Indie rockers Spoon are just one of many great artists at BFD Live 105 fest June 6th
Every year for the past couple of decades now, the San Francisco Bay Area rock radio station Live 105 puts on a one-day and night marathon of great bands and artists at the Shoreline Ampitheater in Mt. View, California, literally adjacent to Google headquarters.
The Live 105 BFD annual event is like a mini-festival jammed into a 12-hour time frame, and this year’s line-up reaffirms that even more so. The line-up includes Spoon, Matt & Kim, Silversun Pickups, Sublime with Rome, The Deftones, Hole, Cage The Elephant, Golden Filter, The Gaslight Anthem, Against Me!, Temper Trap, The Soft Pack, Violent Soho, Flyleaf, The Dirty Heads, Toxic Avenger, BT, Dan Black, Limousines, DJ Omar, and many more, including ten popular Bay Area bands who will perform on the Local Stage at Shoreline.
With an amazing line-up like that, the Shoreline is almost surely going to be packed, if not sold out on Sunday, June 6th. To get any of you who are going pumped for BFD 2010, we put together this mixtape of some of the bands in the line-up.
San Francisco‘s 18th annual Noise Pop festival, featuring indie rock artists, independent films, and special events that will take place at venues throughout the city over a span of seven days, starting this Tuesday, February 23rd.
Artists and bands scheduled to perform include an eclectic line-up, ranging from folk and rock to pop and electronic. Some of the headliners include Rogue Wave, The Magnetic Fields, The Dodos, Zee Avi, !!!, Edward Sharpe and the Zeros, John Vanderslice, Atlas Sound, Memory Tapes, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Thao Nguyen, Mark Kozelek, Foreign Born, Far and The Soundtrack of Our Lives.
Claudia Gonson Of Magnetic Fields will present the keynote speech at the opening ceremonies at the Industry Noise. A number of shows have already sold out, including performances headlined by Rogue Wave, Atlas Sound, Four Tet, Memory Tapes, Edward Sharpe and the Zeros and The Magnetic Fields’ Monday night show at the Herbst Theatre. Some film screenings have also sold out (see details below; plus plenty of trailers).
The Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band will perform for the first time in San Francisco in 15 years opening night at the Fox Theatre in Oakland. Performing with Yoko Ono will be her son, Sean Lennon, With Cornelius, Yuka Honda and Deerhoof.
This is the full schedule for Noise Pop organized by music and film, and including information such as artists, venue names and locations, show times, ticket prices, song streams, and video trailers. Wednesday, Feb. 24th
Music
Rogue Wave with Princeton, Man/Miracle, and Two Sheds at Bottom Of The Hill (website | 1233 17th St. ) – 8 p.m. Tickets: Sold Out. All ages.
“Good Morning” – Rogue Wave “Sadie and Andy” – Princeton
The Ghost of a Saber Toothed Tiger at The Independent ( website |628 Divisadero St. ) – 8 p.m. Tickets: $20. Ages 21+. Harlem, Best Coast, The Sandwiches and Young Prisms at Cafe Du Nord (website | 2170 Market St. ) . Tickets: $12. Ages 21+.
“Friendly Ghosts” – Harlem “This Is Real” – Best Coast
Foreign Born, The Fresh & Onlys, Free Energy and The Splinters at the Rickshaw Stop (website | 155 Fell St. ) – 8 p.m. Tickets: $15. All ages.
Austin, Texas: Live Music Capital of the World? at the Roxie Theatre (website | 3117 16th St), 7 p.m. Tickets: $10. All ages.
Related: See a three minute, cool promo video mashup of Austin with some great shots of the music scene and other Austin attractions, via AustinTexas.org and set to music by Vallejo.
P Star Rising at the Roxie, 9 p.m. Tickets: $10. All ages.
Thursday, Feb. 25th
Music
Citay, Greg Ashley and Tape Deck Mountain at Cafe Du Nord – 8 p.m. Tickets: $12-$14. Age requirement of 21 years.
