Coachella is just about over for another year. Here are some video highlights from the festival.

Prince - Little Red Corvette - Coachella, Saturday night



Jack Johnson "Waiting For You" performed Friday night at Coachella 2008.



The Verve performing Friday night at Coachella (not sure song title)



Vampire Weekend performing "A Punk" at Coachella 2008



Quick Clips

Prince - Jammin



The Raconteurs



The National (song title anyone?)




Pendulum - Voodoo People - raving at Coachella - short clip, but good sneak preview



Serj Tankian

Labels: Coachella, Music Festivals

Coachella 2008 - April 25-26 - kicks off tomorrow in the desert of southern California. Here's the full skinny on the event, with stages, maps, artists and performance times.

Survival Guide for Coachella festival-goers (Press-Enterprise) - Summarized information on how to stay cool and hydrated, protecting yourself from the sun by wearing hats and sunscreen (there is almost no shaded areas at Empire Fields), what you can and cannot bring and food options (plastic not accepted, so bring cash because ATM lines are usually very long).

You can view an Excel sheet of all three days performances (thanks to NoInput) or check out the official Coachella customizable schedule here.

More Coachella 2008 news and features:

- Coachella releases schedule (sixsquare)
- Coachella 2008 Set Times Unveiled (Spin)
- Mouse's Coachella Saturday Schedule (Classical Geek Theatre)
- Coachella Schedules in PDF format (MyDesert)

Crave Online has released a Music Guide to Coachella 2008 with a detailed line-up of artists not to miss and in-depth review of performers and other events.

And of course, check out the Coachella website for all the latest. You may want to watch the AT&T BlueRoom telecast which really needs to step it up this year, especially after the huge controversy from Lollapalooza 2007 when Eddie Vedder's anti-Bush statements were censored by AT&T, although the company says it was an accident. Yeah, and I'm King Tut.

However, perhaps to AT&T's horror, rumors are flying around that Eddie Vedder may make a surprise appearance at Coachella this weekend. You can almost bet that if he does, he will say something to irk AT&T, so don't be surprised if they pull the plug on him again, should he make the rumored surprise appearance.

Labels: Coachella, Music Festivals

The Isle of Skye Music Festival has been canceled by organizers for running out of money. Festival organizers reportedly fell into the red by $500,000 Pounds. I'd love to know how and who screwed this up, especially in a year when music festivals are raking in cash. The Reading and Leeds festivals' sold out in just days.

That's bad news for all the rock fans in Scotland who planned to attend this year's festival - which was considered the most "fan-friendly" of all festivals in Europe in 2006.

So, for the memories, here's some audio and video from past Isle of Skye Music festivals.

Here's some memories:

A six-minute set from Kasabian performing at the 2007 Skye Festival:



Video of Echo and the Bunnymen (post punk icons) performing "Lips Like Sugar" at Skye Fest 07:

Labels: 2008 Music Festivals, Music Festivals

Looks like there will be a lot more lollas than loozas for Lollapalooza 2008. While there are some great artists set to play, Lolla 08 doesn't match up to the powerhouse lineup for Lollapalooza 2007. (PDF file). Here's our report from Lollapalooza 2007.

Stay tuned for Lollapalooza 2008 lineup artist and group profiles, MP3s and streams, links, photos and more Lolla 07 videos.

The official line-up for Lollapalooza 2008 is out thanks to an early leak from The Chicago Sun Times. The Lollapaloozer's organizers 'official' line-up announcement set for today at 8 a.m. EST.

