popwreckoning

Tomorrow, Friday, August 6, Lollapalooza kicks off. Here are our recommendations for Friday survival and fun.

Tip 1: Let’s start things off with the weather. Unlike last year, it is supposed to be sunny all weekend! Yay! However, this means it will also be hot, even with the festival being set up next to the lake. So stay HYDRATED. And as awesome as it is, beer is not a means of hydration. WATER is a must. Fortunately, Lollapalooza, does have water stations set up (you can usually find them by port-a-potty areas). So there’s no excuse for not drinking water. And when you’re done with your plastic bottles or cups, make sure you recycle. Lolla has plenty of recycling stations throughout the park.

Another tip: Sleep. Especially tonight (Thursday) because between the actual fest, stuff to do in Chicago, and after shows, you won’t get much sleep the rest of the weekend.

Tip 3: Show up early. Especially on the first day when they have to put wristbands on. If there’s a band you want to see, it will take awhile to get through the check-in and over to the stage, so don’t plan on seeing a 1 p.m. band showing up at 12:50. It isn’t going to happen. There are two entrances to help people get in Grant Park quickly, but it will still take some time. Also, show up early because there are some great bands that start playing really early in the day. Don’t regret missing These United States at 11:15 a.m. because you were still watching TV at your hotel.

Tip 4: RSVP. There are tons of free events going on after the festival. More great bands, free drinks and more fun. But there’s a catch. A lot of them require RSVPs. So plan your post show fun now and double check if you need to RSVP. There’s some good recommendations on free after events here.

Tip 5: Watch bands you’ve never heard of. Look at the schedule. I’m betting you haven’t heard of quite a few of the bands playing, but go check them out. Did you know that just a few years ago, Lady Gaga played one of the smaller stages during the day? No one really knew who she was then, but now she’s headlining! So go discover someone awesome.

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Five bands to check out each day:

Friday: These United States (11:15 a.m.), Jukebox the Ghost (1:45 p.m.), My Dear Disco (3 p.m.), Devo (4 p.m.), Lady Gaga (8 p.m.)

Saturday: The Morning Benders (12 p.m.), Skybox (12:30 p.m.), Dan Black (3 p.m.), Gogol Bordello (3:45 p.m.) Cut Copy (7:30 p.m.)

Sunday: Health (11:30 a.m.), The Antlers (12:15 p.m.), The Dodos (1 p.m.), Freelance Whales (3 p.m.), Yeasayer (4 p.m.)

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PopWreckoning will be at Lollapalooza! We’ll post our reviews, photos and interviews over the next few days here. For more immediate coverage, follow PopWrecker Bethany on Twitter at twitter.com/glowah.

Lollapalooza is an intense experience, but a fun one. Should you manage to find energy after already having spent 12 hours listening to music in downtown Chicago’s Grant Park, then it’d be in your best interest to continue the festivities with official Lollapalooza afterparties.

Thursday after shows include Devo with Dirty Projectors, Slightly Stoopid with Collie Buddz, The New Pornographers with The Dodos, The Big Pink with Night Gallery, and Cymbals Eat Guitars with Young Galaxy.

Friday shows include MGMT, Cut Copy with Dragonette, The Walkmen with Warpaint, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros with Freelance Whales, Wild Beasts, and Rogue Wave with Gamble House.

Saturday shows are The National with The Antlers, The Black Keys with the Morning Benders, Minus the Bear with Miniature Tigers, Blitzen Trapper with Avi Buffalo, The Soft Pack with Royal Bangs, Wavves with Harlem, Gogol Bordello, and Precision Guided Musicians featuring Hot Chip (live), Rusko, Steve Porter and more.

Sunday ends with Phoenix with Toro y Moi and HEALTH with Chandeliers.

Tickets for the after shows go onsale Friday, June 25 at 10 a.m. Get them here.

The roster for the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival is official. The Eagles, Muse, Phish, The Strokes, M.I.A., Flaming Lips, LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, Vampire Weekend, and Norah Jones top the bill of 130 acts slated to rock Zilker Park October 8-10. Also performing the ninth edition of this year’s Festival: Band of Horses, Monster of Folk, Deadmau5, Sonic Youth, Gogol Bordello, The National, and Robert Earl Keen.

This year’s line-up is diverse as ever, with something for everyone, and plenty of new talent to discover. Broken Bells, The Temper Trap, Girls, and Miike Snow are all making their first ACL Festival appearance, and getting a lot of attention from fans and critics alike. Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Ozomatli, Nortec Collective, and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue span a wide array of genres, and reflect the flavor of the Festival and the tastes of what ACL fans have come to expect.

The full line-up listed by day is available at www.aclfestival.com. Single Day Tickets are on-sale today, May 18 at 10 a.m. CDT.

Three-Day Passes for the 9th annual Austin City Limits Music Festival sold-out in 14 hours, a record since the Festival’s inception in 2002. A limited number of Three-Day VIP passes and travel packages are still available.

