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.
 

Mick Jagger, Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters: "SNL" Finale is Full of Stones Tunes

Mick Jagger sent the 37th season of "Saturday Night Live" off with a big musical bang last night, thanks to help from some heavyweight friends and an extra dose of Rolling Stones tunes. Before the show I was wondering how "SNL" would fit Jagger, Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, and Jeff Beck into one hour-and-a-half program, and they did it by having two of the bands backing Jagger and adding in an extra musical segment to the show's traditional two-performance limit by musical guests.


Mick Jagger performs a medley of "19th Nervous Breakdown" and "It's Only Rock and Roll" with Foo Fighters.


Jagger sings "The Last Time" with Arcade Fire.

The third musical segment was Jagger performing "Tea Party," a blues song he wrote about the upcoming U.S. election. He performed this song with Jeff Beck and band (including Tal Wilkenfeld on bass). An odd piece, to be sure.


Jagger performs "Tea Party" with Jeff Beck and band.

The final musical performance, which closed the show, came at the end of a skit about a high-school graduation, with departing "SNL" cast member Kristin Wiig being singled out. The other "students" each took turns dancing with or hugging Wiig as Arcade Fire performed a medley of "She's A Rainbow" and "Ruby Tuesday."


Jagger and Arcade Fire send off Kristin Wiig with a medley of "She's a Rainbow" and "Ruby Tuesday." 

Wiig shed a few tears as she said goodbye to her cast members, and even "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels gave her a during the finale. John Hamm, Steve Martin, and Amy Poehler were also on hand. With her recent film success, especially the big hit "Bridesmaids" (which she starred in and co-wrote), Wiig becomes the latest talented comedian/actress to "graduate" from "SNL" to bigger things.

2012 Grammys Recap: The Boss, a Beatle, Glen Campbell, an Exorcism, & More

Nicki Minaj's Grammys performance was the #1 WTF moment of the night, featuring exorcism, dancing monks, and a Red Riding Hood outfit, among other things.

Yesterday's Grammys telecast wasn't as wacky as last year's, but it did have its highlights, lowlights, touching moments, and downright oddball stuff. A brief rundown:

• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band opened the show, performing their new single, "We Take Care of Our Own"
• Host LL Cool J offered a prayer for Whitney Houston, who died the day before. (Jennifer Hudson later sang "I Will Always Love You" in tribute.)
• Adele proved her voice was back, belting out a tune (and taking home six Grammys on the night)
• Paul McCartney performed a new Valentine's Day tune, and ended the show with a rousing version of "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End," with guitarists Springsteen, Joe Walsh, and Dave Grohl, among others
• Glen Campbell received a touching tribute, singing his old hit "Rhinestone Cowboy" after two of his other hits were covered by Blake Shelton and The Band Perry
• With Lady Gaga not performing this year, Nicki Minaj took up the bizarre-performance mantle with a lengthy song/dramatic piece featuring an exorcism
• The Allman Brothers Band was one of the artists honored with the lifetime achievement award (see video below)

Also, the Foo Fighters performed two songs and took home an armful of awards; Chris Brown made a controversial return to the Grammy stage; and Lady Gaga sat in the audience wearing what looked like a black basketball net over her face. And what would the Grammys be without some unusual musical collaborations, a couple of which didn't work at all (to me): Rihanna and Coldplay and the Beach Boys with Maroon 5 and Foster the People (though the latter wasn't a bad fit with Brian Wilson and band).

Of course, most of the awards (including the lifetime achievement honors) were handed out before the TV show (view the pre-telecast Grammys ceremony here).
 



You can find the full list of 2012 Grammy winners and nominees here.

Summer Concerts On Sale: Dave Matthews Band, Death from Above 1979, Governor's Ball, TV on the Radio, More

Tickets for the Aug. 22 show by Deerhunter (shown at River Rocks last summer) go on sale May 20 at 12 Noon.

