My Bloody Valentine, the alternative rock band from Dublin, Ireland, will be making a handful of rare headlining concert appearances in the United States during the worldwide tour, which will feature a number of dates at popular music festivals. These are the first U.S. dates since 2009. Their new album, mbv, was released earlier this year. [Read more…]
Another Planet Entertainment has announced a stellar line-up for their annual Outside Lands 3-Day festival in San Francisco at Golden Gate Park, running August 9-11. Headliners include Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Kascade, Vampire Weekend, Pretty Lights, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Hall & Oates, and more. 3-Day tickets are on sale now. [Read more…]
Since this was a pretty special experience and International music event, I thought I would share some thoughts and photos in summary here, mostly in an effort to genuinely promote and recommend this event to those who might not have heard of it or ever considering attending themselves. The 9-day event took place in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, a coming together of twin ski/resort towns to put on Caprices Festival, hosting dozens of musical artists spanning many different genres and styles. I actually only ran into a couple of Americans during the nine days of concerts (both had come out from New York for Tori Amos), so I think spreading some more information about the event on a U.S.-based site might bring out more people from the United States for future incarnations of this annual event, which celebrated it’s 10th anniversary this year, which also happened to mark some big changes and growth in size and line-up. [Read more…]
Having recently returned from my trip to Crans-Montana, Switzerland for Caprices Festival, I thought I would share some thoughts and feelings about the ski resort town that hosted the event for those who might have an interested in going there as a travel destination. Since I am not into skiing and snow-related sports, it was not a vacation spot at the top of my list, as it obviously offers a lot of recreation opportunities that do not appeal to me on a personal level. Even so, I really loved exploring the town and completely enjoyed myself, and plan to return for the same festival next year and look forward to making another visit to the two ski resort towns. [Read more…]
I did not make it to Après-ski and Modernity until the final day of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, which actually worked out great as far as Modernity went, as it was the sunniest day and very clear out, so I had a nice opportunity to take in the beautiful mountains from an amazing vantage point. However, at the time I stopped in at Après-ski, there was no scheduled live music (hence the photos of the empty space). I did shoot some video of the amazing views of the Swiss Alps from Modernity, which sits atop the ski slopes during the 9-day long music fesitval, just a short 20 minute walk and fun ride up the mountain from the main arenas and areas for the main part of the annual music festival. [Read more…]
Day 9 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland… it was the final one for the incredible series of a wide-ranging line-up of artist from a variety of music genres that drew thousands upon thousands to the resort area in the Swiss Alps. The themes for the final night, which drew one of the largest and most energetic crowds, was rap music and, well, a marijuana culture. I would have to rate the night near the top as far as high performance and crowd enthusiasm go, regardless of how one might feel about either of those things, as the artists collectively put out more energy than probably any other night’s show – they were each really amazing in their own ways, and gave fans what they wanted as well as probably cultivated some new ones for themselves. Really impressive stuff.
Day 8 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland… as the event approached its final two days Friday night, those in attendance seemed to have a desire to keep the party going, as Mika drew the largest crowd to date, not only filling the vast airline hanger-like space of The Moon, but overfilling the standing room only space in front of the stage. The popular British singer-songwriter drew such a crowd people were spilling out, standing watching from the hallway space in-between The Moon and The Tube, and was far and away the largest crowd pulled in thus far for the 9-day festival. The more pop-oriented line-up also included rising star Nadine Carina, local pop/folk singer Célien Schneider, and the ever versatile and classy Nelly Furtado, who put in one of my favorite shows of the past week.
Yesterday I had the opportunity and honor to meet with The Heavy backstage in their dressing room after their soundcheck for their set at Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland to talk to them a little bit and ask some questions about their band and perspective on a variety of topics. You can also check out my thoughts on their subsequent performance was well as photos over in my Day 7 coverage of this event. [Read more…]
Day 7 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland… Definitely one of the strongest nights for performances, if not the strongest overall, with a really unique and stellar line-up including The Heavy, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Alice Cooper. The theme tonight was rock and roll (though in a variety of different packages), and it was really like a triple headliner. I also had the unique opportunity to meet with and interview two of the four bands that took to the stage at The Moon at Caprices.
Day 6 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland was unfortunately one of disappointment for all involved, as headliner The Killers were not able to make to to play their set due to weather conditions. I was really looking forward to seeing them again after their epic show in their hometown of Las Vegas that closed out 2012. The rest of the line up for the evening was present, and this included many, many acts, of which I viewed four in whole or part, including the headliner by default The Spinto Band, 2ManyDJs, SebastiAn, and March. It was a high energy night for both rock and DJ/electronic music.