Austin City Limits Music Festival happens October 8-10 in Zilker Park.

The 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival is generously sponsored by Budweiser, AMD, ZYNC from American Express℠, Austin Ventures, BMI, H-E-B, and Sweet Leaf Tea.

The Eagles
Muse
Phish
The Strokes
M.I.A.
Flaming Lips
LCD Soundsystem
Spoon
Vampire Weekend
Norah Jones
Band of Horses
Monsters of Folk
Deadmau5
Sonic Youth
Gogol Bordello
The National
Robert Earl Keen
The Black Keys
Broken Bells
Slightly Stoopid
Yeasayer
Pat Green
Rebelution
Beach House
The Sword
Matt and Kim
The XX
Portugal. The Man
The Temper Trap
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
Girls
Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
Local Natives
Gaslight Anthem
Lucero
Devandra Barnhart
Blues Traveler
Pete Yorn
The Soft Pack
Gayngs
Amos Lee
Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Ozomatli
Richard Thompson
Martin Sexton
Manchester Orchestra
The Almighty Defenders
Miike Snow
Mountain Goats
Bear In Heaven
Mayer Hawthorne
Midlake
Foals
Switchfoot
Cage The Elephant
JJ Grey & Mofro
Kinky
Angus & Julia Stone
The Morning Benders
Hockey
White Rabbits
David Bazan
Asleep at the Wheel
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Nortec Collective
The Very Best
Beats Antique
Henry Clay People
Blind Pilot
GIVERS
Dawes
Band of Heathens
Charlie Mars
Two Door Cinema Club
Lissie
Sarah Harmer
Constellations
T. Bird and the Breaks
Chief
Frank Turner
Those Darlins
Carolyn Wonderland
Kings Go Forth
The Relatives
The Ettes
Qbeta
Mynamisjohnmichael
Basia Bulat
Balmorhea
Dan Black
The Jane Shermans
The Kicks
Ponderosa
Two Tons of Steel
Caitlin Rose
SPEAK
Run With Bulls
Maxim Ludwig
Gospel Stars
Heavenly Voices
Wesley Bray & The Disciples of Joy
Jones Family Singers
Ashley Cleveland & Kenny Greenberg
Buddy & The Straight Way Travelers
Ruby Jane Smith
Verve Pipe
Frances England
Jellydots
Elizabeth Mitchell
Okee Dokee Brothers
Tom Freund
School of Rock
Q Brothers

Gypsy punk rockers Gogol Bordello are streaming their latest album at MySpace now.

Due out on American Recordings on April 27th, Trans-Continental Hustle is an ambitious undertaking in the group’s already remarkable decade-long career and is the result of an inspired, year-long collaboration with famed producer Rick Rubin.

The band is currently out on an international mini-festival called “the Casa Gogol Tour” through May 1.

Tour Dates:
Apr, 23 – Chicago, IL – Congress
Apr, 24 – Minneapolis, MN – First Ave
Apr, 25 – Minneapolis, MN – First Ave
Apr, 28 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
Apr, 29 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live
Apr, 30 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live
May, 1 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory

*All with DeVotchKa, Jesse Malin and St. Mark’s Social, and Tres Leches Afterparty Sound Crew as support.

Although Lawrence has this great reputation as being a center of indie music culture, the audiences can be less than welcoming and rather apathetic. It takes a rare breed of band to get the crowds moving and singing, so you know you’re at a special show when there is an interaction between the artist and crowd. Gogol Bordello was one such show.

Apostle of Hustle opened up with what sounded like space age salsa music. The touring duo used a pre-recorded voice to give song introductions and what I dubbed their “space age” vibe before jumping into the latin-laced tunes, which was unique considering the bands ties to the States’ northern neighbors, not southern.

The drumming definitely dominated as Dean Stone alternated from mallets to beating with his bare hands. Singer Andrew Whiteman played guitar, but it was his vocals that really resonated with the crowd. The band had a few moments that left the audience divided. It was pretty 50/50 on who cheered after a big presentation of several flags and a sign that said, “Who else is high?” and who was simply left scratching heads. At another point during the show, the singer made a bring presentation, and told a little anecdote: “We bring you this song all the way from Canada. It is about the great poet who ever lived…in California.” As they played what became my favorite song of the set, “Eazy Speaks,” I couldn’t help, but chuckle if Apostle of Hustle was implying that Eazy was the greatest poet ever and just happened to live in California or if Eazy was only a great poet as far as Californians go. This band’s live show holds up better than their recordings, so catch a performance if you can.

Gypsy punk rockers Gogol Bordello made Lawrence wait about 40 minutes for their performance, but it was worth it when one by one they ran out: drums then fiddle then accordion and the rest of the crew. Once they started, it was a raucous party. Whether people knew the words or not, nobody had trouble joining in on shouts and dancing. Oh boy was there dancing. Gogol Bordello even has members whose sole purpose is to dance (although they also add some backing vocals).

