broken mic

Tune into Brokenmic.com tomorrow, where I will be posting live updates of the official Bonnaroo 2010 artist lineup. The lineup will be dropped throughout the day tomorrow, beginning in the morning, in which bands will be using social networks like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to break the news that they’re playing the festival. Bonnaroo.com will also be announcing a few acts at a time on their site throughout the day. The full lineup is expected to be out by 10 pm eastern time.

Tonight marks a time when two of my favorite things “join together” – football and rock and roll. Ah yes, the Super Bowl. Once again Coach Marvin Lewis and our very own Cincinnati Bengals have yet to find a way to make it to the big game, ending yet another season in disappointment. It was certainly better than the year before, however the team pulled through strong and overcame obstacles with the passing of wide receiver Chris Henry and Defensive coach Mike Zimmer’s wife, Vikki. But we’ve got to forget about the Bengals on a day like today. As the Who-Dey nation says every year, “there’s always next year.”

So once again we’ve got the Indianapolis Colts and one of the best quarterbacks of all-time in Peyton Manning battling the New Orleans Saints, who have that heartwarming story, with the devastation left on the lives of Hurricane Katrina years ago. I’m hoping the Saints can pull it out today, not just because we’ve heard enough of Manning over the last decade, but I think it’d be great for the city of New Orleans. But my interest tonight really has nothing to do with the game.

I’m looking forward to the halftime show, which will be put on by one of rock’s greatest bands of all-time, The Who. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend may be the only remaining members of the great classic rock band, but I’m just glad they’re still friends, still playing and continuing on the legacy of The Who. They’ll perform a twelve-minute show this evening, performing a medley of hits that will include “Baba O’ Riley”, “Pinball Wizard”, “Who Are You”, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and the closing of the album, Tommy. It also marks the first American football game that Daltrey will see in person. Not a bad game for your first time.

Questions often arise, especially for a band like this who hasn’t really done a lot of touring over the past several years. That question is, “does this mark a return and tour for The Who?” Unfortunately it appears that The Who will not be touring this year (bye bye the chance of Bonnaroo); they’ve only got one other gig lined up this year, and that is next month at the Royal Albert Hall, where they will perform the album Quadrophenia in its entirety. Later in the year, Daltrey is teaming up with Eric Clapton for a tour in the United States.

The Who join a cast of Super Bowl performers that in the past have included Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Prince. As for the game, Daltrey’s pulling for the Saints, while Townshend’s going with the Colts. While my heart is with Daltrey and his prediction, my head is saying “go with Pete.”

Howdy Bonnaroovians! Thought I’d keep you posted and up to date with all the latest from the Bonnaroo camp. The moment we’ve all been waiting for is just a few days away; the lineup will be revealed this Tuesday, February 9th. But it’ll be a little different than in years past. They’re trying something new over at Bonnaroo.com, and will be releasing band names little by little throughout the day. They also came up with a great idea to use social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, in which bands will be breaking the news themselves. It’s sure to be a long day of sitting, waiting and wishing, with fans building up communication all over these social networks. Although I’d prefer to see the whole lineup at once, I think it was a smart move by the people over at AC Entertainment and Superfly Productions. Just another way that Bonnaroo stands above the rest of those festies out there.

Let’s take a look at all the current rumors and expectations for this year’s festival:

Bands Expected

Meaning they’ve been all but confirmed by Bonnaroo. Confirmation of these bands come from a number of sources, for example, media outlets have confirmed the appearance or the bands themselves have let it slip out. Bands expected to perform this year include: Alberta Cross, The Avett Brothers, Blues Traveler, Caravan Palace, Dan Deacon, Dave Matthews Band, The Flaming Lips (two latenight sets, one performing Pink Floyd’s Darkside of the Moon), The Gaslight Anthem, GWAR, Here We Go Magic, Jay-Z, Lord T & Eloise, Mayer Hawthorne, Miike Snow, comedian/actor/musician Steve Martin performing with the Steep Canyon Rangers, the Ryan Montbleau Band, Thievery Corporation, Tinariwen, Wale, recent Grammy Award winners Kings of Leon and the Zac Brown Band, and legends Stevie Wonder, Neil Young and Paul Simon.

Bands Rumored

Meaning, while there is no confirmation, it is possible you could see these bands at the farm this summer, so don’t be surprised if any of these bands show up. Personally, I’d look at though these bands have a 50/50 chance of playing this summer. Those bands include: 311, Broken Social Scene, Deadmau5, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Ingrid Michaelson, Local Natives, Mew, The National, Needtobreathe, Noah and the Whale, Tokyo Police Club, Yonder Mountain String Band, recently reunited acts Pavement and The Jayhawks, legendary country singer/songwriters John Prine and Robert Earl Keen, the new Grateful Dead side project called Furthur featuring Dead founders Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, Bonnaroo staple acts My Morning Jacket and Galactic, and the one and only Roger Waters of Pink Floyd (performing The Wall in its entirety).

Tuesday, February 2nd. Today was the day that many a Bonnaroo fan had previously marked on their calenders. For the past several weeks, it was speculated (after an interview between Alex Young of Consequence of Sound and Bonnaroo co-founder Ashley Capps of AC Entertainment) that the 2010 lineup would be revealed this day. Turns out that wasn’t the case. Many watched the Bonnaroo website like hawks as the clocked turned to midnight earlier this morning, but indeed no lineup was unveiled. But what did happen just around lunch time today, was that the artwork and design of the Bonnaroo website was updated for their 2010 look. On another note, we now have information that both the lineup will be revealed and tickets will go onsale in one week, Tuesday, February 9th.

Bonnaroo news for the day seemed to be shot until just a couple hours ago, when Spinner.com revealed the news that the Flaming Lips would be performing at the festival this year. But it’s not just any show. The F-Lips will return to the festival for a latenight set beginning at midnight, on Friday, June 11, where they will kick off with their own material, and beginning around 2:30 am will cover Pink Floyd’s Darkside of the Moon album in its entirety. Read the full article here.

I was pretty let down not seeing the lineup when I woke up this morning, left feeling like a kid with no presents on Christmas Day, but I guess you could say that it now feels like Christmas Eve, when you get to open that one present. At least that’s the tradition in my family. And what a present this is! Another Flaming Lips latenight set at Bonnaroo, especially one covering my favorite band of all-time. Bonnaroo’s already starting to look better than last year. It’s going to be another long week, and then we’ll finally know if the rumors are true, and if we’ll be able to hear some other Pink Floyd tunes at the farm this summer, meaning the strongly rumored appearance of Pink Floyd founder and songwriter, Roger Waters, performing The Wall in its entirety.

Wednesday, February 3
Cowboy Mouth’s Annual Rock and Roll Mardi Gras featuring Junior Brown
Southgate House (Ballroom)

Nick Oliveri (formerly of Queens of the Stone Age)
Southgate House (Parlour)

Thursday, February 4
Frontier Ruckus and Frontier Folk Nebraska
Southgate House (Ballroom)

Friday, February 5
Psychofest Hoedown from Hell II featuring Rumble Club, Death by Rodeo and Lost State of Franklin
Southgate House (Ballroom)

Days of the New, Calloused, Angry Throttle, Hydrashock and Stoning Mary
The Mad Hatter

Save Our Strays Benefit featuring Buckra, Nathan Holscher & the Ohio Five and Daughters & Sons
Northside Tavern

Saturday, February 6
RJD2, Kenan Bell and Happy Chichester
Southgate House (Ballroom)

Monday, February 8
Royal Bangs and Life Like
Northside Tavern

Friday, February 12
Lucero, Glossary and Dave Hause of the Loved Ones
Southgate House (Ballroom)

Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights and Grooveshire
Southgate House (Parlour)

Marcy Playground, The Flight Station, The Western, faceblind and Our Rising
The Mad Hatter

State Song and Slow Claw
Northside Tavern

Saturday, February 13
The Covington Insurance Plan benefiting Kevin Winterberg featuring Angels of Meth, Mala in Se, The Strongest Proof, Black Signal, Oso Bear, Mad Anthony, Future Strikes, De Los Muertos, Flags, The Brothers & the Sisters, Pete Stein of Truckstop Coffee and Chris Porter
Southgate House (Whole House)

Robert Earl Keen
Madison Theater

Fairmount Girls and The Harlequins
Northside Tavern

Monday, February 15
Fucked Up, Kurt Vile, Iron Age and Till Plains
Southgate House (Ballroom)

Tuesday, February 16
Ha Ha Tonka, The Shy Spots and Bootleg Rider
Southgate House (Parlour)

Dark Star Orchestra
Madison Theater

Thursday, February 18
Bear Hands and Come On Caboose
Southgate House (Parlour)

Friday, February 19
Dear Companion Tour featuring Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore
Northside Tavern

Saturday, February 20
Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, The Five Dollar Pistols featuring Josh Dorsey and Forest Horn and the Whiskey Bent Valley Boys
Southgate House (Ballroom)

Arms Exploding’s Last Show with Anxiety High and Knife the Symphony
Southgate House (Parlour)

Snoop Dogg
Madison Theater

Wednesday, February 24
Peter Adams & the Nocturnal Collective, Apolcalypse Now and the Prohibitionists
Southgate House (Parlour)

Badfish, a tribute to Sublime
Bogart’s

Thursday, February 25
Saosin, Maylene & the Sons of Disaster and Anastello
The Mad Hatter

Friday, February 26
500 Miles to Memphis CD Release Show with the Kentucky Struts, duppy a jamba, Shotgun Lover, Underground Saints, De Los Muertos, Six Nights Alone, The Mudpies and Paul K
Southgate House (Whole House)

Small Time Crooks CD Release Party with I Am the Messenger, All Out Best and Let It Happen
The Mad Hatter

Saturday, February 27
Pop Empire CD Release with the Seedy Seeds and the Lions Rampant
Southgate House (Parlour)

Ani DiFranco
Madison Theater

I was fortunate enough on Friday to get two servings of Warren Haynes, guitarist of both Gov’t Mule and the Allman Brothers Band. Warren stopped by the studios of WNKU on the campus of Northern Kentucky University, where a few fans were treated to a couple acoustic songs and watched on as DJ Forrest Griffen gave a brief interview. This appearance was played live on the air from 4:30 to 5 pm. Warren was running behind schedule, but that’s quite alright when you end up getting to meet one of your musical heroes.

He kicked things off with the Allman Brothers “Old Friend” and ended with ”Railroad Boy”, a brand new song off their latest record By A Thread. With the combination of acoustic slide blues and the passion found in his voice, he sent chills down my spine. The interview part of the session covered his days playing in David Allan Coe’s band and Mule’s annual Christmas Jam, a concert benefit for Habitat for Humanity that has been going on for over twenty years. People from all around the world attend the concert, which over the years has featured sets from both Gov’t Mule and the Allman Brothers Band, as well as Dave Matthews, Ben Harper, and the members of both Phish and Widespread Panic, just to name a few. Warren summed it up nicely when he mentioned that there’s something special about the musicians coming together at Christmas Jam, not getting paid and being able to give back to charity, and also that he feels there are no great venues, only great audiences.