Atlas Sound with Geographer, Magic Wands and Nice Nice at Great American Music Hall (website | 859 O’Farrell St. ) – 8 p.m. Tickets: Sold Out. All ages.
“Walkabout” (featuring Noah Lennox, aka Panda Bear, of Animal Collective) – Atlas Sound “Can’t You Wait” – Geographer
The Mumlers with The Growlers, Sonny and the Sunsets and The Ferocious Few at Cafe Du Nord – 8 p.m. Tickets: $12-$14. Ages 21+.
“Red River Hustle” – The Mumlers “Barnacle Beast” – The Growlers
Wallpaper, The Limousines, Butterfly Bones and Battlehooch at Slim’s (website | 333 11th St. ) – 8 p.m. Tickets: $14. All ages.
“Pool Party” – Wallpaper “Dancing at Her Funeral” – The Limousines
Four Tet with Nathan Fake, Rainbow Arabia and New Villager at The Independent – 8 p.m. Tickets: Sold Out. Ages 21+.
“Plastic People” – Four Tet “Harlem Sunset” – Rainbow Arabia “Rich Doors” – New Villager
Scissors for Lefty, Judgment Day, Ghosts and the City, and Glaciers at Bottom of the Hill – 8 p.m. Tickets: Sold Out. Ages 21+.
True Widow, P.E.E., Ovens, and Grass Widow at Cafe Du Nord – 8 p.m. Tickets: $12-$14. Ages 21+.
“Duelist” – True Widow “Time Could Bend” – Grass Widow
We Were Promised Jetpacks with The Lonely Forest, Bear Hands, Tempo No Tempo at Slim’s – 8 p.m. Tickets: $16. All ages.
“Conductor” – We Were Promised Jetpacks “What a Drag” – Bear Hands
Thao Nguyen with Mirah and Horse Feathers, Dave Smallen, Carletta, and Sue Kay at Swedish American Hall – 8 p.m. Tickets: $15. Ages 21+.
“Beat” – Thao Nguyen “Curs in the Weeds” – Horse Feathers
The Soundtrack of Our Lives with Nico Vega, Music for Animals, and Imaad Wasif at The Independent – 8 p.m. Tickets: $16. Ages 21+.
“Firmament Vacation” – The Soundtrack of Our Lives “Beast” – Nico Vega “Red Cells” – Music For Animals “Wanderlusting” – Imaad Wasif
Mark Kozelek with Laura Gibson, Paula Frazer, and Fences at The Great American Music Hall – 8 p.m. Tickets: $26/$30. All ages.
“Celebrated Summer” – Mark Kozelek “Come By Storm” – Laura Gibson
!!! with Maus Haus, Sugar & Gold, and My First Earthquake at Mezzanine (website | 444 Jessie St. ). Tickets: $20. Ages 21+.
“Take Estasy With Me (Magnetic Fields)” – !!! “Rigid Breakfast” – Maus Haus
Black Prairie (with members of The Decemberists), Trainwreck Riders, Billy & Dolly, and Birds Fled From Me – 8:30 p.m. at Rickshaw Stop. Tickets: $14. All ages.
“Engine Driver” – The Decemberists “Chug Along” – Trainwreck Riders
Film
Unusual Heroes: John Darnielle and Lou Barlow at ATA – 2 p.m. Tickets: $10. All ages
Woodstock: Now & Then at ATA – 4 p.m. Tickets: $10. All ages.
Sunday, Feb. 28th
Music
Dizzy Balloon with The Houds Below, Visqueen and Laarks at Bottom of the Hill – 1 p.m. Tickets: $12. All ages. “Raise A Glass” – Dizzy Balloon “All The Words” – Laarks
Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros with The Watson Twins, AB & The Sea, and The Northern Key at Bimbo’s 365 Club (website | 1025 Columbus Ave ) – 7:30 p.m. Tickets: Sold Out.
“Daydream” – Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros “Sky Open Up” – The Watson Twins
Film
The Secret to a Happy Ending at ATA – 2 p.m. Tickets: Sold Out. All ages.
All My Friends Are Funeral Singers at ATA – 4 p.m. Tickets: $10. All ages.
