Maximum Performance
  • Every year, I attend at least one big-shebang music festival. And at least one time per festival, I hit a mental wall and wonder why I ever submitted myself to such rock 'n' roll torture in the first place. Whether I've been wellie-deep in Glastonbury mud or melting into a Wicked Witch-style sweat puddle in Coachella's 105-degrees-in-the-shade desert heat, I've suffered all sorts of indignities and inconveniences in my quest for festival fun, and sometimes I've pondered if it was all worth it.

    But of course, I still wanted to hit up a rockfest this summer. But which one? Chicago's Lollapalooza and Pitchfork would be too muggy. San Francisco's Outside Lands, too windy. New York's All Points West and Seattle's Bumbershoot, too rainy. It was a rock 'n' roll conundrum of Goldilocks-like proportions...

    But then I found the festival that was juuuusssst riiiiight: All Tomorrow's Parties in upstate New York's crumbling-yet-charming Catskills area. I mean, just check out this press release

    Read More »from All Tomorrow’s Parties: These Bands Got Catskillz
  • Documenting The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’

    If you haven't figured it out yet, you're in the middle of Beatles Week.

    Or, more specifically, Beatles Year. Because 2009 is looking to be one of the biggest in the legendary rock band's history.

    By now you've heard of the Beatles' Rock Band venture; it's a timely videogame venture that will likely introduce an entire new generation of young game players and budding music fans to the music of the Beatles, and it's big, big news.

    But even bigger news--any way you look at it--is this week's reissue of the complete Beatles catalog in newly remastered versions. Consumers can now purchase all of the Beatles' albums either separately or in boxed set form; the boxed set format offers consumers either stereo or mono versions of their work and--especially in the latter case--has audiophiles the world over drooling.

    In sequence of their original release, the classic albums include:  Please Please Me, With The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles For Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt.

    Read More »from Documenting The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’
  • Britney’s ‘Circus’ Is Coming To Town!

    It's been of the year's most anticipated tours, and it's been one of the biggest.

    Britney Spears--who, any way you look at it, is today's Queen Of Pop--has come back with a massive, well-received bang with both her Circus album and the first leg of The Circus Starring Britney Spears, a concert tour spectacular like no other seen before.

    With the second leg of the North American Tour now heading for take-off--it's slated to start Aug. 20th in Hamilton, Ontario and finish Sept. 27th in Las Vegas--Ms. Spears and her colorful troupe will soon be heading off to Australia for six long-awaited tour performances, hitting Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane starting in early November. It'll be the first time she's performed in Australia, and fans-from all reports--are drooling in anticipation.

    Ticket info for all the tour packages can be found here.

    In the meantime, Yahoo! Music is thrilled to be able to showcase this exclusive performance of Britney performing "Circus" onstage while on her

    Read More »from Britney’s ‘Circus’ Is Coming To Town!
  • The final day of Lollapalooza at Chicago's Grant Park hit a high-drama note with a slightly late performance by Lou Reed, which allegedly caused some discontent among Band Of Horses, who had to wait until he was finished to start their set on the nearby PlayStation stage. But honestly, guys? He's Lou Reed. He doesn't know how to be uncool (though he did look a tad grumpy). And, wait--he's LOU REED.

    Lou opened his set with "Sweet Jane," and then played an excellent 15-minute droning session toward the end of the show, segueing into "Waiting For My Man." Fans sang along to "Walk On The Wild Side" until the sun went down, and then the New York King exited the stage.

    To complete festival organizer Perry Farrell's vision of a crazy dance space, MSTRKRFT was booked for Perry's Stage, and the area was packed with blinged-out scenesters getting their jam on.

