We've had this track on repeat around the office for a little over a month now. it's one of the reasons we've got Kala as one of our favorite albums this year. The video is the first shot in America and features a short cameo from the Beasties. Apparently there was a little trouble making it for Maya and she wrote her fans a letter about it. you can read that after the video.
Here is the letter to her fans.
PAPER PLANES VIDEO
LOOK I KNOW THERE ARE HATERS OUT THERE, I DEAL WITH IT EVERYDAY THATS NO FUCKING BIG DEAL AND IVE DEALT WITH WORSE IN MY LIFE, A FEW PEOPLE TALKING SHIT DONT MATTER TO ME, BUT TWISTING TRUTH ISNT THE LESSON I WANNA LEARN IN MY TIME IN MUSIC, SO WHO EVER THAT IS DOING IT , I WANNA SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT
1, I ORIGINALLY WANTED TO SHOOT THE VIDEO IN A FACTORY ON THE BORDER OF EQUADOR, BUT COULDNT. I WAS TOURING THE U.S, I COULDA BEEN ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD RIGHT THEN BUT THERE I WAS IN AMERICA, IN NYC, IN BROOKLYN, IN BEDSTUY , I WAS TORN BETWEEN SCRAPIN SHOWS IN AMERICA AND MEETING AMERICAN FANS OR SHOOTING IN NYC ON MY ONLY DAY OFF I'D HAD IN 4 MONTHS AND GETTING ON WITH IT.
2, SO THAT WAS THAT! I NEVER MADE A VIDEO IN AMERICA AND HEY ITS STILL A PART OF WHAT I DO AND SAY, ITS WAS STILL VALID, SO I WAS READY TO ROLL WITH IT.
3, YOU ALL KNOW HOW THE SONG SOUNDS, THATS WHY WHEN U GO ON YOUTUBE 400, 000 PEOPLE WOULD RATHER LISTEN THE SONG AS IT IS AND STARE AT SOME PICTURE THEN TO ACTUALLY WATCH A VIDEO
4, WHEN LETTERMAN CENSORD ME IT WAS WAC OF COURSE!!!!!! , AND YES I FELT SOOOOOO BAD FOR WHAT THEY DID TO MY SOUND. I WAS ABEL TO SOUND CHECK FOR THAT SHOW AND THEY LET ME SOUND CHECK FINE, THEN ON THE ACTUAL TAPING MY SOUND WAS SOOO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT ID AGREED, AS SOON AS I OPENED MY MOUTH THE DIFFERENCE BLEW ME AWAY, I FELT I WAS GETTING BULLIED ON NATIONAL TELEVISON, AND I COULDNT EVEN REACH OUT TO MY LABELS OR MY MANAGEMENT TO HELP, SINCE THEY ARE NEW TO WHAT HAPPENS TO AN ARTIST LIKE ME IN MAINSTEAM AMERICAN CULTURE.
SO THEY TRIED TO SHUT ME DOWN AGAIN. I MADE THE PAPER PLANES VIDEO. I MADE IT HOW THEY WANTED. NO VIOLENCE. AMBIGUOUS. MTV - FRIENDLY. NOW TODAY, I CHECK YOUTUBE AND SEE THE LEAKED MTV PAPER PLANES VIDEO UP FOR THE FIRST TIME. I CLICKED ON IT AND OUT COMES THIS FUCKED UP MESS WITH DOUBLE-TRACKED BULLSHIT MESS
WHO THE THE FUCK IS DOING THIS TO ME?????
THE VIDEO WAS SABOTAGED FOR WHATEVER REASON AND IM DISAPPOINTED THAT MTV HAS HAD SUCH A MAJOR ROLE IN THIS. THE BLOGGERS WHO ARE LAZY ENOUGH TO FOLLOW THE MTV LINK AND POST UP AND COMMENT ON THE SOUND WHEN THAT HASNT BEEN COMPROMISED AND THE GUNSHOT ARENT REPLACED AND EDITED MAKES ME SAD. I DID FIGHT FOR THE SOUND , BECAUSE PUTTING MEANINGS IN YOUR VIDEOS, IN MY OPINION IS A DYING ART. I CAN FILM MY SELF ANYWHERE ANYTIME AND LET YOU KNOW THE TRUTH , BUT THE SONG IS WHAT I WANTED TO PRESERVE IN THIS CASE.
