Nothing quite says summer like traveling to your local pavilion, shed or whatever you want to call it, and parking yourself on a piece of green lawn to experience the sounds (and smells) of a concert. And if you're looking for a full concert experience with a healthy dose of nature thrown in, then look no further than the Red Rocks Amphitheatre just outside of Denver.
Situated between Ship Rock and Creation Rock, Red Rocks is arguably one of the world's most unique and stunning musical venues. These natural walls,
each of which is taller than Niagara Falls, provide excellent acoustics as well as a natural beauty that is distracting no matter how talented the act. Playing on nature's stage this summer are acts ranging from The Police to Willie Nelson. (Speaking of concert smells...)
If you have grown tired of the more mainstream musical acts, the Monolith Festival may be more your style. Celebrating its second year at Red Rocks, the festival features two days of indie rock groups with headliners DeVotchKa and Silversun Pickups on day one, followed by Justice and TV on the Radio closing out the weekend. Tickets for both days start at $110, and the festival runs from September 13-14 this year, just in time to get in and out of Colorado without needing your skis.
Early bird tickets for Montreal's Osheaga Music and Arts Festival are already sold out, but there are plenty of regular passes still available for the 2-day indie rock/electro jam August 3-4. More than 40 bands on 4 stages will take over St-Helene Island's Parc Jean-Drapeau, including top billers Jack Johnson, The Killers, Cat Power, Matt Costa and Canadians Broken Social Scene and Chocolat.
Leave your SUV stateside 'cause festival organizers recently announced free public transportation to and around Osheaga thanks to eco-conscious Société de Transport de Montréal. There's a decidedly not-green NASCAR race at Parc Jean-Drapeau on August 2, so this year Osheaga falls on a Sunday and Monday. Better ask for that extra day off now.
Friedrich Nietzsche famously proclaimed "God is dead," and nowhere does his statement feel truer than along the abandoned-factory-lined waterfront of Buffalo. But the city embraces its darkness in black humor films like "The Savages" and "Buffalo 66," where neurotic, blue-collar intellectuals suffer the existential crises that Nietzsche invented.
So it makes sense that the epicenter of this angst-ridden city's counterculture culminates at Nietzsche's, a music venue for people who like their musicians local, talented and gimmick-free.
Located along narrow Allen Street, lined with bookstores and bars where owners still stand behind the counters, Nietzsche's authenticity is the antidote to faux-dive music venues where the mirrors are intentionally hung askew. Its trademark cobweb-covered candelabras have lit the venue for decades, with the exposed wiring to prove it. Get there soon--before the fire department shuts the place down.
The Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival starts at noon this Saturday, and promises to bring 50,000 people to the swanky part of Philly for all sorts of fun. Everything from cafes, art, fashion shows, cooking demos and live music are advertised, and Walnut Street will be closed to traffic from 19th to Broad.
Truth be told, though, we're more interested in the plans of local blog The Illadelph than any public concerts:
Some daytime drinking/picnicking in Rittenhouse Square. Just sayin'. Especially when the weather comes through with 75 degrees of gorgeous.
Music lovers endure the desert conditions at Coachella festival every year to see acts like Prince and Portishead perform long, sunny sets. Celebrities probably go there for more of the same, with the option of waltzing into the VIP tents when things get too steamy. (Scarlett Johansson even sang there last year, with The Jesus and Mary Chain.)
Joel and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte weren't performing, but they both brought girlfriends Nicole Richie (with 3-month-old daughter Harlow) and Paris Hilton to Palm Springs for the weekend. (If anyone knows what the hell Joel and Nicole are doing in this photo, please let us know!)
Kelly Osborne queued up to see Kraftwerk, and Sean Penn eschewed the VIP section. And '90s star Rosanna Arquette caught '90s indie rockers the Breeders.
Tired of wasting your time in New York's Chinatown gulping down noodles and getting three I ♥ NY shirts for $10? Turn up your budget one notch, and check out Swing Fridays at Grand Harmony Palace on Mott Street.
Cover is $15 and includes live music until midnight. Food and the full bar are available but aren't included. Fear not, first-timers: Lessons are on the house at 9 pm.
Upcoming weekends will feature Michael Arenella and the Dreamland Orchestra as well as George Gee and the Jump, Jivin' Wailers. Totally reminds us of that scene in "Swingers" when Jon Favreau dances with Heather Graham. But, you know, in Chinatown instead of Hollywood.
Yesterday Virgin America kicked off its new LAX-SEA service with some live music in LA followed by an in-flight concert. The standout had to be our Sundance buddyCisco Adler who serenaded VA's David Cush on the way to Seattle.
Also rocking the flight were Shwayze, Michael Tolcher and Bamboo Shoots. Pre-flight in LA, The Donnas played Gate 67B, and on arrival in Seattle the party continued at The Showbox at the Market with a performance by Thurston Moore.
Hey, did you hear that hip-hop royalty Jay-Z and Beyonce got married in New York this weekend? While the pair has yet to release an official statement about the possibly of their legal union, a marriage certificate was issued in the state of New York, and crowds of black Hummer limos swarmed lower Manhattan on Friday--allegedly to take the rapper and the R&B diva to the courthouse and on to a party at his TriBeCa loft.
So where did they go for the honeymoon? How about romantic... Greensboro?! If the chart-topping power couple tied the knot Friday, they sure picked an odd time to do it, with three tour dates left on Jay's "Heart of the City" tour with Mary J. Blige.
The pair dispatched with two of those this weekend in North Carolina (where Blige wished them vague congratulations) and Washington DC. Jay and Beyonce will have some time to take a real honeymoon before the April 16 show at the Hollywood Bowl.
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by kjb
