Update: Not so fast. In an interview with Minneapolis radio station 93x, Slash refuted Weiland’s comment, claiming he has no knowledge of Weiland rejoining the band. “We have no intention of going backwards,” Slash concluded.

The auditions are over. Velvet Revolver has a found a singer and it’s – Scott Weiland. The former frontman who left the band in 2008 – stating “ego and jealousy can get the better of anyone” –  has now returned to the fold. Recently, Weiland told ABC News Radio that the band, which includes former Guns N’ Roses members Slash, Matt Sorum, and Duff McKagan, was “able to put egos and differences and old…conflicts aside and so that’s really cool.”

What’s more, they’re currently at work on a new LP, which would mark the band’s third to date, following 2007′s Libertad. Weiland stated, “They gave me a couple of songs and myself and [guitarist] Dave [Kushner] and [bassist] Duff [McKagan] are gonna be getting together for a song writing session next week.”

Earlier this year, the band reunited for a one-off performance at a benefit concert for John O’Brien in Los Angeles. As Rock It Out! Blog reports, Velvet Revolver plans to tour late summer into the fall, and Weiland will also continue to work with Stone Temple Pilots. So, it’s a good day for rockists everywhere. Relive the band’s glory days below with the unintentionally hilarious video for “Fall to Pieces”.

Black Sabbath has scrapped many of its upcoming European tour dates due to Tony Iommi’s ongoing battle with lymphoma, according to an issued press release. Instead, the reunited outfit will perform just one show this summer — their headlining appearance at this year’s Download Festival – while a majority of other shows will now feature “Ozzy and Friends.”

For these shows, frontman Ozzy Osbourne will be joined by Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler and longtime collaborator Zakk Wylde. In addition, Slash and other “special guests” will appear at select dates. Check out the tour’s schedule below.

Despite the news, Black Sabbath — currently sans Bill Ward — remain at work on their first studio album in 33 years. They also plan to announce new tour dates soon.

Black Sabbath 2012 Tour Dates:
05/18 – Moscow, RU @  Olimpiski
05/20 – St. Petersburg, RU @ New Arena
05/21 – St. Petersburg, RU @ New Arena
05/23 – Helsinki, FI @ Hartwall Arena
05/25 – Stockholm, SE @ Stadium
05/26 – Jelling, DK @ Jelling Music Festival
05/29 – Bergen, NO @ Bergen Calling
05/31 – Oslo, NO @ Spektrum
06/02 – Malmo, SE @ Malmo Stadium
06/04 – Dortmund, DE @ Westfalenhalle
06/06 – Prague, CZ @ O2 Arena
06/10 – Leicestershire, UK @ Download Festival
06/12 – Rotterdam, NL @ Ahoy
06/15 – Bilbao, ES @ Azkena Rock Festival
06/17 – Nantes, FR @ Hellfest
06/19 – Paris, FR @ Bercy
06/22 – Dessel, BE @ Graspop Metal Meeting
06/24 – Milan, IT @ Gods of Metal
06/26 – Vienna, AT @ Wiener Stadthalle
06/28 – Belgrade, RS @ Usce Park
07/01 – Athens, GR @ Rockwave Festival

Ozzy and Friends 2012 Tour Dates:
05/23 – Helsinki, FI @ Hartwall Arena
05/25 – Stockholm, SE @ Stadium
05/27 – Jelling, DK @ Jelling Music Festival
05/29 – Bergen, NO @ Bergen Calling
05/31 – Oslo, NO @ Spektrum
06/02 – Malmo, SE @ Malmo Stadium
06/04 – Dortmund, DE @ Westfalenhalle
06/06 – Prague, CZ @ O2 Arena
06/15 – Bilbao, ES @ Azkena Rock Festival
06/17 – Nantes, FR @ Hellfest
06/19 – Paris, FR @ Bercy
06/22 – Dessel, BE @ Graspop Metal Meeting
06/24 – Milan, IT @ Gods of Metal
06/26 – Vienna, AT @ Wiener Stadthalle
06/28 – Belgrade, RS @ Usce Park
07/01 – Athens, GR @ Rockwave Festival

The sixth annual Rock on the Range Music Festival returns to Columbus, Ohio’s Columbus Crew Stadium from May 18-20th. This year’s bill boasts names like Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Megadeth, Mastodon, Incubus, Slash, The Darkness Volbeat, Cypress Hill, Trivium, and Lacuna Coil, among others. Check out the entire lineup at Festival Outlook.

GA and VIP passes go on sale Friday, February 10th at 10:00 am ET via the festival’s website.

They have been auditioning new singers, and while Lenny Kravitz and Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington were rumored to be in the running, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor looked like he had had the best chance of making the cut. On April 1st, McKagan confirmed the the 37-year-old Taylor had recorded with the band, but now Slash has revealed that the man also known as No. 8 just wasn’t the solution to what he calls the “Velvet Revolver Problem.”

“We did work with Corey, but all we were doing was trying him out,” he said in an interview with Argentinean website Vorterix, “[he] didn’t seem to fit to me.”  He also elaborated on the audition process explaining that potential frontmen get handed “ a lot of music [that] we wrote” and are asked to write lyrics before joining the band to perform and record the material.

Slash added that more solo work is on the table and that Velvet Revolver are in no hurry to make another album. He says he is constantly thinking about potential singers for the band but the right one hasn’t turned up. “In the meantime, I just keep doing what I do,” he said, “I’m having a lot of fun but if a great singer comes and says ‘I wanna sing for Velvet Revolver,’ then we’ll make a record, but I don’t have to go back and do that unless it’s good enough to do it.” Hey, there’s always the revolving door at the Guns N’ Roses camp, guys.

Check out the Vorterix interview below.

When Travis Barker announced on Twitter that his solo effort, Give The Drummer Some, had a release date, he apparently forgot to tell his record label (or maybe they just don’t follow him). Guess you can’t trust everything you tweet. Interscope Records has stepped in to put an end to the misinformation and given the officially official release date of March 15th, 2011.

That’s not all the good news, though. Indeed, Interscope has shunned the whole slow drip of tweeted information route and given tons of details on the record, including the album cover artwork above.

In addition, they’ve confirmed some of the track titles and their guest appearances. We’ve already heard Tom Morello, RZA and Raekwon on “Carry It” and “Jump Down” with The Cool Kids. We also knew about first single “Can A Drummer Get Some” with The Game, Swizz Beats, Rick Ross, and Lil Wayne; “Devil’s Got A Hold of Me,” featuring the supergroup Slaughterhouse; and “On My Own,” featuring Corey Taylor of Slipknot. What’s been newly confirmed is “Misfits,” with guest Steve Aoki; the Kid Cudi featuring “Cool Head”; “Don’t Fuck With Me” featuring Paul Wall, Kurupt, and J Roc; and “City of Dreams” with Clipse and Kobe. Barker has promised 12 tracks with a 16-track deluxe edition, so expect the Slash, Ludacris, Lupe Fiasco, B.o.B, and other collaborations to be confirmed before long.

It turns out the Blink-182 drummer isn’t only pooling musical resources for the record; he’s also gathered artists from the worlds of fashion, tattooing, street art, music, and graffiti to provide original works for each and every track. The list is long, but worth mentioning: Slick, David Choe, Mike Giant, Chris Peters, Usugro, Nate Dino, Mr. Brainwash, Munk One, Haze, Dire One, Mr. Cartoon, Jeff Soto, Richard Sanchez, Risk One, Chase Tafoya, Haze, Skinhead Rob, and Mazz242. Oh, and that album cover? That’s done by Pushead, the same guy who did Metallica’s St. Anger and “2 of One” artwork. The art for each song will be released individually at TravisBarker.com over the next few weeks (okay, so they haven’t totally shunned the slow drip).

Yeah, that’s a whole lot of names. Let’s not forget that Barker is also back with his old bands Blink-182 and The Transplants, both of whom have albums planned for this year. With so many collaborations going on in just one year, Give The Drummer Some evidently means “give the drummer a shit load.” (PRNewswire via Interscope Records)

The 45-year-old (whose real name – Saul Hudson – actually sounds like it could belong to a character on the show) said that he always tries to be “optimistic” about the current state of entertainment, but that he draws the line when it comes to Burt, Kurt, Mr. Schuester, and Coach Sylvester.

“Glee is worse than Grease, and Grease was bad enough,” he told Entertainment Weekly, “[but] I look at Grease now and think, ‘between High School Musical and Glee, Grease was a brilliant work of art.” Ouch. At least we have Slash’s solo album with Alter Bridge guitarist Myles Kennedy to look forward to.

From the sci-fi-tastic opening theme to the incidental, segue-ing instrumental spatters, it was clear that music was key to the Ghost Planet. That theme and those licks, written by avant-jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock (with Lance Carter on drums, Alfrieda Gerald providing vocals, and Eddie Horst on bass), provided a constant off-beat presence to the already off-beat show. Another big part of that key would have to be Zorak and the Original Way-Outs. The cartoon house band didn’t much move, but they kind of rocked (thanks to Sharrock and co.). Late seasons included an outro by space rockers Man or Astro-Man?