TO ALL MY FANS, LOOK, ITS LIKE THIS, IM LEARNING THINGS ABOUT THIS WORLD WITH YOU, I WANT YOU TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO ME , I WANT YOU TO SEE HOW PEOPLE WILL SIT AND SPEND ALL SUNDAY TEARIN ME DOWN FOR SOMETHING I DIDNT EVEN MAKE OR PUT OUT, SO PEOPLE WELCOME TO MODERN DAY PROPAGANDA MESSAGE MANGLING.
IN 2007, AN OUTSIDER OPINION WILL BE CONFRONTED THIS WAY , AND THIS IS HOW THE BATTLE GOES, MY MESSAGES AND IDEAS AND MEANING WILL ALWAYS BE BROUGHT TO YOU WITH SLIGHTLY TAINTED CHANNELS. IF YOU SUPPORT ME BE SMART, AND KNOW THAT.
I LOVE YOU, U KEEP ME GOING. XXXXXX MAYA
HERE IS THE REAL AMERICAN VERSION WITH GUN SHOTS!
Gander On!
I met Davin Michael Stedman in the early months of 2003 while doing some promotional work for Eclectic Approach in Pullman, Washington, on the campus of Washington State University. Although that show never materialized I left Pullman with a few stories, as always, and an early EP and T-shirt from one of the most promising bands to come out of the northwest since EA and the Blue Scholars.
What first caught my ear about The Staxx Brothers was their seamless integration of hip-hop, classic rock, and the blues and soul from which they derived their name. The seminal record from that EP “Slowdown (12th Street Blues)” was a combination of memorable guitar licks, hard edged rhymes delivered by DC Staxx, a blind rapper from Detroit, and Davin’s ethereal lyrics and cutting edge music sensibility embodied by a Kanye West-styled soul loop chorus. Only this wasn’t looped it was performed live and Mr. West’s debut CD The College Dropout wouldn’t come out for another year. “Slowdown (12th Street Blues)” returns as the title track and although its utter brilliance has been dimmed by three years time it remains a great record.
The rest of the CD is a musical playground of a mixtape made by someone with a firm grasp of musical history. Another great track “Keep the Motor Runnin’” sounds like pure blues influenced classic rock while “Back Home” could have been ripped by a country music fan choosing that track that even the city kids will love. While genre-hopping is pretty much the modus operandi of 12th Street Blues none of it sounds out of place. Clocking in at exactly 46 minutes, its length may be its only downfall. But 12th Street Blues is exactly the length of one double-sided vinyl LP in homage to Staxx Records.
12th Street Blues by The Staxx Brothers is a definite must buy and one of my favorite records of the year. And while you’re at it pick up an old Otis Redding LP too.
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At the restaurant Crustacean - Bow Wow is hanging with some peeps having a nice seafood dinner... ------------------------ Sent from my Blackberry Wireless Handheld
We have no idea what Bily Joel was thinking when he wrote this song. Maybe it was "I have deep feelings about the war and I'm going to write a song about it." Whatever it was it sucks, he knows it too because he ddin't even want to sing it. He enlisted Cass Dillon to do it for him saying he felt the song needed to come from a younger voice. Gander On!
Solve the Mars Volta Puzzle to reveal the cover for their new album "The Bedlam In Goliath" which comes out on Jan. 29th and receive an exclusive Mars Volta track.
At this point, "Sweet Caroline" is probably intractably associated with the Boston Red Sox (two World Series wins = they finally supplanted that scene in Beautiful Girls that forever added the "ba-ba-baaaa" to its chorus), and the wave of publicity afforded by the team's latest World Series win has prompted Neil Diamond to reveal his muse for the track: a 10-year-old Caroline Kennedy, whose hand was apparently touching hand and reaching out with .. a pony. Wait, what?
Diamond was a "young, broke songwriter" when a photo of the president's daughter in a news magazine caught his eye.
"It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony," Diamond recalled. "It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there."
Years later, holed up in a hotel in Memphis, he would write the words and music in less an hour.
