We’re approaching the part of the year when many major music festivals reveal their lineup. Before these reveals, music blogs and message board users do their best to figure out who’s playing where before the official announcements. Sometimes this excitement leads to the spreading of false information such as the many sites that reported Prince would headline Bonnaroo 2012.
[Screengrab via Listen Before You Buy]
Over the past 24 hours word has spread that Daft Punk, Phoenix and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs will play Coachella 2013. What was the source of this information? An email from concert database site Songkick which showed those bands and The Rolling Stones aboard for the event. Someone took a screenshot of the email and word of the rumored appearances spread like wildfire. Even Rolling Stone picked it up.
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We’re less than five months from the start of Bonnaroo 2012, which is set to take place in Manchester, Tenn. between June 7 and 10. Last year’s lineup was announced on February 14, the 2010 lineup was announced on February 9 of that year, while the lineup for the 2009 edition of the country’s biggest and most prestigious music festival was revealed on February 2, 2009. In about a month we should officially know who will perform at the 11th Bonnaroo. ’Roo Lineup Rumor Season is in full swing and for those who haven’t been paying attention, or didn’t want to sort through 100s of pages of posts, we’ve combed through the posts by the Bonnaroo diehards that swap info on the Inforoo.com message board to compile what they’ve figured out.
The Inforooster (@TheInforooster), who runs Inforoo.com and has a strong past track record, feels this year’s headliners will be Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Fleet Foxes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Eagles, Phish, Radiohead and Prince. Fleet Foxes is a long shot considering the band responded with a blunt “no” to a fan who asked whether they would play any summer festivals in ’12. McCartney doesn’t have any dates currently planned but will be putting out an album next month that you’d think he’ll support. Gaga is said to have a major tour in the works and would fit the mainstream superstar slot filled by Eminem and Jay-Z the last two years. The Red Hot Chili Peppers kick off a European Tour on June 23, so a Bonnaroo headlining slot might be a nice warm-up. Meanwhile, both Radiohead and Phish seem to be in the discussion every year lately, though each act will be on the road this summer.
Another potential headliner would be The Black Keys, who Billboard reports are already confirmed for “headlining slots at major U.S. and European festivals this summer.” We’ll also point out that Van Halen has a gap in their tour between June 5 and June 12, just sayin’.
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Our news feed heated up this morning following a report by UK’s Daily Express newspaper hinting that Pink Floyd would reform to play at this summer’s Olympics in London. The news spread like wildfire but if you read the actual article, you’ll see there’s not much to the report but conjecture.
David Gilmour – The Blog, an unofficial website for the Pink Floyd guitarist that has a strong track record when it comes to debunking or verifying rumors tweeted that fans should ignore the Olympics stories as Gilmour won’t be there. The surviving members of the band have made it clear it would take an incredible cause to bring Pink Floyd back together and reuniting for a sporting event, even the grandest sporting event, doesn’t seem in tune with those past statements.
Elsewhere, Bill Clifford and Stu Cook of Creedence Clearwater Revival shot down the possibility of a reunion with John Fogerty. Fogerty made headlines last summer when he told Rolling Stone that he was open to a reunion. According to WENN.com, Cook told Uncut Magazine, “Leopards don’t change their spots. This is just an image-polishing exercise by John. My phone certainly hasn’t rung.” Clifford added, ”It might have been a nice idea 20 years ago, but it’s too late.”
Rothbury 2009 looks like a go thanks to an agreement between AEG Live and A U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee that allows the concert promoter to lease the Double JJ Ranch in Michigan once again this summer.
The owners of the Double JJ Ranch, which hosted last year’s successful Rothbury debut, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy a few months after July’s festival. Since it’s unlikely new owners won’t be found by the time, AEG and Madison House struck a deal with the Ranch’s federally appointed trustee. Now that the pesky venue issue is almost resolved – a federal Bankruptcy judge must approve the deal – the promoters can focus on the lineup.
For the last few years the promoters of Bonnaroo have successfully transformed the event’s image from Hippie Jam Fest to the nation’s best and biggest music festival. If they signed both Phish and The Dead for Bonnaroo 2009 they’d lose all the credibility with the mainstream audience they’ve worked so hard to build since 2002. The folks behind Rothbury don’t have that problem. AEG Live and Madison House embraced the jam fans and have nothing to lose and everything to gain by being the first festival to feature both bands in the same lineup.
We’re not sure if the promoters are talking to The Dead, but Phish seems to be on their radar. Yesterday, Dave Alexander of the Kalamazoo Gazette speculated that Phish and Tom Petty would headline Rothbury 2009. Other names thrown around in the article were Coldplay, the Foo Fighters and AC/DC. If last year’s announcement schedule holds true, look for the full lineup towards the middle of February.
