Let me be the first to say, I am by no means a jam band connoisseur or even a casual fan at best. Bands like Umphrey’s McGee, Widespread Panic, Phish, or even the Grateful Dead aren’t remotely part of my personal musical lexicon. To give you the extent – the closest thing I’d consider to my foremost ‘jam band experience’ up to this point would have been seeing Pearl Jam doing a raucous fifteen minute cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.” Read more…
What a show! Pure Rock & Roll played to its finest and sung by Chris Cornell, a man with the voice of a God and a vocal range like no other. I’ve had the pleasure of catching a solo acoustic Chris Cornell show a couple of years back but that was a completely different realm as Soundgarden literally ripped shit up late last week at The Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, CT. Don’t get me wrong, Cornell’s voice is entertainment enough on its own, but when the lights went down, you could feel the energy just ooze through the air from this packed house of 5000 worked up fans just waiting for the band to bust out of the gates…so much that I literally started to shake in anticipation and excitement! Read more…
Ray Manzarek, Founding Member of The Doors, Passes Away at 74
Ray Manzarek, keyboardist and founding member of The Doors, passed away today at 12:31PM PT at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany after a lengthy battle with bile duct cancer. He was 74. At the time of his passing, he was surrounded by his wife Dorothy Manzarek, and his brothers Rick and James Manczarek.
Manzarek is best known for his work with The Doors who formed in 1965 when Manzarek had a chance encounter on Venice Beach with poet Jim Morrison. The Doors went on to become one of the most controversial rock acts of the 1960s, selling more than 100-million albums worldwide, and receiving 19 Gold, 14 Platinum and five multi-Platinum albums in the U.S. alone. “L.A.Woman,” “Break On Through to the Other Side,” “The End,” “Hello, I Love You,” and “Light My Fire” were just some of the band’s iconic and ground-breaking songs. After Morrison’s death in 1971, Manzarek went on to become a best-selling author, and a Grammy-nominated recording artist in his own right. In 2002, he revitalized his touring career with Doors’ guitarist and long-time collaborator, Robby Krieger. Read more…
Coachella 2014: Dates Confirmed, Presales Soon
If you want to get a jump on making 2014 "the year" you find your inner hipster, sign up for more info for this week's Coachella 2014 pre-sale. The 2014 dates are confirmed for April 11-13 and April 18-20 and tickets for this festival now sell-out before anyone has... more
First City Festival: Passion Pit, Modest Mouse, MGMT, Beach House and more
The crew at Goldenvoice is busy today with the first announcement of a new festival set for Monterey, CA over the August 24-25 weekend. First City Festival is a new addition to the stacked summer around here in the Bay Area, with Modest Mouse, Passion Pit, MGMT, Neko Case,... more
WATCH: Kanye West on Saturday Night Live
Kanye West brought two new tracks to last night's Saturday Night Live which also featured emotional send-offs for both Fred Armisen and Bill Hader, but these Kanye tracks are absolutely slamming and deserve to stand on their own. He's already announced that his next album Yeezus will be out... more
SETLIST / VIDEO: Rolling Stones (w/ Dave Grohl) @ Honda Center, Anaheim, CA 5/18/13
Last night in Anaheim, The Rolling Stones continued their "50 and Counting" Tour by welcoming the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl for a performance of "Bitch" off their 1971 album, Sticky Fingers. The Stones also played "Shattered" and "You Got the Silver" for the first time in 2013. Check... more
My Morning Jacket Will Begin Work On New LP This Fall
With the recent success of Jim James' solo debut LP Regions of Light and Sound of God and its (ongoing) accompanying tour (playing Hangout Fest today), it has been a little bit easier to forget that My Morning Jacket has only played one show in 2013 (although an extensive run... more
PHOTOS: Kurt Vile & the Violators @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC 5/16/13
Our bromance for all things Kurt Vile continues with this photo set from his show last night at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC courtesy of our friend Kenny Sun. --Editor
Interlocken Festival 2013: Neil Young, Furthur, SCI, Black Crowes and More
Interlocken is a brand new 4-day music festival with an emphasis on world class music, locally sourced food and sustainability and the inaugural event will take place September 5 – 8 at Oak Ridge Farm at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Arrington, VA. Neil Young & Crazy... more
WEBCAST: Hangout Music Fest 2013 on MTV.com
For the masses stuck in cubicles today and not partying on the beach for this year's Hangout Music Fest down in Gulf Shores, AL, MTV has you covered on all the action coming in from the festival. Yes, you read that right -- MTV seems to be actually running... more
NEW MUSIC: Queens of the Stone Age Debut “If I Had A Tail”
Queens of the Stone Age continued their daily release of new tunes from their upcoming record Like Clockwork (out June 4th) on their YouTube channel, releasing "If I Had A Tail" today. This format of debuting new material one-by-one (w/ video) is certainly an interesting tactic for sustained buzz maintenance... more
CONCERT RECAP: Toad The Wet Sprocket @ House of Blues NOLA 5/13/13
It’s hard to believe that Toad the Wet Sprocket have been in existence in some form since 1986, even harder to believe they haven’t put out any new material since Coil in 1997. Luckily for fans, that’s about to change. Glen and the gang are currently testing out new... more
Ty Segall Announces New Solo Album ‘Sleeper’
Get your cassette player ready -- Ty Segall will release his sixth solo album titled Sleeper August 20th on Drag City via vinyl, CD, MP3 and cassette. The announcement video for Sleeper features a curious montage of Segall sleeping in various places wearing a t-shirt with the words "couch potato"... more
Passion Pit and DJ Jazzy Jeff Included In Bonnaroo 2013 Silent Disco Lineup
