The 2012 iteration of Sonisphere UK runs July 6-8th in Hertfordshire. As you can see above, this year’s bill boasts quite the eclectic trio of headliners with Kiss, Faith No More, and Queen, who will be joined by American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert. Other notable acts include Refused, Mastodon (performing The Hunter), Marilyn Manson, Incubus, Andrew WK, The Darkness, Flogging Molly, Wolfmother, and Cypress Hill. Tickets and other information can be found at the festival’s website.

Sonisphere also stages festivals in Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Finland, and France, among other countries. To see who’s playing each one, click here or visit our Festival Outlook.

In which we see (or, mostly hear) Wolfmother frontman Andrew Stockdale cover The Beatles’ “Let It Be” with a local cover band at a bar in Brisbane, Australia. What we don’t see, according to NME, is the rather intoxicated Stockdale being removed from the stage, brawling with bouncers, and then getting arrested. Charged with drunk and disorderly conduct, failing to leave a licensed premises, and resisting removal from a licensed premises, Stockdale was fined $350 at a Brisbane court earlier today. Oh motherf**ker… Let It Be!!!

If you have’t had your coffee yet this morning, you’re sure in for some eyebrow raises today for several reasons. First, Andrew W.K. has drank enough coffee for the both of us and has announced the first batch of artists for the Australia and New Zealand’s Big Day Out Festival 2011. Second, hearing Andrew W.K. say the word “antipodal” is hilarious on several levels. And third, and most importantly, the lineup is pretty stacked:

Tool, Rammstein, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Deftones, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Andrew W.K., The Deftones, The Black Keys, Die Antwoord, Grinderman, Lupe Fiasco, Wolfmother, Primal Scream performing Screamadelica in its entirety, Booka Shade, Ratatat [Tat?], CSS, Vitalic, The Jim Jones Review, Plan B, The Naked and the Famous, Kids of 88 and Crystal Castles.

There are a host of other local Australian artists as well, including Birds of Tokyo, John Butler Trio and many more. Check out all the information you’ll need  at the festival’s updated website.

Or, If you want the full lineup, the  latest news and rumors on future acts to be added, in accordance with Mr. W.K.’s histrionics, be sure to bookmark BDO’s Festival Outlook page for all the latest festival information.

Big Day Out 2011 Tour Dates:
01/21 - Auckland, NZ @ Mt Smart Stadium
01/23 – Gold Coast, AU @ Parklands
01/26 – Sydney, AU @ Showground
01/30 – Melbourne, AU @ Flemington Racecourse
02/04 – Adelaide, AU @ Showground
02/06 – Perth, AU @ Claremont Showground

It’s already been a gloomy summer on the coast of California, so we needed this festival. SoCal already had its dominating festival, Coachella, and it was time for the Bay Area to strut its own breed of music festival again. And what better place to spend a weekend at than the legendary Golden Gate Park? The California coast might not have brightened up, but everybody was certainly in high spirits. In retrospect, how couldn’t you be?

This year, Outside Lands came off like a modern hybrid. For one, the lineup bridged a number of generation and stylistic gaps, opening up some people’s perceptions. This was one of the first festivals in which I can safely say a large chunk of the audience was over 40, and it didn’t seem creepy, or weird (a young girl asked about Furthur posting their set list online and everybody looked at her like she was insane). You had bands catering to the aged crowd who remembers what things were like “back in the day,” like Levon Helm, Al Green, and Social Distortion, but you had the top acts of generation-now like the Strokes, the Kings of Leon, Phoenix, and My Morning Jacket. This was a festival for all the freaks of the Bay to come out of the woodwork and unite under the sun, even if it wasn’t out.

And the freaks came out, rest assured, and it was wonderful to remember that if it weren’t for weird people like us, there wouldn’t be a festival to talk about. Outside Lands was a place this year where everybody could gather, be themselves, and rock out in one of America’s most historic spots in one of its coolest cities. Overall it was alright, I guess I’ll go next year.

Saturday, August 14th

People Under the Stairs
Lands End, 12:00 p.m.

Nothing could have made me happier than walking into Golden Gate Park to hear the San Francisco Knights themselves conducting some turntable Scientifics. “I think we got this party started,” they boasted to a crowd of “old hippies”: as they so eloquently put it. The titan twosome of Thes One and Double K threw it down to kick off the first day of the festival. The group had no problem representing the Bay Area, with their classic tune “San Francisco Knights”, and even discussed the weather, just before dropping into “Acid Raindrops”.

People Under the Stairs genuinely wanted to get the party going with their Mid-City Fiesta antics. Everyone around was totally indulging, as they lit joints all over the place, which was relished by the MCs themselves, who stated “shit was kicking in.” But they wanted to keep it positive, “It’s a little cold, but it could be warm if you believe,” Double K said. The group then launched into “Tripping at the Disco” to close their set of stoned age hip-hop for the early risers. -Ted Maider

Electric Six
Sutro, 12:40 p.m.

“That opening act was amazing. Rap rap rap. rap ra rap rap rap (in mock-rap tone). We are trying to start shit with the other bands so maybe they fight us and we get more press.” – Dick Valentine

Electric Six are instigators. They were out to start a party, get in trouble, make you dance, anything, really, to get you out of your 12:45 p.m. trance. And if you base you enjoyment of music by your engagement rather than what you actually hear, they were a success. Lead singer Dick Valentine is a ham, thrusting his pelvis, shaking his arms, and cracking jokes like he was at the Brea Improv, but I laughed at all of them, so I guess his mission was a success. When the group busted out “Danger, High Voltage”, I expected some kind of mass hysterics (like when I perform the same song at karaoke), but, alas, it was still the early afternoon and the moderate enthusiasm that was prevalent for everything was about as much as they were going to get. We sure had some laughs, though. - Philip Cosores

Freelance Whales
Twin Peaks, 12:45 p.m.

You can only read a band’s name so many times, and see them on so many festival lineups before you get curious enough to see them. Freelance Whales‘ brand of mellow indie seemed to win over the San Fran hipster crowd at Outside Lands on day one. Their music seemed mystical, and slightly warming on this dreary Bay day. But it wasn’t their show that drew me in, it was their bizarre instrumentation. For example, percussionist/keyboardist/guitar player Kevin Read had a watering can that he repeatedly beat with a mallet. Not to mention, Doris Cellar played some sort of tabled squeeze box for one of their slower and more melodic numbers. “We’d like to thank San Francisco for the last six months of our lives,” they said with pride towards the end of the show. So they thanked us, by playing some more cheery tunes. -Ted Maider

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars
Lands End, 1:25 p.m.

You got to have yourself some sort of reggae act at a festival to get the early and sunny crowd in high spirits. Well, there was no sun for Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Star’s performance, but they brought forth hypothetical sunshine with their slick reggae grooves. All throughout the crowd, girls splashed with tie dye and dancing in hula hoops were present, as well as several other patrons smoking copious amounts of marijuana to accompany the world music Sierra Leone and company put on. People didn’t necessarily sing along with lyrics that were a) in a different language or b) indecipherable, but the vibe of the music asked everyone to groove, and that’s exactly what they did. -Ted Maider

Pretty Lights
Sutro, 2:15 p.m.

I wandered around for quite some time before Derek Vincent Smith, aka Pretty Lights (aka the sole DJ I wanted to see at this festival), took the stage, and I planned on staying for every second of his jaw-dropping show. Just one year ago, I saw the guy at one of the tents at Bonnaroo, at 3 am, with the e-tard crowd coming down from Phish. Now he had his own slot on one of the bigger stages at Outside Lands in the middle of the afternoon, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t know how to throw down.

The thing about Pretty Lights is he embodies everything about the modern DJ. He’s got some sort of turntable scenario going on (whether they are digital or not is beyond me), as well as two laptops (one Mac, one PC) set up on both ends of his operation. Then, he takes his fantastic contraption of an instrument and brings in samples from all over the spectrum, from eerie piano to distorted guitars, thus getting everyone in the crowd to break it down. But he turns these samples into all different types of electronic music, making his work totally accessible to anyone endorsing in that medium. Pretty Lights is going to make things happen in the electronic world if his show keeps building and building up like his live music. -Ted Maider

Gogol Bordello
Lands End, 3:05 p.m.

Just prior to Gogol Bordello arriving on stage, I passed their singer while roaming through the VIP section. He looked, for lack of a better term, fucking menacing. And let me tell you, that menacing dude can rock in quite the menacing fashion. The high-tempo Gypsy insanity that is Gogol Bordello was a sound to be reckoned with at three in the afternoon. The band blasted through songs like the sonic insanity of “Start Wearing Purple” and “Wonderlust King”, while the audience proceeded to go into a gyrating frenzy. It’s not like the band took it easy either, though. Lead singer and guitar player Eugene Hutz sweat out his entire body weight as he rocked to the band’s furious songs.  To pronounce their ending, Hutz jumped up onto the drum set and took a bow. Everybody was quite pleased. But did you expect anything less from them? -Ted Maider

Levon Helm Band
Twin Peaks, 3:45 p.m.

Levon Helm and his gang of cronies showed up at the Twin Peaks stage in the mid-afternoon to lighten up the mood a bit. Between all the electronic, hip-hop, and rock music, it was finally something the older and Dead-Head crowd could truly appreciate. The group launched through some Band classics (like “The Weight”), covered the Dead (“Tennessee Jed”), and played a number of post-Band tracks, as well. His 10-plus unit performed some crunchy tunes that hippies gladly twirled around to in the grass. Meanwhile, the band had a good time by improvising with acoustic fury as they used their unique and large group of instruments to perform tunes for a sleepier, more laid-back crowd. -Ted Maider

Bassnectar
Sutro, 4:05 p.m.

Bassnectar is the scariest DJ ever. In fact, the whole time I was watching him all I could wonder was how in the fuck he became a DJ. As soon as the guy came out, everyone immediately lost their shit and began to rock their hardest electronic moves. Accompanied with hundreds of giant, black, beach balls, Bassnectar broke it down with his rare form of alternative metal dub-step, mixing bits from all over (most notably his remix of “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn”). The multi-genre mixer caused the earth to quake, people’s hearts to pump up a few notches, and me to freak the hell out. -Ted Maider

My Morning Jacket
Lands End, 5:00 p.m.

“God bless you, San Francisco.” –Jim James

My Morning Jacket never ceases to amaze me. The Bay Area crowd was genuinely stoked that Jim James and company had come to grace their presence with their rare, intellectual, and fantastic style of rock. The band kicked it off slow with tracks like “Tonite I Want to Celebrate with You” and “Gideon”. As the band jammed, escalated, rocked, and shocked, it really struck me that they truly work to perfection as a complete unit. If one member were to be replaced, the whole show would be at a loss. It’s the chemistry they share that speaks volumes. That… and their donkey, which happened to make an appearance at Sasquatch, too.

Eventually, the band busted out a chilling and hypnotic version of “Touch Me, I’m Going to Scream (Part 1)” and churned out a triumphant version of “I’m Amazed”, which sequed into a jet-fueled speedball rendition of “Highly Suspicious”, which fueled the crowd into a furious mosh. Towards the end, they brought it all back full circle as they lurched on with “Touch Me, I’m Going to Scream (Part 2)”.

Throughout the set, the band played a number of older tunes, too. “Golden”, “Off the Record”, “Steam Engine”, and “Anytime” were all showcased and all well-received. But, nothing came close to their powerful performance of “Wordless Chorus”, which saw the crowd uniting together under rain and through harmonies and reverb. But it wouldn’t stop there, either. Before they left, the group carved out a magnificent, 10 minute cut of “One Big Holiday”, which pumped out enough octane to tear apart the crowd. These guys may not be a jam band, but they sure do fucking jam. -Ted Maider

Wolfmother
Sutro, 6:30 p.m.

The biggest surprise at Outside Lands goes to Wolfmother, hands down. I attended mainly because my brother is a big fan and he dragged me along. However, thank goodness he did. It was the best decision I was forced into making all weekend. Little did I know this would be one of the most unexpectedly awesome sets of the festival. The only person who had more fun than the crowd at Wolfmother was frontman Andrew Stockdale. And why shouldn’t he have a bit of fun? With lineup changes galore since 2005, he deserves to smile. Despite the group’s latest effort, Cosmic Egg, they stuck to mostly material off their self-titled album. Climax? When the band busted into “White Unicorn”, transitioning midway through into a very fitting version of The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm”, only to transition back into the end of “White Unicorn”. Like I said, unexpectedly awesome. -Winston Robbins

Cat Power
Twin Peaks, 7:05 p.m.

I’ve never seen Cat Power before, so I won’t be too hasty in my judgment. But is she always so boring? Julian Casablancas nonchalance is one thing, but seeming utterly bored is something different entirely. Maybe it’s just her steaz, but she looked like she just rolled out of bed for this show. With her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and frumpily dressed in a hoodie and jeans, she spent most of the set with her hands in her pockets. There was a portion of her show where she got down off the stage and into the photo pit to sing two songs, which I’m sure was awesome for all 53 people who could still see her, but eventually the rest of us just forgot she was there. It’s not like her being onstage was that much more exciting. But enough about stage presence. Musically, Chan Marshall couldn’t have been more spot on. “Sea of Love”, “The Greatest”, and “Metal Heart” were all pitch perfect. Every note hit, every inflection impeccable. I just wish she would have been a little more excited about her own talent. -Winston Robbins

Furthur ft. Phil Lesh and Bob Weir
Lands End, 7:25 p.m.

“They really did take it one step further…” –Dead-Head in Sculpture Garden after the show.

I have to start by admitting this straight up; I am not the biggest Dead-Head in the world. This has always been the biggest problem amongst my friends and I. Granted, I enjoy some of their songs quite thoroughly (how could you not), but I have never been one of those kids who goes through phases and phases of nothing but obscure Dead sets. But this entire set-up seemed like something I would totally be all about. For one, you have Phil Lesh and Bob Weir back together on-stage. Secondly, you have John Kadlecik of the Dark Star Orchestra, stepping in Jerry Garcia’s shoes, which he seems to have already done for a portion of his career. Take notice of the setting, though. It was the climax of Jerry month in the Bay, and the band was in Golden Gate Park, the place that pretty much spawned them.

Needless to say, all the tell-tale signs of a Dead-Show were there. All day, my buddy kept saying, “In San Francisco, Dead-Heads just seem to grow up from the ground.” Sure enough, this is what happened. Just prior to Furthur’s show, I watched the kid behind me drop a tab of acid into his friend’s mouth as a surprise. There were more Stealies than I could ever fathom in one place. And people had managed to sneak in recording gear to obtain what they would believe to be a priceless piece of live memorabilia. Well, this night, they were right.

The band was no longer slow, dreary, and too-hypnotic. They were back to the old Dead-style, quicker and extensive jams that kept the pace up. Opening with songs like “Cassidy” and “The Loser” got people on their feet, and scribbling song titles on their notepads all around me. The band launched into a rendition of “Let it Grow”, which they wove into a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Time”. People were hip to the cover, considering cheers emanated throughout once those all-too-familiar sound of clocks chimed in.