Here's the poster we made up in like 15 minutes after hearing the announcement Sunday night (I know Lolla's is better, but ours was first) : |


Other artists and groups confirmed for Lolla 08 (not listed in the unofficial Lollapalooza poster above):

The Raconteurs
Mark Ronson
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Brand New
Gogol Bordello
Dierks Bentley
Amadou & Mariam
Blues Traveler
John Butler Trio
Girl Talk
Your Vegas
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves
Steel Train
Jamie Lidell
Bang Camaro
Butch Walker
Tally Hall
Spank Rock
White Lies
Brazilian Girls
Magic Wands
Chromeo
Electric Touch
Duffy
Innerpartysystem
The Postelles
The Parlor Mob
Bald Eagle
Mason Jennings
Krista
Ha Ha Tonka
Grizzly Bear
We Go To 11
Sofia Talvik
Booka Shade
Santogold
Dr. Dog
Nicole Atkins & the Sea
The Ting Tings
Kid Sister
Office
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Foals
Uffie
Cadence Weapon
Ferras
De Novo Dahl
Noah and the Whale
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
K'NAAN
Serena Ryder
Newton Faulkner

Check back for profiles of Lollapalooza's 2008 line up artists and groups, plus videos, MP3s, news, stage and location information, schedules, maps, Lolla links and more.

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Labels: Lollapalooza, Music Festivals

The Lollapalooza 2008 official line-up is supposedly just hours away, so in the meantime, so here are some of the best video performances of Lollapalooza 2007, including LCD Soundsystem, Muse and Regina Spektor. The first set of best videos from Lolla 07 include Pearl Jam and Daft Punk.

LCD Soundsystem is one of the 'rapid risers' in the indie music world offering fans a mix of punk rock styles with electronic beats and keyboards. This clip of their performance performing "All My Friends" at Lollapalooza 2007 helped the band add fuel to their own fire, becoming one of the hottest new bands of 2007. In fact, they were nominated for a number of music awards this year, including a Grammy (the Grammy people know good music?)



Muse performs "Take A Bow" during a live set at Lolla 2007. This video features
a lengthy introduction by some Vegas showman in a fettered yellow jumpsuit and a long audio quote, with the words accompanying on screen, by JFK about the threats to our liberties (which are just about all gone now, thanks George!). Altogether, this is one of the best videos from Lollapalooza 2007. Another shout out to tacvbo.



Regina Spektor performs "Après Moi" in this video performance at Lolla 2007. The video is from the official AT&T Blue Tooth live cast, so the quality is excellent.



Check out Best Lollapalooza Videos, Vol. 1 and official AT&T live casts from Lollapalooza 2007.



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Labels: Lollapalooza, Music Festivals

While waiting for the official Lollapalooza 2008 line-up, here's a look back at Lollapalooza 2007's best performances. Enjoy.

The grunge/alt rock legend Pearl Jam performs "Daughter" and then eases into Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall". Always willing to expose the ills of corporations and politicians, Eddie Vedder changes up the lyrics in ABITW to "George Bush leave this world alone/George Bush find yourself another home."

Those lines were censored from the official AT&T Blue Room 'live' (obviously delayed) cast of Lollapalooza 2007, which created a huge uproar in the mainstream and blog music press. AT&T called the censoring of Vedder's words a 'mistake' with the video stream. Yeah, right.



This next clip is from the electronic lightshow duo Daft Punk performing "Robot Rock" with a very interesting and familiar intro. This is a good video, but it gets shaky once the grooves and beats really get moving. It's obvious that amateur videographer tacvbo was being bumped into, but strangely or not, it gives the video an added sense of excitement. Sound quality is excellent for a YouTube concert video.



Did you say more Daft Punk? Cool. Here's a nine-minute long compilation of Daft Punk's set during Lollapalooza 2007 meticulously spliced together by YouTuber trunts297. The shots are further from the stage and there's the shakiness factor (when will YouTube give us tripods?), but overall it's a must-see for DP fans. Sound quality is good.



Stay tuned, more best videos from Lolla 2007 coming soon...

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Labels: Eddie Vedder, Lollapalooza, Music Festivals

Today's Music Festival Round Up Report, Part One:

- Bamboozle Left is on this weekend in Irvine, Califronia. Get a report, see the lineup and sample some of the fest performers' MP3s. Read more...

