@ZackTeibloom There’s something special about a weekly residency. It’s how Festival Crashers got to know Ezra Furman so well and we couldn’t be happier about that. Thankfully we have a residency starting up tonight, as Hot Club of Cowtown begins a 5-week run at Continental Club. Don’t know them yet? Well, they’re a three-piece band with violin, guitar and stand-up bass and they all sing. Singer and violinist Elana James describes them as similar to early string bands. Like Norah Jones w/ some Wayne Hancock. Comparable to Caroline Chocolate Drops.  Still not sure what to expect? She insists you have to come see them to really understand. Bob Dylan saw them live opening for Willie Nelson and brought Elana on tour. The only woman to tour with him in 30 years. Convinced yet? It’s only $5, which also lets you in on happy hour specials.  Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Green Day is the kind of show that skews the grading system. They did it all. I mean everything. The amount of artists who have that many moves in their pure entertainment repertoire is limited to The Flaming Lips and Girl Talk. That’s about it.

I’m choosing these words carefully on this next sentence, because this thought wouldn’t escape me throughout their two and a half hour set: Green Day is the most effective band at consistently pleasing a crowd I have ever seen. Were they the best musical act I’ve ever seen? Probably not in the top 25. They have a deep song catalog, and they know what they’re doing with it, but it was all in the performance. Read the rest of this entry »

Fantastic first day at Lolla. I crashed just as the gates opened, the weather was ideal, there were too many good bands to see and I didn’t end up regretting any of the conflict choices. It’s rare to get all of those things. Lady Gaga was a massive disappointment, but that was the big wildcard. Here’s a quick rundown of the best, worst, most fun and surprising of day one of Lollapalooza 2010:

Best Show: The Strokes- Now I know why they’re called the Strokes. Julian Casablancas is a strong front man, but the way these boys stroke those axes is truly something special. They’re a top flight rock band. It’s time they start touring and releasing albums that remind us of this. They brought it from the opening note of “New York City Cops” and reminded us why we made such a big fuss about them when they were still producing. 9.3/10

Biggest Surprise: DEVO- They are not human. They are Devo! I always found “Whip it!” annoying when I was younger and it was all I knew by them. I’ve come to learn what a genius Mark Mothersbaugh is and what exciting performers they still are. Their costumes seemed purposeful and there was a concept that all made sense. Unlike a certain Lady. ”Whip it” wasn’t even the highlight. “Girl U Want” was a dance explosion and made for the most fun set of the afternoon. By a lot. 9/10 Read the rest of this entry »

Lady Gaga was some of what I hoped she’d be and everything I feared she’d be. I was ready for a big spectacle full of bizarre costume changes, massive sets, gaudy production and irresistible pop. I was ready to get caught up in it all. I wanted to. I didn’t. At all. It was shock for the sake of shock and it all came together to form a vapid performance. It was a self-indulgent Kanye-glow-in-the-dark-tour-esque production, full of eye-rolling cheesy one-liners, unimpressive dancing, an embarassing plot and a lot of fluff. Oddly sexual, confusing, uninspiring pop. It all lead to a constant feeling of waiting for a moment to take my breath away that never came and then feeling an immediate urge to leave.

