Back At It

 Admit it. You're still in sweatpants eating Entenmann's crumb coffee cake straight from the box with your hands between zoom meetings. It's ok.  You are all of us. As we take our first tentative steps back into a changing world, here is a smattering of upcoming big-ticket and small venue events that might help bridge the gap between your quarantine couch sitting and the full-tilt social blowout you aren't quite ready for yet.

Uncle Hank is at it once again. Everyone's favorite punk godfather is on tour after being temporarily sidelined by the entertainment venue apocalypse that befell nearly all showmen and the stages that they performed on.  Now he's back at the tip of the spear headlining dates in Europe starting after the new year and in the US this spring.  As avid fans, we advise you to catch one of his hard-hitting stream of consciousness monologues live and up close. You won't be disappointed.  For more on dates and times and to buy tickets go to https://www.henryrollins.com/tour

Did you know that Duran Duran released a new album? Did you also know that it's pretty damn good? Future Past is the band's fifteenth studio album, coming nearly forty years after their debut.  It doesn't matter if you were an out of control screaming Duranie in 1983 clutching your newly purchased albums and dreaming of running away with Simon or if you were one of the Johnny-come-lately fans from the 90s, you will enjoy this new release AND you should jump on the opportunity to see them on their mini-tour of Europe. I had the distinct pleasure of seeing this band at the height of their popularity in New York a total of four times and it was spectacular. And although I'll never be fourteen again, I can try to recapture my youth screaming along with all the other die-hard Duran lovers. Keep an eye out for possible future dates in the US. https://duranduran.com/tour/

Sowing the seeds of love. I've never understood why Tears for Fears isn't included on the "best of" rotating playlist inside of everyone's head.  In 2004 they released Everybody Loves a Happy Ending and I thought for sure that was the last we'd see of Smith and Orzabal. Even the album title sounded like a swan song. Come to find out, after all the hiatuses and unfulfilled wishes the band is releasing The Tipping Point on February 25th, 2022 and they are going to tour in support of it. Music to our ears. http://tearsforfears.com

Think back to a time when we were sure we were coming out of pandemic mode but jumped the gun prematurely and started scheduling all sorts of events and concerts only to have our new plans canceled because wave after wave of new sinister variants, each with whimsical greek names, put us back in our hazmat suits and bunkers. In that brief moment of early hope, the Cruel World festival was born, and then true to its name, it ended up on the trash heap of events that never happened. Well, guess what? Cruel World has risen from the ashes with most of its original lineup intact (only Gary Numan and Marc Almond are gone from the bill). So if you want your dose of Blondie, Bauhaus, Devo, Morrissey, Psychedelic Furs, Violent Femmes, Echo & the Bunnymen, English Beat, Public Image Limited.. etc, etc, etc, then get yourself to Pasadena, California's rescheduled festival. http://cruelworldfest.com

Not ready yet? That's ok too. Netflix & Amazon prime video will be cranking out content until the end of time and we'll be here waiting for you.

Vans Warped Tour Lineup Announced

It's pretty killer.

GWAR will be there.

GWAR, PEOPLE!

So will The Dickies, CKY, Sick Of It All, The Adolescents, T.S.O.L, and Anti-Flag. Bowling For Soup, Hawthorne Heights, Goldfinger, Save Ferris, American Authors, and tons more will also be there.

You can get the complete list of acts, tour dates, and ticket information here.

Moogfest Announces Performers

Moogfest, North Carolina's premier music and technology festival, will be held May 18-21 in Durham. Today, the festival announced its main performers: Flying Lotus, Animal Collective, Gotye, Suzanne Ciani, Derrick May, 808 State, Jessy Lanza, Simian Mobile Disco, Moor Mother, Syrinx, Visible Cloaks, Princess Nokia, and Function.

You can hit the Moogfest's website for to purchase passes and get more information.

Previewing The Best Summer Music Festivals

It's tough to overstate just how incredible a major music festival can be for fans. Just last month, Coachella once again delighted droves of fans who came to dance, party, and experience a ridiculously varied lineup. As one recap at LA Music Blog put it, Coachella can change your life—and this year's festival was further evidence to that statement.

Coachella 2016 was also a great example of exactly the type of event that can sometimes take such festivals to the next level. On top of a lineup featuring the likes of Ellie Goulding, Sia, Disclosure, and Calvin Harris, we saw a pretty amazing reunion show from Guns N' Roses, who set aside their differences earlier this year to get back on the road together. It was actually just the latest in a series of revival moves from the band, including a mysterious trailer for a film about the group and the announcement of a 21-city tour this year. The band is even now represented in an Internet casino game that Gambling.com calls "a stellar tribute" to the group's highly anticipated 30th anniversary. Fittingly, the game was released in early 2016, furthering the impression that Guns N' Roses was gearing up for a revival. And at Coachella, that revival exploded in front of one of the most enthusiastic musical audiences in the world!

At least for fans of classic rock, it'll be hard for any of the coming summer's festivals to top that kind of event. However it's still an appropriate example of how a single group can take a festival overflowing with interesting acts to the next level, and there's always the hope of something similar happening. But even without a major revival show, the summer's biggest festivals are giving fans a lot to look forward to. So here's a look at some of the big ones.

Boston Calling (May 27-29, Boston, MA)
A relatively new festival that takes place at City Hall Plaza in Boston, Boston Calling doesn't quite have the name recognition of some of the other events on this list. But it's already started to attract some pretty great artists, and it may just be the most noteworthy East Coast festival of the spring and summer. Sia, HAIM, and Disclosure are some of the headliners for this urban festival in the heart of Boston.

