Bonnaroo - Late Night Sets

Bonnaroo has announced which artists will get the coveted late night sets and R. Kelly is on the top of that list!!!!  They might "clear the lobby" around 4am, but Kelz will keep the tents bumpin' all night long.  Hopefully, he will have time to swing by the cinema tent for the "Trapped in the Closet" sing-a-long.

Late Night Sets

R. Kelly 
Pretty Lights
Wu-Tang Clan 
Animal Collective
Empire Of The Sun 
Rock N’ Soul Dance Party Superjam ft. Jim James with John Oates, Zigaboo Modeliste, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Bilial, and very special guest Larry Graham 
Billy Idol 
ZZ Top 
“Weird Al” Yankovic 
Wolfgang Gartner 
Porter Robinson 
Boys Noize 
Bustle In Your Hedgerow

video by AllShowsGo!
 
http://www.bonnaroo.com/ 

May Album Releases

It's going to be a good month!

 

May 2013 is a really exciting month for music.  Vampire Weekend are releasing their 3rd studio album "Modern Vampires of the City", Justice are coming out with a live album "Access All Arenas" and the long awaited and expertly hyped "Random Access Memories" by Daft Punk will be hitting the scene.  Whoo Hoo!

May 6th

• Primal Scream - More Light
• Noah and the Whale - Heart of Nowhere

May 7th

• Justice - Access All Arenas
• Talib Kweli - Prisoner of Consious

May 14th

• Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

May 21st

• Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

May 28th

• Alice in Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here 

"Rocky" is about to become a Broadway Musical

This is really happening

According to The New York Times, Sylvester Stalone's film "Rocky" is the latest movie to be converted into a Broadway Musical.  The musical version of "Rocky" has already been produced in Germany to rave reviews, although they do love David Hasselhoff's music, so I don't think they are the most reliable critics.  Preview performances are scheduled to begin in February 2014.  Check out "Rocky - Das Musical" trailer below.

 

Stream Vampire Weekend Concert Tonight!

Directed by Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi is directing Vampire Weekend's American Express Unstaged Concert tonight at 8pm CT on YouTube.  Hopefully, Steve will have time to grab the mic to make one of his infamous speeches.

Vampire Weekend's new album "Modern Vampires of the City" comes out May 14th.  Check out Steve and the boys enjoying dinner with Debbie Harry and Kevin Corrigan.

http://www.vampireweekend.com/

Arcade Fire Have a Baby

It's a Boy!

Win Butler and Régine Chassagne are the proud parents of a baby boy!  Le Journal de Montreal reports, that baby Butler was born on April 21, and is 7lbs.  I guess a daughter was "too much to ask".  Congratulations to the new parents!

Win Butler

Régine Chassagne

http://www.arcadefire.com/

Bob Weir Collapses Onstage

The iconic guitarist from the Grateful Dead needs your good vibes.

As RollingStone reports, Bob Weir was looking quite shaky at last night's Furthur concert in Port Chester, New York.  The guitarist wobbles a bit and looks unsteady, until the point that he falls onstage.  A chair is brought out so Weir can finish out the song "Unbroken Chain", but ultimately he sat out the rest of the performance.  Phil Lesh, also of Grateful Dead fame, explained to the crowd that Weir is suffering from a strained shoulder.  In "Ripple", Jerry Garcia sings, "If you fall, you fall alone", let's prove him wrong and send Weir all of our good vibes for a speedy recovery.

http://www.bobweir.net/

http://www.furthur.net/

Bonnaroo - Artist Additions

Yesterday, Bonnaroo announced their latest artist additions!  Maybe, I will finally get to see Empire of the Sun, barring any heartbreaking conflicts of course :) 

Empire of the Sun
Solange
ALO with Special Guests
The Polyphonic Spree
Bustle In Your Hedgerow
Black Prairie
Delta Rae
The Rubens

Two amazing additions to the Rock N’ Soul Dance Party Superjam:
Larry Graham – Bassist (Graham Central Station, Sly & the Family Stone)
Bilal – Vocalist Extraordinaire

http://www.bonnaroo.com/ 

Who are you excited to see at this year's Bonnaroo?

How Blur Just Became My Favorite Band

Isn't it great when you see a band live and it completely elevates your feelings about them. Blur just went from a band I love, to a band I insanely love and obsess about. I was looking forward to Blur's set at Coachella 2013 (weekend 1) all year and it was worth the wait. They were amazing, but they weren't flawless, they actually made a quite few mistakes and the crowd was relatively tame from what youtube videos led me to expect from a Blur show, but Blur made me feel. I was happy, I was sad, I was in the palm of Damon Albarn's hand as he led us through some of Blur's most intellectual and emotional songs. The devastating thing is that may have been the first and last time I get to see Blur, as they don't have any other dates in America, let alone Chicago.

Blur's Coachella set, snuck up on me. At Coachella, I would mention them as a highlight along with How to Destroy Angels (Trent Reznor's side project), Hot Chip and the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. When I returned home to Chicago, I quickly learned that Blur towered over all other bands in my mind's eye. It's all I could listen to. First I put on Parklife, the epitome of Brit Pop's heady, but accessible 3 minute songs. "Girls and Boys", Blur's set opener and track 1 of "Parklife", is rock music that makes you want to dance because anything is possible. "End of the Century" and "Parklife" remind us not to be satisfied with just going through the motions. There's more to life than watching television.

Next I dove head first into 13, listening with new ears and remembering Damon and his hundred mile stare. What can I say about "Tender", that hasn't been said before? It is a beautiful song that is somehow simultaneously joyous and heartbreaking. I found myself tearing up listening to "Caramel", putting myself in that place of loneliness. “Where is the magic?” Damon groans. As it turns out the magic is in the music, and the ability to convey emotion to millions of people across the globe.

I obviously took a spin over to wikipedia, to quickly learn everything I need to know about Blur.  Insert "wikipedia is the best place to get info" joke here :)  I read all about failed relationships, struggles with drugs and the ever present, up and down friendship at the core of the band between Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon. I then listened again, trying to figure out the dynamic of each track. Why was is written? Was it personal or a statement on life in general?

I am truly grateful that I had the opportunity to see Blur. They easily could have been a band that remained casually in my mid-day music rotation, background music for whatever I was working on, but after seeing them live, I have found that their music touches my soul. It is to be listened to in headphones with no distractions. Excuse me as I close this up so I can listen to Modern Life is Rubbish.

video by AllShowsGo!

Please share your experiences where a live show took a band to the next level for you. Thanks for reading!