popwreckoning

The music portion of SXSW 2011 has begun rolling out some of the accepted acts for the upcoming fest.

Accepted bands include our Kansas City favorites The Appleseed Cast as well as dance demons The Klaxons and MSTRKRFT and some of our indie favorites such as Toro y Moi and Wye Oak.

SXSW 2011 is March 15-20, 2011 in Austin, Texas.

See all the bands announced here. More will be announced soon.

KRBZ 96.5 the Buzz has announced the line-up for its annual The Night the Buzz Stole X-mas and it’s a doozie this year. The Buzz is bringing not one, but two nights of great alternative rock music to the Midland in Kansas City. Night one features headliners Jimmy Eat World, while My Chemical Romance makes a return to the concert scene for night two. Local act The Beautiful Bodies even were picked to join the festive show.

Buzz Freeloaders get first shot at tickets.

Here’s the full line-up:

Night 1 – December 6, 2010
Jimmy Eat World
Sleigh Bells
The Dirty Heads
Free Energy

Night 2 – December 8, 2010
My Chemical Romance
A Day to Remember
Innerpartysystem
The Beautiful Bodies

Lawrence, Kansas’ Cowboy Indian Bear is a trio no longer.

At the indie pop act’s show Saturday night, the band announced the addition of fellow Lawrence performer Katlyn Conroy to the official line-up. Conroy joins current members Beau Bruns, Charles Calhoun and Martinez Hillard.

“We’re more than thrilled to have her join our ranks and share her immense wealth of talent with us,” says Cowboy Indian Bear.

Conroy has been a frequent guest performer at Cowboy Indian Bear shows, so her official addition is a great, logical progression.  The band says that they’ve already begun writing and recording new material under the new line-up.

Their next show is Sept. 12 at Crosstown Station in Kansas City with Efterklang. You can stay up-to-date on more Cowboy Indian Bear news and stream a few songs here.

Bonnaroo Friday had a rocky start for PopWreckoning. Sweltering temperatures and a “knock” on our tent woke us to inform us that we had camped in the wrong spot. Frustrated, we packed up our tent and began rewandering the muddy roads trying to figure out what we couldn’t figure out the other day. Fortunately, the Bonnaroo fates finally took mercy on us and we at last got our new camping spot: in VIP. Huzzah! Free showers and close to Centeroo!

Press goes through orientation on Friday, so after resetting up our tent, we headed to the media area to hear the ins and outs of Bonnaroo with the wonderful Big Hassle Crew. They shared some good insights, photo rules and a few good jokes.

Press got a special treat today: an acoustic performance of Dr. Dog. The band played about three songs rich with banjos, guitars, and light drumming. acoustic. Check back for a video from the band’s acoustic performance a little bit later.

I glimpsed a bit of alt country act Jessie Baylin and a long line waiting to see Conan O’Brien, while I was walking over to the uke wielding Julia Nunes. The quirky singer played a very long set list of her original tunes and fun covers. Never has a been a ukulele been more bad ass than in her hands. When it came time for her to play a cover of Weezer, Nunes hinted that she might be joining the band for their Bonnaroo set on Saturday. Nunes also announced she had been camping with the rest of us plebes instead of enjoying a trailer or hotel like many other artists. All the more reason to love her.

Then, it was off to see Canada’s Tokyo Police Club over at the Other Tent. The young rockers began with the feedback that kicks off their first song on the newly released, Champ. “Favourite Food” is one of my favorites on the new album and it was a great way to start their set. The band looked absolutely jubilant at the audience’s warm reception. They followed it up with the classic “Nature of the Experiment” before delivering another new one. The old hits were there, but so were plenty of new ones. I can’t wait to see these guys take off with Champ.

Begrudgingly, I pulled away from TPC to go to the Troo Lounge to see Young Veins, a new 60s revivalist rock band. I went into the set knowing nothing about them, but the tunes were catchy and it was a well done homage to rock of old. As I bobbed my head along with the tunes I couldn’t help, but think something was…pretty odd. For a band I had never heard of, they sure looked familiar. Turns out I knew them better than I thought. This is the new band of former Panic! at the Disco members, Ryan Ross and Jon Walker.

No Springsteen at Bonnaroo this year, but we did get Jersey’s second best: The Gaslight Anthem. These guys just released the killer, anthem-heavy American Slang and delivered a set chock full of those tunes as well as the stuff that helped get them national attention.

