Watch Global Festival Online NOW - Foo Fighters, Neil Young, Black Keys, & More

This is a late reminder, I know, but the free Global Festival concert is going on right now in Central Park (it started at 4:30), and you can watch it free online at YouTube or Yahoo.

The Global Festival is going on now in Central Park's Great Lawn.

The concert features the Foo Fighters, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, the Black Keys, Band of Horses, and K'Naan. For more information on the Global Festival, visit its website here. In addition to the live webcast going on now, there will be two additional showings so that people around the world can see it at a convenient time. The other showings are on Sept. 30th at 2:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. EDT.
 

This Weekend: Black Keys, Snoop Dogg, Girl Talk, & Many More at Catalpa NYC Festival

The inaugural Catalpa NYC festival takes place this weekend.

There's a new festival in town, and it takes place this weekend: the Catalpa NYC Music Festival, featuring The Black Keys, Snoop Dogg, TV on the Radio, Matisyahu, Umphrey's McGee, Matt & Kim, and many more. The event takes place on Randall's Island, site of many other multi-day music events. And as you'll see from the lineup, Catalpa NYC blends rock, hip-hop, reggae, blues, and electronic music into one festival.

There are four stages, including a reggae stage that offers live music throughout the day. See the Catalpa NYC event info page for FAQs, full lineup, directions, venue map, and much more. Here's the lineup for the three main stages of Catalpa NYC:

Saturday, July 28th:
The Black Keys - 9:30 to 11 p.m.
Felix Da Housecat - 9:30 to 11
Umphrey's McGee - 8:30 to 9:30
TV on the Radio - 7:45 to 8:45
JDH+Dave P - 7:30 to 8:30
Umphrey's McGee - 6:45 to 7:45
Hercules and Love Affair - 6 to 7
Paul Favretti - 6 to 6:45
The Sheepdogs - 5 to 6
DJ Paul C - 4:15 to 5
Zola Jesus - 4 to 5
The Demos - 3:30 to 4:15
The Aviation Orange - 3 to 3:30
My Pet Dragon - 2:15 to 3
Q1043 winner - 1:30 to 2:15
The Rebel Light - 1 to 1:30

Sunday, July 29th:
Snoop Dogg (performing "Doggystyle") - 9:45 to 11 p.m.
Hellfire Machina - 9:45 to 11
A$AP Rocky - 8:45 to 9:45
Polish Ambassador - 7:45 to 8:45
Girl Talk - 7:45 to 9
AraabMusik - 6:45 to 7:45
Matt & Kim - 6 to 7
Hook N'Sling - 6 to 7
Matisyahu - 5:15 to 6:15
Cold War Kids - 4:30 to 5:30
Alex English - 4:15 to 5:15
Dirty Heads - 3:45 to 4:45
Paul Raffaele - 3 to 4
City and Colour - 3 to 4
The Big Pink - 2:15 to 3
Aunt Martha - 2 to 2:30
The Airplane Boys - 1:30 to 2
Bury Me a Lion - 1 to 1:30

Tickets are $100 for each day, or $180 for both. There are additional fees for ferry and parking options, but you can also take an MTA bus there (the X80 special event bus, $5.50 roundtrip, or less if you transfer from subway or bus with a pay-per-ride MetroCard). You can also walk or ride your bike across the bridge to Randall's Island.

I'll be going at least one of the days, thanks to the folks at the Village Voice (I won a Twitter contest about the Voice-sponsored 4 Knots festival). There are no heat waves, hail storms, or tornadoes forecast for this weekend, so the weather should be good to go. (Might be a little rain, but that's nothing compared to the stuff we've had to deal with so far this summer in the NYC area.)

If you're going to Catalpa NYC, enjoy and leave your comments below on how you liked it.

The Black Keys & Arctic Monkeys Rattle the Garden with Straight-Ahead Rock

Although The Black Keys have exploded from a moderately successful act to arena headliner in just a few years, the band kept its no-frills approach to performing at Thursday's concert at Madison Square Garden.

The Black Keys + two at MSG Thursday. 

 The duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney unleashed one bluesy rocker after another, starting with "Howlin' For You," with Auerbach occasionally pausing briefly between songs to thank the audience and ask how everyone was doing. Other than that, he was content to zip into another tune, several times saying things like, "Let's keep it moving right along" or "We're gonna move on to the next one, huh?"

The simple stage layout featured guitarist and singer Auerbach and drummer Carney up front and side by side, with two multi-instrumentalists (identified only as "Josh" and "John") behind them to fill out the sound. At about the middle point of the show, the backing players left the stage and Auerbach and Carney reeled off about a half-dozen tunes by themselves. But with the chops and chemistry the two share, their bare-bones guitar-and-drums-only sound managed to fill the Garden.

