popwreckoning

Tickets go on sale to the public this Thursday, July 28 at 12pm, and fans can go to www.anhorse.com to take advantage of pre-sale opportunities. Below are a list of tour dates:

8/6/11 – Chicago, IL @ Lollaplooza
9/16/11 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
9/18/11 – St. Louis, MO @ The Old Rock House
9/20/11 – Akron, OH @ Musica
9/21/11 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
9/22/11 – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
9/23/11 – Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
9/24/11 – Lawrence, KS @ The Jackpot
9/26/11 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
9/27/11 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
9/28/11 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
9/30/11 – Seattle, WA @ El Corzon Lounge
10/1/11 – Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar
10/3/11 – Oakland, CA @ The New Parish
10/4/11 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ S.L.O. Brewing Company
10/15/11 – Jacksonville, FL @ Underbelly

www.anhorse.com

Being a duo opening for a big band such as Manchester Orchestra (big in number of members and success) can be a daunting challenge, but Brisbane’s An Horse was more than up for the challenge. 

The duo features Kate Cooper on vocals and guitar with Damon Cox on drums and backing vocals.

Cooper’s a small figure, so it’s a bit surprising when a ridiculously powerful voice comes booming out of her. At times she seemed like a female vocal version of tourmates Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull; and other times she seemed like Eisley‘s three singers, but with an Australian accent in place of the Texas one. Cooper packed a more powerful punch in her briefer lyrics than when she tried to stretch out vocals – one number in the middle seemed a little a grating, but she was otherwise a pleasant a surprise. She ran through songs about coping with separation and grief from life far from home, emulating the passion of the lyrics in both her vocals and her facial expressions.

Equally fascinating to watch was Cox. He basically had the duty of filling out a full band sound for Cooper’s vocals and was more than busy with drumming alone, but he also provided some great harmonies.

The band is listed as indie pop on the web – but their spunky beats and edgy vocals harkens them back to their punk roots.

Though you might debate their name (which does come from a grammar dispute about ‘a’ or ‘an’ before ‘horse’), you won’t found yourself debating their talent.

They just joined with Manchester Orchestra for a series of tour dates. Be sure to check them out here.

Lollapalooza is celebrating its 20th anniversary and as promised, the recently announced delivers some pretty hefty acts. 

Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5 and A Perfect Circle will headline the annual event in Grant Park from August 5-7, 2011.

If you missed Death From Above 1979‘s Coachella reunion, Lolla gives fans another chance. There’s also many other classic acts such as The Cars to up and comers The Naked and Famous. You can see the rest of the announced lineup below:

Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5, A Perfect Circle, Cee Lo Green, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley & Nas, the Cars, Ween, Bright Eyes, Arctic Monkeys, Big Audio Dynamite, Deftones, Beirut, Explosions in the Sky, Death From Above 1979, Ratatat, Crystal Castles, Flogging Molly, Atmosphere, Cold War Kids, Lykke Li, Cage the Elephant, OK GO, Local Natives, The Kills, White Lies, Portugal. The Man, Two Door Cinema Club, Ellie Goulding, Delta Spirit, Beats Antique, Mountain Goats, Sleigh Bells, Manchester Orchestra, Smith Westerns, Best Coast, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, The Drums, Black Lips, Fitz & the Tantrums, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, City and Colour, Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses, Cults, Noah and the Whale, Sam Adams, J. Roddy Walston and the Business, Tinie Tempah, Lissie, Dom, The Vaccines, Foster the People, Titus Andronicus, Mayer Hawthorne and the County, Chico Trujillo, The Naked and Famous, Phantogram, Rival Schools, Friendly Fires, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Reptar, Maps & Atlases, Fences, Tennis, An Horse, Young the Giant, Los Bunkers, Imelda May, Grouplove, Wye Oak, The Joy Formidable, Lord Huron, Disappears, Walk the Moon, Gold Motel, Iration, Ryan Leslie, Tab the Band, Skylar Grey, Christina Perri, Black Cards, The Pretty Reckless, Boy and Bear, Patrick Stump, Kids These Days, Young Man, The Kingston Springs, Lia Ices, The Chain Gang of 1974, Ximena Sarinana, Typhoon, Electric Touch, Kerli, Ruby Jane, Julia Easterlin, and DJ Mel.

On Perry’s Stage:

Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, Kid Cudi, the Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, AfroJack, Modeselektor, Skrillex, Perryetty vs. Chris Cox, Chuckie, The Glitch MOb, Busy P, Joachim Garraud, Super Mash Bros., Jay Electronica, 12th Planet, Daedulus, Feed Me, JackMaster, Collie Buddz, Savoy, Kyle Lucas and Captain Midnite, Ana Tijouxana, Midnight Conspiracy, L1ght, and Lady D.

Early Bird tickets have already sold out, but you can now buy regular priced tickets for $215 while supplies last. VIP Passes and Travel Packages are also available. A limited number of
Single Day tickets will go on sale June 7. Go here to buy tickets.

Organizers are expecting over 240,000 people.

How did I end up at the posh Four Seasons hotel, sitting across from Bill Murray, Snoop and the rest of the A-listers getting trashed at the bar, as I anxiously waited for An Horse to meet me for a drink? I have to admit that parts of day three and four of SXSW are a bit, shall we say, blurry. Too many shows, too much Tecate and not enough sleep are most likely to blame. I’ll try to recount the event through the fog of it all. The second half of my trip was even more spontaneous than the first. A few more friends joined our expanding South-by crew, which made crashing at the penthouse even more ridiculously fun, I discovered a new favorite band, saw them twice, and closed out the weekend by sweet talking may way around the longest line yet, into a coveted showcase on Saturday to see some killer shows.