Just a few hours later, thousands would brave the chilly winds for the Mule’s show downtown at the Taft Theatre. Once again, it appeared they were running behind schedule but that was quite alright for the two set show that was soon to come. The lights went off and they kicked things off with a Mule classic, “Blind Man in the Dark.” The first set continued on, covering songs spanning the Mule catalogue, as well as the Allman’s “Rocking Horse.” But just as expected, they finished set one strong with an appearance from Cincinnati’s own Peter Frampton, on the popular blues tune, “Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home”, which was written by Timothy Lee Matthews and turned into a hit by Ann Peebles, and The Beatles “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

After a short break Mule came back onstage for set two, which featured a couple of my favorite Mule songs: “Patchwork Quilt”, a song about the death of Jerry Garcia and the strong, close-knit community of the Deadheads, and “Time to Confess”, a staple song which I believe was the first Mule song I ever heard. But once again the highlight of the evening would be the appearance of Frampton, this time covering Ray Charles “I Don’t Need No Doctor.” Things managed to get even better from there, when they took their jams for a ride, breaking into The Beatles “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?” which faded into Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” The regular set ended with perhaps the most popular song written by Warren Haynes, “Soulshine”, and the one song encore of “Forevermore.”

I’ve seen a lot of Mule shows, especially here in Cincinnati, and this was by far the best performance I’ve seen of them in town. They typically come to town every year, going back and forth from the Taft Theatre and Madison Theater, but I hope that they stick with the Taft from here on out. And it’d be nice to see local boy Frampton join them every year.

New Orleans isn’t all about football these days. In fact, I hear they’ve got quite a music scene down there in the Big Easy. And once the Super Bowl and the 2010 NFL Draft are over, you’ll have plenty of time to focus on the New Orleans Jazz Fest, taking place April 23-25, April 29-30 and May 1-2. They just released their daily lineup. Here are some of the big names performing each day.

Friday, April 23
Lionel Richie
The Black Crowes
Dr. John
Steel Pulse
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic

Saturday, April 24
Simon & Garfunkel
My Morning Jacket
Drake
Better Than Ezra
Sam Bush
The Funky Meters
Cowboy Mouth

Sunday, April 25
The Allman Brothers Band
Anita Baker
Darius Rucker
Jonny Lang
The Levon Helm Band
The Blind Boys of Alabama
Shawn Colvin

Thursday, April 29
Widespread Panic
Elvis Costello & the Sugarcanes
Gov’t Mule
Steve Martin with the Steep Canyon Rangers
Blues Traveler
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk
Martin Sexton

Friday, April 30
Aretha Franklin
Allen Toussaint
Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band

Saturday, May 1
Pearl Jam
Jeff Beck
Band of Horses
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Galactic
Sonny Landreth
Rebirth Brass Band
Old Crow Medicine Show

Sunday, May 2
The Neville Brothers
Van Morrison
BB King
Irma Thomas
The Dead Weather
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly
Richie Havens

Those are just a few of the names playing. To check out the full lineup or to get ticket or travel information head here.

It just wouldn’t be summer without the Dave Matthews Band, and today they announced plans for their 2010 World Tour. The number one touring act over the past decade, who has sold 11.6 million tickets and taken in $529.1 million since 1999, announced over seventy shows spanning a seven month period. Once again they’ll return to our neck of the woods, at the Riverbend Music Center, where they have remained one of the hottest tickets over the past ten plus years.

Once again, the band will be joined by special guests Tim Reynolds (electric guitar), Rashawn Ross (trumpet) and Jeff Coffin (sax, flute, pennywhistle) of Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. And as always, the DMB has assembled quite a cast of opening bands, ranging from R&B/Soul acts like Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, and Raphael Saadiq (formerly of Tony! Toni! Tone!), country acts like Robert Earl Keen and the Zac Brown Band, pop singer/songwriters Martin Sexton, Brett Dennen and Amos Lee, roots rockers the Felice Brothers, bluegrass act Yonder Mountain String Band and hard blues rock from Dave’s pal, Ben Harper, and his newer band, Relentless7.

If the one show in Cincinnati doesn’t give you your Dave fix, you’ll have a few other chances to catch the band without driving too terribly far. They’ll be playing just a couple hours away in cities like Noblesville, Indiana and Columbus, Ohio, as well as closing the brand new HullabaLOU Music Festival at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. They will also be returning for the first time in five years, to the Bonnaroo Music Festival, where they’ll close out the festival on Sunday, June 13. Tickets for shows (not festivals) in the U.S. go onsale to the public Friday, February 26.

02/13/10 Sat Arenan Stockholm, Sweden
02/14/10 Falkoner Theatre Copenhagen, Denmark
02/16/10 Tue Congress Centrum Hamburg, Germany
02/17/10 Wed Tempodrom Berlin, Germany
02/19/10 Fri Gasometer Vienna, Austria
02/20/10 Sat Zenith Munich, Germany
02/22/10 Mon PalaSharp Milan, Italy
02/23/10 Tue Palalottomatica Rome, Italy
02/25/10 Thu Palasport San Lazzaro Padova, Italy
02/28/10 Sun Palladium Cologne, Germany
03/01/10 Mon Lotto Arena Antwerp, Belgium
03/03/10 Wed Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam, Netherlands
03/04/10 Thu Jahrhunderthalle Frankfurt, Germany
03/06/10 Sat O2 Arena London, Great Britain
03/07/10 Sun Manchester Apollo Manchester, Great Britain
03/09/10 Tue The O2 Dublin, Ireland
03/11/10 Thu SECC Glasgow, Great Britain
03/12/10 Fri Birmingham Academy Birmingham, Great Britain
03/14/10 Sun Falconer Salen Copenhagen, Denmark
03/15/10 Mon Arenan Stockholm, Sweden

U.S. & Canada Dates
05/28/10 Fri Comcast Theatre Hartford, CT with Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
05/29/10 Sat Comcast Theatre Hartford, CT with Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
06/01/10 Tue Molson Amphitheatre Toronto, ON with the Felice Brothers
06/02/10 Wed Darien Lake Performing Arts Center Darien, NY with the Felice Brothers
06/04/10 Fri Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saratoga Springs, NY with the Felice Brothers
06/05/10 Sat Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saratoga Springs, NYwith the Felice Brothers
06/07/10 Mon Comcast Center (Great Woods) Mansfield, MA with Yonder Mountain String Band
06/08/10 Tue Comcast Center (Great Woods) Mansfield, MA with Yonder Mountain String Band
06/13/10 Sun Bonnaroo Music Festival Great Stage Park Manchester, TN
06/15/10 Tue Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati, OH with Robert Earl Keen
06/16/10 Wed Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Maryland Heights, MO with Robert Earl Keen
06/18/10 Fri Verizon Wireless Music Center Noblesville, IN with Robert Earl Keen
06/19/10 Sat Verizon Wireless Music Center Noblesville, IN with Robert Earl Keen
06/22/10 Tue Huntington Park Columbus, OH with Robert Earl Keen
06/23/10 Wed DTE Energy Music Center Clarkston, MI with Martin Sexton
06/25/10 Fri Blossom Music Center Cuyahoga Falls, OH with Martin Sexton
06/30/10 Wed Susquehanna Bank Center Camden, NJ with Martin Sexton
07/01/10 Thu Susquehanna Bank Center Camden, NJ with Martin Sexton
07/03/10 Sat Alpine Valley Music Theatre East Troy, WI with the Zac Brown Band
07/04/10 Sun Alpine Valley Music Theatre East Troy, WI with the Zac Brown Band
07/09/10 Fri Hersheypark Stadium & Star Pavilion Hershey, PA with the Zac Brown Band
07/10/10 Sat PNC Park Pittsburgh, PA with the Zac Brown Band
07/13/10 Tue Bethel Woods Center For The Arts Bethel, NY with Amos Lee
07/14/10 Wed Toyota Pavilion At Montage Mountain Scranton, PA with Amos Lee
07/16/10 Fri Citi Field Flushing, NY with the Zac Brown Band
07/17/10 Sat Citi Field Flushing, NY with the Zac Brown Band
07/20/10 Tue Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Virginia Beach, VA with Amos Lee
07/21/10 Wed Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Charlotte, NC with Amos Lee
07/23/10 Fri Nationals Park Washington, DC with the Zac Brown Band
07/25/10 Sun HullabaLOU Music Festival Churchill Downs Louisville, KY
07/27/10 Tue Aaron’s Amphitheater at Lakewood Atlanta, GA with Gov’t Mule
07/28/10 Wed Ford Amphitheater at State Fairgrounds Tampa, FL with Gov’t Mule
07/30/10 Fri Cruzan Amphitheater West Palm Beach, FL with Gov’t Mule
07/31/10 Sat Cruzan Amphitheater West Palm Beach, FL with Gov’t Mule
08/14/10 Sat In Trust Bank Arena Wichita, KS with Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
08/17/10 Tue Usana Amphitheater Salt Lake City, UT with Brett Dennen
08/20/10 Fri Cricket Wireless Amphitheater Chula Vista, CA with Brett Dennen
08/21/10 Sat Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Irvine, CA with Brett Dennen
08/23/10 Mon Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA with Raphael Saadiq
08/25/10 Wed Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord Concord, CA with Raphael Saadiq
08/27/10 Fri Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord Concord, CA with Raphael Saadiq
08/28/10 Sat Shoreline Amphitheater Mountain View, CA with Raphael Saadiq
08/31/10 Tue Taco Bell Arena Boise, ID
09/03/10 Fri Gorge Amphitheater Quincy, WA with Ben Harper & Relentless7
09/04/10 Sat Gorge Amphitheater Quincy, WA with Ben Harper & Relentless7
09/05/10 Sun Gorge Amphitheater Quincy, WA with Ben Harper & Relentless7
09/10/10 Fri Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Woodlands, TX with Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
09/11/10 Sat Superpages.com Center Dallas, TX with Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
09/14/10 Tue Qwest Center Omaha, NE with Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
09/15/10 Wed Xcel Energy Center Saint Paul, MN with Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears

Southern blues rock/jam band, Gov’t Mule, is making their way up north this week, returning to Cincinnati’s Taft Theatre. The band that formed sixteen years ago as an Allman Brothers side project, returns with new material from their first studio album in three years, By A Thread. There’s enough history in this band, that they could write and release an encyclopedia devoted to just themselves. They’ve got quite a catalogue of releases, but if you’ve ever seen them perform, then you know this a band that shines onstage. Led by guitar virtuoso, Warren Haynes, you can go in expecting a lot of guitar solos, pounding drum beats from Matt Abts, fat bass lines from newer member Jorgen Carlsson and Danny Louis playing some silky smooth notes on the keys. You can also expect to hear a great setlist, which change every show, full of Mule classics like “Soulshine”, “Beautifully Broken” and “Time to Confess”, and covers straight out of the 60’s and 70’s, from bands like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Zeppelin, the Dead, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young, to name just a few. Gov’t Mule is fresh off their Island Exodus tour, which took place earlier this month in Negril, Jamaica. The four-night run featured appearances from Grace Potter, Ron Holloway, Willie Green, Scott Tournet and DJ Logic, and covers of the Allmans, Johnny Cash, the Stones, Neil, Leonard Cohen, the Dead, Steve Miller, The Band and Al Green.