- The V Festival in Australia is losing money, according to billionaire tycoon Richard Branson, but he says in the long-run it will be worth it. Nevertheless, tens of thousands have turned out for the second years of the Down Under's traveling festival, which continues this weekend. Read more...

- The official line-up for Lollapalooza 2008 will be announced only hours from now and there will be a full guide to Lollapalooza posted here when it does, including the full line up of artists, videos and MP3s of the best Lolla performances and artists of last year's event. In the meantime, here's all the news for Lollapalooza 2008, including rumored headliners, ticket sales and the wait game. Read more...

- South by Southwest 2008 was another resounding success, proving once again that it is the king of all festivals for just about everything currently hot, and up and coming, in the world we call indie rock music, film and art.

Here are a series of articles about SxSW, and just in case you didn't get enough of the popular music festival, the following links provide more from SxSW:

- http://www.emediawire.com/releases/sxsw/2008/prweb815894.htm - An argument for why South by Southwest is the best music festival of all the others around the world to attend.

- http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1583193&pid=2837741 – Gallery of SXSW 2008 photos

- http://stereogum.com/tag/sxsw - Stereogum's full coverage of SouthBy is worth checking out for South by Southwest fans and those curious about what SxSW is all about.

Check back or get the feed; more festival news coming throughout the next week to keep you completely briefed on everything that's going on (with focus on the major music festivals for practical reasons) for 2008 music festivals around the world.

Labels: 2008 Music Festivals, Music Festivals

The Bamboozle Left Fesival kicks off today, April 5th in Irvine, California and extends through the end of Sunday, April 6th.

Check back regularly for updates from Bamboozle Left's weekend festival and get blog and media reports, photographs and videos, plus MP3s and streams of profiled artists.

Performing today on one of six stages at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (I hate how so many of our music, sporting and other venues and events have surrendered their namesakes to brands of capitalism; it really takes the 'organic' feel out of the event and makes you wonder why you still pay so much for tickets) include:

- All American Rejects [mp3: It Ends Tonight], Josephine Collective, Alkaline Trio [mp3: Radio], Daphne Love Derby, Jimmy Eat World, Paramore [mp3: Pressure], New Found Glory, The Bouncing Souls, The Starting Line and Valencia to name a few.

But there really are no 'big headliners' at Bamboozle Left that other music fests for 2008 can brag about.

Then again, the full line-up is not all that bad for the $45 single day tickets at the door, but with the dragging economy, fears of a recession and rip-off gas prices, the single day ticket price is still a bit pricey. Why not $70 for a two-day pass?

If you're in the Irvine area and decide to go the festival last through the end of Sunday. Check back for more lineup information, performances, music, videos, blog and media reports.

Labels: Bamboozle Left Festival, Music Festivals

Organizers of Outside Lands, San Francisco's three-day music festival taking place in Golden Gate Park this August, are beefing up the lineup for the west coast's newest outdoor music festival.

Today's new additions to the SF Outside Lands Festival include Beck, Wilco, Andrew Bird, Broken Social Scene, Drive-By Truckers, M. Ward, Cold War Kids, Two Gallants, Black Mountain, Devendra Banhart, Ben Harper, Galactic, Widespread Panic, Primus, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Bon Iver, Nellie McKay, Little Brother, Manu Chao, Regina Spektor, The Coup, The Cool Kids, Steel Pulse, Lyrics Born, Café Tacuba and the Felice Brothers.

Here's a few featured artists and groups:

MP3: Wilco - Muzzle of Bees
MP3: Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place
MP3: Andrew Bird - A Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head to Left
MP3: Galactic - Bongo The Dog
MP3: Broken Social Scene - Anthems for a 17-Year-Old Girl

The latest lineup news for Outside Lands 2008 lineup adds to previous confirmed performances from headliners Tom Petty, Jack Johnson and Radiohead. More news updates as they come in.

