isolee Live, Apparat & Band Live, Crystal Fighters Live, Huoratron Live, Carte Blanche Live, Jungle Brothers Live, dOP Live, Patrick Wolf Live, Atari Teenage Riot Live, Hercules and Love Affair Live, Dorian Concept Live, Eskmo Live, Stevies Wonder Glasses (feat. The Horns) Live, Piemont Live, Walkner & Möstl Live, Neodisco Live, LOGO Live, Drums Of Death Live, Snuff Crew Live, Cole Black Live, Makossa & Megablast Live, Kenton Slash Demon Live, Yelle Live, Brandt Brauer Frick Live, French Horn Rebellion Live, Effi Live, Peter Kruder, Joe Hot Chip, Riva Starr, Aeroplane, Steve Bug, Jackmaster, L-vis 1990, Wolfram, Tensnake, Oliver Koletzki, DJ Koze, Mumdance, Superflu, Michael Mayer, Seiji, Jesse Rose, Scott Hansen / Tycho, DJ Feadz, Dirty Doering, Martyn, London Electricity, Joyce Muniz, John B, Etepetete, Chris Chronsky, Johnny Honolulu, Trashtray, Physically Fit, DJ Krink, Simon Lebon, LeSale, Patrick Pulsinger, Felix Da Houserat, Rodney Hunter, Logisitcs, Joe Syntax, Nu:tone feat. Natalie Williams, Sigma, Stanza, MC AD, SP:MC, Messy MC, Capital Jay, Beware, Functionist, Jay Rome B2B Paul SG, RoBBe VS Mo' Fyah, MiSsuki, Maestro Gape, Orjo, Simon/off, Kayoz, G.Kaiser, Sébastien Léger, J Rocc, Clara Moto, Pilocka Krach, Danny Faber, Friedrich Locke, Brunessy, Florian Scheibein, Thomas Grün, Maximilian Lindner, C90s, Homework, The Magician, 2HandsUp, DJ Nied, Spiller & Nano Crew, Portable, Pete van Weed, s_Poiler, Lexy, Crazy Sonic, Fauna DJ, The 2 Bears DJ, Strukt, Jason Theodor, Evan Roth, Robert Lindström, Jared Ficklin, MK12, Brandon Dawes, Ash Nehru, Tali Krakowsky, Shot Shot Shot, OchoResotto, Formaldehyde, Rhythmus42, Fruit Media, mox, Fritz Fitzke, Mindconsole, VJ Insequent, Lichterloh

ALCHEMY MUSIC FESTIVAL
www.mauropicotto.it
June 11th & June 12th, 2011
Cavour, Italy

Alchemy Music Festival looks like a DJ-based party, it takes place in Cavour, Italy. As I have previously mentioned, I'm not in tuned with DJs, and especially since this is mostly Italian DJs, I have no idea who any of these mixers are. But the lineup is finalized, looks like all-around fun from 2pm to 4am. See details below.

The countdown to the Alchemy Music Festival in Mauro Picotto’s hometown of Cavour is in the final stages. Running high on adrenalin and espressos, the festival team – which includes Mauro himself – is buzzing with exciting news. Top of the list is a celebrity-laden line up of global artists that include Mauro, Mark Broom, Christian Smith, Yousef, Luca Morris, Mihalis Safras and more. Then there is the announcement of the top winners of the Alchemy Festival Competition: Chilean Yerko Alejandro (commonly known as Montrealer and based in Canada), Rome-based Italian DJ Marco Ferrantelli and Enrico Sangiuliano (Enrichetto) from Reggio Emilia. They will be competing on the Saturday of the festival for the first place title. Mauro says they all submitted tracks that were really original and finely executed – now it’s just a matter of seeing who has the charisma to win the crowd. Mauro is distinct about the feeling he wants the Alchemy Festival to generate: “I want people to be in the mood to have a good time – to dance and party and enjoy being together. This festival is a celebration of my life. A way to say thank you for everything I have.”

SATURDAY, 11TH JUNE Aiko Matteo Gatti Gabry Fasano Mihalis Safras Yousef Top 3 Winners of the Alchemy Contest Live (Yerko Alejandro, Marco Ferrantelli, Enrico Sangiuliano) Mauro Picotto Christian Smith Riccardo Ferri (live) Mark Broom		SUNDAY, 12TH JUNE Devid Gabry Ribetti Oozicky Maurizio Benedetta Daniele Papina Luca Morris Paolo Kighine Gabry Fasano Alchemy Contest Winner Joseph Capriati Mauro Picotto

ITUNES FESTIVAL
www.itunesfestival.com
July 1-31, 2011
Roundhouse, London

Billed as "31 nights of back-to-back live music", this festival is a whole month of music. Probably not feasible if you want to take vacation to see the entire lineup, unless you live in London, but it's defintely worth it when "every ticket to the iTunes Festival is free" (but it looks like you have to "win" a pair of ticket to see the event; good luck!). If you don't live in London, they are streaming the whole thing (or on demand for a limited time) via the iTunes application.

Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, said, "We are really excited to do the iTunes Festival in July and to perform at the legendary Roundhouse. And the fact that it's going to be broadcast to so many people is really exciting, because making music is more about the audience than the band sometimes. I feel like the opportunities we have to reach out to more people through technology is a wonderful thing; to see the world get together and experience music, live".

Line up looks incredible, would really love to see Paul Simon, MSP, Beady Eyes, Duran Duran, Moby... basically every band listed below.