But the real musical memories were made by the guests. Musically inclined Season One guests included The Bee Gees, Schooly D, and Weird Al, but The Ramones’ turn on the show is one of the highlights. After introducing the band as Zorak’s favorite (because giant mantises make natural punks), hilarity ensues. C.J. Ramone calls their music “snappy,” Marky Ramone improvs a tune of “way way way” to the Ghost’s delight, a tune that Joey Ramone calls subliminal. Then everyone eats birthday cake, even though Space Ghost says the Ramones can’t come because “punks don’t go to parties.”

Space Ghost generally didn’t understand musicians… or much of anything. So, when Alice Cooper came on the show, it was a surprise he wasn’t a girl (“I was actually born with eye make-up on,” he offers). R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe argues that Monster is a concept album about “a layman’s….dissertation…on the black hole phenomenon” and that he hates the song “Shiny Happy People”. In one of the weirder and simultaneously best interviews of the series, David Byrne explains that he would like “to be cute and blonde” before laughing maniacally and fast-forwarding himself. An awkward interview with G’nR guitarist Slash leads to the new nickname “Citizen Longhair.”

In back to back episodes of season three, Jonathan Richman played “Hey There Little Insect” in “the key of X” and Thurston Moore plays the role of Fred Cracklin, speaking exactly five words in an episode dedicated to the then-recently passed Sonny Sharrock, which featured uncut takes of the jazz group’s soundtracking. Later, Kirk Hammet and James Hetfield of Metallica threaten to stomp Tansit, the show’s announcer, and Dave Grohl explains what happens to mucus in space. In season four, Beck explains his life philosophy: “I like to plug things in, and then I like to unplug them, and then I go to sleep.”

Pavement even got in on the action, jamming out over Goldie Hawn. Other, less rock-oriented guests included George Clinton, Ice-T, and Chuck D. In the seventh season, Space Ghost marries Bjork, and Zorak teaches Tenacious D a thing or two.

Tad Ghostal, Zorak, Brak, Moltar and the rest of the Space Ghost crew made their own music as well, releasing Space Ghost’s Musical Bar-B-Que, Space Ghost’s Surf and Turf, and a self-titled soundtrack. Check out the beatbox and awkwardness cover of “Can’t Touch This” sung by Brak below for a taste of that.

Audio Archaeology is a presentation of Media Potluck and Consequence of Sound.

In addition to those previously mentioned dates with Ozzy, Slash and Kennedy will be hitting up Soundwave Festival in 2011, along with select dates in Asia and Puerto Rico. Head on over to Slash’s official website to spy all 2011 tour dates and keep busy until the new album drops. Keep checking back with CoS for more information as it comes.

Slash 2011 Tour Dates:
01/16 – Omaha, NE @ Qwest Center *
01/18 - Houston, TX @ Toyota Center *
01/20 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center *
01/22 -  Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center *
01/24 – San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center *
01/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre *
01/28 – Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay Resort *
02/01 – Universal City, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre *
02/03 – San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion *
02/05 - Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome *
02/08 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center *
02/10 – Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center *
02/12 – Detroit, MI @ The Palace of Auburn Hills *
02/14 – Moline, IL @ i wireless Center *
02/16 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena *
02/18 – Tampa, FL @ St. Pete Times Forum *
02/20 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ BankAtlantic Center *
02/22 – Jacksonville, FL @ Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena *
02/26 – Brisbane, AU @ Soundwave Festival
02/27 – Sydney, AU @ Soundwave Festival
03/04 – Melbourne, AU @ Soundwave Festival
03/05 – Adelaide, AU @ Soundwave Festival
03/07 – Perth, AU @ Soundwave Festival
03/14 – Osaka, JP @ Hatch
03/16 – Tokyo, JP @ Studio Coast
03/17 – Tokyo, JP @ Studio Coast
03/18 – Yokohama, JP @ Bay Hall
03/20 – Seoul, KR @ Ax-Korea Hall
04/13 – San Juan, PR @ Coliseo de Puerto Rico

* = w/Ozzy Osbourne

Rose’s $20 million dollar lawsuit against Activision supposedly stems from a deal in which Activism agreed not to use the likeness of Saul Hudson (aka Slash) alongside GnR’s playable song “Welcome to the Jungle”. Needless to say, Rose wasn’t too amused when he had to fight Slash as a boss and the song was still right there in the setlist.

“This lawsuit is about protecting Guns N’ Roses and ‘Welcome to the Jungle,’ and is about holding Activision accountable for its misuse of these incredibly valuable assets,” Rose’s lawyer said. Personally, it sounds a little more like complete and utter bitterness than anything. Especially since Rose seems to be a little sue happy as it stands. In fact, if I were to sue Activision, it’d be over making the boss fight against Lou such a pain in the goddamn ass. Cheating computer bastard…

That brings us to Velvet Revolver, the paradigm of supergroups. Made up of Guns N’ Roses members and fronted by STP’s Scott Weiland, the band is currently trying to find a new, possibly less-super singer now that Weiland is back with Stone Temple Pilots (supergroups should always have a problem staying together, with everyone being so damned super). But that won’t stop them all from trying to cash in on your Christmas shopping dollars with a live DVD, recorded back in the golden age of 2005. Live In Houston is due out in November and will feature 12 songs, a mixed bag of the members’ “classic” tunes with their old bands, and “original” material. Somewhere Scott Weiland is laughing hysterically, wondering how he gets money for doing absolutely nothing.

If you have a mildly antisocial cousin who likes to play those Call of Duty games and whose sexuality is the subject of debate (not because he is effeminate, but because you have never heard about him dating anyone), this might be the perfect gift!

Live In Houston Tracklist:
01. Sucker Train Blues
02. Do It For The Kids
03. Headspace
04. Crackerman
05. Illegal I
06. It’s So Easy
07. Fall To Pieces
08. Big Machine
09. Set Me Free
10. Used To Love Her
11. Slither
12. Sex Type Thing

“I put prayers in with Jesus and God all the time,” he told the Dalton Daily Citizen. “‘Please just go talk to Axl,’ I say. I love the stuff we did together in my heart and my soul. It needs to be taken out of the shell and put back in the world. Two generations of people have already missed it. I think it’s unfair. I love those five guys — they mean more to me than anyone except my grandmother and my dogs. But there was so much fighting all the time, but like my grandpa said, time heals all wounds. My wounds are healed.”

Clearly this reunion is pretty damn important to him (one wonders what his wife of eight years thinks of being ranked below Axl and his dogs). Until the heavens intervene though, Adler will continue to perform the Appetite for Destruction songs with his band Adler’s Appetite. Both Slash and Izzy Stradlin have joined the group on stage in the past, so there’s hope yet.

“I would really like that. I would love to work with those guys — all of them — but I’m not going to wait. I’ve wasted enough of my life, the past 20 years with the drugs and all. It’s time to do the right thing — which is get the band together and do a reunion. We owe it to the fans and everybody who supported GNR for so long…when those suckers want to do something, I’m ready.”

Jesus couldn’t be reached at press time, but he released the following statement through his agent: “I may get around to it so long as they promise not to play anything from Chinese Democracy. That thing sucked. Also, I’m totes damning Buckethead to hell.” Read the full interview [with Adler, not Jesus] at the Dalton Daily Citizen.

The two musical forces are set to begin their travels in Omaha on January 16th. From there, the entourage will pendulum from Texas, to California, and end back across in Florida on February 22nd. Find a full list of confirmed dates below.

Given that Osbourne appeared on Slash’s solo album for the track, “Crucify The Dead,” expect to see it performed by the two of them. While that would be awesome, we have one other request, Ozzy: Let’s get Slash on “Crazy Train”.

Tickets for the newly announced dates go on sale starting Friday, October 15th via Ticketmaster.com. You can find already on-sale Ozzy dates via our Concert Calendar.

Ozzy Osbourne 2010 Tour Dates:
10/16 – Kobe, JP @ Kobe World
10/17 – Tokyo, JP @ Super Arena
10/30 – New Orleans, LA @ Voodoo Experience
11/12 – Victoria, BC @ Save on Foods Memorial Centre
11/14 – Vancouver, BC @ BC Rogers Arena
11/16 – Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome
11/18 – Edmonton, MB @ Rexall Place
11/20 – Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre
11/23 – Montreal, QC @ QC Bell Centre
11/25 – Ottawa, ON @ Scotiabank Place
11/27 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
11/29 – Baltimore, MD @ 1st Mariner Arena
12/01 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
12/03 – Rutherford, NY @ Izod Center
12/05 – Cleveland, OH @ Quicken Loans Arena
12/10 – St. Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center
12/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
01/16 – Omaha, NE @ Qwest Center *
01/18 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center *
01/20 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center *
01/22 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center *
01/24 – San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center *
01/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre *
01/28 – Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay Resort *
02/01 – Universal City, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre *
02/03 – San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion *
02/05 – Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome *
02/08 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center *
02/10 – Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center *
02/12 – Detroit, MI @ The Palace of Auburn Hills *
02/14 – Moline, IL @ i wireless Center *
02/16 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena *
02/18 – Tampa, FL @ St Pete Times Forum
02/20 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ BankAtlantic Center *
02/22 – Jacksonville, FL @ Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena *

* = w/ Slash

The news comes from the BostonHerald.com‘s recent interview with Slash, who went on to note that before Weiland was ever chosen, Sorum had wanted to nab Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy. They considered Kennedy again shortly after Weiland’s departure, but because Velvet Revolver is a “24-hour-a-day project and Kennedy is still committed to Alter Bridge,” Slash didn’t “want to be the guy responsible for breaking up a band.”

