From September 5-9th, Musicfest NW will stage 150 bands across 16 venues in Portland, Oregon. Notables on this year’s lineup include Passion Pit, Girl Talk, Beirut, Silversun Pickups, Dinosaur Jr., Fucked Up, Hot Snakes, The Tallest Man on Earth, Swans, Sebadoh, J. Mascis, Sloan (performing Twice Removed) Redd Kross, The Helio Sequence, The Men, Purity Ring, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Menomena, Danny Brown, Moonface, Tanlines, Lightning Blot, and Nite Jewel.

Also on the bill are Hazel, Big Business, Red Fang, Old 97′s, Big Freedia, Omar Souleyman, Black Mountain, Ceremony, King Khan and the Shrines, Future Islands, Chelsea Wolfe, LP, Xiu Xiu, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Crystal Antlers,  Craft Spells, Trust, Jonathan Toubin, Touche Amore, Julia Holter, Gardens & Villa, Radiation City, and Hey Marseilles.

Festival tickets are now available via musicfestnw.com.

The first annual CBGB Festival will take place July 5-8th at venues across New York City, according to the New York Times. Modeled after SXSW and CMJ, the festival will feature concerts, film screenings, workshops, and conferences.

The music portion, set for July 5-6th, will host 300 bands at 30 locations, ranging from “large stages like Central Park Summerstage and Webster Hall to small clubs like the Trash Bar in Williamsburg and the Living Room on the Lower East Side.”

Guided By Voices, Cloud Nothings, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will perform a free concert in Central Park, while hardcore bands The Cro-Mags, Vision of Disorder, and Sick of It All will headline a night at Webster Hall. Other acts on the bill include the New York Dolls’ David Johansen, The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, reunited punk band D Generation, Willie Nile, and The Baseball Project, which features members of R.E.M. and Dream Syndicate.

Music, film, and combo badges are now on sale via the festival’s website.

The festival is being staged by the group of investors who purchased the assets of the famous punk-rock club, which closed in 2006. Following the inaugural festival, they hope to re-open the CBGB club at a new downtown location.

For Record Store Day 2012, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will release a four-track EP comprised of remixes from last year’s Belong. Available on colored vinyl and digitally, Acid Reflect packs remixes from Twin Shadow, Saint Etienne, Washed Out, and Violens. Ahead of the release, you can stream the entire thing below.

NYC’s own dream-pop outfit Twin Sister drop their debut full-length, In Heaven, on September 27th via Domino Records. Below, via Stereogum, you can stream the 10-track effort in its entirety.

In support of the release, Twin Sister will spend the coming months on the road, playing shows on both sides of the Atlantic. Along the way, they’ll share bills with Wild Beasts and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Check out their complete itinerary below.

Twin Sister 2011 Tour Dates:
09/29 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
10/01 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall $
10/02 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall $
10/04 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater $
10/13 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck *
10/14 – Oklahoma City, OK @ University of Oklahoma *
10/15 – Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone Cafe *
10/16 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge *
10/18 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar *
10/26 – Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
10/27 – Utrecht, NL @ Ekko
10/29 – Berlin, DE @ Bergain Kantine
10/31 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
11/02 – Brighton, UK @ Jam
11/04 – Oxford, UK @ Jericho Tavern
11/05 – Bristol, UK @ Start the Bus
11/06 – Liverpool, UK @ Mojo
11/07 – Manchester, UK @ The Deaf Institute
11/09 – Glasgow, UK @ The Captain’s Rest
11/10 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s
11/12 – Dublin, IE @ The Grand Social
11/15 – Brussels, BE @ Witloof Bar
11/16 – Paris, FR @ Club Folamour
12/15 – Maimi, FL @ Baradot

$ = w/ Wild Beasts
* = w/ The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Because of the quality of headliners Osheaga attracted in 2010, it necessitated an expansion to three full days, a move that proved to be an unqualified success. (Just ask the beer and merchandise vendors!) It was an eventful weekend. The vibe was off the charts, the food was great, beer was literally brought to you, there were spectacular fireworks, and there was even a wedding presided over by Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips. Remember what they say: Whatever happens in Montreal…ends up on Consequence of Sound! And the best part of all? Looks like Osheaga is here to stay – The 2012 edition is already scheduled for August 3rd-5th next year!

-Gilles Leblanc
Staff Writer

Friday, July 29th

Sweet Thing – Galaxie Tree Stage – 4:00 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

Toronto pop rockers Sweet Thing got the sixth edition of the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival off to a flying start – Literally! Charismatic lead singer Owen Carrier seemed determined to fire up everyone gathered at the scenic Tree Stage for the long weekend ahead. He let some patrons up front shake his streamer-laden tambourine, and he also took a swig from a unsuspecting festivalgoer’s beer. I don’t think he left a tip, but here’s one from me to you… Check Sweet Thing out, especially the song “Change of Seasons”, recently featured in the trailer for Crazy, Stupid Love. -Gilles Leblanc

Kid Koala – BlackBerry River Stage – 4:00 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

After Kid Cudi’s cancellation, due to illness the morning of the festival, the festival managed to find another Kid…albeit in a koala bear costume. “I am not Kid Cudi,” Kid Koala announced through some booing from the audience before he launched into a light DJ set. Due to the last minute booking of his performance, he didn’t have his laptop with him, forcing him to stick to old fashioned record spinning at the turntable. Vintage yet unsuccessful, leaving much of the crowd to dissipate. Oh well. -Stewart Wiseman

Lights – Sennheiser Green Stage – 4:20 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

Lights is the alias for Valerie Poxleitner, a lovely young girl from the same Northern Ontario town as Shania Twain. She plays cutesy electro pop with a tinge of guitar, which the young women not already at the main stage area for Eminem ate up. I don’t mean to accuse her of something like this, as she’s obviously talented, but it looked like her mic was on a bit too much of a fade at times, if you know what I mean (as in she MAY have been lip-synching). I caught her later happily posing for pictures at the artist’s entrance, so all is well as far as her fans are concerned! -Gilles Leblanc

The Knux – Budweiser Mountain Stage – 4:40 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

After a short DJ set, New Orleans’ own The Knux were welcomed to the stage with the crowd shouting “Knux! Knux! Knux! Knux!”. Oddly enough, the fanfare died down and festivalgoers remained rather stoic, despite suggestions by an energetic Krispy. But, here’s an act that’s different than many in the highly contested genre. For one, the members can fill in on instruments when they’re not rhyming. During “Capuccino”, Joey laid some guitar solos down that worked behind Krispy’s flow. It was this versatility that brought the crowd up again, and by the time they reached “Bang Bang”, their closer for the set, the crowd knew they were seeing quality rappers with a bright future to come. -Stewart Wiseman

Uncle Bad Touch – Galaxie Tree Stage – 5:00 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

No creepy, incestuous in-laws back at the Tree Stage, just some straightforward, honest-to-goodness garage rock by a band from Montreal titillatingly called Uncle Bad Touch. With a healthy dose of Led Zeppelin thrown in. Not only that, two of their four members are female, including a tambourine player named Julia who was making her debut with them. And I found out from singer/bassist ‘Mikey’ that they’re coming to Toronto in a few weeks to play a free show with Parlovr – Formidable! -Gilles Leblanc

Charles Bradley – BlackBerry River Stage – 5:20 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

At 63 years old, it’s a wonder why Charles Bradley wasn’t discovered earlier. At Osheaga, the new legend performed one of the most beloved sets of the weekend, and songs like the soul stirring “This World (Is Going Up In Flames)” had the whole audience grooving along. The good vibes carried out until the end, when Bradley finished his set with a surprise cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold”, reworked in an unimaginable soul comb over. That sent the Canadians over the edge – but also Bradley himself. The grateful look in his eyes hinted that he’s finally found his place in music: amongst the great soul voices of our time. -Stewart Wiseman

Broken Social Scene – Budweiser Mountain Stage – 6:10 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

The Canadian indie-rock pioneers attracted the first big crowd of the day, and vocalist Kevin Drew thanked Montreal for how well they’ve been treated over the last 10 years, stating how the band can always depend on the city to be there for them. Opening with “KC Accidental”, Broken Social Scene bled out their trademark raw energy, issuing solid cuts of “Forced to Love”, “Texico Bitches”, and a cover of Modest Mouse’s “The World At Large”. A couple of surprises, though. For “Almost Crimes” (off 2002′s You Forgot It in the People), Brendan Canning invited local singer Arielle Engle to join in for the biggest rocker of the set. And while “World Sick” didn’t make the 50 minute set, they did throw in “Meet Me in the Basement”, performed by not so much a band but better yet a tight family that maintains a very healthy relationship. -Stewart Wiseman

Bran Van 3000 – BlackBerry River Stage –  7:05 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

With Kid Cudi withdrawing due to illness, recently reunited Montreal collective Bran Van 3000 moved up a slot. It became somehow appropriate that they followed Broken Social Scene, as you could argue that they were the late-’90s precursor to BSS’ formation in Toronto, only more electronic. When telling other music fans that I was going to Osheaga, I was surprised to hear how many people not only remembered BV3, but wished they could come with me to hear songs like “Drinking in L.A.” (from their 1997 album Glee). Newer stuff from their 2010 comeback The Garden was very well received too, namely “Grace (Love on the Block)” and “Jahrusalem”, which incorporate rapping/hip hop along with costumes on stage. One girl dressed up like a peacock! -Gilles Leblanc

Joseph Arthur – Sennheiser Green Stage – 7:15 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

So it didn’t draw the most, but Joseph Arthur held quite an intimate evening set. The Akron, OH folk singer started the block in nontraditional fashion – by painting. After finishing a modernist Picasso-esque piece, Arthur turned to his band of foot pedals, and swam about in his sea of loops. As much as the crowd asked him to play “Into the Sun”, he never touched it and stuck mainly to material from his latest effort, Graduation Ceremony. Lyrical lessons arrived in the form of “Black Lexus” and “Honey and the Moon”, the latter highlighting his essential strengths of providing words of wisdom via poetry. Where else would you see a spoken word piece involving oil paints? -Stewart Wiseman

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Galaxie Tree Stage – 8:00 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

Another Canadian draw, The Rural Alberta Advantage (RAA) took to one of the festival’s smallest stages, which in turn produced the most excited (and packed in) audience of the day. Travelers from all over – Calgary and St. Johns, to name a couple – arrived to see the group. So appreciative this crowd was – the last time RAA performed at Osheaga was ’09 – that at moments, the die-hards sang louder than singer Nils Edenloff. Still supporting their latest effort, 2011′s Departing, the set was quite heavy with newer material, with one standout being “Tornado 87″, thanks to its irresistibly catchy chorus. A key to the band’s success is their wide range of sounds. From the beautiful “In the Summertime” in which Amy Cole and Nils Edenloff traded vocals, to the rocking finale “The Deathbridge In Lethbridge” where drummer Paul Banwatt was at his best. Because of this, the RAA are a band loaded with songs for every musical taste, and their performance on Friday night was only a glimpse into what’s to come. -Stewart Wiseman

Janelle Monáe – Budweiser Mountain Stage – 8:05 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

Janelle Monáe didn’t just take advantage of the huge crowd waiting for Eminem; she knocked a home run right out of Parc Jean-Drapeau and into the Saint Lawrence River with a performance that had Montreal raving about her so much, she became a trending topic on Twitter. It was funky to the max, energetic beyond belief, and boundlessly creative. With her backing band sharply decked out in varying degrees of black and white, Monáe entered fully covered in a cloak accompanied by two similarly dressed “druids” before shedding her garment and launching into “Dance or Die” off her breakthrough album The ArchAndroid. We got her hits “Cold War” and “Tightrope” back-to-back, as well as an absolutely KILLER cover of “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5. We even got to see her artistic side as she painted an impromptu picture in glitter during instrumental parts of songs. -Gilles Leblanc

Eminem – BlackBerry River Stage –  9:20 p.m.

One word heard all night Friday during Eminem’s return to Canada as a headliner was « malade. » Translated, it means sick, with a similar meaning to how English-speaking kids use it today slang-wise, only more amplified, more frenzied. Yeah, I’d say it’s a suitable way to characterize the Osheaga-record throng of 38,000 ‘hip hop heads’ who came to see Mr. Mathers before he hits Chicago for the 20th anniversary of Lollapalooza. Eminem sure wasn’t afraid to play up that we were witnessing something historic, from the dramatic opening video to the hard road he’s been on that led to his latest chart toppers Relapse and Recovery, pausing occasionally to remind Montreal how much he’s missed the city.

Photo by Bobby Foley

I don’t know about momentous, but there were an abundance of highlights – Royce da 5’9” made a guest appearance for “Fast Lane” and “Lighters” (Em even wore a white Bad Meets Evil T-shirt to commemorate the occasion). There were tributes to 2Pac and Nate Dogg. But the biggest cheers were saved for Eminem’s greatest hits medley, where he rapped a verse from each of “My Name Is”, “The Real Slim Shady”, and “Without Me”. That is until everyone lost their collective $#!% when they heard the riff to ‘Lose Yourself’ after a short encore break. An explosive finish to a stellar Day 1 of Osheaga! -Gilles Leblanc

Saturday, July 30th

The 222s – Budweiser Mountain Stage – 1:00 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

The thing that was maybe most impressive about Osheaga in 2011 was how receptive the crowds were to so many bands, even The 222s, who were probably NEVER up this early back in their late-1970s punk prime. Hailed back then as one of the genre’s first ever bands from Quebec, they reformed last year for North by Northeast, but this was their debut at a fest like Osheaga. And it doesn’t look like this will be just another one-off, as they had people bopping their heads to their fun fun fun Ramones-indebted songs like ‘I Love Suzan.’ -Gilles Leblanc

The Midway State – BlackBerry River Stage –  1:30 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

Montreal and Toronto aren’t always the best of friends, for reasons that extend far beyond music. The “Centre of the Universe”, as Toronto is sometimes called derogatively outside its borders, actually had quite a heavy presence at Osheaga 2011, including alt-rockers The Midway State. They just released their second album, Paris or India, a couple of weeks ago, and were in full showcase mode Saturday afternoon. By the reaction new tracks like “Alive”, “Fire!”, and “Lightning” got when they were played, it was as if a busload of Torontonians had made the 6+ hour trip to the festival…and encouraged everyone else to cheer them on! -Gilles Leblanc

Manchester Orchestra – Budweiser Mountain Stage – 2:00 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

“I took French for seven years and failed every year of it,” frontman Andy Hull announced to an adoring crowd. Luckily, he didn’t need his French skills to communicate to the French speaking crowd; from the first strum of his guitar the crowd was already into it. Atlanta, GA’s Manchester Orchestra knocked out 40 minutes of catchy pop-rock. With vocals that ranged from soft-spoken to aggressive rage, Andy Hull made the crowd familiar with his music, which seemed fitting given that the first time they played in Montreal there were only 18 people in the crowd. “Shake It Out” turned things up a notch, building a chin dance from the crowd. All in all, a very surprisingly enjoyable set. -Stewart Wiseman

The High Dials – Galaxie Tree Stage – 2:10 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

In need of some shade after being out in the open and exposed directly to the sun, I headed to the comfortable Tree Stage for the first time Saturday to take note of The High Dials from Montreal. They didn’t help cool me off much, as their psychedelic rock-meets-power pop got bodies working up a sweat, and when their saxophone-playing friend joined them for a handful of songs, forget about it! And I must say, they also had the most radical-looking amplifier case of anyone I covered at Osheaga, as it was littered with stickers of admirable bands like The Kills and Franz Ferdinand as well as places they’ve conceivably travelled to in the relatively short time they’ve been together. -Gilles Leblanc

