There was obviously a ridiculous amount of hype surrounding this year’s Super Bowl Halftime show with Madonna, but I think she came out and totally slayed the show last night. The performance started with some old-school gladiator shit thrown on the top of “Vogue,” which medleyed itself into “Music” not too far after the song started. Stages were shifting, performers were dancing themselves in and out of the picture, and then LMFAO makes an appearance with a “Music” / “Party Rock Anthem” mashup performed live. We even got a little “Sexy and I Know It” before the new Madonna song showed up. Seeing Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. dance on stage with Madonna was a treat, and M.I.A. took the chance to stay at the top of the headlines today by flipping off the camera live on her “I don’t give a shit” line in the song. Then somehow Cee Lo showed up leading a drum line which brought out “Open Your Heart” and “Express Yourself.” Then “Like a Prayer” made everyone feel like they were in church…
WATCH VIDEO
There’s been a ton of other music news this week besides all of those awesome updates from Phish yesterday, so I figured I’d round up a bit of it in one post here to get you some stuff to catch up on.
First and foremost, make sure you do check out all of those previews from the Coral Sky DVD that the band has planned. The official media page is now sporting the “Run Like An Antelope” video so we’ve added that to our Sights & Sounds post, so crank up the volume, throw on full-screen and put in your pre-orders for the DVD.
Hey, speaking of pre-orders, I didn’t catch this until a little birdy pinged me and found it in the fine-print: The pre-orders for Mike Gordon’s new album Moss will put you in the running to receive a bass lesson with none other than Mr. Cactus himself. You will learn the secret of the patented Cactus Bombs that found their way into each show night after night on the recent Phish summer tour. You, too, can learn how to do this. Wouldn’t that be sick? READ MORE
This weekend was a weird and somewhat disappointing one for live music news (that is, unless you’re a String Cheese Incident fan — more on that shortly). The tragedy being what it is following Love Parade in Germany, I’d hate to highlight something so devastating when there’s perhaps a more useful, half-hearted set of headlines that can be shared to end the day on a better note. And while they can be taken lightly, it had me thinking more seriously about the role of live music in our lives and how sometimes our expectations aren’t really in line with what the artist is trying to accomplish. Are there times and circumstances when a band or thing gets too big and gets detached? Too hyped? Too misunderstood or too jarring for a populace that seems to wish they had it a certain way? How do our concert expectations get fulfilled and do some artists just go well out of their way to satisfy their own needs at the expense of the audience’s potential reaction?
Maybe those are a seemingly random mix of questions, but they seemed to flow together when I sat down to write a post on the news following the Kings of Leon show this past Friday night. I had also just read about M.I.A.’s performance this weekend and finally caught up with the Panda Bear photos and review over at You Ain’t No Picasso. Do these artists suck at concerts? READ MORE
The Virgin Mobile Festival (now called FreeFest) just announced their lineup for this year’s free festival, with M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem and Pavement all topping the lineup.
M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Pavement top Virgin Mobile FreeFest ‘10 [Consequence of Sound]
On Saturday, September 25th, the Virgin Mobile FreeFest returns, this time with a lineup that crosses indie, hip-hop, and dance boundaries. The much controversial M.I.A., NYC alt-dance outfit LCD Soundsystem, and recently reunited indie legends Pavement will headline this year’s festivities.
The tickets for the one-day festival set for Merriweather Post Pavilion will be FREE for anyone that can quick-draw the tickets on Saturday, 7/24 at 10am EDT. TicketFly.com will be hosting the tickets. Previous ticket holders and Virgin Mobile customers get a little break and get access to the tickets first on Friday.
Read on for the rest of the lineup. READ MORE
Day three of Outside Lands is about to begin, and I need to hightail-it down to Golden Gate Park so I can catch some of the set by The Morning Benders. I’m having a blast at the festival so far and I’d rather get down there to enjoy the music, so just assume that I’m going to try and catch a little of everything today. With the major conflict being the Ween / M.I.A. / Band of Horses sets around sunset, I’ll be a bit torn on what I want to watch the most of.
Expect some photos and some videos tomorrow and hope everyone else is having a good weekend! Look for me on the webcast, too.
It’s officially a proper start to the summer festival season with today’s first day of Coachella underway as I type this. The lineup didn’t necessarily blow me away this year, so thankfully for my skin and my pocketbook I won’t be in attendance. But I will get to enjoy some of the action from home thanks to the ever-present corporate webcasting giant, AT&T. Over on their new iteration of the Blueroom is a site called AT&T Music, and they’ll be webcasting all weekend from Coachella. Tune in today at 2:50pm PST when the actions kicks off.
READ MORE
The lineup for the second Outside Lands Music Festival has been announced, with Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, and the Beastie Boys leading the top of the lineup. M.I.A., Ween, The Mars Volta and many more are also going to rocking Golden Gate Park the weekend of August 28-30, 2009, the returning site of the festival. This year will feature a full Friday lineup as opposed to the shortened day that welcomed Radiohead as last year’s Friday headliner.
Tickets will go on sale Sunday April 19th at 10am PST via www.SFOutsidelands.com, and the festival’s presale for Visa and Visa Signature cardholders will take place April 15-18th. Visa cardholders will get advance access and limited time “eager beaver” pricing for three-day passes. Visa Signature cardholders also get exclusive access to VIP three-day passes during the presale. A significant portion of every ticket sold will directly benefit San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department.
Pearl Jam
Dave Matthews Band
Beastie Boys
Incubus
Black Eyed Peas
M.I.A
Jason Mraz
Ween
The Mars Volta
Thievery Corporation
Modest Mouse
Band of Horses
TV on the Radio
Dead Weather
Atmosphere
Tom Jones
Silversun Pickups
The National
Q-Tip
Brett Dennen
Built To Spill
Mastodon
Raphael Saadiq
Calexico
Os Mutantes
Midnite
JJ Grey & Mofro
Kinky
Deerhunter
Lila Downs
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
The Dodos
Bettye LaVette
Dengue Fever
Heartless Bastards
The Dirtbombs
Lenka
Akron/Family
John Vanderslice
Matt and Kim
Portugal. The Man
The Morning Benders
The Duke Spirit
Zee Avi
Blind Pilot
SambaDa
Ryan Bingham
West Indian Girl
Extra Golden