But the band also launched into a number of Dead staples that belonged in Golden Gate Park. Extended jams on “Fire on the Mountain” and “Terrapin Suite” caused people to astro-project themselves back to the ’70s. To close off the single set, the band started up “Morning Dew” which spiraled into “I Know You Rider”, leaving all the Dead-Heads, who’d coughed up the 70 bucks to get in, very, very pleased.

When I was younger, I saw Ratdog and all the offshoots, but this to me was something far greater than a Grateful Dead recreation. This wasn’t a reincarnation; this was the future of the enterprise that is the Grateful Dead. Even I’ll admit it; they have had one of the best careers in history that any band could possibly ask for. Their material still impacts kids today as it did 50 years ago. So, the bottom line? I may not be a Dead-Head, but I can see that they have done a lot in their time, and they will continue to bedazzle their cult as time goes on. As I wandered off into the night, I heard techno drums going, infused the Furthur’s jamming, which somehow seemed to work in this modern age. Who knows what the future of music will bring? -Ted Maider

The Strokes
Twin Peaks, 8:45 p.m.

Let’s begin here: Why was Furthur headlining this festival? Look, we all know that Bob Weir and Phil Lesh are local Haight-Ashbury legends and were once a part of one of the most influential jam bands in the history of Rock and Roll, but does that really warrant a headlining slot? Seems like an irrelevant stretch to me. The tickets for day one sold, but they certainly didn’t sell out. The Deadheads are slowly dying off. The Strokes should have headlined. But that’s an argument for another time. It was funny, however, what a tangible barrier Furthur versus The Strokes created. In the impeccable words of Philip Cosores, everyone 30 and under was at one side of the park watching The Strokes, while everyone else was re-living their Dead days across the park.

At any rate, Julian Casablancas and company returned to performing on American soil once more after their Lollapalooza appearance, and I can only imagine that the shows were incredibly similar. I say that because tit for tat, the setlists were exactly the same, except Lolla got one more song that Outside Lands did. It was an unbelievable set in every way, musically, visually, you name it. But they were obviously missing one thing: chemistry. It was sad further proof that The Strokes might be on their way out.

However, it was fantastic to hear the songs that got me through the hard knock life of Middle School. They played mainly old favorites such as “Someday”, “Last Night”,  “Reptilia”, and “Hard To Explain” interspersed with only a couple First Impressions of Earth cuts. In between each song, they seemed to stall and talk amongst themselves about what they were doing, which showed a lack of preparation, perpetuating the rumors that they’re imploding. On a lighter note, though, Casablancas will never stop being one of the greatest frontmen of our time. He kept crowd interaction at a maximum and all night he made jokes and basically said whatever the hell came to his mind. It was an endearing, nostalgic run down memory lane that was ultimately enjoyable, but painful in that these are very much so not The Strokes I saw back in ’06. -Winston Robbins
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Gallery by Philip Cosores

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Sunday, August 15th

Amos Lee
Lands End, 12:45 p.m.

The Philadelphia singer/songwriter had the misfortune of playing to a tired crowd in the early afternoon, but made the most out of it. Amos Lee has the kind of voice the can sooth both the weary soul and the weary bones, managing to bring the crowd both to lie for the moment and awaken them at to the fun that laid on the horizon. Lee sings with conviction, and for a writer who had never heard him before and feels a slight bit of shame admitting that he enjoyed the set, it was a pleasant surprise to start a day.  -Philip Cosores

Mayer Hawthorne and The County
Sutro, 1:30 p.m.

If this day was about voices, Mayer Hawthorne was up to the challenge laid down by Amos Lee. Luckily for Hawthorne, where his voice lacks the immediacy of Lee’s, he has Mayer-ettes to provide the eye candy that the singer may lack himself. Sure Hawthorne may seem like a nerd, but he has soul and can get a giant crowd behind him. And somehow most of the crowd knew all the words (maybe this guy is huge) but even those that didn’t seemed to have a blast. Hawthorne may have made the most new fans of anyone at the festival. -Philip Cosores

The Temper Trap
Lands End, 2:15 p.m.

Well, I guess I just don’t get the appeal here. But people were sure excited to see The Temper Trap, to see their weird looking singer, to hear their harmless songs, even a new one that appeared three songs in and went absolutely nowhere. In hindsight, they are known for a song that came out last year with 500 Days of Summer, and oddly enough, it’s not really catchy whatsoever. <Shrug> -Philip Cosores

Janelle Monáe
Sutro, 3:05 p.m.

Most deserved Best New Music handed out by the almighty P4K should go to Janelle Monáe. Not only was her ArchAndroid fantastic from beginning to end, but she is quite the musician/dancer/fashionista. Playing mainly tracks from her most recent album, the crowd seemed to show particular interest in “Cold War” and “Tightrope”, and rightly so, as they were both spot on in every way (except Big Boi didn’t show up for his verse on the latter). Personally, I was quite moved by the stop-free four song medley which contained “Suite II Overture”, “Dance or Die”, “Faster”, and “Locked Inside” in one fell swoop. Impressive. Furthermore, her style is something that is to be simultaneously marveled and envied. Monáe is so much cooler than any of us will ever be, but we should love her for it, not be jealous. Some people were born to front bands (and Janelle is without question the best frontwoman I have seen in recent years), and others were born to write for/read music blogs. To each his own. -Winston Robbins

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Twin Peaks, 3:40 p.m.

“This is a fucking miracle!” –Edward Sharpe (Alex Ebert)

I made it to the front of the crowd by the skin of my teeth, but goddammit, I made it. And thank the lord I did. Four months ago, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros were just some band that seemed to be playing every festival I wanted to go to. Now, they’re a crucial portion of my 2010 soundtrack, with a record that continues to sell and a fan base that continues to grow. Hey, you can only appear in so many car commercials before everybody understands your band rules that much.

The 10-piece band wasted no time kicking things up, opening with “40 Day Dream”, one of the stand-out and triumphant tracks from their debut record. The crowd went nuts at the opening drum beats, and then began to sway majestically while singing all the words. Luckily for them, the band played the majority of their album, Up From Below, and in order. Following the opener, they launched right into the happy-go-lucky tune of “Janglin’” and then continued with the album’s titular track.

The Magnetic Zeros did some great renditions of “Desert Song” and even let Jade Castrinos take over on lead vocals for awhile. The real gem though, of course, was “Home”, which the crowd screamed for the entire time. When the hot single finally did come on, everybody leapt up and down in a united frenzy, which seemed warranted for the song’s enthusiastic beat. During the breakdown, though, Alex Ebert and Castrinos discussed the first time they came to San Francisco, and what they did, but most all Castrinos wished the sun would shine. We were all right there with her, but it didn’t matter, because everybody was just elated to be in the presence of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, a band who will clearly be remembered when 2010 music is discussed for years to come. -Ted Maider

Al Green
Lands End, 4:00 p.m.

After Furthur took us back to the 60’s, somebody had to represent the 70’s, and no man was better for the job than Al Green. At 64, our beloved soul singer took the stage to a massive, loving crowd to give them a taste of his era. Not only did he come out belting his own barn burners “Tired of Being Alone” and “Let’s Stay Together”, but he did a tribute to all his contemporaries. He covered The Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself”, The Temptations’ “My Girl”, and Otis Redding (whom he referred to as ‘Big O’)’s “Sitting On the Dock of the Bay”. At the end of the set, the soul mastermind was all smiles, as was the crowd. -Winston Robbins

Slightly Stoopid
Sutro, 5:00 p.m.

How many Slightly Stoopid shows do I normally hear about within a summer? Way too many is an accurate answer. Slightly Stoopid has been able to strike a chord with the cannabis culture, and in California, that’s about ¾ of the population. Basically, these guys picked up right where Sublime left off, and now their brand of reggae-rap-rock has begun to get extremely popular. Throughout the entire show, a cloud of smoke loomed over the crowd, while the band played their cheery reggae tunes. However, they were not afraid to bust out the punk rock when things got a little too mellow. This has always been one of the band’s more positive traits; that they appreciate their punk roots. Not to mention, they covered Ol’ Dirty Bastard, while the crowd held W’s in the air with their hands. After enough Slightly Stoopid, I began to feel slightly stupid due to how spaced out I was, so it was time to vacate the smog and see some other aspect of our culture. -Ted Maider

Chromeo
Twin Peaks, 5:15 p.m.

As soon as the sexy leg keyboard stands were unveiled, the cheers began to roar: Chromeo was on their way. Taking the stage to their signature Fancy Footwork intro, the crowd went berserk. It was a very distinct crowd too, filled with college frat boys, but that didn’t take away from the show in the slightest. Dave 1 and P-Thugg know how to work any audience. By the first song, they had us in the palm of their hands and we loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, they didn’t play anything from their forthcoming album (due out in September),  but maybe that was for the best because hearing their old songs just got me super pumped to hear the new record. The kids went nuts for Chromeo classsics “Tenderoni” “Bona Fide Lovin’”, and “Needy Girl”, and they had every right to. Chromeo knows how to write quirky electro love songs like no one else. -Winston Robbins

Phoenix
Lands End, 5:55 p.m.

Holy… shit… dude. Phoenix has become somewhat of a cultural icon. Singer Thomas Mars has begun to acknowledge this, as he embodied what is true rock star persona while running around the stage with his bright red microphone chord. The rest of the band kept it going too, as their drummer pounded on each head mercilessly to keep the beats of all their high-energy songs going. This was easily one of the best shows of the weekend, and it’s so easy to see why the French five-some were given a sub-headlining spot.

The band kicked it off with “Lisztomania” and the crowd wasted no time diving into the grooves. But neither did the band. While they tore through the majority of their opus, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, playing songs like “Lasso”, “Fences”, and a thrashing “Armistice”, they were not conservative about pulling out past numbers. Tracks like “Run Run Run”, “Consolation Prizes”, and “Long Distance Call” resonated well with those watching, even though they didn’t necessarily sing along.

But the band kept everything interesting. Mars climbed up the amps, over the audience, and across the stage, all while his band kept mixing up instruments, bashing their equipment, and rocking their hardest. It was all straight up amazing and with so much energy.  As they’ve done for the past year now, the band closed things off with a nearly 10-minute rendition of “1901”. It didn’t drag, but at one moment I felt they were playing a different song altogether. As the band’s set came to a close, all the clouds parted for the day, and the sun finally came out. It felt good to feel the warmth again, but it wasn’t the miracle we needed. The miracle we needed was another four songs from Phoenix. -Ted Maider

Nas & Damian Marley
Twin Peaks, 6:50 p.m.

I’ve always been intrigued by Damian Marley & Nas‘ collaboration. I respect both artists  in their respective genres quite a bit, and their duet on “Road to Zion” (off Marley’s 2005 album Welcome to JamRock) was fantastic. But a whole album? It seemed a stretch. I was wrong in thinking that. The second I heard the album, it all began to make sense. It was like I finally go the joke that had been eluding me for weeks. They’re obviously distant relatives due to their African-American complexion, but musically they’re distant relatives as well. Hip hop draws so much from reggae, and contemporary reggae is constantly borrowing from hip hop. And these two make for quite a pair. Two of the most talented in their respective genres, it only makes sense that they are incredible together.

At the Twin Peaks stage, the two played mainly tracks from their latest effort, Distant Relatives. They came out with barn burner “As We Enter” and hit us with a couple of curveballs just before exiting the stage. First, Marley (and his floor length dreads) pulled out his mega-hit “Welcome To Jamrock” out and got the entire place thrashing. Then, Nas and Marley both went back to play their JamRock collaboration “Road to Zion”. They closed the set off with a cover of Marley’s father’s classic hit, “Could You Be Loved”, which of course won the crowd over and had us all singing in unison like a bunch of drunk Irish soccer fans. Lesson learned? Damian Marley and Nas are a perfect combination. -Winston Robbins

Social Distortion
Sutro, 6:55 p.m.

True story: The last time I had seen Social Distortion, I stopped drinking for three years. Since then, I have not listened to the band nor paid any attention to where they are in their career. But, everything ends and so did my boycott of Social D on this Sunday afternoon.

The sun was finally out and the Orange County natives seemed no different that the tough thugs that drove me into a drunken frenzy of terror so many years back. Now that I can actually recall experiencing them, I was impressed by the level of professionalism they showed in their set. They covered all the bases of their long career, with Ness still as menacing as before. “Bad Luck”, “Don’t Drag Me Down” and “Mommy’s Little Monster” kicked things off, but as the set rolled on song’s like “Ball and Chain”, “Prision Bound”, and “Story of My Life” made their way into the set.

Even though their set has probably been similar for 20 years, the band never looks bored or withdrawn. In fact, Ness seems like he wants to relate to the fans just as bad as the young man who wrote these songs. In closing with “Ring Of Fire”, you can’t help but think that Ness has written some songs as timeless as Johnny Cash. It’s a weird thought, but remarkably, it’s true. -Philip Cosores

Kings of Leon
Lands End, 7:50 p.m.

When did the Kings of Leon become this big-time, American headlining band? I think I missed this part in recent pop culture, because I still find the Kings of Leon to be a good band, but not a spectacle worth headlining some of the biggest festivals in America. The thing is though, most people like the Kings of Leon, so they are able to draw a crowd. Kings of Leon just embodies that simple, classic, and timeless American sound, and they actually do a decent job of it.

The Oklahoma quartet of brothers looked like classic American figures as they rocked their finest in front of tens of thousands of people. Jared Followill was dressed up like James Dean, while Caleb Followill kept up his gritty and down-to-Earth persona. The band kicked things off with the ultimate creeper-track, “Closer”, which sent chills down my spine as I watched them grace the monitors in a black and white color scheme. One could feel the ground vibrating as they got closer to the stage and as the sun sank over Golden Gate Park to the Kings of Leon’s gritty, welcomin,g and rocking tunes.

The band also played their hit songs like “Sex on Fire”, “The Bucket”, and “Use Somebody”, while also covering the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?”, which all seemed to keep the crowd genuinely pleased. The main stage was packed as far as one could see, so this was clearly a hot ticket for the last night of the festival. At the start, Caleb asked, “Mind if I have a drink?” and then toasted to the wonderful city of San Francisco. Clearly, the guy was the right man to finish off the show. As the band drew to a close, fireworks lit up the sky behind them and filled the polo fields with smoke. One had to ask, though… where was the crowd’s groove? -Ted Maider

Empire of the Sun
Twin Peaks, 8:25 p.m.

If you don’t listen to Empire of the Sun now, you will soon enough. The Australian electronic space bots from beyond will invade your stereo much like they invaded my brain Sunday night. For one, no band nowadays has a visual show like they do. It’s hard to explain (or do it justice), but the show involves spacey videos, frantic lighting, synchronized dancers in weird costumes holding even weirder props, and lots and lots of techno-future rock. Let’s just say that at one point I wondered if I was watching humans. Actually, looking back at the hour that was Empire of the Sun, I’m still trying to figure out what I saw.