Labels: Music Festivals, Outside Lands Festival, Radiohead

(Above: This is a fake that has been circulating the Internets for the past month; it is not the official Lollapalooza lineup poster for 2008 - notice the poor Photoshop work on the "8" - somebody couldn't find the correct font match.)

Labels: Lollapalooza, Music Festivals

Labels: Lollapalooza, Music Festivals, Radiohead

Promoters for major music festivals realize that beating the others to the punch as far as announcing lineup and ticket sale dates could mean the difference in tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Labels: Bonnaroo, Music Festivals

Indie music fans in south Florida are already arriving in south Florida for this weekend's Langerado Festival.

The 2008 Langerado Festival has a hot lineup for a relatively little-known music fest (compared to Lollapalooza, Coachella and Bonnaroo). During the next few days, IRC will highlight some of the headlining aritsts for Langerado 2008, including links and embeds of videos from the 08 festival performances as soon as they are available.

Today's featured Langerado artist is Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9). While they haven't released a new album in nearly three years (Artifact, 2005), the band has toured so much in recent years that fresh material doesn't seem to matter.

STS9, the dub-happy jam band from Georgia that has had a loyal following for a decade now, but only really broke through with Artifact (and relentless concerts and fest appearances) will take the stage on Friday, March 7, 2008 from 1 am to 4am (I double-checked it and that's what the schedule says).

The website iClips.net will stream the STS9 set and many other sets from all four days of the festival according to its website. So, you can bet there will be updates about that as more information and times come in. If you can't make it to Langerado, you might be able to get a lot closer with the continued advances in Internet technology!

In the meantime, here's a YouTube clip of STS9 performing "Aimlessly" at Langerado 2007:



Here's a popular video of STS9's David Phipps using the DIY 8x16 monome controller of "Be Nice". (monome.org).



MP3 - Sound Tribe Sector 9 - Be Nice

For anyone who was, or was not, at Red Rocks 2007 in Colorado, here's a great video performance that represents the band at its best performing a six-minute jam session.

The band also played at ACL Fest 2007 (in searing heat and dripping humidity) - here's a short, but excellent quality video of the band jamming at ACL 07 (not sure what the tune is though; some of STS9 music is improvised or spin-offs of songs in their catalog - which is surprisingly small).

Stay tuned to IRC for artist profiles, YouTube video performances from Langerado 2008, MP3s, blog reviews, photo galleries and more.

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Labels: Music Festivals

The Noise Pop Festival 2008 in San Francisco is coming to a close this weekend after an amazingly successful run (Feb. 26-March 3, 2008).

Some of the most anticipated shows of Noise Pop are happening this weekend, including British Sea Power, The Mountain Goats, Vampire Weekend, Cursive, Gutter Twins, Holy Fuck, Tilly and the Wall and She & Him - all of which are sold out and nearly impossible to find tickets for (check Craigslist - there are plenty of RE: Wanted ticket pleas, hardly any for sale though).

In fact tickets for shows that originally sold for $15-$30 are now selling (where you can find them) for $75 and up. Check out the Noise Pop lineup, locations and show times for the remainder of the fest.

Here's a video clip from the Magnetic Fields playing "California Girls" last night - 2/28/08 - at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Notice the audience laugh at the band's dissing them, well at least the girls. The show has been sold out for weeks.

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Labels: Music Festivals

In the chatter and noise about Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lolla and other major festivals, it's easy for the 'other fests' of 2008 to get lost in the crowd.

Hopefully not taking their name too seriously, promoters of the Bamboozle Festival, both east and west, have finalized the lineups, dates and ticket sales information for each festival.

Jimmy Eat World, Panic at the Disco, Alesana, MXPX, Motion City Soundtrack, Phantom Planet, Bret Michaels, Academy Is..., Red Jumpsuit Apparatuas and nearly two dozen other indie artists and groups playing during the two-day Bamboozle Festival in East Rutherford, New Jersey, May 3-4, 2008.