The Road to Bonnaroo has just been announced. It’s a competition held every year at Nashville’s Mercy Lounge, where area bands compete for a few spots in the Troo Music Lounge at the festival. Think of it like American Idol, only with real musicians with real talent. The bands perform on four seperate nights at the club, in front of panel of judges that include media types, competition hosts and no one nearly as bad as Simon or Paula. This year’s competitions will take place on February 22, March 22, April 19 and May 17. One winner from each night will be awarded a slot at the biggest and best music festival in the country. Here are the bands trying to get on the Road to Bonnaroo.

AutoVaughn
Alternative rock band who has worked with producer Brian Virtue (Jane’s Addiction, Audioslave, Deftones). Performed at Rachael Ray’s SXSW party, in which afterwards she said…“AutoVaughn live is one of the most kick ass jams I’ve ever seen! And the CD rocks too!”

Born Empty
Described as “an eighty’s Incubus”, “Cheap Trick on acid”, “love-child of the Dillinger Escape Plan and Foo Fighters” and “the legitimate offspring of Metallica and the Flaming Lips.”

Brenn
“Guitar-driven rock, dynamic synths, dramatic vocals…anthemic sounds of Muse, U2 and Radiohead to the dreamy soundscapes one might find sprinkled throughout Sigur Ros or M83…”

Caitlin Rose
AltCountry/Indie-folk

Cassino
Acoustic/Indie-folk rock

Cheer Up Charlie Daniels
Pop-rock/Jazz

Cortney Tidwell
“A freak-folk variation on Mazzy Star or This Mortal Coil”

Delta Saints
“Southern swamp rock…lead singer Ben Ringel is compared to a young Joe Cocker”

Dozen Dimes

Glossary
AltCountry/Southern rock

Hillbilly Casino
“Think Elvis Presley meets Van Halen.” Influences include Johnny Cash, Brian Setzer, Chuck Berry, Social Distortion, The Ramones, Hank Williams, Black Sabbath, George Jones and Cheap Trick.

Heartbeater

How I Became the Bomb
“Pop music with wingspan and dexterity.”

Kyle Andrews
“Mellow indie-rock”

Leslie
Rock/Pop/Blues

Majestico
Psychedelic Surf Rock

Mikky Ekko
Indie Rock/Electronic

Modoc
Indie-rock

Moon Taxi
Jamband/Prog Rock/Folk/Jazz

My Tyger
Prog Pop Rock

The Nobility
Orchestral Rock

Non-Commissioned Officers
Indie Rock/Electronic

Space Capone
Funk/Soul/R&B

Tesla Rossa
Alternative Rock

The Privates
Indie-pop supergroup featuring members of The Pink Spiders, The Features, De Novo Dahl and Lambchop

The Silver Seas
Bittersweet Indie-pop

Turbo Fruits
Punk rock trio led by Jonas Stein (formerly of Be Your Own Pet)

Mona
Alternative Rock

Pico vs. Island Trees
Indie-rock/Jazz

Ponderosa
“Campfire songs, southern rock anthems and drunken two-step shuffles…”

The Effects
Rock

The Kicks
“Classic Rock and British invasion songs”

Just a short while ago, an unknown inside source claimed they knew who was headlining the festival this year. It appears that the Kings of Leon will be Friday night’s headliner, while the Dave Matthews Band will be closing the festival on Sunday night. As for Saturday, think back to what the festival did in 2008, having both Pearl Jam and Jack Johnson play night sets on the festival’s main stage (What Stage). Pearl Jam came on around 10 pm that year, with Jack opening for them around 8 pm. It looks very likely they will be doing something very similar to that setup this year, with the one and only Stevie Wonder taking the early spot, followed by Jay-Z in the later spot. The initial artist lineup is due out February 2.

What do you think of these headliners? Is it the best crop of headliners you’ve ever seen? Is it the worst? Personally, it doesn’t top last year’s which included Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, two night of Phish, the Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails and David Byrne of the Talking Heads. Let me know what you think at nate@brokenmic.com

The first clue regarding an artist for this year’s Bonnaroo Music Festival has been solved. Beginning every January, DJ JD Farmhound of Radio Bonnaroo starts spitting out mind boggling riddles on the air, to get the devoted Bonnaroo fans talking amongst themselves. Be careful though; some of the clues mean nothing and are attempt to throw us off. A few years back, they decided to start throwing these clues out there, which have certainly stirred things up a bit, generating the most buzz of all the summer music festivals. Bonnaroo sponsors Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment and DJ JD are watching our trying attempts to figure out whose on the yearly lineup, and they’re just eating and laughing it up (I would assume). Onto what was clue number one…

Clue #1: “The one monkey who was the warmest and his offspring”

Answer: Ingrid Michaelson

Explanation: You often have to use alternate spellings or synonyms of certain words in the clues. But you never know exactly where (of if) to do this. One lucky Inforooster did just that with this clue. They thought of the band, The Monkees. The warmest Monkee would be Michael Nesmith, because of his trademark wool hat. As for offspring, an alternate word would be “son.” So in order for this clue to work, they took his first name (Michael) and added the offspring part (son). That gives you Michaelson. Thus, indie pop singer Ingrid Michaelson.

To stay on top of all of this year’s Bonnaroo clues, visit the nice little site Melanie Markham has put together here. Thanks for your hard work and dedication on this Melanie!

“Buddy when jolly”

Good luck at figuring that out.

The 11th annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival recently announced their initial artist lineup. The first big outdoor music festival of the year will take place Friday, April 16 thru Sunday, April 18 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Let the 2010 festival season begin!

Five Picks from Each Day:

Friday

Jay-Z
If you know me well, then you would know that hip hop isn’t my first choice of music to listen to. However, I am familiar with some of Jigga’s catalogue (Hard Knock Life, Black Album, American Gangster) and I have to say that he’s probably the best rapper out there now, although he has been for awhile. Sorry Kanye. Whether he’s spitting out rhymes fast or slow, I can certainly respect what Jay-Z does, both as an artist and as an entrepreneur.

Vampire Weekend
By now I’m sure everyone knows who this band is; and if you’re not sure, chances are you’ve probably heard one of their older songs in a number of commercials but might not have known it. Well, they just released a new album (Contra) a week ago, which is currently sitting in the top five of all the major music charts. This time though, they go beyond basic electro-pop by throwing in their influence of reggae, ska and world music.

Grizzly Bear
I hate how it always seems like I discover a band long after they’ve been doing great things. Although this experimental folk band from Brooklyn has been around since 2004, I didn’t discover them until last year, with their album Veckatimest, which earned nods on many “best of” lists (including mine, obviously). Because I didn’t know about them, I missed them when they came to Cincinnati a few years back as part of the MusicNOW Festival, and I even missed my chance to see them last summer at Bonnaroo, due to a scheduling conflict (they played against the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, if you can believe or understand that). I won’t be attending Coachella this year, so I hope a stop somewhere in the tri-state area is on their agenda for 2010.

Passion Pit
Not only did these guys put on one of the best performances in the middle of a thunderstorm at Bonnaroo last year, but it was one of the most energetic sets I’ve ever seen. It’s a shame I didn’t know about them when they came to town a couple years back, when they played the tiny Northside Tavern. If you’re looking for music that I can guarantee will put a smile on your face, look no further than Passion Pit.
 
The Avett Brothers
Hard to believe these guys have been around for ten years now, and have put out ten studio albums. And once again, I found out about them because of their first major label release/critically-acclaimed album from last year (I and Love and You). For years they were a DIY kind of band, not that they aren’t anymore, but this is the album that will change the direction of this band forever, possibly bringing bluegrass and roots music to the mainstream side of things.
 
Saturday

Muse
Often thought of as “another Radiohead”, these guys have evolved into anything but. Sure, they’re both alternative rock bands from England and they both have great vocal harmonies, but the muse of Muse lies in heavy, aggressive rock. 

MGMT
Like Passion Pit, MGMT is one of the best, hottest, most popular electro acts of the past couple years. Although they don’t use as many synths as Passion Pit does, MGMT finds a way to create a psychedelic, synth-pop, Flaming Lips-like sound with the use of a lot more guitars.

The Dead Weather
Jack White’s latest band acts more as a supergroup, featuring Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age and former Greenhorne/fellow Raconteur Jack Lawrence. Jack’s still got his love for bluesy, garage rock, but this time he gets out of the spotlight and behind the drumkit.

Dirty Projectors
Again, here’s another band that’s been around for a longtime (doesn’t 2002 seem like a longtime ago?) that I didn’t discover until last year thanks to Bonnaroo and David Byrne. Byrne collaborated with them on the first song of the Dark Was the Night compilation, “Knotty Pine.” They’ve got a large cast of male and female musicians, who play a bit of every instrument you can think of, for a sound you will hear nowhere else.

The xx
Familiarize yourself with this London band, because everyone is saying that 2010 will be their breakout year, despite that they’ve been together for five years. They’ve recently gone from a four-piece to a trio, they’ve got dueling vocalists and a love for dancey, electro-pop and psychedelic punk rock.

Sunday

If you think the first two days of Coachella look great, just wait until the last day.

Gorillaz
Oh where, oh where, oh where has this cartoon band been for the past several years? Well, creator and frontman, Damon Albarn, has been involved in a couple projects over the past five years; he collaborated with Danger Mouse for The Good, the Bad and the Queen, a band consisting of Simon Tong (The Verve, Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (The Clash) and Tony Allen (Fela Kuti’s band, Africa 70). He’s also worked as a producer for several world music artits, such as Amadou and Mariam. The return of this real band designed to look like a fake cartoon band has everyone talking, as it appears to be the hottest show to see in 2010.

Pavement
Gorillaz aren’t just the only reunion that is generating a lot of buzz. One of the most influential and most popular indie rock bands from the 90’s is returning for, well, no one really knows. Don’t expect it to be a permanent thing, and don’t expect finding tickets to be easy. The first couple of shows they booked for 2010 (New York’s Central Park in September), sold out in just two minutes. They’re rumored to play a few festivals this year, and that may be the easiest ticket to acquire to see Stephen Malkmus and his reunited bandmates who’ve also played in bands like Sonic Youth and Silver Jews.