Singer and proverbial captain of the group’s spaceship Luke Steele stood in what looked like a docking station in the center of the stage, surrounded by synthesizers, guitars, and microphones. You’d think this would be all overwhelming, and it probably would to an average musician, but Steele traded off instruments with no problem, and at times, he even managed to play several at once. Opening with the gem “Standing on the Shore”, the crowd found a perfect outlet to a.) find their groove and b.) trip the fuck out.

Basically, the band played their entire debut record, Walking on a Dream, but in an order that was more like a journey than an actual album. The group jammed on songs like “Swordfish Hotkiss Night”, keeping the drums loud, wild, and futuristic by mixing up all sorts of instrumentation from the great beyond. Other tracks like “Delta Bay”, “Half Mast”, and “We Are the People” were all accompanied by a light and video show that would make any performer rethink the entire visual aspect of their show. Think Bowie, but on a rare combination of steroids, coke, and MDMA. To close off the amazing spectacle, the band thrashed out its single, “Walking on a Dream”, as the ecstasy-starched crowd went nuts to finish off a night they didn’t want to end. -Ted Maider
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Gallery by Philip Cosores

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The weekend’s good fortune prevailed. The sun returned, and so did the fans. Immediately, people of all sorts scuttled into the park. Excitement flavored the air. Two more headliners. The long-awaited return of 90′s grunge rock legends, Soundgarden, and the uber-hyped Arcade Fire set, which fans have been salivating about since The Suburbs hit the net. All in all, not too shabby of a way to pull down the curtain, blow out the candle, have the fat lady sing, etc.

It’s sort of interesting how Sunday panned out, actually. Whoever scheduled the day divided it in such a way that those who favored more mainstream, aggressive acts were cattled into the south end of the park. Whereas the folks who preferred more indie-centric material had to hike it up north. In a way, it was sort of like a high school cafeteria, where particular groups flock to different tables, sneering at one another and butting heads in the lunch line.

For the most part, there was no ill will. With the exception of a roughneck crowd at MGMT (Care to explain that, anyone?), things remained civil. People danced, people headbanged, and others carried on their own business. Maybe it was because everyone has work tomorrow, but there was a lack of drunken tomfoolery usually seen at Lollapalooza. Very refreshing.

All in all, this year’s Lollapalooza concluded just fine, successfully bookmarking what may be one of the best weekends in the festival’s history. Wait, wait, don’t go down and comment just yet. Mull it over. Ask these questions: Where else would you see The Strokes? How often do you see not one, but two rare international sensations? (e.g. Empire of the Sun, X Japan) What other festival offers you the choice between Soundgarden and Arcade Fire? When was the last time you yelled out, “Holy shit, Green Day was awesome!”, without acting like a sarcastic ass in the comments below?

Rhetorical, rhetorical, rhetorical, and… rhetorical, of course. But, these are all good angles to observe. Without getting ahead of ourselves – after all, you’ve still yet to read our final report – we’re just going to say this: Lollapalooza kicked our asses this year. With smart planning (e.g. opening up Columbus Drive and expanding), great food (Damn you addicting Strawberry Lemonade!), and a handful of timeless performances, Lollapalooza reinvented itself once again. Chicago should only be so proud. Now, how about we write to City Hall and demand an extension on that irritating curfew? Huh?

Well, maybe you should read this first…

Sunday, August 8th

HEALTH
adidas MEGA, 11:30 a.m.

Photo by Lauren Guagno

Chicago may have given us rain, but HEALTH gave the Windy City thunder and lightening. With a really, really rough set time, – 11:30 in the morning on a Sunday – exhausted attendees were even more…exhausted. To add more detriment, it’s the third and final day of the festival, when everyone’s soothing sore legs and counting down the hours. Okay, so not a good slot. Add in the rain and ensuing mud fields, it’s just a downright shitty situation. Nevertheless, dedicated fans who would sit through anything, whether it be some rain or a wave of lava, stuck true to their guns and arrived onsite. What they heard, however, was something marvelous. When “Die Slow” erupted from the set, mud flew and fans drooled all the way until “We Are Water”, where the combination of what seemed like a tornado and waterfall made the setting all worthwhile. Save for a later set time, this couldn’t have been any better, weather conditions included. How’s that for looking on the bright side? -Phillip Roffman

Switchfoot
adidas MEGA, 1:00 p.m.

“It’s been a dream of ours to play Lollapalooza for a long time.” – Jon Foreman

Sometimes, you just gotta roll with the punches. Switchfoot was a huge, multi-platinum selling band just a few short years ago. Back then, they could have easily commanded a time slot much later in the day. But things happen, and now they’re a 1:00 side stage band at a festival like Lollapalooza. And while they’ve faded from the public spotlight, they’re still around and kicking. Their booking at this particular festival may have drawn some confusion, but they drew a decent sized crowd for an early afternoon set. Their days of playing to huge audiences helped their stage presence greatly – they were all over the stage and the crowd during their set. They played mostly the hits – something that cannot usually be said for an early afternoon band. Crowd pleasers like “Stars”, “Dare You To Move” and obvious set closer “Meant to Live”. They even threw in an unexpected Beastie Boys cover – “Sabotage”. My Switchfoot phase came and went a long time ago – but I can’t help but think my ninth grade self would have been pleased with this show. -Carson O’Shoney

The Cribs
Parkways, 2:00 p.m.

Bad news for Cribs fans: you made up half the audience that saw Blues Traveler the day before on the same stage at the same time. Good news: Johnny Marr is still a Crib. To say it begins and ends with Marr is unfair, The Cribs have been around for nearly a decade. They’ve enjoyed a lot of success overseas in their native country of England, but haven’t quite clicked in the States. As they arrived onstage to the opening theme for Twin Peaks, any evidence of bad weather disappeared (“This is the only time we’ve brought good weather to a festival,” said singer/guitarist Ryan Jarman). They played for a full hour, opening with the fierce “We Were Aborted” from Marr’s debut with the band, Ignore the Ignorant, whose title track was also performed. Other songs included the wild “Hari Kari”, “Cheat on Me”, and the highlight of the set, “Be Safe”, which was accompanied by a pre-recorded video/vocal by Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth). Were The Cribs able to hold the attention of the audience for a full hour? No, but there was good to be had, so ignore the ignorant. – Justin Gerber

Photo by Heather Kaplan

Blitzen Trapper
Budweiser, 2:00 p.m.

Photo by Cap Blackard

With a band like Blitzen Trapper and their classic rock meets country sound, you can tell the use of cowbell is sincere. However, as soon as it made an appearance, a bunch of people just started shouting “More!” (It’s been ten years people! Seriously, look it up!). But, those interested in the music took to singing along to their 2008 title track, “Furr”, howling out chorus lines like “I’m a rattlesnake, Babe, I’m like fuel on fire” as if they were in a Western flick. -Adam Kivel

Mumford & Sons
Playstation, 3:00 p.m.

Photo by Cap Blackard

“This is an amazing festival… it’s a good day,” said Marcus Mumford, his thick English accent charming the crowd. That is, a vast crowd extending far away from the stage under a sweltering, rejuvenated sun. Mumford & Sons‘ set opened with a raspy voiced “Sigh No More”, sending waves of claps throughout the crowd, followed by “Awake My Soul” and “Roll Away Your Stone”, where the sound of banjos filled everybody’s ears. The true crowd pleaser seemed to be, “Little Lion Man”, as the crowd vibrantly chanted in unison. Even more intriguing, the band had people jumping up and down easily, as if they weren’t watching a folk band, but were at a club, instead. -Lauren Guagno

X Japan
Parkways, 4:00 p.m.

For months, X Japan had been touted as one of the specialty adds for Lollapalooza. A rare event not to be missed, they said. Some even compared the group, which came together in 1982, to Guns N’ Roses, touting them as Japan’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band. With that much hype, who wouldn’t skip Yeasayer for them? After a tedious soundcheck, which went five minutes over, the P.A. charged the really, really, really devoted crowd (some even braving the heat in black kimonos, others crying their eyes out in wonder) with epic instrumentals. Finally, members here and there littered the stage, as those aforementioned fans wailed on and on, and a full on metal show ensued. Given the band’s tunes average seven or eight minutes, the setlist lacked some depth, but that didn’t stop them from treating the gig as if it were a two-hour show.

Photo by Heather Kaplan

All the makings of an arena rock event were present. Pyro accented heavy drum fills, solos dug deeper and deeper, all the while frontman Toshi Deyama tugged harder and harder at the crowd. Christ can he wail, too. On opener “Rusty Nail”, Deyama’s vocals rivaled those of Steve Perry, while on newer material like “Jade”, he scowled and gnarled better than Axl Rose could ever dream to anymore. To borrow from Ghostbusters, they came, they saw, they kicked our ass. Sure, the set had its fair share of window shoppers (about 20% of the crowd left after the first song); however, X Japan retained a stable and dedicated enough audience that further ventures into America shouldn’t seem unreasonable. At all. Call it a tad idealistic, but perhaps they’ll finally break through here. Better late than never, right? -Michael Roffman

Yeasayer
Budweiser, 4:00 p.m.

Photo by Cap Blackard

File this in the “Woah, I didn’t realize they were that popular” folder: I saw a girl start sobbing because Yeasayer played “O.N.E.”, apparently her favorite song (to be fair, Anand Wilder’s lead performance on the track was powerful). Looking back at the huge crowd bobbing along to early stuff like “Sunrise” and new hit “Ambling Alp” in turn, I started to wonder if a good portion of the people there weren’t just waiting for MGMT as I had earlier expected. Added bonus: apparently, Yeasayer controls the weather. “We thought it was going to rain,” vocalist Chris Keating announced, “But it does not rain on this band, ever.” -Adam Kivel

Frightened Rabbit
Sony bloggie, 5:00 p.m.

Photo by Cap Blackard

Much like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros set the day before, a great turnout was present for Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit. The crowd had to suffer through the unrelenting sun that refused to set behind one of Chicago’s many skyscrapers, but once the band came out, the sweat and heat were forgotten. First up was the exploding chorus by way of mournful ballad of “The Modern Leper”. Lead singer Scott Hutchison bounded and thrashed his way throughout the set with his guitar in tow, especially through the rousing, anthemic “Nothing Like You”. Having seen Yeasayer earlier, an argument could be made that Frightened Rabbit’s audience was much more receptive. Perhaps next year they’ll find themselves playing the Budweiser stage after The Magnetic Zeros perform at PlayStation (BONUS FACT: Waldo was spotted here in the crowd). – Justin Gerber

Erykah Badu
adidas MEGA, 5:00 p.m.

Photo by Heather Kaplan

“I’m gonna get a little funky now if ya’ll don’t mind.”

Erykah Badu’s debut Lollapalooza performance was a slow starter – but those who waited it out were treated to a wonderful show. For the first 15 minutes of her scheduled set, her DJ simply spun some classic hip-hop records. The crowd was with him for a few minutes, thinking Badu was sure to come out any minute, but after a while the crowd started to fade. Just then, Badu’s band came on to keep entertaining for another five minutes, and Fat Belly Bella (aka Badula Oblongata aka Analogue Girl in a Digital World aka about three other names) finally came out around 5:20 p.m., sporting a wild new hairdo. Her first few songs were fantastic jazzy numbers, starting with opener “20 Feet Tall”. Her voice was spot on and the band was tight – but the slower numbers were all but lost on the crowd. It wasn’t until the third song – “On and On” – that the audience really got into the set. From then on, she got funky – and the crowd loved it. -Carson O’Shoney

Wolfmother
Parkways, 6:00 p.m.

It hasn’t been easy for Wolfmother. In other words, it hasn’t been easy for vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale. Replacements galore, the Australian rocker’s yet to really have a consistent working band, but what he does have (and when he has it) works well. Really well. Surging through a powerful set Sunday evening, Stockdale unzipped classics like the always-perfect opener “Dimension”, the ever bouncy “White Unicorn”, and the made-to-be-a-closer “Joker and the Thief”. Some changes were noticeable, however.

Back in 2006, “Woman” was the bee’s knees. Nowadays, it’s sort of a bridge to better songs, like “Vagabond” or “Mind’s Eye”, which really sold this set. New tunes off of last year’s Cosmic Egg were fun, though they’re not as quick and concise as past material (though “California Queen” comes close).

Aside from some microphone issues, Wolfmother’s hour fit in comfortably with the win some, lose some entries available at the south end. It really was a shining example of a perfect evening set. Oh yeah, according to Stockdale’s insider information, a reincarnated Jimi Hendrix flew over Grant Park as a dragonfly, not to rock though, but to “bless the festival.” Hey, you gotta love a dreamer. -Michael Roffman

Photo by Heather Kaplan

MGMT
Budweiser, 6:00 p.m.

Ah, the curious case of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Together they make MGMT, whose latest album Congratulations has polarized fans and critics alike. Their set at Lolla was very indicitive of this predicament the young men find themselves in. Choosing to open with the acoustic “Piece of What” from Oracular Spectacular was probably not the best decision for a crowd eager to dance about in the setting sun. Following up with the goodish “Brian Eno” was also questionable. As the songs went on, Lollapaloozans by the dozens were leaving for either The National or Soundgarden, and MGMT were losing their crowd. Despite playing “Electric Feel” earlier in the set, the song was besieged by a serious lack of punch via the bass that makes the track on the album. VanWyngarden’s vocals were often lost in the mix, as well, either due to technical problems from the equipment or the man singing.

Photo by Cap Blackard

It took about 45 minutes before a pulse finally quickened in the crowd, thanks to the response given to “Time to Pretend”. From there on out, everything sounded better. Perhaps the energy of the crowd really made a difference, or perhaps sound issues were worked out. “Destrokk” from the Time to Pretend EP received a warm welcome, as did “The Handshake”, and, of course, “Kids”. Crowd surfing could be seen throughout the set’s conclusion, culminating with “Congratualtions”, which still sounds exactly like The Band’s “The Weight”. Ultimately, we were faced with a maddening, inconsistent set that lasted an hour and 15 minutes. Fortunately, the bands following were raring to go… – Justin Gerber

Flosstradamus
Perry’s, 6:30 p.m.

Photo by Cap Blackard

I will be the first to admit that I’m no electronic music connoisseur. I can appreciate it, and it’s a lot of fun to dance to, but there are times when a lot of it runs together in my mind. There are only so many different ways you can use “Satisfaction” in a dance song – but of course it still always gets the biggest reaction. Maybe it was because I wasn’t on drugs, but Flosstradamus’ set came across as just another electro set. The constant quick repeating clips on the video screens did provide plenty of entertainment while adding a certain feeling to the music though. But after a crowd-pleasing performance by last minute Dirty South replacement, JFK (of MSTRKRFT), the Chicago duo tried and failed to get the small crowd into the set. They eventually won them over, and the further into the set, the more their fans got into it. Mixing in everything from Lion King music to Barbra Streisand, Flosstradamus was never short on ideas but they didn’t pay off for me. In the end though, it was still Perry’s. There was dancing. There were drugs. And plenty of people had a great time at their show – and there’s nothing wrong with that. -Carson O’Shoney

The National
Playstation, 7:15 p.m.