Here's the lineup, ticket details and videos from Bamboozle East Festival 2007. (Bamboozle West post coming soon)

MP3s from Bamboozle East Performers:

Jimmy Eat World - Praise a Chorus (mp3)

Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me (mp3)

Phantom Planet - The Happy Ending (mp3)

Here's Phantom Planet's music video for "California":

Bamboozle has a Roadshow tour traveling around the continental United States as well, but the lineup is no where close to the festivals.

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Labels: Bamboozle, Music Festivals

For months now, festival and music lovers, bloggers, musicians and the mainstream media have speculated, floated rumors, predicted and even made false 'confirmations' about 2008's Lollapalooza's lineup. Rumored artists include Black Lips, Bloc Party and MGMT.

Bottom line: There has not been one artist or group confirmed for the Chicago-based festival in 2008 by Lollapalooza organizers.

Apparently, part of the reason for the delay is to keep 'the buzz' going to help sell tickets (when they go on sale) and to try to drown out all the chatter surrounding many other music festivals this year, two of which are new festivals for 2008: Rothbury (more on that later) and Coachella East (aka APW).

Radiohead will headline two of the three nights of Coachella East, so that should be amazing. The fest is being held Aug. 8-10, 2008 at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey.

It is very possible that Lolla organizers' delay in announcing a lineup could ultimately kill ticket sales, so if the delay is to keep fest goers in suspense to sell more tickets, that strategy may just end up doing the opposite.

Closer Look at Lolla

In 2004, the Lollapalooza music festival tour was canceled due to low ticket sales. Since then, the fest has stopped touring and landed in Chicago for an annual festival.

While Lollapalooza 2007 was considered a come-back of sorts, organizers of the event must be nervous about ticket sales for 2008. What they seem to fail to realize is that the sooner they announce the lineup and ticket sales, music lovers around the country - and world - can start making their plans to go.

On the other hand, and this is not hypothesizing, waiting much longer than the end of February to announce the lineup - or even a headliner tease - means that many people will either make plans to go to another music festival (some already have), or just forget it altogether (others have already done this).

Nevertheless, the rumors and speculation continue (when the lineup is announced, it will be published here first).

You can also check out more about the Lolla fest 08 and sign up to get the latest news, plus artist profiles, tour schedules, MP3s, articles and more from artists and groups playing at music festivals in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Europe and around the world.


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Labels: Lollapalooza, Music Festivals

Over the next couple of days, IRC will publish complete updates on the latest news for 2008 music festivals, including Bonnaroo, SXSW, Coachella, Rothbury, Bamboozle, Sziget, Glastonbury, Austin City Limits, Virgin Festival and many others.

Next month, a comprehensive guide will be published and feature all of 2008's indie-relevant music festivals including the latest news, ticket info, line-ups, artist profiles, discussions, photos, MP3s and videos of past performances.

Lollapalooza (August 1-3, 2008) - While ticket sale dates and the line-up for Lollapalooza 2008 have yet to be announced (as of 2/26/08), rumors are flying everywhere about which artists and groups might be playing at this year's Lolllapalooza.

If the lineup is anything like last year's (see flashback to 07 below), there will be more lolla than looza.

The following artists are rumored to be set for Lollapalooza, according to the official website's board moderator sixtimes:

The rumor mill seems to be favoring the following artists as headliners: The Smashing Pumpkins (not a SP reunion, so it's really Billy Corgan and the band), Radiohead (who wouldn't love that, especially since In Rainbows is crazy popular in and of itself with a whole new generation), Wilco, Bjork, The National, Tom Petty and The Police.

Rumor mongering is dangerous, so let's just say that as soon as the line-up is announced, it will be published here (got folks in the mix but they are staying mum right now).

In the meantime, let's warp back to six months go for a memory fest of 2007's killer lineup:

Headlining Lollapalooza 2007 was an eclectic mix of popular alternative, indie, rock, mainstream and electronica artists like Pearl Jam, Daft Punk, Modest Mouse, Ben Harper, Muse, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Patti Smith, The Roots, Amy Winehouse, LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, The Black Keys, Kings of Leon and others.