Is the Mothership preparing to host the most important gigs in the 25-year history of Phish? According to the Merry Swankster, the quartet is on the verge of announcing a three-night comeback run at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia. They actually claim that the announcement will come today, so you might want to book hotel rooms for March 6-8 on the Coliseum Drive Strip. We’ll see if today’s announcement actually pans out, but Hampton – a venue that’s hosted some of the greatest shows in Phish history – seems like the ideal place to kickoff the post-Breakup era. Stay tuned!
With all the rumors goin’ around about the upcoming return of Phish, it’s always tough to differentiate stories that are complete bullshit from those that are based in fact. Our friend Todd at Jamtopia isn’t one to throw up a post if he didn’t believe his source. Todd just shared the details of an e-mail with a rumor that originated from Jon Fishman:
The short version: Phish is definitely reuniting and there will be a new Phish album produced by Steve Lillywhite, who produced Billy Breathes over 12 years ago.
We sure hope Todd’s source is right on this one. In the meantime, be sure to keep your eyes on Jamtopia for the best in live concert videos and rumors.
Fire up the back room at Satriale’s Pork Store: We jokingly discussed increasingly confirmed East Coast Coachella‘s menacing impact on the definitely confirmed Vineland festival. But the New York Times this morning advanced the story, casually mentioning that both New Jersey festivals are tentatively scheduled for the weekend of August 8th – 10th. Is it time to go to the mattresses yet?
Maybe it’s too conspiracy theory for you, but it makes us wonder what role the Neighbors Against Rock Concert Site (NARCS!) had in helping Vineland’s new enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, we’ve often heard. The Times also printed that Radiohead and Jack Johnson — opposite ends of the quality spectrum — may be headlining AEG and Goldenvoice’s Liberty State Park event.
When I headed over to Perez Hilton last night for the latest batch of Britney news, I received a nice shock. Turns out the Queen of all Media had quite the scoop about a competitor to the new Vineland festie. Hilton broke the news that Goldenvoice, the folks behind the Coachella Music Festival, are planning to mount an East Coast version of the extremely successful event, sometime in August.
Perez appears to be right on the money, as Billboard just published an article stating the proposed festival will take place at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. We can’t think of a better place for a turf war than New Fuckin’ Jersey.
The Billboard article points out that the Liberty Park festival will not carry the Coachella brand, which is a good thing considering the name refers to the valley in California where the original festival goes down. May we suggest Dirty Jerz: The Festival? In the past we’ve ranted about there being too many festivals out there, but honestly the NYC area needs a real festival with a varied lineup. If anyone can deliver, it’s certainly the braintrust behind Coachella.
Coachella 2008 takes place on April 25th – 27th outside of Palm Springs, with The Breeders being the only band on the bill announced thus far. Stay tuned for more details on Coachella and the Liberty State Park festivals. In the meantime, I’ll continue reading Perez Hilton so you don’t have to.
The fine folks at Brooklyn Vegan certainly caught our attention today when they posted this mind-blowing potential lineup for Thursday night’s Jimmy Vivino/Bill Graham birthday celebration at BB King’s in Times Square.
Thursday Jan 10th at BB KIng’s. “Return To The Fillmore East” With….. THE PRISONERS OF 2ND AVE Featuring: JIMMY VIVINO, RICH PAGANO + JOHN CONTE
Bill Graham Birthday Show!
-and-
A Jimmy Vivino Birthday Celebration!
With special guests and special friends …
THE FAB FAUX, LEVON HELM, WILLIE NILE, AL KOOPER, WARREN HAYNES, PAUL SHAFFER, JOHN SEBASTIAN, DAVID JOHANSEN, HUBERT SUMLIN, ROBERT GORDON, CATHERINE RUSSELL, LARRY CAMPBELL
All of these legendary performers has a long history with Vivino, so this certainly isn’t beyond the realm of possibilities. The BB King website listing for the show is playing coy, but a recent press release we received may prove it’s worth: “The evening promises to be colorful and it would be beneath us to advertise the names of current and former lineups who want to celebrate and play.”
Tickets are still available at the moment (half-price with the code ‘OFFER’). Do any of our readers out there have any inside information about this show?
Shut down the Internet cafes — it looks like Pete Townshend’s coming to town.
In what’s become the most buried story of the new year, the former Who guitarist joined Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr for a secret New Year’s Eve gig in Surrey, England. A group that combines The Beatles, Cream and The Who surely constitutes news in its own right, but our friend over at Hits from the Blog pointed out this update from The Who’s website:
Pete Townshend to perform at a major gig in New York?