1 July: Paul Simon 3 July: Manic Street Preachers 4 July: Linkin Park + Neon Trees 5 July: Beady Eye 6 July: The Wanted 7 July: ADELE 8 July: Bruno Mars 10 July: Glasvegas 11 July: Foo Fighters + Jimmy Eat World 12 July: The Script 13 July: White Lies + The Naked and Famous + Alice Gold		14 July: Friendly Fires 15 July: Jessie J 16 July: Duran Duran 18 July: Rumer 21 July: Swedish House Mafia 23 July: Mogwai + Errors 24 July: Noah & The Whale 25 July: Lang Lang 26 July: Magnetic Man 28 July: Chase & Status + Nero 31 July: Moby

ROCK THE BELLS
www.rockthebells.net
8/20, 8/27, 9/3, 9/10
Various, USA

Rock the Bells festival is a travelling music festival, hitting San Manuel Amphitheater in Los Angeles on August 20, then Shoreline Amphitheatre in San Francisco on August 27, then Governor’s Island in New York and wrapping up in Boston on September 10.

Already confirmed headliners includes some major hip hop stars, including: Ms. Lauryn Hill, Nas, Cypress Hill, Erykah Baduand, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star, Raekwon & Ghostface and more.

If you are interested in cheaper presale tickets, the general pre-sale starts June 4th.

The most interesting thing on the press release is that Cypress Hill will be performing their entire 1993 album Black Sunday, the album features their big hit song, "Insane In The Membrane". Insane in the brain!

Festival co-founder and Guerilla Union head Chang Weisberg had this to say about the festival: "I am excited that this year's Rock The Bells will continue its rich history and tradition by presenting the best and most ambitious festival programming in Hip Hop. The bar has been set high and this year's line-up will certainly stake its claim. With ten of the biggest records in the history of the genre and the freshest new talent bubbling from the underground, this summer's Rock The Bells is another dream come true."

Artists confirmed for the ROCK THE BELLS 2011 FESTIVAL SERIES include:

Ms. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill + Nas – Illmatic + Cypress Hill - Black Sunday + Erykah Badu* Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star + Raekwon & Ghostface - Only Built for Cuban Linx + Mobb Deep - The Infamous + The GZA - Liquid Swords + Immortal Technique Slaughterhouse Mac Miller* Curren$y* Souls of Mischief - 93 ‘til Infinity +		Black Moon Childish Gambino Blu & Exile Fashawn Random Axe* Masta Killah - No Said Date + Evidence* Macklemore* Freddie Gibbs Roc Marciano + notes full-album sets * notes performance on select dates only

AFRO-PUNK FESTIVAL
www.afropunk.com
August 27-28, 2011
Brooklyn's Commodore Barry Park, New York

In its seventh annual Afro-Punk Festival, they have announced their lineup, including Cee-Lo Green, Fishbone, and Santigold!

Expect to see loads of skateboards and BMX bikers all around, as well the unusual food vendors (this year will feature "cuisine from around the world") and the usual music fun.

I don't live in New York, but I would definitely want to attend what the New York Times calls a "rock and rebellion squarely in the category of African-American music. I got a glimpse of the Afro-Punk show, when they took their show on the road.

Afro-Punk 2011 Band Lineup

Cee-Lo Green, Santigold, Janelle Monae, Fishbone, Jay Electronica, Toro Y Moi, Toshi Reagon, Ninjasonik, Cerebral Ballzy, Gordon Voidwell, Reggie Watts, Res, Joi, Rocky Business, Straight Line Stitch

MUSICFESTNW
musicfestnw.com
September 7-11, 2011
Portland, Oregon

Willamette Week's MusicfestNW announced their initial lineup for its 2011 festival (see full listing below). Like their inspiration of SXSW, this festival looks like it takes place at various venues, but what makes this interesting is that there are three main outdoors show exclusively for MFNW.

The $115 wristband will grant you access to pretty much everything MFNW has to offer, over the course of the five-day music festival. If you're on the cheap, or just particular about who you want to see, there is the $70 ticket, which will only grant you one of the three outdoors show.

Some bands on the bill that I would be interested in seeing includes: The Kills, Archers of Loaf, Butthole Surfers, Blitzen Trapper, Band of Horses, Sebadoh, Sharon Van Etten, and Little Dragon.

2011 Initial Lineup – Alphabetical:

A Storm of Light, Akimbo, Alela Diane, Anais Mitchell, And And And, Archers, Archers of Loaf, Avi Buffalo, Band of Horses, Bare Wires, Beat Connection, Big Freedia, Black Prairie, Blind Pilot, Blitzen Trapper, Blouse, Boat, Bobby Bare Jr., Butthole Surfers, Caleb Klauder, Cass McCombs, Celilo, Centro-Matic, Charles Bradley, Climber, Crooked Fingers, Crypts, Dam-Funk & Master Blaster, Dangerous Boys Club, Death Songs, Dennis Coffey, Diesto, Dirty Beaches, Dirty Mittens, DJ Anjali, Dolorean, E Rock, E3, Elitist, EMA, Emily Wells, Eternal Tapestry, Explosions in the Sky, Fernando, GIVERS, Glass Candy, GRAIL, Hammerhead, Handsome Furs, Heavy Cream, Holcombe Waler, Horse Feathers, Iron & Wine, Jared Mees & the Grown Children, Jeffrey Jerusalem, Joe Pug, Kelly Blair Bauman, Kylesa, Lifesavas, Little Dragon, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Mad Rad, Marius Libman, Mnemonic Sounds, Monarques, Morning Teleportation, Natasha Kmeto, Nether Regions, Neurosis, Old Light, Olivia Tremor Control, Operative, Phantogram, Pierced Arrows, Pig Destroyer, Portland Cello Project, PS I Love You, Purple & Green, Quiet Life, Rabbits, Rebecca Gates, Reporter, Rhett Miller, Richmond Fontaine, RTX, Sean Flinn & the Royal We, Sebadoh, Shabazz Palaces, Sharon Van Etten, Sleepy Sun, Soft Kill, Talkdemonic, Ted Leo, Tennis, The Angry Orts, The Antlers, The Dimes, The Gaslamp Killer, The Globes, The Hood Internet, The Horrors, The Incredible Kid, The Joy Formidable, The Kills, The Ladybug Transistor, The Minders, The Miracles Club, The Moondoggies, The Needful Longings, The Soft Moon, The Thermals, The Vaccines, The Wizard Rifle, Thee Oh Sees, Thornes, Thousands, Transient, Twin Sister, TxE, Ty Segall, Typhoon, UME, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Violet Isle, Viva Voce, WEINLAND, White Hills, Wild Ones, Witch Mountain, Y La Bamba, Yacht, YOB, You Am I, Zuzuka Poderosa