It's still only May, but some of the summer concerts continue to be announced, and tickets are going on sale in the next day or two for some of the in-demand shows. This includes the Dave Matthews Band "Caravan" festival, the Foo Fighters two area appearances, and a show by the Canadian band Death from Above 1979. Here's a look at some of them, with other assorted summer concert information. (I'll have details on more free summer concerts in upcoming posts.)

The DMB show is already on sale; many of the others go on sale Friday, May 20th at 10 a.m. or Noon.

Dave Matthews Band Caravan - Fri. - Sun, Aug. 26 - 28 - Governors Island (full set by DMB each day; Dispatch, The Roots, Moe, Gogol Bordello, Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, The Head and the Heart, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, more)

(The DMB Caravan has another tri-state area show, in Atlantic City June 24 - 26.)

Governors Ball Music Festival - Sat., June 18 - Governors Island (Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, Empire of the Sun, Neon Indian, Big Boi (of Outkast), DJ set from Passion Pit)

Death From Above 1979 "with special guests" - Fri., July 22 - Williamsburg Waterfront

M. Ward with Kurt Vile & The Violators - Thurs., Aug. 11 - Wellmont Theatre (Montclair, NJ)

TV On The Radio with Broken Social Scene - Thurs., Sept. 8 - Williamsburg Waterfront

Roger Daltrey Performs The Who's Tommy, "plus Who classics and more" - Sun., Sept. 18 at Prudential Center and Fri., Sept. 23 at Nassau Coliseum

Deerhunter - Mon., Aug. 22 - Webster Hall

Foo Fighters - Mon., Sept. 26 - Izod Center

Foo Fighters Takeover on Fuse TV Today; Listen to "Wasting Light" Free Online

Fuse TV having a Foo Fighters takeover all day today, with an all-Foo schedule that features the new singles "While Limo" and "Rope" from their brand-new album "Wasting Light," which came out on Tuesday (the channel says it will premiere 11 new Foo Fighters videos, one at the top of every hour). You can see the band in an interview with Mark Hoppus (11 p.m. Eastern), watch their debut concert at Madison Square Garden, see a history of the band, and watch plenty of Foo Fighters videos. Find out more and see the schedule at www.fuse.tv/foofighters. (In the NYC area, you can find Fuse at these channels: Time Warner 132, Cablevision 56, Comcast 148.) Speaking of "Wasting Light," you can listen to the whole album free online at Spinner.com. It may only be up for a few more days, so head over there now if you want to make sure you catch it. As I mentioned last month, the Foo Fighters will be celebrating Record Store Day (tomorrow) by driving around to different indie music stores in the white limousine used in their video, "White Limo." (I'll post more info on Record Store Day later today or tomorrow; in the meantime you can go to their website at the link and find out your local independent music store, along with what special events or vinyl releases they'll be carrying.)

Music Notes: Foo Fighters Video, Free "Social Network" Songs, Epitonic Free Downloads are Back, Mike Starr Dead, & More

* The Foo Fighters will spend Record Store Day (April 12th 16th) making appearances at various record stores across the U.S. in a white limo to promote the release of "White Limo," the song and video from their new album "Wasting Light." The album comes out the same week as Record Store Day. What's more, the group will be releasing "a very special vinyl album of their favorite cover tunes, called "Medium Rare," EXCLUSIVELY for Record Store Day participating stores."

* Get a free five-song sampler from the Oscar-winning soundtrack to "The Social Network" by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Just go to the website and enter your e-mail address, and you'll get a confirmation message. If you like the music, you can buy the entire album for $5 (MP3 download) on the website (or $8 for CD; vinyl also available).

* The free, legal music download site Epitonic, which went out of business in 2004, is back. Pitchfork says the revivded Epitonic has new tracks from The Wrens and Marissa Nadler as well as previously released songs by groups including LCD Soundsystem, Fleet Foxes, and cut copy. I remember downloading some great tracks from Epitonic long ago—I think it was back when I still had a dial-up account. Welcome back, Epitonic!

* Alice in Chains co-founder and former bass player Mike Starr was found dead today in a house in Salt Lake Cty; he was 44. He had had drug problems (he even appeared on the TV show "Celebrity Rehab") and was been arrested last month for felony drug possession. He left Alice in Chains in 1993.