Hey Rosetta! – BlackBerry River Stage –  2:40 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

Hey Rosetta! has been receiving more and more attention as of late, and their set at Osheaga helped them win over many new fans. The folk-rockers from Newfoundland mainly played songs off their latest LP Seeds, and proved to the audience why they were put on the Polaris Prize short list. The crowd picked up “Yer Spring” relatively quickly, and echoed the line “I’m going up!” along with vocalist Tim Baker for the song’s entirety. Smiles were apparent on the faces of many in the crowd, and it seems that Hey Rosetta!’s music has a way of lifting the spirits of a whole audience. This was quite apparent when the band closed with a cover of The Constantines’ “Do What You Can Do”, an anthem about doing more to help others, which Hey Rosetta! definitely did on Saturday by helping make Osheaga a memorable event. -Stewart Wiseman

Mother Mother – Galaxie Tree Stage – 3:10 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

After taking a quick beer break, I was amazed by how many more people were now at the Tree Stage in anticipation of Vancouver’s Mother Mother. Once mohawk sporting singer/guitarist Ryan Guldemond and the rest of his band got going, it was easy to see what all the fuss is about. I don’t know if the same holds true for the rest of the country, but these guys (and two girls, including Ryan’s sister Molly) are gaining a lot of steam in Toronto – Two songs from their 2011 album Eureka, “The Stand” and “Baby Don’t Dance”, have been getting significant airplay on modern rock radio station 102.1 The Edge, and they’re booked to playSound Academy this September. -Gilles Leblanc

Tokyo Police Club - Budweiser Mountain Stage – 3:20 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

Over 40 minutes, vocalist and bassist David Monks’ high-energy antics kept the crowd in line, which happened to be the first great gathering of Saturday. Pulling from 2008′s Elephant Shell and 2010′s Champ, the Canadian outfit received the best response from earlier work, especially the tender “Tessellate” and “Nature of the Experiment”. In a smart move, they closed their set with the very fitting “Your English Is Good”, a song which united the voices of the French and English speaking people into one universal language. Much has changed here, and for the good. -Stewart Wiseman

John Butler Trio – BlackBerry River Stage –  4:00 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

I learned at Osheaga that Australia’s John Butler Trio have some pretty hardcore Canadian fans. They were the only band I can remember where people brought handmade signs for them – One in particular was from a “Sheila” claiming she had trekked all the way from Vancouver (nearly 5,000 kilometres, or 3,000 miles) JUST to see them!  I also learned that the John Butler Trio were one of the more rocking bands at Osheaga; when Butler himself wasn’t getting’ down and bluesy with his lap slide guitar, he was kickin’ up a proverbial storm playing banjo-fuelled bluesgrass. An easy highlight of the entire weekend for me. -Gilles Leblanc

Sam Roberts Band – Budweiser Mountain Stage – 4:50 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

When Arcade Fire headlined Osheaga in 2010, it showed how powerful the Montreal crowd can get supporting a major hometown act, and that’s exactly what happened when Sam Roberts and crew hit the stage. The much anticipated set started with the heavy hitting “I Feel You”, off his recent critically acclaimed effort Collider, and from there the crowd just continued to ignite. His first performance at home, at least in support of his latest LP, Roberts worked with a devoted following, which altogether felt more or less like a homecoming. As a result, he brought out some close friends, including Elizabeth Powell (lead singer of Land of Talk), who performed backup vocals on “Longitude”, and renown Montreal sax man Chet Doxas who joined Roberts’ brass section. To close out the set, Roberts shouted to the audience, “On va chanter ensemble mes amis,” before kicking into “Brotherdown”. In any other festival in the States, Sam Roberts might just be a second thought on a festival lineup; but in Montreal he was one of the most anticipated acts of the weekend. -Stewart Wiseman

PS I Love You – Galaxie Tree Stage – 6:30 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

PS I Love You are rapidly becoming the type of band you don’t ever get tired of seeing live, as something memorable is always bound to happen. When I saw them a little over a month ago at NXNE, Paul Saulnier and drummer Ben Nelson blew out an amp by the sheer force of their rawk. At Osheaga, Saulnier ‘only’ broke a string off his guitar, but he hardly bat an eye as he was too busy trying not to bite his protruding tongue. He also showed a good deal of wit, saying things like, “Don’t cheer, I’m just the roadie,” and “We’re PS I Love You, and we only have 12 minutes left.” I foresee big, big things for these Kingston boys. -Gilles Leblanc

Lupe Fiasco- Budweiser Mountain Stage – 6:30 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

After a day chock full of rap and hip hop, Lupe Fiasco had all of Saturday to own the genre. Chicago’s finer export kicked off with “Shining Down” which saw him parade around the stage in glory. Unlike some other acts, Fiasco didn’t need to try hard to pump up the crowd, as they were ready and willing to party. Where many rappers rely on beats to accompany their music, Fiasco’s band blended rock sounds with his rhymes in a surprisingly good combination. Things got weird halfway through his set, however, when Fiasco went on an anti-American rant that had many scratching their heads instead of cheering, but then again this is the same rapper who labeled President Barack Obama as “the biggest terrorist”.  Oh well. Closing with his biggest hit “The Show Goes On”, Fiasco brought the energy back and the party started once more. No new fans per se, but those who turned out had a blast. -Stewart Wiseman

Death from Above 1979 – BlackBerry River Stage –  7:25 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

Having seen Death from Above 1979 less than two weeks before at the Quebec City Summer Festival, I didn’t think they could get much more intense, but they may have actually topped what drummer/singer Sebastien Grainger himself called the best show so far on their reunion tour. The mosh pit at the main stage bordered on the insane, but what was even crazier (yet infinitely cool), was how several of Grainger’s friends in music, such as Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and Jimmy Shaw from Metric (who he owns a recording studio in Toronto with), came out to support him and Jesse F. Keeler from down in front, in the photographer’s area, as opposed to side stage. -Gilles Leblanc

Ratatat – Sennheiser Green Stage – 8:15 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

A friend of mine who’s more well versed in electronica than yours truly insisted I see Ratatat, touting them as the “American Daft Punk.” I don’t know if I agree entirely with his declaration, but I’ll give Ratatat this: They know how to draw a crowd and throw a heck of a unique dance party, complete with a glassy, monolith-shaped projection system to add to everyone’s, um, trip! Dope, hand waving beats from mastermind producer Evan Mast were accentuated by bendy guitarist Mike Stroud. They were fun, but the festivities at the Green Stage would only get louder and more penetratingly pulsating as the weekend wore on… -Gilles Leblanc

Bright Eyes – Budweiser Mountain Stage – 8:15 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

To follow Fiasco’s fiesta was a little unfortunate for Conor Oberst’s Bright Eyes. As a result, he arrived to a much smaller crowd, though this didn’t affect the band’s performance at all. Opening with “Four Winds”, the female-heavy audience serenaded Oberst with his own lyrics; a trend which continued throughout most of the night. “Poison Oak” started out soft and mellow, like the majority of Bright Eyes songs, but had an emotional climb towards the end of the song, building up higher and higher and making it one of the highlights from their set. “The Calendar Hung Itself” was a particularly dark and moody number, contrasting slightly with the other more upbeat songs. Performing closing duties, “One for You, One for Me” rang loud as a perfect anthem and one of the best of the night, leaving their many fans with a message of endearing hope. Much needed today. -Stewart Wiseman

Elvis Costello & the Imposters – BlackBerry River Stage –  9:20 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

The second night of Osheaga was, er, a bit of an anomaly compared to the rest of the festival. Once the carnage had subsided following Death from Above 1979, it was time for Elvis Costello’s carnival to roll into town; he even brought a go-go dancer and strongman scale. (The “Hammer of Songs.”) Unfortunately for the 40 year music veteran, the assembled masses couldn’t have been more indifferent – At best, it was maybe a quarter of the size of Eminem’s audience from Friday. Not much of a ‘mass’ by any means. And that’s a shame, because it’s not like he didn’t belong there; his “Watching the Detectives”, “Everyday I Write the Book”, “Alison”, “Radio Radio”, “Bedlam”, “I Want You”, “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea”, and “Clubland” all form the basis of present-day alternative rock. And he gave it his all, too. Those who were there will tell you they had a rollicking good time. I felt bad for ol’ Elvis, but that said, I still left before his encore to see the end of Fucked Up’s set at the Tree Stage. Any guilt I may have been feeling went away rather quickly when Damian Abraham presented Sebastien Grainger as a special guest to ‘sing’ a F’ed Up song with him and do some crowd surfing among his francophone peeps! -Gilles Leblanc

Fucked Up – Galaxie Tree Stage – 10:10 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

At a festival where most of the people could be labeled as pot-smoking hippies, the Fucked Up crowd of punks and hardcore fans was a rare sight. After Damian “Pink Eyes” Abraham brought out his son for an appearance, the band arrived too and wasted no time in getting the crowd psyched up, starting with “Queen of Hearts”. The song didn’t even start yet before Abraham was interacting with all his fans from the photo pit, and it only took two songs for him to lose his shirt, crowd surf, and join the romping mosh pit. Naturally, Osheaga sent their toughest security guards to work this set, and they were the busiest they had to be all festival. Admittedly, the messages in these songs can often be lost due to the loud nature of the show, but Fucked Up has put together some great love songs, which is often a challenge for hardcore bands. Of course, that’s the last thing anyone’s thinking about while they’re performing, but on record, especially their latest LP,  David Comes To Life, it’s something to always consider. There’s much more to this shirtless maniac than what meets the eye. -Stewart Wiseman

Sunday, July 31st

Elephant Stone – Galaxie Tree Stage – 1:00 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

After everything that had happened at Osheaga over its first two days, it wouldn’t have surprised me in the least to have heard someone on the Montreal Metro say, “You know what this festival REALLY needs? A band to seriously rock a SITAR!” Enter Elephant Stone, the brainchild of Rishi Dhir, a former member of The High Dials, who of course played the day before. There are sonic similarities between the two competing groups, but where Elephant Stone takes psychedelia to a new level is when Dhir stretches barefoot on a raised area to jam with his Indian imported instrument. Groovy, man! -Gilles Leblanc

The Sheepdogs -Budweisier Mountain Stage – 1:00 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

The Sheepdogs cracked open Sunday with some good old fashioned rock and roll. The Saskatoon natives have been making the rounds, thanks to their fame via Rolling Stone, but they back up the words on print. Ewan Currie is everything a rock and roll frontman should be: great voice, works with the country rocker look, and enjoys cold beer for breakfast. Musically, it’s just as picture perfect. Country rocker “I Don’t Know” sounds like it came straight out of the 1970’s, with Currie and bassist Ryan Gullen trading vocals, while a song like “Southern Dreaming”, specifically that guitar hook, kept the crowd awake and dancing. Good things to come. -Stewart Wiseman

Typhoon – BlackBerry River Stage –  1:30 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

No, not every indie musical ensemble who prominently feature string and horn arrangements in the 2000s are Arcade Fire rip-offs. (Or is that Shark Attack now?) But when you play the same stage as they did the year before, in their hometown no less, there are bound to be comparisons. Portland, Oregon’s Typhoon didn’t make anyone at Osheaga forget who Arcade Fire is; however, they definitely won themselves some new fans with their determination to make it to the festival combined with outstanding musicianship. Anyone with dueling drum kits is worth a listen! -Gilles Leblanc

An Horse – Sennheiser Green Stage – 2:00 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

Seeing all these different instruments producing such great sounds, I was taken aback somewhat to discover Australia’s An Horse are only a two-person band who probably would have fit in better yesterday. At first glance, I guess you could call them a “reverse White Stripes,” as there’s a girl named Kate Cooper on guitar and Damon Cox on drums (Sex = Male). I found them slightly underwhelming; if anything, they made me yearn for The White Stripes even more…or at least The Raconteurs. Sorry to digress, but I’d like to ask the Osheaga organizers to book Jack White, Brendan Benson and company for next year’s festival. Now! -Gilles Leblanc

Eels – BlackBerry River Stage –  2:50 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

The enigmatic Mark Oliver Everett brought his bearded Eels to Montreal for one of the more anticipated slots of the Osheaga Festival. He looked to be ecstatic to be there, high fiving bandmates after songs and yelling nonsensical things like “We did it!” Focusing mainly on his recent Eels album trilogy (Hombre Loco, End Times and Tomorrow Morning), I’d say it was a triumphant return to Canada for the man simply known as E – It rocked, it was soulful in a Blues Brothers kind of way, and it was plenty weird, but we’ve come to expect that from him since Beautiful Freak introduced us to E’s world in 1996. And I think he was the only artist to express his love for poutine. And maple glazed donuts, apparently! -Gilles Leblanc

The Sounds – Budweiser Mountain Stage –  3:30 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

Does anyone reading know the Swedish equivalent for “Damn?!”As in “Damn, are The Sounds ever awesome!” Considerably more rocking than ABBA, but not quite as punkish as The Hives…I think the majority of people at the Budweiser Stage would concur with me that their “new” New Wave was just right for Osheaga. I KNOW a lot of red (and white)-blooded males in the audience were transfixed on sexy Sounds lead singer Maja Ivarsson. And I know it got awfully hot in Montreal that weekend, but those little black bicycle shorts she was wearing? All I can say is…DAMN! (Or is that jävla?!) -Gilles Leblanc

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Sennheiser Green Stage – 4:15 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

As luck would have it, my feet were hurting pretty bad by the time New York City’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart took to Osheaga’s Green Stage. It didn’t take long for them to be joined by my ears, but in the best manner possible. Their driving, all-out guitar assault was pure bliss to me. I can see why their album Belong has been so highly regarded this year. I must look into this “Nu Gaze” movement more, as I definitely heard echoes of NYC’s own Sonic Youth, Gish and Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins, and My Bloody Valentine. I especially found it cool how singer Kip Berman even stopped at one point to acknowledge someone wearing a MBV T-shirt. -Gilles Leblanc

Cypress Hill – BlackBerry River Stage – 4:20 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

Sunday saw a fun, nostalgic site: Cypress Hill. Whether it was intentional or not remains to be seen, but the veteran hip hop stars performed at 4:20 p.m. and naturally the smell of weed was inescapable near the stage.  With the exception of The Flaming Lips, the West Coast rappers attracted the biggest crowd of the day and they were definitely the most adrenalized. B-Real started the set with a short freestyle before calling on Sen Dog to join with him on “Shoot ‘Em Up”, which had fans making finger guns in the air. “Are you fucking high right now?” B-Real asked the crowd to mass applause, edging them on to smoke more and more. By the time the set ended with “Rock Superstar”, it was hard to find one person in the front row whose eyes weren’t bloodshot, a mission accomplished for Cypress Hill. -Stewart Wiseman

Viva Brother – Galaxie Tree Stage – 5:00 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

A music festival just doesn’t seem complete without some flair and flavor from the UK. Thank goodness latest buzz band Viva Brother made the trip to Canada. They describe their sound as “Gritpop”, or a grittier version of mid-’90s Britpop as practiced by Blur and Oasis. Speaking of Oasis, if you were to tell me Viva Brother frontman Leonard Newell was a relative of the Gallaghers, I’d probably believe you. His eyes also seem to have a bit of a Thom Yorke ‘droop’ to them; if that’s not a perfect pedigree for rock ’n’ roll success, I’m not sure what is. If that wasn’t enough, they had someone in a full-blown gorilla suit (and Viva Brother T-shirt) show up at their Osheaga set and bounce nonstop with their arms in the air! -Gilles Leblanc

Beirut – BlackBerry River Stage – 5:50 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