Sure, Soundgarden may have been making their 13-year return and The Strokes were out to prove they’re still worth your time, but no Lollapalooza act was faced with a more daunting challenge than that of The National. After all, though the Brooklyn indie rockers were playing in support of one of the year’s best albums, they were doing so some 60 minutes before an even bigger band with an even better album was set to cap off this year’s festival in style.

Good thing The National have constructed a pretty solid blueprint over the last two years. When it comes to live performances, the formula is quite simple: play a set heavy in material from the last three albums and make sure it sounds incredibly tight. It helps to include a horn section. Then, add in a few quips from Matt Berninger – “Richie from Soundgarden,” The National frontman proclaimed when introducing Arcade Fire’s Richard Perry guest appearance on “Anyone’s Ghost”. Finally, be sure Berninger has plenty of white wine (how else do you expect him to scream during “Abel”?) and finish up with “Mr. November” into “Terrible Love”.

Of course, anyone who has seen The National over the last six months can attest that said formula is quite successful. It is also becoming somewhat predicate. Both these realities again proved true for their Lollapalooza 2010 set. If it was your first time seeing them, you were likely blown away. If it was your second, or third, you might have been a bit bored… or just waiting for Arcade Fire. -Alex Young

Photo by Heather Kaplan

Soundgarden
Parkways, 8:00 p.m.

“This is our millionth time we’ve played Lollapalooza,” frontman Chris Cornell screamed at a humble crowd, before diving head first (somewhat literally) into “Outshined”. With menacing eyes, cutthroat teeth, and from underneath a mop of messy, black hair, Cornell shook the crowd up for a solid two-hour set. But it wasn’t all on his shoulders.

Behind him, his original brethren – guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd, and drummer Matt Cameron – delivered the best gift Cornell’s unwrapped in years: Soundgarden’s long gestating, and highly overdue, reunion. Before you read on, try and forget Audioslave, or his troubled recent solo outings. Instead, shake out your memory banks and brush aside the dust. Can you remember the last time you thought Chris Cornell was foreboding?

Photo by Michael Roffman

Probably not. It’s been a long time. Thirteen years, actually. In that time, most have forgotten about the weight and pull the former Seattle quartet carried. It’s not like Cornell’s made it hard to… really, have you heard Scream? Tonight, however, all was forgotten, and all that’s remembered now is how much of a performer the far reaching vocalist can be.

From the two-hit punch of set opener “Searching With My Good Eye Closed” and “Spoonman” to the three-layered kick of “Burden in my Hand”, “Superunknown”, and “Black Hole Sun”, the set achieved exactly what it should have: polished off rockers that breathed and stretched and bled. Prior to witnessing them annihilate “Jesus Christ Pose”, it never registered that these guys hadn’t jammed together in over a decade, but they haven’t. As cliche as it sounds, they really did pick up where they left off, and without a trip in their stride, either. In all honesty, they packed their bags well for their trip down memory lane. That’s why it’s sort of funny when Cornell casually remarked, “We took a short break, but now we’re back.”

Photo by Michael Roffman

As the band grinded out one grunge anthem after another, more and more fans found themselves revisiting their glory days, too. Thirtysomethings skinned their vocal chords raw, teens poured water in their long hair before headbanging violently, and girls clamored over one another when Cornell decided to sing “Outshined” with his many loyal (some not so loyal) fans. And while a great portion of the crowd jumped ship once “Black Hole Sun” came and went, those who stayed, which were still in the tens of thousands, witnessed a pretty loud and vibrant finale: “Face Pollution” into “Like Suicide” and finally peaking at “Slaves and Bulldozers”. It’s hard to tell if this gig is permanent, but if it’s up to Cornell, he’d be wise to stick to his current deck. No gambling this time around, pal. -Michael Roffman

Arcade Fire
Budweiser, 8:30 p.m.

I had always counted Arcade Fire‘s 2005 Lollapalooza performance one of, if not the single greatest sets I’d ever seen. Now, five years later, they topped it. They had every ounce of bombast that a seasoned, headlining band should, but they also had every bit of emotional weight, unique musical sensibility, and humble interaction as any indie band. Whether it was applauding the host city (“Don’t ever let New York tell you they have a better city”), or cracking wise (“Thank you. Our band is called Soundgarden. This next song is off our album and is called ‘Black Hole Sun’.”), vocalist/guitarist/mandolinist/keyboardist Win Butler dominated the stage. That is, except for the few songs when his wife, drummer/keyboardist/accordionist/hurdy-gurdyist Regine Chassagne was. Chassagne, whose family hails from Haiti, crooned the same-named amazing tribute to her family’s homeland and its many troubles.

Everything from their first EP (“No Cars Go”), to their first album Funeral (highlights included the anthemic “Wake Up” as an encore and the rarely played “Crown of Love”, which was dedicated to The National), to 2007′s Neon Bible (“Intervention” and its massive organ), to the week-old The Suburbs (the title track and “Ready to Start”, particularly) got the full sing-along treatment from the thousands of people in the park. The visual accompaniment added a lot, as well; the anxious, Lost Highway-esque crawl of streets for the punky “Month of May”, the kids misbehaving and eventually carrying guns for “The Suburbs”, the frantic, creeping red and white lights for “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)”, everything came together to enhance the epic music the band exhumed from their every pore.

The performance was, flatly put, ecstatic. The camaraderie and power that the band radiates is truly infectious, whipping the humongous audience up into a frenzy that led to chants of the wordless chorus of “Wake Up” ringing up and down the streets of Chicago as Lollapalooza attendees left for their homes, carrying that emotion back with them. -Adam Kivel

Photo by Heather Kaplan
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Gallery by Heather Kaplan

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Gallery by Cap Blackard

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I recently sat down with the cheerful San before The Slew’s show at The Vancouver International Jazz Festival to get the scoop on everything from the new Lovage album to why teaching first-graders is like working at a comedy club.

How did The Slew come about?

The Slew started about five years ago when myself and Dynomite D decided we wanted to make a turntable rock and blues record. We just started hacking away at it. It took about five years to complete, but it was done last year.

We always wanted to do this rock record, but about a year into us starting we were approached to do a film soundtrack and we thought we might as well kill two birds with one stone. We asked “Oh, what kind of music are you looking for…something like this?”

At that point, it looked like if the timing worked out it would have been released at the same time, but the film turned out to have a bunch of complications and we weren’t about to just wait, knowing the film industry.

Listening to 100%, there is a sense of familiarity in a lot of the beats and riffs used. Are there certain song or samples that you used?

Not really, but that’s what we were aiming for, something that sounded like something.

There were times I was inspired to put on “War Pigs” after the album was over…

Well, that was our goalpost, something that was in between Black Sabbath and Public Enemy. We wanted the turntable choppiness of the hip hop side, but, aesthetically, we wanted the source to be from rock.

Can you tell me about some of the other techniques you’ve used in getting that driving, unique sound to the album?

We used a lot of old rock production techniques. We would plug turntables into amps, overdrive the two, use tape echoes, oil-can delays, and mic things in the room to try to get a different garage-like feel to the stuff. It just has that dust to it. When we actually did the final mix, it was with Mario Caldato who actually produced some of our favorite Beastie Boys albums. So, we said “Can we make this heavy like “So Whatcha Want”?” and he said “Sure,” and basically did the mix for us. It was great.

How are Chris Ross and Myles Heskett crucial to The Slew?

Now it’s just involved into this little monster instead of a weird laboratory experiment between Dylan and myself. It’s just spawned into this live experience. I guess that’s the best way to describe it. Having them on the album, touring with us, has opened up a lot of doors, even on the songs themselves. Now they are indispensable.

How about The Slew – any plans for doing another album or are you just taking it one day at a time and see where it goes?

We’re going into the studio next week and recording some stuff which will hopefully become our new Slew album. Originally, we just invited them [Ross and Heskett] to do the one tour at the beginning of last year, and there was a two-week window where they could do it. And they’re busy, I mean they have Grammys and stuff (laughs). But they’ve been supporting the music for years. I played it for them a couple of years ago as a work in progress and they were in to it. So we did those shows, not really knowing how it would go or how long it would go. But after that tour, we said “We’ve got to keep this going.”

That’s probably the best way, when you don’t have any high expectations

Yeah, exactly. That’s really the key to the whole process. And then the phone started ringing and people wanted to book shows.

I can imagine it would be quite different to go from being in Wolfmother to becoming the rhythm section for a DJ-ed show. What are some of the challenges they’ve had to face playing live with turntables?

I think there was this fear that there would be this really regimented show, like here’s a click-track and we’re going to follow this sequence. But it’s not like that at all, we’ve just divided the tasks. On the six turntables we have the vocals and harmonicas and sound effects and those things. We cut them in on cue with the band, so if they speed up or extend their parts, it’s up to me to correct to it.

So, they kind of have it easy…

Yeah, they found it to be a much smoother transition than they expected. They can just play and our job is to keep up with them for the most part. We do play like a band though, I’ll have vocal phrases that we’ll have to cue to choruses and stuff like that. My needle might skip and I have to go back and set it up again, but it’s cool. There is this sense of excitement because half of the show is balanced on six needles. It can fall apart at any minute, and occasionally it does…but I think people enjoy that.

How does the crowd for The Slew differ from the crowd at any given Kid Koala show? I heard that when you toured in Australia, there were a lot of broken needles and pitchers of beer being thrown on stage…

It’s a real deep groove that people get into. It’s heavy. They really seem to move, they get absorbed by it. Sometimes there are mosh pits and that’s cool! That’s exciting, I’ve never had mosh pits before when I was DJ-ing (laughs).

Given that you’re playing at a Jazz Festival and The Slew is ripe with the blues, are there any other genres you’d like to experiment with that you haven’t already?

I dunno. Who knows what the future will hold. I’m having a good time… one genre at a time. Maybe I’ll make a yoga album.

There you go. Get Enya on board.

Yeah, yoga with scratching!

Mike Patton recently revealed that new Lovage and Peeping Tom albums are in the works. What is your involvement in the projects this time around?

Oh, I’ve already done my turntables for the Lovage stuff. Mike’s a good friend. He actually came onstage and screamed with us on one of the tracks when we played in San Francisco. He’s great. The Lovage music is done for the most part but we’re just waiting for Mike and Jennifer to get together and write again. But I had so much fun on that tour. I hope they finish it soon (laughs).  Dan the Automator is part of it as well, of course. But I haven’t heard any new Peeping Tom stuff yet.

You’ve been on tour with many other big artists: Bjork, Radiohead, Beastie Boys – any particular memories or moments from those tours that stick out in your mind?

Wow. Madison Square Garden with Radiohead, that was crazy. I was like, how does someone who does what I do end up at Madison Square Garden? I got to play for like 30 minutes by myself and I’m like, if I got to play in New York a thousand times, I still wouldn’t be able to play in front of that many people. It was so cool.

And were people kind of accepting, or were they like, “Bring on Radiohead!”?

Yeah, well, I did do a set that I thought would appeal to the crowd, but it was cool. And at one point Radiohead was like, “Hey do you want to come and play turntables on the National Anthem track with us” and I was like “What, are you crazy?” I mean they were opening the set with that at the time. I’ve never heard anything that loud in my life, stepping on stage to hear that crowd just cheering. I am a huge fan of theirs.

Growing up you were trained as a classical pianist. Later, at McGill University, you got your degree in Early Childhood Education – how did you make the leap to spinning turntables?

I actually started scratching in high school. For some kids it’s skateboarding, for other kids it’s football, and for me it was scratching records. It’s just been an outlet at an early age. Even in college I was still DJ-ing with bands and playing in clubs.

So at that point you were like, I could be a teacher, or….

Well, I actually did teach first grade for six months during the last part of my course and I had a ball. That was like being in a comedy club for nine hours of the day. You think show business is hard? No, with teaching you don’t get away with anything. But it was fun.

That is quite the way to sell teaching as an occupation – a comedy club.

It’s hilarious. Hilarious. But you can’t laugh which makes it even funnier because you can’t laugh at them. You just think, “I gotta remember this for later” and get so many stories from it. It’s the energy of it all.

But things got busier, and a year out of college, I decided to go for broke on the music thing. I’d been doing it since high school but never really gave it my whole focus. But within that year Ninja Tune had discovered what I was working on and signed me up. And that was it. I was on the road and they were flying me all over the place for shows. They kept me on the road for four years and I learned a lot from that whole experience.

Well that’s kind of like the teaching – you’ve got everybody looking at you…

(laughs) Yes, totally. Staring at you blankly.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome was released with a comic book. In 2003 you released your graphic novel Nufonia Must Fall. To you, what is the relationship between music and art?

Well, turntables and comics live in the realm of the surreal. In turntables you can take a human voice and bend it out of the range of what’s normal, and it’s acceptable, because people are like “Oh that’s a turntable that’s doing that, not a real person. I can listen to it and it’s not going to scare me.” And with comics it’s the same thing. You can draw a character with a propeller on their head and make them float away and there’s a suspension of disbelief. People say “Yeah, I buy that.” It doesn’t live in the realm of “This makes no sense. That house wouldn’t be architecturally sound,” you know? I like the wider margins of possibility. All in all they are just two outlets that are the most natural to me.

And you’re doing another comic?

Yes, I just finished one that should be out next spring. It’s called Space Cadet and unlike The Slew’s 100%, which is loud and raucous, this one has a very calm, sedated soundtrack. We’re going to do a tour that has headphones for all of the audience, which will be a neat experience.

What are you hoping the audience will take away from seeing The Slew?

Just…that connection. Get a little buzz out of it. At the end of the day we are just playing from our hearts, you know, to get that connection out so that when it’s all over they say “I had fun, that was cool.”

Maybe someone threw beer on the stage…

Yeah, whatever, that’s all part of the process (laughs).