A Film About Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields at Mezzanine – 8 p.m. Tickets: $15. All ages.
Monday, March 1st – The Finale
The Magnetic Fields with Mark Eitzel at Herbst Theater (website | 401 Van Ness St. ) – 8 p.m. Tickets: Sold Out. All ages.
“All The Umbrellas in London” (Live at KVRX, 1999) – The Magnetic Fields
Tickets for all performances listed above can be purchased on the Noise Pop full schedule page
Note: The official website homepage’s top menu links – Artists, Schedule, etc. – do not contain the updated 2010 information, for some strange reason; a bit confusing, but make sure to click here for all of the information for the 2010 event. The Bay Bridged put together a cool feature of free Noise Pop events.
We’re gearing up for Noise Pop! Thanks to Tell All Your Friends PR and Noise Pop organizers for helping us out in planning for the festival.
The third annual Treasure Island Music Festival line-up has been officially announced and folks, if you live anywhere near San Francisco, you might not want to miss this major music event. The line-up is a stunner – out-doing a number of bigger named festivals – featuring some of the most talented and popular indie, electronic, dance and alternative artists and bands, including The Flaming Lips, The Decemberists, Beirut, MGMT, Girl Talk, Passion Pit, Grizzly Bear, The Streets, Dan Deacon, Yo La Tengo, The Walkmen and others.
Located in the San Francisco Bay between Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge, Treasure Island is an ideal location for a music festival offering spectacular views of San Francisco and surrounding sights.
Keeping with tradition, organizers will offer an electronic and dance-centric lineup on Saturday, October 17th, and an indie rock lineup on Sunday, October 18th. Moreover, there will be only two stages with no overlapping sets – guaranteeing festival goers they will hear every note of every band they want to see play. Tickets are on sale now and expected to sell out fast.
In addition to the tunes, there will be a 60-foot tall Ferris wheel, an interactive art tent, a vendor village showcasing local designers and an array of healthy and affordable food and beverages. Check out the full festival schedule below, including articles and songs from featured lineup artists and bands. The set times have not been released yet.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
MGMT – “Kids” from Oracular Spectacular (2008) Passion Pit – “Moth’s Wings” from Manners (2009) MSTRKRFT – “Street Justice” from Street Justice (2007) Girl Talk – “Hold Up” from Night Rippers (2007) The Streets Brazilian Girls LTJ Bukem feat. MC Conrad DJ Krush Federico Aubele Dan Deacon Murs Crown City Rockers The Limousines
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Flaming Lips – “Fight Test” from Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2007) The Decemberists – “Engine Driver” from Picaresque (2005) Beirut – “Scenic World” from Gulag Orkestar (2007) Grizzly Bear – “On A Neck, On A Spit” from Yellow House (2006) Yo La Tengo – “Beanbag Chair” from I’m Not Afraid Of You And I’ll Kick Your Ass (2006) The Walkmen – “In The New Year” from You & Me (2008) Bob Mould Thao with The Get Down Stay Down Vetiver Spiral Stairs Sleepy Sun Tommy Guerrero Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
“We couldn’t be more thrilled with this year’s line-up,” Noise Pop organizer Jordan Kurland said. “It’s a well-balanced cross section of established veterans of the independent and electronic music communities alongside some of the most celebrated breakout artists of the last couple years.”
The official line-up for Coachella 2009, April 17 – April 19, has been released on the official Coachella website and it looks like another great year for the fest. While southern California is in the midst of a three-year drought, there is no drought in talented artists lined up for this year’s Coachella fest.
Headliners include Paul McCartney, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, Beirut, Conor Oberst, Crystal Castles, The Killers, TV on the Radio, Thievery Corporation, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, Black Keys, Dr. Dog, Calexico, M. Ward, Hold Steady, Girl Talk, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Paul Weller, Peter Bjorn and John, Okkervil River, No Age and a rare appearance of that pesky, infamous band from San Francisco The Brian Jonestown Massacre. The list goes on and on.