While Silent Discos have been a part of the European club scene for some time now, Bonnaroo was one of the first events to bring the experience stateside a few years ago when they added the Silent Disco experience for the first time several years ago. Now a Roo tradition,... more
!!! (Chk Chk Chk) Head Out on US Tour, New Video for “One Girl/One Boy”
!!! have just released their fifth full length album THR!!!ER and are hitting the road starting tomorrow for a month long US tour. Guest vocalist Sonia Moore (of “2 Legit 2 Quit” fame) will not be joining, so the band is going to choose one fan per city to come... more
NEW MUSIC: Queens of the Stone Age Release “Keep Your Eyes Peeled” and “Kalopsia”
Queens of the Stone Age continue slowly releasing new tunes from their new record Like Clockwork (out June 4th) on their YouTube channel and you can watch today's animated video for "Keep Your Eyes Peeled" and yesterday's "Kalopsia" below. The band is set to make their stateside return at Lollapalooza... more
WATCH: The Stepkids Jazzy Cover of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”
To follow their re-working of Justin Timberlake's "Suit and Tie" from last week, The Stepkids released yet another lounge-ready jazz cover of a current chartbuster, this time taking on Daft Punk's (w/ Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams) monster single "Get Lucky". Check out the clip below and if still haven't... more
Rooster Walk 2013: Leftover Salmon, Dumpstaphunk, Kung Fu and More
Photo via Blue Mountain FB Page The 5th annual Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival is set to go down once again in Martinsville, VA over Memorial Day weekend in the scenic rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The festival will take place at the Blue Mountain Festival Grounds and... more
Grizzly Bear Announces Special Show at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on 8/9
As was the case last year when Sigur Ros played Hollywood Forever Cemetery before headlining Outside Lands 2012, Grizzly Bear is now set to route through LA before hitting up the Golden Gate Park fest to headline the amazing Hollywood Forever on Friday, Aug. 9. Seeing Grizzly Bear's multi-layered sounds... more
Third Man Records Partners with Sun Records to Reissue Sun Catalog Selections
Follow @ThirdManRecords and @SunRecords on Twitter Third Man Records just announced an exciting partnership with the legendary Sun Records to reissue select 45rpm 7" singles from the deep and sterling back catalog of the Memphis-based label founded by Sam Phillips. Ya know, the place where rock and roll was born. Check... more
PHOTOS / RECAP: Kurt Vile & The Violators, Fresh & Onlys, & Steve Gunn @ Neumos, Seattle, WA 5/12/13
“Play ‘Too Hard!’” a fan yelled out last night during Kurt Vile and The Violator’s set at Neumos. The Philadelphia band is on tour in support of their April 9th release, Wakin on a Pretty Daze. The new record features longer songs than before, delving deep into private lyrical substance.... more
WATCH: Yo La Tengo on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic
Yo La Tengo swung out to Southern California last week for an off-the-wall and thoroughly eclectic showing on Thursday night at the Fonda Theatre. The morning before the Hollywood concert, the veteran Jersey trio was in the studio at Santa Monica's KCRW to do a session on the station's internationally-renowned... more
WATCH: Astronaut Chris Hadfield Performs “Space Oddity” in Outer Space
Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield is the biggest superstar astronaut of the Internet era, thanks to his tweets, photos and videos of the Earth from space over the past five months he's spent on the International Space Station. Before his return to Earth on Monday, the space man had one... more
CONCERT RECAP: Jim James @ Fonda Theatre, Hollywood, CA 5/11/13
Photo by Christopher Gair Even after seeing his main squeeze My Morning Jacket sixteen times over the last eight years, Jim James still managed to impress, surprise and provide an existential thrill on Saturday night in Hollywood. While the three-night LA run MMJ played back in September at The Wiltern was... more
STREAM: Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories” Right Now
It appears that either Random Access Memories leaked this morning and/or the record label made the snap executive decision to release a free stream on iTunes a week before the album's release date. Whether this was a purposeful leak or not, it comes as a surprise that the album has... more
Widespread Panic and Umphrey’s McGee Announce Two Nights in Charleston (10/4 & 10/5)
Widespread Panic will return to Charleston for the first time since 2010 for two nights at the Family Circle Stadium, October 4th and 5th. Umphrey's McGee will be joining both nights. This marks the first announced dates of Panic's fall tour. Tickets go on sale Friday May 17th at 10am... more
FYF Fest 2013 Lineup: My Bloody Valentine, YYYs, TV On The Radio, MGMT and More
Los Angeles' FYF Fest continues its slow and steady ascent into one of the country's premiere multi-day music festivals and has just announced a fantastic lineup for this year's edition. The festival will go down once again in the LA State Historic Park (before temporarily relocating in 2014 while the... more
WATCH: Daft Punk Unveils ‘Random Access Memories’ Vinyl Packaging Porn
The robots in Daft Punk continue on with their super-human marketing campaign with the release of their new commercial showing the unveiling of the Random Access Memories vinyl, something I've already got on pre-order. The album drops next Tuesday, May 21st. Update: the album leaked today and it's... more
PHOTOS / RECAP: Allah-Las @ The Chapel, SF 5/9/13
Photos by Justin Yee / Words by Blanca Myers (@blancatron) Allah-Las hosted a sold-out beach party last night at The Chapel in San Francisco’s Mission District, filling the venue with surf wax and the sandy vibrations of the California coast. The all-ages show drew a cross-generational crowd of west coasters –from... more
WATCH: The Stepkids Re-Work Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie”
You can watch the lounge-ready jazz cover of JT's monster single below and check out our Stepkids feature from last year right here. Those hoping to see the uber-talented Bridgeport/BK-bred trio on festival circuit this summer can check out their sets at Bonnaroo, All Good and Electric Forest. http://youtu.be/yacvARTtXlk * Also,... more