PJ20 DESTINATION WEEKEND FESTIVAL
www.pj20.com
September 3-4, 2011
Alpine Valley Music Theatre - East Troy, WI

Like Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam decides to create their own music festival, in celebration of their twenty years together as a band. The line up consists of Eddie Vedder's hand-picked artists, including The Strokes, Queens Of The Stone Age, and Liam Finn (we like his dad).

I originally thought this festival was in Chicago (a city that I've sworn against because of their toll roads), but it is in East Troy. It's semi-close enough for me to drive, but I probably won't make an effort since I'm not that massive of a Pearl Jam song, but I know many of you guys are. If you don't want to put up all the fuss of driving, you can either fly in or take a long bus trip over the long The Labor Day Weekend.

Pearl Jam, The Strokes, Queens Of The Stone Age, Mudhoney, John Doe, Joseph Arthur, Glen Hansard, Liam Finn, thenewno2, David Garza, STAR ANNA, The Young Evils, and Jason Lytle

POP MONTREAL
popmontreal.com
September 21-25, 2011
Montreal, Canada

POP Montreal turns ten this year, and they are throwing a huge festival. This Canadian festival looks massive, they said they attracted over 50,000 attendees last year, so expect the same turn out this year, especially because of their anniversary.

They are going to have over 300 bands, 50 events in arts/film/fashion, and will take place over five days in September. General pre-sale goes on sale on June 2^nd, and prices starts at $250 (early bird special).

So far, these are the bands that they've confirmed (more to be announced later):

Chromeo, Redd Kross, The Raincoats, tUnE-yArDs, R. Steevie Moore, Marie-Jo Thério, Asobi Seksu, Tahiti 80, Barbara Lynn, Ralph Soul Jackson, Joe Bataan, Gary Lucas' Captain Beefheart Symposium, The Velvelettes, Babukishan Das Baul, The Socalled Musical, Vockah Redu, Japandroids, Purity Ring, Death Grips, Cave

MOVEMENT
www.movement.us
Memorial Day weekend (May)
Detroit, Michigan

Movement: The Detroit Electronic Music Festival is an annual electronic/dance/DJ music festival that started in 2000. This year's headliners looked amazing, especially with Fatboy Slim and Felix da Housecat, but, unfortunately, we've just missed the festival (but there's always next year!).

What's kind of cool is that Red Bull sent me some updates on the recent event, including some great photos of DJs and people having a good time. It looks like a good time all around, too bad it's not the sort of festivals that I'm interested in.

I can tell you that, like Mazda, Red Bull invests back into the music community, partnering with the music festival to bring DJ Godfather, Hudson Mohawke, Daedelus, Dam-Funk & Master Blazter, Goldie ft. Armanni Reign, Com Truise, Space Dimension Controller, Beardyman, Gaslamp Killer, and Aux 88, to their stage.

This year's lineup:

69 (Carl Craig), Adam Beyer, Al Ester, Ambivalent, Ana Sia, Anthony, Attalla, Aril Brikha, Art Department, Ataxia, Aux 88, B. Bravo, Beardyman, Ben Klock, Boo Williams, Brian “Starski” Gillespie, Bruce Bailey Calvertron and Figure, Chuck Daniels, Cio D’Or, Clark Warner, Claude Young, Com Truise, Dabura Daedalus, Dam-Funk & Master Blazter, Deepchord presents Echospace, Delano Smith, Deniz Kurtel, District 909, DJ Cent, DJ Godfather, DJ Harvey, DJ T-1000, DJ X-Change, Dr. Atmo DTM 5×5, Dubfire Eliot Lipp, Eric Johnson, Erika, Fatboy Slim, Felix Da Housecat, Flying Lotus, Franki Juncaj (aka DJ 3000), Gaiser, Gaslamp Killer, Glenn Underground, Goldie, Green Velvet Guti, Heartthrob, Hudson Mohawke, James Zabiela, John Collins, JPLS, Justin Martin, Kero, Kerri Chandler, Little Dragon, Livio & Roby, Loco Dice, Marc Houle, Marcel Dettmann, Margaret Dygas, Mark Flash, Martin Buttrich, Matt Clarke, Matthew Hawtin, Metro Area, Michael Geiger, Mike Brown, Mike Servito, MiM0SA, Minx, Monolake, Surround N-Ter, Nospectacle with Markus Guentner, Paranormal Tek, Paul Kalkbrenner, Pearson Sound / Ramadanman, Pulshar Reference, Ricardo Villalobos, Richard Devine, Richie Hawtin, Ryan Elliot, Sammy Dee, Scuba Secrets, Shlomi Aber, Skrillex, Soul Clap, Space Dimension Controller, Space Time Continuum, Steve Rachmad, Sven Väth Terrence Parker, The Dirtbombs, The Siege Three, tINI, Tortured Soul, Traversable Wormhole, Venetian Snares, Victor Calderone, Visionquest

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Northern Music Festivals 2011

Please also see US Music Festival Guide 2011.