Tickets for Coachella 2009 are now on sale. Don’t forget, camping passes go quickly. The popular three-day passes are priced at $269.00 and single day passes, which usually sell out the fastest, are $99 per day.
Many people complain about the cost, but if you look at the line-up and think of the enormity of the event – a lifetime memory – I think it’s still worth it. In a disastrous economic situation across the nation, chances are the festival will still sell out or come close to it.
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.
MP3s from Outside Lands lineup artists:
“KC Accidental” – Broken Social Scene “Herectics” – Andrew Bird “Sightlines” – Rogue Wave (check out the band’s other music, they’re awesome.)
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.
It is hard to believe that August is half over and soon we will be saying good-bye to another summer. If there was only a way to make the summers stretch out like they seemed to when we were kids.
In the past month, there have been dozens and dozens of major music festivals across the United States and the world.
The much-anticipated rock fests for August are Chicago’s famed Lollapalooza, The Virgin Festival in Baltimore, the New York City metro area’s (actually Jersey City, NJ, just across the river) new, major rock festival – the All Points Festival, aka “Coachella East”, not to mention the much anticipated Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco’s beautiful Golden Gate Park Polo Fields, just a few hundred feet from the ocean amongst the carpet green grounds and Monterey pine trees.
After years of trying, promoters were granted license to hold a major outdoor festival this year featuring dozens of top indie bands and artists, with Radiohead playing two nights of the three day festival.
Nearly two weekends ago, the Download Festival ‘San Francisco’ (actual location was Mt. View, CA, about 30 miles south of the city) was held at the Shoreline with disastorous results, giving a totally different meaning to “down” and “load”. The attendance was shockingly down from the previous year, almost off 60 percent and it showed by the thin crowds. There was not much “load” to the fest as far as line-up, especially when you consider that there are so many major festivals this year (including the debut of the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in September).
hove festival – norway – june 23-26 – beck, the raconteurs, brain jonestown massacre, panic at the disco, the raconteurs, the kooks, yeasayer, foals, flogging molly, les savy fav, the cool kids, stars, dinosaur jr. and more.
rock werchter – july 3-6 – belgium – headliners: the national, rem, my morning jacket, the hives, panic at the disco, editors, beck, band of horses, air traffic, cool kids, hot chip, radiohead, the kooks, neil young and many others.
o2 wireless festival – july 3-6, london – jay z, hot chip, beck, the raconteurs, the national, morrissey, black kids, sea wolf, the whigs, cornershop, fatboy slim, goo goo dolls, counting crows, the hold steady and dozens more.
fib heineken 2008 – july 17-20 – the brian jonestown massacre, my morning jacket, gnarls barkley, the raconteurs, my bloody valentine, sigur ros, death cab for cutie, leonard cohen, spiritualized, justice and many others.
ruis rock 2008 festival – july 4-6 – finland – him, floggy molly, anti-flag, interpol, the national, bullet for my valentine, primal scream, the sounds and others.
optimus alive 2008 – july 10-12 – portugal – neil young, bob dylan, spiritualized, interpol, ben harper and the innocent, rage against the machine, galactic, the hives and a dozen others.
IRC has put together a hot compilation of videos from festival goers and mainstream media highlighting the indie rock and pop artists that helped make Lollapalooza 2007 a great success.
Even threats of thunderstorms were not going to allow the feast of music to be interrupted, although there were a few, brief showers, which you can imagine was a nice relief from the searing heat and icky humidity that has made it an unusually warm summer in the midwestern United States.
Don’t miss reviews and postings for festivals still yet to take place, such as Austin City Limits Festival, Monolith, Download Festivals, Vegoose and many more.
Check out YouTube videos from Lollapalooza (videos have been approved for quality) and other Lolla links.
LCD Soundsystem at Lollapalooza 2007 (from AT&T Blue Room) –
Tens of thousands of music fans have assembled in Chicago’s Grant Park on the shores of Lake Michigan to attend the three-day annual Lollapalooza Festival.
Despite increasing clouds late Saturday and the chance for showers on Sunday, lower ticket sales than organizers would have wanted (there are still tickets available on the Lollapalooza website, but no word, of course of how many. Nevertheless, a sea of people have gathered in Chicago for one of the most celebrated music festivals in North America.
