New music today from Blood Orange with “Sandra’s Smile.” You can read more about the track over at Pitchfork but the track is an ode to Sandra Bland, the 28-year-old black woman found dead in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas after being detained for a minor traffic violation in July.
Archive | October, 2015
I’m all in on Big Grams
20 OctAfter seeing Big Grams’ debut public performance at Treasure Island Music Festival last weekend, not only am I convinced it was the best set of the weekend but man this show is only going to get better! Get ready to see them on nearly every festival lineup in 2016 and for good reason. While Big Boi and Phantogram have chopped it up for years, getting on stage to perform their self titled debut album you would think may take some work but man it was tight and on point even down to the production. Bringing out Run The Jewels for “Born To Shine” was a nice touch, “Put It On Her” sounds like classic OutKast and the “Ms. Jackson”/”Mouthful of Diamonds” mashup was perfect and the crowd was eating up the whole set. As for me, I’ve been listening to the album on repeat for the last two days and falling in love with it more and more every spin.
DoYouHearTheMusic.com – October 2015 Playlist
9 OctHappy new music Friday! And with such, here is a new playlist for you to dive into. Hope you like this month’s collection of tracks which features new music from some household names like Ellie Goulding, SIA, !!!, JR JR (fka Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr), Rudimental and a brand new track from The 1975 as well newer acts like EL VY, firekid and Empress Of. A couple of the songs I’m most excited about on the playlist this month are “Born To Shine” by Big Grams (Big Boi and Phantogram – catch them at Treasure Island Music Festival next weekend!) and “Lose Control,” the collaboration of Glass Animals and Joey Bada$$.
New Music: The 1975 – “Love Me”
8 OctBrand new music from The 1975! Click HERE to listen to the premiere of “Love Me.” It’s so so much like Aerosmith in the ’80s, digging it!
Thank you Las Vegas, that was BEAUTIFUL
2 OctI can’t believe a week has already gone by from what can go down as one of the best weekends ever in Las Vegas. And that’s not because I’m saying so, that’s what friends, strangers, and the likes have told me. A week ago this time the gates to Life is Beautiful were open, festival goers were filing in and SZA was just getting her set started. While I have been fortunate to have been a part of Life is Beautiful from its inception, there is something that never gets old and it’s seeing the smiles on people’s faces as they come to experience something you and an incredible team have been working day and night on. All the planning, meetings, long hours for three days/nights of bliss for everyone who bought a ticket. That’s why we do it and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Singer Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons performs onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Musician Brian Bell of Weezer performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Musician Rivers Cuomo of Weezer performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Musician Kevin Ray of Walk The Moon performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Festival goers attend day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Actress Rosario Dawson speaks onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Singer Ryn Weaver (R) performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Musician A/J Jackson of Saint Motel performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Singer Caleb Keolanui of The Green performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Ghostface Killah performs onstage with BADBADNOTGOOD during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Jacob Hemphill of SOJA performs onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: GRiZ performs onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: (L-R) Musicians Joe Seaward, Drew MacFarlane, David Bayley and Edmund Irwin-Singer of Glass Animals perform onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Alessia Cara performs onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: New Politics performs onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Singer Pia Mia performs onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Hozier performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: A view of signage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (L) performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Singer Aaron Bruno of Awolnation performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Big Talk is seen backstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Art on display during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: SZA performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Ryan Daly of Parade Of Lights performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Dan Deacon performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Singer Andra Day performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Major Lazer performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Recording artist Kendrick Lamar performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Recording artist Kendrick Lamar performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Walk The Moon performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: DJ Kygo performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Brandon Flowers of The Killers performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Brandon Flowers performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 27: Recording artist Kendrick Lamar performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 27, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: DJ Walshy Fire (L) and Jillionaire of Major Lazer perform onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: DJ Porter Robinson performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Musician Stevie Wonder performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Atomic Liquors during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Singer Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Educator Bill Nye speaks onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Art on display during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Art on display during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Life is Beautiful signage during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 25: Art is displayed during day 1 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Snoop Dogg performs onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Chance the Rapper performs onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Festival goers attend day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Festival goers attend day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Emily Haines of Metric performs onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Festival goers attend day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Musicians Dave Bayley (L) and Edmund Irwin-Singer of Glass Animals perform onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Festival goers attend day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Festival goers attend day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Musician Ben Thatcher of Royal Blood performs onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 26: Musician Mike Kerr of Royal Blood performs onstage during day 2 of the 2015 Life Is Beautiful Festival on September 26, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
This year was truly special though, it just felt right and that outside of the hot, hot heat (sorry!) everything went along swimmingly with attendees marveling at all the art both new and old (can we talk about how badass the art program was this year? From the art motel featuring 50 Las Vegas artists to Bordallo II, Filthy Luker & Pedro Estrellas and more it was a site to see! The learning series for the second year in a row had every seat packed to hear from extraordinary individuals like Bill Nye, Coach Carter and Rosario Dawson. The culinary villages were on point with not only delectable eats but sodded fields of fresh cut grass and shade to take a break and enjoy your noshing. And the music, of course I’m a little bias but c’mon STEVIE WONDER performed in Downtown Las Vegas. It doesn’t get much better than that! But oh it did, from the biggest crowds we’ve ever had at the Ambassador Stage (Major Lazer, Snoop, Death Cab For Cutie, Twenty One Pilots, Atmosphere, GRiZ, Run The Jewels, Kygo and Chance the Rapper all had massive crowds), Imagine Dragons performed a very heartfelt show in their home town to a massive crowd, Brandon Flowers surprised the audience with The Killers!, Duran Duran captivated the corwd in ways we only dreamed they would, Weezer reminded festival attendees how many hit songs they have and of course Kendrick Lamar brought the heat and absolutely had the Las Vegas crowd going bananas at midnight on Monday morning! The Troubadour stage was definitely a sight to see with outstanding production and some killer star in the making DJs (JAUZ, Wave Racer, SALVA, Mercer, The Magician). There were killer sets from up and coming stars like Halsey and Andra Day to blistering sets from artists like Metric and BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah, the list goes on and on.
I could write about this for days, and I will! But for now, I just wanted to send my personal thank you to anyone who attended Life is Beautiful. I know how fortunate I am in the position I am in and I work hard every day to keep getting better but what makes the festival are all the people who buy tickets and put their faith in a team of strangers to produce an event that we hope you will enjoy and want to keep coming back to. There are so many people behind the scenes working to make this the event for Las Vegas and have spent the last three years putting us on the map in the festival scope. A HUGE shout out to #teambeautiful who made the festival possible and by far one of the best weekends I’ve experienced.
When you see the streets of DTLV come alive during Life is Beautiful there is a feeling of electricity shooting through your veins filled with energy and excitement. Friends and families and strangers gathering together for a weekend escape from everyday life all linked together by the universal language, music! Life is Beautiful and hope you realize how true this is! The best thing you can do is carry this mantra everyday in your lives and when we regroup for Life is Beautiful 2016 we can rejoice and make new memories together.
Until next year my friends!
Peace + Love + Music
Do You Hear The Music? 