Friday Bears: Sasquatch! 2012 lineup revealed

Sasquatch!, held every year in the Pacific Northwest, isn't regarded as one of the bigger music festivals in the United States, but is usually regarded as one of the best.

Last year, festival organizers enlisted the talents of the Foo Fighters, Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, and lot more over the course of four (yes, four) days. While that may be fairly impressive for what isn't regarded as one of the year's bigger events, this year's does boast a fairly heavy - although not as top-heavy - lineup, which you can read in it's entirety here.

Notables in this year's lineup include, but are not limited to Jack White, whose solo album is set to debut a few weeks before the fest, and is the first confirmed show of the ex-White Stripe. Alongside White will be Bon Iver, who seem to be on pace to play every festival this year, the ever-elusive Beck, The Shins, Tenacious D, The Roots, and native heroes Shabazz Palaces, among many others, including comedy acts.

Tickets are on sale now for $315. The event will take place May 25-28

Lollapalooza Brazil lineup released

With yesterday's release of the Lollapalooza Chile lineup, promoters have also dished out the newest Lolla expansion - Lollapalooza Brazil - Sao Paulo, specifically.

For those familiar with the Santiago, Chile lineup, the Sao Paulo version isn't much of a shock. The majority of the well-known names (Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, MGMT, others) are on both billings with only a few minor alterations. Instead of Bjork, the festival's second headliner will be the Perry Farrell-led (there's some kind of theme here) Jane's Addiction, which performed in Santiago last spring.

You can see the whole lineup and grab tickets here.

Lollapalooza Chile 2012 lineup announced

It's been over three months since the 20th annual Lollapalooza commenced and the Perry Farrell brand continues its new tradition of expansion. Last April, the festival launched it's first non-Chicago venue since its mid-2000s hiatus in Santiago, Chile, and luckily enough is making its way back.

Lollapalooza Chile 2011 saw previous Lolla performers Kanye West, Jane's Addiction, and The Killers headline alongside acts like The National and Flaming Lips. And while those acts have performed at multiple Lolla's in recent past, of the 57 artists who performed there last year, only four were also found on the next Chicago billing (roughly .07 percent turnover rate). So those looking for early clues to the August 3-5 lineup may not find much.

Regardless, the 2012 lineup was released just a few moments ago, and the model is similar to last year. Several artists from the last Chicago event are on the billing, including; headlining act Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Cage The Elephant, Skrillex and more. Alongside Dave Grohl and Co., Bjork will be Santiago's other headliner, marking the very first Lolla-anything that Bjork will be performing. If that's worth any clue, you can expect her to make the billing on at least one other major concert festival next summer.

You can read the entire lineup and look for tickets here.

New Wavves - I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl

Is there something against Wavves? I get the sense that the group is perceived much more as an indie group that people think they like but actually don't. Whatever the case may actually be, I like Wavves. But, then again, I like a lot of lo-fi messy music, so it's not totally fair.

Anyway, the group is prepping the release of their Life Sux EP, out September 20 via Ghost Ramp with "I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl," totally about Dave Grohl. The new EP will also feature Bethany Cosentino (surprise) of Best Coast and Damian Abraham of Fucked Up. Check out the first single below.

Friday Bears: Lollapalooza 2011: Day Three Review

I rarely meet Sunday, the final day of Lollapalooza, with aggressive eagerness. The varied anticipation is usually mulled by paramount exhaustion and the daunting fact that, well, it's all but over. In previous years, the final night had been met by the weekend's most anticipated acts, like Arcade Fire last year, and Kanye West in 2008. This year, organizers found it befitting that Deadmau5, the first headlining electronic act since Daft Punk in 2007, would close out the north side, while modern rock staples Foo Fighters set the night on the south. What they didn't have in mind, unfortunately, was the timely monsoon that would set in on the skyline.

Day Three:

Waking up early, nothing but grey rain was visible through my hotel window. For a festival sweltering with enough people, it's bad enough, but at Grant Park, which has a tendency to get muddy with even the slightest bit of water, it's a potential disaster. Keep in mind, a little (or a lot) of mud and rain won't hurt anybody, but it will absolutely destroy your phone, wallet, and whatever else you have in your pocket at the time, as it did my Ipod (temporarily).

Luckily, after a quick shower, light had shone through and the sky was completely blue again - a perfect start to the day, which began thankfully with Titus Andronicus.

Titus Andronicus

The New Jersey (hey) art punks shone on the brightest part of Sunday afternoon, which may not be terribly befitting to the band's post-civil war era - if there ever was such a thing - punk. The group raced through tracks from their first two albums, starting with fan favorite "A More Perfect Union." It was an unfortunately abrupt set, but that's what you get for a 12:45 main stage billing. Still, the show was insatiable, even though the sounds do more justice in an enclosed area for longer.

The next few hours were a spaced mix of Perry's casual curiosity and dragged exhaustion after days of dancing, screaming, and pushing with little to no sleep to speak of. Daedelus did a fine early afternoon show, but those common household assholes made their way around to Cool Kids, making yet another insufferable Perry's experience. It's a shame for an act that seemed to so effortlessly control the crowd and feed off their energy, but I couldn't get out fast enough.