For rock and pop music fans, especially those with modern tastes, the dizzing array of artists and bands playing at the festival is overwhelming, and unfortunately conflicting as there are many cases in which popular artists and groups are playing at the same time but on different stages, making it a hard choice for fans. Altogether, there are some 100 performers playing on nine stages for three dog days of summer.
Some of the top billed acts include popular indie and rock artists such as Muse, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, Spoon, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Pete Yorn, Peter Bjorn and John, Regina Spektor, Snow Patrol, Blue October, Paolo Nutini, !!!, Yo La Tengo, Peter Bjorn and John, Annuals, TV on the Radio, MIA, Tokyo Police Club, The Fratellis, Blonde Redhead, LCD Soundsystem, Motion City Sountrack, Stephen Marley and the festival-closer, Pearl Jam.
Note: Check back later when I will provide links to each individual artist playing at the festival in case you missed it, plus official event video, photographs as well as amateur film and photos (even though they are not allowed) and whatever else I can find.
In addition, there will be a listing of upcoming festivals and other concerts of many of the best indie bands as well as those lesser known. There will also be some mainstream rock and pop, but that is of course not the emphasis, thus the name of this site. ;-)
Read more and view the live webcast at our sister site IndieRockConcerts.com.
For the sixth year now, the Village Voice in New York has sponsored the Siren Music Festival, attracting headliners such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse and Death Cab For Cutie in years past and making a name for itself – well, sort of – in the indie rock underground.
But this year’s festival, held this past weekend in New York, was about as lame as an indie rock festival in New York City can be.
With the exception of Voxtrot, a fairly popular indie outfit from Austin, the line-up and performers were a bust to indie fans, and especially to New York Times’ snippy music critic Kelefa Sanneh:
Among other things, Sanneh wrote, the festival was missing “a hint of Brooklyn’s ethnic and musical diversity; a reminder that nonpopular [sic] music can be noisy or chaotic or dangerous; thrills. With a few exceptions the lineup felt full of second and third choices…to indie-rock fans outside the city this nit-picking probably seems crazy,” Sanneh wrote. (Editors at the NYT: The correct word is unpopular, not nonpopular. Come on folks!)
“But this is New York, and this summer especially, fans of indie and indie-friendly music have been embarrassed by riches.”
So, I guess I won’t plan to go to the Siren Music Festival 2008; there are so many others that are worth going to, usually that cost money which can be a downside for indie rock fans who cannot afford to go to festivals or concerts.
Then again, thanks to the Internet, anyone with a computer and a connection can pretty much see any band they like perform. But it still doesn’t compare at all to actually being there.
One of the forerunners of indie rock, Built To Spill, are back again in full form with a 2007 summer tour set to begin on Friday, June 29.
The band is adorn worldwide by legions of loyal indie rock fans, some who have been following BTS since their early pioneer blazing days into new realms of alternative rock as a counterpart to the grunge movement.
Built to Spill became an eventual substitute for many grunge rock fans after the suicide of Kurt Cobain. Many rockers agree that the death of Nirvana’s front man marked the end of the grunge rock era that exploded out of Seattle in the early 90’s.
Of course some rock critics still debate BTS’s place in indie rock.
In fact, Steve Huey of allmusic.com observes: “Built to Spill were one of the most popular indie rock acts of the ’90s, finding the middle ground between postmodern, Pavement-style pop and the loose, spacious jamming of Neil Young.”
However one wants to categorize the band’s exact genre home – they span many – the fact that the aging trio is back to give fans their branded style of indie rock is a treat not to be under appreciated.
Last year, the band’s first album in five years titled “You in Reverse” attracted an overwhelmingly positive response followed by a delayed, but successful tour.
Check out some samples and MP3s and Built to Spill YouTube and AOL music videos at IndieRockSongs.com
Also, you can view the most updated Built to Spill tour and show schedule listings (as of 6/27/07) at IndieRockConcerts.com