Bonnaroo (June 9-12, Manchester, TN)
As one of the most famous arts and music festivals in the U.S. (if not the world), Bonnaroo hardly needs an introduction. In the eyes of many, this is the festival that really kicks off the summer music season. And the lineup for 2016 is jaw-dropping and packed with artists across every genre. For the rock fans, there's Pearl Jam; for modern pop fans, Ellie Goulding and X Ambassadors; for alt. rock and pop-rock lovers, Third Eye Blind and Death Cab For Cutie; for rap fans, J. Cole and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis; the festival will even feature legendary comedy filmmaker Judd Apatow doing stand-up. These and dozens of acts in between could make for the best 'Roo in years.

Summerfest (June 29-July 10, Milwaukee, WI)
Self-titled the world's largest music festival, Summerfest is too often overlooked in between Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, which tend to be the two biggest names in summer festivals in the States. Held at Marcus Amphitheater in Milwaukee in two stints (June 29-July 3 and July 5-10), it's packed with more A-list performers than perhaps any other concert this summer. Paul McCartney, Selena Gomez, and Def Leppard are only a few of the big names present. But the real treat this summer in particular is that Blink-182 is expected to show up. According to JSOnline, they'll headline the July 5 performances (and yes, they do supposedly have a new album coming out).

Lollapalooza (July 28-31, Chicago, IL)
While major amphitheaters and sprawling rural areas are often favored for music festivals, a lot of people will swear by Grant Park, Chicago as a venue (for lack of a better word) for a major festival. Chicago knows how to party, and that turns Grant Park into an absolute blast for the duration of Lollapalooza every summer. But a great lineup doesn't hurt, either. J. Cole, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and festival favorite Major Lazer are a few of the headliners this time around, as Chicago gears up to celebrate the festival's 25th anniversary.

Outside Lands (August 5-7, San Francisco, CA)
Held annually at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, this festival has one of the coolest natural atmospheres out there. And in recent years it's really put itself on the map with some killer attractions. A lot of popular festival performers already mentioned (Radiohead, J. Cole and Major Lazer) will be there. However, there's also an eclectic mix of artists you might not see at other festivals this summer, including Lionel Richie, Lana Del Rey, and Duran Duran to name a few.

That about takes you through the summer! Particularly with Boston Calling and Outside Lands gaining steam on either end of the season, it's becoming a reliably outstanding set of events, and they only seem to get bigger and better each year. You really can't go wrong visiting any one of them.

image © pitpony.photography / CC-BY-SA-3.0

First Look: Coachella 2014

Guess those Outkast rumors were true after all...



MOTORHEAD!

Riot Fest Might Be The Best Festival Of 2013

Just check out this lineup:

Fall Out Boy!
Blink-182!
Violent Femmes!
Motorhead!
Rancid!
Blondie!
Public Enemy!
Guided By Voices!
Bad Religion!
Dinosaur Jr.!
X!
Saul Williams!
Kitten!

And many more:

Roadtrip 2012: The Gathering Of The Juggalos

So they released the infomercial for the 2012 Gathering Of The Juggalos yesterday. In case you haven't seen it:



Geto Boys? George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic? Pharcyde? The Fat Boys? Biz Markie? Cheech & Chong? Bobcat Goldthwait?

AND Ric Flair?

Who's ready to book a trip to Juggalo Island?

Coachella's 2012 Lineup Is Kind Of Awesome

This afternoon, Coachella announced the lineup for their 2012 festival. With artists like Pulp, Mazzy Star, Madness, Tim Armstrong, Girls, Noel Gallagher, AWOLNATION, Squeeze, Buzzcocks, The Vaccines, Dre, Wild Flag, and Girl Talk, I'm ready to go!

The Festival For Humanity: Our Interview With Anders Thueson

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to thrash out the details of the rock n' roll dream show you were planning on having at your palatial estate with vast acreage ? Any urge to call Perry Farrell and ask him how he made it through that many Lollapalooza events while waxing poetic about the finer points of stadium rock vs. small venue punk rock?

No?

How about the logistics of thousands of people baking in the hot sun with too much alcohol, lack of porta potty access, bad food, and the occasional violent downpour to cake them in mud?

Still not sold?

I can't blame you.

The art of the festival is something few master, but we spoke this past week to someone who is doing it right: Anders Thueson, who is heading up the Festival Tor Humanity, which takes place this upcoming Memorial Day Weekend, May 27th-30th, at Mountain Creek in Vernon, New Jersey.

Hi Anders, thanks for talking to us today.
No problem.

So let's start off with some talk about the Festival For Humanity. All I had to do is see the Misfits on the bill and I was sold.
Well good, that's why we put them there. We were hoping for that.
  
Well you also have quite a line up in addition to them. How did you approach these all these bands to appear, was it using the charity or the festival angle?
We used both. I mean, we certainly can't support the charities without a big crowd. And to get the big crowd, we needed the good bands, so we really kind of reached out to all the agencies and got our list of availabilities and then looked at the artists and what they represent with their music. We pretty much looked for artists like Third Eye Blind and Soul Asylum and Good Charlotte especially who have a track record with depression and mental health. We have quite a variety and the theme is suicide prevention, health, and nutrition, so that gives us a LOT of parameters. PETA came forward and actually asked us to be there which was actually great and Oxfam did the same thing. Oxfam is known for their work for poverty and hunger and PETA is obviously for animals, but they also are advocates of a vegetarian lifestyle so it was a good fit on that level for us.

The One-Hit Wonder Music Fest

The official press conference isn't until Monday, but here's a sneak peek at our poster:

Choose Your Own Music Festival

Hello and welcome to our very first Your Say Hump Day! Every Wednesday, we'll post a fun or thought-provoking (or maybe BOTH!) question for you to answer in the comments. Dig?

Ok.

Someone tells you to start a music festival.

Money is no issue and you can have any band still in existence perform at your festival.

Pick your five headliners.

GO!