"It was a No. 1 record and probably is the biggest, most important song of my career, and I have to thank her for the inspiration," he said. "I'm happy to have gotten it off my chest and to have expressed it to Caroline. I thought she might be embarrassed, but she seemed to be struck by it and really, really happy."
The enduring hit recently reappeared on the singles chart, thanks in part to the Boston Red Sox. "Sweet Caroline" is played at every home game.
"I think they consider it good luck," Diamond said, adding that the Red Sox have become his favorite baseball team. Hooray, she was touched. (Ha ha, get it?) Happy endings all around! Actually, a really happy ending for me would result from the revelation that the Red Sox are now Diamond's favorite team: Maybe this means "Caroline" will no longer get played during the eighth inning of Mets games. Sloppy seconds are so unappealing, am I right?
Gander On!
He already had half of these guys on the remix but check out all the cameos. Even KRS One and Bushwick Bill showed up. Khaled must have some serious beats! Gander On!
Donda West, the mother of Kanye West and former chairwoman of Chicago State University's English department, passed away Saturday, according to a spokesman for the family. She was 58.
According to multiple sources, West was in Los Angeles and her death may have been the result of complications from a surgical procedure; Patricia Green, Dr. West's publicist, told CNN on Monday (November 12) that the surgery was cosmetic but did not provide further details.
Although widely known as the mother of Kanye, Dr. West was a noted scholar and an active college professor for 31 years; she left the profession in 2004 to assist with Kanye's career, according to her biography on the Web site of the Kanye West Foundation, an educational nonprofit of which she was chair. She was also chief executive of West Brands, the parent company of her son's businesses.
She began her teaching career in the early 1970s at Brown College in Atlanta and began working at Chicago State University in 1980, according to the site; she was also a Fulbright Scholar, among other awards. Dr. West raised Kanye in the Chicago area along with her husband, from whom she separated when Kanye was 3.
She also recently published a book dedicated to her son titled "Raising Kanye: Life Lessons From the Mother of a Hip-Hop Star." The book and subsequent interviews have left little question about the source of Kanye's outspoken nature.
The importance and influence Dr. West had in her son's life is profound. When Kanye appeared on MTV News' "You Hear It First" in 2003, one of his first rhymes was about his mother — he dropped to his knees during the performance to get his point across. Those rhymes later turned up in a full-blown dedication to her, Late Registration's "Hey Mama."
"Hey Mama, I wanna scream so loud for you/ 'Cause I'm so proud of you/ Let me tell you what I'm about to do ... I appreciate what you allowed for me, I just want you to be proud of me."
Kanye has dropped references to his mom on all of his albums.
Kanye's love for his mom was undoubtedly reciprocated tenfold, not only did Dr. West act as in part as a co-manager, she was also his biggest cheerleader, appearing at many events throughout his career. At the Video Music Awards in September, she was in Kanye's suite at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, joining in the party and wearing the white shades celebrating his show. She also attended his 30th birthday party in New York last summer and his appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
A spokesman for Kanye West released this brief statement when contacted by MTV News.
"The family respectfully asks for privacy during this time of grief."
Gander On!
When the Eagles announced that they would exclusively sell their new double album Long Road Out of Eden for an entire year at Wal-Mart (and their own Web site), fans across the nation — especially those in Wal-Mart-less towns like New York City and Los Angeles — wondered how they’d get their hands on copy without journeying to the retail giant. But then we heard whispers that people were finding the new “exclusive” album at small mom-and-pop record stores and, remarkably, big chains like Virgin Megastore. We investigated these claims and discovered that the CDs are indeed being sold outside of Wal-Mart. Not only that, it didn’t take speakeasy tactics to secure a copy; some stores were boasting the album by the dozen in front display cases, where new releases are usually showcased (see above, a shot from a New York City VirginMegastore boasting a price sticker of $18.99). “We’re aware of that — I’ve heard that some stores here are selling imports,” Billboard charts editor Geoff Mayfield tells Rolling Stone. “Someone told me it was the third-best seller for Virgin.” Gander On for the rest.