    Before Jane's Addiction took the main stage, a helicopter did rounds above the crowd. For a second I thought the band would pull

    Read More »from Lollapalooza Day 3: Lou Reed Brings Drama, Jane’s Addiction Bring Chicago Home
  • Lollapalooza Day 2: Diva Day With The Yeah Yeah Yeahs & Lykke Li

    Day two of Perry Farrell's Lollapalooza fest in Chicago's Grant Park kicked things up a notch by adding some diva flavor to its indie-boy band lineup. But first, No Age bravely kicked off the second half of the day, even though band member Randy Randall had recently dislocated his shoulder in a dance contest and had to play wearing a sling. The duo debuted at Lollapalooza regardless, bringing much-needed L.A. noise to the festival.

    Sweden's Lykke Li is known for her charming pop debut Youth Novels, but what people don't know about this diva is she can bang on the drums like a real punk and dance like a dream, as evidenced by her afternoon Lolla set.

    Animal Collective rocked the Vitamin Water stage at sunset, screaming much-welcomed jams from Merriweather Post Pavillion.

    Has Karen O been inducted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame yet? All bets say she will be one day. The rock goddess came beaming onto the stage with a gigantic headpiece and dress made of felt hands, then

    Read More »from Lollapalooza Day 2: Diva Day With The Yeah Yeah Yeahs & Lykke Li
  • Lollapalooza Day 1: Waiting For The Night To Fall On Depeche Mode

    Oh, Lollapalooza...Perry Farrell's famed festival of festivals has been rocking with a '90s spirit since, well, the '90s. Restarted in 2003 and now a long Chicago weekender instead of a touring fest, this seventh-year event made no cuts in budgets, pomp, or circumstance, with three days billed to the brim with new indie acts and old icons alike. But most of all, this year marked Jane's Addiction's epic return to the stage for the first time since the festival's revival. And knowing Perry Farrell, it would be worth all three days of insane heat.

    Although the first day began with a promise of rain, Seattle's Fleet Foxes warmed the wet festival grounds with a folky, forest-y set.

    Thievery Corporation had fields of people dancing.

    Angus Young---um, I mean Peter Bjorn & John--brought indie quirk with shorts just short enough to make for an idiosyncratic AC/DC effect onstage.

    Of Montreal took a rock 'n' roll voyage to Mars when they covered David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream" with special

    Read More »from Lollapalooza Day 1: Waiting For The Night To Fall On Depeche Mode
  • Yahoo! Music Braves The All Points West Mudfest

    At numerous points the All Points West Festival seemed like an ongoing parody of the epic mudbath of Woodstock '69: a bad, bad joke without the life-changing lineup. Nevertheless, hoards of concertgoers stayed optimistic, tromping through Jersey City's Liberty State Park for three consecutive days to see their favorite indie-rock stars.

    Day One:

    I had been on festival grounds for five minutes, and already decided to throw out my jellies.

    The National played a gorgeous silvery and black set full of numbers that warmed the heart of every city kid in the crowd.

    Ever-enigmatic Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontman Karen O brought the love at sunset by giving "Get Well Soon" shoutouts to the Beastie Boys, who cancelled their APW festival performance due to Adam Yauch's recent throat cancer diagnosis. She then spit out water like a badass rock-star whale, and the band did an awesome cover of the Cramps' "Human Fly."

    Hippie fever surged as the fields grew even muddier and the sun came down.

    The

    Read More »from Yahoo! Music Braves The All Points West Mudfest
  • U2: Live And “Crazy” In Barcelona

    From all reports, U2--who've been playing together since 1976--are only improving with age.

    And if the video below is any indication, those reports are entirely correct.

    This performance of "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight," shot in Barcelona this June at the start of U2's megalithic 360 Tour, is as good an indication as any that the boys in the band--Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr.--have yet to lose their touch and continue to astound.

    As you'll see from the clip, one of the more remarkable aspects of the current U2 show is the structure of the actual stage: It's circular, constructed to be placed at the central point of a stadium floor, around which the audience, at any angle, can see the band perform with an unsurpassed view.

    The current tour--on the receiving end of much acclaim--will finish its European leg on August 22nd, then head to the States beginning with a Sept. 12th date in Chicago. Raw numbers? Incredibly, over 3 million fans will see them by

    Read More »from U2: Live And “Crazy” In Barcelona

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