Thom Yorke
Well if you can’t land Radiohead, I suppose getting their frontman is the next best thing. On the lineup, several question marks actually appear after his name, leaving everyone dumbfounded. Rumor has it that has to do with his not-yet known backing band, but that it will likely include Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and producer Nigel Godrich.

Phoenix
Going back to the whole “discovering a band a little too late but just in time”, we have one of my new favorite bands. Sure it was the catchy singles (”1901″, “Lisztomania”) from last year’s album (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix) that first hit me, but the rest of the album quickly grew on me. Now it’s just a matter of going through their back catalogue and seeing where this band has been for the past decade.

Spoon
Britt Daniel formed this band in 1993 and of course I wouldn’t discover them until 2007, with their album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. I’ll be honest and say it was a “slow grower” or that it took quite a bit of time to enjoy every track, but it’s become one of my favorite indie rock albums of all-time. Even the other albums this band has put out in the past have taken (and are still taking) some time to grow on me; but I think that as soon as I pick up their latest album (Transference, released today, appearing on the Late Show tonight), I’m hoping that I’ll feel so familiar with this band that the sound of the new songs will hit me instantly.

Bonus Pick:

Sly and the Family Stone
I would’ve never been able to forgive myself if I would’ve left Sly Stone off of this list. After all, they were one of the most important bands in the development of soul, funk and psychedelic music. Sure, they only released a few singles, but they’ve won a lot of awards, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and simply had a ton of hits (”I Want to Take You Higher”, “Dance To The Music”, “Everyday People” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin”) are among my favorites. It’s also said that they had one of the best performances at the original Woodstock Music Festival. I’ve always said that I should’ve been around in that era. Here’s hoping they get booked at the modern day Woodstock…Bonnaroo.

Going to Coachella? Let me know what you think about the lineup at nate@brokenmic.com

If I wasn’t typing this right now, I can promise you that I would be jumping up and down, running around the house and shouting cheers of joy. The first three acts of the MusicNOW Festival have just been announced. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, St. Vincent and Joanna Newsom will each headline a seperate night of the festival, from March 30-April 1. The festival will once again take place at Memorial Hall, located at 1225 Elm Street in downtown. Tickets are available now. Stay tuned for more information.

With just a few weeks to go until the official release of the Bonnaroo 2010 artist lineup, I thought I’d put together a little something for anyone who might be interested. For people like me, Bonnaroo obsessors if you will, the offseason (also known as the 361 days of the year Bonnaroo is not going on) has been filled with speculations, predictions and wishlists from fellow obsessors like myself. Many of these obsessors come together on an almost daily basis throughout the offseason, sharing their opinions and hopes with one another on messageboards like Inforoo and the official Bonnaroo messageboard, which you can find here. My fellow obsessors and I are extremely passionate about “our” festival, as well as very well educated on certain trends the festival typically seems to follow. While prediciting even an accurate lineup may be a shot in the dark, there are actually a few who seem to do pretty well with their bold predictions. So I’m going to go out on a limb here and share with you my predictions.

I’ve narrowed it down to a few different categories. 

Possible Headliners
This section includes acts that are either currently rumored as headlining this year’s festival, or are acts still around that certainly are capable of headlining this year, or possibly future years.

Paul McCartney
Roger Waters performing The Wall
The Who
Neil Young
Eric Clapton
Stevie Wonder
David Bowie
Prince
U2
Guns ‘n Roses
R.E.M.
Dave Matthews Band
Soundgarden
Rage Against the Machine
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Jay-Z
Gorillaz
Coldplay
The Killers

Bonnaroo headliner trends typically involve three bands. More often than not, these bands include one “older” band (usually a classic rock artist), one “younger” band (more mainstream rock kind of stuff) and one band that seems to fit the “jamband” slot on Sunday. It’s not always going to end up this way, but history shows that it typically does, although you could argue that it did not go this way in 2008 when both Metallica and Pearl Jam were billed as headliners. Then there was the scheduling setup from 2009. Last year Bonnaroo changed things up by moving the Friday headliner (Phish) to 11 pm, where as in the past the headliners typically took the stage around 9 pm. Not only did they push back the Friday headliner back a couple hours, but they also changed things up by having two bands that you could argue were sub-headliners or something. Both the Beastie Boys and David Byrne (of the Talking Heads) played opposite each other on the festival’s two main stages (What and Which). The Beastie’s set started at 8:30 pm, while Byrne began at 8:45. History also shows that in the past Bonnaroo has never had acts of such calibers play at exactly the same time on these two stages, this late in the day. Rumors recently began circulating that Neil Young would be taking the Beastie’s spot this year, while the Kings of Leon would be taking the Byrne spot on the Which Stage. Seems kind of odd to bill Neil Young anything other than a main headliner, but once again, this is just a rumor, so only time will tell if this is an accurate rumor.

As for that list that you see above, the band who seems most likely to take the Saturday headlining slot appears to be The Who, what with their appearance at the upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show. Rumor also has it, that McCartney will not tour after this year, so I would think that Bonnaroo organizers would be fools in not being able to land a Beatle this year. Then there’s the whole Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) slated tour that will last the next two years, playing the music from the classic album, The Wall, in its entirety. I consider this the best album of all-time, and after seeing Waters a few years back (he performed the Floyd album, Darkside of the Moon, in its entirety), I can already expect that this would be the greatest show I could ever witness. My hopes: land McCartney this year, and get Waters in 2011. We’ve already covered Neil, so moving onto the last classic rock icon, we have Eric Clapton. Here’s another artist on my bucket list, but one who seems the least likely out of this group, as the demand does not appear to be as high as the rest. While there have been no rumors of Clapton at ‘roo this year, he will be out on tour this summer. If Bonnaroo happens to land a classic rock artist this year (seems the likely thing that will happen), I would not be disappointed with any of these bands I’ve mentioned.

Then you’ve got the bands and artists that just don’t seem to fit into any one category. I’m talking about artists like Stevie Wonder, David Bowie and Prince. You could certainly call them “classic rock” because it is now 2010, and they’ve all been around for quite some time, but I like to think this group doesn’t exactly fit with the previously mentioned artists. Stevie seems the most likely to happen out of this group, probably because he’s been rumored for months now, while it appears neither Bowie or Prince have plans to do any shows or even tour in the near future. As for Mr. Wonder, I would expect that a headlining slot would be a must, but I guess any slot is possible considering the 6 pm slot the legendary Al Green received last year.

There’s also the group of bands that were amongst the most popular of the 80’s and 90’s. U2 was one of the first rumors, but that has since been played down, due to apparent scheduling conflicts. I don’t quite understand why, because they are only booked one day so far during the weekend of Bonnaroo. They’ll be playing Denver on Saturday, June 12. The fact they are playing here in the states at that time, and also have no shows scheduled close to Tennessee, makes me think that they are a band not to rule out just yet. Perhaps the one band from this group that appears to be the most likely to happen is the Dave Matthews Band. Not just because Matthews has played the festival twice (not since 2005), but he has been one of the most successful touring acts of the past two decades. Matthews and his band also fit that Sunday “jamband” closing spot rather nicely. Moving along. Do you know about three of the most popular bands from the 90’s who are hitting the road once again this year? I’m talking about the reunited original lineup of Soundgarden, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their new guitarist (longtime member John Frusciante recently left the band) and Guns ‘n Roses. Wait. Did I just say Guns ‘n Roses? That’s right. Forget that probably one of the most hyped up albums of all time was a flop (Chinese Democracy), Axl put a band together and they’re on tour this year, although you can barely consider it Guns ‘n Roses. Had Axl kept his band and his voice, Guns ‘n Roses would be on my bucket list. Not so much anymore. A couple other popular bands from this era, although they are not bands who tour year in and year out, but are definitely bands who have been wanted for a longtime at the ‘roo include Rage Against the Machine and R.E.M. While I’d be fine with either of these bands, I believe they are probably the least likely out of the group. My bets go to Matthews and Soundgarden, with U2 trailing closely behind.

Lastly, there’s the group that actually doesn’t go together very well at all. Jay-Z, Gorillaz, Coldplay and The Killers. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of these acts ends up at the farm this year. But it’s probably not the band you’re thinking. You may be thinking of Jay-Z, but he’ll be off in Europe doing shows (doesn’t rule him out, just makes it all the more less likely). You might be thinking Coldplay. While I’ve been wanting Coldplay at the farm for the past half a decade, I just don’t see it happening. Doesn’t mean it can’t or won’t. I also like surprises. So…Gorillaz are apparently back together and set to work on a new album, but the festival rumor for them this year includes Coachella. Seems likely too. Coachella’s just that type of festival; the kind to bring in recently reunited bands this big. And with Coachella being in California, they seem to be the type of band that would prefer to be there, rather than a small town in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee. That leaves The Killers. You either like them or don’t. While they certainly have the material, I’m just not sold on them being a headliner. But that doesn’t rule out the fact that I think they’d be a great addition. I think they’d fit perfectly late at night, possibly in the slot that Nine Inch Nails had last year, (1-2:30 am on the Which Stage), although NIN is and probably will always be much larger than The Killers.

Unofficially Confirmed Acts
This section includes acts that have been all but confirmed by Bonnaroo themselves – and that’s because they haven’t released the lineup. Appearances from these bands have been confirmed through various sources all over the net.

Kings of Leon
Looks like they could be either a headliner or duel headliner, going up against Neil Young, as previously rumors speculate. Bonnaroo made these guys into what they are today, and Rolling Stone called them the greatest band on the planet of 2009. Maybe Bonnaroo gives back to the Followill boys this year with a big time slot. Although they’re taking six months off from touring this year, the six months would be up right in time for Bonnaroo. Not to mention they’re from Tennessee.

Other bands on this list include GWAR, Dan Deacon, Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers, The Avett Brothers, The Gaslight Anthem, Mayer Hawthorne and Caravan Palace.

Heavily Rumored
This section deals with those bands who have the most talk going on about them, regarding appearances at the festival this summer. Nothing confirmed just yet, but looks likely. Keep them on your radar.

311
Pavement (reunion)
The Jayhawks (reunion)
Mew
Ryan Bingham
Baroness
Alberta Cross
Noah and the Whale
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons
Lord T & Eloise

Other Possibilities
This section deals with the types of bands and trends Bonnaroo tends to follow. Some of these bands have made appearances at the farm, some numerous times. It also deals with those “buzz” acts that Bonnaroo seems to land every year. Whether they’ll be out on the road, have a new disc coming out or are just emerging into something greater, you know it just might happen because it just feels so right.