“It’s great to be back in the land of poutine,” vocalist Zach Condon joked early in the set, before speaking to the crowd in surprisingly good French. Beirut’s music was able to put all the festival goers under a trance, creating a relaxing atmosphere for the evening set. “Nantes” had the entire crowd clapping and cheering along from the moment Condon raised his trumpet. Zach Condon’s a talented multi-instrumentalist, but bad luck hit him when his ukulele’s sound failed to be picked up across the speaker system. After trying a few times, he decided to give up and move onto “Scenic World” which literally moved the audience. Overall, the combination of poetic lyrics and rousing horns won over the crowd, and Beirut’s set was spoken about for the rest of the evening. -Stewart Wiseman

City and Colour – Budweiser Mountain Stage – 6:35 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

City and Colour started their performance with “Sleeping Sickness”, welcomed by cheers from the crowd, which only grew louder when Dallas Green invited Tragically Hip vocalist Gordon Downie to the stage to sing a verse. Alexisonfire and City and Colour could not be further apart musically, and the introspective music had the crowd pleased and clapping on songs like “Weightless” and “Fragile Bird” from this year’s release, Little Hell. The set wrapped up not long after that with “Sometimes (I Wish)”, leaving fans disappointed as the band only played 30 minutes of the 50 that they were supposed to play before the delays. (Fans that caught Toronto’s critically acclaimed rapper Shad’s set at 8:00 were treated to a surprise in his opener, as he brought out Dallas Green to sing the chorus to his song “Live Forever”.) To make up for their short set, City and Colour promised to be back in Montreal soon for a full length concert; leaving their many faithful waiting for the day where they can enjoy Green’s poetry once again. -Stewart Wiseman

White Lies – Sennheiser Green Stage – 6:55 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

White Lies’ Harry McVeigh struck me as having an amazing beautiful ‘alternative’ singing voice, reminiscent of Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode. They have some downright gloomy sounding songs and lyrics (i.e. “Holy Ghost”, “Death”, and debut album To Lose My Life), yet I found them fairly pedestrian, almost gentlemanly, especially compared to the rougher-around-the-edges Viva Brother. I loved how they joked about this fact, saying how while it may have looked like they were crying occasionally, they were actually sweating. Polite like Coldplay, but with more underground indie credibility…for now! -Gilles Leblanc

The Tragically Hip – BlackBerry River Stage – 7:25 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

It’s hard to watch The Tragically Hip and not solely focus on Gord Downie running around the stage with odd-ball antics, apparent right from the start on opener “Grace, Too”. Too much time is often spent watching Downie, that the guys behind him actually making the music are left under-appreciated, but guitarists Paul Langlois and Rob Baker were superb at their craft and were critical in the great performance The Tragically Hip put on. Songs like “Bobcaygeon” and “New Orleans Is Sinking” had the entire crowd roaring the lyrics back at the band; a true testament to how influential The Tragically Hip have been for almost three decades in shaping the sound of Canadian music. The band closed with the rocker “Little Bones” that lifted the spirits of the entire crowd, many of whom came to the festival for the sole purpose of seeing the Hip; and by the end of the set everyone knew why The Tragically Hip will go down as Canadian legends. -Stewart Wiseman

Crystal Castles – Sennheiser Green Stage – 8:15 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

It’s not that I don’t or can’t appreciate club-style electronica at a rock festival – I think it’s brilliant that Osheaga has the Piknic Electronik as a place for people to dance or chill out. That said, I don’t think I’m the only one who doesn’t ‘get’ Crystal Castles’ strobe-flashing, seizure-inducing live show. Seriously, why does Alice Glass have a mic? It’s not like we can ever make out what she’s singing, and she doesn’t really add much else other than inciting crowds even further by jumping into the sea of bodies to surf. Security didn’t like how her actions inspired some to climb trees either. They did end with their cover of The Cure’s “Not in Love”, even though it took us all a minute to recognize it because of all the distortion. -Gilles Leblanc

Death Cab For Cutie – Budweiser Mountain Stage – 8:25 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

For a band coming out of Washington state, the pressure is always there to match up to other local greats like Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, and Pearl Jam. For 10 years and counting, Death Cab for Cutie has managed to rise to fame without the roaring rock ‘n’ roll, commanding a devout legion of fans, all of whom can recite any of their lyrics in their sleep. This extends out into Canada, of course. After an extended intro that saw Ben Gibbard go from guitar to piano, “I Will Possess Your Heart” launched the group into a slightly erratic set. Two songs into their performance, Ben Gibbard’s guitar started acting up on him, and after replacing it with another guitar that wasn’t working, he showed his professionalism when he sat down at the edge of the stage to serenade his loving fans instead of stopping the entire song. Favorites like “Soul Meets Body or “The Sound of Settling” worked well, but so did new single “You Are a Tourist”. Technical problems aside, the gig was a joy. -Stewart Wiseman

The Flaming Lips – BlackBerry Stage – 9:25 p.m.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

Before The Flaming Lips started their festival closing performance, frontman Wayne Coyne advised the audience about his strong strobe lights and to be careful with his giant space bubble; but what he should have warned the crowd about was that his performance may induce acid trips. Right from the very beginning with the band members walking out of an illusionary door in an LED screen, the audience knew they were experiencing perhaps the most jaw-dropping rock show they’ll ever see. Coyne eagerly anticipated this performance and told the crowd that he last played Osheaga in 2006, and that Osheaga is not just one of the greatest festivals in Canada, but is one of the greatest in the entire world.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

Alongside a cast of characters dolled up a la Wizard of Oz, Coyne & Co. rolled out their 1999 masterpiece The Soft Bulletin in full (with the exception of “Buggin’”) to a crowd that may not have been familiar with their work, but who knew theatrics when they saw it (this is the city where Cirque du Soleil was born after all). Halfway through the performance, however, Coyne (looking truly emotional) told the crowd that sometimes this album has the power to “fuck him up” and that this may be the last time that anyone ever sees it performed in full live. This would be a shame, especially since it builds to quite the climax. The end of the album is just electric, and on Sunday, “The Spiderbite Song” attracted cheers from all who were there to witness the end to a great weekend at Osheaga 2011.

Photo by Stewart Wiseman

Before finishing his set, though, Coyne called upon one of his many Dorothy’s and another man dressed as the Cowardly Lion for a wedding ceremony. Coyne announced that the two were from Calgary and that they met at Osheaga that morning, took 10 hits of acid each, and then decided to get married. “With all the power vested in me by the universe, The Flaming Lips, Montreal, and LSD; I now pronounce you man and wife!” Coyne proclaimed for the new happy couple, before launching into “Do You Realize??” -the last song of the set. Now, how were you planning to get married again? -Stewart Wiseman

MSTRKRFT – Sennheiser Green Stage – 9:50 p.m.

Photo by Gilles Leblanc

There’s no use trying to review MSTRKRFT’s DJ set other than they altered the entire space near the Green Stage into the biggest rave I’ve ever seen! Standing side-by-side at an oversized steel table, donning headphones occasionally but always with a smoke in their mouths it seemed, DFA 1979’s Jesse F. Keeler and his longtime friend Al-P pushed the sardine squished crowd to a veritable fever pitch with their high-speed, aggressive, bone-rattling rhythms. It was an unconventional way for anyone with leftover energy to get themselves tired and ready for a long sleep after a weekend unlike any other, but hey, it worked for me! -Gilles Leblanc

The Culture of Osheaga

Gallery by Gilles Leblanc and Stewart Wiseman

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The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have been busy this week. Only two days removed from their new music video for “The Body”, the NYC indie rockers have mapped out a leg of fall tour dates. The trek, which follows an already-announced summer run, kicks off with an appearance at Philadelphia’s Popped! Music Festival on September 23rd, and includes dates with Twin Sister and Big Troubles. The band’s complete touring itinerary is posted below.

Also, in cased you missed it, here’s the aforementioned video for “The Body”:

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 2011 Tour Dates:
07/07 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust
07/09 – Koln, DE @ Luxor
07/11 – Amsterdam, NL @ Trouw
07/13 – Bremen, DE @ Lagerhaus
07/15 – Hultsfred, SE @ Hultsfred Festival
07/21 – Benidorm, ES @ Low Cost Festival
07/22 – Santander, ES @ Santander Music
07/29 – Niigata Prefecture, JP @ Fuji Rock
07/31 – Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
08/01 – Toronto, ON @ Sonic Boom
08/02 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House #
08/03 – Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot Ballroom #
08/04 – Newport, KY @ Southgate House #
08/05 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway #
08/06 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle &
08/07 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/08 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 $
08/09 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 $
08/12 – Oslo, NO @ Oya Festival
08/13 – Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival
08/14 – Hamburg, DE @ Dockville Festival
08/15 – Basel, CH @ SUD
08/16 – Luzern, CH @ Sudpol
08/18 – Kiewit, BE @ Pukkelpop
08/19 – Copenhagen, DK @ Amager
08/20 – Thisted, DK @ Alive Festival
09/15 – Sao Paolo, BR @ Clash Club
09/16 – Rio de Janerio, BR @ Circo Voador
09/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Popped! Music Festival
09/24 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
09/25 – Champaign-Urbana, IL @ Pygmalion Music Festival
09/26 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon ^
09/28 – Winnipeg, MB @ Royal Albert ^
09/30 – Calgary, AB @ Dickens ^
10/01 – Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room ^
10/03 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret ^
10/04 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile ^
10/05 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom ^
10/07 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
10/08 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
10/09 – Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar
10/11 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
10/13 – Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck *
10/14 – Oklahoma City, OK @ University of Oklahoma *
10/15 – Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone Cafe *
10/16 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge *
10/18 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar

# = w/ Craft Spells
& = w/ Young Man
$ = w/ The Kills
^ = w/ Big Troubles
* = w/ Twin Sister

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart‘s sophomore album, Belong, is an effort of crushing, alternative-tinged songs lamenting loss and pain. But with summer in full swing, even this moody New York outfit couldn’t resist heading to the beach in the clip for “The Body”. Tossing aside the bikinis and hardbodies associated with the surf and sand for the throws of nostalgia, the band reminisce as children enjoying life’s fleeting carefree moments. Catch the waves now over at MTV UK.

You can peep the whole list of shows below, but here are some “must sees” in our book: Death From Above 1979 at the Metro on Thursday, The Vaccines/Tennis at Schubas on Friday, and Titus Andronicus/Fences hitting up Reggie’s on Saturday. If you’re willing to brave the House of Blues, you can catch more of Lykke Li (who wouldn’t?) and the Arctic Monkeys, performing their new brilliant LP. It should be noted that there are no planned performances at the Vic Theatre, where Soundgarden and Pearl Jam both performed pre-weekend sets in previous years. Could there be something in the works? Maybe a Foo Fighters gig? Speculation, sure, but you never know. We’ll have to play the waiting game.

In the meantime, here are your shows and check out Do312.com for ticket information!

Lollapalooza 2011 Aftershows
08/03 – Cold War Kids w/ Gold Motel, Carbon Tigers, Katz Company @ Metro
08/04 – Death From Above 1979 w/ Metz @ Metro
08/04 – Crystal Castles w/ The Naked and Famous @ House of Blues
08/04 – Smith Westerns @ Schubas
08/04 – Delta Spirit w/ Reptar @ Lincoln Hall
08/04 – Cults w/ Guards, Riter @ Empty Bottle
08/04 – Feed Me w/ Savoy @ Logan Square Auditorium
08/05 – Black Lips w/ Night Beats @ Empty Bottle
08/05 – Atmosphere w/ Prof, Evidence, Blueprint @ Metro
08/05 – Lykke Li w/ Foster The People @ House of Blues
08/05 – Portugal. The Man w/ Wye Oak @ Double Door
08/05 – The Vaccines w/ Tennis @ Schubas
08/05 – Afrojack w/ Perry Farrell @ The Mid
08/05 – Tinie Tempah & Young the Giant @ Subterranean
08/05 – Local Natives w/ Walk the Moon @ Lincoln Hall
08/05 – Sam Adams w/ Kyle Lucas & Captain Midnite @ Bottom Lounge
08/05 – Pretty Lights & Skrillex @ The Congress Theater
08/06 – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart w/ Young Man @ Empty Bottle
08/06 – Arctic Monkeys w/ Disappears @ House of Blues
08/06 – White Lies w/ Rival Schools @ Double Door
08/06 – Fitz & the Tantrums w/ Christina Perri @ Schubas
08/06 – MSTRKRFT w/ Midnight Conspiracy, Nathan Scott, Compact Disco @ The Mid
08/06 – Dom w/ Typhoon @ Subterranean
08/06 – Two Door Cinema Club w/ Grouplove @ Lincoln Hall
08/06 – Titus Andronicus w/ Fences @ Reggie’s
08/06 – Daedelus w/ Eskmo, Lorn @ Bottom Lounge
08/06 – 12th Planet w/ 16bit, Richie August, Mega Mike @ Logan Square Auditorium

After bringing the likes of Vampire Weekend and Gogol Bordello to the streets of Philadelphia in 2008, the Popped! Music Festival suffered a number of set backs. LiveNation pulled out of its planned involvement just a month before the 2009 edition was set to begin, forcing the festival to downsize and become part of a Philadelphia street festival. Popped! was not heard from at all the following summer.

But it appears the indie-friendly festival is ready to give it another go as it has announced plans to return this fall as two-day event. Set for September 23-24 at South Philly’s FDR Park, the festival will be headlined by The Shins, Girl Talk, Panda Bear, Rakim, and The Hold Steady.

Update: The rest of the initial lineup has been revealed. Other confirmed acts include The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Cults, internet sensation Kreayshawn, Titus Andronicus, Cage the Elephant, Pretty Lights, Elbow, Charles Bradley, Black Thought and DJ J. Period Live Mixtape, The Vaccines, Foster The People, Company of Thieves, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr..

Even more acts will be announced in the weeks ahead, with the festival also promising DJs and comedians. You can keep track of all the latest updates at our Festival Outlook page.

Early-bird GA and VIP passes are priced at $99 and $175, respectively, and are available via the festival’s website until Thursday, June 23rd. After that, two-day passes will be priced at $110 and VIP at $200.

With their sophomore album, Belong, still fresh in most of our ears, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are now offering up a new song entitled “Tomorrow Dies Today”. Previously only available as a bonus offering on the Japanese release of Belong, the track features more of the record’s trademark sonic explosion; however, it’s also decidedly sweeter, with a strummy, child-like vibe weaved through its more noise-tastic fiber. Stream it below (via the band’s Tumblr).

Also, make sure to take a peep at the band’s remaining 2011 tour schedule, which is also posted below.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 2011 Tour Dates:
06/14 – Birmingham, UK @ Academy HMV Institute
06/16 – Paris, FR @ La Fleche D’or
06/18 – Madrid, ES @ Dia de la Musica Festival
06/19 – Majorca, ES @ Palou Dels Camtes D’aiamans
06/20 – Barcelona, ES @ Apolo
06/22 – Bordeaux, FR @ BT59
06/23 – Limoges, FR @ La Fourmi
06/24 – Lyons, FR @ Sonic
06/26 – Ravenna, IT @ Hana Bi Festival
06/29 – Munich, DE @ Backstage
06/30 – Vienna, AT @ Fluc
07/02 – Vigo, ES @ Transforma Festival
07/04 – Dresden, DE @ Groeve Station
07/05 – Berlin, DE @ KL. Posthahnhof
07/07 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust
07/09 – Koln, DE @ Luxor
07/11 – Amsterdam, NL @ Trouw
07/13 – Bremen, DE @ Lagerhaus
07/15 – Hultsfred, SE @ Hultsfred Festival
07/29 – Niigata Prefecture, JP @ Fuji Rock
07/31 – Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
08/02 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House #
08/03 – Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot Ballroom #
08/04 – Newport, KY @ Southgate House #
08/05 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway #
08/07 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/09 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small’s
08/09-13 – Oslo, NO @ Oya Festival
08/18-20 – Kiewit, BE @ Pukkelpop
09/12-14 – Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival

# = w/ Craft Spells

Sandwiched between appearances at Osheaga and Lollapalooza, The Pains will be joined by Craft Spells on a short tour of the heartland. The band plays Osheaga July 31st, and stops in Toronto for the first of these gigs. On the way to the Windy City, the band hits venues in Pontiac, Michigan, Newport, Kentucky, and St. Louis. Following Lollapalooza, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have a final scheduled show in Pittsburgh on August 9th.

