San Marcos, Texas’ Float Fest is set for July 16 and 17th. They have a great lineup of electro, rock, and rap artists. Santigold, Metric, and Chromeo alone are worth the price of admission (which is just over $100 for both days). San Marcos is also a nice college town with good pubs and easy to navigate. Swing by the festival if you’re near there, or make the drive if you’re not.
Keep your mind open.
[Don’t float away without subscribing to us.]
Concert ticket retailer Live Nation is offering $20.00 concert tickets now through May 20th as part of its Kickoff to Summer promotion.
There are many good shows on sale, including Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Steely Dan, Weezer, Black Sabbath, Florence and the Machine, Garbage, Duran Duran, Rob Zombie, Jane’s Addiction, Kool and the Gang, and dozens more.
Granted, these $20.00 tickets aren’t prime seats, but seeing Steely Dan for only $20.00 to sit on the lawn in general admission is pretty good. Get them while you can.
Keep your mind open.
[Subscribing to us costs even less than $20.00. In fact, it costs nothing!]
Punk legends The Misfits are reuniting for Riot Fest this year. It’s the first time the original members will have performed together in nearly 34 years.
Early bird discount tickets for Riot Fest have been selling fast, meaning the prices keep going up as each tier sells out. The Misfits are the only band announced so far, and it will only cause tickets to sell faster. This will be the one of the biggest gigs of the year, so don’t miss it if you get the chance.
Keep your mind open.
[You won’t be a misfit if you subscribe to us.]
The annual Austin City Limits Music Festival has announced its dates and lineup. The festival takes place in downtown Austin, Texas over the course of two weekends, and some bands play both of them.
Headliners this year include Radiohead, Mumford & Sons, Kendrick Lamar, LCD Soundsystem, Willie Nelson, M83, Cage the Elephant, Two Door Cinema Club, LL Cool J, Foals, and Die Antwoord.
Tickets for the first weekend are already sold out, so don’t wait for weekend two tickets if you’re interested. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people who didn’t get to see anyone during Levitation Austin this year go to this festival to make up for it. Tickets and hotel rooms will go fast.
Keep your mind open.
[We’re here for you all weekend, all week, really, if you subscribe to us.]
Lollapalooza Chicago has released its daily schedule of bands over the course of the four-day weekend July 28 – 31st.
Four-day and single-day tickets are sold out unless you want and can afford to buy VIP ($2,200 weekend / $650 single day) or Platinum Package ($4,200, no single day tickets) tickets. Thursday night’s headliners are Lana Del Rey, the Last Shadow Puppets, Flosstradamus, and J. Cole.
Friday night’s headliners: Major Lazer, Ghost, Martin Garrix, and a little band called Radiohead.
Saturday night’s headliners: Disclosure, Vic Mensa, Hardwell, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Sunday night’s headliners: Ellie Goulding, ZHU, Die Antwoord, and LCD Soundsystem.
Keep your mind open.
[You’d be a headliner to us if you subscribed.]
Radiohead, arguably the biggest band in the world (and still one of the few pushing the envelope and daring to not be pigeonholed), have announced their as-yet untitled new album will be released on May 8th in digital formats and in physical formats on June 18th.
The band surprised everyone by erasing their entire Internet presence for two days and then returning with the new single “Burn the Witch.” Two days later they released the single “Daydreaming,” which has a video directed by film director Paul Thomas Anderson (for whom Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood has scored multiple films).
Radiohead are playing multiple festival dates in the U.S. and around the world starting this summer. They always put on an excellent show, so don’t miss them if they’re near you.
Keep your mind open.
[We daydream of you subscribing to us.]
Aussie legends Midnight Oil announced on May 4th that they are reuniting for a tour in 2017. In case you don’t know “the Oils” (as they are sometimes called) are one of Australia’s greatest bands and easily one of the most politically charged / Stick-it-to-the-Man bands of the last 30 years. Lead singer Peter Garrett even went into politics after the band split up to further their causes for Aboriginal Australians, economic equality, and environmental action.
They haven’t announced tour dates or locations yet, but this will be a must-see show. My wife and I have seen them twice, and both shows were excellent. We got to meet some of them after a show, and they were all good lads.
They’re offering a free download of a live version of “Forgotten Years” (one of the hits off the classic Blue Sky Mining album) through their website to celebrate the announcement, so grab it while you can.
Keep your mind open.
[Subscribe to us before you split, won’t you?]
In case you missed it, music titans Radiohead erased their Facebook, Twitter, website, and pretty much everything else they had on the Internet two days ago. They were gone. Fans were puzzled, but not entirely surprised as Radiohead have been Internet renegades for years. They were the first to release an album (In Rainbows) online and told fans they could pay whatever they wanted for it, even nothing at all if they liked.
Their website and Twitter content was often cryptic, and they’d go for long stretches without posting anything.
They came back yesterday with a new single and video – “Burn the Witch.” It’s a dissonant, almost frantic song with Thom Yorke’s usual mysterious lyrics. The video is also a tribute to the unsettling film The Wicker Man. Don’t bother with the Nicolas Cage version. Just don’t. Enjoy the original, this new song, and the upcoming album (whenever that is) instead.
Keep your mind open.
[Don’t get burned by missing a post. Drop us your e-mail address in the subscription box to your left and get updates sent straight to you.]
Chicago’s Mamby on the Beach music festival is July 02-03rd this year on Oakwood Beach. It’s a lovely festival of electronic dance music, electro, and even a bit of psychedelia. I won’t be surprised if there are more additions before the festival gets here, but I’d love to see Tycho, Santigold, and Derrick Carter for starters.
Keep your mind open.
[Why not subscribe to us before you go?]
People tend to fall into two categories when it comes to Azealia Banks – lovers or haters. I’m firmly in the first category, because she’s a musical titan with great rhyme, a lovely singing voice, and beats that “will make you gag” (as she puts it) because they’re so sick. I don’t care about her Twitter tirades (none of which have offended or affected me or anyone I know). In fact, more power to her for speaking her mind in the sausage fest that is the music industry.
So, I was one of the many excited when she started dropping a few cuts from her upcoming album Business and Pleasure on us this week. The only one you can still find with good quality is “The Big Big Beat,” which has Banks rhyming about her double-D’s to being the baddest girl on the block. The beats are killer and it’s a hot warm-up for the new album. Her last, Broke with Expensive Taste, was among my favorite records of 2014. This new record can’t get here quick enough for me.
Keep your mind open.
[Don’t forget to drop us your e-mail address for updates sent directly to you.]