Friday was all about Spin Magazine’s VIP party. How I wrangled three “All Access” passes to the hottest day party at South-by isn’t important. Just know that my nickname over the weekend became, to those around me, “The Godfather.” No kidding. Big head nod to you know who. At the Spin bash we saw a second set by the fab Miike Snow, (my lust for all things Miike is well documented in the first installment of my SXSW trilogy) a DJ set by Das Racist, an electric performance by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and of course, the festival headliner: the return of Hole. Love opened her set with a cover of “Sympathy for the Devil,” which seemed fitting for her big comeback. All eyes were on her to act psycho and make a mess, but I’m sorry to report that just the opposite occurred. Backed by a fully loaded, shiny new band, I think Love surprised everyone there by pulling off a respectably rockin’ set. Despite a little mention of flapping genitals and having been inspired by Perez Hilton, Love had a tight grip on the music. The scratchiness of her weathered voice enhanced the music’s rage rather than show the sign of time. She did a few classics such as crowd favorite, “Miss World” and “Violet,” which was maybe my first real “time machine” music moment. I imagine it was similar to what it must have been like for my mom to see CSN a few years back. Déjà vu? Some of the new material that Love debuted was hard to get into and I honestly would have preferred a greatest hits performance, but I’m not complaining. I was happy to be there even if I had to climb up the Stubb’s BBQ sign pole to catch a glimpse of Love.

After a short respite, I hit the Wave Rooftop for a set by Papier Tigre, a raucous post-hardcore punk trio from Nantes, France. While it wasn’t quite my style and perhaps the music needs a bit more time to mature, I have to give the boys props for producing such an intense and driving sound minus a bass. Their energy and enthusiasm more than filled in the gap.

Later that night, I hit The Galaxy Room Back Yard for Local Natives and An Horse. Local Natives absolutely blew me away. I realize that I’m probably late to the game here but I didn’t know anything about this Silverlake-based, mustachioed quintet when I showed up to the tent at the suggestion of a good friend and now they’ve changed the game as far as I’m concerned. They played a total of nine shows at SXSW and I saw two of them. Couldn’t help myself, they’re just that good. You could throw them in the same class as Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend if you needed a comparison, but really let the music speak for itself. It’s a unique sound, all it’s own, that grabs you from the first listen. It will be hard to resist the hooky, tender harmonies, nostalgic musings, and afro-pop beats coming from these So Cal sweethearts.

An Horse always turn out a solid rock show with plenty of grit and heavy guitar riffs. This time I even noticed some classic metal guitar moves from front woman Kate Cooper. Yes I said it, metal. This oft-described “indie-pop” outfit from Brisbane is actually a lot heavier than people give them credit for. I had the chance to catch up with the band the next day where we discussed this discrepancy over lattes at The Four Seasons. Ballin’. Stay tuned for their thoughts on new music, what it’s like to tour for eighteen months straight, their love of Fugazi, and how things have changed for them since we first met last year at SXSW.

On Saturday, I had to use my womanly charm to slither into the packed Brooklyn Vegan Party where Andrew W. K., Plants and Animals and Local natives were playing (again). While I was expecting W. K. to blow the top off the backyard tent, his stripped down classic keyboard crazed-concerto was actually kind of amazing. Truth is, W.K. has skills that rock beyond the party. Later that night I stopped by the Cedar Street Courtyard for a chilly outdoor set by recent favorite, Memory Tapes. I had been kind of keeping Dayve Hawk’s dreamy synth-pop all to myself for months and I was excited to see it come to life. Unfortunately, things got a little lost in translation. The beats were spot on but his voice didn’t hold up in the flesh. I figure I’ll just stick with the digital version. It’s my favorite album to daydream to and I’m not willing to give that up. I could tell you that the night ended there, but that would be a lie. Rumor had it that Tigercity was playing a late night set at Habana Calle 6 and well, we just couldn’t resist putting Southby to rest without a last ditch booty-bumpin dance party. Yes Gillim, WE ARE SENSATION.

This year’s SXSW far exceeded my expectations. Like I had hoped, it was all the magic of last year with a much better view. I discovered more than a few new favorites, revisited some standbys and happily added some new members to my festival family. While most like to think that SXSW is just about discovering the next best thing, that’s really only part of the story. The true beauty of Southby is the memories that you make and the traditions that are born out of the music.

Top 3 Albums of 2009

• N.A.S.A. - The Spirit of Apollo (Anti) :: review
• Kevin Devine – Brother’s Blood (Favorite Gentlemen) :: review
• Zee Avi - Zee Avi (Brushfire)

Best Show of 2009

• N.A.S.A. at Emo’s Annex during SXSW. Wild dance party, dancing on stage with Orion slave girls and aliens, high fiving the DJs, being escorted off stage by security, and hanging out backstage. All around aces. (read about it)

Most Anticipated for 2010

• Basia Bulat – Heart of My Own (Rough Trade); even though I’ve got it and have been rocking it for a while

Most Overrated of 2009

• Passion Pit. F’real.

Best Music Memory

• Spending an entire day in a VIP lounge at SXSW making friends, drinking free drinks, eating free food, schmoozing with hotshots, hanging with An Horse and Langhorne Slim, running out to go catch Fight Like Apes and sneaking in the rest of the PW crew. Bar none the greatest music day of 2009.

Here’s to an even better 2010. Have a safe, fun and exciting New Year’s Eve!