New Yorkers can also catch the band in their hometown this Friday, May 6th at Webster Hall with indie rockers Twin Shadow. Get tickets for that show on Seatgeek now; other tickets go on sale this week.

The full itinerary for the U.S. and world tours is below, but first please enjoy an audio stream of “Belong”.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 2011 Tour Dates:
05/06 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall *%
06/01 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
06/04 – Istanbul, TR @ To The City Festival
06/07 – Cambridge, UK @ Junction 2
06/08 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
06/09 – Bristol, UK @ The Trinity
06/10 – Manchester, UK @ Sound Control
06/11 – Glasgow, UK @ Arches
06/13 – Sheffield, UK @ Queens Social Club
06/14 – Birmingham, UK @ Academy HMV Institute
06/16 – Paris, FR @ La Fleche D’or
06/18 – Madrid, ES @ Dia de la Musica Festival
06/19 – Majorca, ES @ Palou Dels Camtes D’aiamans
06/20 – Barcelona, ES @ Apolo
06/22 – Bordeaux, FR @ BT59
06/23 – Limoges, FR @ La Fourmi
06/24 – Lyons, FR @ Sonic
06/26 – Ravenna, IT @ Hana Bi Festival
06/29 – Munich, DE @ Backstage
06/30 – Vienna, AT @ Fluc
07/02 – Vigo, ES @ Transforma Festival
07/04 – Dresden, DE @ Groeve Station
07/05 – Berlin, DE @ KL. Posthahnhof
07/07 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust
07/09 – Koln, DE @ Luxor
07/11 – Amsterdam, NL @ Trouw
07/13 – Bremen, DE @ Lagerhaus
07/15 – Hultsfred, SE @ Hultsfred Festival
07/29 – Niigata Prefecture, JP @ Fuji Rock
07/31 – Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
08/02 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House #
08/03 – Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot Ballroom #
08/04 – Newport, KY @ Southgate House #
08/05 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway #
08/07 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/09 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small’s
08/09-13 – Oslo, NO @ Oya Festival
09/12-14 – Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival

* = w/ Twin Shadow
% = w/ Big Troubles
# = w/ Craft Spells

Other heavyweights include A Perfect Circle, Bright Eyes, The Cars, Big Audio Dynamite, Ween, Arctic Monkeys, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and Nas, Explosions in the Sky, Death From Above 1979, Deftones, Cee-Lo Green, Beirut, Flogging Molly, OK Go, The Kills, and Cold War Kids.

A number of indie favorites are confirmed, including The Mountain Goats, Atmosphere, Titus Andronicus, Ratatat, Best Coast, Crystal Castles, White Lies, Lykke Li, Local Natives, Black Lips, Delta Spirit, Sleigh Bells, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Wye Oak, The Drums, Smith Westerns, The Naked and Famous, Phantogram, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., The Joy Formidable, Young the Giant, and Cults.

If that weren’t enough, Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Cage the Elephant, Rival Schools, The Chain Gang of 1974, Friendly Fires, Portugal. The Man, Manchester Orchestra, Two Door Cinema Club, Noah & The Whale, Lissie, Foster the People, Mayer Hawthorne & the County, Fences, City and Colour, and Gold Motel are also confirmed.

This year’s edition will also feature an expansion of Perry’s Place, the festival’s electronic-oriented stage. Designed to accommodate a crowd of 15,000, the area will host the likes of Girl Talk, Kid Cudi, Pretty Lights, Skrillex, The Glitch Mob, Jay Electronica, Modeselektor, Daedulus, Feed Me, Busy P, and Joachim Garraud.

Find a complete list of confirmed acts at our Festival Outlook.

Three day and VIP passes are priced at $215.00 and $850.00, respectively, and are now available via the festival’s website.

It was almost a sensory overload this year. It’s safe to say there was too much to do. I can honestly say it didn’t help much adding a sixth stage to the schedule, and turning the Do-Lab from Smurf Village to a more practical stage. Friday was this year’s “Conflictchella” in which around the hours of two and five p.m. involved so many good acts playing simultaneously on various stages that it damn near caused aneurysms (OFWGKTA vs. Warpaint vs. the Drums vs. you get the idea). Saturday will forever go down as one of the most well-planned days in the history of the festival because, let’s face it, Bright Eyes -> Mumford and Sons -> Animal Collective -> Arcade Fire is modern music’s wet dream. And Sunday was a mixed bag of goodies (the Strokes murdered) and definitely some odd moments (Kanye, where were all your fellow rappers?).

And then there was the artwork…which took a whole new step up. This year, Coachella partnered with The Creators Project, adding a game-changing visual element to certain shows, as well as an in-between stage show that literally lit people up. There was the Spiritualized exhibit, which from the outside was a large silver cube in the back near the main stage, as well as the various usual oddities spread out all over the grounds. The stages themselves received massive upgrades — each tent, including the small Oasis Dome, now had screens on either side of the performers. Brazilian designer Muti Randolph upgraded the Sahara tent with a roof-spanning light installation, and the main stage underwent some awe-inspiring if unnecessary transformations before the top acts each night. In terms of the Coachella design, they took a step up, and in terms of the music, they just confused the shit out of everyone.

Photo by Matt Gainty

What matters here though isn’t the band selection, or the weird things scattered on the Polo Fields, but it’s the experience. People were skeptical this year with some of the choices, but you can’t get Radiohead to headline every year, and Coachella has already billed the biggest bands of the previous generation multiple times (do you all want Tool and the Peppers again?). The people at Coachella certainly know what they’re doing, and will always be able to deliver the public a fantastic weekend. It’s those who have had unwavering devotion to the festival that have to worry though. Times are changing, people, and so is Coachella…accept it.

-Ted Maider
Media Specialist

Friday, April 15th

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Outdoor Theatre – 1:15 p.m.

Fun fact: The Rural Alberta Advantage are not from Alberta at all, let alone rural Alberta. They’re actually from Toronto, Ontario, and they rock some. The singer has a bit of a Billy Corgan thing going, which is good or bad depending on whether you’re a Corgan fan. One member alternates between keys and a floor tom, while the third member annihilates the drums. As festival openers go, you can’t ask for more. -Harry Painter

!!! – Outdoor Theatre –  2:20 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Disco-punk is taking over the world whether you want to acknowledge it or not. Despite the Friday afternoon heat, !!! vocalist and mascot Nic Offer was able to get the crowd on its feet and thrash about in the sun. Nic and company were no slouches themselves as they rocked through numbers like “Heart of Hearts” and “Must Be the Moon” to get everyone in a dance frenzy. Heat, good music, and lots of dancing can always get the party going, and this was a worthy start to the weekend. -Ted Maider

Brandt Brauer Frick – Gobi – 2:05 p.m.

These guys sometimes perform with an ensemble, but it was just the three of them (Brandt, Brauer, and Frick) at Coachella. The setup was one member manning the electronic drums while the other two toyed with synths. It got a little samey after a while, but Brandt Brauer Frick‘s original and hands-on take on techno was a delight at two in the afternoon. -Harry Painter

Cold Cave – Mojave – 3:00 p.m.

It seemed strange to have a band like Cold Cave playing in the middle of the day, but their dark mystique and catchy electro tunes sure had a place at Coachella. People bobbed their heads and grooved (somehow, to such dark music), while vocalist Wesley Eisold belted out his cynical and twisted lyrics. Even after all these years, and a total genre swap, the guy still knows how to channel his anger through a musical performance. Plus, he got people to rock out in the heat to “Confetti”, easily one of the band’s most badass tracks. -Ted Maider

Photo by Ted Maider

Omar Rodríguez-López – Gobi- 3:15 p.m.

Titus Andronicus conflicting with Omar Rodríguez-López so early in the day was a crime. Especially since he brought out The Mars Volta bandmate Cedric Bixler-Zavala to accompany him on vocals. You got basically the same thing you’d get from a Mars Volta show, at about half speed — much easier on the ears, actually. It would be nice to hear the guitarist without Bixler-Zavala one of these days, but no one is complaining about an unadvertised Mars Volta appearance. -Harry Painter

Skrillex – Sahara – 3:30 p.m.

The things one has to put up with to watch a damn hip-hop show at Coachella; with Odd Future coming on next, getting to the tent during Skrillex was a must. The former From First to Last frontman has some bangers, but whoever told him bringing out a nu-metal band was a good idea was yanking his chain. Yes, Jonathan Davis and Munky of Korn came out to do whatever it was they did, and helped Skrillex become the first in a long series of catastrophic Friday acts. Didn’t this used to be the dance tent? Wait, scratch that. Korn at Coachella? Really? -Harry Painter

Titus Andronicus – Outdoor Theatre – 3:30 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

When I learned Titus Andronicus was going to play the Outdoor, at three in the afternoon, I thought the Coachella planning team had just about lost their fucking minds. Civil war punk rock songs in sweltering heat are enough to take you back to the feelings of the soldiers alone, but Titus did what they do best…they shredded. Opening with “A More Perfect Union”, people embraced the punk and heat, kicking up dust and a flesh storm that sort of went out of control. Regardless, the band marched on, rocking out tracks like “No Future Part III: Escape From No Future”, “Richard II” and, of course, “Titus Andronicus” (complete with harmonica). Yes, it was hot, but lead singer Patrick Stickles encouraged us to drink our electrolytes, so we could rock as hard as he. -Ted Maider

Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All – Sahara – 4:30 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Despite Odd Future‘s lack of danceability, it was the only tent that was going to be able to hold the flow of people. Still, if you’re going to take over the beloved Sahara, you’d better bring it — and Tyler and crew were not up to the challenge. Odd Future has put out some promising material, but you wouldn’t be able to tell if Coachella was your first experience with the group. OFWGKTA came out late in a burst of energy, but forgot to rap. Those who lament Wu-Tang’s live show don’t know how bad it can get; Odd Future’s formula was to scream lines, ignore the beat, and if one guy accidentally spoke over another, curse loudly to save face. Wu-Tang Clan? Please, at this point Odd Future’s live show is an unfunny, low-production Insane Clown Posse show. -Harry Painter

Cee-Lo Green – Coachella Stage – 4:50 p.m.

At Coachella, there are five stages, and if one act disappoints, there are always other options. Unfortunately, leaving Odd Future for the main stage was like moving from Port-au-Prince to Tokyo. Cee-Lo Green was even tardier than Odd Future, and by the time he came on at 5:30 p.m., the crowd had already let out several loud waves of boos. Cee-Lo apologized, offering the excuse that he had “just landed.”

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Okay, fair’s fair. However, Cee-Lo, who arrived not in a flamboyant peacock outfit or a Star Wars getup but a white tee, made things worse by bitching about his set time, then waiting two minutes for his Josie and the Pussycats knockoff backing band to play an uncoordinated “Iron Man” riff before finally singing a note. His set was half-assed, and his bassist was truly a disaster; she was off-key the whole afternoon, ruining both “Crazy” and the set closer, a comically mailed-in “Fuck You”. To his credit, Cee-Lo apologized and took the blame, before inciting a short-lived “Don’t Stop Believing” sing-along. Still, it’s going to take repeat views of that Grammy performance to wash off the stink. -Harry Painter

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart –  Mojave – 5:20 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

“Oh my God, can I just say I am having the best time at Coachella right now?” – Peggy Wang (keys)

With a great new album, and a true appreciation for the Coachella vibe, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart had no reason to be as depressed as their music makes them out to be. Sparking the early evening rays, the band came out looking hip yet excited. It wasn’t necessarily the show to catch if you wanted to jump-start your weekend, as most people sat longingly and watched their (beautiful) distortion wail, but it worked. When the band dished out a couple new tracks off their latest effort, Belong, including the new single “Heart in your Heartbreak”, people shuffled their feet and danced like playful children. It was happy, but that’s all. -Ted Maider

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Gobi – 5:45 p.m.

Did I mention Friday didn’t work out so well? Ariel Pink and his band, but mostly just Ariel Pink, contributed to a hell of an afternoon with one of the funniest meltdowns in memory. Was it a joke? It appeared so. The show was going rather well, but Pink inexplicably stormed off stage after cutting off a song with, “I know you all hate me, but we’re going to stop playing now, so, sorry.” He shortly rejoined his Haunted Graffiti, all smiles, and finished the set — but half of the time, he stood there dancing awkwardly and let the band do the work. The chorus of “Round and Round” is actually rather soothing without a lead vocal part. -Harry Painter

Lauryn Hill – Coachella Stage – 6:05 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Considering the train wrecks, you’d think watching Lauryn Hill, the reigning queen of unapologetic derailments, had zero chance of making the day any better. Then again, she wrote “Doo Wop”. Hill’s set worked out for a little bit; “Everything Is Everything” sounded okay. Then Hill proceeded to ruin “Lost Ones” beyond all recognition — okay, one more chance. Hill’s backup singers handled all the hard-to-reach notes on “Ex Factor”, which Hill sang with none of the passion that made it great over a decade ago. That was it for me; I like “Doo Wop” just the way it is, thank you. -Harry Painter

YACHT – Mojave – 6:25 p.m.

YACHT was a band many people were talking about prior to the festival. When it came time to see them though, it was quite surreal. They gave shout outs to disco-punk gods LCD Soundsystem, asked us if we believed in aliens, and played their brand of atmospheric dance tunes that went over quite well with the tent crowd. Tracks like “Dystopia” had the crowd chanting “The Earth is on fire,” and when they performed their hit, “Psychic City”, the whole place went bananas. -Ted Maider

Interpol – Coachella Stage – 7:25 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

In 2007, it was Interpol, not Kings of Leon or even Arcade Fire, that everyone thought would be headlining next time around. Instead, Interpol was demoted for Coachella 2011, having lost a bassist (or two) and popular momentum. New bassist Brad Truax filled in okay, although a timing slip-up during “Evil” was a drag; it didn’t help that the bass was way too high in the mix. Otherwise, Interpol went through the motions on hits like “Slow Hands”, “The Heinrich Maneuver”, and “Obstacle 1″, but never acted like they belonged at night on a big stage. New song “Lights”, backed up by some animation from David Lynch, was the surprise highlight. -Harry Painter

Cut Copy – Mojave – 8:35 p.m.

Cut Copy‘s popularity this year is reminiscent of Hot Chip’s popularity the first year they played Coachella. It’s only getting bigger from here. Cut Copy wasn’t in the Sahara, but the band turned that audience into a Sahara crowd. Dan Whitford’s vocals aren’t very flexible, so you have to really like that sort of thing to get into it. -Harry Painter

The Black Keys – Coachella Stage – 8:40 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

It was drummer Patrick Carney’s birthday, so the surrounding members of the now non-duo The Black Keys made note to rock extra hard. To kick off the set, older numbers like “Thickfreakness” took precedence, but soon enough newer material off of last year’s Brothers – “Tighten Up” and “Next Girl”, namely – rolled out. Carney celebrated his birthday in style, as the band thrashed about like dying sharks, absolutely annihilating their instruments in the process. The problem? The sound was unnecessarily low, causing the crowd to engage in a “Turn it up!” chant. This performance had gold all over it, but sadly, it was reduced to silver. -Ted Maider

Beardyman – Oasis Dome – 9:00 p.m.

