The sun shone bright Saturday at this year's Virgin FreeFest at Merriweather Post Pavilion, and while the grounds were a bit muddier than last year, at least the Dance Forest wasn't as dusty. It was the first nice afternoon in weeks—as well as the day before the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and the start of [...]
If you'd been looking forward to seeing Patti Smith, Deadmau5, or any of the other acts playing this year's Virgin Mobile FreeFest, there's a chance you suffered some disappointment this morning. A pre-sale giveaway—offering up free tickets to Virgin Mobile users and attendees of previous festivals—sold out in about 10 minutes. Apparently some people had [...]
If food is the new rock, and eco-friendly food is the new punk rock, then this announcement makes perfect sense: The Strokes will headline this year's Sweetlife Festival on April 30. Because, really, the Strokes are closer to "rock" than "punk rock," and sweetgreen—the chain of eateries founded by three Georgetown grads—is closer to this [...]
Oh, hey, a lot of R&B and hip-hop artistes did their Summer Spirit Festival on Saturday at Merriweather Post Pavilion. If you added Cypress Hill and some shitty reggae-rockers, you could've called it Smokin' Grooves 2010! But what do I know? I wasn't there. People from WKYS-FM were indeed there, however. (They had enough corporate [...]
In the mid-2000s, mainstream music got injected with an unexpected shot of indie rock, and Arcade Fire was one of the lucky bands to bask in that exposure. While the band hasn't ruled the airwaves with quite the same ubiquity that so-called grunge bands achieved in the early '90s, Arcade Fire has topped the billboard [...]
Arnold Schwarzenegger, watch out: There's a new entertainer with political aspirations. Wyclef Jean is running for president of Haiti. Despite having recently claimed to have no political intentions, the recording artist–who first found fame with the Fugees–is planning to parlay his recent earthquake-relief charity work into a presidential run in his native country. Hmm, wonder [...]
If you've ever wished the beer lines at Merriweather were shorter, just go during Warped Tour or the Bamboozle Roadshow, when the only people old enough to buy alcohol in the whole amphitheater are parents, staff, and some of the musicians. While you're at it, you might learn a little something about pop-punk, power-pop, the [...]
On paper, an evening with Widespread Panic has all the makings of being one of the most excruciating of your life. There will be gray-haired men playing congas. Hammond organ lines that can make a 10-minute-long version of a Black Sabbath song feel like a 20-minute-long Deep Purple deep cut. And six-string bass solos. Lots [...]
“I’m having a lot more fun than I thought I would,” said Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followhill, sweat dripping down his newly trim hair into his stern blue eyes. “I thought you like, wouldn’t be here, or, wouldn’t know who were were, or...”
He said this to a crowd of at least 7,000 bellowing fans [...]
By now, this might be ancient history in Internet time; but after the jump, check out a quick preview of the 200+ photos in the full gallery. Plus, I've penned my thoughts on each of the festival acts in two sentences or less. Keep in mind that in my effort to cover every band, I [...]