We called eight Virgin Megastores in five different states, and discovered seven had Long Road in stock, although none of them had the album prominently listed in their in-store inventory directories. Of the Virgins carrying the album, most started selling it today, one week after the album’s release, while two said they started selling theCDs on October 30th, the same day as the “exclusive” Wal -Mart on-sale date, with one store even “selling out” their fairly large stock. The fact that the albums were selling out came as a surprise, considering the CD at Virgin came with price tags ranging from $18.99 to $24.99. While it is a double CD, the price is strikingly higher thanWal -Mart’s tag of $11.88. When we asked one clerk why the album was so expensive at Virgin, and whether the discs might be imports, he whispered into the phone that he “thinks they were hard to get.” A small record store in Nebraska told us they were re-selling discs that were purchased atWal-Mart. The question now is, how did Virgin Megastore get their hands on the album, and did these sales contribute to the Eagles’ Billboard chart-topping 711,000 copies? Mayfield says, “SoundScan was [also] aware that this was happening. They audited the data to weed out double sales.” A comment from Virgin Megastore wasn’t available by press time. Gander On!
Hoping to capitalize on the hubbub surrounding Radiohead's digital/box set release of In Rainbows, the band's old label, EMI, announced today that it is accepting pre-orders for a collection of all 6 albums Radiohead recorded for its Parlophone imprint: Pablo Honey, The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail To The Thief, plus the live album I Might Be Wrong. The collection will be available on December 10 to those who pre-order.
Unlike the digital version of In Rainbows, this box set has several high fixed prices depending on which format you choose: downloadable MP3 (320 Kbps, $70), a CD box set ( 7 discs, $80), or a 4GB USB drive (WAV files and artwork, $160). It's odd that the CD box set costs half as much as the USB version, despite containing the exact same musical data.
Radiohead fans might pony up $80 to give someone else the CD box set as a holiday gift, but any serious fan of the band already owns these albums. Who's going to buy a $160 USB keychain with a bunch of files they already own on it, no matter what it looks like?
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Late last week we were sent a link to Dutch DJ Tiesto's remix of Tegan and Sarah's "Back In Your Head." You can give it a listen on Tiesto's Myspace page but unfortunately we haven't been able to find it anywhere else. We were however able to find a couple great Tegan and Sara covers. One from The Broken West and the other from your favorite tour canceling friends The White Stripes. Check the links below for the goodness.
The talk lately now that the Writers Guild of America is on strike is that most of your daily late night and other talk shows will start airing re-runs due to there being no writers to staff the shows. This effects the entertainment industry as a whole. Not only will there be no promotion for movies and television series but there will be no place for musicians promoting albums to perform. Television still can run commercials for it's shows and movies will have the previews (which these days run a good twenty minutes). What do the musicians have? If your one of five acts you may get some credit once in a while from MTV but where else? (It's sad that MTV is affected as much by this strike as network television). Musicians count on these late night shows to promote themselves, for some it's the only time they can get their music to a mass audience.
Mainstream and especially "indie" musicians will feel the effects of this in album sales. We can't count the number of times we see musicians performances youtubed and posted on music blogs around the internets. For many these performances are the only chance they get to see their favorite bands play since tours don't stop everywhere. Promotion in the music industry is a tough thing to come by unless you have a major label out there to provide the money for marketing and get you radio play. We see a sad day coming where those in the know will continue to discover great new music because they know where to look for it but those not in the know will be suck listening to the same ten songs played on MTV and radio stations all day long. We look forward to quick resolution to this strike and everyone getting back to making great entertainment again.
Gander On!
Hip Hop Live Tour 2007 rolled into town tonight...Amazing show. Hiphop Legends with a live 10 piece band. Full Review coming soon but here are some of my first photos from the night. Gander On!
Over at The Real they've put together another great video. This time it's failed ideas in Hip-Hop. Our favorite is Swisha House Realty. Three bed, tow bath with a doorman in the front! Check the video below.
If your a Killers fan then you have no doubt already heard this great song with Lou Reed. it's got us excited for their B-Sides and Rarities album "Sawdust" out on November 13th. The video goes well with the songs haunting vocals, we just can't get over Brandon Flowers' Mustache. He looks like a seventies porn star! Gander On!