After his performance at an annual village gig laid on by pal Eric Clapton for New Year’s Eve, the rumour’s now going around that Who guitarist Pete Townshend is going to be performing at “a much larger gig” in New York sometime before March.
I’ve never dealt very well with “context clues,” but that’s gotta mean a cameo at the Winwood/Clapton shows in late February, no? You’d have to believe. You’d want to believe. I’ve often said, the thing that show needs more of are old British guys. And on the frivolity tip, what’s up with the bolded question in that Townshend update? You’re the official website, you tell me motherfucker. We look to you for definitive information, not vague statements capped with faulty punctuation.
It looks as if the Jackson 5 may reunite for what may potentially be the biggest source of Grade-A music-blog fodder since Radiohead “pulled a Radiohead.”
Jermaine’s talking, and he claims the talented one will be involved in some role:
Michael will be involved. We want to tour. We want to touch the lives of everybody who’s bought our records and supported us. It will probably start here first, but it will be sometime in 2008. That’s our plan.”
Our guess is Michael will want to touch more than just lives…we’ll let you know if “scrumptious boycock” is featured prominently on the tour rider. Eh, too easy.
Anything you can do I can do better: Radiohead may have had their bogus countdowns and groundbreaking news about its forthcoming album (Top of the Drudge Report, ma!), but Arcade Fire’s apparently throwing down an enormous surprise of its own this weekend at the Randall’s Island extravaganza with LCD Soundsystem, Blonde Redhead and Les Savy Fav that we’ll be attending.
So, what’s the news? All we know is that NeonBible.com has a link to a mysterious site called www.beonlineb.com that sports the above wallpaper and “Arcade Fire Presents.” Only the awesomely awesome dudes at Pitchfork seem to be in the loop, but we’re taking some guesses of our own:
- They’re giving back that poor kid’s basketball
- They’re bottling a cologne made from the sweet smell of their own success
- They’re formally seceding from Canada
- They’re announcing Montreal native and former Chicago Bulls behemoth Bill Wennington is joining the band…on ukulele
- They’re fully ready to admit that in 1972 they were the crack commando unit sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit, then promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground, where today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune.
So what do you think? Could we be on target? Got any thoughts? Fill us in…
Well, if there really is a sex tape out there of the overly anxious Meg White in action, it also sheds new light on “Jimmy the Exploder” and “Ball and Biscuit.”
So could this thing really be Ms. White? And was the impending release of this video the reason for the tour’s cancellation? That, I’m sure we’ll find out in the next 24 hours. Whether it is or it isn’t her in the tape, the girl in the video shares much of the same robotic characteristics and lackluster performance. Zing!
UPDATE: Meg White’s publicist has issued the following statement: “Some people have a very twisted sense of humor and this prank is in particularly bad taste. The tape circulating on the internet as featuring Meg White is fake. It’s definitely not Meg.” BOO!!!!!
Will the third time be a charm for the Van Halen reunion tour? Please?
We started to get excited in 1996 after the original members of Van Halen appeared at the MTV Music Awards show, but two weeks later Eddie put the kibosh on it when he said that he couldn’t stomach working with David Lee Roth. Earlier this year Billboard reported that a Van Halen amphitheater tour had been booked, only to have Eddie Van Halen ruin the fun by checking into rehab (hey, dude, nobody likes Fun Bobby when he’s sober).
Now both Billboard and Rolling Stone have confirmed that the band will be holding a press conference next week to announce an October arena tour. Let’s not get too excited. Nothing will ever be confirmed until David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen are on the same stage playing Jamie’s Cryin’.
Billboard and Rolling Stone are also reporting that Wolfgang Van Halen will indeed be replacing Michael Anthony on bass throughout the tour. Awesome parenting skills, Eddie! God knows touring treated you so well over the years.
Move over, Bustle In Your Hedgerow: The genuine article may be coming back.
The three not-quite-dead-yet members of a little rock band called Led Zeppelin are reportedly talking about a reunion, at least for one show. Bob Page, Jim Plant and the SuperJammy Jam John Paul Jones have discussed plans to get together for a one-off memorial concert for legendary record executive, Ahmet Ertegun.
And no-one can quite believe it, but during discussions about the concert they all gave the green light to a tour if it all does well and they don’t all fall out.
We’ll believe it when we see Plant in skinny pants on stage with Jimmy, John and Bonham’s kid. Until then, it’s still incidents and accidents, hints and allegations.