This additional guide features some festivals in the North-ish area, including Canada.

NXNE
www.nxne.com
June 12-19, 2011
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I'm happy to announce that I will be doing coverage on NXNE this year. The music festival is going stronger than ever in its 17^th year. And this year, there are some amazing bands that I will definitely be checking out. I am mostly interested in Devo, Stars, Men Without Hats, Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield, and Art Brut, but you know, I'll cover as many bands as I can.

It's listed that there are 650 bands playing over 50 music venue in seven days. June 13^th to the 19^th. Just some of the bands scheduled to appear:

Devo, Descendents, Stars, The Pharcyde, Men Without Hats, Digable Planets, Twin Shadow, OFF!, Art Brut, Shad, Land of Talk, Chad VanGaalen, Cults, The Dodos, Deerhoof, Hot Water Music, The Bouncing Souls, and Anti-Flag (previously announced), plus Dum Dum Girls, Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield, Braids, Ty Segall, Suuns, PS I Love You, Crocodiles, Wild Nothing, The Pack A.D., Metz, Dirty Beaches, Forest City Lovers, The Luyas, Lower Dens, Gentlemen Husbands, Rusty, Royal Bangs, Julianna Barwick, No Joy, Prince Rama, Doldrums, Secret Cities, Evening Hymns, Snowblink, Parlovr, Talk Normal, PUJOL, Woodsman, Gauntlet Hair, Joey Cape, Tape Deck Mountain, AIDS Wolf, Houses, CJ Ramone, and Kevin Seconds

I think one interesting thing is that most of these headliners are basically from 80s, including Descendents (playing June 16^th), Men Without Hats*, Anti-Flag and Devo.

The early rates just passed, at the moment, the standard price for Priority Pass is $200, this grants you access to all NXNE club shows and film screenings PLUS afternoon Interactive sessions.

Anyone in the Toronto area that wants to hang out, send me a note.

* Cannot wait to hear "The Safety Dance" and "Pop Goes the World".

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL
www.northsidefestival.com
June 16-19, 2011
Brooklyn, New York, USA

The rates to this festival is pretty decent, day of event is $80, but a VIP ticket is $200 (which includes reserved seatings and booze).

It looks like this year's event is headlined by Beirut on June 17^th and Guided by Voices with support by Wavves on June 18^th.

So far, here's what we have:

Guided by Voices • Beirut • Wavves • Surfer Blood • Deer Tick (performing as Deervana) • Sharon Van Etten • Theophilus London • DOM • Mount Eerie • The Strange Boys • Iceage (U.S. debut) • Twin Sister • Javelin • Frankie Rose & the Outs • Cult of Youth • Alela Diane & Wild Divine • White Fence • Grouplove • Allo Darlin' • Lucky Dragons • Takka Takka • Blondes • Janka Nabay • Holiday Shores • Eternal Summers • The Babies • Xeno and Oaklander • Houses • Teengirl Fantasy • Delicate Steve • Grooms • Slowdance • Grand Rapids • Radical Dads • Mainland • Easter Vomit • Lady Lamb the Beekeeper • Ava Luna • Sean Bones • Dream Diary • The Loom • Pursesnatchers • Gatekeeper • Nicholas Krgovich (No Kids) • Pop. 1280 • World Atlas • The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! • The Black Hollies • I'm Turning Into • Quiet Lights • The Secret History • Tiny Victories • Indian Rebound • Kindest Lines • Coyote Eyes • Yellow Tears • Xray Eyeballs • Epee du Bois • Marie Stella • Mussels • Diehard • Sensual Harassment • Wires Under Tension • Dry the River • RYAT • The Gypsy West • Dirty Dishes • Grandfather • Bangladeafy • Grass Is Green • Anasazi • The Men • Pillow Theory • Lost Tribe • A Lull • The Brooklyn What • Gabriel & the Hounds...

WHAT THE HECK!
whattheheckfest.com
July 15-17, 2011
Anacortes, Washington

I'm pretty sure Anacortes, Washington, is as far north as you can go before hitting Canada.

Lots of smaller indie bands, the more popular ones are on K Records. Tickets are $65 for all dates, but you have to choose Friday or Saturday for dinner. It comes with food. Sweet!

Here are the list of bands scheduled to appear:

Wyrd Visions, Ben & Bruno, Earth, Angelo Spencer et les Hauts Sommets, For The Birds, LAKE, Arrington de Dionyso’s Malaikat dan Singa, Takhoma, Laura Leif, Bitpart, Broken Water, Sam Lohmann, The Drink Up Honey, D+, Lovers Without Boarders, Mount Eerie, Ô Paon, Mecca Normal, Thrones, Brave Irene, the Zaps

CALGARY FOLK FESTIVAL
www.calgaryfolkfest.com
July 21-24, 2011
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Meanwhile, on the more mid-west of Canada is the Calgary Folk Festival. This four-day festival takes place, according to their map, on Prince's Island Park, in downtown Calgary.