]]> Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which garnered acclaim for its unique mix of track composition with its skilled use of turntables. He has since appeared on numerous projects, such as Deltron 3030, Bullfrog and Lovage, with Mike Patton. His latest experiment is the The Slew, and their album 100%. Composed of Koala, DJ Dynomite D (Dylan J. Frombach), and two former members of Wolfmother (bassist/keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett), The Slew is a ground-pounding mix of rock 'n’ roll and blues, all served up with expertly spun turntables. I recently sat down with the cheerful San before The Slew’s show at The Vancouver International Jazz Festival to get the scoop on everything from the new Lovage album to why teaching first-graders is like working at a comedy club. How did The Slew come about? The Slew started about five years ago when myself and Dynomite D decided we wanted to make a turntable rock and blues record. We just started hacking away at it. It took about five years to complete, but it was done last year. We always wanted to do this rock record, but about a year into us starting we were approached to do a film soundtrack and we thought we might as well kill two birds with one stone. We asked “Oh, what kind of music are you looking for…something like this?” At that point, it looked like if the timing worked out it would have been released at the same time, but the film turned out to have a bunch of complications and we weren’t about to just wait, knowing the film industry. Listening to 100%, there is a sense of familiarity in a lot of the beats and riffs used. Are there certain song or samples that you used? Not really, but that’s what we were aiming for, something that sounded like something. There were times I was inspired to put on “War Pigs” after the album was over… Well, that was our goalpost, something that was in between Black Sabbath and Public Enemy. We wanted the turntable choppiness of the hip hop side, but, aesthetically, we wanted the source to be from rock. Can you tell me about some of the other techniques you’ve used in getting that driving, unique sound to the album? We used a lot of old rock production techniques. We would plug turntables into amps, overdrive the two, use tape echoes, oil-can delays, and mic things in the room to try to get a different garage-like feel to the stuff. It just has that dust to it. When we actually did the final mix, it was with Mario Caldato who actually produced some of our favorite Beastie Boys albums. So, we said “Can we make this heavy like “So Whatcha Want”?" and he said “Sure,” and basically did the mix for us. It was great. How are Chris Ross and Myles Heskett crucial to The Slew? Now it’s just involved into this little monster instead of a weird laboratory experiment between Dylan and myself. It’s just spawned into this live experience. I guess that’s the best way to describe it. Having them on the album, touring with us, has opened up a lot of doors, even on the songs themselves. Now they are indispensable. How about The Slew – any plans for doing another album or are you just taking it one day at a time and see where it goes? We’re going into the studio next week and recording some stuff which will hopefully become our new Slew album. Originally, we just invited them [Ross and Heskett] to do the one tour at the beginning of last year, and there was a two-week window where they could do it. And they’re busy, I mean they have Grammys and stuff (laughs). But they’ve been supporting the music for years. I played it for them a couple of years ago as a work in progress and they were in to it. So we did those shows, not really knowing how it would go or how long it would go. But after that tour, we said “We’ve got to keep this going.” That’s probably the best way, when you don’t have any high expectations Yeah, exactly. That’s really the key to the whole process. And then the phone started ringing and people wanted to book shows. I can imagine it would be quite different to go from being in Wolfmother to becoming the rhythm section for a DJ-ed show. What are some of the challenges they’ve had to face playing live with turntables? I think there was this fear that there would be this really regimented show, like here’s a click-track and we’re going to follow this sequence. But it’s not like that at all, we’ve just divided the tasks. On the six turntables we have the vocals and harmonicas and sound effects and those things. We cut them in on cue with the band, so if they speed up or extend their parts, it’s up to me to correct to it. So, they kind of have it easy… Yeah, they found it to be a much smoother transition than they expected. They can just play and our job is to keep up with them for the most part. We do play like a band though, I’ll have vocal phrases that we'll have to cue to choruses and stuff like that. My needle might skip and I have to go back and set it up again, but it’s cool. There is this sense of excitement because half of the show is balanced on six needles. It can fall apart at any minute, and occasionally it does…but I think people enjoy that. How does the crowd for The Slew differ from the crowd at any given Kid Koala show? I heard that when you toured in Australia, there were a lot of broken needles and pitchers of beer being thrown on stage… It’s a real deep groove that people get into. It’s heavy. They really seem to move, they get absorbed by it. Sometimes there are mosh pits and that’s cool! That’s exciting, I’ve never had mosh pits before when I was DJ-ing (laughs). [youtube hJPc4SRnedo] Given that you’re playing at a Jazz Festival and The Slew is ripe with the blues, are there any other genres you’d like to experiment with that you haven’t already? I dunno. Who knows what the future will hold. I’m having a good time… one genre at a time. Maybe I’ll make a yoga album. There you go. Get Enya on board. Yeah, yoga with scratching! Mike Patton recently revealed that new Lovage and Peeping Tom albums are in the works. What is your involvement in the projects this time around? Oh, I’ve already done my turntables for the Lovage stuff. Mike’s a good friend. He actually came onstage and screamed with us on one of the tracks when we played in San Francisco. He’s great. The Lovage music is done for the most part but we’re just waiting for Mike and Jennifer to get together and write again. But I had so much fun on that tour. I hope they finish it soon (laughs).  Dan the Automator is part of it as well, of course. But I haven’t heard any new Peeping Tom stuff yet. You’ve been on tour with many other big artists: Bjork, Radiohead, Beastie Boys – any particular memories or moments from those tours that stick out in your mind? Wow. Madison Square Garden with Radiohead, that was crazy. I was like, how does someone who does what I do end up at Madison Square Garden? I got to play for like 30 minutes by myself and I’m like, if I got to play in New York a thousand times, I still wouldn’t be able to play in front of that many people. It was so cool. And were people kind of accepting, or were they like, “Bring on Radiohead!”? Yeah, well, I did do a set that I thought would appeal to the crowd, but it was cool. And at one point Radiohead was like, “Hey do you want to come and play turntables on the National Anthem track with us” and I was like “What, are you crazy?” I mean they were opening the set with that at the time. I’ve never heard anything that loud in my life, stepping on stage to hear that crowd just cheering. I am a huge fan of theirs. Growing up you were trained as a classical pianist. Later, at McGill University, you got your degree in Early Childhood Education - how did you make the leap to spinning turntables? I actually started scratching in high school. For some kids it’s skateboarding, for other kids it’s football, and for me it was scratching records. It’s just been an outlet at an early age. Even in college I was still DJ-ing with bands and playing in clubs. So at that point you were like, I could be a teacher, or…. Well, I actually did teach first grade for six months during the last part of my course and I had a ball. That was like being in a comedy club for nine hours of the day. You think show business is hard? No, with teaching you don’t get away with anything. But it was fun. That is quite the way to sell teaching as an occupation – a comedy club. It’s hilarious. Hilarious. But you can’t laugh which makes it even funnier because you can’t laugh at them. You just think, “I gotta remember this for later” and get so many stories from it. It’s the energy of it all. But things got busier, and a year out of college, I decided to go for broke on the music thing. I'd been doing it since high school but never really gave it my whole focus. But within that year Ninja Tune had discovered what I was working on and signed me up. And that was it. I was on the road and they were flying me all over the place for shows. They kept me on the road for four years and I learned a lot from that whole experience. Well that’s kind of like the teaching – you’ve got everybody looking at you… (laughs) Yes, totally. Staring at you blankly. [youtube 38fwgSPz1Sk] Carpal Tunnel Syndrome was released with a comic book. In 2003 you released your graphic novel Nufonia Must Fall. To you, what is the relationship between music and art? Well, turntables and comics live in the realm of the surreal. In turntables you can take a human voice and bend it out of the range of what’s normal, and it’s acceptable, because people are like “Oh that’s a turntable that’s doing that, not a real person. I can listen to it and it’s not going to scare me.” And with comics it’s the same thing. You can draw a character with a propeller on their head and make them float away and there’s a suspension of disbelief. People say “Yeah, I buy that.” It doesn’t live in the realm of “This makes no sense. That house wouldn’t be architecturally sound,” you know? I like the wider margins of possibility. All in all they are just two outlets that are the most natural to me. And you’re doing another comic? Yes, I just finished one that should be out next spring. It’s called Space Cadet and unlike The Slew’s 100%, which is loud and raucous, this one has a very calm, sedated soundtrack. We’re going to do a tour that has headphones for all of the audience, which will be a neat experience. What are you hoping the audience will take away from seeing The Slew? Just…that connection. Get a little buzz out of it. At the end of the day we are just playing from our hearts, you know, to get that connection out so that when it’s all over they say “I had fun, that was cool.” Maybe someone threw beer on the stage… Yeah, whatever, that’s all part of the process (laughs). ]]> http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/07/interview-kid-koala/feed/ 1 http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/06/primus-adds-additonal-dates-to-north-american-tour/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/06/primus-adds-additonal-dates-to-north-american-tour/#comments http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com//wp-content/uploads/2010/06/primus.jpg Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:45:28 +0000 Chris Coplan http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=48051 If the feel-good story of Primus reuniting with original drummer Jay Lane, who hasn’t performed with the band since 1989, wasn’t enough for you, the band also announced a hefty set of touring dates. Now we’re happy to announce (via the band’s official site) that they have since added some more dates, including an excursion to our neighbors to the north.

Among the 11 additional dates, expect stops in Eagle, ID, Seattle, WA, Chicago, IL, Detroit, MI, and the aforementioned stops in Alberta and Winnipeg. Sadly, those hoping to see Gogol Bordello or Wolfmother open up will just have to settle for Primus rocking without them. Still not a bad show, though. The full set of tour dates can be found below.

Tickets for the newly announced dates go on sale beginning Saturday, June 19th via Ticketmaster.com. Stay tuned for any more tour news.

Primus 2010 Tour Dates:
07/27 – Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy
07/29 – Essex Jct., VT @ Midway Lawn at Champlain Valley Expo *&
07/30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Williamsburg Waterfront *
07/31 – Bridgeport, CT @ Gathering of the Vibes Festival
08/01 – Charlotesville, VA @ Charlottesville Pavilion *
08/03 – Cleveland, OH @ Time Warner Cable Ampitheater *
08/05 – Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion *
08/06 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
08/07 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
08/09 – Council Bluffs, IA @ Stir Cove at Harrah’s *
08/10 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater *
08/12 – Denver, CO @ Red Rocks *
08/13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Rail *
08/14– Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint (An Evening with Primus – Special midnight show)
08/15 – Santa Barbara, CA @ County Bowl ^
09/18 – Tempe, AZ @ Arizona Fall Frenzy
09/20 – Eagle, ID @ Eagle River Pavillion
09/21 – Central Point, OR @ Lithia Motors Amphitheater
09/22 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
09/24 – Seattle, WA @ Wamu Theatre at Qwest Field
09/25 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum
09/27 – Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Centre
09/28 – Calgary, AB @ University of Calgary
09/30 – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre
10/01 – Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theatre
10/02 – Chicago, IL @ Congress Theatre
10/03 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit

* = w/ Gogol Bordello
& = w/ Heloise & The Savoir Faire
^ = w/ Wolfmother

A statement from the band was released to the organizers of the Main Square Festival in France reading, “We are sorry to announce that Wolfmother have been forced to cancel its full European tour for June and July. Due to medical reasons, Andrew Stockdale, Wolfmother’s lead singer is unable to fly.” The tour included sharing the stage with Kiss for a handful of dates in Germany, opening up for Pearl Jam at Hard Rock Calling, and appearances at T In The Park, Rock Am Ring.

The Hives will get a nudge up the bill and Killswitch Engine will be replacing the band at Hard Rock Calling and Download Festival, respectively. Other Euro festivals have not yet named replacements. We will update you with more substitutions as they are announced.

Contactmusic reports that the band will be back on the road by August for their US dates, which bodes well for Lollapalooza (and…Sturgis Rally) ticket holders for now. We sincerely wish Andrew a speedy and healthy recovery.

While we wait for a more extensive release from the band, you can still purchase tickets for many of the upcoming August dates via Ticketmaster.com.

Wolfmother 2010 Tour Dates:
06/05 – Nurburg, DE @ Rock Am Ring
06/06 – Numberg, DE @ Rock Im Park
06/08 – Trondhein, NO @ Lerkendal Festival
06/11 – Donigton, GB @ Download Festival
06/13 – Nickelsdorf, AT @ Novarock Festival
06/19 – Seinajoki, FL @ Provinssirock
06/25 – London, GB @ Hard Rock Calling
06/26 – Paris, FR @ Solidays Festival
06/27 – St. Gallen, CH @ St. Gallen Festival
06/29 – Luxembourg, LU @ Den Atelier
07/01 – Borlange, SE @ Peace & Love Festival
07/03 – Arras, FR @ Main Square Festival
07/04 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
07/06 – Venice, IT @ Heineken Jammin Festival
07/08 – Hultsfred, SE @ Hultsfred Festival
07/10 – Scotland, GB @ T In The Park
07/11 – Nass, IE @ Oxegen Festival
07/30-08/01 – Queensland, AU @ Splendour in the Grass
08/08 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/10 – Coucil Bluffs, IA @ Harrah’s Stir Cove #
08/11 – Sturgis, SD @ Sturgis Rally
08/12 – Aspen, CO @ Belly Up Aspen
08/14 – San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands Festival
08/15 – Santa Barbra, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl *
08/19 – Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blues – Anaheim
08/21 – San Diego, CA @ House Of Blues – San Diego

# = w/ Social Distoriton
* = w/ Primus

Other acts of note include Al Green, Phoenix, Social Distortion, Damian Marley & Nas, The Levon Helm Band, Cat Power, Empire of the Sun, Wolfmother, Chromeo, Gogol Bordello, Bassnectar, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, Pretty Lights, Janelle Monae, Amos Lee, and The Temper Trap. Check out the full list of confirmed acts here; lineup announcement remix video below.

Two-day passes, priced at $75, will go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, June 2nd at 10:00 AM PST via Ticketmaster.com. Stay tuned for additional details. Correction: Two-day passes will be priced at $125, while single day will be priced at $75. The original price, which came from SFWeekly.com, was incorrected.

Lane, who hasn’t performed with Primus since 1989, left his recent duties with Phil Lesh/Bob Weir outfit Furthur to rejoin his former bandmates. Longtime Primus drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander has been spending his time of late touring with Puscifer, and it appears he’s been having too much fun talking wine with Maynard James Keenan to come back home.

The North American tour, the band’s first headlining trek in four years, will kick off July 27th in Toronto, round up the East Coast a little (including an appearance at Gathering of the Vibes), and head west. Primus will play a show at Denver’s Red Rocks and a special midnight performance in Vegas before hitting the Santa Barbara County Bowl. There is a month-long gap in the tour before the September 18th show in Tempe, Arizona.

Gogol Bordello will be supporting Primus on many of the dates, while Wolfmother and Heloise & The Savoir Faire will join the band for one show each. Check out the full schedule below, and get tickets, starting Saturday, May 8th, on Ticketmaster (pre-sale password here!).

Primus 2010 Tour Dates:
07/27 – Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy
07/29 – Essex Jct., VT @ Midway Lawn at Champlain Valley Expo *&
07/30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Williamsburg Waterfront *
07/31 – Bridgeport, CT @ Gathering of the Vibes Festival
08/01 – Charlotesville, VA @ Charlottesville Pavilion *
08/03 – Cleveland, OH @ Time Warner Cable Ampitheater *
08/05 – Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion *
08/06 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
08/07 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
08/09 – Council Bluffs, IA @ Stir Cove at Harrah’s *
08/10 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater *
08/12 – Denver, CO @ Red Rocks *
08/13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Rail *
08/14 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint (An Evening with Primus – Special midnight show)
08/15 – Santa Barbara, CA @ County Bowl ^
09/18 – Tempe, AZ @ Arizona Fall Frenzy

* = w/ Gogol Bordello
& = w/ Heloise & The Savoir Faire
^ = w/ Wolfmother

Unlike Stockdale’s previous misfortune — back in 2008, when founding members Chris Ross and Myles Heskett bailed — the band contends that everything is “cool” and that “this is more of a life change decision for Dave.” For now, however, the group continues to tour with drummer Will Rockwell-Scott, who fans might recognize from Mooney Suzuki and Har Mar Superstar.

