April 2008

Virgin Mobile Festival 2008 | Full Lineup Announced

by Justin Ward on Apr 30, 08

Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Mobile Festival just announced and finalized their lineup for the 2008 event, which is set for August 9-10 at Pimilco Race Course in Baltimore, MD.

Baltimore’s third annual Virgin Festival has announced the official lineup. Previously announced headliners Kanye West, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Jack Johnson and Foo Fighters are joined by Wilco, Chuck Berry, Cat Power, Andrew Bird, The Black Keys, She & Him, Bob Dylan and many more.

You can start buying tickets this Saturday, May 3; two-day passes will cost you $175 (or $450 if you consider yourself a VIP). Not sure when the single-day tickets will be released, considering they usually time that soon after the two-day pass sales level off.

The lineup for this fest just falls slightly short of a fest I’d call “great.” That’s really the only thing I have to add on this one. There’s some solid talent on this lineup, for sure, but overall it doesn’t seem to do much for me at all, especially if you want to compare this festival to the others at a “national” level. Regionally, well sure, this is probably the best thing the area will have going for it that weekend and therefore will see plenty of passive festival goers. The team at Virgin will have a lot of work cut out for them if they want to see the success they’ve recorded in the UK work over here in the States.

For the fans in the room that plan on going to this, who or what is the main draw that’s getting you there? My guess is that most answers will be based on geographical concerns alone, but I wouldn’t put anything past the Dylan or Wilco fans to travel a bit to see their idols. Or those fans of The Offspring–those guys are crazy. Remember that one song? Yeah me too.

Read on for the full lineup.

West Coast is the Best Coast

by Justin Ward on Apr 30, 08

in Features

I thought I’d drop everyone a quick post to let you all know that LMB is now officially being represented on the West Coast by none other than yours truly. I just finished a four-day, 2,500 mile trek across the country in a Chevy Uplander, and boy is my behind tired. It was awesome.

Now that I’m out here, that officially spreads the LMB coverage to something that I would finally call respectable. We’ve got Sam and Paul helping us out in NYC, Mitch and Andrew are representing the Windy City, Whit is still chilling in Charlottesville, and I’ll be our man on the scene in the Bay Area. I’m really excited about the year ahead. I hope you are, too.

Finally, thanks to everyone that sent me nice notes of encouragement. I’m psyched to be out here and I’m hoping on doing the music scene here proud.

Road Recovery 10th Anniversary @ Nokia Theatre, NYC 4/17/08

by Paul Kanterman on Apr 30, 08

in Reviews

When push comes to shove, I am a child of the 90′s. Sure, I was born in the early 80′s, but I think that was a decade of music that completely passed me by. For me, my musical enlightenment began with the angsty (God, not that word again) anthems of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. My taste in music has expanded quite a bit since then, but I still love the standbys, so when I heard that the Road Recovery organization was putting on a benefit show headlined by a super group performance from Tom Morello, Slash, Jerry Cantrell, Perry Farrell, and Wayne Kramer of the legendary MC5, it sounded like a rocking, nostalgic time.

This super group came together, along with a whole host of other performers, in support of Road Recovery’s 10th anniversary. Begun in 1998, Road Recovery was formed by tour manager Gene Bowen and band manager Jack Bookbinder to help young people find their way towards a healthy future. Utilizing the industry connections Bowen and Bookbinder had made through their years, they were able to bring in musicians and industry people for lectures and classes on music and their experiences with substance abuse. Although its main base is in New York City, Road Recovery has expanded with programs in Yonkers, the Bronx, Cedar Knolls, New Jersey and even the Voices Project in Haines, Alaska.

Monolith Festival | 2008 Lineup Announced

by whitperson on Apr 29, 08

in Festivals

The Monolith Festival is back for its second year at the beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO. They’ve put together a pretty solid lineup for 2008; one that should be especially tantalizing to the indie hipster crowd. The festival takes place September 13 -14 , and includes the following:

Justice, Devotchka, Silversun Pickups, Band of Horses, TV on the Radio, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Vampire Weekend, Avett Brothers, Neko Case, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Cut Copy, Mickey Avalon, CSS, the Fratellis, the Kills, Holy F*ck, John Vanderslice, Darker My Love, Blitzen Trapper, the Presets, Tokyo Police Club, Tilly and the Wall, the Cribs, the Ting Tings, Airborne Toxic Event, plus many more

Honestly, any two-day festival at Red Rocks in September is extremely inviting. But this lineup puts together some of the best and brightest of the indie rock set, making it all the more tempting. Question is, will this announcement get the Pitchforkers as excited as My Bloody Valentine at ATP? I doubt that, but it should at least catch their attention.

2008 Lineup after the jump…

Tea Leaf Green @ Highline Ballroom, NYC 4/18/08

by Paul Kanterman on Apr 29, 08

in Photo Galleries

As part of last weekend’s Green Apple Music Festival, Tea Leaf Green played two sold-out shows at the relatively new Highline Ballroom in the Meatpacking District.

Outside Lands Festival | Daily Lineups Announced

by whitperson on Apr 29, 08

in Festivals

We’ve already seen that big ass lineup for the inaugural Outside Lands Festival, but they’ve now released the daily artists lineups. They’re making a bit of a deal about the fact that no other artist has ever played Golden Gate Park at night, making Radiohead’s PM performance a first.

They also added a bunch of new artists to the lineup:

The Black Keys
Lupe Fiasco
Stars
Jackie Greene
Kaki King
Liars
Nicole Atkins & The Sea
Culver City Dub Collective

Full three-day passes are already on sale, but for folks thinking about hitting just one day, single-day tickets go on sale Thursday, May 1st (10AM PST). With this kind of lineup, I’m not sure I could make a choice of just one day in particular. But if you had to make that choice, which day would it be?

Daily lineups after the jump…

Print Tease | The Cure – Guy Burwell

by Sam Verrill on Apr 28, 08

in Features

I was mulling a few options for Print Tease this week. Then gigposters had an update and I had a clear cut winner, Guy Burwell’s poster for The Cure. I couldn’t care less about the band, but I couldn’t be more excited for this poster, I think this is the best print I’ve seen in a while.

Every year the Sasquatch festival in George, Washington organizes a really cool series of posters for every band playing the festival. There are usually one or two gems that come out of the group, and I think the competition in 2008 is over. Guy is the winner.

Atmosphere @ Metro, Chicago 4/22/08

by Andrew McMahon on Apr 28, 08

in Reviews

Last Tuesday, backpack hip-hop duo Atmosphere kicked off their tour in support of When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint that Shit Gold. The album dropped the same day that producer Anthony “Ant” Davis and MC Sean “Slug” Daley rolled into Chicago. An apt city for the group to start a tour, the Midwest seems to plays a huge roll in Daley’s apparently autobiographical song writing (he’s a Minneapolis native); in additon, stories of modern isolation, alcoholism, drug use, one-night stands and failed relationships have been a consistent theme in Atmosphere’s music.

The show itself was a 50/50 mixture of the new album and older favorites, which the crowd obligingly (and somewhat ironically) rhymed along too. Accompanied by a live keyboard and guitar player as well as back-up singer, the quasi-live band is a formula that more hip-hop groups should apply to the live show. The crowd was somewhat subdued at the start — possibly due to the early show time — and the Metro was an absolute sauna. But despite these negatives the show was very, very solid.

04.28.2008