The Rock Subculture Journal will be covering Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana in the Swiss Alps of Switzerland in March. Just a few weeks away, I’ll be covering all nine nights of the annual music event, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Sadly, The Kills will no longer be part of the line-up due to an illness, but the organizers have added rock legend Alice Cooper to the bill. The festival runs March 8th through the 16th, and tickets and more info can be found at the official site at www.capricesfestival.ch. [Read more…]
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2013 Concert Artist Line-Up Announced; Preview of Bay Area “Fauxchella” Possibilities
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, presented by Goldenvoice, has announced their 2013 line-up of artists and bands performing at the annual music event in Indio, California. Featured artists include New Order, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phoenix, The Stone Roses, Blur, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The xx, Phoenix, Modest Mouse, Lou Reed, Metric, Of Monsters and Men, Johnny Marr, Moby, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Vampire Weekend, Jurassic 5, Hot Chip, Postal Service, Social Distortion, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and more. For residents of Northern California, like myself, are just as excited about the announcement, in that though we may not make the trek to Southern California, we have the benefit of what has been dubbed “Fauxchella” by SpinningPlatters.com… with concert venues in the San Francisco Bay Area playing host to many of the bands adding on their own headlining shows on dates just before and after the famous festival event.
Caprices Festival To Feature Unparalleled Line-Up of Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, Singer/Songwriter, and Electronic Artists from March 8th-16th in Switzerland
The 10th anniversary of The Caprices Festival in Switzerland boasts an amazing line-up of artists, which will perform over nine days, from March 8th through the 16th. Included among the 50 artists are The Killers, Tori Amos, Fatboy Slim, Björk, The Kills, Nelly Furtado, Portishead, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Cypress Hill, and many others. The festival is a huge attraction for music fans the world over, and it appears to be one of the best organized music events of its kind. Renowned for its special atmosphere set within idyllic Crans-Montana, it is designed for concert goers from across the globe, the official site offers help with travel as well as special packages to take advantage of other attractions, such as skiing. [Read more…]
Crystal Castles Extend World Tour in Spring 2013 with United States and Mexico Dates
Crystal Castles duo Alice Glass and Ethan Kath will be playing a number of dates in the Spring in the U.S. and Mexico, following two dates in March for the Ultra Music Festival, and an ongoing tour in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Europe. Their third album, (III), came out late last year, and new songs will be added to their sets from the new album, which will be promoted via a new single “Sad Eyes” and their first video, expected February 18th. [Read more…]
The Rock Subculture Journal 2012 Year In Review (Jason DeBord’s Top 100 Concert Photos)
This is the second and last of my 2012 “Year In Review” articles, though this one is mostly a pictorial. I went through the pictures I took at shows throughout 2012 and pulled out 100 of my favorites to republish here, in celebration of an amazing year for concerts and a fun year for me with photography. You can also check out my other Year in Review article with my Top 10 Live Music Concerts and Top 10 Studio Albums & Songs. [Read more…]
The Rock Subculture Journal 2012 Year In Review (Jason DeBord’s Top 10 Live Music Concerts; Top 10 Studio Albums & Songs)
2012 was an amazing year for both new music and live concert events, and although writing this “year in review” proved to be a monumental task, it was fun for me to do it to relive some special moments and appreciate the opportunities I had over the past 12 months to find new music and attend so many awesome live shows. It’s funny because many concerts and tours are announced with little notice, so at the start of any given year, you don’t really know what to expect, and 2012 definitely held a lot of surprises. When all was said and done, I ended up going to 58 concerts in 2012, each of which featured anywhere from one to seven artists, so that is a lot of live performances.
“Not So Silent Night” by Live 105 (Night 2, #NSSN) at Oracle Arena | Oakland, California | 12/8/2012 (Concert Review)
As noted yesterday, Not So Silent Night (NSSN) is Live 105’s “Annual Holiday Rock Show”, with 2012 being the first year it spans two consecutive nights. This second night featured headliner The Killers, along with M83, Passion Pit, Tegan and Sara, GROUPLOVE, and Imagine Dragons. Again, I was very, very impressed at how extremely well managed this multi-artist event was on both nights. Oracle Arena again served as host to six amazing acts in about seven hours time, with very brief breaks in-between. I found the two night show to be such a great event to attend, to have an opportunity to see so many great bands back to back, with a stellar closing set by The Killers.
“Not So Silent Night” by Live 105 (Night 1, #NSSN) at Oracle Arena | Oakland, California | 12/7/2012 (Concert Review)
Not So Silent Night (NSSN) is Live 105’s “Annual Holiday Rock Show”, with 2012 being the first year it spans two consecutive nights. This first night featured headliner Jack White, along with The Shins, Metric, Of Monsters and Men, The Gaslight Anthem, Two Door Cinema Club, and Our Vinyl Vows. I’ve never been a fan of traditional, outdoor festivals (for a variety of reasons), but this was an extremely well organized multi-artist event that can serve as a model for how to do them right, and comprised an excellent line-up of artists. The packed Oracle Arena was treated to seven great acts in under seven hours. It was a really fantastic evening celebrating the work of some really great bands, with Jack White closing things out with a really amazing performance.
Crystal Castles at Shobox SoDo | Seattle, Washington | 10/25/2012 (Concert Review)
Alice Glass may dispense with the audience chit chat you might find with other artists; for her and her bandmate Ethan Kath and their gigs as Crystal Castles, it certainly doesn’t make them any less interactive… with a reputation for high energy shows, she spent a good portion of the concert diving into the audience and literally surfing the crowd at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle last night. The Canadian duo, along with drummer Christopher Chartrand, rocked their unique and experimental lo-fi electronic synthpop/synthpunk sound with synthesizers including an Atari 5200-chip modded keyboard. Their live act is definitely worth checking out, as the somewhat chaotic staging and delivery is somewhat in contrast with the electronic music, fusing raw energy with 8-bit retro sounds to bring something to life that felt and looked like raw rock and roll, but sounded like something altogether new and different.