I knew he was a beatboxer, I came to watch him beatbox, and when I got there I didn’t know he was beatboxing. Beardyman is pretty good. -Harry Painter

The Aquabats – Mojave –  9:45 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Oh! The fury of The Aquabats! For a while now, Coachella attendees have wanted the famous ska team, known for their comic book gimmicks, to grace to Polo Fields with a show. Finally, they obliged, by delivering the goods complete with giant inflatable enemies, a superhero video intro, and evil cavemen. And it helped that they played jams like “BFF”, “Pizza Day”, and “The Cat with 2 Heads” to cause a dedicated, partly costumed crowd to rock out. Not to mention an on-stage appearance from Danny DeVito, as well as two members of the Kings of Leon, who claimed to “love the Aquabats” before rushing off. -Ted Maider

Kings of Leon – Coachella Stage – 9:55 p.m.

Unlike Muse, who took about as long as Kings of Leon to finally hit it big in America, the Followills don’t care much for relying on impressive visuals. There was smoke and there were lights, but beyond that, Kings of Leon put on a bare-bones rock (okay, soft-rock) show. There’s certainly something admirable about that; however, people expect something from a headline act, whether it’s visuals, unbelievable musicianship, or just an outstanding physical performance. The band has been through this fest-headlining routine in both Europe and America now, but none of these traits were evident at Coachella. 

They didn’t feel like Kings of anything, but they delivered a well-constructed set friendly to longtime fans. Caleb declared the band was “tired of playing the new stuff,” just before diving into a one-two punch of hits “Molly’s Chambers” and “The Bucket”. There was a healthy selection off Aha Shake Heartbreak and Youth and Young Manhood, but all the new songs that you’re sick of made appearances as well. Predictably, Kings of Leon saved “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” for the end, before closing with Because of the Times track “Black Thumbnail”.

The first of two headliners who weren’t really headliners put on a better show than the indie crowd will admit. Plus, they came out to “Bitches Ain’t Shit”, which is a truly unhateable move. Still, Kings of Leon deserve some of that hate — even with plenty of old songs, those new ballads are just too much. Now that they’re officially rock stars with a bunch of American hits, maybe it’s time to rock again so that next time the Followills play Coachella, the fellas can have some fun, too. -Harry Painter

The Chemical Brothers – Coachella Stage – 11:40 p.m.

Photo by Harry Painter

Goldenvoice had to do this…a main stage Chemical Brothers show to wrap up day one. The “brothers” were 45 minutes late (thus the brothers never truly got to “work it out”), and the candy crowd certainly hates to wait. But, as soon as the opening of “Galvanize” came over the speakers, everybody in the crowd went absolutely ape shit. Nobody stopped dancing for the entire hour and 20 minutes they played. Everyone was treated to their favorite gems like “Star Guitar”, “Hey Boy Hey Girl,”  and the new hit, “Swoon”. When the plug was pulled on them around 1:20 a.m., everyone begged them to play one more song, but instead Ed and Tom waved good night, and day one was officially over. Maybe next year, we’ll get Daft Punk. -Ted Maider

Saturday, April 16th

EE – Gobi – 11:50 a.m.

EE was one of the artists collaborating with The Creators Project, which to almost everyone watching meant nothing. To the layperson, it meant the first act in the Gobi was a Korean indie pop group with a DJ and b-boys, and lots of colorful, crazy outfits and good photos. Swag? -Harry Painter

Photo by Ted Maider

The Joy Formidable – Gobi – 12:55 p.m.

Every year at Coachella, there’s at least one band that comes on before three in the afternoon and turns out to be one of the best acts at the festival. The Joy Formidable was that band this year. The three-piece from Wales plays blistering, crunchy, indie rock with a hint of shoegaze, and boasts a winner in frontwoman Ritzy Bryan (winning name too). After demolishing the tent and inciting way too much applause for the time slot, the band went old school and broke its equipment. It seemed kind of out of place, but that’s because rock and roll is dead, right? -Harry Painter

The Twelves – Sahara – 1:30 p.m.

The Brazilian duo that is The Twelves has garnered praise for its remixes, some of which the duo showed off early Friday in the Sahara. Many a dance was to be had to versions of Metric’s “Help, I’m Alive”, Daft Punk’s “Aerodynamic”, and the infectious “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You” by The Black Kids. -Harry Painter

The Tallest Man on Earth – Gobi – 3:00 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

It was pretty hot at this point in the day, and the music of Kristian Matsson was the perfect cure for everyone’s exhaustion. The solo performer arrived on stage for sound check, and jammed the whole time, making up songs on the spot just to tease the crowd. When it finally came time for his set to begin, he had already been playing for 10 minutes. People in the crowd squirted water at one another, as he soothed us with tracks like “King of Spain”, “Troubles Will Be Gone” (afterward, he assured us they would), and “You’re Going Back”. All by himself, he hypnotized that crowd to the point that despite how hot and sweaty they may have been, they really didn’t want to leave. -Ted Maider

Foals – Mojave – 3:15 p.m.

Several text messages and a packed-to-capacity Mojave tent indicated that Foals clearly had something radical going on for their set. Upon my arrival, the entire tent was bouncing furiously as the U.K. export banged their instruments in a fit of dance-punk fury. They had the entire tent on its feet jumping in unison to gnarly cuts of “Spanish Sahara” and “Two Steps, Twice”, all while expelling loads of energy. Exciting. -Ted Maider

Gogol Bordello – Coachella Stage- 3:35 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Everyone’s favorite gypsy punks concentrated mostly on Trans-Continental Hustle material, but it never really makes a difference what Gogol Bordello plays. Every time, you are going to get a) a Sean Connery-looking fellow with a fiddle, b) accordion solos, and c) approximately nine people on stage looking to give you the best show of the year, if not your life. Eugene Hutz, one of the best frontmen in rock, shirtless with red wine dripping down his chest, succeeded in getting all the Erykah Badu fans to scream “Break the Spell” like they meant it. That’s how you do a show. -Harry Painter

Delta Spirit – Outdoor Theatre – 4:05 p.m.

Talk about a wrong stage at the wrong time. Delta Spirit were giving it their all at the Outdoor Theatre, but this did not coincide with what other people were feeling. Songs were met with dull cheers, as the crowd lay around sluggishly watching the band play fairly new material. If this show had been going on in a tent, they might have received a better reaction. As it was, people looked too fatigued to enjoy the Long Beach quintet. -Ted Maider

Photo by Harry Painter

Cage the Elephant – Outdoor Theatre – 5:20 p.m.

As the sun started to wither, and people began to rehydrate, Cage the Elephant called to arms. Immediately upon hitting the first notes of “In One Ear”, the audience rushed the stage like a rogue wave. This set the tone for the whole performance. Singer Matthew Shultz arrived sporting a red sundress, and ran around the stage, periodically jumping into the crowd (this clearly pissed off security, but hey, he’s there to put on a show). The band rocked through a number of its songs, and got a crowd sing-along for its gem, “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked”.  To finalize everything, Shultz brought loads of patrons on stage to dance with him as they knocked out “Sabertooth Tiger”. Random note: Throughout the duration of the show, fighter jets above wrote Lady Gaga lyrics in the sky. -Ted Maider

Broken Social Scene – Coachella Stage – 6:05 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Canada’s second most-popular indie rock band cued the setting of Friday’s Coachella sun with some of the fan favorites which have become standard in Broken Social Scene‘s sets: “Texico Bitches”, “7/4 Shoreline”, “Anthems for a 17-Year-Old Girl”, and “Meet Me in the Basement”. Lisa Lobsinger came to help out beginning with “Anthems”. It was low-key in the way only BSS can do low-key and it was spectacular as always. And those horns on set closer “Meet Me in the Basement”, the horns from heaven that erupted for an extended finale, they never get old. -Harry Painter

Elbow – Mojave – 7:00 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

I’ve never been one to rationalize a band’s status here by pointing out that they headline arenas in the U.K. — what terrible logic — but Elbow really deserves more exposure here. That they can only fill up a quarter of the Mojave is a sign of the direction of Coachella’s fanbase; bands like Elbow, Wire, and The London Suede would’ve filled their tents three years ago. Still, as empty as it was, Elbow was not taken aback and performed to high standards. Frontman Guy Garvey led the crowd in clap-alongs for nearly every song, and displayed multi-instrumental capabilities to complement his vocal talents. The band, which has previously performed its 2009 album The Seldom Seen Kid with the BBC Concert Orchestra, was accompanied by a string section for Coachella. -Harry Painter

Bright Eyes – Coachella Stage – 7:20 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Conor Oberst returned to Coachella. This time, he brought his famed unit, Bright Eyes. Nevertheless, the crowd spent the hour buzzing about. What moved them even more was how hard Oberst actually rocked some of his finest tracks. He dedicated “We Are Nowhere and It’s Now” to all those who randomly came to Coachella, just as the sun dipped behind the mountains for a quick, eye-soothing natural occurrence. Soon after, the stage turned into a trippy light show for everyone, which highlighted tracks like “Approximate Sunlight” and “Old Soul Song”, the latter of which might have been the most beautiful moment on the Polo Field that day. In their 50-minute set, Bright Eyes captured the spirit of Coachella perfectly, as music and nature aligned with one another for one amazing set. -Ted Maider

Shpongle – Sahara – 7:50 p.m.

Photo by Harry Painter

I’m not sure the Sahara tent has ever been so empty at night; but then, One Day as a Lion was sparsely attended in the Mojave, and Elbow filled the Mojave to about 25 percent capacity at best. Welcome to the emerging career of Mumford and Sons, ladies and gentlemen. It’s a shame, though; The Shpongletron Experience is not something that people will be able to see whenever they like, and it’s worth seeing. Especially if mushrooms are involved. Shpongle deejays atop a giant, glowing, psychedelic fixture, complete with lights and Eastern religious imagery, and there are dancing girls and psychedelic trance. What’s not to like? -Harry Painter

One Day as a Lion – Mojave – 8:15 p.m.

After Zack de la Rocha showed up to the Empire Polo Field with Rage Against the Machine four years ago, people were expecting big things for the band’s future. When big things didn’t happen, out came a little five-song EP by One Day as a Lion. Nothing happened again, and now we’re here. And really, it’s not so bad. Along with Death from Above 1979, De La Rocha and Jon Theodore (still incredible behind the kit) may be the only bands ever to incite mosh pits with a dinky keyboard — and they were both at the same festival! De La Rocha doesn’t seem to rap anymore, which would be okay if he didn’t overuse that reverb effect on every song. Still, it’s such a relief to see De La Rocha can branch out and do something that doesn’t suck, unlike certain other Rage Against the Machine members. -Harry Painter

Big Audio Dynamite – Outdoor Theatre – 9:05 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Mick Jones’ other band — not Gorillaz; his other other band — sounds awfully dated in 2011, just as dated as Duran Duran. But damned if they aren’t a riot. Big Audio Dynamite played songs your mother won’t remember like “E=MC2″, the BAD theme song “BAD”, and what Jones described as a “country western hip-hop ballad” (not far off), “The Battle of All Saints Road”. It’s not mandatory viewing, but any big fan of The Clash would get something out of a BAD set. -Harry Painter

Animal Collective – Coachella Stage – 9:45 p.m.

And the award for Best Visual Performance goes to….

The thing about Coachella that truly sets it apart from other festivals is the ability to watch bands grow. When Animal Collective played three years ago, they performed at one of the smallest stages…at the same time as Portishead. When they returned this year, with several new tracks and some classic cuts (“Summertime Clothes” finale, “Did You See the Words”), they brought with them the most spectacular visual show to grace the main stage this year. Flashes of color, creepy worm-like animations, and several large cubes loomed above their heads, making for one of the most unique sets of the weekend. This is the new age of psychedelic….and they are the leaders behind it. -Ted Maider

The London Suede – Mojave – 10:40 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Coachella wasn’t able to pick up Pulp, but it got the next best thing — the band known back home as Suede. Only when you surround a Britpop mainstay like Suede with a bunch of 2010s indie bands do you realize how long it’s been since the ’90s. Suede got right back on the horse for its first U.S. show since reuniting, playing its heart out on favorites like “Animal Nitrate” and “Trash”, and closing with “Metal Mickey” and “Beautiful Ones”. Even without Bernard Butler, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if these guys stuck around for a while and made some green. They deserve it. -Harry Painter

Arcade Fire – Coachella Stage – 11:20 p.m.

“If you had told me in 2002 we’d be headlining Coachella with Animal Collective playing before us, I’d have told you that you were full of shit.” –Win Butler

In a career defining performance, the Arcade Fire proved via the Coachella ladder of success that they are officially one of the most important bands of our time. People furiously rushed the stage during set break, and camped out ruthlessly to wait for the band. Moments prior to their arrival, a series of odd Grindhouse trailers played, before the “feature presentation”. A timely female began singing about May, and I muttered “Month of May” under my breath. A split second later I was proven right, as the band vigorously launched into that one-chord intro, and immediately pulled the rug out from everybody’s feet.

Everyone sang, everyone danced, everyone screamed, and everyone was reduced to rubble by the show Arcade Fire put on. The band’s live performance has come so far, and this performance proved it. Win, Régine, and co. followed the hectic opener with “Rebellion (Lies)” that tugged at everyone to join in, various cuts from The Suburbs accompanied by imagery from their new film, and the most kickass version of “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” that resulted in crowd surfing and head-banging. Prior to their encore, they launched into “Wake Up”, which ended with several hundred white inflatable balls containing colored lights inside to fall from the stage. The crowd was covered to the point where they could no longer see.

To bring us back to life, the band returned for an encore of three more tracks, including the most epic finale version of “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”, wrapping up one of Coachella’s most well-planned days to date. Arcade Fire has come so far, from playing an afternoon slot on the Outdoor Theatre to headlining, and showing 60,000 people that it is the best band on the planet right now. This is their apex; enjoy it as much as they do. -Ted Maider

Sunday, April 17th

Delorean – Gobi – 2:00 p.m.

The Ibiza revival band from Spain, Delorean, is always a fun catch. Ekhi Lopetegi and co. are top-notch performers, and turned a half-empty tent into a full tent within the span of 40 minutes. Lopetegi’s vocals are weak live, however, and sound nothing like the recordings. Delorean would be a must-see event if he could work on that aspect of Delorean’s shows. Until then, they’re a see-it-if-you-know-what’s-good-for-you event. -Harry Painter

MEN – Mojave – 2:20 p.m.

Le Tigre member JD Samson is a hell of a frontwoman/man/whatever and makes for 90 percent of MEN‘s stage presence. The other 10? A combination of the trio of interconnected helmets, Bret “The Hitman” Hart pink and black jumpsuits, and lyrics like “I’m gonna fuck my friends.” MEN covered Bikini Kill’s (that would be, of course, Kathleen Hanna of Le Tigre’s old band) “Double Dare Ya” to end a raucous, fun set. However, let the “Are We Not Devo” jokes commence. -Harry Painter

Wiz Khalifa – Coachella Stage – 3:45 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Wiz Khalifa‘s song “When I’m Gone” begins with “They say all I rap about is bitches and champagne.” Not true — his lyrics unsubtly cover the always-popular territory of cannabis as well, don’t you know. As a matter of fact, Khalifa spent as much time talking about weed as performing Sunday. At Coachella, on the main stage at 4 p.m., that is a problem. It’s too damn hot to pay mind to a guy who lip-syncs to uninspired Empire of the Sun samples, has his DJ cue up extended Nate Dogg tributes, and whose hype man finishes most of his lines for him. And he must have burned five minutes of his 50 allotted advertising Chuck Taylor shoes and his new album Rolling Papers (it’s out now in stores and on iTunes, by the way).