It was a rough decision where to go from there: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes were singing their heartwarming tunes out at the Other Tent and the Gossip would be setting up at This Tent, but as great as it is to see some of the bigger stages/acts, the best part of Bonnaroo is seeing the up and coming talent on smaller stages. So I made my way to Troo to see PopWreck love Kevin Devine. He’s been doing pretty well for himself, playing nearly all major US festivals this year, and it seems word of his passionate rock is beginning to spread. Troo was packed – and not just with general public fans. It seems Kevin was the musician’s choice, too. Members of Manchester Orchestra hung around backstage watching their fellow Favorite Gentlemen perform his tunes that range from the political to the heartbreak. I also spotted Person L/The Starting Line’s Kenny Vasoli watching, too.

Of course, I didn’t spend too much time people watching. It was hard to take my eyes off Kevin as he dipped down with his guitar just to pop back up to yell into the mic on an especially emotionally-charged chorus. Kevin modestly talked to the crowd, but some of the stuff he said in between songs was just as great as the songs: “You might be saying ‘are there two bass rockers on that stage?’ There are! You’re not fucked up on mezclin yet. You wil be. And I’ll be selling it to you.” He must have been feeling the Bonnaroo love because he then played a new song, “She Stayed a Steam,” off an upcoming Fav Gentlemen release. The song starts slow, but the buildup is great to an especially big chorus. I can’t wait to hear more. Kevin ended with “Brother’s Blood,” and I had a gut-feeling that nothing left at the fest would even begin to compare to his performance.

Giving my feet a break from all the walking, it was back to press for a mini-press conference with some big name artists such as The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and Ok Go’s Damien Kulash. While the band members talked about the differences between playing music at a fest vs. a club and what Bonnaroo means, comedian Jeffrey Ross stole the show with his clever quips about the fest: “I saw a band called The xx. They put me to sleep. They should have been called The zz,” he joked. But it was all in good fun: “I only roast the bands I love. All comedians are wannabe rockstars. That’s where this comes from.” Jeff is in charge of the Bonnaroo Roast and based off this sampling, it’s going to be a good roast.

The next chunk of the fest was like a special movie edition of Bonnaroo, and no, I didn’t go to the Cinema Tent. Three of the next four acts I saw consisted of people well known for their work in films. Zooey Deschanel (Elf, Yes Man) sang vintage rock in She & Him with the amazing guitarist that is M. Ward. Though She and Him basically is Deschanel and Ward, they were backed by a band that included several girls simply there to give back up vocals and harmonies. The music was pleasant and made more rockable by Zooey’s constant jumping up and down. Though many went to go see Zooey, they got hooked in by the music and stayed for the whole set.

The only thing that kept me from staying for their whole set was that The National was set to begin playing soon and I love the way the bass vocals carry over their big brassy and string heavy indie rock tunes. Half-expecting good music with little stage presence, I was blown away by the energy and enthusiasm they delivered. Lead singer Matt Berninger joked with the audience and even crowd surfed. It was big; it was fun.

Then it was time for movie star number two: Jack Black in his band Tenacious D. This was also my first glimpse of Conan O’Brien who had been emceeing the What Stage all day. It was fun to have a comedian introduce the comedic group. The set was like a cross between a play and a rock concert. The guys are skilled musicians, but their stage banter was just as essential to the act’s performance. For example, at one point, Jack Black pretended to accept an emergency phone call: “What? You want to make a ‘Pick of Destiny 2’? But there’s a catch? You want me to do it with the guy from ‘Mall Cop’?” This caused Kyle Gass To storm off and Black to perform “(Dude) I Totally Miss You.”

My third and final movie star act was none other than Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers. It was kind of insane the reaction Martin got. The guy had only walked out to the side stage to huddle with his band before the set and people swarmed the barricade to get a picture of him…again, not on stage. Martin took the almost-too strong reaction kindly, “I’ll tell you one thing. I wish I practiced,” he said. “It has been a long time dream of mine to play bluegrass at Bonnaroo. Today, I feel one step closer to that goal.” Then the band began their bluegrass tunes. The pluck of banjos, the flying bows of fiddles: it was furiously fast and fun. Then time for more jokes before the next jam: “This is a song that…well, that pretty much says it” or “I wrote all the songs you’re hearing myself, which I think distinguishes us from every other bluegrass band at Bonnaroo playing their own stuff.”

