V Festival Tours Australia; Richard Branson Not Worried about Losing Money

Thursday, April 3, 2008

The Australian V Festival has been losing money ever since its induction to the fest circuit last year, but apparently that is not going to stop UK billionaire businessman, and indie rock fan, Richard Branson, from pumping money into the venture anyways.

The second annual V Festival in Australia kicked off in Sydney's Centennial Park last weekend, falling 2,000 ticket sales short of the 35,000 goal, Branson told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"We've now gotten bigger this year - we're gonna lose an even bigger packet but everyone's going to have a great time.

"In a number of years I suspect we'll break even and maybe make a bit of money, but it's a really good thing for Virgin to do."

The V2 Festival on to the wet and muddy Gold Coast show, which delayed the festival opening and made for plenty of muddy fun time.

Next stops for the Australia V Festival include this weekend's shows in Melbourne (April 5) and Perth (April 6).

Headlining V Fest Australia bands include The Smashing Pumpkins, Air, Queens of the Stone Age, Duran, Duran, The Presets, Modest Mouse, CSS, Hot Hot Chip, Cut Copy, The Rakes, Jesus and the Mary Chain and nearly a dozen other artists and bands slated to perform at some point or another during the four-city stop festival.

Official V Festival Australia website

Labels: 2008 Festivals, Hot Hot Chip, Indie Rock Festivals, Modest Mouse, QOSA, Richard Branson, Smashing Pumpkins Festivals, V Fest, V Festival Australia

Sun Kil Moon's Mark Kozelek and Red House Painters Will Tour to Promote New Album

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

In support of his new album April due out next month, Mark Kozelek will be touring the U.S. and Canada over the next few months with and without Red House Painters and others who contributed to the album.

The following links in the concert listings connect to Ticketmaster (ugh...I know - 'where's my wallet?!'), but they are the official ticketing service. You can also look for tickets on eBay, Craigslist and StubHub.

Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters Tour

04/16/08 @ 8PM - Town Hall in Seattle, WA -Mark Kozelek
Find Tickets »

04/17/08 @ 8PM - Aladdin Theater in Portland, OR - Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon & Red House Painters - Find Tickets »

04/26/08 @ 8PM - Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA - Mark Kozelek - Find Tickets »

06/10/08 @ 8PM - Lee's Palace in Toronto, ON - Mark Kozelek

06/06/08 @ 8PM - Varsity Theater in Minneapolis, MN - Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon & Red House Painters - Find Tickets »

06/13/08 @ 9PM - HighLine Ballroom in New York City - Mark Kozelek - Find Tickets »

Check out an article about the new Sun Kil Moon album and listen to some tracks, including Blue Heron at IndieRockCafe.com

Labels: 2008 Concert Tours, Indie Concerts, Mark Kozelek, Popular Indie Rock Artists, Sun Kil Moon

Stereophonics Head to Australia for the Pull The Pin Tour

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Stereophonics take their 'Pull The Pin' tour to Australia for late April and early May, 2008.

Dates for Stereophonics 2008 Fall Concert Tour in Australia:

4/30/08 - Perth, Metropolis

5/2/08 - Melbourne, The Forum

5/5/08- Sydney, The Metro

5/6/08- Newcastle, Panthers

5/9/08 - Brisbane, The Arena

5/11/08 - Auckland, Powerstation

(Tickets go on sale from 12:00pm Friday 14th March 2008).

- MP3: Stereophonics - Maybe Tomorrow

From press release:

The Stereophonics have also been added to the bill at the Pinkpop Festival in the Netherlands on Saturday 31st May, Rock-am-Ring Festival in Nurbergring, Germany on Saturday 7th June, Rock-im-Park Festival in Nurnberg, Germany on Sunday 8th June, and the V2008 Festival in Chelmsford and Stafford on the 16th and 17th August!

The following is the Stereophonic's official video release for "Dakota". It is the band's most popular video on YouTube with nearly 800,000 views.

Labels: 2008 Concert Tours, Indie Rock, The Stereophonics, UK Indie Rock

Dot To Dot Festival 2008 Lineup Includes Spirtualized, Dan Deacon and The Little Ones

Friday, February 29, 2008

The 2008 Dot to Dot Festival in Nottingham, London and Bristol includes some three dozen indie rock artists and bands, many of which I must admit I have never heard of.

Some of the bands in the Dot lineup that are familiar include Spiritualized, The Little Ones, We Are Wolves, Dan Deacon (pictured above), 1990s, Caribou, but many others are not, which drives me crazy because I feel obligated to check them all out (guarantee there are great songs hidden in the virtually 'unknown' indie groups).

The following video is Holy Fuck performing during 2007's Dot Dot Festival at the Stealth in Nottingham.

- Dot Dot Festival homepage

- BBC's weekly indie singles chart and the BBC's awesome Radio One channel.

-----------------------------------
Get music news, MP3s, reviews, playlists, music videos and the best indie rock, pop and electronica from at Indie Rock Cafe and Indie Rock Songs or just get the full feed any way you want it for free at Feedburner.

Labels: 2008 Rock Festivals, Cities: Bristol (UK), Cities: Nottingham (UK), Dot Dot Festival (UK), Spiritualized, U.K. Music Festivals

Denver Rocks: Built to Spill and Meat Puppets at Gothic Theathre in Englewood Tonight

Thursday, February 28, 2008

For many years, Denver was not one of the major cities "on the map" for concerts by mainstream and indie rock bands.