Carney (left) and Auerbach performed a set of tunes without their backing musicians. 

The Black Keys played songs from throughout their catalog, with an emphasis on their two latest albums, "El Camino" and their breakthrough, "Brothers." Fans were treated to "Run Right Back," "Strange Times," "Chop and Change," "Thickfreakness," "Tighten Up," and of course "Lonely Boy," the first single off "El Camino," the last song in the regular set. (See Spinner.com's review for a full Black Keys MSG setlist.) Disco balls descended from the ceiling, and from the general-admission floor, for "Everlasting Light," the first tune in the three-song encore.

Arctic Monkeys opened Thursday's show MSG.

British rockers Arctic Monkeys got the show off to a rousing start. Although they were more communicative with the audience than The Black Keys, they similarly ripped through a set of uptempo songs with a no-frills attitude. The emphasis, as expected was on their latest album, "Suck It and See."

The Black Keys could have sold out Madison Square Garden twice by themselves, but the inclusion of Arctic Monkeys made this show an even more attractive twin bill.

Considering The Black Keys' reputation as road warriors who tour relentlessly, if you missed the band on this leg of their tour you'll probably get a chance to catch them soon.

Coachella Announces 2012 Lineup; Expands to Two Weekends

Coachella fans, your wait is over: the lineup was announced last night for the festival's 2012 edition. For the first time ever, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival will be held over two consecutive weekends, April 12th to the 15th and April 20th to the 22th. What's more, the lineups are exactly the same for each weekend (all bands playing on the first Friday are playing on the second Friday. etc.).

You'll see the full lineup in the poster below, and some of it in this post below the poster. (Since the poster photo here is small, see the Coachella site and click on the poster graphic at the lower left corner to see a larger version.) Check out the Coachella 2012 lineup in alphabetical order, with social media links for performers, on the festival's lineup page.

Coachella 2012 has a strong lineup each day.

Headliners for Coachella 2012 will be the Black Keys on Friday, Radiohead on Saturday, and Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on Sunday. And the rest of the lineup is quite strong, too. Here's a brief look at some of the acts performing:

Friday: The Black Keys, Swedish House Mafia, Pulp, Refused, Arctic Monkeys, Mazzy Star, Afrojack, Explosions in the Sky, M83, Amon Tobin, Cat Power, Jimmy Cliff, Girls, and The Horrors.

Saturday: Radiohead, Bon Iver, the Shins, David Guetta, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Kaskade, Miike Snow, Jeff Mangum, Sebatian Ingrosso, Andrew Bird, Feist, Firehose, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, St. Vincent, SDTRKT, Kasabian, and Buzzcocks.

Sunday: Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, At the Drive-In, Justice, Florence and the Machine, AVICII, La Roux, Beirut, The Weeknd, Girl Talk, the Hives, DJ Shadow, Wild Flag, and Calvin Harris.

And those are just the acts listed on the top three of the six or seven lines on the Coachella poster. Other highly popular performers include groups that have headlines arena shows or have had well-reviewed albums that showed up on many "best-of" lists in 2011.

This includes Texas psychedelic rockers the Black Angels, the quirky Tune-Yards, British pop-folk singer Laura Marling, and the all-female Mexican garage-rock group Le Butcherettes, whose album "Sin Sin Sin" was named best of the year by Jim DeRogatis of the "Sound Opinions" music podcast.

It's not unusual for defunct bands to herald their return at big festivals, such as Rage Against the Machine did at Coachella a few years back. This year the much-admired post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, which split up more than a decade ago, announced its return with a new Twitter account (@AtTheDriveIn_).

Coachella is held at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. Pacific time.

More NYC Concerts: Tool, Coldplay 2nd Izod Show on Sale Saturday

Tool plays the Izod Center on Feb. 1st, and tickets go on sale tomorrow at the link below.

There was a mad rush today for tickets to The Magnetic Fields' concert and the second Black Keys show. And there's likely to be another virtual stampede tomorrow morning for two more big New York area gigs: Tool at the Izod Center on Feb. 1st, and the second Coldplay show at the same venue on Aug. 4th.

Tickets for Tool go on sale Dec. 17th at 11 a.m., while the Coldplay show goes on sale at 10 a.m. No tickets seem to be available for the first Coldplay show on Aug. 3rd, but sometimes tickets are released at a later date (extra tickets for the second Black Keys/Arctic Monkeys concert were made available this afternoon, just hours after they first went on sale).