They've recently announced their line-up this year, although I'm not sure if it's the final list. They sure seem to have a bunch of bands playing, including kd lang, Dark Dark Dark (they're from Minneapolis!), Yo La Tengo (not sure if they fit in "folk"), Cadence Weapon (I like him, but again, not sure "folk" fits him), and The Felice Brothers.

Early rate tickets for a 4-day wristband (ends June 1^st) is $135, while advance rate is $165. I am assuming it's nearly 200 for walkup rate? What's interesting is that you can choose to buy a "single" wristband or "flex" wristband, the latter you can give to a friend, once you're done with it.

Below is the list of artists scheduled to appear:

Matt Andersen, Joseph Arthur, C.R. Avery, Balkan Beat Box, Geoff Berner, Blind Pilot, Blue Rodeo, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Braids, Jon Brooks, T. Buckley, Cadence Weapon, Caravan Palace, Chic Gamine, City and Colour, Coeur de Pirate, Cutest Kitten Ever, Dark Dark Dark, David Wax Museum, Kris Ellestad, Elvis Bossa Nova, Fada Dance, The Felice Brothers, The Flatlanders, David Francey, Nanci Griffith, The Head and the Heart, The Herbaliser, Hollow Brethren, Imaginary Cities, Inhabitants, Elisapie Isaac, Harrison Kennedy, k.d. lang and The Siss Boom Bang, Lightning Dust, Raghu Lokanathan, Jez Lowe, Catherine MacLellan, Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk, Matt Masters and the Gentlemen of the Rodeo, Mighty Popo, Minotaurs, Jim Moray, New Country Rehab, Morgan O'Kane, The Once, Painting with Ella, Joel Plaskett, Portland Cello Project, Punch Brothers, Raleigh, Ernest Ranglin, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, Carl Hancock Rux, Martha Scanlan, SoCalled, SociaLybrium, Spiro, Buffy Saint-Marie, The Swamp Ward Orchestra, Ti-Coca & Wanga-Négès, Patrick Watson, Emily Jill West, Jenny Whiteley, Wilson, Swarbrick and Gaughan, Yemen Blues, Yohimbe Brothers featuring Bernie Worrell, Yo La Tengo

The company working on this event also does work for other Canadian festivals, including Vancouver Island Music Fest (July 8-10), Dawson City Music Festival (July 15-17), and Hillside Festival (July 22-24)

KAHBANG FESTIVAL
www.kahbang.com
August 5-13, 2011
Bangor, Maine, USA

KahBang announced the initial music lineup for the 2011 KahBang music | art | film Festival. Tickets went on sale yesterday, so you can get a steal of the early bird rate at $80 - but according to the website they are in limited quantity.... so if you're in north Boston, then it's totally worth checking out.

Similiar to SXSW and NXNE, this event will take place at various venues. As previous years (this is the third annual), the festival will feature over 40 bands, taking place along the Bangor Waterfront over the course of nine days.

My Morning Jacket, Chromeo, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Atmosphere, Surfer Blood, Atomic Tom, Dom, Blueprint, Evidence, Prof, and The Gay Blades

ESCAPE TO NEW YORK
www.escape2ny.com
August 5-7, 2011
Southampton, New York, USA

Remember the Kurt Russell movie, "Escape From New York"?

Well this music festival will take place in Southampton, which is about 100 miles east of New York City. And what's interesting is that it is on Shinnecock Indian land...

The news is that this festival was created by the same people that brought you The Secret Garden Party UK.

I don't actually have a line-up announcement, but I'm sure May 4^th, I'll hear all about it. What's even weirder is that "Early Bird tickets now sold out!", that's hardcore attendees - buying tickets before even knowing who's on the bill ? Weekend Admission is $275, which seems pretty high (especially because I don't know who's playing and if it's worth it).

If the 2011 line-up to Secret Garden Party is any indication, expect to see more indie-ish DJs and bands (the most recognizable band on their list I see are Blondie and Peter, Bjorn and John)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

US Music Festival Guide 2011

With the upcoming Spring and Summer, it looks like the music festival thing will be in full swing for 2011. We briefly touch on some of these US music festivals on W♥M#073: Bonnaroo (Tennessee), 80/35 Festival (Iowa), Lollapalooza (various, currently Illinois), SXSW (Texas), Coachella (California), 10,000 Lakes Festival (Minnesota), Summerfest (Wisconsin), and Edgefest (inactive, Wisconsin).

Yes, I know we're missing a ton of festivals, for instance, Pitchfork (Illinois), NXNE (Toronto), and CMJ (New York), but I personally haven't attended those yet, so I can't really make any comments on them.

Anyway, below are some music festival-related items that has come across my desk recently. If you are a music festival organizer and don't see your fest on my list - please correct this error by adding me to your email list. We welcome spam/bacon, especially if it's music-related. With that, here are the festivals in my inbox for 2011, in order of dates. Apologies to Noise Pop festival, which already took place in February.

Local Natives: Wide Eyes

JUST SAY SNOW
Snow Ball Festival
Vail Valley, Colorado (March 4-6, 2011)
snowballmusicfestival.com

This is happening in a few days, apparently there's snow in Vail Valley ? The announcement I got seems to focus that this festival is all about "fun" with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and The Flaming Lips to headline. I've seen Flaming Lips several times now, and yes, they're a band that works really well on a massive audience. I've also talked to Wayne via a teleconference and he is a pretty laid back fella.