No word yet on details of auditions, but we will keep you posted. As for expectations for their new frontman, per usual, Slash is once again acting pretty cavalier, saying “…we’ll find someone. Maybe not somebody known, but some kind of local hero.” Like a Charlie Daniels-esque virtuoso?

As always, stay tuned for more news as it’s announced. Also, in case you don’t get this job, you can always play bass for Jane’s Addiction.

Now, the Sunset Strip is an iconic stretch of bars and clubs that sits on the border between Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and Hollywood proper. Though I had lived in the area for both the past five years and my entire youth, I had never set foot on the hallowed grounds. Strange? Maybe. But even stranger is the fact that that there is generally no good reason to go there. Occasionally a mainstream act will play a not-so-secret-show at The Viper Room, The Roxy, or The Whiskey A-Go-Go, but pretty much no reputable or relevant artists come within a half-mile of the Strip. The Troubadour, located just south of the Strip, is about the only thing associated with the area that would get any serious music fan out of his house for the night. (Note: I was surprised to find out that the Strip was literally one major block away from the popular gay bar scene of West Hollywood. There was a certain irony in the fact that this antiquated, macho, and misogynistic culture exists so close to their polar opposite, and that their opposite is clearly the forward thinking, relevant, and fun stretch of bars and clubs that the Strip might have been 30 years ago. Also ironic is that nine out of 10 girls on the Sunset Strip look like drag queens. Seriously.

The history of the region is not without its richness. Sure, you have legendary acts like Janes Addiction and Van Halen who can trace their roots to the area, but you also have some more questionable artists like Frank Zappa and The Doors, not to mention the glam rock scene of the 1980′s. Unfortunately, much like all things associated with the spandex of the 80′s, the opening riff of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” killed the spirit of the Sunset Strip, and Los Angeles saw its music epicenter shift to Orange County for the majority of the 90′s.

But the strip didn’t disappear, it just aged. One step on the formerly prestigious locale made me feel very young, with the majority of the attendees hiding their sun-wrinkles and stained skin under globs of make-up, black leather hats, and faded tattoos. Why has this scene come to this? Well, the short answer would be pay-to-play venues. Asking a band to put money up-front on a show will surely limit the amount of young talent that you see going through the door. I honestly have no idea how the indie venues differ in their policy, but it seems that the pay-to-play policy that surrounds the Whiskey and Roxy would directly correlate with the death of this being a reputable music scene. And now, after Saturday afternoon, I can back that up with first-hand knowledge that the venues are pretty miserable, too. They all have rather poor set-ups and crackling sound-systems. I also found some of the most obnoxious, pretentious, and down-right abrasive customer service of any bar or club I have ever been too. So don’t feel bad for The Sunset Strip, they’re doing it to themselves.

But still, the idea of closing down the area, opening four of the major clubs to all-day showcases, and erecting two giant stages to feature some of the scene’s notorious graduates seems to work on paper. If only they could bring in real talent for any aspect of that endeavor. Instead, we were forced to endure bands like Neon Trees acting like buffoons and seeming to revel in it, Steel Panther taking the spandex act to its appropriate resting place of dick jokes and pelvic thrusts, and Kid Cudi’s bright colors and attitude, but without an audience to warrant the former hype.

The marquee names on the bill had even less going for them. In fact, it was the kind of bill that caused the music listener to either assume that the career of the artists listed had taken a nosedive, or that the festival had performed a booking coup, somehow wrangling an artist like Common away from a more lucrative or prestigious gig. I can’t tell you which of these is true in the case of Common. What I can tell you is that he started half an hour late after tons of technical difficulty. So, when I am trying to provide coverage of a festival, these kind of time delays can be costly. In fact, some stages were running as much as a full band behind, yet The Smashing Pumpkins started eight minutes ahead of schedule – oh well, another weird mystery on the Sunset Strip. In hindsight, Common did seem to pump up the crowd after the long delay, though.

One other question lingering over the modest festival (for me anyway. The Slash faithful probably knew exactly what his sets are like) was over sub-headliner Slash. Mainly: What the hell would Slash be doing/playing? For me anyway. The Slash faithful probably knew exactly what his sets are like. But I reached the level with the crowd when I made my way toward his stage to hear the opening to “Sweet Child of Mine”. Jesse’s face was priceless at this moment, looking up in disbelief and mild amusement. He didn’t even realize that it was Slash blasting through the streets, thinking it was just another of the random-as bands that made up the bill.

This same weekend, on the other side of the world, the same song was surely played without Slash, and while vocalist Myles Kennedy could easily sing circles around Axl Rose these days, the iconic riff could be played by anyone and sound exactly the same. It was hard to see the difference between a bar cover band and this incarnation, other than the presence of Slash, which was palpable but really never materialized into something grand. Slash, even in this moment, seemed more comfortable on the side, as a band member and not a focal point. It is hard to begrudge the guitarist a moment in the spotlight, a moment he seemed genuinely taken aback by. And with news of his divorce breaking as I write, I don’t want to pile on. Did people eat it up? You bet. Are these people total weirdos? A little bit. But, if watching Slash touch the bases of GnR and Velvet Revolver and cover “Barracuda” with Fergie (who could totally be a rock singer if she wanted. She nailed both the voice and the attitude) is your idea of a nice Saturday, well, you might need to come to a couple shows with me and see what else is going on in music. And you might totally hate it, but I couldn’t help but feeling like making a mix tape for the crowd.

So, maybe the main stages weren’t for me. Maybe the tiny clubs held the cutting edge music that will carry the Sunset Strip back to its past glory. Well, that may be hoping for too much, but I did manage to find a couple treats in these darkened rooms. Tornado Rider, a San Francisco three-piece, brought the juvenile revelry that the Strip is known for and turned it upside-down. With songs about magical, mythical lands and falcons, the lead of an electric cello shredding every corner of the Whisky was a welcomed surprise. It was silly, it was fun, and it was what the Sunset Strip needs to get itself back on track. Another example of this would be the afternoon set I caught from Lady Sinatra, a post-hardcore outfit that was high on attitude and high on screaming, but the kind of music that you could see outgrowing the tiny room into something bigger.

Looming over the entire affair was a closing set by The Smashing Pumpkins. This was the first time I had ever seen the band and I now wish I had left their live show a mystery. During second song “Ava Adore” it became clear from the over-the-top thumping bass that this was not the precise, atmospheric group I remember from my youth. In fact, what about The Smashing Pumpkins could be associated with the tired display that the Sunset Strip had become? I can’t honestly think of a correlation, other than they are both has-beens, clinging to any possible shred of relevance they can find. If you want a more in-depth report of the crap-fest that was Corgan and co., I’m sure there will be plenty of nostalgic, flattering crap out there for you to read from a writer without the balls to look up on stage and see The Smashing Pumpkins for the pathetic mess that they have become. It was seriously depressing shit.

So yeah, the Sunset Strip Music Festival was not for me. I don’t really know anyone who it was for, but they exist in this strange little mile of real estate, preserved for the past 30 years like the Jurassic Park mosquito. Will there still be anything to revisit in 30 more? Surely. Because as dead as the music scene currently is there, the past is storied enough to become legend. Bands will always want to play the strip, not realizing it will cost them and great acts will always step through on their way to the new prestigious halls. I’d rather have my raves, my rap festivals, my indie carnivals. I gain no comfort in the past, I’d rather see what is next. Hopefully, it’s like Tornado Rider.

Photography by Jesse Bloch.
——

Gallery by Jesse Bloch

[nggallery id=104]

According to the Guns N’ F’ Roses blog (via AntiMusic), the EP mixes Axl Rose’s vocals from Chinese Democracy (specifically “Prostitute”, “Chinese Democracy”, “If the World”, “There Was a Time”, “Scraped”, and “Madagascar”) with cuts from Slash‘s solo album (“Beautiful Dangerous”) and the Slash/Duff McKagan-featuring Velvet Revolver (“Slither” and “Messages”). The EP, put together by DJ 5agge, is a musical journey to an alternate dimension, a simpler time when Guns N’ Roses probably didn’t hate each other.

You can watch videos for each of the tracks here, or download a ZIP file of the EP here.

GNR Revisited EP Tracklist:
1. A New Beginning
2. If The World
3. The Nightmareline Blues
4. Messages From Madagascar

Slash will still make stops in the UK, Asia, and Australia before commencing North American dates at the end of August. He is currently being backed by Todd Kerns (bass), Bobby Schneck (rhythm guitar), Brent Fitz (drums), and the previously announced vocalist Myles Kennedy (of Alter Bridge).