NYC Concerts: Black Keys, Magnetic Fields On Sale Friday; F*cked Up, Titus Andronicus, & More Play this Weekend

Tickets for the second Black Keys/Arctic Monkeys show at Madison Square Garden in March go on sale tomorrow, as do tickets for the long-awaited return of Magnetic Fields. And there's a good slate of talent performing live this weekend at the Brooklyn Night Bazaar. Details:

As mentioned here last week, The Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys have added a second show at the Garden on March 22nd, 2012 (the first one is March 12th). Tickets for the Black Keys/Arctic Monkeys concert go on sale tomorrow, Dec. 16th, at 9 a.m.

Stephin Merritt's The Magnetic Fields play the Beacon Theatre on Tuesday, April 3rd. Tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 16th at 11 a.m. The band will be coming out with a new album, "Love at the Bottom of the Sea," on March 6th, according to their website.

As for gigs to see this weekend, the Brooklyn Night Bazaar has a solid lineup. Friday has Toronto's F*cked Up, Dom, Big Troubles, Radical Dads, and more, while Saturday's Brooklyn Vegan sponsored finale features The Hold Steady, Titus Andronicus, Wakey! Wakey!, and more. (The bazaar started off Thursday night with LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy spinning a DJ set, along with several bands.)

The Brooklyn Night Bazaar combines live music, shopping, art, and food, and takes place at 149 Kent Ave. (entrance is between N. 5th and N. 6th Streets), from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. each night. (More info and directions here.)  The bazaar is free except for the musical performances, which require a ticket. Tickets are $10 for Friday and $18 for Saturday.

Black Keys & Arctic Monkeys at the Garden: 2nd Show Added

It didn't take long for the March 12th Black Keys/Arctic Monkeys show at the Garden to sell out today, so a second show has been added on March 22nd. Tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 16th at 9 a.m.

Since 19,000 tickets have already been sold for the first show, presumably the second show won't sell out quite as quickly. But just in case, you'll probably want to get your Black Keys tickets soon after 9 a.m. on the 16th.

The Akron, Ohio duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney is touring in support of its latest album, "El Camino,"which came out this week.

NYC Concerts on Sale Fri.: The Black Keys with Arctic Monkeys; Gomez; M83; Neon Indian; More

Tickets for lots of great early-2012 concerts in New York are going on sale this Friday, Sept. 9th at Noon. The biggest of these is the recently announced show featuring The Black Keys with the Arctic Monkeys at Madison Square Garden, which takes place on March 12th.


Video for "Lonely Boy," the first single off the new Black Keys album.

The Garden is not the ideal place to see a concert, but The Black Keys have certainly gotten popular enough to fill arenas, especially with the release (today) of their much-anticipated new album "El Camino."

Here's a look at some of the most popular or interesting shows going on sale this Friday:
Wed., Jan. 4, 2012: Elizabeth & the Catapult with Misty Boyce, Mercury Lounge
Wed. & Thurs., Jan. 11 & 12: The Pierces, Mercury Lounge
Sat., Feb. 11: Don Giovanni Records Show featuring the Screaming Females, Laura Stevenson and the Cans, and others
Sat., Mon., & Thurs., March 3, 5, & 8: Bombay Bicycle Club, Music Hall of Williamsburg (March 3); Bowery Ballroom (March 5); Maxwell's (March 8)
Sun., March 11: Gomez, Bowery Ballroom
Mon., March 12: The Black Keys with Arctic Monkeys, Madison Square Garden
Fri., April 6: The War on Drugs, Music Hall of Williamsburg
Fri. & Sat., May 4 & 5: Andrew Bird, Beacon Theatre
Thurs., May 10: M83 with I Break Horses, Terminal 5
Sat., May 12: Neon Indian, Terminal 5

There are of course many big concerts coming up that are already on sale, one of the most popular being the slate of shows The National is doing at the Beacon Theatre starting next week. The shows run every night from Dec. 12th to the 17th, and each features openers who are appealing in their own right, including Sharon Van Etten, The War on Drugs, and Wye Oak.

The National's shows in New York have always sold out quickly, so it seems that the band is trying to address the problem with six consecutive shows. If you've wanted to see The National live in New York, this is your best chance in a few years.

Get your credit card out and get ready to see some great live music to start off the new year.

2011 Grammys: Beyond Gaga's Egg & Cee Lo's Chicken Suit - the Awards You Didn't See on TV

 

Muse (shown here at Newark's Prudential Center last October) won the Best Rock Album Grammy for "Resistance."

Here at Podcast Party, we're more interested in the pre-telecast awards given out at the Grammys than the glitzy, televised show (which only hands out about a dozen awards in three-and-a-half hours). Fortunately, the magic of the Internet means that you can now watch the nearly one-hundred pre-telecast awards being handed out in the live webcast (which may be archived for later viewing).