This Friday we had the pleasure of seeing one of our favorite Seattle bands in Las Vegas, The Blakes. The guys put on a great show at Las Vegas's The Bunkhouse with Australia's Late Nite Access and local band Atlas Takes Aim. The show was great and after hearing the guys had no where to stay that night we of course invited them back to our place for some whiskey and beer. It was a great night and the Aussie's tagged along and brought even more life to the party. We wrapped up late but got up in time to catch the guys at their in store performance at Zia Records on Saturday before wishing them well on the rest of their tour. If you haven't heard or seen the Blakes you can check their tour dates below. This is one Seattle band that is definitely going places. Also be sure to check out Late Nite Access before they head back to Australia. Gander on for pictures from the evening and in store as well as tour dates for The Blakes. The Blakes Tour Dates Nov 5 2007 8:00P the Echo Los Angeles, California Nov 7 2007 9:00P The Roxy Los Angeles, CA Nov 9 2007 9:00P Monte Vista Cocktail Lounge Flagstaff, AZ Nov 10 2007 9:00P Atomic Cantina Albuquerque, NM Nov 11 2007 7:00P Absolute Zero Clovis, NM Nov 13 2007 9:00P The Mohawk Austin, TX Nov 14 2007 9:00P Double Wide Dallas, TX Nov 16 2007 8:00P Swayze’s Marietta, GA Nov 17 2007 5:00P Grimey’s Nashville, TN Nov 18 2007 9:00P Local 506 Chapel Hill, NC Nov 19 2007 6:00P The Sound Garden Baltimore, MD Nov 19 2007 9:00P The Red & The Black Washington, DC Nov 20 2007 9:00P The Khyber Philadelphia, PA Nov 21 2007 8:00P Asbury Lanes Asbury Park, New Jersey Nov 22 2007 9:00P The Big Easy Portland, ME Nov 23 2007 8:00P Great Scott Boston, MA Nov 24 2007 9:00P The Knitting Factory New York, NY Nov 26 2007 9:00P The Silver Dollar Toronto, ONT Nov 27 2007 6:00P Luna Music Indianapolis, IN Nov 28 2007 8:00P The Pageant St. Louis, Missouri Nov 29 2007 9:00P Darkroom chicago, Illinois Nov 30 2007 8:00P Vaudeville Mews Des Moines, Iowa Dec 1 2007 9:00P 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN Dec 2 2007 4:00P Kief’s Lawrence, KS Dec 2 2007 8:00P Jackpot Lawrence, KS Dec 4 2007 8:00P The Fox Boulder, Colorado Dec 5 2007 9:00P The Black Sheep Colorado Springs, CO Dec 6 2007 8:00P Larimer Lounge Denver, Colorado Dec 8 2007 6:00P The Record Exchange Boise, ID Dec 8 2007 9:00P Neurolux Boise, ID Dec 9 2007 9:00P Bourbon Street Spokane, WA Dec 12 2007 9:00P Logan’s Victoria, BC Dec 13 2007 9:00P Media Club Vancouver, BC Dec 14 2007 9:00P Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR Dec 15 2007 8:00P The Old Fire House Redmond, WA Feb 8 2008 4:00P Bend WinterFest Bend, OR
When it comes to a Jay-Z albums in the last few years there is always a certain amount of hype surrounding it. Either he is retiring or he's coming out of retirement or in this case he saw a movie so moving that it inspired him to create and entire album named after it. Despite the new album being a giant advert for The movie of the same name starring Denzel Washington, Jay-Z has returned to his old self. There is no more Nascar and Budweiser endorsing, there's still the I'm rich part but it's not from selling records it's from selling dope. We haven't heard Jay-Z refer to kitchens, Pyrex, or bricks since we watched Streets is Watching.
The album opens with "Pray" where Jay's storytelling ability shines through painting vivid pictures of a childhood upbringing surrounded by the drug game. On "Hello Brooklyn" we get Lil' Wayne's I smoked a blunt before I tried to sing this hook voice and then smoothly transition into "No Hook" which brings back a flow style that was prevalent on Reasonable Doubt and is not seen very much on later records. The record you'll hear playing at every dope spot soon will be the anthemic "Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)" a song purely dedicated to the rewards of the hustle. The next track to stand out for us is "Ignorant Shit" featuring Beanie Sigel where Jay and Beanie express their feelings on the censorship in hip hop issue that has frequented the media since Don Imus uttered a few choice words on his radio show. Nas makes an appearance on "Success" before we get to the current single "Blue Magic" and end it with an upbeat party track eponymously titled "American Gangster."