So what makes this festival unique is that not only are you getting your three-day-music-filled and also a ski lift pass for skiing for $164.50. (Off topic, but if you ever seen the movie Frozen you know that you should never skimp on paying a ski lift pass).

I'm not a skier, so it's probably not a great deal for me, but apparently 10,000 people disagree with me annually.

They're offering a free mixtape with what looks like local bands from around the area? I'm not familiar with many of the bands, outside of Local Natives and Pretty Lights.

DOSXSW
SXSW
Austin, Texas (March 14-20, 2011)
DoStuffMedia.com

I will probably put together a special "Preview" SXSW for 2011 later, but at the moment, I'm far too lazy.

The neat thing is, the folks at DoStuff Media have already put together a page linking bands we've written about on their page at do512.com

It's pretty incredible what they've done, scraping that data and presenting it with a calendar and time schedule! Color me impressed.

Since there are a billion bands at SXSW, here are some bands that I would love to see at SXSW: Duran Duran, Those Darlins, and Peelander-Z.

We also get a lot of pitches (come check out this band, etc) and since I mainly like UK bands, I was told I could not miss The Good Natured. From what I've read about her, she's a young lass of twenty years and people have compared her to Bat for Lashes, La Roux, and Florence and the Machine (all of these bands I adore). So yeah, I'll definitely try and catch her at one of these dates below:

WED 3/16 Big Stereo party @ Barbarella, 615 Red River Street –3PM
THU 3/17 SEA NOW! party @ Annie's West, 706 W. 6th Street - 2PM
THU 3/17 Gueros SXSW Party - 9pm
FRI 3/18 PRS/BMA Brunch @ British Embassy, 706 W. 6th Street - 12:30PM
FRI 3/18 Windish Agency Showcase @ ND 501 Studios 501 I-35 - 8PM

MISSOURI LOVES COMPANY
Ink's Middle of the Map Festival
Kansas City, Missouri (April 8-9, 2011)
www.middleofthemapfest.com

Since I live in the mid-west, this music festival sounds great for its price ($25 for a two-day pass) combined with over thirty bands. Granted, looking at their band list, there's a bunch of bands I've never heard of (but what else is new). But surely, seeing Daniel Jonnston, Two Door Cinema Club, Appleseed Cast, and Raveonettes for the cheap price, it's worth it.

The story behind the festival is that Record Machine label owner Nathan Reusch wanted to put together a show to showcase bands on his label, but playing along them are international talent. With the help of Ink Magazine, they seem to have a good thing going, especially because I like the price - and who knows, maybe you'll discover that unknown band that you'll absolutely love.

IT'S DA B.O.M.B.
B.O.M.B. Fest
Danbury, Connecticut (May 28-29, 2011)
www.bombfest.com

Bring Our Music Back, aka B.O.M.B., is not a bomb, considering that they are eagerly putting together their third annual music festival for 2011, with major hitter Weezer and Snoop Dogg headlining. The lineup is a little more indie-friend, with some of these bands that I wouldn't mind catching: George Clinton, New Pornographers, and Dum Dum Girls.

Just scanning their band list, it looks like there are over 50 acts! So the cost of $109 early rate (on sale on March 4^th) seems like a good deal for the two days. Proceeds from the ticket sale will actually go back to the BOMB music scholarship and education programs, giving music back to the Western Connecticut State University.

BEAUTY AND THE BEACH
DeLuna Fest
Pensacola, Florida (October 13-16, 2011)
delunafest.com

The DeLuna Fest started in 2010, with Stone Temple Pilots, Daughtry, 311, Willie Nelson, Bush, and Dierks Bentley on their headline, so you can expect a similar mega rock sort of line up for 2011, which has not been announced yet, considering that the festival doesn't actually take place until October.

I got an announcement about it, for early planners (let's face it, you'll end up saving money booking hotels and flights now, rather than later), tickets goes on sale online April 12^th, local gets a week lead. Pricing hasn't been mentioned, but based on last year's pricing, rates should be about $60 early bird and about $90 three-day pass.

Unfortunately, this probably won't make it on my "must see" list, only because I'm not interested in those major bands. Although, weather-wise of a beachy Florida does sound a bit nice....

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

FESTIVAL REVIEW: Playground Weekender 2011, Wisemans Ferry, NSW

This year’s edition (the 5th) of Playground Weekender, a 4 day music and camping festival at Del Rio Riverside Resort at Wisemans Ferry, was from Thursday 17th to Sunday 20th February 2011. The festival pitches itself as a unique fixture on the Australian music calendar offering music lovers an alternative from the one-day inner city festivals and promises to be “more than just a music festival”. Weheartmusic let the lovely festival ladies get down and dirty with the crowds this year.... this is what they thought:

 

Due to real world work commitments we miss day 1 (Thursday) of the festival. On Friday morning we head off to Wisemans Ferry, a place we’re not sure how to get to, but still seem to have a better idea than the satnav machine. We eventually get there and load ourselves and our camping gear onto a water taxi which will take us along the Hawkesbury to the festival site.

It’s still before midday and the bars are closed, so we’re forced to make camp without our usual putting-up-the-tent beers. It’s a bit of a struggle but somehow, we manage.

We settle in at the Shack stage, a 50s rock’n'roll-themed area complete with Elvis cutout and real live roller girl. The dj is spinning some killer tunes and setting the party mood nicely, until it’s announced that Mojo Juju won’t be on at 1pm as scheduled because they couldn’t make it. This comes as a bit of a blow since they were the main reason we got up so early. Heroically, we press on, and take ourselves on a tour of the site to get a feel for the place.