I didn't manage to see the entire pre-telecast Grammy show, but here are what I found to be some of the more notable awards that would be of interest to the readers of this blog (see the complete list of 2011 Grammy winners and nominees for more details):

* Best Pop Instrumental Performance - "Nessun Dorma" by Jeff Beck (beating out Laurie Anderson, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Stanley Clarke, and Gorillaz)

* Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance - "Helter Skelter" (live) by Paul McCartney (winning over songs by Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Robert Plant, and Neil Young)

* Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals - "Tighten Up" by The Black Keys (winning over Arcade Fire, Jeff Beck and Joss Stone, Kings Of Leon, and Muse

* Best Rock Instrumental Performance - "Hammerhead" by Jeff Beck (other nominees: The Black Keys, Los Lobos, Dweezil Zappa, and Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds

* Best Rock Song - "Angry World" by Neil Young (winning over songs by Mumford and Sons, Kings of Leon, Muse, and The Black Keys)

* (televised) Best Rock Album - "Resistance" by Muse (over albums by Jeff Beck, Pearl Jam, Neil Young, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

* Best Alternative Music Album - "Brothers" by The Black Keys (other nominees: Arcade Fire, Band of Horses, Broken Bells, and Vampire Weekend)

* Best Americana Album - "You Are Not Alone" by Mavis Staples (over albums by Rosanne Cash, Los Lobos, Willie Nelson, and Robert Plant)

* Best Contemporary Folk Album - "God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise" by Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs (over albums by Jackson Browne and David Lindley, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Guy Clark, and Richard Thompson)

* Best Hard Rock Performance - "Fang" by Them Crooked Vultures (over Alice in Chains, Ozzy Osbourne, Soundgarden, and Stone Temple Pilots)

* Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals - "Imagine" by Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare. This was a surprise, considering who Hancock & Co. were up against: Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg; B.o.B, Eminem, and Hayley Williams; Elton John and Leon Russell; and Lady Gaga & Beyoncé. It's not the first time Hancock has pulled a Grammy upset; his collaborative interpretation of Joni Mitchell tunes won Album of the Year a couple of years back.

And on a final note, the soundtrack from Green Day's Broadway show "American Idiot" won Best Musical Show Album over cast albums from "Promises, Promises," "Fela!," "A Little Night Music," and "Sondheim On Sondheim."

"Twilight: Eclipse" Soundtrack Tunes Coming Out, Drip by Drip

Guess it's fitting that the list of songs to be on the "Twilight: Eclipse" soundtrack are being slowly leaked out, one drop at a time, like blood from a vampire's fangs. "The official reveal of the Eclipse soundtrack"is a MySpace blog page where the songs and artists are being announced one at a time.

It's a pretty cool collection of indie artists. Here are the titles known so far (5 p.m. Eastern time, May 12th); check the Eclipse soundtrack reveal page (again and again, it seems) for the latest additions until that baby is filled up. One song is to be revealed per hour, it seems. UPDDATE: All complete now:

1. Metric – “Eclipse (All Yours)”
2. Sia – “My Love”
3. The Bravery – “Ours”
4. Florence + The Machine – “Heavy In Your Arms”
5. Muse – “Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)”
6. Fanfarlo – “Atlas”
7. The Black Keys – “Chop And Change”
8. The Dead Weather – “Rolling In On A Burning Tire”
9. Beck and Bat For Lashes – “Let’s Get Lost”
10. Vampire Weekend – “Jonathan Low”
11. UNKLE – “With You In My Head (featuring The Black Angels)”
12. Eastern Conference Champions – “A Million Miles An Hour”
13. Band Of Horses – “Life On Earth”
14. Cee-Lo Green – “What Part Of Forever”
15. Howard Shore – “Jacob’s Theme”

New York Concerts on Sale: Black Keys, Broken Bells, Buzzcocks, Phish, Metric, and More

Above: Metric (featuring Emily Haines, pictured) plays at Terminal 5 on May 16th. Photo: Magnus Manske

The summer concert schedule is heating up and tickets are going on sale now. Lots of concert tickets are going on sale tomorrow (and a few on Saturday); here's a list of some of the shows that will be in big demand:

On sale Fri., April 2nd:
* Phish - Nikon at Jones Beach Theater - Tues., August 17th & Wed., 18th
* The Black Keys - Central Park Summerstage - Wed., July 28th
* Metric - Terminal 5 - Sun., May 16th
* Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Sat., May 22nd
* Camera Obscura - Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom - Mon., June 7th
* Jay Farrar - Bowery Ballroom - Sat., June 5th
* Delta Spirit - Bowery Ballroom - Wed., June 30th
* Delta Spirit - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Thurs., July 1st
* Tears For Fears - Wellmont Theatre (Montclair, NJ) - Sat., Aug., 21st

On sale Sat., April 3rd:
* Broken Bells - The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza - Sat., June 5th
* The Buzzcocks - The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza - Thurs., May 13th