The Allman Brothers Band
In 2008, the Allman’s had to pull out of Bonnaroo due to health issues involving Greg Allman. Guitarist Warren Haynes is considered almost some type of god at Bonnaroo, and by having the Allman’s there this year, it would give fans a break from Warren’s main outfit, Gov’t Mule, who have graced the farm a few times the past several years.

My Morning Jacket
Just like the Kings of Leon, here’s a band who owes their success to Bonnaroo. But the love for these guys is much more intense than with the Kings. The last time MMJ played the festival, they did a four-hour marathon latenight show on the Which Stage in the pouring rain, pulling out most of the songs from their catalogue, as well as many covers (they played songs by Kool and the Gang, Bobby Womack, Motley Crue and Erykah Badu), as well as guest appearances from Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Flecktone saxophonist Jeff Coffin and comedian Zach Galifianakis. Arguably the greatest Bonnaroo set ever.

The Flaming Lips
Here’s one of the other few, intensely beloved bands from the Bonnaroo crowd. Their last appearance at the festival in 2007, saw them land a giant UFO onstage, with Wayne Coyne coming out of the spaceship in his giant plastic bubble and out into the crowd where he put a different spin on crowd surfing. Coyne did say they would return once they had a new album. That time may be this year, but will they be able to top landing a UFO onstage?

Arcade Fire
Even though they’ve only got two albums under their belts, with a third slated for release this year, this band is arguably the greatest Canadian indie rock band ever. They’ve done the festival thing in the past, but have not toured in a few years, and have never played Bonnaroo. I’ve been wanting these two to come together for nearly five years now.

The Dead Weather
Jack White’s played Bonnaroo twice, with the Stripes in 2007 and the Raconteurs in 2008. While many await his return to the Stripes, I’d have to say that its probably his latest project that seems the most likely. And hey, they’re not that bad. After all, this band does consist of members of the Raconteurs and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, not to mention Mr. White.

Some other possibilities:
The Black Crowes
George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic
The Roots
Nas
String Cheese Incident
Explosions in the Sky
Norah Jones
Thievery Corporation
Built to Spill
The Black Keys or Dan Auerbach
Umphrey’s McGee
LCD Soundsystem
STS9
Ray LaMontagne
Regina Spektor
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Spoon
Fleet Foxes
Phoenix
Passion Pit
Os Mutantes
The Gaslight Anthem
Lucero
David Rawlings Machine
The Airborne Toxic Event
Rufus Wainwright
Blitzen Trapper
Los Amigos Invisibles
Band of Heathens
Deer Tick
Girls
The xx
Florence + the Machine
Neon Indian

By now you’re probably sick of hearing about Bonnaroo, even with it still being six months away. Well get used to it. Bonnaroo is my sanctuary and you can bet you’ll be seeing plenty of talk about it over the next six months.

First things first; on the Bonnaroo website you’ll find something called Radio Bonnaroo. Listen in anytime to DJ JD Farmhound spin tracks from past Bonnaroo festivals and bands, as well as other good bands in general. Every year, DJ JD reveals clues on the radio (you can also find these clues online, such as his Twitter page and Inforoo). These clues relate to band’s playing the festival that year. I’ll be honest and let you know that these clues will drive you nuts. They’re not exactly easy to figure out. They’re more like complicated, confusing riddles that typically don’t make any sense. In order to come up with some guesses on who that band might be, you often have to dig very deep, sometimes even changing around words and phrases with synonyms. The first clue was unveiled earlier today.

Bonnaroo 2010 Lineup Clue #1

“The one monkey that was the warmest and his offspring”

Good luck guessing. After just a few minutes, I feel like giving up.

The Wakarusa Music Festival unveiled their initial artist lineup earlier today, featuring over forty bands, ranging from acoustic acts, alternative rock, blues, country, electronica, hip hop, jam, jazz, pop, rock, rap, reggae and soul. The festival takes place June 3-6 at the beautiful Mulberry Mountain location in Ozark, Arkansas. It’s the perfect festival for those who like to avoid the massive crowds of festivals like Bonnaroo and Coachella. It also holds true that smaller fests can still survive, not just with the competition of these bigger festivals, but by remaining close to their jammy roots. But it’s not just about the music; they’ve also got activities like a costume contest, yoga, disc golf, and even hiking, fishing and kayaking through the Ozark National Forest and Mulberry River. For more information, regarding tickets and directions, visit the festival’s website. Onto the lineup!

STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector Nine)
The Disco Biscuits
Slightly Stoopid
John Butler Trio
Blues Traveler
Zappa Plays Zappa
Bassnectar
Railroad Earth
The Machine performs the music of Pink Floyd
JJ Grey & MOFRO
Lotus
Rebelution
ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra)
Tea Leaf Green
Boombox
Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk
EOTO
James Zabiela
Split Lip Rayfield
Hayes Carll
Sub Swara
Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers
Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Trampled by Turtles
Wookiefoot
Mishka
Big Gigantic
Truth & Salvage Co.
Fort Knox Five
Mountain Sprout
Band of Heathens
Last Waltz Ensemble performs the music of Bob Dylan and The Band
Cash’d Out
Earl Greyhound
Bluetech
Uglysuit
Passafire
Simplified
Hoots & Hellmouth
Resident Anti-Hero

One of the very first few things confirmed for this year’s Bonnaroo Music Festival (just confirmed today) is the addition of the Latin themed tent. If you remember last year, they tricked out the Other Tent with an African theme, featuring music from Amadou & Mariam, King Sunny Ade & the African Beats, Bela Fleck & Toumani Diabate, Vieux Farka Toure, Toubab Krewe and a latenight set from Femi Kuti and the Positive Force. Ashley Capps (the festival’s co-founder) confirmed the addition in an interview with Consequence of Sound, talking about the change of themes this year, and spreading the African theme around to other stages at the festival. But who will grace this Latin-themed tent this year? Anyone’s guess is as good as the next, but I’ve got my hopes set on bands like Os Mutantes and maybe a latenight set from Manu Chao. Other predictions from some people over at Inforoo include Los Lobos, Ozomatli, Los Amigos Invisibles, Cafe Tacuba and Grupo Fantasma.

As for those other few confirmations thus far; actor/comedian Steve Martin will be playing banjo with the Steep Canyon Rangers, shock rockers GWAR will be dropping jaws, while Mayer Hawthorne (soul/funk/hip hop) and France’s Caravan Palace (electronica/jazz/swing) will also be gracing the farm this summer. And you can rule out U2 as a possible headliner. All we know is they’re out. Other rumors and possibilities include Paul McCartney, The Who, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, the Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band, My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon, the Flaming Lips, Arcade Fire, Furthur (featuring Bob Weir and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead), the String Cheese Incident, reunited bands like Soundgarden, Pavement and The Jayhawks, 311, Fleet Foxes, the Gaslight Anthem, Dan Deacon, Mew, Noah & the Whale and Lord T & Eloise.

This indie-folk trio out of Raleigh, North Carolina is heading to Cincinnati for the winter…well at least for one show. They’ll be gracing the ballroom stage of the Southgate House later this evening with instruments like the accordion and violin, and the sweet harmonies of Phil Moore and Beth Tacular. They’re touring in support of last year’s album, Upper Air. Tickets are still available, so head out to the show tonight and check back after the show for a full review.

Lots of great bands coming to town in the next few months…

Gov’t Mule
Taft Theatre
Friday, January 29

Cowboy Mouth featuring Junior Brown
Southgate House
Wednesday, February 3

RJD2, Kenan Bell, Happy Chichester
Southgate House
Saturday, February 6

Marcy Playground, The Flight Station, The Western, Faceblind, Our Rising
Mad Hatter
Friday, February 12

Lucero, Glossary
Southgate House
Friday, February 12

Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights
Southgate House
Friday, February 12

Robert Earl Keen, Jr
Madison Theater
Saturday, February 13

Fucked Up, Kurt Vile, Iron Age, Till Plains
Southgate House
Monday, February 15

Dark Star Orchestra
Madison Theater
Tuesday, February 16

Ha Ha Tonka
Southgate House
Tuesday, February 16

Carbon Leaf
20th Century Theater
Wednesday, February 17

Love in October, Enlou, Oso Bear, The Never Setting Suns
Southgate House
Wednesday, February 17

The Queers, Off With Their Heads, The Dopamines
Southgate House
Thursday, February 18

Those Darlins
Northside Tavern
Friday, February 19

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Southgate House
Saturday, February 20

Arms Exploding LAST SHOW, Anxiety High, Knife the Symphony
Southgate House
Saturday, February 20

State Radio, Big and the Kids Table
20th Century Theater
Tuesday, February 23

500 Miles to Memphis CD Release Party, Kentucky Struts, duppy a jamba, Shotgun Lover, Underground Saints, De Los Muertos, Six Nights Alone, The Mudpies, Paul K
Southgate House
Friday, February 26

Ani DiFranco
Madison Theater
Saturday, February 27

Pop Empire CD Release Party, The Seedy Seeds, Lions Rampant
Southgate House
Saturday, February 27

The English Beat, Fishbone, Outlaw Nation
Mad Hatter
Monday, March 1

Reverend Horton Heat, Banderas, The Tillers
Southgate House
Wednesday and Thursday, March 3-4

Pomegranates
Southgate House
Friday, March 5

Umphrey’s McGee
Madison Theater
Saturday, March 6

Flogging Molly, Frank Turner, The Architects
Bogart’s
Tuesday, March 9

Rodrigo y Gabriela
Madison Theater
Wednesday, March 10

Split Lip Rayfield
Southgate House
Wednesday, March 10

G. Love & Special Sauce
Madison Theater
Friday, March 12

David Bazan, Headlights
Southgate House
Monday, March 15

NEEDTOBREATHE, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, Graham Colton
Southgate House
Tuesday, March 16

STS9
Madison Theater
Thursday, March 18

The Big Pink, A Place to Bury Strangers
Southgate House
Monday, March 22

David Gray
Taft Theatre
Tuesday, March 23

Trampled By Turtles
Southgate House
Wednesday, March 24

Ekoostik Hookah, Jon Justice
Southgate House
Thursday, March 25

Sponge
Mad Hatter
Friday, March 26

Backyard Tire Fire
Southgate House
Friday, March 26

Henry Rollins
Southgate House
Saturday, April 3

CincyPunk Fest VIV
Southgate House
Friday and Saturday, April 9-10

Rocky Votolato, Brooke Waggoner
Southgate House
Thursday, April 15

Gil Mantera’s Party Dream
Southgate House
Friday, April 16

That 1 Guy
Southgate House
Tuesday, April 20

Rumors are starting to circulate that Cincinnati’s very own, Seedy Seeds, are in the running to be playing on one of the smaller stages (most likely the Blue Room Cafe or Troo Music Lounge) at this summer’s Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The festival includes two large stages, the What and Which stages, with capacities of 100,000 and 30,000, respectively. There are also three large tents (This, That, Other, with capacities estimated around 5,000 – think the type of tent outside of Grammer’s at MidPoint last year). There are also two other smaller stages that host music; the Blue Room Cafe is located in the outfield on the festival’s main stage (What), while the Troo Music Lounge is located towards the back of the outfield on the Which Stage. There is one more stage which sometimes hosts music; that is the Solar Stage, a stage located in Centeroo (center of festival grounds featuring shops, vendors, artists and much more). The sound coming from the Solar Stage is actually powered by the sun. This stage also features many activists and other programs such as political and environmental activists and speakers and discussions and yoga classes. I will stay on top of this totally awesome rumor, as well as any other rumors or artist confirmations. Seedy Seeds at Bonnaroo. Heck yes!

