Super Bonnaroo

Super Bowl, Super Tuesday, Mardi Gras… the “super” theme of this week continues this early Wednesday morning with the gigantic Bonnaroo 2008 lineup. The hot Tennessee summer will once again take over music lovers of all kinds at this festival which is running June 12-15 for the seventh straight year. With a clear evolution from the first Bonnaroo in 2002, this lineup presents one of the most dynamic sets of bands to date. It looks like the headliners are going to be Pearl Jam, Metallica, Jack Johnson, and Kanye West. Other highlights include: Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin) and Alison Krauss, Sigur Ros, Phil Lesh and Friends, Umphreys Mcgee, My Morning Jacket, Iron and Wine, Allman Brothers Band, Lupe Fiasco, The Raconteurs, Broken Social Scene, Death Cab for Cutie, !!!, Jose Gonzalez, and Vampire Weekend.

The big news however, is that LED ZEPPELIN could also be headlining. Both the Associated Press, NME, and a bunch of other sites have announced this, yet it is not confirmed with the rest of the lineup on the Bonnaroo website. Hopefully this will be confirmed. I guess we will just have to wait and see. Even though I am very pleased with the lineups and can name at least 20 must-sees, I am a little skeptical about two things: 1) I’m not so sure that this lineup continues with the “tradition” of Bonnarro. It is clearly missing the abundance of jam, funk, jazz, and bluegrass bands that were included in the past. This makes me less skeptical compared to…2) METALLICA??? Even though this will probably be a very cool show considering the history of this band, there is no other band on this whole lineup to complement this show. Seems kind of random to me.

Regardless, I will still be there, and will be buying my ticket the second it goes on sale. What do you faithful ATG readers think? Whose going? What are you excited for? Let us know! Complete line-up after the jump.

Tennessee, Tennessee, ain’t no place I’d rather be,
Ethan

Zeppelin One Off Reunion: A Sign of More to Come?

 

Last night at London’s 02 arena, the legendary classic rock band Led Zeppelin reunited for the first time in 19 years for one of the most anticipated reunions since, well…The Police, about a year ago. But this event had a purpose, and that was to get back together to honor Atlantic Records founder, the late Ahmet Ertegun. The three remaining rock gods have given the drummer position to Jason Bonham, son of the original drummer, John Bonham, who has since passed away. What is still only their only gig lined up, last night’s show, according to NBE, was strictly music, and not much banter at all. But this is Led Zeppelin, who wants to hear them talk when they come out to rock? And rock they did as they played a stacked set to a packed crowd for what we can only hope to be the beginning of a 2008 reunion tour. (For those of you have not heard yet: pretty strong rumors have been flying around about a headlining spot at this year’s Bonnaroo). Be sure to search the Internet today for fan reviews and videos of what seems to have been an epic concert. Till then, here’s the setlist: Good Times Bad Times/ Ramble On/Black Dog/ In My Time of Dying/ For Your Life/ Trampled Under Foot/ Nobody’s Fault But Mine/ No Quarter/ Since I’ve Been Loving You/ Dazed and Confused/ Stairway to Heaven/ The Song Remains the Same/ Misty Mountain Hop/ Kashmir/ Enc 1: Whole Lotta Love/ Enc 2: Rock and Roll.

It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled
Ethan

Madison Homegrown Hip-Hop Fest

I know ATG is a global blog, but if any of you are going to be in the Midwest this weekend don’t do anything else but come to Madison, WI. We’ve got cold beer, fresh snow, and some bumpin’ Hip-Hop. This weekend, the University is putting on the Homegrown Hip Hop Festival featuring Rhymefest on Thursday 12/6 and Brother Ali on Saturday 12/8, and a whole lot more acts in between. Check it out and get there early, because even though this was just finalized, it’s going to be packed. A full schedule can be found at our music commitee’s official site.