 There are six stages, most of which have djs playing dance music on for the majority of the time. It soon becomes a bit of a treat to see an actual band. If you’re a dj-loving backpacker this festival is for you, yet for all the trashiness there is still an element of family-friendliness. Odd combo.

 The main stage kicks off for the day at 4pm with Strange Talk – a poppy, trendy, synthy, party band with entertaining songs, big sunglasses and shit banter. Stick to the songs, boys. They’re followed by Black Mountain who are good and rocky, like the steep escarpment behind them.

The crowd is getting bigger and drunker as Caribou take the stage. They play a great set and the crowd clearly loves it too.

The crowd clears out immediately after Caribou, leaving a sparse audience for You Am I. Poor Timmy (pictured right). He’s got a sore hand, no crowd, no shirt (yay!) and Qantas lost his stuff. But he can still shake it. And hide confetti in his hat. Musically the highlight was the song “I’m The Boy To Keep You Warm At Night”, which then merged into “Like A Rolling Stone”.

Cut Copy’s new album “Zonoscope” was released the week before the festival and the cutters used their set as an opportunity to play a few of the tracks and promote the album.

The new songs sounded pretty good and despite the majority of the crowd not appearing to be familiar with them they still danced along. The highlights though were the older songs “Hearts on Fire” and “Lights and Music” which had the whole crowd going crazy. Good use of cowbell throughout the set, as always more needed. You can never have too much cowbell. In general the band brought a lot of energy to the stage and ended up one of the highlights of the day.

Tricky turns up for the final set of the night, and doesn’t do much other than strut around stage with his shirt off and occasionally sing a line or two. After the energetic performance of Cut Copy it seems flat and is extremely disappointing. Then his band play Ace of Spades by Motorhead for 15 minutes while Tricky herds half the audience on stage. It’s confusing and not very entertaining.

On our way back to the campsite we pass the Shack where there are some truly excellent party times going down. It seems to be shaping up as the numero uno stage of awesome.

Saturday was very very very hot, so we stake out a lovely breezy spot on the river bank and kill time by discussing the many and varied ways that Playground Weekender is confusing us.

Firstly, there is nothing on until midday each day apart from the very loud dj at Club Tropicana (aka the pool) and a yoga session set to dance music.

Secondly, every stage finishes at 12am Friday and 1am Saturday, leaving the cafe at the campsite as the only place playing music in the early hours. A lot of time is spent sitting around not doing anything. It’s relaxing, at least, but who goes to a festival for relaxation?

Thirdly, only two of the six stages have been positioned so as not to sonically interfere with each other. It’s never good when bands and djs have to compete to be heard over each other.

Yet somehow all of these issues are almost completely eclipsed by the awesomeness that is Fancy Dress Saturday. There is often an element of fancy dress at festivals, but not on this scale. It takes the party atmosphere up about eighty thousand levels and brings out the happy as only homemade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes can. Special mention goes to the man dressed as Vivian from The Young Ones (unfortunately no photo) and outstanding homemade Mr Men costumes, which light up. Just, wow.

Giselle turns out to be that chick that plays that song, “Crave You”, about all the boys liking her except for the one she wants. Unfortunately the poor sound quality of the River stage hits new levels of poor and throughout her set there are loud sporatic crackles that can’t be ignored. Giselle pushes on though and full credit to her for doing it.

Percussion Junction are an entertaining interlude with their bongos and their hippy vibe. Makes a nice change.

Manchoir are fabulous. Blokes in stubby shorts harmonising the Home and Away theme, “I Touch Myself” and other assorted rock standards, and insisting the audience take part in a mexican wave of kissing. Pure entertainment gold.

Ignoring I Am Kloot’s obviously stupid name, they win points for being a band! A little mellow, but decent music that doesn’t require too much attention. Not bad, actually. They’re also English which helps them pull a bit of the English backpacker crowd to the main stage for the first time that day.

Parades are great but, to be honest, by this point we are far too distracted by all the amazing costumes to pay much attention the music.

There’s a fancy dress parade and prizes are handed out. We can’t see any of it but it doesn’t matter because the entire festival is a fancy dress parade.

Midnight Juggernauts come on, a little too early in the night perhaps (at 7pm) but they manage a great set, complete with sax solo.

Next is Toro y Moi who seem to be generating a bit of hype in the music world at the moment. Their chillwave sound, think Washed Out, is perfectly suited for the festival and the warm summer night. A great set of tight rhythms and nice tunes with addictive qualities. Fabulous addition to the line up.

Architecture in Helsinki do what they do and by god they do it well. With the release of a new album only a couple of months away they took the opportunity to try out some of the new songs which all have that distinctive AIH party feel to them. The new cover song is the ’92 hit ‘I’ve Been Thinking About You’, which is great, but they will never ever improve on their old cover, the Neverending Story. Unbeatable brilliance. It’s great to have AIH back on the festival circuit.

We finish off the night at the Shack with Sydney band Betty Airs, who play a fantastic blend of 50s and grunge influenced songs. The lead singer is wearing a flamenco type outfit, Peter Allen style, and lives up to the role by leading the small but enthusiastic crowd in a conga line. The whole place is bouncing with an awesome trippy party vibe. Guitar / singer Darren Cross (also known for being in the 90s band Gerling) takes a break from the music briefly to introduce the new bass player Patrick Matthews (formally of the Vines and Youth Group). After the last song the crowd decides it’s way too early for the party to end. After some encouragement Betty Airs keeps the music going for a bit longer with a cover of “Bad Moon Rising”. If you haven’t seen Betty Airs yet do it asap. Party!