Arcade Fire
Without a doubt, this Canadian indie rock megaband is by far the best of the younger bands I’ve seen in concert. Sure they’ve been around since ‘03, but have only released two albums, but those albums (Funeral, Neon Bible) are amongst the best albums of the past decade. And that’s not just my personal opinion. Look through all the online blogs and major music publications, and they will tell you the exact same thing. By taking years off in between albums, I’m led to believe that these guys and girls strongly believe in what they’re making, and work carefully on every detail at how they present these songs to their fans. The fans are starting to grow restless, and it shouldn’t be too long until we receive another masterpiece from the Arcade Fire. Expect the album, a U.S. tour and some festival dates this year.

The Black Keys
Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney may have some other things going on right now (Auerbach with his band the Fast Five featuring My Morning Jacket drummer Patrick Hallahan, while Carney plays bass in a band called DRUMMER), but these two guys from Akron, Ohio look to put the focus back into the Black Keys this year with the release of their eighth studio album (not yet titled). Looking back at their past two efforts (Magic Potion, Attack & Release, which both received massive critical acclaim), I’d say these two guys have their work cut out for them to produce another album that will follow or even surpass the past two. But if you’re familiar with the work of both Auerbach and Carney, both as musicians and producers, you know these guys will certainly do just that. They love to work, they love their jobs, and we love them.

Fleet Foxes
This five-piece, indie-folk band from the great music city of Seattle, immediately broke out not even two years ago with the release of their debut, self-titled album. They’ll look to follow that up this year with the release of their second effort (not yet titled). If vocals are your thing, just one listen to these guys and you’ll swear you haven’t heard such beautiful harmonies since the Beach Boys and CSNY. 

The Gaslight Anthem
This New Jersey punk rock band is heading to the studio early in the year to begin work on their third studio album (not yet titled); the follow-up to the very successful, The ‘59 Sound. Who knows whether they’ll go back to the quick recording process and more punk sound of their first album (Sink or Swim) or if they’ll take things slow, churning out more traditional rock and roll sounding gems found on The ‘59 Sound.

Kings of Leon
I can’t think of anything better than to be declared the greatest rock band on the planet, especially when that band consists of your family. The Kings are made up of three brothers and one cousin; the Followill’s (Caleb, Nathan, Jared and Matthew) were named the best band of 2009 by Rolling Stone Magazine. Most of the fanbase they’ve accrued over the past couple of years may not know that this band actually formed over ten years ago, or that they once had a pre-mainstream, unpolished sound, but with all of the hard work that the Kings have put in over the past decade, this title given to them by Rolling Stone was certainly deserving and a long time coming. The band looks to stay on top of the world this year with the release of their fifth studio album (not yet titled).

MGMT
Call them “M-G-M-T”, call them “Management”, call them what you will, but call them one of the hottest bands of the past few years. With just one album under their belts, this Brooklyn band has earned Grammy nominations and a nod by Rolling Stone Magazine as having the 18th Best Album of the Decade (Oracular Spectacular). They’ve appeared in all the major music publications, as well as having performed at nearly every major music festival all over the world, thanks to their sweet mix of indie rock, electronica, dance and synthpop. All eyes will be on them this year and the release of their second studio album, entitled Congratulations, due out early in the year.

of Montreal
I haven’t quite jumped on the bus for this indie, baroque pop band, but it does kind of feel like I’m running behind that bus, trying to catch up and hitch a ride with them. Maybe their tenth studio album, False Priest of the Controller Sphere (due out this year) will be that album that gets me a ticket onto that bus, or maybe I should just invest into their entire catalogue. After all, their last two efforts received high praises; Hissing Fauna at #72 and Skeletal Lamping at #38 on the US charts, so if the past few years are any indication, of Montreal looks to hit the charts high again in 2010. Get on the bus!

Spoon
I wasn’t at all familiar with this indie rock band from Austin, Texas, until their 2007 album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. It was certainly one of the best albums of 2007 (perhaps one of the best from the second part of the decade), but it’s also my favorite from their entire catalogue. Their next album, Transference, comes out on the 18th on this month, and if they follow in the footsteps of their past few efforts, we’ll surely be getting another successful collection from Britt Daniel and company, and they’re mix of indie pop and experimental rock. 

Vampire Weekend
The long-awaited second album of this indie rock band from New York comes out this week, but it’s already been streaming on their MySpace. Reviews are coming in, and many are already prediciting it as one of the best of the year. Sure, it’s early in the year, but come December, expect Contra to be on everyone’s “Best of” lists. Look for my review later in the week.

Speculation for the 2010 festival immediately began when Bonnaroo attendees (known as “Bonnaroovians”) returned home from last year’s festival mid-June. Still the festival remains six months away, but the past six months have seen all kinds of talk spreading all over the messageboards, particularly the official Bonnaroo messageboard and Inforoo, the unofficial messageboard created by the fans. When word first hit that The Who would be performing at this year’s halftime show of that last big football game of the season, many believed that Bonnaroo may go that route again. Festival organizers have twice booked acts who have played the big game’s halftime show, however, only once had one band who played the halftime show appeared at Bonnaroo in the same year; that being Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band last year. The other performer was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Most were speculating that the other big draws the festival could get this summer may be the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, U2 or Roger Waters. It now appears the Rolling Stones have no plans of touring in the summer (doesn’t mean they can’t do a one-off), whereas McCartney has said he will not tour after 2010. U2 will be touring the states at this time; they’ve already got a show booked for the Saturday of Bonnaroo in Denver, leaving it more likely that if they were to play they would be a Friday night headliner. Typically, history shows that the biggest acts of the festival play on Saturday nights, but I’m sure the festival organizers would be happy to work around U2’s schedule. History also shows that Bonnaroo’s Sunday night headliner is not the biggest draw of the three headliners, as a decent amount of people actually leave the festival on Sunday afternoon. No one has yet denied the U2 rumor, although it does appear that this rumor is starting to die down a little bit. As for Waters, the Pink Floyd founder is said to be in the works putting together a tour that will last over the next two years playing the great Floyd album, The Wall, in its entirety. One can only hope for the latter (specifically myself, because I believe that is the greatest album of all-time). But it’d be nice to see the last great Beatle before he stops playing shows. Sorry Ringo.

But why focus on what we don’t know for sure, with the possibility of setting our hopes so high that we’ll be crushed if they are not to come true. Let’s focus on what has been confirmed thus far.

Perhaps one of the most interesting selections in the history of the festival may be with thrash metal, shock rockers, GWAR. Known specifically for their live shows, the band dresses in sci-fi/horror film inspired costumes, uses raunchy and obscene gestures and lyrics, and often douses the audience with fake blood, vomit and other types of fluids. They often tend to use mannequins of pop culture and political figures in their show, making it appear that they are murdering and raping them. Some of those figures used have been O.J. Simpson, John Kerry, Mike Tyson, Ronald Reagan, Osama Bin Laden, Michael Jackson, Al Gore, Paris Hilton, Adolf Hitler and Jerry Garcia. I don’t think the hippies would be too fond of that last one. I know I wouldn’t. No worries though. I have no intention on catching this band this summer at the festival.

The second of the confirmed acts thus far is Mayer Hawthorne. He’s a young singer, producer, songwriter, arranger, audio engineer, DJ, rapper and multi-instrumentalist, said to have one of the best albums of last year, his debut full-length called A Strange Arrangement. His influences range from Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Barry White and Smokey Robinson. He is signed to the Stones Throw record label, which features artists like Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of the Mars Volta, J Rocc (one of the first turntablists), Gary Wilson (obscure new wave mastermind of the late 70’s) and label creator, Peanut Butter Wolf.

Some other artists rumored/guessed/predicted/hoped to appear at the festival this summer include the Dave Matthews Band, Furthur, Stevie Wonder, Pavement, Ryan Bingham, Alberta Cross and Lord T and Eloise.

It’s the season for snow,
it’s that time of year
So go to the show,
there’s music to hear

Here’s a list of twenty-five concerts to know happening this month in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area.

Kid Cudi, the twenty-five year old Grammy-nominated rapper signed to Kanye West’s GOOD Music label, stops by the Madison Theater tonight for a sold out show. Featuring opening act, Chipper the Ripper.

Sparrow Bellows, the band formerly known as The Emeralds, are the Southgate House’s weekly residential artist this month. Featuring former members of Cincinnati greats like The Stapletons and Trojan Rabbit, they will be performing every Wednesday night in the lounge.

Singer/songwriter Nathan Holscher, brings his dark and smokey folk songs to keep you warm this Friday, January 8th, at the Northside Tavern. Also playing is Dan McCabe’s (of CityBeat and the MidPoint and Lite Brite Music and Film Festivals) band, The Kiss Me Everlasting.

Indie rock band, SOHIO, celebrate the release of a new album at the Southgate House on Friday, January 8th. Let’s just stick with the description of their sound that they give on their MySpace page: “Wilco reading bedtime stories about the Stones, to Bob Pollard as he drifts asleep to R.E.M.” Also playing that night, are the Black Owls, Cash Flagg and The Transport.

The Tillers, who were winners at last year’s CEA’s for Folk and Americana (they’ve also jammed with Tom Brokaw), celebrate the release of a new album; the long-awaited follow-up to Ludlow Street Rag. At the Southgate House Saturday, January 9th, with the Dirt Daubers and Magnolia Mountain.

It’s a good thing that the guys from Coltrane Motion (a couple of Ohio natives) didn’t move too far away when they left town for Chicago. The electro-rock duo make their way back home several times a year, one being this Saturday, January 9th. They’re playing the Northside Tavern with the Eagle to Squirrel Variety Hour and Bullying Ben Jones.

One of the better up-and-coming indie-folk bands, Bowerbirds, return to the Southgate House on Wednesday, January 13th. Opening the show is Canadian singer/songwriter, Julie Doiron.