MP3: Rhymefest - “Feva”
MP3: Brother Ali - “Forest Whitiker”

To gettin’ down with gettin’ down,
Ethan

All Things Go Presents: Mobius Band w/ Middle Distance Runner @ The Haunt, Ithaca, NY

Thank you guys for the feedback about what you want to see here. I took your advice, and am planning on multiple mixtapes and more frequent posting now that midterms have passed. More importantly though, we’re sponsoring a show! With the help of my friend Aaron over at Cornell, I’ve finally got a chance to hold the first All Things Go sponsored event, and I couldn’t have found two better bands for the first of hopefully many events. Mobius Band will be headlining the show, with local band Upstatescape and DC homeboys (and ATG favorites) Middle Distance Runner opening. The show is on next Friday, November 9th. I know this is short notice but we finally got the deal done so the show is set. Tickets are $5 in advance, and $7 at the doors, and doors are at 8:00. The show is at The Haunt (702 Willow Ave. Ithaca, NY). Unfortunately, I wont be able to make it, but be sure to find Aaron and thank him for putting everything together. Also, if you are in the Ithaca area, get your asses over to the show.

Check some music from Mobius Band and MDR:

MP3: Mobius Band - “Friends Like These”
MP3: Middle Distance Runner - “Naturally”

I seriously cannot stop listening to “Friends Like These”. Special thanks as well to Delta Chi Fraternity for co-sponsoring the show.

Love,
Zack

Virgin Festival - August 4th and 5th

After much deliberation, I have decided that I could not be considered a real blogger if I wasn’t in attendance at one of the massive festivals going on this weekend. Since Lollapalooza is a bit more expensive, is three days long, and is in Chicago, I decided against it and instead am attending Virgin Festival, which is in Baltimore (only 45 minutes away from here), has almost the same bands, and is much cheaper. Granted, I’m not too excited to see the headliners at this year’s Virgin Fest (sorry 311, Smashing Pumpkins, The Police and Beastie Boys). However, some of my absolute favorites will be performing what are sure to be some awesome sets. This saturday and sunday I will be enjoying performances by Girl Talk, M.I.A., Spoon, Modest Mouse, Regina Spektor, Explosions in the Sky, Interpol, TV on the Radio, LCD Soundsystem, Wu Tang and many more. Also, since Virgin Fest didn’t get Daft Punk (and Lolla did), I just got my ticket to see the French geniuses in Brooklyn on the 9th. Needless to say I am thoroughly pumped for my first festival.

Adrian and I will be doing some serious coverage of the festival (seeing as how most of the top blogs are probably going to be at Lolla except IGIF, who will be with us), so stick around here for updates with music, pictures, and hopefully some video footage.

Tickets are still available for both days, so if you live near Baltimore, or love music, get it together and come on down to Pimlico Race Track. Here’s some music from some of the artists to get you in the mood

MP3: M.I.A. - “Paper Planes”
MP3: LCD Soundsystem - “All My Friends”
MP3: Interpol - “The Heinrich Manuever”
MP3: Regina Spektor - “Hotel Song”
MP3: Peter Bjorn & John - “Amsterdam”

Spot me in the crowd and I’ll buy you a drink!

Love,
Zack

Of Montreal Live 9/28/06

I’m still astounded by the number of great bands that stop in Virginia. UVA has a reputation, a deserved reputation for being Dave Matthew’s perpetual jock itch. He’s already played at least 3 times here in a matter of months. But enough about Dave. The latest of the live line up that I looked upon was Of Montreal. I know, we here at ATG have hard on’s for certain bands (TED LEO), and Of Montreal is no exception.

How could we not when their live performances include band members in dresses, hot pants, and are half naked. The make-up was a nice touch. Other theatrics included coming out hiding behind gigantic masks, use of nunchuks and a katana, and what appeared to be a murder. I couldn’t see very well, but of course these were accessory elements to the show.

Instead of relying on their airy, 60’s pop-esque music, Of Montreal devoted a large portion of their set to playing material off their new record. The whimsicality has been replaced with an almost sexual, electronic element. Of course, their new album is planned for a release in the near future (sorry I can’t be specific).

The Flaming Lips in Charlottesville- 9/12/06

I experienced history. This past week, the Flaming Lips made their first stop ever in Charlottesville, VA, playing at the outdoor Charlottesville Pavillion and was without a doubt, one of my most memorable concert experiences ever.