By Sunday morning we can’t face the prospect of another hot morning with nothing to do followed by rumoured long waiting times for a ferry back down the river, so we pack up and head off.

While Playground Weekender, with it’s high quota of djs playing non-stop techno dance music is not necessarily the kind of festival we’d usually go to, it still has enough redeeming features. Fancy dress Saturday (which really should be extended to the whole weekend) and some fairly decent bands make it a great way to spend a weekend, without having to go far from Sydney.

Thanks festival ladies! Check out their other shenanigans here: http://festivalladies.com/

More photos to come!

Sally (sally@weheartmusic.com)

80/35 Music Festival

Tilly and the Wall - Dust Me Off Tilly and the Wall

As I previously mentioned, I am heading out to 80/30 Music Festival in Des Moines, Iowa, tonight. I may not be able to update until Sunday. Was just corrected that they will have Wi-Fi and Media Centers.

I think this is a stupid name for a festival, apparently it was named after the two interstate freeways: I-80 and I-35. Yes, I hate festivals. I will recount the story about Coachella sometime later, OK? I can laugh about it now, but at the time it was terrible.

There's a few bands I'm definitely going to see (Tilly & The Wall, Ben Harper, and Public Enemy).  I didn't know Public Enemy are back together!

I will be doing that twttr thng. If you are in the area and want to say hi, text me: 763 656 9257.

Below are some bands playing:

Friday, July 3 Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Main Stage 4:00 PM – Tilly and The Wall 5:45 PM – Matisyahu 7:30 PM – Stephen Malkmus 9:30 PM – Public Enemy Mediacom East Stage (free) 4:00 PM – Buster and the Punks 4:45 PM – William Fitzsimmons 5:45 PM – Modern Skirts 6:45 PM – Maps and Atlases 7:45 PM – The Nadas 8:45 PM – House of Large Sizes Meredith West Stage (free) 4:00 PM – MooseKnuckle 5:15 PM – The Dig Angees 6:15 PM – The Autumn Project 7:15 PM – Occidental Brothers 8:30 PM – Public Property 9:30 PM – DJ Diverse 10:45 PM – Brad Goldman & Jade Reed

Saturday, July 4 Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Main Stage 12:00 PM – Poison Control Center 1:30 PM – New Monsoon 3:15 PM – Man Man 5:00 PM – G. Love & Special Sauce 7:00 PM – Broken Social Scene 9:00 PM – Ben Harper   Mediacom East Stage (free) 12:00 PM – Hanwell 12:45 PM – Beati Paoli 1:45 PM – Miss Derringer 2:45 PM – Audrye Sessions 3:45 PM – The Josh Davis Band 4:45 PM – Wild Sweet Orange 5:45 PM – Cleo’s Apartment 6:45 PM – Mr. Baber’s Neighbors 8:00 PM – Brother Ali Meredith West Stage (free) 12:00 PM – Anni Rossi 1:00 PM – Baby Teeth 2:00 PM – Paper Route 3:00 PM – Girl In A Coma 4:00 PM – Floodplane 5:15 PM – Cymbals Eat Guitars 6:15 PM – Margot & Nuclear So & Sos 7:15 PM – Maximilian Eubank 8:15 PM – The Envy Corps 9:00 PM – All Bugs 10:00 PM – Al Brown 11:00 PM – Flatform

 07/02/2009 19:02:28 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

Hellapop Festival 2008

Hellapop Festival (May 24th) ♥ Bands: The Definite Articles, Teamawesome!, iji, Tinkture, Hey Three Eyes, The Creepy Crawlies, James Rabbit, Charlie Don’t Surf!, The Paper Orchestra, The Panduhs, Old Hack, Tippy the Vegan, Music from Anteria

Okay, so I've never been an avid calendar user (too much work!), but lately I've been organizing myself with W♥M Calendar so I know which concert dates to attend and what CDs are being release when. Since I also use Outlook for calendaring, Google does offer Calendar Sync which seamlessly sync both outlook and W♥M calendar (so I can manage offline or online).

I believe the calendar is shared among all the weheartmusic.com users by default (but you can set it to private or "friends only"), so, anyroad, I know someone will be attending Hellapop Festival (May 24).  This looks really fun, and I would be there too if I lived in California.

I thought I'd mention two bands doing this festival that I thought looked interesting.

Tinkture - Pyrotechnics Shadow Puppet Theatre - Farther Away

Tinkture looks like a group of very young ladies, into DIY punk, possibly Riot. I thought "Pyrotechnics" is a very fast and feels very garagey. The vocals has a southern sound to it too. I generally like these DIY punk, as you've probably figured from my various punk articles.

I couldn't help but think of Supergrass's "Alright" when I heard "Farther Away" by Shadow Puppet Theatre. These guys looks very hip and are snappy dressers on top of that.  Plus, they seem like they would hang out at all night cafes. They are from Modesto, and consists of singer/guitarist, Adam Bishop, and upright bassist, Jessica Jones.

These are only two of the many, many bands that's attending the Hellapop Festival, so be sure to check them out. That Team Awesome sounds pretty fun, as well as Charlie Don't Surf (which may have stolen their title from Apocalypse Now, but they seem too young to actually have seen that movie - so I vote for Veronica Mars).

Links: myspace.com/popsongromance www.tinkture.com myspace.com/shadowpuppettheatre