Maybe years of concert going in Los Angeles have made me a jaded cynic, but I have to admit some trepidation when I intially heard that Thom Yorke would be playing the ~700 person capacity Echoplex in the heart of LA’s hipster haven. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to several Radiohead shows across the country. I’ve met and spoken with Thom himself. I know firsthand how great of a stage performer this awkward looking Englishman can be. It’s just that… well, solo albums from celebrated frontmen usually end up being a disappointing affair. I wasn’t a huge fan of The Eraser, the album came off to me a bit flat and soulless. Plus, how in the world could this new band work out? Nigel I can understand, but Flea?? Is he going to come out on stage in nothing but a tube sock, and start slappin’ da bass I Love You Man style? I was worried the show would degenerate into an 80 minute masturbatory jam session with famous musicians.
Fortunately, Thom and the boys proved I was a complete douche for even entertaining those thoughts. Continue reading »
I just got an email from Goldstar Events telling me that I could have “comped” tickets to a KT Tunstall show at the Wiltern in LA, presumably because no one bought tickets to the show.
The sad thing is, the Wiltern is only about a mid-sized theater venue, seating roughly 2,500 people. It’s not as if she was trying to play a large arena way over her head.
It just goes to show that being a successful touring artist has nothing to do with your Grammy nominations, Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack appearances, or Billboard Hot 100 single entries.
A shame, though, I kinda liked “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.” But not enough to take free tickets to a local show. Gas is expensive these days, you know.
Doing it for more than just the lols, our friends over at stereogum have obtained the full lineup for Lollapalooza 2008 and it’s a doozy. The three day festival is happening at Chicago’s Grant Park from August 1st-3rd.
Here are the headlining highlights:
Radiohead
Rage Against the Machine
Nine Inch Nails
Kanye West
Wilco
The Raconteurs
Looks like the “three shows and done” resolution for Rage Against The Machine was more like a “three shows and whatever festival will pay us” resolution.
Regardless, this is a fantastic lineup and is what Coachella should have been. Personally, I’m pumped to see Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s among dozens of others. It’s truly an indie music fan’s wet dream.
Tickets are on sale now on lollapalooza.com – looks like they’ve got 3-day passes for $190. No extra fees or charges, it’s $190 flat for all three days. Love their no bullshit stance on ticket fee prices.
Full band list after the jump.
“Hi, we’re an unsigned band from Los Angeles,” introduces The Airborne Toxic Event singer/guitarist, Mikel Jollett, to the frisky and diverse sold-out crowd at the Troub.
Two songs into the set, you would have been hard-pressed to believe that this Los Feliz quintet wasn’t signed by a Major or Major Indie (your Merges and Sub-Pops of the world), much less completely unsigned. Joined on stage by Noah Harmon (bass), Steven Chen (guitar/keyboard), Anna Bulbrook (viola), and Daren Taylor (drums), the soft-spoken Jollett crooned with his Morrissey-esque baritone and we soaked it in. The band members weren’t just going through the motions like so many other typical indie-xerox bands. They were playing with stage presence, with exuberance, with gracefulness.
This was not your ordinary hype-band.