We love the new album and the one thing that really stands out to us is not the lyrics, or the themes but the horns. Nearly half of the songs use horn samples and Jay uses them to his advantage every time. They keep the mood up tempo and mold perfectly with his voice. If Jay can keep putting out records like "American Gangster" no one will be calling for his re-retirement anytime soon, so here's to hoping we don't have to wait for an American Gangster movie sequel to get another "American Gangster" like album.
Gander On!
The Shiny Toys Guns or in this case The Shinys perform "House Of Spooks" on our favorite kids show Yo Gabba Gabba. If you haven't seen it yet you don't know what your missing. Music and children's television have never been brought together in such a unique way. By that we mean it's absolutely ridiculous but kids love it. It's kind of rock and hip hop meat Blues Clues and Sesame Street. Check out the video below. Gander On!
The Liars follow up the success of their first single "Plaster Casts Of Everything" with their new video for "Houseclouds" directed by Sonny Gerasimowicz. The video finds the guys set up against a white screen with each other and in several interesting positions with some kitties. We had a hard time watching the video and not thinking of pedophiles and bestiality but the singles good and we don't have to look at the video when we're rocking out to the CD. Gander On!
Led Zeppelin have announced that they will postpone their reunion show due to an injury to guitarist Jimmy Page's finger.
The show, which was originally scheduled for November 26 at London's 02 Arena, has been rescheduled for December 10.
Page's injury occurred last weekend, and will prevent him from playing guitar for three weeks.
"I have examined the fracture to Mr. Page's finger, and it is my opinion that with proper rest and treatment, he will be ready to resume rehearsing in three weeks' time, and thus able to perform on December 10," Page's medical specialist said in a statement.
Page added, "I am disappointed that we are forced to postpone the concert by two weeks. However, Led Zeppelin have always set very high standards for ourselves, and we feel that this postponement will enable my injury to properly heal, and permit us to perform at the level that both the band and our fans have always been accustomed to."
All tickets for the original show will be honoured at the rescheduled date.
Those who are unable to attend should request a refund at their point of purchase prior to noon (GMT) on November 14. These tickets will be offered to ballot winners selected at random from the original registrations.
The show, which also features Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings, Paul Rogers, Paolo Nutini, and Foreigner, is being held to raise money for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund, which pays for university scholarships in the UK, US and Turke
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We finally managed to sort through the rest of our pictures from Vegoose last weekend and there were definitely some winners. We also managed to find some video of the crazy dance party M.I.A. threw on stage. Check the video below and Gander on for some great photos. Gander On!
Day two of Vegoose started off a little later than day one for us. Fighting sore shoulders from shooting laser hands at Daft Punk the night before we were surprised to find such a small crowd at Austin's own Ghostland Observatory. We walked right up to the rail and enjoyed all the hip gyrating and pelvic thrusts we could get from lead singer Aaron Behrens. It was one of the smaller crowds we'd seen at Ghostland show, we're guessing Vegas just isn't quite ready yet.
Next on the list of must see acts was Michael Franti and Spearhead. The energy was contagious as Michael ordered the crowd to jump from the front to the back. This show did happen to provide some of the more interesting sights of the day. Mid way through the show one fan began flinging tortillas into the air and soon the entire crowd was flinging them back and forth bringing back memories of the wrestling show put on at the Sasquatch festival this year. In the middle of a "What I Got" cover Michael and the guys launched into the theme songs from Sesame street getting the entire crowd to sing along before ending it with a rousing rendition of "C is for Cookie."
We didn't have to venture far for the next act, just closer to the stage. English rocker Muse took the stage and provided the crowd with the rock they had been craving all day. Guitarist and piano man extraordinaire Matthew Bellamy wowed the crowd with his playing and theatrics. We were told by our friend from the Netherlands that their stage show is usually more elaborate. We didn't seem to mind especially towards the end as Flaming Lips sized vinyl balls filled with confetti rolled out from behind the stage creating a fun loving happy go lucky atmosphere.