So far, 18 North American dates have been announced, set to run from late August to early October. The trek will kick off in San Francisco on August 28th and includes stops in both regular touring stops — Denver, Chicago, and New York — and often forgotten towns — Windsor, ON, Council Bluffs, IA, and Medina, MN to name a few. Plus, on stops in Mt. Pleasant, Chi-Town, and Windsor, Slash will be joined by none other than Billy Idol.

As of now, Slash’s travels are set to end on October 2nd in Seattle, but with a few noticeable gaps on the itinerary, we’re guessing even more dates will pop up soon.

Tickets to the U.S. dates can be purchased starting Friday, June 25th via Ticketmaster.

Slash 2010 Tour Dates:
06/25 – Álava, ES @ Azkena Rock Festival
06/26 – Dessel, BE @ Graspop Festival
06/27 – Glastonbury, UK @ Glastonbury Festival
06/29 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
06/30 – Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
07/01 – Edinburgh, UK @ The Picture House
07/03 – Mancheser, UK @ Manchester Academy
07/04 – London, UK @ Wireless Festival
07/05 – Esch-sur-Alzette, LU @ Rockhal
07/08 – Kvinesdal, NO @ Norway Rocks
07/10 – Gävle, SE @ Getaway Rock Festival
07/11 – Turku, FI @ Ruisrock Festival
07/14 – Moscow, RU @ Arena Moscow
07/15 – Saint Petersburg, RU @ Glav Club
07/29 – Hong Kong, CN @ Asia World Expo
08/02 – Fort Canning Park, SG @ Fort Canning Park
08/07 – Osaka, JP @ Summer Sonic Festival
08/08 – Tokyo, JP @ Marine Stadium
08/11 – Melbourne, AU @ Festival Hall
08/12 – Brisbane, AU @ The Tivoli
08/14 – New Plymouth, NZ @ TSB Stadium
08/16 – Sydney, AU @ Hordern Pavillion
08/29 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
08/31 – Aspen, CO @ Belly Up
09/01 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
09/02 – Kansas City, MO @ VooDoo Lounge at Harrah’s Casino North
09/04 – Mount Pleasant, MI @ Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort ^
09/05 – Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
09/06 – Clear Lake, IA @ Surf Ballroom
09/08 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theater ^
09/09 – Windsor, ON @ The Colosseum at Caesars ^
09/10 – Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus
09/11 – Belleville, ON @ Caesars Windsors
09/14 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
09/15 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
09/18 – Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
09/20 – Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage
09/22 – Council Bluffs, IA @ Harrah’s
09/23 – Medina, MN @ Medina Entertainment Center
10/02 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market

^ = w/ Billy Idol

Last night at the PalaSharp Arena in Milan, Italy, an unknown assailant came down from the rafters, got backstage, and tried to tackle Slash! During the solo in “Sweet Child O’ Mine” no less! (via Download Festival News) The WWE craziness starts around 1:05, but do watch to the end.

Further proof of Slash’s epic rock demeanor  lies in his Facebook note after the show: “It was a rowdy crowd for sure – but amazing. The guy who nailed me didn’t take me down but he busted my poor guitar. Ah well… it was a kick-ass rock show.” Aces, man.

Slash plays the Download Festival tonight. Play nice, britons.

As it turns out, Weiland’s departure may actually be a bit of a blessing creatively for the band. The new material the band worked on after its tour, without Weiland’s influence, was more in line with Slash and company’s original intent.

“It’s a lot heavier than what Velvet Revolver has put out, so I’m dying to put out the quintessential Velvet Revolver record,” Slash said. “When Duff and Matt and I first got together, we wrote a ton of material that never saw the light of day, and that was all very heavy. It’s definitely our natural way of doing things. But when we started working with Scott, we started to lighten things up a lot, and we progressively got lighter. As much as I love the two records we did do, one of the things that was progressively more and more frustrating was the direction the band took.”

And while the new and improved Revolver is without a singer, Slash confirmed the band would, in fact, find a new singer, someone “who can front that band and not something we have to conform to.” So, when can we expect this harder Revolver? How does sometime next year work for you?

“I’ve been doing this record (his solo album), and there’s a tour and Duff’s been playing with Jane’s Addiction, so everybody has been pretty busy,” Slash said. “But at some point early next year, we’re going to reconvene and take a good serious look at everything that we’ve got.”

As always, stay tuned for more news.

In that “hiatus” time, the core members moved on to side projects, with no one becoming as popular again as Slash. Slash is near the top of many “Top Guitarist in Rock” lists, and it’s not without justification. The guy can freakin’ shred a guitar wide open. You can love the music that he makes or not, but it’s hard to disagree that he has talent. His side project Slash’s Snakepit and his 90′s rock supergroup Velvet Revolver have both sold millions of records and gained support from fans and critics alike.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am a person who understands Slash’s talent, but doesn’t always like the music he makes. GnR has some great tunes, but when it comes to the Snakepit and Velvet Revolver, well…I could take it or leave it. But when it came time to listen to Slash’s newest work, a solo album simply entitled Slash, I was very intrigued. I had no idea what to actually expect. Would it be like a John Frusciante solo album? Would Slash be singing somehow? Or would it be like the over-played, Grammy award winning Santana solo album, Supernatural (which, while catchy, makes me want to punch children)? I gave the album a solid listen at home and on the commute to work, and I have to say it’s somewhere in the middle with a lean toward Santana.

Slash’s talent and work — which also includes his time as a studio musician for just about everyone in the industry (Michael Jackson, Insane Clown Posse, etc) — has given him access to some great friends, and most of them show up on Slash. The Cult’s Ian Astbury, Ozzy Osbourn, Iggy Pop, Lemmy, and Dave Grohl—to name a few—all guest on the album. But all that star power can’t save the album.

Slash is a clean, shiny, and well-produced faire that reminds me a lot of the early 90′s sheen that was all over hard rock albums at the time. I’m not saying I want to hear a bad mix or poorly used effects, but it’s a hard rock album. Make it gritty. At least a little bit. Dull some of that shine a little. Osbourne seems to fit well into his song, “Crucify the Dead”, though mostly because most of his music in the last 20 years has been fairly clean cut. But when it comes to Lemmy’s tune “Doctor Alibi”, the Motorhead frontman’s trademark growl just doesn’t fit into the mold quite as easily. It’s a decent song, but would be better if the rest of the instruments were as gritty as his voice, bass and mole.

There are also the “what the fuck?” additions to the line-up. Singers such as Adam Levine of Maroon 5—kinda like Rob Thomas on Supernatural, but with far worse results—as well as Fergie and, to a lesser extent, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother. For Levine’s turn, “Gotten”, just think of a Maroon 5 love song with a Slash solo in the middle. Fergie…I have no idea. Her song “Beautiful Dangerous” is not quite as hard as she thinks she’s being. Actually, it’s about as hard as a Fergie metal song could be, and that isn’t a good thing. Andrew Stockdale makes sense because he is also quite the guitarist—even though he doesn’t play on the album—so that one is understood, and the song, “By the Sword” isn’t bad at all. His Axl Rose-esque vocals fit the song quite well. Same can be said for obscure pick Rocco Deluca’s song “Saint is a Sinner Too”, which reminds me of Led Zeppelin in a big way. Deluca’s vocals have a Robert Plant quality to them, and Slash’s arpeggio guitar is slightly “Stairway to Heaven” esque.

Chris Cornell’s vocals on “Promise” and Ian Astbury’s on “Ghost” are also some of the highlights of the album along with Stockdale and Deluca’s. “Ghost” is probably my favorite track of the bunch. It’s just a shame that it’s the first track. The opening guitar riff is one of Slash’s best in my opinion. Right up there with “Sweet Child of Mine”. Cornell’s performance on “Promise” is solid, and the song itself is a pretty good rock song. I think if Cornell were to tour as vocalist for this album rather than Alter Bridge’s Myles Kennedy (who is the only one to sing on two songs on the album: “Back From Cali” and “Starlight”), it would be a far better project.

Another highlight is the instrumental track, “Watch This”, that has Dave Grohl on drums and Duff on bass. It starts out hard and driving with Slash’s guitar blazing through a solo line with a continuous metal riff over the top, has a dreamy breakdown in the middle, before returning to the beginning riff blown wide open. I have always felt that Grohl is at his best at the helm of some good metal drums, and this track reaffirms that belief.

The other takes from Kid Rock, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, and the aforementioned Myles Kennedy are fairly unremarkable, and kind of get tossed in to fill out the album. Iggy Pop’s tune “We’re All Gonna Die” would be better if Iggy Pop was still Iggy Pop and not so focused on his new turn as a cabaret singer.

Overall this album isn’t horrible. It has some good moments that make it digestible, but the bad parts will leave you with a bit of acid reflux. If you love guitar solos and 90′s hard rock, you’ll like it a lot more than I did. It’s sort of a poor man’s (or white trash) Supernatural. Although I’d much rather see this album get popular than that one. And in the end, it’s a hell of a lot better than Chinese Democracy. So suck that Axl.