Gaga’s silhouette posed behind the shadows of her massive curtain for opening song “Dance in the Dark” for what seemed like an eternity before emerging. Once she was out there, it was a lot of style and not much substance. I connected with nothing. You put all the elements together and it sounds like a real show stoper. Fireworks shooting out of her breasts and fire shooting from her crotch. A car that turns into a piano that she plays with her stilleto. A monster that may or may not rape you. Topless dancing men and women in fancy bra’s. I could see that being enjoyable if the package felt genuine or if the songs were enhanced by any of this or if Gaga was a particularly good dancer or if it all added up to something bigger. It didn’t. The neon signs reading “drugs” “good food” “death” and “what the fuck have you done” didn’t resonate with me at all. Nothing did. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore My day could not have gone worse on Saturday. Then Audiotistic 2010 happened. It was not quite the never-ending sea of people that EDC was, but quite the similar scene. Back were the glitter-covered, scantly clad party monsters and untz. Lots of untz. Unlike EDC, hip hop came to play. Ridiculous festival traffic and guest list lines meant missing N.A.S.A. I am not happy about this. I didn’t even make it in time to get to the photo pit for Talib Kweli. Luckily I recently added a 300mm zoom lens to my arsenal. I danced a lot. I took a lot of pictures. I spent enough energy to sleep until 1:30pm. Waiting for @TheAdamJames with some late night munchies, I realized I had glitter on me…and a lot of other peoples’ sweat. Gross. Here is Audiotistic 2010 in pictures. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore The original lead sentence I wrote for this preview stated that I had the festival itch ever since Electric Daisy Carnival 2010. Since that made it sound like I caught something from a spun out raver or hadn’t bathed since EDC, I’m just going to say that I’m excited for the one-day Audiotistic 2010 this weekend. We discussed on the Podcrash that while DJ festivals aren’t necessarily my scene, I do actually enjoy them. There’s a decent amount of great hip-hop mixed into Audiotistic as well. I will certainly come off as a n00b for saying this, but I can really only write honest previews for 3-4 of the artists at Audiotistic. I’m going to do that, and ask for your suggestions. Please and thank you. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Jack White. Dave Grohl. They may make you think of The White Stripes or Nirvana or The Raconteurs or Foo Fighters or The Dead Weather or Them Crooked Vultures. Maybe you think about the times they shared the stage with The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin or Paul McCartney or Pearl Jam. How about a Tencious D music video or an upcoming single with Jay-Z.

No matter how you think about them, you think about rock gods. Who has more going for them? We discuss. Vote after you listen, please. LISTEN HERE

Read the rest of this entry »

@shiftywhiteguy:  If you read all of part one, then congratulations, you either have a lot of free time, or some kind of weird crush on me.  Both are admirable.  Here’s Part 2, the end of the weekend.

SATURDAY

9:30 am:  My sunburn has reached epic proportions.  Waking up is kind of painful, and today is obviously a day to stay the fuck out of the sun.  I’m tempted to start pounding beers to make sure I’m nice and warmed up, but this is going to be a long day.  The last thing you want on the Saturday night of Bonnaroo is for a same-day hangover to hamper your progress.  Instead, I try to force a little bit of extra sleep.

11:30:  @andlaurasays sends the day’s first text.  She’s getting her Latin dance fix with Bomba Estereo.  I would love to, but it’s way too sunny.  Besides, I have a very important life event coming up in a few hours.  I have to get prepared.   Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore My time in the photo pit for Travis x A-Trak at Electric Daisy Carnival 2010 Los Angeles was like Frank the Tank debating James Carville in Old School. I was excited to shoot Travis Barker (no offense to A-Trak–I already shot him at Lolla 09). His flying-over-the-stage drum solo with samples during Blink 182’s encore last summer had me looking forward to seeing him in action with a DJ. Dancing as much, if not more, than I was picture taking probably didn’t help either. Lil John took the stage and my brain turned off. My memory starts to jog with them playing Rage Against the Machine and Beastie Boys, but I don’t recall the songs. Read the rest of this entry »

@shiftywhiteguy If you’re a fan of Bill Simmons, you’re familiar with the retro diary, it’s a great way to revisit an important event, and in this case, I need to do this so I can sort through my mind and actually remember all of this amazing 2010 Bonnaroo.  We begin in the car, somewhere around Dallas:

WEDNESDAY

6:30 pm:  My radar detector goes off about .4 microseconds before I see the police car.  Thanks, buddy, where were you on that one?  I wasn’t going more than 77 or so, but I hate flashing lights…and here they come.  Shiftiness wins again.  No ticket.  But, definitely not the way you want to start Bonnaroo.

THURSDAY

4:00 am:  Arrival in Manchester.  That’s right, Texas to Tennessee, 931 miles in 14 consecutive hours, and wasted time by getting pulled over.  I’m a madman. Read the rest of this entry »