The headliners did not come at the expense of 'second-bill' artists and groups Tokyo Police Club, !!!, My Morning Jacket, Yo La Tengo, Ted Leo and Pharmacists, Snow Patrol, CSS, Annuals, Blue October and many other indie artists who rocked Grant Park.

Where is Lollapalooza? The annual event is held in Chicago's Grant Park on the shores Lake Michigan right off the Miracle Mile. Here's a map of last year's festival grounds.

Last year, festival goers endured blistering heat and suffocating humidity (as did festival attendees at the Austin City Limits fest in Austin).

Some folks may not realize this, but it's a fact that festival organizers deliberately schedule such outdoor summer events during the 'doggiest' days of summer. Why? They sell more drinks at ridiculous prices.

Now, in fairness to event organizers, there are tremendous costs to put events like popular music festivals together. Still, don't shed a tear for the organizers, corporate sponsors and vendors, they are raking in money.

The other point is that most music festivals are attended by students - whether college age or under - who obviously have the most free time during the summer months.

Labels: Lollapalooza 2008, Music Festivals

Labels: Coachella, Music Festivals

Organizers of the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival have released the official line-up for this year's event, slated for April 25-27, 2008.

Pink Floyd founding member Roger Waters, Kraftwerk, Portishead, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie, Love and Rockets, Spiritulalized, Hot Chip, Madness and Fatboy Slim are just some of the headliners for the three-day music fest and art show. Nothing that great really.

Here is the full line-up in its entirety:

April 25 – Jack Johnson, the Verve, the Raconteurs, the Breeders, Fatboy Slim, Tegan and Sara, Madness, the Swell Season, the National, Animal Collective, Slightly Stoopid, Mum, Pendulum, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Stars, Battles, Aesop Rock, Midnight Juggernauts, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Minus the Bear, Spank Rock, Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobies Pip, Diplo, Adam Freeland, Santo Gold, Jens Lekman, the John Butler Trio, Vampire Weekend, Dan Deacon, Architecture in Helsinki, Sandra Collins, Busy P, Cut Copy, Black Lips, Datarock, Professor Murder, Reverend and the Makers, the Bees, Porter, Rogue Wave, Modeselektor, American Bang and Lucky I Am.

April 26 – Portishead, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Cafe Tacuba, Sasha & Digweed, Rilo Kiley, M.I.A., Dwight Yoakam (this year's token country act, also appearing at Stagecoach the following weekend), Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Turbonegro, Scars on Broadway, Islands, Enter Shikari, Calvin Harris, Boyz Noise, Junkie XL, Cinematic Orchestra, Jamie T, the Teenagers, VHS or Beta, Carbon/Silicon, Erol Alkan, Yo Majesty!, Bonde Do Role, St. Vincent, Akron Family, MGMT, Institubes DJs, Surkin, Para One and Orgasmic, James Zabiela, Sebastian, Kavinsky, Dredg, the Bird and the Bee, Grand Ole Party, New Young Pony Club, 120 Days, Yoav, Eletric Touch and Uffie.

April 27 – Roger Waters, Love and Rockets, My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Justice, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, the Streets, Metric, Simian Mobile Disco, the Horrors, Danny Tenaglia, Booka Shade, Murs, Dimitri from Paris, Autolux, the Field, Linton Kwesi Johnson (in a spoken-word appearance), Les Savy Fav, the Cool Kids, Sons and Daughters, Sia, Black Kids, Black Mountain, the Annuals, Kid Sister with A-Trak, Man Man, Duffy, I'm From Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra, Deadmaus, Austin TV, Shout Out Louds, Plasticenes and Brett Dennen.

Labels: Coachella, Music Festivals, Portishead

Did you miss Coachella? Well, there’s good news for alternative and indie rock fans in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere who did.

There's a "mini-Cochella" (what's Coachella?) without the searing heat of the central southern California desert.