I left Martin a little bit early to explore and walked by the psychedelic jams of Les Claypool and the piano songs of the adorable Tori Amos. This was on my way to jam rockers Dawes at the Troo Lounge. Dawes again proved that Troo, despite being one of the smallest stages, had one of the best lineups of the day. Dawes was the type of rock music that you could sit back and relax to, but you could also stand up in dance. Definitely, check them out.

Kings of Leon had the undivided attention of Bonnaroo for the next chunk of the night: no one was up against them. The What Stage was packed as the Southern rockers blazed through tunes “Sex is on Fire,” “The Bucket” and even a Pixies cover. To be honest, I found it a bit boring, but there are thousands of other people who seem to disagree with me. Oh well. I do give the band props on the long set and also the long encore that included the popular “Use Somebody.”

Without a doubt the Flaming Lips were one of the primary draws of Bonnaroo this year. Not only was the band going to perform all of Dark Side of the Moon with Stardeath and the White Dwarfs, but they were also treating fans to a regular Lips show. The infamous hamster ball made its return after the “birth” of the other members onto the stage. Coyne wheeled around over the audience, immersed in a sea of confetti. It just got bigger from there: more confetti, more fog, more dancers and guest singers (Beth Ditto and Margaret Cho). In stark contrast, the Dark Side performance lacked the theatrics of the preceding performance, but that was still pretty cool, too, because it proved the Lips weren’t just a gimmick band. I guess there was one major theatric. They ended with a giant fog projection of the artwork from Dark Side over the audience. Epic.

Though it seemed like at first that everyone and their moms were at the Lips, the Black Keys did somehow manage to wrestle a sizable crowd to their set at That Tent. The set wasn’t as crazy a spectacle as the Lips, but it was still a good show in which they invited up extra musicians and played a decent number of brand-spanking new songs.

I know that it is almost blasphemous that I didn’t return back to the Lips to see all of Dark Side of the Moon. But Bassnectar was beckoning. Bassnectar is a bad ass dj and he turned This Tent into a giant dance party. I would have been content just dancing into the morning twilight with him, but even though it was 2 a.m., there were still tons of acts to go.
Rumor was that Kid Cudi wouldn’t be able to perform since he was arrested in New York the day before. So I skipped it. Turns out he did perform. Alas. But it wasn’t too bad because it just meant I had more time to enjoy LCD Soundsystem. They were surprisingly awkward, but it was fun and worked well for their style of music. It was still a dance party at the This Tent, but a different sort of one from the remixing of Bassnectar. Not surprisingly, people went crazy for “Drunk Girls,” considering that’s what half the crowd was. I love how intimate the band made this performance feel and in their hands, it was pretty easy to find the energy to party with them until 4 a.m. What a great way to end the night.

More photos and recaps from Bonnaroo coming soon. You can view Day 1: Thursday’s recap 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

Outside Lands 2010 has been announced for August 14 and 15 in San Francisco’s historic Golden Gate Park.

The Festival celebrates the four pillars of Bay Area culture – music, food, wine and technology — there is no other festival that honors its home city to such an extent, making Outside Lands one of the most unique and enjoyable events in the country.

The artist lineup for the festival will be announced on June 1. A limited quantity of lower-priced Eager Beaver tickets will go on sale on May 7 at 10am PST.

Visit www.sfoutsidelands.com to stay up to date on information about the festival.

Taking Back Sunday have announced a handful of summer tour dates, their first since reuniting the Tell All Your Friends line-up from 2003.

The line-up consists of vocalist Adam Lazzara, guitarist Eddie Reyes and drummer Mark O’Connell with newly reunited vocalist/guitarist John Nolan and bass player Shaun Cooper.

The band will begin recording their fifth studio album in Los Angeles this summer with producer Eric Valentine.

“We are so excited to be able to play songs in front of people with this line up of the band,” says Lazzara. “So we have to play a few shows before we go off to make the new record. All of these venues have special meanings for us, and we’ve had so much support in these cities.” Nolan agrees. “I think we’re going to be backstage waiting to go on and just jumping up and down. It’s going to be amazing to share the excitement that we’ve been feeling for these past few weeks with an audience.”

A VIP pre-sale for the dates begins Wednesday, May 5 at 5 p.m. local time. The VIP Package includes an afternoon fan meet & greet at which ticket holders can participate in and film a Q&A with the band. They will also receive early entry to the venue and a signed set list. 50 VIP tickets will be available for each date. Regular ticket on-sale begins Saturday, May 8 at 10 a.m. local time, 12 noon in Chicago.

