Major Music Festival in San Francisco Was Far Out, Man
The following is a report that was written after San Francisco's Outside Lands Festival, but was not published until now due to time constraints.
SAN FRANCISCO - The first major rock music festival to grace San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in nearly four decades was a huge success last month (August 22-24), drawing a crowd that organizers estimated at over 150,000 people.
Outside Lands celebrated its first year as the Bay Area's newest major rock festival with three days of music from artists and bands like Radiohead, Jack Johnson, Tom Petty, Beck, Andrew Bird, Widespread Panic, Wilco, Broken Social Scene, Rouge Wave, Manu Chao, Ben Harper, Primus and Rodrigo y Gabriela, among dozens of others.
Unlike most other summer rock festivals, there were no sun burns or cases of heat exhaustion at Outside Lands. San Francisco's famously reliable fog, that the city is known world-wide for, drenched Golden Gate Park's Polo Fields for most of the three-day music festival - probably not what the over-advertised Heineken vendors wanted, but what did they expect in August on the west side of San Francisco?
Believe it or not, Anchorage, Alaska has higher summertime temperatures, on average, than San Francisco, California (and it's not because of the hot air blowing from Sarah Palin's mouth).
But on the last day of the festival, Sunday August 24, the sun came out and blue skies replaced low-lying clouds and mist. Having been to plenty of outdoor concerts and festivals in the hot sun, it's easy to welcome and appreciate the cooling waves of continuous fog.
When Radiohead took the stage late Friday evening, the lights surrounding the entire venue beamed up through the fog like lasers - a common site in northern California. Just ask anyone who has shone a flashlight or drove with their headlights on through the thick summer fog - you can literally cast a beam of light for as far as the eye can see.
Perhaps this is how Stars Wars director George Lucas, a native of northern California, came up with the idea for the famous laser weapons featured in the classic trilogy.
Anyways, the sets for good indie bands and artists - like Andrew Bird, Broken Social Scene, M. Ward, Rogue Wave - were too short, and the time delay between various acts were too short for such a huge place - literally four football fields from end to end. Next time they should also do something about the dust - that really surprised me since most of the park is lush and green (thanks to the fog and irrigation); dust is just not something you see in San Francisco.
(photo by thegatos08 on Flickr)
For many festival goers, it was the first night's headliner, Radiohead, that proved to be the highlight of the entire festival (not that big on Petty and Jack Johnson as headliners). Not only did they put on an amazing light show, but they sounded spectacular - better than on vinyl - which is hard for me to believe in a way, but it's true.
There were two brief sound outages, but the band apologized for that. As if. No apology needed Thom, you guys were so awesome, everyone already had forgotten about it. It's the only reason the performance gets an A instead of an A-plus.
Next year, assuming the fest will be held again (all indications are that the greedy promoters and investors made plenty of money) they should step it up have more real headlining bands (it is San Francisco, man), not try to cram so much on so many stages in three days and definitely invest more in facilities, and lower the three-day pass price.
Outside the parameters of the fenced off event were hundreds, if not thousands of people, who were presumably not ticket holders but had no problem hanging out in or under trees and on strips of grass soaking in the many artists - for free, and they didn't have to wait in the lines for the disgusting portable toilets.
Also, it'd be nice if they could come up with some innovative ways to protect the park more from environmental damage. I can't help but to feel a little guilty for the digging up of the grass (grass - not talking about that kind people - is a rare thing in SF) and how the loud music affected wildlife in and around the park.
Nevertheless, the festival was considered a success to most who attended. Those who were most dissatisfied were area residents who lived within an earshot of the music blaring above the trees and throughout adjacent neighborhoods. The fog actually helps carry sound, so at times residents blocks and blocks away felt almost like they were part of the festival.
Lollapalooza 2008 Kicks off with Radiohead, Raconteurs, Bloc Party, Cat Power and Others
Lollapalooza 2008 kicked off today in Chicago's Grant Park. The event set for this weekend (August 1-3) features dozens of top indie artists and bands is expected to sell out of tickets, especially the high-priced three-day pass.