* New Jersey native Pete Yorn is doing six West Coast shows in April to mark the 10th anniversary of his debut album, "musicforthemorningafter." A 10th-anniversary edition of the album will be coming out later this month. Yorn will perform the album in its entirety at each show. He is now on tour and is playing in Philadelphia on March 10th and in New York (at Terminal 5) on March 11th.

* Music publishers have settled their lawsuit against LimeWire. Even though a judge found last year that LimeWire may be liable for multimillion dollar damages, and the case was set to go to trial in a couple of months, all claims have apparently been dismissed, with no reason given. (via GrownFolksMusic.com)

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from PJ Harvey, Adele, Nicole Atkins, Foo Fighters (Sort of), & More

Above: Foo Fighters performing "Rope," from their forthcoming album. You can preview live versions of what's said to be all the songs on the new album at the link at the bottom of this post.

Some much-anticipated new albums are up for free streaming, including Adele's follow-up to her acclaimed "19," the latest twist in the ever-changing musical journey of PJ Harvey, the sophomore album from New Jersey native Nicole Atkins, and the new work from Bright Eyes. And you can preview the new Foo Fighters album (sort of: a blog has put together videos of live versions of what it says are every song on the band's new album).

See the respective websites for a full listing of album previews being offered. The date that streaming ends is given, when known.

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Let England Shake" by PJ Harvey (streaming until March 8; release date: Feb. 15)
"21" by Adele (streaming until March 8; release date: Feb. 22)
"Bella" by Teddy Thompson (streaming until March 1; album out now)

NPR First Listen:
"The People's Key" by Bright Eyes (streaming until Feb. 15, its release date)

Spinner.com's Listening Party has albums including:
"Mondo Amore" by Nicole Atkins"Tao of the Dead" by ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
"The Long Surrender" by Over the Rhine
... and three albums by legendary Nigerian singer, songwriter, and activist Fela Kuti

AOL Music Listening Party has album previews including: 
"Now That's What I Call Music! #37" by Various Artists
"Now That's What I Call Music! Modern Songbook" by Various Artists
"The Sing-Off: The Best of Season 2" by Various Artists
"The Music Inside - A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings, Vol. I" by Various Artists

Music blog Consequence of Sound has put together videos of what it believes to be all the songs on the new, so-far-untitled Foo Fighters album, which comes out in April, in the order they'll appear. These videos were made at different times and places by different people, so the quality may vary widely.

Sasquatch Lineup & Schedule Announced - Wilco, Modest Mouse, Foo Fighters, Death from Above 1979, Death Cab for Cutie, More

The Sasquatch Festival in Washington State has announced its lineup for 2011—and the proceedings will go on for four days this year. Foo Fighters had already been announced, but now then entire schedule is out (which bands are on which days, anyway; no set times appear on the website).

(Speaking of the Foo Fighters, they have a clever website, www.foofighters.fm, to promote their upcoming album: it recreates the look of an old-fashioned analog radio tuner with controls you can use to "tune in" different "stations" with song samples and at least one interview clip.)

Sasquatch 2011 will take place on Memorial Day weekend, from May 27th to 30th, at the Gorge Ampitheater in George, Washington, near the Columbia River.

Highlights include:
* Friday, May 27th: Foo Fighters, Death from Above 1979, Against Me!, Rival Schools, Smith Westerns
* Saturday, May 28th: Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, Iron & Wine, Robyn, Wolf Parade
* Sunday, May 29th: Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Flogging Molly, Cold War Kids, Ratatat, Yeasayer, Beach House, Tokyo Police Club, Sam Roberts Band, Basia Bulat
* Monday, May 30th: Wilco, The Decemberists, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Old 97's, MSTRKRFT, Chromeo, Guided by Voices, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Deerhunter, Best Coast

See the full Sasquatch lineup here. Four-day all-inclusive Sasquatch tickets are on sale now; single-day tickets go on sale Feb. 14th. You can hear songs from various Sasquatch artists on the website. For the latest updates, see the Sasquatch Twitter feed.