He had some moments, though. He played a few solid cuts off Rolling Papers in addition to the older stuff, and an a capella performance of his verse from his Snoop Dogg collaboration “That Good” was probably the best 30 seconds of hip-hop at Coachella. -Harry Painter

Nas and Damian Marley – Coachella Stage – 5:00 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley was no rookie to the Polo Field, but with Nas, they brought a whole new kind of heat. As the Rasta flag was waved high, Nas spit fire, while Damian Marley and his band pulled the crowd to their feet and thus a dance party ensued. Of course, no Marley show is complete without a cover of his father’s work (“Could You Be Loved”) which sparked good vibes and several joints. But at the same time, the hip-hop crowd’s needs were met while Nas performed cuts like “One Mic”, and a (for some reason) no-Lauryn Hill version of “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)”. What really rocked though was when Marley and Nas worked together on duets “Nah Mean” and “As We Enter”, as it brought on a whole new kind of party to the main stage on Sunday. -Ted Maider

Death from Above 1979 – Coachella Stage – 6:10 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

As excited as the crowd appeared, there was a lingering fear to this potentially riotous set. As soon as Death from Above 1979 started with “Turn it Out”, however, the fears became reality, and a huge hole for moshing ripped open amidst the crowd. It was difficult to breathe, several were pushed around violently, yet everyone screamed the lyrics. While people were hoping they’d be on a smaller stage for more mayhem, the crowd didn’t seem to have a problem stomping the crap out of each other on the biggest stage for one of the most intense shows of the weekend. The Toronto duo roared through “Romantic Rights”, a terrifying version of “Pull Out”, and even a sing-along of “Little Girl” to make it the deadliest show of the whole weekend. Blood was certainly spilled; it’s just that this time it was that of the fans, and not a police horse. -Ted Maider

Trentemøller – Mojave – 7:10 p.m.

Backed by a live band — and fronted at the beginning by a cage of, well, ribbons — Danish producer Trentemøller laid out an onslaught of arpeggios and downtempo ambient music to an early Sunday night crowd. Trentemøller was followed in the Mojave Sunday by Ratatat, Leftfield, and The Presets, all of which we missed. And that’s why we hate Coachella. -Harry Painter

The National – Outdoor Theatre – 7:25 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

The National is so appropriate to close the Outdoor Theatre at sundown it would almost be an insult to give them the exposure of a later Coachella Stage slot. Flawless as usual, The National played through the festival set it has been touring with since High Violet came out (two off Alligator, two or three off Boxer, the rest off High Violet). It would be nice to get an old song here and there, and “Abel” does not count, Mr. Dessner. The National invited Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and fellow Coachella band Gayngs to play guitar on “Terrible Love”. -Harry Painter

Duran Duran – Coachella Stage – 7:25 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Frontman Simon Le Bon made it clear that he, along with his legendary unit Duran Duran, were more excited about playing Coachella than anyone else. While there wasn’t a whole lot of talk about the Polo Field of them, they sure rounded up a large crowd on Sunday, proving to the world that after 30-something years the ’80s still prove cool. Every soul found rhythm during a spot-on rendition of “Hungry Like the Wolf”, including the drunken fans at the nearby beer garden, who chugged along as they danced about madly. In addition to the nightclub anthem, the band also dusted off classics like “Notorious”, dedicated “A View to Kill” (yes, the Bond song) to the late John Barry, and keyboardist Nick Rhodes took photos of the audience as they finally brought the house down with “Girls on Film”. Apparently, Coachella will always have a home for the ’80s. -Ted Maider

The Strokes – Coachella Stage – 8:55 p.m.

Sure, The Strokes shared the headlining slot on the bill with Kanye West, but everyone knew who the real headliner was, regardless of personal taste. The Strokes were second banana, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t earn their top billing. Playing a career-spanning set as well as five new songs, The Strokes continued their bid to re-endear themselves to the world at Coachella.

Plus some newcomers, as well. There were throngs of kids in the pit who couldn’t have been older than five or six when Is This It came out, waiting eagerly next to the 20-somethings who grew up on the likes of The Strokes and The White Stripes. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but hey, five years of inactivity can make you into a legend these days.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Anyway, young Strokes fans, old Strokes fans, and Kanye fans alike were all bouncing by the time the opening riff of “I Can’t Win” tore into the field. The Strokes play the songs people want to hear, so outside of the Angles cuts, it was all hits from there. The sing-alongs manifested throughout the whole set, but were most prominent for “Last Nite”, “Reptilia”, and “Under Cover of Darkness”. The only slow moments were the new wave revival tune “Games” and fellow Angles track “Gratisfaction”.

Julian Casablancas was uncharacteristically chipper; the random trucker hat he was wearing along with his leather jacket and shades might have had something to do with it. He made fun of Duran Duran (“Was that a flute solo I heard? Just checking.”) and more energetic rock frontmen (“Generic lead singer-speak: You motherfuckers ready?!”). This kind of humor lasted throughout the night and it was nice to see all of them in good spirits. -Harry Painter

Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77 –  Sahara – 9:35 p.m.

The techno-metal masters of insanity played Sunday night to a very rowdy and visually nutty Sahara tent. The noise that the Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77 call music was accompanied by a light show that really took things to a whole other level. But it was the Beetroot’s craziness that was getting this crowd hopped up. While I only was able to catch the end of their set, what I saw totally freaked me out…and now I fear the assault the Death Crew 77 could possibly do to our ears. -Ted Maider

PJ Harvey – Outdoor Theatre – 9:45 p.m.

Photo by Harry Painter

It was very hard to leave PJ Harvey‘s set for Kanye West, which was obviously the point, those evil bastard schedule monkeys. It’s a tragedy that there’s ever something more important than PJ Harvey going on at the same time, but such is Conflictchella. She was scheduled to leave her stage around the time he took his, but Harvey’s Outdoor Theatre-closing set ran well into the third or fourth Kanye song, which was disastrous for the stage conflict but awesome for Harvey fans. Harvey played mostly songs off Let England Shake, but gave oldies like “Meet Ze Monsta” and “Down by the Water” some life. -Harry Painter

Kanye West – Coachella Stage – 10:30 p.m.

Mr. West claimed his Coachella closing set, something of a redemption show after Swiftgate and a year of gay fish jokes, was his “most important show since [his] mom died,” and he backed up this claim by dedicating it to her and even closing with “Hey Mama”.

So how’d he do?

Mama should be proud. Sure, he didn’t bring out Rihanna or Jay-Z or Nas or Ludacris or Talib Kweli or Die Antwoord. Sure, there were some ups and downs and some kinks that need to be worked out. But by and large, Kanye West proved Sunday he deserves and can handle a major headlining spot.

West landed a first at Coachella, dare I say a one-up on Prince — he was delivered to the Coachella Stage on a giant crane as he carefully spit out the words to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy opener “Dark Fantasy”, accompanied by Justin Vernon, who had a busy weekend. When he finally touched ground, he quickly broke out “Power” (a song he claimed he thought about performing at Coachella as soon as he wrote it) and early hit “Jesus Walks”. His set, as expected, was made up almost entirely of hits, from “Diamonds from Sierra Leone”, “All Falls Down”, and “Through the Wire” to later singles like “Stronger”, “Heartless”, and last fall’s omnipresent banger “Monster” (fucking hands were seen at the concert). The climactic combination of “Runaway”, with guest Pusha-T, and “Lost in the World”, with Vernon again, was simply stunning.

The show was as much performance art as music; West won the more-people-on-stage-than-Arcade-Fire award by having on the whole team of ballerinas from the “Runaway” video back for a live rendition of that creepy choreography. There were costume changes, props, and most importantly, lots and lots of pyro. He overdid it on that front; by the middle of the show, there had been so much pyro it had long since shed its intended effect.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Let’s face it: As West admitted during his little speech about 808s and Heartbreak, he can’t sing for shit. Which is why it was a good call to throw the three cuts off that album in the middle, so as not to detract from the flow. Still, he can’t sing for shit, and he made it worse by attempting these bizarre diva vocal breaks as if he were Christina Aguilera. “Love Lockdown” sounded more like a poetry reading at open mic night than a hip-hop concert. The night ended with more embarrassment for everyone except Kanye as he left us hanging with that whole “mamamam-m-mama” bit from “Hey Mama”, and no encore even when the crowd demanded one.

Still, he’s pretty good at hiding the weaknesses and highlighting the strengths. He has surprisingly good breath control, especially after a show just under two hours; he knows how to pace himself. He’s a born entertainer, as everyone knows, and for better or for worse concentrated on performing first and rapping second. Sure, there had to be some lingering disappointment after West closed such a high-energy, hit-filled set with an ode to his dead mother. But the two hours leading up to it earned him an excuse to play that song, and who are we kidding, Kanye will do whatever the hell he wants anyway. He’ll do it at Coachella and he’ll do it at Wrigley Field. -Harry Painter

Did you like the videos? Feel like you could do it yourself? You can! With a Sony Bloggie Touch HD, the festival’s yours for the keeping! Then again, you could always try and win one, too.

Gallery by Debi Del Grande

Our writers couldn’t make it everywhere, but photographer Debi Del Grande sure did. Her eyes went all over Polo Field, and now you, the reader, get to benefit from them.

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The countdown to Coachella 2011 is just three days, and while attendees are still waiting for set times to be revealed, those unfortunate people without tickets (or who have fake clasps) can begin planning their weekend. As it has been for the last several years, Coachella will be streaming a portion of this year’s festivities on the web. Update: The webcast schedule has been revealed! Among the many scheduled highlights: Kanye West, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, Death From Above 1979, PJ Harvey, The Black Keys, The National, Big Audio Dynamite, Duran Duran, The New Pornographers, The Kills, Empire of the Sun, Lauryn Hill, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Erykah Badu, Broken Social Scene, Chromeo, Titus Andronicus, Ratatat, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

The whole thing will be streamed at Coachella’s YouTube channel, and you can check out the schedule below. (All times are PDT.)

Sunday
Channel 1
04:00PM – Wiz Khalifa
05:00PM – Nas & Damian Marley
06:10PM – Death from Above 1979
07:25PM – The National
08:30PM – Ratatat
08:55PM – The Strokes
10:30PM – Kanye West

Channel 2
04:00PM – Fun.
05:55PM – Fistful of Mercy
07:25PM – Duran Duran
08:35PM – Chromeo
09:45PM – PJ Harvey
11:10PM – She Wants Revenge

Channel 3
02:20PM – MEN
03:50PM – Angus & Julia Stone
04:45PM – HEALTH
06:05PM – Best Coast
06:55PM – Foster the People

It what will be his first Canadian performance in a decade, Eminem will headline this year’s Osheaga, set for July 29-31 in Montreal’s Parc Jean-Drapeau. Other notable acts include Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Death Cab For Cutie, The Flaming Lips, who will perform The Soft Bulletin in its entirety, The Tragically Hip, the recently reunited Death From Above 1979, and Bright Eyes.

A slew of indie favorites are also confirmed, including Kid Cudi, Ratatat, Beirut, Crystal Castles, MSTRKRFT, The Mountain Goats, Fucked Up, White Lies, Eels, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Shad, Twin Shadow, Smith Westerns, PS I Love You, The Joy Formidable, Tokyo Police Club, Jamie xx, Sia, Braids, Mother Mother, and The Low Anthem.

Rounding out the bill are Bassnectar, City and Colour, Sam Roberts Band, Bran Van 3000, Yoav, The Sounds, Hey Rosetta!, Anna Calvi, Lights, Robot Koch, Shad, Manchester Orchestra, Jimmy Hunt, Galaxie, The Luyas, Elephant Stone, High Dials, Passwords, Jesuslesfilles, and Typhoon.

A limited number of early bird passes (priced at $197.50 CA) will go on sale beginning Friday, April 15th. After that allotment sells out, the price will rise to $217.50 CA. Early bird reserved seating passes will also be available for $349.50 CA, with the final price set at $369.50 CA.

The daily lineup will be announced on Tuesday, April 19th, and single day tickets go on sale Thursday, April 21st.

As in years past, Osheaga will proceed its stand alone festival with the concert series, Osheaga in the City, featuring bands and DJs in some of Montreal’s legendary club venues. These shows will be announced shortly.

When you walk into a store full of items you love, there’s always that thought in the back of your mind to do whatever you want. That’s what winds up happening in The Pains of Being Pure At Heart‘s latest music video. While the employees of a music store rock out a little, they’re soon stopped by the strict manager. So they do the next best thing and live their rock star dreams through their customers.

“Heart In Your Heartbreak” is from the band’ second album, Belong.

Directed by: Mike Luciano
Edited by: Dan Devine & Mike Luciano

Music Videos:

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – “Heart In Your Heartbreak” – The ever-talented staff of Guitar Galaxy teaches patrons how to really rock out, all while their no-nonsense boss thinks otherwise.

Foo Fighters – “Rope” – We finally get the throwback video on C1!

Acrylics ft. Caroline Polachek – “Sparrow Song” – Homage to the early days of music videos (there is even old school VHS scratching at the beginning).

K.Flay – “Less Than Zero” – K.Flay reps the Bay Area hard with her brand of emo-rap and video shot all over the great city of San Francisco.

ASKA – “Almost There” – ASKA wanders the countryside, complete with damaged film stock from the 1960s.

Davila 666 – “Esa Nena Nunca Regreso” – Goths and hippies dance together at a party where the theme was clearly culture clash.

Documentary:

Take Away Show #100 – Soema Montenegro (Part 3) – In the third installment of this documentary, the haunting songstress Soema Montenegro roams the city streets, putting all her music on public display in some pretty odd places.

Don’t Forget…

– Want a constant stream of musical goodness? Check out our Channel, featuring over 30 music videos, several short films, and other nifty clips, all crammed together in one non-stop barrage of visual and aural stimulation.

- Social networking is a way of life, so follow us at @cluster1tv and on Facebook

– Want to know what went down at SXSW this year? You know you do. With that in mind, we put together a little recap of the festivities. And what about news coverage for that week? No worries. We’ve taken care of that, too.

– A Perfect Circle will embark on a massive North American tour this summer.

– Eddie Vedder detailed his forthcoming solo record and announced a string of summer tour dates.

– A brand new Fleet Foxes single called “Battery Kinzie” hit the airwaves.

– Cults may not have a proper album out yet, but they did drop another track this week.

– Toy, a long-lost David Bowie LP, leaked online.

– TV on the Radio put out an awesome music video.

– Guess what? More Record Store Day releases. Did I mention the titles in pdf format?

– And what would one of these recap posts be without a Foo Fighters update? The group posted the screening schedule for their forthcoming documentary.

– Justin Vernon revealed that the second Bon Iver LP is scheduled for a June release.

– Dubstepper extraordinaire Burial is back after long four years with new material.

– The last of Panda Bear‘s pre-Tomboy singles series became available.

– Hot on the heels of Angles, The Strokes are already gearing up for their next album another album next month. They also killed it on Letterman.

– Radiohead announced plans to release a free newspaper. (No, not another free album. Sorry.)

– Tom Waits was finally inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame.

– The Flaming Lips and Neon Indian came together for an exclusive 12-inch single, which features four strangely titled tracks.

– This might not come as a shock to most of you, but Mercury Records has decided to pull the plug on physical singles.

– Pitchfork Music Festival announced its second round of lineup additions.

– The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are back with their sophomore effort, Belong. You can read Daniel Koren’s review by clicking here.