Friday's Lollapalooza 2008 line-up includes popular indie bands like Bloc Party, The Raconteurs, The Kills, Mates of State, Rogue Wave, Holy Fuk, Yeasayer, Gogol Bordello and Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks.For reasons unknown to IRC, Radiohead is not being webcasted during what is expected to be a nearly three-hour set.
Other artists performing on Friday (but not via the webcast) include Black Keys, The Black Lips, Cat Power, VHS or BETA, The Cool Kids, Manchester Orchestra, Louis XIV, Enemy UK, CSS and more.
If you've forgiven AT&T Blue Room for censoring Eddie Vedder (who called out Bush's ruinationof the world) at last year's Lollapalooza, then you can watch performances throughoutthe weekend (provided you have a beefy Internet connection and fast computer - and that AT&T has enough pipes set-up).
Saturday's Lolla line-up for the AT&T webcast includes The Gutter Twins, The Go! Team, DeVotchka,Explosions in the Sky, Broken Social Scene and Wilco. On Sunday, you can watch The Whigs, Office,G Love & Special Sauce, Blues Traveler, John Bulter Trio, Flogging Molly, Love and Rockets, The National.
Not featured on the Blue Room on Saturday are bands like Okkervil River, Battles, Brand New and for the hard rock fans, Rage Against the Machine. Sunday's Lollapalooza line-up also features The Weakerthans, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Iron & Wine, Nine Inch Nails, Love and Rockets and Kayne West.
All-in-all, the line-up is not as powerful as Lollapalooza 2007, but there's still enough power house rock and indie to keep fans entertained.
Lollapalooza 2008 Line Up is Official: Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, RATM, Wilco, Kayne West, MGMT, BSS and More
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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EW's Top 25 Indie Albums; Does Radiohead Really Deserve No.1 Spot?
Entertainment Weekly’s editors featurethe 'Indie Rock 25', profiling albums from 1984 (apparently the ‘beginning of indie’) to present, including classics from The Hold Steady, The Replacements, Yo La Tengo, The Pixies, Spoon, Pavement, Built to Spill, and The White Stripes to name a few.
Some of the choices are questionable, not for being selected, but for their position in the ranking. For example, why is Radiohead's In Rainbows given the No.1 spot on the list? (Modest Mouse's stunning Lonesome Crowded West release is buried in the list at No. 12, just to name one aberration).
Afterall, Radiohead's In Rainbows has been out less than six months, the band pissed off a lot of fans back in October for what was considered a dubious 'first release' and there are many other albums on this list that are well-oiled classics - truly landmark albums that have etched themselves in to the history of 'indie rock' - and beyond - to a greater degree than In Rainbows has or ever can.
Lastly, Radiohead has become so commercialized as an entity in the past year that I would argue they no longer fit into the 'indie rock' genre to begin with.
Nevertheless, there are still some good choices on this list, just their position on the list is highly question, even head-scratching.
Beck, Wilco, BSS, Andrew Bird and Devendra Banhart Added to Outside Lands Lineup
(click image for official festival poster in PDF)
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.
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.
Lollapalooza's 2008 Line-up Rumors, Fakes and Speculation
(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.)
Festival organizers for Lollapalooza have yet to officially announce one artist for the August 1-3 annual rock fest in Chicago's Grant Park.
But that hasn't stopped the rumors, speculation, "wish lists" and flat out fabrications for Lollapalooza's 2008 lineup.
Just this past week, the amps were turned up on the rumor machine with magazines like Paste and Rolling Stone newspapers like the Los Angeles Times and the The Grand Rapids Press announcing that artists and bands like Rage Against the Machine, Wilco, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails are 'rumored' to be headliners for Lolla 08.
The Lollapalooza message boards have been lit up for weeks containing topic threads and replies for "Wanna Make a Band Suggestion?" and various other messages of "hopefuls" that are updated almost hourly with eager fans pumping out some enticing, but again totally wishful, line up schedules.