After seeing Rage Against The Machine up close at Coachella earlier this year and thanking our lucky stars we manged to survive with only a handful of bruises. We decided to get close but not to close. You soon learn that at A Rage show that phrase means standing at the food court. We did our best to whip the crowd around us into a frenzy and poked fun at every that had to leave because the decided to bring their girlfriend into the pit with them. Zack and the gang ran through their standard set of hits and surprisingly went without making any political statements, but merely letting the music carry the message. At the end pf the show the entire band embraced onstage showed the crowd their appreciation. Each member had wide smiles on their faces and truly looked to be happy to be together again. We were even privileged enough to hear one new song and can't wait to hear more. Vegoose 2007 was certainly a success form a musical standpoint and here's to hoping it was financially as well because we're already looking forward to next year.
Gander On!
It was a long day in the Las Vegas desert yesterday but thee performances were well worth it. Eugene Hutz and Gogol Bordello got us started off with a rousing set filled with gypsy punk theatrics including Eugene bathing himself in wine and to our count breaking at least three mic stands. Next for was Atmosphere who came out looking like he was going to sing us some country songs rather than some great hip-hip tunes. The fans were shoe gazing early as Slug played some new tunes but after playing "God Loves Ugly" they quickly began to pump their fists and sing along. Public Enemy hit the stage late but showed they still have the energy to rock a crowd half their age that probably doesn't even own a Public Enemy album. Flavor Flav was in full effect leading the crowd in chants of Fuck George Bush, Fuck Disk Cheney, and Fuck Condoleeza, and throwing in a Fuck Tony Blair for good measure. We got to Cypress Hill just in time to hear "Insane In The Membrane" and hear them go through nearly a dozen more songs about reefer and the police. The stage show really hasn't changed for Cypress in a while but they still know how to rock a crowd. After checking the Red Sox score we headed over to M.I.A. who we have been wanting to see all year but visa problems for her and work for us always got in the way. The set was full of gunshots and M.I.A. moved rhythmically to their sound. Later in the set she brought a good third of the crowd onstage to dance with her and caused some alarm for security. We made sure to lead the crowd around us in the unique dance moves that go along with M.I.A.'s music. Our favorite being stomp the cockroach. The rest of the evening is kind of a blur. We listened to a little of Iggy while we waited to take a trip through Axe's sexy haunted house and then caught Thievery Corporation before making our way to get a good spot for Daft Punk. We made some international friends in the crowd who were giving everyone drinks from their bag of wine and who were also kind enough to glitter us up for Daft Punk. The French duo like always were amazing and put on a light show to be remembered. We were trying to imagine what it was like to see the show from the planes landing overhead. We were a sweaty mess and the end of the day but the smile produced by Daft Punk is still on ur face as we type this morning. Day 2 starts with Ghostland Observatory and ends with Rage Against the Machine. We'll be updating all day so stay tuned.
Gander On!
The guys hit the stage late and after a step performance intro they've quickly whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Flavor Flav now apparently wants us to say Fuck George Bush.
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Slugs got the crowd moving now that he's playing some songs people know. On our way to Public Enemy to fulfill our activist duties for the day.
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It's that classic hip hop concert moment. The artists asks if people want to hear some new shit. The people scream and then look uniterested because they can't understand the words. Please just play stuff we know!
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Slug is on stage rockin a cowboy hat and a mustache. We're not close enough to figure out if it's his costum or not. He looks like Rob Zombie and Nick Cage had a baby.
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Eugene is knocking over every piece of equipment in sight and keeping the roadies busy. The energy is contagious and the crowd is growing by the minute .
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Just hit the parking lot and all we can say is Vegas brings out the freaks. Already offered weed and books on spiritual meditation suprisingly not by the same person.
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We'll be live blogging the entire festival this weekend in Vegas. Check back regularly to see whats going on throughout the day. We've also got big news coming up next week and will have the blog up and running smoothly with daily updates.
Gander On!