Titled “Watch This”, the song is nothing but pure unadulterated rock. No vocals, just metal. There’s Grohl’s thudding drums, McKagan’s equally-thudding bass lines, and of course, Slash’s impressive guitar work. It’s not something to really turn enjoy, or even download or buy, but it’s definitely worth a listen. Think of it like a new exhibit in a museum. It’s likely not going to stay with you forever, but if you’re there… why not?

That pretty much sums up the song (and most likely the album, too). We’ll see April 6th.

With one tour date already announced, 2010′s Rock on the Range, fans should pull out their tattered GNR shirts and get ready for some amazing shredding, as Slash has also started to reveal details about an upcoming US tour. Though given his admittedly awful vocals, Slash has recruited Alter Bridge lead singer Myles Kennedy to front the band, which makes sense considering they’ve both played on each other’s solo efforts. As for the rest of the band, Slash stated via his MySpace that further members will be announced shortly.

Fans can expect plenty of oldies, too. According to Slash’s fansite, the top hat guitarist reported that “there will be GNR, VR, Snakepit songs on the tour,” in addition to new material and even some tracks from Alter Bridge and Myles Kennedy. This all sounds like a sweaty rocker’s dream show, but currently there is one major issue: There’s yet to be an announcement of any cities and dates.

As always, we will keep our ears to the ground, and when we hear the reverb of a Slash announcement, CoS readers will be the first to know.

Other confirmed acts include Coheed and Cambria, Deftones, Mastodon, Papa Roach, Three Days Grace, Seether, Killswitch Engage, Drowning Pool, and Sevendust.

This will be festival-headliner Godsmack’s first announced show of 2010 and they are pumped. “Fasten your seatbelts baby, here comes Godsmack! I can’t WAIT to get to Columbus for what will be the best Rock On The Range yet! Godsmack is gonna kick some major *@%*!” said frontman Sully Erna.

Two-day passes, starting at $99.50, will go on sale beginning Saturday February 20th at 10:00 AM (ET) via Ticketmaster.com.

The festival will be spread across three stages fittingly sponsored by Monster energy drink, Kicker Audio and Jägermeister. In case that sounds like a bad recipe for a testosterone overload and oddly-colored vomit, the event is being hosted by the “Mistress of Ceremonies”, aka Mistress Juliya of Fuse TV. Grrrr indeed.

Two new improvements this year will be an increased viewing area for the Jägermeister Stage and variable ticket pricing plans including layaway. At $99.50 though, tickets are already on the low side for most two day festivals.

Head on over to our Festival Outlook page for the complete lineup.

“The idea was really simple in the beginning,” explained Slash. “These are all artists I wanted to work with — that I thought it would be amazing to do something creative and collaborative. And I was so impressed with what everyone brought to the table. They were all so committed to doing a good job. And we had a lot of fun making these songs.”

Other contributors include Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age), who served as producer, bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction), and drummer Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails).

In other news, Guitar Center has announced a first-of-its-kind, unsigned band competition that provides emerging artists the chance to win the “ultimate career-altering opportunity”: record a 3-song EP with legendary producer, Mike Clink (Guns N’ Roses, Mötley Crüe, Megadeth) and have Slash write, record and perform on the winning artists’ single. Interested parties can click here for more information.

Slash Tracklist:
01. Ghost (feat. Ian Astbury)
02. Beautiful Dangerous (feat. Fergie)
03. Nothing To Say (feat. M. Shadows of AVENGED SEVENFOLD)
04. Crucify The Dead (feat. Ozzy Osbourne)
05. Promise (feat. Chris Cornell)
06. By The Sword (feat. Andrew Stockdale of WOLFMOTHER)
07. Doctor Alibi (feat. Lemmy Kilmeister)
08. Saint Is A Sinner Too (feat. Rocco De Luca)
09. Watch This (feat. Dave Grohl/Duff McKagan)
10. I Hold On (feat. Kid Rock)
11. Gotten (feat. Adam Levine)
12. We’re All Gonna Die (feat. Iggy Pop)
13. Starlight (feat. Myles Kennedy)

“My role as Creative Chairman of Priority Records has put me in the driver’s seat to help revive the most important west coast hip hop label. As such, I’m excited to announce my first signing as Cypress Hill. Cypress Hill is undeniably one of the most important hip hop groups in music history, not only are they incredibly talented and the first Latino hip hop group to go platinum, they are also from the west coast-so this signing is the perfect marriage.”

B-Real and co. will release their first studio album since 2004, and eighth overall, under Priority. Set to drop April 6th, the new work will be titled Rise Up and will feature the likes of Slash, Tom Morello, Evidence, Everlast and others. Morello co-wrote and co-produced the title track (go figure) and also performs guitar duties on “Shut ‘Em Down”. Rapper Sen Dog offers his thoughts on the album:

“Making this record was so much fun. It felt like the first record we ever made together. We recorded whatever we wanted to with no musical boundaries. And having the chance to work with one of my favorite guitar players of all time, Tom Morello, was amazing. I always knew we would make some kickass music together.”

Adds Tom Morello:

“It was great to work with my longtime friends and comrades Cypress Hill on these two monster rock tracks,” says Morello. “Cypress are back with a vengeance!”

Their choice of words has us lingering between nervous and pumped, but we’ll go with pumped for now. The album has been recorded over the course of three years at B-Real’s Los Angeles studio The Temple, and he calls it “[the band's] best record yet.”

We’ll update this with a tracklist when it’s announced. For now, check out Snoop Dogg recently performing with Cypress Hill on Lopez Tonight below.

First and foremost, there are a series of Haiti benefit concerts that have been put together. Perhaps the biggest of them is the telethon scheduled for this Friday, which will feature the likes of Bono, Sting, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Alicia Keys. Equally cool was The Red Hot Organization’s recent decision to send an emergency grant of $150,000 to Partners in Health to support the ongoing relief effort. Much of the money of the money that was donated came from the proceeds of last year’s indie-tastic Dark Was The Night compilation.

What’s more, a number of musicians are putting their talents to record for Haiti. As we told you earlier this morning, Jay-Z and U2 appear to be teaming up for collaborative affair. And then, there are two new compilation efforts, both which will offer unreleased material from some of music’s bigger names in exchange for charitable donations.

First and foremost, Dave Matthews Band, Slash, Lupe Fiasco, and Peter Gabriel are among the artists who have contributed to the Download to Donate to Haiti compilation, Rolling Stone reports. The album is part of Linkin Park’s Music for Relief, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing aid to victims of natural disasters and the prevention of such disasters. Since its inception in 2005, Music for Relief has raised over $3 million for victims of multiple disasters across four continents and planted over 810,000 trees to help reduce global warming. Fans can pick up the album for free via musicforrelief.org, but are encouraged to leave donation.

Also worth nothing is Paste Magazine‘s Songs For Haiti charity drive. Individuals who donate to Haiti relief efforts will be given access to unreleased songs from the likes of Of Montreal, Ludacris, Cee-Lo Green, Avett Brothers, Hanson, Andrew Bird, Umprhey’s McGee, The Low Anthem, and some 200 others.

“Whether people donate through Paste or through another charity (just have to say where); all will have access to the vault of ‘Songs For Haiti’ MP3s. One hundred percent of the money contributed through the site will be spread equally among three charities active in Haiti relief: Doctors Without Borders, The Red Cross, and Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund,” Paste explains.

Head to songsforhaiti.org for more information and to download the songs. Seriously, new music for a tremendous cause? It doesn’t get much better than that.

As Blabbermouth reports, the aptly titled Slash will packaged through Roadrunner Records in the U.K. as part of “new concept in record distribution.”

The standard album release will be preceded by a “Fan Pack,” in which the Roadrunner Records album will be bundled together with a highly collectable, 132-page special issue of Future Publishing’s Classic Rock magazine dedicated to Slash’s career. This will be the first format of the album available anywhere in the world.

In turn, this partnership, which is said to be the first of its kind, will allow the record to be available in the 4,000+ U.K. retailers that stock the Classic Rock magazine.

A tracklist for the effort has yet to be release, however, according to Rolling Stone, contributions from the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Grohl, Flea, Fergie, and Nichole Scherzinger are expected to be included. Unfortunately, Jack White will not be.

A U.S. release date has also not yet been released. We’ll of course have more details when they become available.

Perhaps the only saving grace in all this is that The National stopped by Jimmy Fallon to dish out Dark Was The Night-approved number, “So Far Around The Bend”.

It seems though that he’s been out of the spotlight and into the studio. In a recent post on his MySpace blog (how cool of him to “get with the times”), Slash posted about his recent progress:

“We’ve nailed four killer tracks with four amazing vocals so far,” he wrote on his MySpace blog. “Everybody who has contributed vocals so far have been flawless and the rhythm section, Josh and Chris, are priceless.

“All in all this last couple of weeks have been a hell a lot of fun and we’re just getting started. It’s definitely going to be a kick ass record, if I do say so myself.”