Daedelus

Gathering time to collect myself, the first shroud of death clouds crept over the Chicago skyline, raining through nearly the entirety of Best Coast's late-afternoon set. While my friends chose to spend their hours in the mud on the park's south side, I was spent for shelter. It wasn't until 7 p.m., when Manchester Orchestra took the same stage that rain had eventually died out and I gave it another go around.

Manchester Orchestra

Now, I can't go on the record proclaiming I'm actually a fan of Manchester Orchestra - I've never given them a shot, nor have seen them the numerous times they've appeared at Lollapalooza. In fact, since 2006, no single artist (aside from Perry Farrell himself, which shouldn't count) has appeared at the festival more than Manchester Orchestra, a total of four times. Regardless, the group puts on a fine, if not-to-describable show.

Leaving early was key for grabbing a spot for Deadmau5, considering the shit-storm of mud and garbage that had glossed over the park at that point. And like predictable clock-work, the rain cloud of all rain clouds set in. Now, as I said before, a little rain and mud can't hurt anybody (unless you drown, but, come on), but it will destroy your electronic equipment if you can't protect it. Call it whatever you want, but I wasn't risking all of my possessions being destroyed, Deadmau5 or not. So, I booked it out of there in time to save my stuff (except my clothes, which belong to the trash gods now).

Some people can deal with it, I clearly can't. It's absolutely unfortunate what happened, but at the very least I have solace knowing I took every moment in that weekend before that. I would say that the rain ruined that end, but everything leading up to that point was still a success, so I can't gripe too much.

So, that's the end. Four years in, I feel absolutely normal riding the blue line train into center city in the morning, as if my commute to work. I've fallen in love with the city and the festival over the years, and 2011 was no exception. And with luck, 2012 will be the same. Speaking of, if you haven't heard, the dates for next year are already scheduled: August 3 - 5. If all goes as planned, I'll be doing this all over again.

Best Performances: Titus Andronicus
Worst Performances: Weather

Highlight: "A More Perfect Union," by Titus Andronicus
Lowlight: What do you think?

Hey, no more Lollapalooza posts for a while? Deal.

Tuesday Bears: Lollapalooza 2011 Headliners Revealed (a bit early)

The official lineup won't be fully released until 1:00 a.m. EST, but Rolling Stone has at least revealed the six main headliners of Lollapalooza 2011.

They are:

Coldplay
Eminem
Foo Fighters
Muse
My Morning Jacket
Deadmau5

We were well aware of Eminem, Muse, and Foo Fighters for months, and we heard of Deadmau5 earlier today, but Coldplay (which aren't playing any other major fest this year) and My Morning Jackets were nice late surprises.

Stay tuned for the whole lineup ...

Update: First Lollapalooza 2011 Confirmations!

Importante!

The first official news of Lollapalooza 2011 was released several hours ago. As it is every year, the three primary headlining acts are announced several weeks before the entire official lineup is released. In 2009, Jane's Addiction, Depeche Mode and Beastie Boys (who were forced to cancel) were the first headliners to be announced. Last year, Lady Gaga, Soundgarden, and Green Day were given the top billing of the annual festival. So it's safe to assume that the first three headliners will be the more popular acts of the festival so as to draw an obvious crowd.

Noting that, 2011's three primary headliners will be ...

Eminem
Muse
and Foo Fighters

Surprised? There were probable hints that Muse and Foo Fighters would be two of the six headliners, but Eminem seemed to come out of left field - much like Lady Gaga last year. There has been variable voiced disappointment over the selection, but it seems unmerited. For the past two years, many of the headliners were so-so at best, but were rounded out by terrific middle-tier acts and opposing headliners. So, maybe a knee-jerk reaction by some was a bit forced. And, for the record, I'll take those acts over Depeche Mode, Tool, Kings of Leon, Green Day, Jane's Addiction and a washed up Soundgarden on most days.

Other acts also confirmed were: Best Coast, Girl Talk, Lykke Li, and Crystal Castles.

I'll keep you up to date with more Lollapalooza rumors throughout the next few months leading up to the Chicago festival.

Adam Yauch Diagnosed with Cancerous Tumor

The sad news has already circled around the Twitter Universe, but for those who may not know Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch (MCA) announced this morning that he had been diagnosed with a small tumor on his parotid gland in his neck.

Fortunately for Yauch the tumor was discovered early enough that the cancer had not spread and could be much more easily treated. However, the group was forced to cancel all of their remaining Summer tour dates and push back the release of their upcoming album Hot Sauce Committee Part 1.

The select cancelled dates include; Jersey City's All Points West, San Francisco's Outside Lands Festival, Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, and more.

Adam also released a video explaining the situation below ...



Of course the large issue here aside from the health and well-being of Yauch is what to do to replace the group who was headlining so many Summer festivals. As of now the possibilities are completely up in the air with minor word of mouth suggesting possibilities of Foo Fighters or Muse to replace the group at Lollapalooza, but as far as the other festivals are concerned there's very little certainty.

Stay tuned for more updates.