The Rivertown Music Club’s One More Girl On A Stage concert returns the weekend of January 15th and 16th at the York St. Cafe. Benefiting the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the two-night event will feature music from artists like Kelly Thomas and Ryan Malott, Tupelo Honey, Wonky Tonk, the J. Dorsey Blues Revival, Kristen Key, Stick Figure Drawings and Shiny and the Spoon, among many, many more. The event also features a silent auction, an art gallery and belly dancing from the Keshvar Project.

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, an Americana act from Boston who were nominated for an AMA last year for their album, The Stars Are Out, come to the Southgate House on Friday, January 15th. Opening the show is Nashville rock and roll outfit, The Deep Vibration. Playing upstairs in the parlour are 2009 CEA World Music winners, The Pinstripes, with The Frankl Project and Stretch Lefty.

It’s gonna be a great weekend at the Northside Tavern on the 15th and 16th. Friday night, you’ll get three of the area’s best power pop, roots rock and one man band shows in The Mighty, The Kentucky Struts and Wake the Bear, all respectively. Saturday night, it’s one of the area’s more popular reunited bands, The Minor Leagues, with the Fairmount Girls and Midstates and the Choir of Ghosts.

Speaking of power pop, you’ll get the treatment from some Cincinnati legends, the Screaming Mimes, when they host a CD release party at the Southgate House on Saturday, January 16th.

Brooklyn experimental, indie rock band, Fiery Furnaces, return to town Thursday, January 21st at the Southgate House. They played a packed outdoor show last year at Fountain Square’s Indie Summer.

One of the area’s finest hard rock outfits for the past several years, Noctaluca, play at the Southgate House Friday, January 22nd, with Chiva Knievel, The Bad Words and The Killbillys.

Last month, one half of the Black Keys (Dan Auerbach) canceled his show at the Southgate House, but this month, you’ll get to see the other half of the Black Keys, with Patrick Carney and his new band, DRUMMER. Oddly enough Carney manages the bass duties in this outfit. That’s okay though. Both Auerbach and Carney are highly respected in the music world, both as performers and producers. It’s sure to be nothing short of an awesome show, as two of Cincinnati’s best, The Lions Rampant and The Guitars, are opening the show. Saturday, January 23rd.

It should be a good night of music on Saturday, January 23rd at the Northside Tavern. Playing are rock and roll bands Goose and legendary Cincinnati musician, Roger Klug with his power trio.

If you thought the mix of hip hop and rock was a phase in the late 90’s with bands like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, think again. One of the best new local acts, Small Time Crooks, will show you that this style of music doesn’t have to suck, despite the crap that came from Fred Durst’s mouth. Small Time Crooks are headlining the show at the Mad Hatter, with other bands like Loudmouth, Pilot Around the Stars, The Brothers and the Sisters and When All Else Fails. Saturday, January 23rd.

Popular bluegrass outfit, Chatham County Line, return to the Southgate House on Thursday, January 28th.

Just one day before Mule rocks the Taft, a former opening act for Mule will be playing, this time headlining their own show. That band is Tea Leaf Green and they’re playing the 20th Century Theater on Thursday, January 28th.

Cincinnati can’t get enough of guitar virtuoso, Warren Haynes, who seems to drop by about once or twice a year. It’s been a few years since the Allman Brothers Band came to town, but on Friday, January 29th he’ll be returning with his other band, Gov’t Mule, who play the Taft Theatre on Friday, January 29th.

Legendary political punk rockers, Anti-Flag, should fill Covington’s Mad Hatter wall to wall with both young and old punk rock fans, when they play Friday, January 29th. Also on the bill are Aiden, Cancer Bats and Star Fucking Hipsters.

Things changed a bit for both the Heartless Bastards and the Greenhornes, when their lineups changed over the past several years. But if you haven’t yet heard, there’s this band called OxfordCotton, which is actually just as strong a collective featuring musicians from both of those bands. Think of it as sort of like a supergroup. They’re playing the Northside Tavern on Saturday, January 29th.

It’s time once again for the Winter Blues Fest brought to you by the Greater Cincinnati Blues Society. Although the lineup has not yet been announced, it’s sure to be a great time, packing the venue on all three floors with music from bands who have both a traditional, older blues sound and some younger bands with new variations on what it means to play the blues. It’s happening Friday and Saturday, January 29th and 30th.

You’ll want to get to the Northside Tavern on Saturday, January 30th. Four reasons: one, there’s a memorial concert benefiting Esme Kenney. Two, it’s a rare chance to see Karin and Linford of Over the Rhine. Three, Kim Taylor is also performing and, four, The Hiders are also playing.

I thought I’d kick off the new year right by first filling you in about some of the bands who are expected to have pretty big breakouts this year. There’s certainly no shortage this year of indie pop and rock bands specializing in electronica and synthesizers, and acoustic instrumentation and experimentation.

If you’re into the whole “electro/indie/blippy/dance/pop” type of thing, familiarize yourself with names like The xx, Neon Indian, Avi Buffalo, Free Energy, Two Door Cinema Club, Ellie Goulding, Holiday Shores, We Have Band, Marina and the Diamonds, Flashguns, Cold Cave, Warpaint, Penguin Prison, Toro y Moi, Delphic, Wild Beasts, Chew Lips, Woodhands, French Horn Rebellion and Samuel and the Dragon.

If you’re into this new generation of folk bands and singers and songwriters (dubbed indie-folk) make sure you know names like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons, Local Natives, Vandaveer, Owen Pallett (formerly known as Final Fantasy), Twilight Hotel, The Deep Dark Woods, Dan Mangan, Sharon Van Etten, Jeremy Lister, Goldhawks and The Damnwells. As you can see (and may know), these two styles of music have been quite popular over the past several years, but I like to think that there’s never enough of these bands.

Don’t worry though, if those styles aren’t your cup of tea. There’s something for everyone. If you like things loud, you’ll want to check out these bands who dabble in garage rock, metal, punk rock, noise rock and straight up rock and roll: Japandroids, The Soft Pack, The Chapman Family, King Charles, Swanton Bombs, Revocation, Best Coast, Glass Ghost, Evan Voytas, Calories, Internet Forever and Screaming Females will please your ears, while fans of surf rock will love The Drums, Dinosaur Feathers, Real Estate and Surfer Blood, and fans of hip hop, rap and DJs will be into J. Cole, Gavin Castleton and Shad. There’s even a couple bands who just have a little bit of everything, like The Belleville Outfit, who mix together gypsy swing, jazz and Americana, while Sting’s daughter mixes up reggae and ska in the band I Blame Coco.

If you can’t find something you don’t like, don’t worry. It’s still the first week of 2010 and it looks to be like another amazing year in music.

Another year has come and gone. Soon enough we will be underway with the second decade of the 21st century. I still find it hard to believe and often wonder where the past has gone. The last year of my twenty’s will be coming up this year, but that’s another story for other people in another place and time. As for the music scene in 2009, it was an amazing year for bands, albums and festivals. Let me take you on a quick ride through the past year and how the music scene appeared through my eyes.

There were shows and festivals, and then some more shows and festivals, and then even more shows and festivals. Oddly enough, the climax (or greatest musical experience) of the year fell right at the halfway point of the year. I made my third trip to Manchester, Tennessee for the Bonnaroo Music Festival in the middle of June. I witnessed over forty mind-blowing sets covering all types of music, many of them being the first time I’d seen most of these bands. Bruce Springsteen, two Phish shows, David Byrne of the Talking Heads, Ben Harper and Relentless7, MGMT, Band of Horses, Wilco, Andrew Bird, Bon Iver and Passion Pit (who all rank in my top ten performances from the weekend). But I can’t say enough amazing things about Bonnaroo; I really believe that every music fan should have this festival on their bucket list.

There were other smaller festivals too; Louisville’s Forecastle Festival in July featuring Widespread Panic, Yonder Mountain String Band, Umphrey’s McGee and the Avett Brothers, among many, many others playing over three days in a small park alongside the Ohio River. There was also Spring Hookahville, held just outside of Columbus. Created by one of the best jambands in the midwest, Ekoostik Hookah (who played two sets), the festival also featured bands like the Wailers and Steve Kimock’s Crazy Engine, featuring the legendary George Porter Jr. on bass and Bernie Worrell on keys.

Then there were the Cincinnati festivals; MidPoint and CincyPunk. It was by far the best MidPoint ever, with the addition of the Lite Brite Test Film Festival at the Contemporary Arts Center, the big tent outside Grammar’s Bar and a lot more music on Fountain Square. Raving shows included sets from national touring acts like the Dynamites featuring Charles Walker, Chairlift, Micachu and the Shapes and The Do, and local favorites like the Heartless Bastards (not so local anymore but we still love them), the Lions Rampant, Buffalo Killers, The Sundresses, mallory and The Minor Leagues, among (literally) hundreds of others who, while I cannot mention them all, they are not forgotten by any means. And then the return of CincyPunk at the Southgate House. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging because my brother created this festival, but it really has become a fun, important staple in the local music scene, bringing together the best from the area and some from beyond, for what really is without a doubt the best weekend locally of music aside from MidPoint. Mad props to him on that, and to the return this coming April for their ninth festival! Maybe one day you’ll see a festival put together by yours truly…

Then there were all the shows I caught around town, mostly at the Southgate House, but also at places like the Mad Hatter and Northside Tavern. I tried to make a list last week, but I still think I’m forgetting some shows. Some that really stick out in my head are Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit with Deer Tick, Pomegranates CD Release Party, Peter, Bjorn and John with Chairlift, Sara Watkins, The Felice Brothers, Fran and Andy of Travis’ storyteller-like show, Backyard Tire Fire, mallory’s CD Release Party, and of course the late Vic Chesnutt.

But for more on the year in the local music scene, you’ll have to stay tuned. I’m putting something together featuring over 130 of the area’s bands and how the year was for them. Keep looking for that.

As for music on a national and even international level, there was just so much going on that I really don’t know where to start. Let’s start with albums released. So many great albums, so little time. Among the best of the year, you’ll have to check out the releases from bands like (and get ready for this), Fever Ray, White Lies, Antony and the Johnsons, Bon Iver, Umphrey’s McGee, Animal Collective, Andrew Bird, Bruce Springsteen, Muse, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Flaming Lips, M. Ward, Booker T. Jones, Morrissey, Neko Case, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Handsome Furs, Dan Deacon, The Decemberists, Girls, Peter, Bjorn and John, Doves, Bat for Lashes, Fruit Bats, Sara Watkins, Wilco, Camera Obscura, Asher Roth, Japandroids, Brendan Benson, Dan Auerbach, Conor Oberst, Akron/Family, White Rabbits, Portugal. the Man, Passion Pit, Dave Matthews Band, The Mars Volta, and Grizzly Bear, The Dirty Projectors and Phoenix, three who rank among the hottest bands of the year.