-via NME

Who exactly is Josh and Chris? Why, drummer Josh Freese and bassist Chris Chaney, of course! If you remember what Perla Hudson, a.k.a Slash’s wife, hinted at last year, you’ll recall that this new album is purported to be littered with familiar faces — everyone from Ozzy Osbourne to Fergie! No, that’s not a rumor, folks. We’re telling the truth, or at least we hope so (do we?).

Bummer, Slash must have missed the flyer for that “other” audition.

During each of Lollapalooza’s three days, we blogged the latest updates with tidbits ranging from The Weakerthans’ unexpected cancellation to Perry’s surprise guest. Once arriving back to the weekend’s official headquarters, aka Michael Roffman’s living room, and finding some food, we spent the next several hours recapping and reviewing all of the day’s events.

And while it was limited, a few of us did manage to squeeze in some sleep as well.

To recap all of our coverage for both Lolla and non-Lolla attendees, as well as provide a few additional memories and friendly links, we not present you Consequence of Sound’s most extended and thorough piece of Lollapalooza coverage yet. We remember, Lollaplooza 2008…

Table of Contents:
I. Day 1 in Review
II. Day 2 in Review
III. Day3 in Review
IV. Interviews
V. Day 1 in Photos
VI. Day 2 in Photos
VII. Day 3 in Photos
VIII. Lollapalooza by the Numbers
IX. Lollapalooza Bootlegs
X. Lollapalooza in Videos
XI. Lollapalooza.com 2008 Blogs
XII. Special Thanks
XIII. Comments

Day One: Friday, August 1st

The Main Event: Radiohead

Tonight, Chicagoans (and out of towners) were finally treated to the British spectacle that’s been in the cards for four to five months. Riding on a hype that would benefit most summer blockbuster films, Radiohead headlined the first night of 2008′s Lollapalooza. Thom Yorke and Co. were welcomed with open arms, literally, and they responded with a warm, balmy performance.

It’s a wet dream for Perry Farrell that the British quintet matched the hype. The buzz over the past few months has been deafening, with fans scorching up the web and tickets for Friday leaving the box office. This morning, it wasn’t really a surprise to see several fans, well actually hundreds, catapulting through the entrance and racing to the front of the AT&T stage, where they’d be camping for a mere ten hours. As the day aged, more and more eco-friendly Radiohead shirts were bought and worn. It seemed as if they were the only band that mattered.

To some, they were.

Continue reading…

The rest of the day…

Day one of Lollapalooza 2008 started off with a bang. Though with a line of festival-goers stretching more than five blocks, most folks didn’t start rolling in until Holy Fuck and Black Lips kicked off their respective sets, unofficially signaling the start of this year’s festivities.

Neither band shows signs of early morning hangovers as Holy Fuck thrilled an already crowded AT&T Stage, many composed of those diehard Radiohead fans in hour one of their day-long camp out, with the electro bliss of “The Pulse”. While fans of Yorke and company didn’t seem all too captivated by the Canadian natives, perhaps because no remix of “Nude” was offered, Holy Fuck did offer the other willing recipients a set of overpowering sounds that brought reminders and memories of LCD Soundsystem’s ruckus set last Lollapalooza.

Those who choose to make the long trek over to the Bud Light Stage for Atlanta’s Black Lips received a set that while lacking a bit of the band’s characteristic inane stage antics, was equally enthusiastic. Kicking off with “I Saw A Ghost (Lean)” and “O Katrina!”, the band’s 16 song set offered the mostly still sleepy concert goers with a style that blended Phil Spektor with early Rolling Stones.

Before heading over for our interview with the Black Lips, we made a quick stop at the AT&T Stage to check out a few minutes of Yeasayer. While the band presented themselves well on the larger than life main stage, most of their set seemed a bit underwhelming, with the exception of a captivating rendition of their hit “2080″. Though their synth, electro-heavy sound was tight, Yeasayer frontman Anand Wilder was a bit sloppy on the vocal side of things.

One of the day’s more surprising performances was the set delivered by Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears on the BMI Stage. The grooving Austin blues outfit delivered some of the festival’s coolest sounds under the overhang of Grant Park’s greenest areas, allowing for a refreshing scene of comfort and music. Though a rather unknown act on the bill, anyone walking by the BMI Stage during their set couldn’t help but be stopped by Black Joe Lewis, even if it was just for a few minutes.

Under scorching heat (as expected at 2:15) and with refillable water bottles of wine flowing( $24 at the bar tents), The Go! Team joined a host of other Friday bands in setting a great tone for Lolla 2008. With their usual, six person band on stage, Go! played a balanced selection of tracks off both albums. They scored with their instrumental and more melodic tunes, getting everyone moving in the sun, only a few hours before The Black Keys would do the same on the exact stage. Ninja, the main singer, came out with a special energy and with a bright colored pair of sunglasses that matched with many of the crowd watching. Compared to 2006, The Go! Team was able to switch instruments easier and sounded very polished in their performance, which can be hard for the electronic samples and tempo changes in every other song. This was another breakout Lolla performance from The Go! Team, who at this point might as well be penciled into a middle of the day slot every year.

For anyone who has seen Gogol Bordello live in the past, their set on Friday was your typical performance. In other words, an hour long of furious, gypsy punk rock that is unique as it is fantastic. Under the watchful eye of a blistering sun and accompaniment of Lollapalooza’s best creative dance moves, the Brooklyn rockers played a set of mostly hits, highlighted by the frantic, rootsy “American Wedding” and jaw-dropping closer “Think Locally Fuck Globally”.

The musical/husband and wife duo of Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel took the Myspace Stage soon after the finals rings of Gogol Bordello faded. While begining in classic Mates of State form, the drummer and keyboardist were soon accompanied by an orchestral section as they made their way through the set heavy in Re-Arrange Us’ material. Though Mates of State seemed a bit too small for the stage, their innocent grace brought memories of Broken Social Scene’s epic 2006 Lollapalooza performance.

After Cadence Weapon, the crowd at the BMI Stage began to overfill as fans rushed in to catch local rap duo The Cool Kids. Despite taking the stage 15 minutes late (iit seems that even a rock festival can’t curb Late Rap Show Syndrome) they were met by a rabid crowd ready for a hometown party. And The Cool Kids delivered, tearing through the entirety of their wildly popular Bake Sale EP, a couple tracks from their forthcoming EP, and a rollicking medley of covers that included The Pharcyde’s “Passing Me By”, Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Raw”, and the obligatory rap anthem, “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang.” They were playful (directing the crowd specifically on how to behave for each song), helpful (Mikey Rocks showed genuine concern and extended a hand to a crowd surfer about to fall), and creative (taking their self-proclaimed title of “Black Beastie Boys” to new levels by throwing lines from “One Two” over the Beasties’ beats.) In short, The Cool Kids were just about everything you would expect from a great hip hop show; they put on a party and it’s not hard to see why they have built up such a positive reputation without even releasing a full-length album. Given Lollapalooza’s favoritism of local rap acts you would have to imagine The Cool Kids will be back. But don’t expect to see them on the street stage again.
If lucky enough to evade the sun, Radiohead fans camping out, and girls wearing headbands, Bloc Party provided one of the more solid crowd pleasing sets of Friday. The crowd for Bloc Party was different, containing many casual music fans and college radio fans. It was definitely a show for the tried and true Bloc Party fan, the set list seemed to contain more tracks off Weekend in the City and earlier songs by the band were done with some new live twists. Parts in the middle of the set allowed Kele and the rest of the band to play some of their slower and more calming tracks, which surely had to be appreciated by thousands showing up for Radiohead in a few shorts hours. “Helicopter” and “Waiting for the 7.18″ stood out as the best tracks of the performance and had the crowd loving their choice to stick it out with Bloc Party.

As Jack White led his bandmates on stage for their Friday night performance on the Bud Light stage and the first sounds of Lollapalooza’s most notable rock and roll band overcame the packed crowed gathered to see the Raconteurs, the collective feeling was one of awe. Between the guitar solos, extended jamming, and dueling vocals between White and Brendan Benson, the four-piece outfit reaffirmed why that with only two albums under their belt, The Raconteurs are already widely considered one of today’s best rock bands. Though the performance was largely affected by sound problems, renditions of “Conolers of the Lonely”, “Level”, and “Keep It Clean” still provided enough captivating sounds that the delayed echos circulating the crowd were easily forgiven.

While most gathering in Grant Park’s south side as the sun began to set below Chicago’s famous skyline were focused on the long-awaited headlining performance to come, Stephen Malkmus led his Jicks in a 45 minute se that best can be described as fun. Heavy in material from his recently released album Real Emotional Trash, Malkmus not only offered a taste of his vast talents and decades of live experience, but also presented himself as someone full of innocence and modesty, reflecting a pleasant down-to-earth persona.

But by the time 8:00 p.m. came around, most of the day’s more noteworthy memories were, at least temporarily, forgotten as Lolla-goers got their first sites of Radiohead.