But during the past decade, times have changed. Not only does the city host the annual Monolith Festival (see last year's line-up, videos and more), but there are more venues for indie artists - both homegrown and from everywhere else.

If you're a Denver-area indie, alternative and rock fan, here's a sampling of some selected shows in Denver through March 2008.

Tonight: Feb. 28, 2008 - Built to Spill (how did I miss them in SF!?!) and the Meat Puppets will be belting out a night of indie rock and roll at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood, Colorado.

March 1 - Astrophagus , Hi-Dive
March 7 - A Place to Bury Strangers, Larimer Lounge
March 9 - Portugal the Man Marquis Theater
March 11 - Xiu Xiu - Hi-Dive
March 31 - Sons and Daughters, Hi-Dive

See the complete schedule, including all artists booked for Denver in the coming months check out the Mile High city's Westword web site.

Here is Built to Spill's concert tour schedule for 2008

2/28/08 Gothic Theatre Englewood, CO

2/29/08 Diamond Ballroom Oklahoma City, OK

3/1/08 Ridglea Theatre Fort Worth, TX

3/2/08 Stubb's BBQ Austin, TX

3/3/08 Warehouse Live Houston, TX

3/4/08 Howlin' Wolf New Orleans, LA

3/5/08 The Venue Gainseville, FL

3/6/08 State Theatre St. Petersburg, FL

3/7/08 LangeradoMusic Festival Big Cypress Indian Reserv, FL

3/8/08 Free Bird Live Jacksonville, FL

3/10/08 Neighborhood Theatre Charlotte, NC

3/11/08 The Orange Peel Asheville, NC

3/12/08 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA

3/13/08 Bijou Theatre Knoxville, TN

3/14/08 Headliner's Music Hall Louisville, KY

3/15/08 The Pageant St. Louis, MO

3/16/08 The Blue note Columbia, MO

3/17/08 Madrid Theatre Kansas City, MO

3/19/08 Sunshine Theatre Albuquerque, NM

3/20/08 Orpheum Theatre Flagstaff, AZ

3/21/08 Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, CA

Note: Different formatting in concert schedules is because I simply copy and paste from their homepages or MySpace pages (you try typing all of that out - wink).

Meat Puppets 2008 tour concert listings:

Feb 28 2008
9:00P
Gothic Theatre
Englewood, Colorado

Feb 29 2008
8:00P
Diamond Ballroom
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Mar 1 2008
8:00P
Ridglea Theater
Ft. Worth, Texas

Mar 2 2008
7:00P
Stubb’s Outdoors
Austin, Texas

Mar 3 2008
8:00P
Warehouse Live Main Room
Houston, Texas

Mar 4 2008
9:00P
Howlin’ Wolf
New Orleans, Louisiana

Mar 5 2008
9:00P
The Venue
Gainsville, Florida

Mar 6 2008
8:00P
The State Theatre
St. Petersburg

Mar 8 2008
8:00P
Free Bird Live
Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Mar 10 2008
8:00P
Neighborhood Theatre
Charlotte, North Carolina

Mar 11 2008
8:00P
The Orange Peel
Asheville, North Carolina

Mar 12 2008
8:00P
Variety Playhouse
Atlanta, Georgia

Mar 13 2008
8:00P
Bijou Theatre
Knoxville

Mar 14 2008
8:00P
Headliners Music Hall
Louisville, Kentucky

Mar 15 2008
8:00P
The Pageant
St. Louis, Missouri

Mar 16 2008
8:00P
The Blue Note
Columbia, Missouri

Mar 17 2008
8:00P
Madrid Theatre
Kansas City, Missouri

Mar 19 2008
8:00P
Launchpad
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Mar 20 2008
8:00P
Orpheum Theatre
Flagstaff, Arizona

Mar 21 2008
9:00P
Belly Up Tavern
Solana Beach, California

Mar 22 2008
8:00P
The Glass House
Pomona, California

Download songs from 2007 at IRC:

Favorite Songs of 2007, Playlist I

Labels: Alternative Rock, Built to Spill, Denver Concert Dates, Denver Indie Rock, Denver Venues, Indie Rock Concerts, Meat Puppets, Monolith Festival, Venue: Gothic Theatre (CO)

Editors Premeir New Single at Warfield in San Francisco

Friday, February 22, 2008

The sting of kicking yourself in the ass is different than if someone else does it for you. It hurts more and last longer, especially after missing a concert from one of your favorite UK bands. premiered

So in one sense, thank goodness for YouTube; at least anyone can see parts of a concert they missed - which would have never been possible five years ago.

On Feb. 8th the UK 'goth rockers' Editors played at the Warfield in San Francisco to a sold out crowd. Not only do I love going to the Warfield, but the band was debuting new material that they hadn't played at their last San Francisco gig last September.

Here's a clip from the show of the Editors playing their yet-to-be-released single "Push Your Head Towards The Air" :

View the official music video set to be released as the band's next single in the U.K. on March 3. It's an interesting new approach to most of their previous work, relying heavily on the piano keys and voice of , stripped away from the hard-driving, escalating chord progressions and Interpol-like gothic percussions.

The band opened the show with "Camera," surprising some fans who didn't think they would play it all. Here's the band playing one of the last songs of the night, "Lights":

- Editors' official site

___________________________________________________________________________________

Get this feed for more concert and fest news, MP3s, YouTube videos, photo galleries and more of indie artists in action.

Labels: Concert Videos, Editors, Indie Rock Concerts, Music Videos: Editors, The Back Room, The Editors Concerts, UK Singles