On Saturday, June 9, San Francisco rock station 105 Live FM is hosting an impressive line-up of artists from the indie rock scene, including Bloc Party, Interpol, Social Distortion, Kaiser Chiefs, Cold War Kids, CSS, Shiny Toy Guns and many more (full listing below).

Labels: Music Festivals

The third annual Download Festival 2007 will offer fans indie rock favorites like The Shines, Wolf Parade, Modest Mouse, Icubus and more to be announced in coming weeks (get updates as they come in. More bands will be added on May 29).

The Download Festival, which Pitchfork calls "merely the little brother to the long-running, testosterone-fueled" UK Throwdown, will visit four U.S. cities beginning August 18 for four shows total that will end in October:


08-18 Boston, MA - Tweeter Center


08-25 George, WA - Gorge Amphitheatre


09-01 East Troy, WI - Alpine Valley Music Theatre


10-06 Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre


Stay tune for information about tickets by signing up for the IRC feed.

Labels: Download Festival, Music Festivals, UK Throwdown

Organizers of Coachella, the popular annual music festival in the desert east of San Diego, have synced up with a large telephone company to provide live, continuous webcast from Coachella Central featuring some of the most talented and popular artists in indie and alternative music.

Coachella has become in recent years the indie rock scene's answer to Lollapoloza, and indie fans come from across the globe to attend the festival.

Three-day passes for this year's event sold out in a matter of days and single day passes for the weekend sold out almost as quickly. Camp site passes are also sold out, but of course, there are many tickets still for sale on eBay.

For all of the indie rock fans who cannot make it to the festival, the webcast should help fill in some of the gap, even though it is nothing like being there - of course.

Let's just hope that the technicians and other folks have the server load capacity to allow tens of thousands, maybe hundreds, of thousand of fans around the world hear great indie and alternative artists like:

The Arcade Fire

Rage Against The Machine

Bjork

Arctic Monkeys

Interpol

Sonic Youth

Red Hot Chilli Peppers

The Kooks

Tapes n Tapes

!!!

Rufus Wainwright

Air

Blonde Redhead

New Pornographers

The Decemberists

See the entire line-up of artists scheduled to play at Coachella

While some fans, like me, would like Coachella to lighten up a little more like the Burning Man festival, it seems unlikely to happen.

In fact, there is a direct contradiction of course with the idealism of what indie music should be and the fact the Coachella is a very capitalistic, corporate sponsored and highly secured event.

The latter being the most annoying to fans nowadays, but since the Woodstock reunion disaster in 1998, 9/11 and the Virginia Tech shootings, fans who already have their tickets to Coachella (they are still also available on eBay, but of course, you'll pay more), their campsite passes or area accommodations (there are basically no motel or hotel rooms available for the festival weekend in the area with a few exceptions of rooms going for $500 and up a night at two and three-star accommodations).

Labels: Best Alternative Bands, Coachella Music Festival, Music Festivals

The Kooks announced a blitz two-week spring tour of the U.S. that will start with their performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 29.

The band's debut album, Inside In/Inside Out, released on Astralweeks, has been one of the hottest-selling debuts for any indie band in years.

The debut has already gone quadruple platinum in the U.K. and the band is catching on in the U.S. and Europe as one of the hottest new indie rock groups to emerge in recent years.

Make sure to check the IRC website for an exclusive set of live acoustic gigs featuring songs from their debut album and TWO new songs - “Need To Be” and “Miss You”.

The Kooks Tour Dates:

(not all tickets on sale yet. See which are.)

04/29 – Indio, CA – Coachella
04/30 – San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
05/02 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
05/03 – Seattle, WA – Crocodile Cafe
05/05 – Chicago, IL – Metro
05/07 – Columbus, OH – The Basement
05/08 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
05/10 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
05/12 – Washington DC – 9:30 Club
05/13 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club

Labels: Coachella Music Festival, Music Festivals, The Kooks