Day Two: Saturday, August 2nd

The Main Event: Rage Against the Machine

The walk from Buckingham Fountain to the AT&T Main Stage featured a variety of sites as 8:30 p.m. approached on Saturday night. A line of ambulances were parked horizontal to the path full of bruisers in an all out sprint to ensure a piece of the action, while those too young, too small, and perhaps too smart, positioned themselves on hills, stairs, and any other sort of barrier that would provide safety from the scene about to take place.

The Toadies were engaged in an appealing 45 minute set across the south field of Grant Park, but like Stephen Malkmus the night before, it was viewed, if anything, as background noise. Festival-goers grew impatient for the first signs of Zach de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk on the field of dead grass.

Darkness and for the first time, anticipation, began to fill the Chicago air.

Continue reading…

The Main Event: Wilco

There weren’t any fireworks over this headliner, but the Chicago natives didn’t need them. Strutting across the stage after a very impressive performance by Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Jeff Tweedy brought out his rag tag band for a universally sound set. Even if it was only months after their career defining residency here at the Riviera, Mid-westerner’s galore were eager to see what is quickly becoming an American musical past time, Wilco.

In the foreground of a bold Chicago skyline, the Bud Light stage shined a bright red, with fans gathering nonchalantly, as opposed to the rough housing going down across the park. It was pleasant and as many continued chatting or sharing joints, what was left of the wafty Saturday sun diminished quietly. A breeze joined in, just in time, as the band swept in to open with Being There‘s “Misunderstood.” Within seconds, multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone was already throwing various instruments as Tweedy carried on with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot‘s pivotal, “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart.” Not much else was said, but most of the fans were too busy swaying, or clapping, or… wondering what the hell they were wearing.

Continue reading…

The rest of the day…

Saturday mornings are usually filled with either sleep in’s, hang overs, or plans to stay in and watch TBS all day. But today, not only was it the second day of Lollapalooza, but the weather was out of this world. Under clear blue skies and a sun that wasn’t even half as harmful as yesterday’s, everything was in it’s right place… to borrow from yesterday’s act, which was still running on all our minds.

The angular guitars and rhythmic snyths and drums of Foals almost made a mockery of other shows across the park. With a crowd that seemingly never ended inside an already small space of the Citibank stage, Foals brought their style of dance-rock to another level. With people closer to the stage dancing and moving, the people in the back were left to wonder who the hell is “Foals” and why didn’t they hear of them sooner. Surely, these crowds will walk away from Lollapalooza with one more new band to check out. While many of the people who saw Foals did so on their way to MGMT, many walked away with a performance that made MGMT’s job that much harder and a new band to follow. As for the already-a-Foals-fans, the highlight of the set was Balloons, a solid song made stronger by a band clicking in all gears on tour and a raucous crowd who found a band to stop and groove or dance to.

Coming off of a few months of touring, Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan, aka The Gutter Twins, brought their gloom rock outfit to Lollapalooza. Seeing the underground legends again was nothing short of fantastic, but it was odd to hear and see it all go down in daylight. Most of the downtrodden songs off of this year’s Saturnalia, namely set opener “The Station” or even “God’s Children”, were awkwardly juxtaposed against an even more surprising cool, crisp August day. No one could argue that the show’s pivotal moment came when Dulli ripped right into his other band’s (The Twilight Singers) material, specifically “Bonnie Brae.” Although Rage fans had begun gathering, it was great to see such a large audience for such an underrated band. Next time, give ‘em an evening shift.

MGMT did indeed make an attempt of this difficult task with a hour-long performance on the MySpace Stage. Though enthusiastic and fun, thanks to a multitude of the Brooklyn duo’s indie-approved hits like “Electric Feel” and “The Youth”, sound problems seemed to ravage a good portion of the audience. In some spots, the electro-heavy sound was overpowering, while in others, the banging DJ beats of Booka Shade bled into MGMT’s air. However, in the end, the mix of the band’s recent indie cred and catchy as hell music seemed to attract more than a fair share of folks.

Perry Farrell made his much-awaited Lollapalooza 2008 debuted with a performance on the newly created performance area that is his namesake. While more spectacle than anything else, special guests appearances from Slash and Samantha Ronson certainly helped Perry deliever one of the more unique performances so far this weekend. Though, between Ronson’s DJ set, Perry’s lively sing-a-longs, Slash’s acoustic strums, and the nearly 800 folks overwhelming the side stage, the set’s mixbag of material certainly made it hard to comprehend what was actually going on.

Spank Rock dazzled the crowd with a host of guest singers including Amanda Blank. Letting some of the producing and beats start things off, the Baltimore duo eventually turned the stage into the sexiest place in Grant Park, with electronic sounds and lyrics geared to get everybody moving. One of the great things to watch was Naeem Juwan and Amanda Blank bump and grind like no one was watching. This brand of entertainment even inspired many of the more bohemian ladies in the crowd to yell any sexist, crazy, or weird lyrics with Spank and with the rest of the people in attendance. Known for being a live staple at Spank Rock shows, “Shake it till my dick turns racist” had either the crowd laughing, dancing, or screaming the entire time and with personal Lollapalooza and Chicago references being made throughout it, no one can blame them. After seeming reluctant due to the blazing heat and energy of the crowd dying, Spank Rock did close the show with “Bump” and made sure everyone walked away with yet another great band to listen to or another great Spank Rock performance in their memory.

With some of the crowd from Spank Rock leaving, fans of Battles got close, fast. Renowned for intense live shows, the Citibank stage yet again was packed for the experimental noise dance of Battles. Similar to Foals in angular guitars and creating musical layers on stage, Battles rocked hard for even the most stiff of concertgoers. With much of the band being trained adults, who have been playing for years, this was an easy show to impress the people watching. With an almost nonsensical drum set up, John Stanier showcased his amazing drum skills on a very special day, his 40th birthday. The four-piece outfit played nearly without stops creating a sort of jam session feeling, albeit a technically stunning jam session. Interesting to note was the translator for the hearing impaired being rendered useless by Battles not really having distinguishable lyrics. Also two shirtless fans were able to get onto the stage and dance before eventually being escorted off by security. Battles did come back for a short encore after the main set was finished, this of course to make sure they closed off the stage properly for the night before everyone headed over for Rage Against the Machine right next door.

It was exactly 6:30pm on Saturday, when the montage friendly horn section from the Rocky theme song began to play over the mounting speaker system of the AT&T Stage; breaking the sitting silence of the crowd and giving way to the arriving night. With a few electric roars and sporadic applause from the heat pressed audience, the Second City’s second son, Lupe Fiasco, entered the south stage with backflipping charisma (literally). Never dumbing it down for one moment. The live, achromatic set of Lupe blended past hits from his Grammy winning debut Food & Liquor with the fiercely sharp tracks of 2007’s The Cool; opening with the string-enriched skate anthem, “Kick-Push” and closing with an extended rendition of the red-carpet single, “Superstar,” featuring Matthew Santos.

Although the performance was only an hour long, the on-stage offering from Lupe and crew felt like a lifetime captured in the blink of an eye. The flawlessly pure combination of energy and raw talent lyricism made-up for the show’s short duration, as it showcased Lupe as not just one of hip-hop’s elite emcees, but one of the music industry’s top performers. Watch out Kanye, the star in your shadow is becoming a little brighter.

In what might possibly be the weekend’s greatest power hour, Will Sheff and his Texas outfit, Okkervil River, laid fire to the Playstation 3 stage. Culling most of the material from last year’s The Stage Names, the set list stretched back some, even bringing out material from 2004′s Black Sheep Boy and 2002′s Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See. Sheff commands the stage, checking over on fellow band members at each break, before bleeding out into the microphone. His rough voice seemed innovative in comparison to the clean syrup on record. Some highlights included an epic rendition of “Girl in Port”, a fan driving performance of “Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe”, and a hard hitting cut of “For Real” which had Sheff scaling the drum set with guitar in hand. They may have inadvertently opened for Broken Social Scene, but they clearly stole the fire.

Broken Social Scene took the Bud Light Stage for what many fans considered an encore now two years in the making. Yet as special as the occasion was considered to be, the band’s return to Grant Park at their epic 2006 performance was for the most part, by the book. The Kevin Drew, Brandon Canning fronted Canadian band kicked off in standard BSS fashion with some instrumental experimentation on “Pacific Theme” followed by a rendition of “Cause = Time”. And for the most part, the set remained your typical Broken Social Scene performance – brilliant music, captivating vocals, and even a few guest appearances. (Amy Milan filled female duties, while Apostle of Hustle’s Andrew Whiteman was a member of the current traveling unit.)

But ultimately, it was by no means what most had been expecting. It was no 2006 performance. Gone were the tears of joys, cries for an encore that left such a memorable impression in the minds of all those who had witnessed the spectacle. In reality however, the expectations may have been a bit much, no longer are we talking about the same Broken Social Scene that was seen two short years ago. They are no longer music’s best kept secret, and with the success, has come a loss of intimacy. Still as underwhelming as the performance may have been for some, the sounds of “7/4 (Shoreline)” and “It’s All Gonna Break” couldn’t help but leave you smiling and dancing along.