Here are a couple of tracks from the 'best-bet' rumored artists set to perform at Lolla 2008:
In the meantime, flashback to approximately 18 months ago: Wilco playing "Heavy Metal Drummer" at Lolla 06. Enjoy. If you are waiting for the lineup to be announced before buying your tickets, please use the comments section below to say so and why. (I'm curious.)
Chicago Tribune's Wishy-Washy Report of 'Headliners' for Lollapalooza 2008 Lineup Feeds Rumor Mill
Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails are reported to be two of the "headliners" at Lollapalooza 2008, according to a wishy-washy report published by The Chicago Tribune last night.
The Tribune article seems to play in to the non-stop rumor game - not a good thing for a journalism organization.
The headline of the article itself implies Radiohead will headline Lollapalooza, the opening paragraph of the story states they are "expected" to perform at Lolla and the following paragraph states Radiohead has been "confirmed" and in the same paragraph the Tribune's catch word of the day - "expected" - appears again.
That's not just lousy journalism, but the hype comes suspiciously close to the implication that the Tribune is trying to pump some life into a local festival that some readers of this blog have 'written off' for 2008. Lollapalooza was canceled in 2004 after weak ticket sales, but came back strong in 2005 with some 65,000 tickets sold.
Furthermore, aside from the fact (despite the Tribune's rumor-mill reporting) that not one artist or group has been officially confirmed to perform at this year's Lollapalooza Festival, the Tribune makes no mention of the usually costly tickets (ranging from $65 a day up to $195 for a three-day pass in 2007, a 30% increase from the previous year's price of $150).
Lollapalooza 2008 is set to take place in Chicago's Grant Park August 1-3. Early bird tickets go on sale March 25th. Apparently, the early bird tickets that went on sale this week were gone in a matter of hours with many potential ticket buyers complaining about the reliability of the online early bird purchasing process.
According to the Tribune (and obviously you'll have to take this with a grain of salt), Lollapalooza festival organizers will release the entire lineup sometime in the 'next few weeks.'
Let's just hope that the long wait will be worth it in the end, although it would be nice if they held the event in any other month but August (got to sell those drinks to make the vendor unions happy).
If last year's lineup at Lollapalooza is any indication of the lineup for 2008, then it's safe to say there's going to be a lot more lolla than looza.
Radiohead Will Headline Two Nights at All Points West Fest, "Coachella East"
For the first time in major music festival history, one band - the iconic Radiohead - will headline two of the three nights of the All Points West Festival, commonly referred to as APW and "Coachella East".
Get the full story (released on 2/21), plus the full lineup, ticket sale dates and prices, transportation and the whole skinny at a new site ironically called CoachellaEast.com.
05-05 West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheatre 05-06 Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheatre 05-08 Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre 05-09 Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre 05-11 Bristow, VA - Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge 05-14 St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre 05-17 Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion 05-18 Dallas, TX - Superpages.com Center 06-06 Dublin, Ireland - Malahide 06-07 Dublin, Ireland - Malahide 06-09 Paris, France - Bercy 06-10 Paris, France - Bercy 06-12 Barcelona, Spain - Parc del Fòrum 06-14 Nimes, France - Arenes 06-15 Nimes, France - Arenes 06-17 Milan, Italy - Civica Arena 06-18 Milan, Italy - Civica Arena 06-20 Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany - Southside Festival 06-22 Scheeßel, Germany - Hurricane Festival 06-24 London, England - Victoria Park 06-25 London, England - Victoria Park 06-27 Glasgow, Scotland - Glasgow Green 06-29 Manchester, England - Lancashire County Cricket Club 07-01 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Westerpark 07-03 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival 07-04-05 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival 07-06 Arras, France - Main Square Festival 07-08 Berlin, Germany - Wuhlheide
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Radiohead's Mass Distribution of In Rainbows Continues to Fuel Its Historic Success
With the #1 album in the U.S. and other markets around the globe, Radiohead has probably received more attention from the mainstream music press and the music blogs worldwide than any other band in the past six months. And it was no accident.
Radiohead broke out and totally embraced rock fans in a revolutionary way, initially having released their classic album In Rainbows on the Internet last fall and allowing fans to decide how much they were willing to pay for and download it. (However, now you have to buy the album, but it is arguably worth it.)