Over the next three months, the band plans to tour Europe, the U.S, and Australia.

Afters months of guesses and leaks and a week-long word puzzle, we finally know who will be playing the 2010 edition of Lollapalooza.

This year’s festival, set to take place from August 6-8 at Chicago’s Grant Park, will be headed by what is currently the first scheduled performance for the recently reunited, iconic grunge outfit Soundgarden. Legendary punk rockers Green Day, pop superstar Lady Gaga, influential indie outfits The Strokes and Arcade Fire, and French sensations Phoenix are all set to top the lineup.

Other notables acts include Erykah Badu, Social Distortion, MGMT, Devo, Cypress Hill, Spoon, The National, The New Pornographers, Wolfmother, Gogol Bordello, Grizzly Bear, Yeasayer, Hot Chip, Drive-By Truckers, Dirty Projectors, Metric, Cut Copy, AFI, and the legendary Jimmy Cliff.

As we scroll further down, names such as Mavis Staples, Minus the Bear, Frightened Rabbit, The xx, Blitzen Trapper, Fuck Buttons, Switchfoot, The Temper Trap, The Dodos, Jamie Lidell, The Cribs, and Raphael Saadiq can also be found.

The bottom tier of the lineup features up-and-comers like Mumford & Sons, Cymbals Eat Guitars, The Soft Pack, The Morning Benders, Warpaint, The Antlers, Freelance Whales, Jukebox the Ghost, and These United States.

Finally, this year’s bill will once again feature Perry’s, a dance-oriented stage. Among those scheduled to appear include 2ManyDJs, Empire of the Sun, Digitalism, Tiga, Felix da Housecat, Rusko, Flosstradamus, Wolfgang Gartner, Joachim Garraud, Peanut Butter Wolf, and a DJ set from Cut Copy.

As it stands now, the current 2010 bill looks like this:

Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, Phoenix, Social Distortion, MGMT, Jimmy Cliff, Hot Chip, The Black Keys, The National, Spoon, Devo, Cypress Hill, Cut Copy, The New Pornographers, Erykah Badu, Slightly Stoopid, Grizzly Bear, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, Wolfmother, Yeasayer, X Japan, Mutemath, Metric, Dirty Projectors, AFI, Mavis Staples, Matt & Kim, The xx, Drive-By Truckers, Blues Traveler

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Temper Trap, Jamie Lidell, Frightened Rabbit, Fuck Buttons, Deer Tick, Blitzen Trapper, Stars, Raphael Saadiq, The Cribs, Minus the Bear, Switchfoot, The Walkmen, Mumford & Sons, Wild Beasts, Rogue Wave, Los Amigos Invisibles, The Big Pink, The Dodos, Hockey, Cymbals Eat Guitars, B.o.B, Dawes, Warpaint, The Antlers, The Soft Pack, Rebelution, Balkan Beat Box

Wavves, American Bang, The Ike Reilly Assassination, Company of Thieves, Nneka, Harlem, The Constellations, Miniature Tigers, Mimicking Birds, The Kissaway Trail, HEALTH, Javelin, The Morning Benders, Foxy Shazam, Violent Soho, Royal Bangs, Neon Trees, Freelance Whales, Semi Precious Weapons, Dan Black, The Band of Heathens, Dragonette, My Dear Disco, Shawn Fisher, Neon Hitch, Skybox, The Ettes, Jukebox the Ghost, These United States, MyNameIsJohnMichael

Perry’s DJ stage lineup:

2ManyDJs, Empire of the Sun, Digitalism, Perry Farrell, Tiga, Felix da Housecat, Rusko, Erol Alkan, Kaskade, Flosstradamus, Wolfgang Gartner, Joachim Garraud, Mexican Institute of Sound, Caspa, Peanut Butter Wolf, Dirty South, NERVO, Cut Copy (DJ Set), Beats Antique, Steve Porter, Didi Gutman of Brazilian Girls, Ancient Astronauts, Ana Sia, Team Bayside High, Dani Deahl, FreeSol, DJ Mel, BBU Vonnegutt, Only Children, Lance Herbstrong

Additional acts, including the lineup for this year’s Kidzapalooza stage will be announced in the weeks ahead. The day-by-day schedule will likely be revealed in June.

Three-day passes are currently priced at $190 and can obtained here. Once that allotment sells out, the price will raise to $215. VIP passes and travel packages are also available.

Update: For those looking looking to get their scheduling freak on, it appears that Lady Gaga and The Strokes will be playing Friday, Green Day and Phoenix on Saturday, and Soundgarden and Arcade Fire on Sunday. Here is the day-by-day breakdown, which is TOTALLY UNCONFIRMED, per the Lollapalooza message board:

Friday, August 6th:
Lady Gaga
The Strokes
Jimmy Cliff
Hot Chip
The Black Keys
Devo
New Pornographers
Chromeo
Dirty Projectors
Mavis Staples
Matt & Kim
Drive-By Truckers
Jamie Lidell
Fuck Buttons
Raphael Saadiq
The Walkmen
Los Amigos Invisbles
The Big Pink
Cymabalks Eat Guitars
B.o.B
Balkan Beat BOx
Wavves
American Bang
The Constellations
Javelin
Foxy Shazam
Semi Precious Weapons
My Dear Disco
The Ettes
Jukebox The Ghost
These United States
2ManyDJs
Tiga
Erol Alkan
Caspa
Peanut Butter Wolf
Cut Copy (DJ)
Ana Sia
FreeSol
BBU Vonnegutt

Saturday, August 7th:
Green Day
Phoenix
Social Distortion
Spoon
Cut Copy
Erykah Badu
Slightly Stoopid
Grizzly Bear
Gogol Bordello
Metric
AFI
The xx
Blues Traveler
Edward Sharpe
Deer Tick
Stars
Wild Beasts
Rogue Wave
Dawes
Warpaint
The Soft Pack
Rebelution
Harlem
Mimicking Birds
Kissaway Trail
Morning Benders
Royal Bangs
Dan Black
Dragonette
Skybox
Mynameisjohnmichael
Empire of the Sun
Perry Farrell
Rusko
Kaskade
Wolfgang Gartner
Joachim Garraud
Beats Antique
Steve Porter
Ancient Astronauts
DJ Mel
BBU Vonnegutt
Only Children
Lance Herbstrong

Sunday, August 8th:
Soundgarden
Arcade Fire
MGMT
The National
Cypress Hill
Wolfmother
Yeasayer
X Japan
MUTEMATH
The Temper Trap
Frightened Rabbit
Blitzen Trapper
The Cribs
Minus THe Bear
Switchfoot
Mumford & Sons
The Dodos
Hockey
The Antlers
Ike Reilly
Company of Thieves
Nneka
Miniature Tigers
HEALTH
Violent Soho
Freelance Whales
Band of Heathens
Shawn Fisher
Neon Hitch
Digitalism
Felix da Housecat
Flosstradamus
Mexican Institute of Sound
Dirty South
Nervo
Didi Gutman (Brazilian Girls)
Team Bayside High
Dani Deahl

First, there’s tons of pop-punk in this album. Aside from the Hoppus-Wentz collabo, the likes of Avril Lavigne, All Time Low, 3OH!3, Metro Station, and more appear. For those of you not down with the Hot Topic sound (or afraid to admit), the soundtrack’s also sports tracks from Wolfmother, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and Franz Ferdinand. But in a move that is sure to make everyone, both pre and post-puberty, truly happy, Robert Smith has a song you’re sure to remember. The Cure frontman is going solo with a remake of “Very Good Advice”.

A video for the soundtrack’s first single, Lavigne’s “Alice (Underground)”, is due sometime in February. Almost Alice is in stores on March 2nd. The film hits theaters March 5th.

Almost Alice Tracklist:
01. Alice (Underground) – Avril Lavigne
02. The Poison – The All-American Rejects
03. The Technicolor Phase – Owl City
04. Her Name Is Alice – Shinedown
05. Painting Flowers – All Time Low
06. Where’s My Angel – Metro Station
07. Strange – Tokio Hotel and Kerli
08. Follow Me Down – 3OH!3 featuring Neon Hitch
09. Very Good Advice – Robert Smith
10. In Transit – Mark Hoppus with Pete Wentz
11. Welcome to Mystery – Plain White T’s
12. Tea Party – Kerli
13. The Lobster Quadrille – Franz Ferdinand
14. Running Out of Time – Motion City Soundtrack
15. Fell Down a Hole – Wolfmother
16. White Rabbit – Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Last night’s show with 70’s proto-metal revivalists Wolfmother was a way for those born a decade or more too late to revel in the magic of the over the top rock show. From Townshend-inspired windmills to an explosive finale that saw the set up destroyed, Wolfmother, in all their rock goodness, are back in a big way.

Cosmic Egg, the group’s latest record, means they’ve dodged the one hit wonder bullet. What’s more, Andrew Stockdale’s decision to reform with a new band was a far smarter move than some were willing to give him credit for. Now as a four piece, Stockdale has assembled a tight nit crew that could have easily been there from the beginning, at least judging from the way they flawlessly pulled it together.

Naturally, the rehearsed songs sounded great — and they even took requests, much to the crowd’s surprise. When it was time for “Apple Tree”, a song they admitted hadn’t been played live yet, the band shrugged, smiled, and just went for it. The crowd ate it up. It was as if there was no change, making Wolfmother 2.0 an actual improvement from its first round as a three piece. It’s Stockdale’s show, sure, but that didn’t stop the rest of the guys from letting loose and making a scene of their own.

An extra guitar meant last night’s show was loud as hell. Kicking things off with “Dimension”, the set was a mix of new and old tracks. “California Queen”, off the new record, fit right in with old staples like the revamped “Woman”, which added some cowbell for a Walken-approved hair-raiser. Hitting that one early on meant more room for fun without the expectation of an obvious encore. It’s a great track, but there is so much more that this band has to offer.

“White Unicorn” saw a little bit of chaos in the crowd with two line backer sized dudes deciding to wrestle around with their fists. 9:30 Club’s legendary bouncer Josh broke it up very quickly, right in time for the fiery guitar and key solos. “Colossal” proved once again that some one owes a royalty check to Black Sabbath, but was just as sludgy and dark as ever.

As the show blazed on, you could tell that the audience was still getting used to the new material. “10,000 Feet”, country rocker “In the Morning”, and even “Cosmic Egg” gathered mixed reactions over the older, more ambitious material. It makes sense though, because live, it was the older tracks that were heavier and filled with the extended jams that fans have latched on to overtime. Stockdale also seemed to be having much more fun with them as well, teasing the crowd with dance moves and smiles.

The only out of place moment came during an acoustic Kate Bush cover that was more awkward than anything else. It was made up for however with two more rowdy rockers, “Cosmic Egg” and the one they had all been waiting for, “Joker and the Thief”. The show ended after nearly two hours of an unapologetic Led Sabbath storm with a huge bang. Ian Peres jumped on his keys, looking like [The Muppet Show's] Animal as his long curly locks flailed, and Stockdale ripped his guitar strings out and swung it around by his teeth. Aiden Nemeth took his guitar to Dave Atkins kit, and in the end we, and the stage, were a sweaty destroyed mess.

Sure most of us were born 15 years too late to see when this stuff was first done, but it doesn’t mean it’s still not cool now. Wolfmother delivered above and beyond a must see rock show that’s hard to find anywhere else. Sure it’s 2009, but sometimes we wish it was 1975, and Wolfmother 2.0 gave it to us straight up with a shot of “kick ass.”

In addition, the drinks were surprisingly affordable and the festival featured some of the most delicious New Orleans eats, everything from gator claws to crawfish pies and all the gumbo you’d ever want. Given the weekend, each day the festival grounds were packed with ghouls and goblins, and following the Saturday shows, festival goers were asked to compete in a zombie costume contest, which ended with the destruction of one giant piñata. Unfortunately, below is now all that remains of the wild and magnificent festivities from this past weekend. Think you can handle it?

Friday, October 30th

The Black Keys:
Playstation Billboard.com Stage: 5:40-6:40 p.m.

As the sun set and a thick black cloud cast its shadow over the Playstation Billboard.com Stage, The Black Keys hit us with a wave of intensely satisfying blues-rock material. The duo proceeded to run through an assortment of old and new tracks including “Thickfreakness”, “I Got Mine” and “Your Touch” with vigor and a fierce attitude. Unfortunately, midway through their performance, it began to rain so violently that it was difficult to keep our eyes open. However, their ferocious energy shined through and it became obvious almost immediately that these dudes weren’t going to let a little bit of rain set them back. Patrick Carney (on drums) went particularly wild during all this; pounding away and violently shaking his body to the beat while using his own cymbals to assist him in playing the tambourine simultaneously. Meanwhile, Dan Auerbach (guitar/vocals) wowed us with bluesy vocals and some serious guitar playing on numbers like “10 A.M. Automatic” and “Set You Free”. Overall, the audience was so wrapped up in their performance you could hardly tell it was raining anymore. It was just as if all of that simply didn’t matter any more. -A.F.

Silversun Pickups:
Voodoo Stage: 6:40-8:00 p.m.

As the cold, wet rain continued to soak through our t-shirts, Silversun Pickups brought our attention towards the main stage. Choosing to heavily play through tired numbers from their latest record, Swoon, such as “There’s No Secrets This Year”, “The Royal We” and “Panic Switch”, lead singer Brian Aubert strung us along for yet another lukewarm performance racking up to just shy of two hours in length. Thankfully, our ears were momentarily perked, as the group finally decided to run through an edgy rendition of “Well Thought Out Twinkles” and a few other older hits such as “Lazy Eye” and “Little Lover’s Polite”. All things considered, however, between the bad weather and the band’s pathetic approach to gloomy indie-rock music this was certainly a concert to keep walking past. -A.F.

Justice:
Playstation Billboard.com Stage: 8:00-9:30 p.m.

From behind the thick, billowing clouds of heavy fog emanating from around their stage equipment, the French duo Justice appeared and quickly proceeded to give their audience an extremely exciting performance filled with dancing, thick smoke and flashing lights. Making sure to play some of their more important hits, including “Genesis”, “D.A.N.C.E.”, and “DVNO”, the duo plowed through their limited repertoire while also adding a few unexpected surprises along the way. Mixing in tracks by other artists such as Daft Punk, Skeetaz and Crystal Method, Justice managed to wholly spice up the evening with a 50/50 mix of their own original tracks and others’. Then, about halfway through their performance the rain picked back up again, this time bringing along with it heavy winds and lightning. And as a result, with the wind blowing out from behind the stage and the smoke swirling out from the multiple fog machines, we raised are arms, clenched our fists and jerked our torso’s so maniacally we could have caused a panic. All the while Xavier and Gaspard remained completely silent; only breaking to gain the praise and applause they were so eagerly awaiting by continuously halting the music and thus, causing the crowd to scream and shout for more. And by the time their spicy DJ set neared its end we were hardly ready to leave, but before we could protest Eminem took to the neighboring Voodoo stage and made an encore from Justice near impossible. -A.F.

Fischerspooner:
Bingo! Parlour: 8:50-10:50 p.m.