My friend told me I didn’t properly prepare him for what this show was, but really the only way to be ready for Gogol show is to watch Gogol. It really is like no other performance you’ve ever seen. The closest would be seeing some of the Irish punk bands like Dropkick Murphys or Flogging Molly, yet Gogol is even wilder than either of those. Gogol is just as much about the music as they are the show and within the first song, the band was dripping from sweat from pouring tons of energy into their performance. You can listen to this band’s recordings, you can watch them on YouTube, and all that is fine and dandy, but do yourself a favor and get yourself to one of their shows.

Apostle of Hustle: website | myspace
Gogol Bordello: website | myspace | @ popped! | @ lollapalooza | @ virgin mobile

I had no idea who Murder By Death was before their show at the Bottleneck on Saturday evening. I now pity myself because I’ve been missing out on years of Death’s musical awesomeness.

After grabbing a cold (as in partially icy) beer, I took a seat towards the back of the venue to listen to Cowboy Indian Bear‘s opening set. I wasn’t planning on reviewing them again because I recently saw them open for Peter Bjorn & John. After seeing their set a second time however, I felt it necessary to add a few comments about their music.

CBI’s sound is diverse. At times, the band layers light bells and tiny chimes over deep, new wave synths. CBI can quickly change gears, though, and produce songs that are influenced by old country or classic 60s spy tracks.

The second opener, Suzannah Johannes, used her water-like guitar strumming and vocals, mixed with a supporting keyboard and male vocals, to put on a quiet, ambient folk performance. Although her blues, speak sing voice flowed over her songs’ beautiful melodies effortlessly, the set didn’t hold the crowds’ attention. Johannes did mention that her drummer was absent that evening, so her performance may have been better received if the other musician was present.

When Murder By Death launched into their first song, “Ball & Chain,” Adam Turla‘s (vocals, guitar) flame shaped black guitar carried the band into a blazing Americana rock out.

When Turla sings, it’s like he’s biting the heck out of something. His words come out heavy, while teeth gnaw and distort the song’s dark, menacing lyrics. Atop his performance, his lean frame and stoic face, dressed with dark hair and thick sideburns make it obvious that Turla is a man who shouldn’t be messed with.

The four-piece’s loud sound was superb. Sarah Balliet‘s cello, mixed with Matt Armstrong‘s bass, Dagan Thogerson’s percussion, and Turla’s vocals created a haunting wall of sound.

The next song, “52′ Ford,” had a massive bass line that rumbled through the venue’s walls and concert goers’ heads (many folks without ear plugs began to cover their ears at this point). Balliet’s cello added a sweet yet gritty overtone to the tune, and her multi-colored dress jerked in each direction the musician moved her body.

Many of the songs Death played had a Gogol Bordello franticness, and the melodies and lyrics were quirky and dark, similar to Scott Weiland’s solo work.

Early in the set, Turla said whenever the band came to Lawrence, Kan., it was impossible for them to stay sober, no matter how hard they tried.

“There’s no escape.”

“It’s like you guys have a booze lazer,” Turla said.

Turla also said the band was supposed to be taking a night off (they’re currently touring with the Gaslight Anthem), but decided to headline in Lawrence per a friend’s demand.

“There’s no sleep for the wicked.”

After concluding “Fuego,” Murder By Death began to play “Steal Away.” The song was cool, and calm. The melody elicited thoughts of a small, smokey jazz hall filled with mirrors, and lit with lamps that gave off green hues.

Towards the middle of MBD’s set, the band began to down more drinks. I’m pretty sure they consumed most of the whisky at the Bottleneck that night.

Something I enjoyed about MBD’s performance was that Turla often gave a background to the songs the band performed. One was described as a “party song” about gypsies, and their “fuck all” attitude. Turla labeled another tune as the band’s “manic song,” which incited the crowd to whoop with joy. He then said he had no idea why such a depressing song could make everyone happy, but accepted the response and went on. Turla simply said another song was just about whisky.

After walking away from the stage, the band quickly returned for an encore. Turla said tonight was a rare occasion because Balliet wanted to tell everyone a story.

Balliet said after the band played a show a few evenings back, a girl approached her to tell her how much she loved it when Balliet played the bass (pronouncing bass like the fish).

“I smiled and said thank you.”

Turla then said the band would play two old songs. The last song of the evening, an instrumental piece, was the perfect way to end the awesome evening.

Set list:
Ball & Chain
52′ Ford
The Black Spot
The Organ Grinder ?
A Masters In Reverse Psychology
Fuego
Steal Away ?
Shiola
Three Men Hanging
I will call this the “Gypsy Song”
One More Notch
Brother
Another song Turla deemed as horridly depressing
That Crown Don’t Make You A Prince
The song Turla said was about whisky
Until Morale Improves The Beatings Will Continue
Knife Goes In, Guts Come Out
///
I’m Afraid Of Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf
Instrumental

Murder By Death: website | myspace