– What exactly is a review for a Britney Spears album doing on our site? Does it matter? Check out David Buchanan’s thoughts on her latest album.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is far from alternative rock; it’s a nostalgic album soaked in reverb and recorded with a drum machine rather than an actual drummer, reeking of that bedroom indie pop candescence. When the band announced that their sophomore full-length would be produced and mixed by two of the greatest 90′s rock icons, needless to say the entire hipster community was a tad bewildered. Supporters of the group would fear that gargantuan producers like Flood and Alan Moulder (PJ Harvey, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins) would alter the band’s aesthetic and result in a sound unlike the heart-soaked jangles that comprised their debut. Fear not, devoted fans, for Belong, though certainly louder and bolder than its predecessor, is still indubitably Pains, a natural progression that finds them continuing to ponder heartaches, dreams, and love affairs while displaying a confidence and maturity that hitherto did not seem possible.

Belong opens with the title track, a sure ode to Smashing Pumpkins circa Siamese Dream, frontman Kip Berman presenting themes of uncertainty and solitude as he did on the debut, but over noisier guitar riffs: “I know it is wrong, but we just don’t belong/In their eyes, in the sun, no we just don’t belong.” The track sets you up for the premise beset here; whereas, Pains of Being Pure at Heart was undoubtedly 80′s dream pop, Belong takes the best parts of that merged with a 90′s intricacy that screams alternative rock. Didn’t see that coming. The band’s coming-of-age motif and tales of perplexed teenage-hood continue to dwell. On “The Body”, Berman sings, “Tell me again what the body’s for/Cause I can’t feel it anymore/I want to hurt like it did before/We shouldn’t sin.”

Unlike their debut, the band had ample time to focus on songwriting and construction, experimenting with new repertoire during live performances, picking and choosing which songs captured what they were trying to achieve. It shows. Belong is not about Pains maturing into adulthood, nor do they desert their visions of startled innocence; the indie dream pop explication continues to play a very vital role here. The difference is the disparity between songs, the little, seemingly irrelevant sounds revisited anew. On their debut, the transitions between cuts were barely noticeable and at times, musically, it felt redundant. Belong forces you to notice, moving from the dangling indie pop of “My Terrible Friend” to a power jam like “Girls of 1000 Dreams”. Pains still cater to those indie kids in Brooklyn that fell in love with them back in 2007 when they released their self-titled EP, but certainly thanks to Flood and Alan Moulder’s involvement in shaping this record into something grander and livelier, their music reaches brand-new heights and can appeal to a much broader audience.

In a recent interview with Stereogum, Berman and Co. discussed Flood’s involvement and their aspirations for the new record. “We didn’t want him to make us sound like a ‘big’ rock band. We didn’t want to iron out all of our rough edges. In the end, he was really into the ways in which we are bad at playing music, and he kind of celebrated it. He wasn’t trying to make us U2. He just wanted to make us become a better version of ourselves — to get to the heart of what makes us good as a band. That was the coolest thing.” What’s striking about Belong is just that, how far away it is from their debut but how close and homogeneous it is all at once. They definitely sound like more of a band now, merging their despairing lyrics and indie pop demeanor with an alternative grunge that’s certainly worthy of praise, perhaps even more now than ever before.

Just like the “super moon” last week, last night was a rare superfecta of late night performances. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Duran Duran, Richard Ashcroft, and The Gaslight Anthem showed their new colors on their junkets last night, highlighting songs from their respective new releases.

It started off with The Pains of Being Pure At Heart attacking their new single “Heart in your Heartbreak” on Letterman. The lo-fi shoe-gaze Brooklyn outfit have filled out their sound and disposed of any flotsam for a sleek, aerodynamic rock song. It’s almost a little too delicious at times, but when they kick it at the bridge, it’s hard to not blame these kids for wanting to get out of the garage and add some fidelity to their pure pop noise. Check out the clip above; pick up the band’s new album Belong March 29th via Slumberland.

Elsewhere on the dial, Duran Duran played the title track from All You Need Is Now on Leno, The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft showcased his latest studio album, United Nation of Sound, with a performance of “Are You Ready?” on Fallon, and The Gaslight Anthem offered two American Slang tracks, “Bring It On” and “The Backseat”, on Kimmel. All videos are posted below and come courtesy of The Audio Perv.

Duran Duran – “All Your Need Is Now”

Richard Ashcroft – “Are You Ready?”

The Gaslight Anthem – “Bring It On”

The Gaslight Anthem – “The Backseat”

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will face off against the dreaded sophomore slump on March 29th when they unveil Belong via Slumberland. However, if the title track is much indication, then the New York outfit’s second LP won’t have trouble building on the successes of their 2009 self-titled debut. Flood and Alan Moulder — whose resumes make for awfully long Wikipedia entries — handled the production and mixing, and the title track hears the band creating a sweet, low-key facade that belies the giant beast of a heavy riff just underneath the surface. @Billy might even like it.

Compliments of Pitchfork, which also has an interview with the band, you can stream the track below. Further down is the band’s tour itinerary.

The Pains of Being Pure 2011 Tour Dates:
2/19 – St. Malo, FR @ La Route du Rock Festival
02/20 – Luxembourg, LU @ Exit 09
02/21 – Lille, FR @ L’Aeronef
02/22 – Cologne, DE @ MTC
02/24 – Berlin, DE @ Magnet
02/26 – Münster, DE @ Gleiss 22
02/27 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
03/01 – Kortrijk, BE @ De Kreun
03/03 – London, UK @ Kings College
03/10 – Denton, TX @ 35 Conferette
03/31 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
04/01 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat *
04/02 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle *
04/04 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club *
04/05 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl *
04/06 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree Cafe *
04/07 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks *
04/08 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s *
04/09 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s *
04/12 – Santa Fe, NM @ VFW *
04/13 – Tuscon, AZ @ Club Congress *^&
04/15 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/18 – Visalia, CA @ The Cellar Door *&
04/19 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall *&
04/20 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge *&
04/22 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile *
04/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club *
04/26 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall *
04/27 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall *
04/28 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall *
04/29 – Bloomington, IN @ Rhino’s *
04/30 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement *
05/02 – Milford, CT @ Daniel Street *
05/03 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *
05/06 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall *
09/09-13 – Oslo, NO @ Oya Festival

* = w/ Twin Shadow
^ = w/ Warpaint
& = w/ Catwalk

Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Kings of Leon, and The Strokes will head this year’s edition, set to take place from April 15-17. Other confirmed acts include The Chemical Brothers, PJ Harvey, Lauryn Hill, Duran Duran, Bright Eyes, The Black Keys, Animal Collective, The National, Interpol, Big Audio Dynamite, Death From Above 1979, and Killers frontman Brandon Flowers.

Also on the bill are Broken Social Scene, Leftfield, Erykah Badu, Robyn, Cee-Lo Green, Nas & Damian Marley, Chromeo, Cut Copy, Elbow, Mumford & Sons, Neon Trees, Jimmy Eat World, Wire, One Day As A Lion, Wiz Khalifa, Best Coast, The Swell Season, Gogol Bordello, Fistful of Mercy, Menomena, Titus Andronicus, Cage the Elephant, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Ratatat, OFF!, CSS, Crystal Castles, Klaxons, and The Kills.

Even more: Empire of the Sun, Jenny and Johnny, GAYNGS, The New Pornographers, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Tallest Man on Earth, Yelle, A-Trak, The Twelves, Caifanes, Magnetic Man, Paul van Dyk, Raphael Saadiq, Ellie Goulding, Boys Noize, The Presets, Warpaint, Flogging Molly, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Lil B, The Drums, and Odd Future.

Three-day passes ($269.00), along with camping passes ($75.00) will be available Friday, January 21st at 10:00AM PST. VIP and layaway packages are also available. Visit coachella.com for more details.

If the upcoming Surfer Blood/Trail of Dead tour is a match made in absurdity, then here’s one that should fit like a warm fingerless glove: indie-pop darlings The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are hitting the road with New Wave enthusiast Twin Shadow.

The joint tour will kick off April 1st in Washington, DC. From there, it’s gigs in New Orleans, LA, Sam Francisco, CA, Chicago, IL, and beyond before the whole thing winds down on May 6th in New York, NY. And much like the Surfer Blood/Trail of Dead outing, both acts will be hitting up Europe beforehand; TPOBPAH will have a brief run from mid-February to the beginning of March, while Twin Shadow will spend much of the beginning of the year across the pond. Is Europe a good place to practice beforehand because almost no one understands them?

Check out the confirmed dates for each tour below. TPOBPAH’s second LP, Belong, hits stores in late March via Slumberland Records.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart & Twin Shadow 2011 Tour Dates:
04/01 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
04/02 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
04/04 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club
04/05 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
04/06 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree Cafe
04/07 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
04/08 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s
04/09 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
04/12 – Santa Fe, NM @ VFW
04/18 – Visalia, CA @ The Cellar Door &
04/19 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall &
04/20 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge &
04/22 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
04/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
04/26 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
04/27 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
04/28 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
04/29 – Bloomington, IN @ Rhino’s
04/30 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement
05/02 – Milford, CT @ Daniel Street
05/03 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
05/06 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall

& = w/ Catwalk

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 2011 Tour Dates:
02/19 – St. Malo, FR @ La Route du Rock Festival
02/20 – Luxembourg, LU @ Exit 09
02/21 – Lille, FR @ L’Aeronef
02/22 – Cologne, DE @ MTC
02/24 – Berlin, DE @ Magnet
02/26 – Münster, DE @ Gleiss 22
02/27 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
03/01 – Kortrijk, BE @ De Kreun
03/03 – London, UK @ Kings College
03/31 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church

Twin Shadow 2011 Tour Dates:
01/11 – Montreal, Quebec @ La Sala Rossa
01/12 – Toronto, Ontario @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
01/14 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
01/15 – Cincinnati, OH @ Motr Pub
01/16 – Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
01/25 – London, UK @ The Lexington
01/26 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute
01/27 – Glasgow, UK @ Captains Rest
01/28 – Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK @ The Cluny
01/29 – Leeds, UK @ Cockpit
02/02 – Brest, FR @ La Carene
02/04 – Paris, FR @ Nouveau Casino
02/05 – Nijmegen, NL @ Merleyn
02/06 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
02/08 – Cologne, DE @ Studio 672
02/10 – Berlin, DE @ Comet Club
02/11 – Munich, DE @ Feierwerk/Kranhalle
02/12 – Vienna, AU @ Badeschiff
02/14 – Zurich, CH @ Plaza
02/15 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Kleine Zaal
02/16 – Brussels, BE @ AB
02/17 – Brighton, UK @ Audio
02/18 – Bristol, UK @ Cooler
02/19 – Dublin, UK @ Crawdaddy
02/21 – London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire *

* = w/ Warpaint

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are considered a buzz band through and through. Is it because they rose quickly in popularity through internet chatter and a Pitchfork Best New Music branding? Because this wouldn’t explain Weekend‘s status as a buzz band, whose reviews are strong and popularity increasing, without it reaching overwhelming levels and remaining on the fringe. So basically, a buzz band can be any band on their way up, because no matter how a band grows its audience, the help of word of mouth, news chatter, and favorable reviews are generally involved. Does this really just mean any new or young artist is a buzz band until they reach their creative peak? And is it all relative based on your music knowledge, geography, and taste?

After seeing these aforementioned groups buzz through the Echoplex in Echo Park, I returned home for the evening thinking that, well, they just seemed like a couple of really good bands. I brought a friend who hadn’t heard of either and he left fully satisfied with his decision to take-in the show. Nothing revolutionary was going on in the building, but the bands were not short on creativity. And talent. And most importantly, taste. Sure the internet seems to be telling us about new bands we need to hear with the frequency of ocean waves, and the truth is that some of it is uninspired and boring. Some might even be too difficult or complicated to enjoy. But to disregard a band based on the fact that people seem to be excited about it is silly, and to listening to these bands, who have a limited history and no basis for comparison, should be with reasonable expectations.

Take Weekend. The San Francisco trio recently released the quite good debut Sports, and any comparisons you hear to A Place To Bury Strangers are apt. They play hard and loud, with Joy Division and JAMC informing their melodies. They are a band that deserves attention, but are by no means near their apex. And this is where wrtiters might hyperbolize about the quality and others may feel let down when they actually hear Weekend and discover it is not the best album of the year. Classic albums like The Suburbs and My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy are rare and easy to recognize, and terrible albums are also plain as day. It’s the middle, where the majority of the music that writers cover lies, that all this confusion and hype and backlash comes from.

The three-band bill at the Echoplex was led-off with Sonny & the Sunsets, whom I suppose people would also consider a buzz band. They were fine. On one hand, their 60′s inspired pop sound was listenable and pleasant, and lead singer Sonny Smith offered entertaining and strange banter to keep the crowd entertained. On the other hand, they were boring and gimmicky, better suited as background music to smoke a cigarette to outside. It is competent music, and I’m sure some people will be looking for a bubblegum 60′s pop album at some point and be thrilled to find this group. But simply being okay is not enough to warrant more than this paragraph in opinion and surely less in emotion and support.

Weekend, on the other hand, didn’t take long to back-up any positive word of mouth that they have received. Sure, they are loud. But being loud and rocking are two different things, and these guys managed to conjure up all the intensity that Sports reaches and lets it loose on the stage. “Coma Summer” builds and builds and never climaxes, instead preferring mini crescendos that are exhilarating enough to still completely satisfy. The combo of the droning march that is  ”Monday Morning” (ain’t that the truth) and the psychotic scramble of “Monongah, WV” was also a highlight, with the former drawing the audience in with it’s tonal change and the latter attacking the senses that had just adjusted to the previous song’s departure.

I also like that Weekend doesn’t seem to dwell in on the serious and dark as A Place To Bury Strangers can, despite the music having a sound that could easily go that way. The band seemed to be in good spirits and would look over to each other for musical-telepathy cues, showing strong chemistry in their playing. Their presence and overall effect differed so much from the band they get often compared to, that any complaints of derivation would be off-base. And while they might be written off as another indie “buzz band” that no one will care about in a month, I simply argue that Weekend released one of the hundred or so best albums this year, that it is completely deserving of your attention and that no matter what happens to them in the future, the album will still be good.

Kind of like the first album from the night’s headliner, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Their debut was a gem of late-80′s inspired indie-pop, with The Stone Roses informing their sound (see a trend: good taste begets good art). But the detractors would fault them as being a boring live band or, well, actually that is all I have. A good song is a good song, and that album is stacked with them. If anything, the band received too much attention to allow for their competence as performers to keep pace with their abilities in the studio. But this doesn’t make the album worse or less enjoyable, it just gives people something to complain about who would rather music remain larger than life. A spectacle. Entertainment.

Well, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will never be a spectacle. They have grown into their skin considerably, though. Whereas they seemed like children swimming too deeply when they toured last year, they came across as adults who knew both how to entertain and how to play. “Stay Close”, their best song, had done away with the guitar tone that evoked comparisons to Sixpence None The Richer in favor of tougher, flexing sound. It was a good change. All five members of the New York  group were thoroughly animated and in-the-moment, grooving to the driving bass lines and reacting to every exclamation point.

The new music that the band featured, much like Weekend’s tunes, is not going to change the world. It may not be an event album, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be good and that the band deserves less attention. And something I didn’t realize before the show, was just how well the first album is aging. Every song plays like a classic and it has only been two years since the release. Even “Higher Than The Stars” and “103″, from the E.P.  had the crowd involved and spirited, revelling in the c0mbination of nostalgic dreaminess and youthful romanticism.