I was surprised to find only one opening band, Deerhoof. A three piece from San Francisco, Deerhoof’s surprising combination of manic drumming, experimental art-rock, noise, and an adorable japanese singer caught my attention, but it was too difficult for me to appreciate the music, which I had never heard before. Also, considering how it was still light outside, Deerhoof had to play without the benefit of a serious lightshow. Interesting music, yes. Interesting live music, not quite.

Putting Deerhoof behind though, I didn’t know what to expect from the Lips. I have to say that I wasn’t sure what to expect until after the girls in alien and santa claus costumes came out on stage. The band quickly followed them, without Wayne Coynes. Suddenly a huge plastic ball rolls out onto the crowd, containing Wayne inside.

Then it all started. Wayne assumed his position on stage, the lights flared, and countless huge, blue balloons appeared out of thin air. I’ve never seen a show quite like it. Confetti cannons aimed out of the crowd at either end of the stage, while all manner of LED, strobe, and conventional lighting illuminated the stage from both the front and behind the band. The biggest eye catcher was the huge screen used as a backdrop for the show. They used the screen to project a wide variety of synchronized videos, from music videos, to pseudo-psychedelic images, to clips of japanese game shows. The most unique images, however, happened to come from a small camera attached to the microphone point up to Wayne’s face, letting the crowd really see the emotion in his face as he adressed the crowd.

They played all of their hit songs, and a few more that I had never heard, making a total set list of around 12 songs, including a double-encore. Like many bands, they encouraged crowd participation through sing-alongs, but I’ve never before heard a louder “YEAH-YEAH-YEAH….”
You get the idea.

Just to wrap up, there’s no possible way that I can package the Flaming Lips’ live experience in words, so I’d like to thank my friend Corrine for helping me capture the concert on video and putting it online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht06amGM2gU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEhonskAIvs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=442adhGh_b0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaNIvqs0T88

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHxbkog_QfE

-Ryan (finally writing again)

Ramblings of an Old Man - Lee “Scratch” Perry Live 5/22

Last night kicked off ATG’s 2 week concert extravaganza with a performance by Lee “Scratch” Perry at Sonar in Baltimore. For those of you who don’t know, Perry is a god in the reggae world. He was a pioneer of dub and produced works by acts like Bob Marley & The Wailers, and also a few tracks with The Clash.
Needless to say, we were very curious as to what he would be like live. The opening band, Dub is a Weapon, was ok, but extremely formulaic. Every song had only one bass lick, which never changed, a rhythm guitar part, which never changed, and a lead guitar matched with a trombone. Keep in mind that every song had a very similar beat, and with no vocals, it quickly got old. Not only that, but the members of the band were somewhat painful to watch dancing up on stage. As Austin put it, this band was like “they came from the suburbs, and are only a band because they found some rasta who also lives in their neighborhood.”

Then Scratch came out. All 4′ 11” of him, dressed in a white baseball jersey and wearing a hat topped with incense. Perry was being backed up by Dub is a Weapon, which was disappointing because we were already exhausted by their music. It featured the same repetition and formulas, and awkward dance moves as before, only this time with lyrics, weirds ones, but the music definetly took a backseat to what Perry was saying in between songs. Most of the songs were based around one phrase: “I love you.” And his ramblings, too, proclaimed his love for all. He blessed the crowd at one point, using his “foot, the boot and the root,” which was strangely reassuring. As the set wound down, and the incense above his head had all but burned up and added to the smoke already in the room, we were happy to leave, but all in all, it was a good time.

Here are a few tunes from Lee, though he sounds infinitely more crazy in concert (Tracks via Joe de Vivre)

Lee “Scratch” Perry - Yakety Yak (The Coasters cover)
Lee “Scratch” Perry - Uncle Desmond

Check out some pictures from the concert:

All in all, a sweet concert and great start to senior project.

-Ryan (YES, actually Ryan)

Guest Blogger: Monica! Jenny Lewis Live!