From inside the gigantic circus tent venue, Bingo! Parlour, Fischerspooner gave a wonderfully fitting and unique performance involving an interesting array of costumes, drag queen make-up, expressive videos, and synchronized dancing. With a stage full of extra props and costumes just waiting to be used, Fischerspooner took us on a wild ride; changing costumes almost every other song and constantly spicing up the atmosphere with new and awkward stage antics. From crotch thrusting to ballet, the back-up dancers lit up the stage with their skin-colored spandex outfits, colorful make-up and marionette meets gothic cheerleader dance numbers.

You could tell the duo were softies for theatrics, however the numerous occasions when vocalist Warren Fischer stopped the audio to watch and comment harshly on his behavior in various tidbits of recorded footage, including past performances, interviews and music videos, were needless to say awkward. At least the man’s not afraid to show that he’s an egocentric ass, right? Honestly, they were continuously sending us mixed messages between the self-absorbed hatred of their own image and the annoyance of having to play their hits like “Emerge”, “Just Let Go” and “Never Win”. Fischer commented on this multiple times remarking, “Is this seriously what you guys want to hear? These songs are so old!” As the performance trudged on, images from Show Girls and All That Jazz flashed behind us and after a few more mind-numbing tracks the band went through their thank yous and bows and then slowly disappeared behind the stage. Albeit a strange one, Fischerspooner was certainly not a show to miss this weekend. -A.F.

Eminem:
Voodoo Stage: 9:30-11:00 p.m.

By the time Eminem took to the main stage we were all extremely exhausted, completely drenched and freezing, however, that didn’t keep our excitement out of reach for the “Real Slim Shady”. Performing in front of a giant image of himself, Eminem shimmied up to the front asking fans, “Did you miss me? I missed you too, man. It’s been a minute, huh, New Orleans?” — hinting back to his last performance in the city nine years ago. Dressed in a white t-shirt and black hoodie, Eminem opened with the homicidal “3 A.M.” as crackling gun shots were fired continuously into the air; an exhausted stage effect by the end of his performance. Playing through a bevy of his biggest hits including “The Real Slim Shady”, “Kill You”, and “The Way I Am”, Eminem wowed his audience with a solid performance through and through. Also, his D12 crew made various cameos for songs like “Purple Pills” and “My Band”, including a tribute to their late bandmate DeShaun “Proof” Holton. Even his harder to spot back-up band made cameos as glow in the dark skeletons during the performance! Then, he opened into a freestylin’ version of “Stan”; transforming the song into something about an obsessed fan he’d met in New Orleans. The dynamic and fast-paced 75 minute set ended with a ear-shattering sea of gunfire and of course the 8 Mile wonder track, “Lose Yourself”. -A.F.

Saturday, October 31

Black Lips:
Playstation Billboard.com Stage: 12:50-1:50 p.m.

The self-described “flower-punks” from Atlanta, Georgia, put on a powerful performance early on in Saturday’s lineup. The Black Lips have quite an intense history of shocking stage antics – including vomiting, urination, flaming guitars, and a number of other no-no’s. Though this performance wasn’t as crazy, it was still a bone-shaking show! No matter where you were in (and even outside) the grounds at Voodoo –- you probably heard at least a little bit, if not all, of The Black Lips. Joe Bradley’s crashing drums kept a fast and intense pace along with Jared Swilley’s bass and Cole Alexander’s rhythm guitar. All the while, Ian Saint Pé’s mad tangents on lead guitar howled out with the crazed screams from Alexander, Swilley, and Bradley. They filled the airwaves with an sound. The young group blasted out strong hits, such as “It Feels Alright” and “Lock and Key” –- getting the crowd into the right mood for dancing and singing, carousing and merriment. This was made even more impressive by how early in the day they were playing; and after an exciting and long Friday at Voodoo, too!

Possibly one of the most fun songs to come up was “Bad Kids”, from the 2007 album Good Bad Not Evil. This song instantly strikes a chord with anyone who can remember being a sneaky trouble maker for at least a little bit in their life –- and filled us with the need to dance and shout. Best dressed of the group (it was Halloween, after all) would have to have been Swilley, who appeared as something of a well-mustached bandito in a pilgrim hat. The shining sun kept the audience from getting that crazy-lost, drugged-up atmosphere that the group seems to carry with them. A good amount of smoke and lights were put to use; but really, it would have been better suited for a nighttime performance. Even so, the sound and energy were what we came for –- and The Black Lips brought it! If sound could have a visual form, I’d say they dished out something that looked like Salvador Dali’s painting “Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee”, printed on a fast-melting candle, shrouded in green smoke. -W.K.

Zydepunks:
Bingo! Parlour: 1:30-2:30 p.m.

New Orleans’ own Zydepunks put on an exhilarating performance collecting Cajun, Irish, German and Klezmer influences into one festive clusterfuck of music alongside violins and accordions. Keeping the audience on their feet for fast-paced numbers such as “La vie est courte et cruelle” and “One More Chance”, Zydepunks continuously broke off into impressive and rip-roaring instrumental solos every chance they could snag. In fact, through all of this, our eyes were so intensely glued to the stage that we didn’t even notice the bass player exit the stage; appearing moments later in the center of the pit and still playing along with the band. Truly a wonderful and astounding performance, showcasing songs sung in at least four different languages, Zydepunks were the perfect early afternoon show to get the Halloween festivities in check. Besides their apparel was magnificent! The group sent out several dedications via song including a ballad in memorandum of Hurricane Katrina and its survivors entitled “Dear Molly”. As the band cleared the stage, they made a brief anticipatory remark in regards to the Gogol Bordello show later that afternoon shouting, “We’ll see you all there!” -A.F.

Gogol Bordello:
Playstation Billboard.com Stage: 4:50-6:20 p.m.

When Gogol Bordello opened up their show with “Ultimate”, it was as if a great Tsar had stepped onto the Playstation Billboard.com stage! Wait –- no. It was as if a Tyrannosaurus Rex had risen up out of the swamps of New Orleans to reign in as ultimate king of all festivities! With the first few pounding chords of the song, the crowd was called to absolute attention: Tommy T’s heavy bass with Oren’s solid guitar, Sergey’s crying violin, and Yuri’s accordion marched along a strong and steady pace to Eliot’s crashing drums, as Eugene Hütz led us into what quickly became a trashing maelstrom of sound and excitement –- and the crowd followed suit –- becoming a raging whirl of dancing bodies! Little to no words were shared with the wild and ecstatic audience as the band quickly careened from one song to the next. This kept the show moving constantly at maximum rock-out for several gypsy punk hits from both the Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike and Super Taranta albums.

Things did slow down just a little bit (and only temporarily) with the song “Tribal Connection”, at which point Eugene lost his shirt and gained a bottle of wine. Roughly four songs later, that bottle was already empty. This seemed to cue the mad gypsies into a song that everyone immediately recognized. The bum-didle-bump of Eugene’s acoustic guitar was joined by Pedro’s Spanish version of the words we all knew -– and an electricity shot through the crowd as everyone cried out in unison: “SO – YEAH – AAH! START WEARIN’ PURPLE WEARIN’ PURPLE!” This, of course, created a whirlpool of humanity; dancing even more than what we had ever thought possible! All of our sanity and wits vanished for a time; and though our bodies grew steadily more tired and bruised with every crazy song, we never, not for one second, wanted it to stop.

A new song came up during the show, not yet released on any Gogol album. It’s called “Educate Thy Neighbor”, and has something of a Brazilian taste to it –- which made for fantastic dancing (but that’s to be expected with Gogol Bordello). The party did draw to a close, and the band stepped out as if they were done –- but anyone familiar with this group should know they wouldn’t leave without having played one of their fantastic gypsy anthems such as “Baro Foro” or “Mishto”. And sure enough, they came back for a wild encore mash-up of not only those two songs, but also “Sally”, “Undestructable”, and “When the Trickster Starts A-Poking”, in what was an unbeatable, truly satisfying performance. -W.K.

Wolfmother:
Voodoo Stage: 6:20-7:35 p.m.

With the sun setting and the heat still rising, Wolfmother hit the main stage with roaring guitars, heavy-pedaled drums and high pitched screams. Playing a high energy set showcasing many a song from their recent Cosmic Egg release, Wolfmother rocked out the stage and kept the crowd yearning for more. The band kept things simple this Halloween with minimal stage props and no costume attire. And halfway through the set, when their more famous hit “Woman” (thank you Guitar Hero) came on, the crowd burst into screams and went berserk for the speedy guitar riffs and pounding drums showcased on the track. Lasting just over an hour, Wolfmother’s epic set kept things a-rollin’ with fast-paced heavy rock and was just the thing we needed to get the Halloween evening started in third gear. -A.F.

Drive-by Truckers:
Soco/Wwoz Stage: 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Battling the pounding heavy rock music coming from the main stage, Drive-By Truckers retaliated with a solid set of alternative southern rock music. Despite the condition of the ground around the stage, Drive-By Truckers drew in a medium sized crowd to the thick, swampy muck surrounding the Soco/Wwoz Stage. And in the celebratory spirit of Halloween, the band donned the painted faces of Kiss and briefly mentioned their eagerness to catch the rock legends later that evening. Newcomers and long time fans, were lassoed in to the family friendly event featuring twangy guitar riffs, honky-tonk rhythms and the sweet wavering vocals of Mike “The Stroker Ace” Cooley. -A.F.

Jane’s Addiction:
Playstation Billboard.com Stage: 7:35-9:00 p.m.

With the winds picking up and the weather spiraling downwards, Jane’s Addiction swiftly switched our heat levels back up to maximum with the addition of some sexy naked girls (showcased on their stage display), wondrous capes and some hot-bodied dancing between vocalist Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro. Dressed to impress in an obscure shimmery black cape and tight body suit, Farrell led his audience on a wild rock adventure with his tongue and cheek vocals and overall sexy demeanor. Whether humping Navarro or getting rubbed down by some elaborately dressed Harajuku style girls on stage Farrell’s message to his audience was clear, “Our music is hot, so let’s get frisky together”. And you know what? The crowd dove in head first for it; bouncing up and down and cheering for the overzealous sexual acts performed on stage as Farrell thrust his maracas violently and sexually assaulted his guitar. -A.F.

George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic:
Soco/Wwoz Stage: 8:15-11:00 p.m.

After a 30-40 minute delay, George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic finally came onto the Soco/Wwoz stage (you know what that means, folks). Just as expected Clinton came out on stage in a bright yellow jacket and a giant white diaper, followed by his more traditionally dressed bandmates to the muddy Soco/Wwoz stage. Fans gathered in closely, but surprisingly the crowd did not break into song and dance. Instead, the rather tame ground bobbed quietly to the raucous music, which Clinton seemed to be completely strung out and out of his mind for anyway. Overall the Parliament Funkadelic put on a great show, but it felt that it wasn’t appreciated to its full extent since such a large part of the audience seemed torn between this performance and Kiss’ on the main stage. Seriously, Voodoo what were you thinking when you made this schedule? -A.F.

KISS:
Voodoo Stage: 9:00-11:00 p.m.

If you’ve ever wondered what a KISS show would be like without large explosions and fireworks, then you’ve obviously missed the entire point of seeing a KISS show. The theatrics and the stage antics of these four rock legends are the show and the secret behind their outrageous and outlandish shows over the last 36 years! Clad in their traditional heavy metal garb and painted faces, Kiss performed all of our favorite songs plus some, including “Detroit Rock City”, “Shout It Out Loud”, “Strutter”, and “Love Gun” behind a huge glowing neon “KISS” sign. The crowd was in love; shouting and jumping around to these uber famous songs and day-dreaming of blissful heavy rock adventures alongside the band. Before we knew it however, the show came to a triumphant end with fireworks, confetti and loud bangs that made our ears ring for minutes afterwards. KISS was a sight to see as always and the perfect end to a spectacular Halloween night! -A.F.

Sunday, November 1

All Time Low:
Playstation Billboard.com Stage: 12:25-1:25 p.m.

Once the members of All Time Low appeared from behind the stage, the air was immediately filled with deafening screams from the hundreds of young teenage girls present on the grassy fields surrounding the Playstation Billboard.com stage. The trend pop punk band proceeded to feed off this, eating it up like wildfire while responding to the young girls’ swooning sounds with wailing guitars and whiny vocals. Although the majority of their audience was underage, however, vocalist Alex Gaskarth proceeded to ask awkwardly, “Y’all still drunk from last night?” which erupted a wave of silent childish giggling across the audience. Strange enough the young girls experienced overwhelming glee for songs like “Stella” and “Break Your Little Heart”, while raising handmade signs in the air featuring stuff like Blink-182 lyrics or messages of endearment like “Will You Marry Me?”. Unfortunately for some, however, as the band’s die hard fans were having the time of their lives, the rest of the nearby crowd purchasing drinks or food stood around impatiently waiting for the next show to start. -A.F.

The Pogues:
Playstation Billboard.com Stage: 2:15-3:15 p.m.

“Ello, cunts!” shouted Peter “Spider” Stacy marking the beginning of by far the most hilarious show of the weekend. Donned in the expected Irish attire, The Pogues wowed the audience during their first few songs including “Streams of Whiskey” and “Gartloney Rats”. However, by the four or fifth number vocalist Shane MacGowan stumbled onto the stage while finishing a beer. Shortly after, MacGowan and Stacy got into a bit of a tiff, which Stacy later confessed was because his sunglasses had been swiped from him by MacGowan, however, by the end of their performance it became quite obvious what the argument had actually been about.

The performance trudged on and with each song MacGowan’s drunkenness slowly caught up with him; eventually making him completely unable to stand up or focus on the performance at all. Twirling his microphone around violently and inadvertently hitting some of his band mates in the process, MacGowan proceeded to slowly loose it and three-fourths of the way through the show became completely incapable of singing at all. This didn’t stop him, however, as he sang muffled and garbled words (non-existent in any English dictionary) along to the remaining songs from their set, including “Dirty ‘ol Town” and “Sally Maclennane”. Surprisingly, the crowd just laughed all of this off and continued dancing and singing along to the performance, as a few towards the front of the stage waved Irish flags high in the air. When the time came, The Pogues bowed and then deserted the stage, except for MacGowan; who despite his condition refused to believe the show was finished. Once everyone else had cleared the stage MacGowan got back up on stage and proceeded to sing into the mic which had already been turned off. He continued like this for a couple of minutes before being politely escorted off the stage by the security who had to help him walk away from the mic. Needless to say, this ordeal was completely hilarious, but at the same time our feeling of sadness couldn’t be held back upon seeing him in this pathetic state of drunkenness. – A.F.

Widespread Panic:
Voodoo Stage: 3:15-5:45 p.m.

During the hot hours of the afternoon, Widespread Panic drew in flocks of drugged out hippies and drunken buffoons for their two hour and fifteen minute jam session on the main stage. As a first time listener, it was hard to tell where the songs began or ended, but that has always appeared to be an important aspect of their popularity as a jam band. Overall, the performance was well received by the audience who laid out their blankets and sat enjoying the music or dancing wildly (and often off beat) to the jazz/blues rock fiesta taking place on stage. -A.F.