There were also all types of events, including the kind of stuff you don’t want to hear about; deaths of music legends and breakups of bands. Perhaps the biggest story you’ll hear when you look back on 2009 is the death of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. But so many others in the music industry left this world this year, too many to name, but I’ll just throw a few more names out there: Ron Asheton of The Stooges, Billy Powell or Lynyrd Skynyrd, John Martyn, Estelle Bennett of The Ronettes, Kelly Groucutt of ELO, Ron Stallings of Huey Lewis and the News, Jay Bennett of Wilco, Koko Taylor, DJ AM, Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary, Steve Ferguson of NRBQ, Jerry Fuchs of !!!, Maserati and the Juan Maclean, Vic Chesnutt and James Sullivan of Avenged Sevenfold.

Then there were the bands who either broke up or went on a hiatus: Conor Oberst’s Mystic Valley Band disbanded, although you don’t have to worry about Conor never playing music again. The former creator behind Bright Eyes, is currently working with friends Jim James of My Morning Jacket and M. Ward in the supergroup Monsters of Folk. Actress and singer, Juliette Lewis, disbanded her band The Licks, while Live, Oxford Collapse, The Verve and the Violent Femmes all broke up in 2009. Bands who are currently taking a break include Bloc Party, Nine Inch Nails, The Fratellis, The Knife and TV on the Radio, although I’m not too bothered by the Dixie Chicks, Fall Out Boy, Foo Fighters and P.O.D. taking a break. 2009 also saw a return for some bands: the Beastie Boys released their first album with vocals in five years, Alice in Chains released their first studio album in fourteen years, while the Black Eyed Peas, Blink 182, Depeche Mode, Green Day, Eminem, Rancid and U2 all released their followup albums since the mid-00’s. 2009 also saw the return to the road for jamband warriors like Phish, The Dead and the String Cheese Incident.

I really don’t know what else to put in this, so I’ll just end it. I hope you enjoyed reading about the year in music from my perspective, and I hope your 2009 was as awesome as mine. Here’s to an even better 2010! Cheers!

One of Cincinnati’s greatest music products ever, at least in my generation, the Heartless Bastards, marked their return home with a sold-out show at the Southgate House last night. Although they’ve played a few shows in town this year, the last being at the end of September at the MidPoint Music Festival, based on the crowd’s energy alone you probably would’ve assumed it was their first show in town since front woman Erika Wennerstrom made the move out West to Austin, Texas a couple years ago. It was easily one of the best shows both musically and attendance-wise that I’ve seen at the Southgate House all year long, this alongside shows like Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Peter, Bjorn and John and Sara Watkins, formerly of Nickel Creek. It was also nice for Erika and the revamped Bastards lineup to come back home for one last show of the year.

It certainly has been an amazing year for the band; music critics, blogs and magazines are eating up their latest release, The Mountain, by the spoonful. They played a show last March with The Decemberists at the South by Southwest Festival in their new hometown, did The Late Show with David Letterman, did a stint over the summer as Wilco’s opening act on their tour, and they’ve played just about every one of the country’s biggest and best outdoor music festivals; I saw them open for the legendary Booker T. Jones at this past summer’s Bonnaroo Music Festival.

I lost track of time last night, but if I had to guess, I’d say the Bastards probably played for nearly two hours. While the night seemed to belong to the songs off of The Mountain, and the focus was certainly on a new sound and new guitar player, they did give the fans songs spanning their career, from albums like All This Time and Stairs and Elevators.

But it wasn’t just a great show because of the Heartless Bastards or the crowd’s energy; thanks to the J. Dorsey Blues Revival (recent CEA winners of the Blues category) for starting the night off very strong with Dorsey’s work on the slide guitar and the band’s bluesy, garage rock sound reminiscent of the 70’s. New favorite band in town.

I’m not much of a holiday type of person, so I get super psyched when I hear about concerts happening on holiday nights, especially Christmas. This Christmas, if you feel you need to get out of the house (like I know I will), head down to the Mad Hatter in Covington for a concert with The Seedy Seeds, Lions Rampant and The Guitars. If you feel guilty about leaving your family and relatives for the night, let ‘em know that this show benefits the Women’s Crisis Center of Northern Kentucky. Not only will you feel good listening to these bands, but you’ll feel good by doing something great to help those in need. Isn’t that what Christmas is really about anyways? Earn some points from the man upstairs on his birthday as well.

The first decade of the 21st century has just about come to a close. While the political industry has seen things like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Iraq War and the first election of an African-American President, the music industry has seen things like the rebirth of the outdoor music festival (thanks to a crashing fall brought on by the failed Woodstock ‘99), as well as all of the issues pertaining to illegal internet downloading and pirating of music. I like to think that’s it’s been an amazing decade of music, and was probably one of the best times for bands to be coming along. While the 60’s are remebered with The Beatles, Stones and hippies, the 70’s funk, disco and punk, the 80’s Michael Jackson and MTV, the 90’s alternative and mainstream rock, the 00’s will be remembered for Jack White, the rise of indie bands, and how the definition of “indie” changed from “independent/unsigned band” to “a certain type of sound.” Like I said, I think it’s been an amazing decade of music, and although I’m still quite young at twenty-eight, I believe this has been by far the best decade of music I have experienced. I like what a lot of blogs and magazines are doing right now with putting together their “best albums of the decade” lists, but I just don’t think I have the patience or could take the stress in trying to rate my favorites from the past ten years. So I’ve made a list below of some of my favorite bands, some of the biggest bands, and some of my favorite and most-listened to albums of the past ten years. Hope you enjoy!

Ryan Adams
Favorite Album: Demolition
Honorable Mentions: Heartbreaker; Gold; Easy Tiger; Cardinology

From what I know, no other artist has released more albums this decade than Ryan Adams. Maybe Jack White or Conor Oberst, if you were to combine all of their records from their various projects, but my “Artist of the Decade” award clearly has Adams winning in a landslide. I’ve enjoyed every Adams release, and consider many of his albums among my most cherished of all-time. Whether he’s playing loud and electric rock and roll and blues (”To Be Young”, “New York, New York”. “This Is It”) or soft and acoustic, country-folk ballads (”Oh My Sweet Carolina”, “Desire”, “I Taught Myself How to Grow Old”), I’ve enjoyed both the Jeykll and Hyde in Adams.

My Morning Jacket
Favorite Album: Evil Urges
Honorable Mentions: At Dawn; It Still Moves; Z

No other band is more loved in the history of Bonnaroo than the Jacket. Thankfully, this is where I discovered this band (after hearing about their 2004 thunderstorm performance, I knew I needed to attend the next year). I’ve been around to see their sound evolve, and much like Ryan Adams, I enjoy both the soft, acoustic stuff (”Golden”, “Sec Walkin”) and the loud rock and roll (”Mahgeetah”, “One Big Holiday”) of MMJ. I think that with every release they put out, their music just keeps getting a lot better, and that all has to do with bringing more musical styles, sounds and instruments to the table. If you haven’t yet heard of the omnichord, you’ve got to check out Jim James’ work on this weird instrument (”Smokin’ from Shootin’”, “Touch Me, I’m Going to Scream”).

Wilco
Favorite Album: Sky Blue Sky
Honorable Mentions: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot; A Ghost is Born; Kicking Television: Live in Chicago

Again, another band whose every release this decade has held a special place in my heart. I don’t want to say that I like the story of Jeff Tweedy going from drug addict to clean and sober, but the music he’s written during this phase (especially noticeable on Sky Blue Sky) are by far some of the most honest, emotionally-relatable songs I’ve ever heard, and for him to put his heart out on his sleeve like that is highly respectable and courageous. 

The White Stripes/The Raconteurs/The Dead Weather
Favorite Album (all projects): Icky Thump
Honorable Mentions: White Blood Cells; Get Behind Me Satan; Broken Boy Soldiers; Horehound

Radiohead/Thom Yorke
Favorite Album: Kid A
Honorable Mention: In Rainbows

Bon Iver
Favorite Album: For Emma, Forever Ago
Honorable Mention: Blood Bank EP

Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst
Favorite Album: Cassadaga
Honorable Mentions: Lifted or the Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground; I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning; Digital Ash in a Digital Urn; Conor Oberst

Andrew Bird
Favorite Album: Noble Beast
Honorable Mention: Armchair Apocrypha

Band of Horses
Favorite Album: Cease to Begin
Honorable Mention: Everything All the Time

Ben Harper
Favorite Album: Live from Mars
Honorable Mention: Both Sides of the Gun

Arcade Fire
Favorite Album: Neon Bible
Honorable Mention: Funeral

The National
Favorite Album: Boxer
Honorable Mention: Alligator

Kings of Leon
Favorite Album: Only By the Night
Honorable Mention: Because of the Times

Coldplay
Favorite Album: A Rush of Blood to the Head
Honorable Mention: Parachutes

The Flaming Lips
Favorite Album: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Honorable Mention: At War with the Mystics

Dr. Dog
Favorite Album: We All Belong
Honorable Mentions: Easy Beat; Fate

The Black Keys/Dan Auerbach
Favorite Album: Keep It Hid (Dan Auerbach)
Honorable Mentions: Magic Potion (Black Keys); Attack & Release (Black Keys)

Explosions in the Sky
Favorite Album: All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Honorable Mentions: How Strange, Innocence; Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever

Tom Waits
Favorite Album: Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
Honorable Mention: Alice

Daft Punk
Favorite Album: Alive 2007
Honorable Mention: Discovery

The Decemberists
Favorite Album: The Crane Wife
Honorable Mention: The Hazards of Love

The Hold Steady
Favorite Album: Boys and Girls in America
Honorable Mention: Stay Positive

Passion Pit
Favorite Album: Manners
Honorable Mention: Chunk of Change EP

Dave Matthews Band
Favorite Album: Busted Stuff
Honorable Mention: Stand Up

The Killers
Favorite Album: Hot Fuss

Modest Mouse
Favorite Album: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

The Swell Season
“Once” Soundtrack

Spoon
Favorite Album: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Honorable Mention: Gimme Fiction

Damien Rice
Favorite Album: O
Honorable Mention: 9

Okkervil River
Favorite Album: The Stage Names
Honorable Mention: The Stand Ins

Josh Ritter
Favorite Album: The Animal Years
Honorable Mention: The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter

Phoenix
Favorite Album: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

The Slip
Favorite Album: Eisenhower

Heartless Bastards
Favorite Album: The Mountain
Honorable Mention: All This Time

Over the Rhine
Favorite Album: Ohio
Honorable Mentions: Films For Radio; The Trumpet Child

Kim Taylor
Favorite Album: I Feel Like A Fading Light
Honorable Mention: So Black, So Bright

Ryan Adcock
Favorite Album: From Silence and Joy
Honorable Mention: Unfinished

Bad Veins
Favorite Album: Bad Veins

Cameron Martin Cochran
Favorite Album: The Cycle of Life and Death
Honorable Mention: Diary, A Days