We’ve never done this here at All Things Go before, but there’s always a first for everything (like that night with GWFAS and ATG in the hot tub). Loyal reader and, apparently, awesome writer Monica asked if she can post a review and a few pictures of a recent Jenny Lewis show she attended, and being the nice guy I am, I agreed. Let Monica know if you enjoyed the review because she might be just like us here at ATG; insecure little girls who love ego boosts and, of course, My Little Ponies.

If you consider yourself to have “exceptional” taste in music, Jenny Lewis should ring a few bells. As most of us know, she fronts an amazing band, Rilo Kiley but she is currently promoting her first solo attempt along with the very folk-y and kind of creepy, Watson Twins. I was able to catch her show at the Birchmere in good ol’ Alexandria a few weeks back, along with openers, Whispertown 2000 and Johnathan Rice. Whispertown’s set was just fine, I can’t say much though, I spent my time smoking cigarettes by the woman’s bathroom. Unlike the dull Whispertown kids, Johnathan Rice put on a great set, albeit, short, but nevertheless, I walked away wanting to pick up his album, Trouble Is Real. Fortunately, his opening set wasn’t the last we saw of him, he played along with Jenny her entire set, even providing a great duet with Ms. Lewis towards the end of the show. With a great intro song, Jenny along with the Watson Twins, did a beautiful acapella version of “Run Devil Run” before beginning her set. She played a couple new songs, including a “love song” by the name of “Jack Killed Mom”. An upbeat song eventually turned into an all-out jam session, complete with Johnathan Rice rockin’ hard on his guitar with Jenny on piano. Personal favorites such as, “You Are What You Love”, “Big Guns”, and “Rise Up With Fists” sounded great live. Our last look at the beautiful Ms. Lewis was the snap-and-sing acapella song along with the Watson Twins. Overall, the show was incredible, Jenny was great and I can vouch for all my friends who were there with me, we’d definitely see her again, and again.

Here are a few pictures i took of the show (click to enlarge).

Thanks again to Monica for doing this review, and we hope to hear more from her in the near future.

-Monica (& Zack)

The Epoxies and Teenage Bottlerocket tour!

Can you feel it? It’s spring and summer is rapidly approaching. You know what that means? Kick ass rocking tours full of all your favorite bands! HELL YEAH!!! You know who I’m really pumped for? I’ll give you a hint, their names are in the title of this piece. That’s right The Epoxies and Teenage *expletive* Bottlerocket!

So now that my little burst of joy has been unleashed, let’s actually talk about the music that this tour will feature. First up is Teenage Bottlerocket. To put it simply imagine if The Ramones were still alive and kicking, or if The Methadones rocked harder, or if you were to take all the awesome aspects of pop punk and mesh them into one band. That band would be, and is, Teenage Bottlerocket. Super catchy, super fun, and I from what I’ve heard their live shows are a total blast. Their songs are 2 to 3 minute bursts of energy that feature your utmost generic punk rock chord progression, but it really doesn’t matter because those chords are always fun to hear over and over again. Look I can’t stress this enough, these guys rock, and anyone can enjoy them. Just listen to the two mp3s below and try your hardest not to smile and tap your foot to the beat.

As for The Epoxies. Imagine if Devo were still around, but they had a female vocalist and were a hell of a lot more crazy. That is The Epoxies. One half new wave rock and the other half infectious fun pop punk. Their music, is really quite distinct, unique, (even though I just compared them to Devo) and leaves you wanting more and more. The songs vary in length and display. There are longer songs like Need More Time, where each of the members show off just how capable they are at playing their respective instruments, and their are short little ditties (You) that exist only to get you smiling and dancing.

So this summary was just the least bit biased…Just download those mp3s and make your own opinion, but I will be damned if you don’t like at least one of these bands. Also because I don’t want to take up more space, all tour dates can be found on Teenage Bottlerocket’s site. The tour starts on May 11, goes to June 8, and covers the east, west, and middle of America so there is bound to be a show nearby. Enjoy!

Teenage Bottlerocket - Go Away
Teenage Bottlerocket - Blood Bath at Burger King [my favorite]

The Epoxies - Need More Time
The Epoxies - You
The Epoxies - Stop Looking at Me [my favorite]
The Epoxies - Robot Man

-Alex