Through such innovative marketing and distribution techniques, like free and name-your-price offerings of its music, specially packaged disc sets by the band members (and not a major label) and live webcasts (such as last evening's London webcast at radiohead.tv).
In addition, by setting up and regularly updating pages on various social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, Radiohead has made In Rainbows not just one of the most important albums of 2007 and 2008, but perhaps one of the decade's best albums of all. Not only is the band remaining relevant 15 or so years after rising to fame with releases like Creep, The Bends and OK Computer, band members Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar), Ed O'Brien (guitar, vocals), Jonny Greenwood (guitar), Colin Greenwood (bass), and Phil Selway (drums) are pursuing all kinds of multimedia projects using the Internet and pushing the envelope in ways to reach fans and attract new fans as well.
But at the end of the day, the evidence is in the music. If In Rainbows sucked, it wouldn't have mattered how much the band and their two new labels promoted it. The band decided to sign on with TBD and XL Records, ditching EMI after a failed reunion with their former label.
Thom was so enraged by "lies" about what went on 'behind the scenes' that led to the rift with Radiohead and EMI, and wrote this semi-rant on the band's blog right after Christmas (left all of Thom's own writing style):
we did not ask for a load of cash from our old record label EMI to re- sign. that is a L I E. The Times in the UK should check its facts before it prints such dirt.
whAT we WANTED WAS some control over OUR WOrK and how it was used in the future by them-that seemed REASONAblE to us, as we cared about it a great deal.
Mr Hands was not interested. So neither were we.
We made the sign of the cross and walked away. Sadly.
We are extremely upset that this crap is being spread about.
To bedigging up such bullshit, or more politely airing yer dirty laundry in public, seems a very strange way for the head of an international record label to be proceeding.
On a happier note we took no 'BRead-HEAd' advances at all from both independent labels XL and TBD for our new record. So judge for yourself.
AND we are really excited to be working with them. SHock! AT least they do not behave like confused bulls in a china shop.
much love - Thom
However, the release is historic - on the level that The Bends was - and not only put Radiohead back on the rock map, it also has made their music available to a new generation of fans around the world.
It seems like every other day the band is releasing some new material, reworked and remastered recordings, announcements of concerts, alerts of new videos and live webcasts, such as the one the band performed last evening.
There was some confusion from fans in London who showed up at the Liverpool area Rough Trade shop for live, first-come, first-serve performance only to find that the location had been moved next door to the venue 93 Feet East.
Here's what Thom wrote on the RH blog about the change:
On the advice of the police and the local council, it was decided to change the venue to the larger one in the interests of public safety and due to the size of the crowd that turned up for the event. Rough Trade and the band apologise for any inconvenience caused.
While there is no official word yet on whether the webcast from last evening will be replayed, or available in full anywhere on the web, here are some great links to RH music, videos, news and more. As soon as we find the webcast, you will too. If you're not subscribed via a feed reader, choose one now or pick the ATOM or RSS plain feed.
Also, news is coming up soon about Radiohead's 2008 concert and festival tours. While no specific dates have been set, some of the 20 or so U.S. cities include Chicago, Boston and New York and San Francisco. (really!?!) More Radiohead Links: Contest: Contribute to Radiohead's BuzzNet rainbow and enter to win a special edition of In Rainbows.
Visit: In Rainbows website put together by Radiohead and their new official TBD Records label
Coming Soon: Music Choice will be airing the Best of Radiohead on cable from January 21 to February 3, 2008 in a tribute to the band. For more information on how to tune in, check out the Music Choice website.
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Other artists performing on Friday (but not via the webcast) include Black Keys, The Black Lips, Cat Power, VHS or BETA, The Cool Kids, Manchester Orchestra, Louis XIV, Enemy UK, CSS and more.
Not featured on the Blue Room on Saturday are bands like Okkervil River, Battles, Brand New and for the hard rock fans, Rage Against the Machine. Sunday's Lollapalooza line-up also features The Weakerthans, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Iron & Wine, Nine Inch Nails, Love and Rockets and Kayne West.