Squirrel Nut Zippers:
Bingo! Parlour: 4:15-5:15 p.m.

The jazzy undertones of the outrageous swing band Squirrel Nut Zippers filled the circus tent and drew in a crowd so large that their entire audience was unable to squeeze in. By far one of the most packed shows at the Bingo! Parlour during the entire weekend, Squirrel Nut Zippers surprised their crowd with goofy dancing, impressive solos and an overwhelming energy that intoxicated the air and rushed through our bloodstream and forced our limbs into motion. The chemistry between the well dressed vocalists James “Jimbo” Mathus and Katharine Whalen was irreplaceable and kept our spirits high throughout their wondrous set of fast-paced swing numbers and equally pleasant slower ballads including “The Ghost of Stephen Foster” and “In The Afterlife”. This was a performance worth catching even though Whalen’s vocals were slightly off key on the last song. Besides, Whalen’s matador getup was amazing! -A.F.

The Flaming Lips:
Playstation Billboard.com Stage: 5:45-7:00 p.m

Displayed on a giant screen, was a naked woman (shown in trippy 70’s style visualizations meets heat vision) who began to seductively dance. Then, her vaginal region began to glow and a strange aura started to emanate from this highly delicate and private region of her body. She laid down and her vagina was slowly zoomed in on and as it came closer a deep humming began to surface. By this point we were all envisioning this vagina as some kind of portal, and then suddenly members of The Flaming Lips popped out of the screen and slid down a conveniently placed ladder to take their spots on stage. Vocalist Wayne Coyne then appeared in a giant plastic bubble which he rolled out into the crowd and surfed atop the hands of many eager and exhilarated fans.

Thus, began of the craziest and most beautiful concerts I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing. The band cast out giant orange and yellow balloons into the crowd and filled the air with thousands of matching confetti pieces; which came out of giant canisters on the sides of the stage and from a shiny silver cane which Coyne cocked time and again to the beat, each time letting out a big “BOOM”. Meanwhile on both sides of the stage men and women dressed as sheep danced and wiggled about to the music, creating an even stranger atmosphere for the already cosmic psychedelic rock music that has made The Flaming Lips so popular.

Coyne was extremely talkative during the performance stopping several times to thank the audience and Voodoo for allowing them to play in New Orleans; which he also noted had improved significantly since Katrina. Then, one of the female “sheep” stripped down and briefly danced wildly about the stage before being escorted off to which Coyne asked, “Is that crazy girl over there all right?” and when she re-appeared, fully clothed, moments later they hugged briefly. The show carried on and The Flaming Lips ripped through an amazing set including the hits “Convinced of the Hex”, “Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung” and an acoustic version of “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1”. Of course the iconic “bubble” guitar made its appearance, Coyne was caught violently pounding his maracas on the ground and at some point attached a flashing light to his neck as he sung through a megaphone. Coyne later commented on a brief chat he’d had the night before with Gene Simmons stating, “He’s not usually nice, but he said to me that the crowd would be like five times more freaked out at Flaming Lips” and he couldn’t have been more accurate in his statement. Ending with “Do You Realize”, The Flaming Lips closed out their magnificent performance as confetti trinkled down onto the audience transforming the sky into a sea of figures reminiscent of glittering lightening bugs. -A.F.

Lenny Kravitz:
Voodoo Stage: 7:00-9:00 p.m.

The final event of the festival was none other than the famous Lenny Kravitz who put on a surprisingly enjoyable show for everyone. It wasn’t necessary to be a fan of the jazz/funk/reggae solo superstar as a nearby spectator proved when remarking on the event claiming, “Man, I hate Lenny Kravitz, but this is awesome!” Mixing up the old and new, Kravitz made sure to play a majority of his hits such as “American Woman”, “Fly Away”, “Mr. Cab Driver” and “Are You Gonna Go My Way”, while also incorporating a good amount of lesser unknowns into the equation. Lasting just over 2 hours, Kravitz’s unexpectedly remarkable performance slowly weaned festival goers off from the intoxicating fun festival atmosphere and officially put an end to the amazing and exciting Voodoo experience of 2009. While many member of the audience left early in attempts to beat some of the traffic, those that stayed witnessed the magic of Lenny Kravitz which we weren’t so sure he actually had in him until Sunday evening. -A.F.

311:

What: Tour dates for North American tour

When: November – December

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 am EDT

The Flaming Lips:

What: New Years Eve show in Oklahoma City, OK

When: December 31, 2009

Tixs: Price not listed

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 am CDT

Goodie Mob:

What: Tour dates for Denver, CO & New Orleans, LA

When: October

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 am CDT

Jay-Z:

What: Tour dates for Cleveland, OH & Fresno, CA

When: October – November

Tixs: $32.00 – $72.00

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 am EDT

LA Weekly’s LA 101:

What: LA Weekly event in Universal City, CA featuring Silversun Pickups,  Dandy Warhols, and Matt & Kim

When: November 3rd

Tixs: $29.75 – $37.75

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 1:00 pm PDT

Puscifer:

What: West coast tour

When: October – December

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 am PDT

Taking Back Sunday:

What: Tour dates for Dallas, TX & Miami, FL

When: November – December

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 am EDT

Trans-Siberian Orchestra:

What: North American winter tour

When: November – December

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 am EDT

Wolfmother:

What: Tour dates for Boston, MA & Denver, CO

When: November

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 am EDT

No Doubt, Jimmy Buffett, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, and Sheryl Crow are among the acts confirmed to take part in the two-day event. So are Adam Sandler, Gavin Rossale, and Wolfmother, as well as a number of indie favorites, including Fleet Foxes and the newly formed super group known as Monsters of Folk. And of course, Neil Young will take a break from playing host to also give a musical performance.

The annual event, which is put on by Young and his wife Pegi, benefits The Bridge School, a program for the communicative and educational development of children with severe speech and physical impairments.

Tickets will go on sale beginning Sunday, September 20th at 10 a.m. PDT via Livenation.com. Advance tickets are $150.00 and $75.00 for reserved seating and $39.50 for general admission plus applicable service charges. Four packs of general admission tickets may be purchased for $99.00. There is a 4 ticket limit for reserved seats and 8 ticket limit on the lawn for these shows.

Support for all shows will come from thenewno2 and Heartless Bastards. Limited pre-sale begins Wednesday, September 16th through Musictoday and includes a trial membership to The Wolfies, Wolfmother’s official fan club, and opportunities to pre-order Cosmic Egg with your tickets. Plus, there will be this added benefit:

In a first for the band, Wolfmother has partnered with Musictoday & Trees for the Future, planting one tree in a third world country for every pre-sale ticket sold. Says frontman Andrew Stockdale, “This is something I’ve wanted to do for some time, it’s great to have the opportunity to contribute to the preservation of our environment.”

General on sales for all shows begin Friday, September 18th.

Also on Wolfmother’s upcoming itinerary are dates with AC/DC in the band’s native country in early 2010. Find these and the rest of the band’s confirmed tour dates below.

As mentioned, the band’s new studio album, Cosmic Egg, hits stores on October 27th via Interscope. Brandon Flowers recommends you pick it up.

Wolfmother 2009/2010 Tour Dates:
09/17 – Brisbane, AU @ The Tivoli
09/19 – Sydney, AU @ The Enmore
09/23 – Perth, AU @ Capitol
09/24 – Adelaide, AU @ HQ Live
09/25 – Melbourne, AU @ The Palace
09/26 – Frankston, AU @ Pier Hotel
10/04 – Sydney, AU @ NRL Finals
10/14 – Paris, FR @ The Trabendo
10/15 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
10/16 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust
10/17 – Berlin, DE @ Columbia Club
10/21 – London, UK @ Coronet
10/29 – October, CA @ House of Blues ^#
10/30 – Austin, TX @ Stubbs ^#
10/31 – New Orleans, LA @ Voodoo Experience
11/02 – Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle ^#
11/03 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore ^#
11/04 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club ^#
11/06 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory ^#
11/07 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues ^#
11/08 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 ^#
11/11 – Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus ^#
11/12 – Pontiac, MI @ Clutch Cargo ^#
11/13 – Chicago, IL @ Riveria Theater ^#
11/14 – Minneapolis, MN @ State Theater ^#
11/16 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theater ^#
11/17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot ^#
11/19 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater ^#
11/20 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre ^#
11/21 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theater ^#
11/23 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater ^#
11/24 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern ^#
02/11 – Melbourne, AU @ Eithad Stadium *
02/13 – Melbourne, AU @ Eithad Stadium *
02/15 – Melbourne, AU @ Eithad Stadium *
02/18 – Sydney, AU @ ANZ Stadium *
02/20 – Sydney, AU @ ANZ Stadium *
02/22 – Sydney, AU @ ANZ Stadium *
02/25 – Brisbane, AU @ QSAC *
02/27 – Brisbane, AU @ QSAC *
03/02 – Adelaide, AU @ Adelaide Oval *
03/06 – Perth, AU @ Subiaco Oval *
03/08 – Perth, AU @ Subiaco Oval *

# = w/ Heartless Bastards
^ = w/ thenewno2
* = w/ AC/DC

Per Beck:

An album is chosen to be reinterpreted and used as a framework. Nothing rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track is put up here once a week. As you will hear, some of the songs are rough renditions, often first takes documenting what happened over the course of a day. There is no intention to ‘add to’ the original work or attempt to recreate the power of the original recording. Only to play music and document what happens. And those who aren’t familiar with the albums in question will hopefully look for the songs in their definitive versions. ‘Songs Of Leonard Cohen’ by Leonard Cohen was chosen by Andrew from MGMT. For those interested, our close second choice was Ace Of Base, which we’ll keep on the list for next time.

Result #1 of Record Club #2 would be track #1 from Songs of Leonard Cohen, this of course being “Suzanne”. Watch below.

Well, as we now know Stockdale didn’t take much time off. By February, he had announced the retooling of the band with Dave Atkins on drums, Ian Peres on keys, and Aidan Nemeth on guitar. The tetrad immediately started writing new material and tested it out during a couple of benefit shows Down Under. Now that the band was whole again, they hopped on a jetliner and took the 14+ hour flight to Los Angeles to record Wolfmother’s much anticipated sophomore release.

After a couple of months in the studio with legendary producer Alan Moulder (check this stunning list of albums/artists), the band will emerge on October 13th with the result, a brand new full-length entitled Cosmic Egg.

Speaking about the album’s 18 tracks as compared to to material released by the previous incarnation of Wolfmother, Stockdale proclaimed, “Everything is magnified. The heaviness is magnified to heavier state. The simple ones are really simplistic, two-minute songs, and the journey songs are like 12 parts.” (See the previously released “Back Round” for an early taste.)

With the record in the bag and set for an October release, the band is ready to hit the road and test out some of the new material on fans. At the end of next month, Wolfmother will kick things off with a performance at the Epicenter Festival in Ponoma, CA before the group heads east for a slew of dates opening for The Killers. Then, the band will head back home to Australia and wait out the release of Cosmic Egg before coming back to the states for a soon to be announced headlining tour.

Wolfmother 2009-2010 Tour Dates:
08/22 – Ponoma, CA @ Epicenter Festival
08/31 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavillion #
09/01 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones BeachTheater #
09/02 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center #
09/04 – Boston, MA @ Banknorth Garden #
09/05 – Montreal, QC @ Quai Jacques Cartier #
09/06 – Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheater #
09/17 – Brisbane, AU @ The Tivoli
09/19 – Sydney, AU @ The Enmore
09/23 – Perth, AU @ Capitol
09/24 – Adelaide, AU @ HQ Live
09/25 – Melbourne, AU @ The Palace
10/31 – New Orleans, LA @ Voodoo Experience
02/11 – Melbourne, AU @ Etihad Stadium *
02/13 – Melbourne, AU @ Etihad Stadium *
02/15 – Melbourne, AU @ Etihad Stadium *
02/18 – Sydney, AU @ ANZ Stadium *
02/20 – Sydney, AU @ ANZ Stadium *
02/22 – Sydney, AU @ ANZ Stadium *
02/25 – Brisbane, AU @ QSAC *
02/27 – Brisbane, AU @ QSAC *
03/02 – Adelaide, AU @ Adelaide Oval *
03/06 – Perth, AU @ Subiaco Oval *
03/08 – Perth, AU @ Subiaco Oval *

# = w/ The Killers
* = w/ AC/DC

And just in case you were wondering, Stockdale has since replaced Ross and Heskett with guitarist Aidan Nemeth, bassist/ keyboardist Ian Peres, and drummer Dave Atkins, making Wolfmother a quartet. The band is expected to release its long-awaited sophomore album, which will include “Back Round” as its first single, later this year.

Check Out:
“Back Round”

For those music critics out there who believe that rock music is on the decline I have one word for you: Wolfmother. Since their successful self-titled debut album these boys from Australia have been rocking festivals and radio waves. Their stomping and charging guitar riffs will bring your parents back to the days of Led Zeppelin I with “Communication Breakdown” playing on their record players. Who knows in the decades to come? We could be reflecting with our children about the good ole days of Wolfmother. Their screaming guitar, deep distorted bass, and stellar drums combine to create a heart pounding adrenaline rush. These boys proudly embrace their musical influences, never shying away from what their heroes have taught them: rock hard and never disappoint your fans.

Composed of Andrew Stockdale on guitars, Chris Ross on bass and keyboards, and Myles Hesket on drums they are a three piece band which sound like a five piece. Creating a wall of sound similar to their idols Wolfmother are not for sensitive ears. Perfect for deafening full volume on your headphones or better yet in the flesh. Always jumping, shaking, and head banging across the stage, this Australian trio have the power to lure you into the pit, even if you are hesitant. Stockdale with his mushroom, cloud sized afro is very entertaining, even for those who can’t appreciate his hard rock riffs. Not to be out done, Ross usually plays his keyboard on a 30 degree angle. Swinging his board back and forth like a teeter totter, he rarely misses a beat. These two are front and center for Wolfmother’s live set, while Hesket maintains a furious beats in the background.

Even though there is only one album’s worth of material, each and every song is played at a blistering pace. Classic tracks such as “Woman”, “Joker and the Thief”, “Mind’s Eye”, and “Colossal” will have anyone pumping their fists to the sky. There is no doubt that their debut album was a success because of these strong tracks, yet these Aussie boys have been very quiet over the past year. Focusing solely on recording their follow up album there have been few live shows to brag about.

Now, in the summer of 2008 Wolfmother will make their long awaited return to North America  with a spot at this year’s Pemberton Festival. Playing on the opening night of the festival, Wolfmother will hopefully debut some new material for those in attendance. As an opening night band for Friday, Wolfmother will not disappoint. With this being one of only two shows for them this summer, the boys should be amped up ready to rock. Considering they’re traveling all the way from Australia just for us, we should be ready to welcome them on Canadian soil with a pumping fist.

Check Out:

“The Joker & The Thief” (Live @ Rock am Ring 2007)