Given that the crowd either devoted itself to spots for Rage or picnic space for Wilco, it was nice to hear Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings soldiering on. The band’s sound is unique in that it sounds neither modern nor retro, it just sounds solid. The Georgia natives went over some, but no one complained, as they brought out the best in everyone on the North side of the park. Smiles and swaying should be good enough in anyone’s book.

As darkness approached, it was time for Wilco and Rage Against the Machine.

Day Three: Sunday, August 3rd

The Main Event: Nine Inch Nails

Two stories fell over Grant Park tonight. South at the AT&T stage, Kanye West brought fans along on his extraterrestrial expedition, whereas up north, industrial guru Trent Reznor wreaked havoc on the Bud Light stage, opening his fans’ eyes to an apocalyptic future. Most, if not all witnessing, should agree that NIN told the proper story to end Lollapalooza 2008. The only problem is scaling back and remembering it all.

Ah, where to begin…

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The Main Event: Kanye West

Uncertainty filled Grant Park’s south end on Sunday night. With Kanye West just moments away from making his triumphed return to Lollapalooza, this time faced with the task of closing out the 2008 version of the festival, questions undoubtedly floated throughout the crowd.

What would Kanye do? Would Lollapalooza be a follow up to June’s Bonnaroo disaster? Would his seizuring light show be brightening the night’s sky? Would the Chicago native treat his hometown to something special? What’s more, would the city even embrace a performance?

One couldn’t help but wonder.

Continue reading…

The rest of the day…

The third day of any festival is always hard. Aching backs, sore legs, and trembling eyes are usually the sort that describe a third day attendee. It makes you wonder how anyone can survive the fourth day at Bonnaroo, let alone the late nights. Fortunately for those that attend Lollapalooza, things are wrapped up nicely on Sunday, usually. Unfortunately, this year’s Sunday was a bit stale in comparison to Friday and Saturday, with most of the acts smudged at the end, inviting chaotic scheduling conflicts that nobody should have to make. It didn’t help that the sold out crowd felt overbooked and unwarranted, either.

Heat and humidity didn’t stop vocalist Michael Kincaid from rocking out on a Sunday morning. Over at the Citi stage, What Made Milwaukee Famous churned out a few genre spanning songs, mostly picked from this year’s album, What Doesn’t Kill Us. Everything from Spoon to Dashboard Confessional bled from the set, though much to the audience’s pleasure, they never strayed too far from the garage. It was a good early morning set for the Austin, Texas unit, though not nearly as memorable as one would have expected.

Despite the prospects of playing on a stage missing a video screen and still rittled with sound problems (see MGMT’s Saturday set), The Whigs provided an early morning punch of grunge-friendly rock anthems that helped get many folks filling the south end of Grant Park out of Sunday morning hangovers. While there was a large contrast in quality between the Georgia native’s heavy rock oriented sounds vs. their slower, acoustic ballads, which almost seemed overwhelmed due to the size of the stage, the – fronted band’s passion and drenched, Cobain-like look, certainly left a lasting impression.

Though a Perry Farrell performance at Kidzapalooza has been a staple since the festival first kicked off in 2005, this year’s performance was one for the ages. Like yesterday, the former Jane’s Addicition frontman/Lollapalooza mastermind was joined on stage by Slash for a short, unannounced performance. Only this time around, the performed renditions of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious”, GNR’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and Jane’s “Mountain Song” and “Jane Says” were for the children presented at the Kidzapalooza stage on Sunday afternoon. Though between Perry’s mystifying pieces of advice to the young boys and girls, Slash’s cigarette smoking guitar playing, and the massive amounts of adults overwhelming the tiny stage, the performance was anything from your standard lullaby.

“Mountain Song”

As Perry and Slash were entertaining the kids, the electro-friendly duo better known as Chromeo offered those gathered around the Myspace stage an incredibly vibrant and loud performance full of familiar favorites from their much-acclaimed debut album, Fancy Footworks. Unlike some of the other indie approved acts who struggled on the massive stage (see: MGMT, Mates of State), Chromeo seemed to flourish in the setting.

This is the conversation we imagined taking place when Girl Talk was scheduled to perform on the much too small Citi Stage:

C3 Presents Staff Member: Hey Perry, I have a fantastic idea!

Perry Farrell: About Lallapaloooza?

C3 Presents Staff Member: I think we should book Girl Talk, a mishmash DJ from Pittsburgh that everyone seems to be talking about these days.

Perry Farrell: Anything for Lallapaloooza!!! But since his name doesn’t have the “Jane’s Addiction,” “Slash,” or “Rage Against the Machine,” in it, I feel like he should be put on the Citi Stage.

C3 Presents Staff Member: Anything you say, boss!

The result: sheer and utter mayhem. While those who actually saw Gregg Gillis would have only seen the DJ jumping up and down around his custom made laptop, the suffocating crowd size certainly put a damper on what sounded like another trademark Girl Talk performance.

Over on the modest MySpace stage, New Jersey’s own Blues Traveler rocked through some good ol’ blues rock. Frontman John Popper looks the same as usual these days, though he’s a bit more engaging, and with good reason. The band managed to grab a larger than expected crowd, which enjoyed the set list ripe with new and old. No surprise that old timing hit, “Runaround”, received some accolades; however, the audience stuck around ’til the end. Good news for the Princeton quintet.

English rockers Love and Rockets played a loud set, and stress the loud, as the sun settled once and for all. While most of the audience could have been waiting for the industrial madness to come, the gothic rockers benefited from a crowd who loved hard hitting rock. Borderline shoegaze, Love and Rockets was a pleasant surprise. Drummer Kevin Haskins proved to be one of the better drummers for the weekend, shining towards the end in songs “Kundalani Express” and “Mirror People.” The shining moment came during closer “Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man)”, where a group of dancers, hidden behind black and white striped costumed and dome faced heads, ricocheted around and around. It all came down into a culminating crash and burn, ending a powerful and unlikely set. Before leaving the stage, bassist David J tipped his hat to the audience, and then held it out, for God knows what.

A member of the audience gathered at the Playstation 3 stage around 8:00 p.m. said it best. “The National just sound perfect.” Though not your prototypical festival-friendly band, especially considering the Brooklyn based rockers were performing right before Nine Inch Nails, the Matt Berninger led band delivered a performance of unmatched musical quality, mixing stunning, vibrant sounds, somewhat reminiscent of Nick Cave, with equally captivating lyrics. The National’s hour long performance was quality throughout, but the set’s final two pieces, “Fake Empires” followed by “Mr. November” in all its perfection, was easily one of the biggest highlights of not only the set, but entire third day.

As the final day of Lollapalooza 2008 came to a close, two of music’s more intriguing names, Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails, took their respective stages for the last performances of the day.

Lollapalooza Interviews

• Will Sheff of Okkervil River
• The Black Lips
• Michael Kincaid and Jason Davis of What Made Milwaukee Famous
• Jeremiah Edmond of Manchester Orchestra
• Sofia Talvik

Day One in Photos:

Day Two in Photos:

Day Three in Photos:

Lollapalooza by the Numbers:

• Performances by The Weakerthans: 0
• Kanye West Look-a-Likes: 1
• “Glow in the Dark” sunglasses: 1
• Myspace stickers using pasties sightings: 1
• Perry Farrell sightings: 3
• Radiohead t-shirts: 5
• Total Broken Social Scene Members Appearing On Stage: 10
• People Too Many at Perry & Friends: 800
• Attendees: 225,000
• Samples used by Girl Talk: Infinite

Lollapalooza Bootlegs:

via Lollapalooza Message Board and largehearted boy:

• Radiohead
• Rage Against the Machine
• Wilco
• The Raconteurs
• The National
• Bloc Party
• MGMT
• Explosions in the Sky
• The Whigs
• Blues Traveler

Lollapalooza in Videos:

Radiohead – “No Surprises”

Radiohead – “Paranoid Android”

Rage Against the Machine – “Testify”

Rage Against the Machine

Kanye West

Wilco – “New Song”

Nine Inch Nails – “The Big Comedown”

The Raconteurs

Girl Talk

The National – “Apartment Story”

John Butler Trio – “Ocean”

Love and Rockets

Riots

Perry Farrell & Slash – “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”

Bloc Party – “Like Eating Glass”

Lollapalooza.com 2008 Blogs:

This year, Consequence of Sound’s Lollapalooza coverage was featured on Lollapalooza.com’s Blogapalooza. Also taking part in the fun was Ross Hebert, the official, fan-approved Lollablogger. Be sure to check out all of his entries as well!

Special Thanks:

Consequence of Sound would like to thank the following people for helping us out this weekend: Art Pena, Hattie Trott, Ross Hebert, Alex Bonami (bmanders), Bryan Hawkinson, Maggie Gryske, Brendan Telzrow, Zach Hinkle, Megan McDiffitt, Nicole Orbe, Laura Hamlett, Brittany Pearce, Jacqueline Thompson, Nick Travers, and of course, Perry Farrell.

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