The set’s first four songs were tight, focused and determined, setting the tone for the show that figures to be a divider, with the band emerging as ready and willing to rise to the challenges more attention can get them. Their banter was still groan-worthy, with keyboardist Peggy Wang melting hearts with her shy dorkiness while still managing to evoke the teenage girl that so easily walks the line between cute and annoying. No matter how young the band seems, and in particular when they address the audience, it stops there. Their music displays all the maturity of seasoned vets and when Belong sees the light of day in March, they will have even more experience and knowledge to draw from. Kip Berman, in particular, seems to understand the point of playing a live show; that this is the opportunity to connect with the audience his record had earned him, and if he wasn’t excited about it, how could he expect anyone else to be?

But this isn’t buzz. I’m not a vessel where hype comes in and someone else’s opinion and marketing dollars come out. It’s just a review, just bands, just music and art and nightlife and lifestyle. If you don’t know who the hell Weekend is, no one thinks you are dumb. Or not serious about music. Liking these bands isn’t an attempt at superiority or contrariness. And if you don’t like them, well, that is fine, too. If they never take off or get a wider audience or live up to their potential,well, that has nothing to with whether or not they are good. Which they are. So if you notice a band getting a lot of ink, know that there is probably a reason. And trust me, it’s not about you.

Photography by Philip Cosores

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Set List:
This Love Is Fucking Right!
Young Adult Friction
Come Saturday
A Teenager In Love
Higher Than The Stars
Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now
Heart In Your Heartbreak
Stay Alive
Everything With You
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Encore:
I Wanna Go All The Way
Gentle Song
——

Gallery by Philip Cosores

[nggallery id=148]

]]> Best New Music branding? Because this wouldn't explain Weekend's status as a buzz band, whose reviews are strong and popularity increasing, without it reaching overwhelming levels and remaining on the fringe. So basically, a buzz band can be any band on their way up, because no matter how a band grows its audience, the help of word of mouth, news chatter, and favorable reviews are generally involved. Does this really just mean any new or young artist is a buzz band until they reach their creative peak? And is it all relative based on your music knowledge, geography, and taste? After seeing these aforementioned groups buzz through the Echoplex in Echo Park, I returned home for the evening thinking that, well, they just seemed like a couple of really good bands. I brought a friend who hadn't heard of either and he left fully satisfied with his decision to take-in the show. Nothing revolutionary was going on in the building, but the bands were not short on creativity. And talent. And most importantly, taste. Sure the internet seems to be telling us about new bands we need to hear with the frequency of ocean waves, and the truth is that some of it is uninspired and boring. Some might even be too difficult or complicated to enjoy. But to disregard a band based on the fact that people seem to be excited about it is silly, and to listening to these bands, who have a limited history and no basis for comparison, should be with reasonable expectations. Take Weekend. The San Francisco trio recently released the quite good debut Sports, and any comparisons you hear to A Place To Bury Strangers are apt. They play hard and loud, with Joy Division and JAMC informing their melodies. They are a band that deserves attention, but are by no means near their apex. And this is where wrtiters might hyperbolize about the quality and others may feel let down when they actually hear Weekend and discover it is not the best album of the year. Classic albums like The Suburbs and My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy are rare and easy to recognize, and terrible albums are also plain as day. It's the middle, where the majority of the music that writers cover lies, that all this confusion and hype and backlash comes from. The three-band bill at the Echoplex was led-off with Sonny & the Sunsets, whom I suppose people would also consider a buzz band. They were fine. On one hand, their 60's inspired pop sound was listenable and pleasant, and lead singer Sonny Smith offered entertaining and strange banter to keep the crowd entertained. On the other hand, they were boring and gimmicky, better suited as background music to smoke a cigarette to outside. It is competent music, and I'm sure some people will be looking for a bubblegum 60's pop album at some point and be thrilled to find this group. But simply being okay is not enough to warrant more than this paragraph in opinion and surely less in emotion and support. Weekend, on the other hand, didn't take long to back-up any positive word of mouth that they have received. Sure, they are loud. But being loud and rocking are two different things, and these guys managed to conjure up all the intensity that Sports reaches and lets it loose on the stage. "Coma Summer" builds and builds and never climaxes, instead preferring mini crescendos that are exhilarating enough to still completely satisfy. The combo of the droning march that is  "Monday Morning" (ain't that the truth) and the psychotic scramble of "Monongah, WV" was also a highlight, with the former drawing the audience in with it's tonal change and the latter attacking the senses that had just adjusted to the previous song's departure. I also like that Weekend doesn't seem to dwell in on the serious and dark as A Place To Bury Strangers can, despite the music having a sound that could easily go that way. The band seemed to be in good spirits and would look over to each other for musical-telepathy cues, showing strong chemistry in their playing. Their presence and overall effect differed so much from the band they get often compared to, that any complaints of derivation would be off-base. And while they might be written off as another indie "buzz band" that no one will care about in a month, I simply argue that Weekend released one of the hundred or so best albums this year, that it is completely deserving of your attention and that no matter what happens to them in the future, the album will still be good. Kind of like the first album from the night's headliner, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Their debut was a gem of late-80's inspired indie-pop, with The Stone Roses informing their sound (see a trend: good taste begets good art). But the detractors would fault them as being a boring live band or, well, actually that is all I have. A good song is a good song, and that album is stacked with them. If anything, the band received too much attention to allow for their competence as performers to keep pace with their abilities in the studio. But this doesn't make the album worse or less enjoyable, it just gives people something to complain about who would rather music remain larger than life. A spectacle. Entertainment. Well, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will never be a spectacle. They have grown into their skin considerably, though. Whereas they seemed like children swimming too deeply when they toured last year, they came across as adults who knew both how to entertain and how to play. "Stay Close", their best song, had done away with the guitar tone that evoked comparisons to Sixpence None The Richer in favor of tougher, flexing sound. It was a good change. All five members of the New York  group were thoroughly animated and in-the-moment, grooving to the driving bass lines and reacting to every exclamation point. The new music that the band featured, much like Weekend's tunes, is not going to change the world. It may not be an event album, but that doesn't mean it won't be good and that the band deserves less attention. And something I didn't realize before the show, was just how well the first album is aging. Every song plays like a classic and it has only been two years since the release. Even "Higher Than The Stars" and "103", from the E.P.  had the crowd involved and spirited, revelling in the c0mbination of nostalgic dreaminess and youthful romanticism. The set's first four songs were tight, focused and determined, setting the tone for the show that figures to be a divider, with the band emerging as ready and willing to rise to the challenges more attention can get them. Their banter was still groan-worthy, with keyboardist Peggy Wang melting hearts with her shy dorkiness while still managing to evoke the teenage girl that so easily walks the line between cute and annoying. No matter how young the band seems, and in particular when they address the audience, it stops there. Their music displays all the maturity of seasoned vets and when Belong sees the light of day in March, they will have even more experience and knowledge to draw from. Kip Berman, in particular, seems to understand the point of playing a live show; that this is the opportunity to connect with the audience his record had earned him, and if he wasn't excited about it, how could he expect anyone else to be? But this isn't buzz. I'm not a vessel where hype comes in and someone else's opinion and marketing dollars come out. It's just a review, just bands, just music and art and nightlife and lifestyle. If you don't know who the hell Weekend is, no one thinks you are dumb. Or not serious about music. Liking these bands isn't an attempt at superiority or contrariness. And if you don't like them, well, that is fine, too. If they never take off or get a wider audience or live up to their potential,well, that has nothing to with whether or not they are good. Which they are. So if you notice a band getting a lot of ink, know that there is probably a reason. And trust me, it's not about you. Photography by Philip Cosores The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Set List: This Love Is Fucking Right! Young Adult Friction Come Saturday A Teenager In Love Higher Than The Stars Heaven's Gonna Happen Now Heart In Your Heartbreak Stay Alive Everything With You The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Encore: I Wanna Go All The Way Gentle Song ------ Gallery by Philip Cosores [nggallery id=148] ]]> http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/11/the-pains-of-being-pure-at-heart-and-weekend-face-the-hype-at-los-angeles-echoplex-1112/feed/ 0 http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/10/glasser-announces-u-s-tour-covers-sade-with-gayngs/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/10/glasser-announces-u-s-tour-covers-sade-with-gayngs/#comments http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com//wp-content/uploads/2010/10/2010_10Oct_11_GlasserTour.jpg Sat, 16 Oct 2010 15:30:15 +0000 Ray Roa http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=75776 Cameron Mesirow – who performs as Glasser – has been a busy girl lately.  She dropped her debut LP, Ring, just a few weeks ago, and the Los Angeles-based one-woman orchestra has been on the road ever since. She found herself on tour with GAYNGS (even practing for the dates at Justin Vernon’s barn/studio in Wisconsin) and the string of supporting dates culminated with the songstress covering Sade’s “By My Side” with the megaband at last week’s Bowery Ballroom show. Now, Matador has announced that after wrapping up a couple European tour dates, Mesirow will come back to North America to hit small clubs in the U.S. and Canada.

The 13-date North American journey starts on the left coast with a show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, slides up to the Pacific Northwest, and then slinks north of the border for shows in Montreal and Toronto. She plays a Midwestern show at Lincoln Hall in the Windy City before wrapping the whole shebang up with a gig at Baltimore’s Metro Gallery. A slew of acts – including Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Beat Connection – will play one-off support slots, while Venice, FL-based Twin Shadow will tag along for a handful of dates in November.

Check out the full itinerary alongside a video of the Sade cover below. If you like what you see, then tickets for select shows are yours for the purchasing on Ticketmaster.com.

Glasser 2010 Tour Dates:
10/16 – Oslo, NO @ Internasjonalen *
10/17 – Berlin, DE @ Club Privat
11/03 – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubador ^
11/04 – San Francisco, CA @ Popscene
11/06 – Portland, OR @ Holocene $
11/07 – Seattle, WA @ Corcodile #
11/09 – Boston, MA @ Middle East !
11/10 – Montreal, QC @ Il Motore &
11/11 – Toronto, ON @ Drake Hotel &
11/12 – Pontiac, MI @ Pike Room &
11/13 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall &
11/15 – Washington, D.C. @ Black Cat &
11/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
11/19 – Hartford, CT @ Arch Street Tavern
11/20 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery

* = w/ Lindstrom
^ = w/ Teen Inc.
$ = w/ Pains of Being Pure at Heart
# = w/ Beat Connection
! = w/ Violens
& = w/ Twin Shadow

Additional acts will be announced in the coming weeks. In the meantime, head here for more information.

Starting June 3rd in Milford, Connecticut, the two outfits will launch a 12-date that will take them across New York and Ohio before heading south and ultimately wrapping things up on June 16th in Washington, DC. Ironically enough, the state of Florida, which never gets concert, has four dates to look forward to, probably mostly because Surfer Blood is from the Sunshine State. Recent Dovecote Records signees Horray For Earth will serve as openers.

What’s more, both Surfer Blood and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are gearing up for new singles. Per Pitchfork, the former will release a split single (featuring a live version of “Swim”) with Holiday Shores for Record Store Day, while the latter will drop “Say No to Love”, backed by “Lost Saint”, on June 8th via Slumberland. As for Horray For Earth, they’ll be releasing their new EP MOMO on June 1st.

Surfer Blood/The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 2010 Tour Dates:
06/03 – Milford, CT @ Daniel Street *
06/04 – Rochester, NY @ German House *
06/05 – Buffalo, NY @ The Tralf *
06/06 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom *
06/08 – Memphis, TN @ Tone Cafe *
06/09 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree Cafe *
06/10 – Tallahassee, FL @ The Engine Room *
06/11 – Orlando, FL @ Club at Firestone *
06/12 – Miami, FL @ Grand Central *
06/13 – Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits *
06/15 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle *
06/16 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat *

The dates, which kick off this week and run until mid-October, will be a mostly indie affair, as the Brooklyn outfit will be teaming up with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Cymbals Eat Guitars, and School of Seven Bells. Included will be an appearances at this year’s Musicfest NW and CMJ Music Marathon.

The Depreciation Guild 2009 Tour Dates:
09/17 – Portland, OR @ Music Fest NW
09/21 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah ^#
09/22 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress ^#
09/24 – Forth Worth, TX @ Lola’s ^#
09/25 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk ^#
09/26 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks ^#
09/27 – Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder ^#
09/28 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl ^#
09/29 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 ^#
09/30 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat ^#
10/01 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ^#
10/03 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall ^#
10/05 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church ^#
10/13 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
10/14 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle *
10/15 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace *
10/16 – Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse *
10/17 – Boston, MA @ Paradise *
10/21 – New York, NY @ CMJ Music Marathon (Cake Shop)

^ = w/ The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
# = w/ Cymbals Eat Guitars
* = w/ School of Seven Bells

And the best part? All the performances will be free to attend, though for the big, Sunday night finale Phoenix’s features Against Me!), you must test-drive a Kia Soul at some point during the weekend.

Told you this is shaping up to be one of the most unique things you’ll ever see. Find tour dates below; hit Kia’s website for info on who is playing when.

Kia’s “Soul Collective” 2009 Tour Dates:
08/27-30 – Phoenix, AZ @ Ice House
09/10-13 – Chicago, IL @ Envent Event Space
09/17-20 – Washington, DC @ Warehouse
09/24-27 – Philadelphia, PA @ 23rd Street Armory
10/01-04 – Miami, FL @ Awarehouse
10/08-11 – Atlanta, GA @ Ambient Plus Studios
10/15-18 – Boston, MA @ AFH
10/22-25 – New York, NY @ TBD
11/05-08 – Los Angeles, CA @ Siren Studios

Monolith’s third edition will again take place at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado from September 12-13 and feature quite the indie-centric line up we’ve all come to expect and enjoy.

Saturday is highlighted by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Girl Talk, Of Montreal, M. Ward, The Walkmen, Frightened Rabbit, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, while Sunday offers The Mars Volta, MSTRKRFT, Method Man & Redman, Phoenix, Chromeo, Passion Pit, The Thermals and Wale among others.

As it stands, Monolith 2009 currently looks like this:

A Shoreline Dream, The Answering Machine, The Antlers, AutoVaughn, Avi Buffalo, Beats Antique, Boulder Acoustic Society, Caitlin Rose, Chromeo, Cotton Jones, Cymbals Eat Guitars, The Dandy Warhols, Danielle Ate the Sandwich, Deer Tick, DOOM, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, The Features, French Horn Rebellion, Frightened Rabbit, Generationals, Girl Talk, The Glitch Mob, The Grates, Gregory Alan Isakov, Jim McTurnan & The Kids That Killed The Man, Harlem Shakes, HEALTH, Ida Maria, The Knew, Lydia, M. Ward, The Mars Volta, Method Man & Redman, Hollywood Holt & Million $ Mano, Miniature Tigers, Montonix, MSTRKRFT, Neon Indian, Of Montreal, OK Go, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Passion Pit, Phoenix, The Pirate Signal, Rachel Goodrich, Red Wire Black Wire, Savoy, Speakeasy, Tiger, Spindrift, Starfucker, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, The Thermals, These United States, Thunderheist, Tigercity, The Twilight Sad, Viva Voice, Wale, The Walkmen, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Wendy Darling, Woodhands, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Ahead of the festivities, Monolith will also be hosting two kick-off parties on Friday, September 11th at the Gothic Theater and Moes BBQ in Denver, with a Chromeo DJ set, The Cool Kids, Hot Tub, and Boyhollow being the scheduled entertainment of the evening. The events will be open to VIP ticket holders, media and winners of the Southern Comfort ticket promotion.

Speaking of tickets, single day, two-day and VIP passes are all currently on sale via monolithfestival.com, but you better hurry, prices for all three options will go up on August 14th.