Tour Dates:
June 22 – Starland Ballrooom Sayreville, NJ
June 23 – Irving Plaza New York, NY
June 24 – Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
June 25 – House of Blues Boston, MA
June 27 – Metro Chicago, IL
June 29 – The Wiltern Los Angeles, CA

For more information please visit www.takingbacksunday.com.

The organizers  behind music festival Lollapalooza continue revealing clues to the 2010 line-up.

So far, fill-in-the-blank line-up has clued in the following letters: O, R, I.

The headliners are for the most part agreed upon: Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, The Strokes and Phoenix.

However, forums still have a few blanks leaving them stumped.

Here are the guesses from the folks over at the official Lollapalooza forums. The bands in bold, while not confirmed, are the most likely guess:

1. soundgarden * green day * lady gaga * arcade fire * the strokes * phoenix
2. social distortion * mgmt or ween or cake or sade or… ? * jimmy cliff * hot chip * the black keys
3. the national * spoon * devo * cypress hill * cut copy * the new pornographers
4. slightly stoopid * grizzly bear * gogol bordello * chromeo * wolfmother
5. yeasayer * x japan * mutemath? * metric * dirty projectors * afi
6. mavis staples * matt & kim * the xx * drive-by truckers * blues traveler
7. edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros * the temper trap * jamie lidell
8. frightened rabbit * fuck buttons * deer tick * blitzen trapper * stars
9. raphael saadiq * the cribs * minus the bear * switchfoot * the walkmen?
10. mumford & sons * wild beasts * rogue wave * los amigos invisibles
11. the big pink * the dodos * hockey * cymbals eat guitars * sloan or B.o.b or aloha? * YACHT or dawes… ?
12. warpaint * the antlers * the soft pack * rebelution * balkan beat box? * K’Naan or…? (6spaces)
13. american bang * the ike reilly assassination * company of thieves * YACHT or dawes or wheat…?
14. harlem * the constellations * miniature tigers * mimicking birds
15. the kissaway trail * K’Naan or…? (6spaces) * delphic * the morning benders * foxy shazam
16. violent soho * royal bangs * neon trees * freelance whales
17. semi precious weapons * the heavy or hey champ? * the band of heathens * dragonette
18. my dear disco * buddy miller or…? * the heavy or hey champ? * jukebox the ghost
19. these united states * mynameisjohnmichael *  “and many more!” or…?

perry’s
1. 2manydjs * empire of the sun * digitalism * perry farrell * tiga
2. felix da housecat * rusko * erol alkan * kaskade or malente… ? * flosstradamus
3. wolfgang gartner * joachim garraud * mexican institute of sound
4. caspa or MANDY or benga? * peanut butter wolf * dirty south * darko or nervo?  * cut copy (dj set)
5. beats antique * steve porter * didi gutman of brazilian girls
6. _ _ _ / _ I _ * team bayside high * dani deahl * dj mel?
7. _ _ _ *  _ O _ _ _ _ _ _ _ * only children * _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ R _ _ _ R O _ _

Time to call up your old hang-man partner or your Wheel of Fortune loving friend. Lollapalooza is set to officially reveal the 2010 line-up on April 6, but in the meantime, the festival organizers are teasing fans with a fill-in-the-blank line-up board viewable here.

The only letter given so far: ‘O’.

So how far can that single letter get you? Pretty far actually. From counting blanks and using the clued in O’s, it looks like rumors of  Soundgarden, Green Day and Lady Gaga are correct for the headliners. That fourth blank? Arcade Fire fits perfectly.

Previously confirmed The Strokes fill in the fifth blank.

Advanced pre-sale VIP tickets went on sale Tuesday for the festival.

What other guesses do you have? Comment and let us know.

Taking Back Sunday is undergoing yet another line-up change, but this time, it looks like that change is taking them back to earlier roots.

Both bassist Matt Rubano and guitarist Matt Fazzi posted farewell notes on the Taking Back Sunday Web site stating that they were no longer members in the band.

Also uploaded to the Taking Back Sunday site was a photo that would make it appear that former guitarist John Nolan and former bassist Shaun Cooper (both of the Tell All Your Friends era and band mates from Straylight Run) have returned.

To add to the speculation, Nolan recently tumbl’d, “Look Out,” while Cooper tweeted, “I have a feeling things are about to get extremely weird.”

Weird is one way to describe this…