This morning Bottlerock dropped its 2016 lineup and nice one for Napa Valley. Three big headliners in Stevie Wonder, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Florence + The Machine. The return of The Lumineers will be welcomed along with big names like Death Cab For Cutie, Lenny Kravitz and younger bands like Walk The Moon, Grouplove and Misterwives. Michael Franti is back and is a great show for Bottlerock, Cold War Kids should be received well like Cage The Elephant in 2015 and smaller acts like Houndmouth, X Ambassadors, The Suffers, San Fermin, Coleman Hell, Langhorne Slim, Son Little, etc. Congrats to the Latitude 38 Ent team on another solid lineup for Napa Valley.
Revisited: My week that was in music
20 FebWow, wow, wow what a week of live music last week was. It was intense, fun, full of surprises and I got to see a few of my favorite bands/musicians.
Monday, Feb 13 – AG Jeans party at Marquee Nightclub with Foster The People. Having seen these guys six times previous in the last calendar year, I still don’t’ miss the chance to catch them live. With a powerhouse sound system and coming off their GRAMMY performance the evening before, it was a solid show and they added “Warrant” to the setlist after nixing it during their October gig at the Cosmo.
Tuesday, Feb. 14 – Out to support the buddies at CRSVR Las Vegas for a DJ Vice x Jason Markk shoe cleaning kit release party. The one and only DJ Fashen was on the decks as Vice played host for the evening.
Wednesday, Feb. 15 – As part of the Sports Illustrated Beauty & Beats Music Festival at The Cosmopolitan I was all giddy to finally see Delta Spirit live! Fantastic 90 minute set that culminated with a real life Animal House moment when lead singer, Matthew Vasquez jumped into the crowd and got everyone low before getting “a little bit louder now” and everyone jumping to their feet and Vasquez climbing on the bar to finish out the show.
Thursday, Feb. 16 – A continuation of the Beauty & Beats Music Festival this night with White Denim, a band I have been digging for some time and WOW can they jam! Can’t wait to see these guys at Bonnaroo. Following it was upstairs to catch the Black Lips before heading to PURE Nightclub for the final Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue soiree of the week where Bruno Mars took the stage and for 30 minutes with his band, played a mash-up melody of hits both old and new before finishing with two of his own songs.
Friday, Feb. 17 – Glam rock at its finest as The Darkness hot on their comeback trail rocked the House of Blues and reignited my love of this band. Justin Hawkins, my hat off to you.
Sunday, Feb. 19 – Look for my review in the upcoming issue of Vegas SEVEN, Lenny Kravitz show where not only did he serenade Muhammad Ali for his 70th birthday but he was joined by Quincy Jones as well as Slash and Joe Perry. Terrance Howard also made a brief appearance leading the crowd in a ‘Lenny’ chant during the encore break.
Phew, I’m exhausted just from writing this. Just another week in Vegas…..
ALL FOSTER THE PEOPLE IMAGES COURTESY OF OUR FRIEND Erik Kabik (© Erik Kabik/ erikkabik.com)
New Music: Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International
24 JanIf you are reading this and have not at least given a listen to Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International, do so immediately after reading the rest of this post. Released today digitally (next week on CD) and comprised of 80 musicians who contributed new or previously unreleased recordings, this is an amazing collection and tribute to my favorite musician of all time. While the list of musicians featured on the four disc set is staggering and I have yet to listen to all the renditions, there are a selection that stand out to me:
The Belle Brigade – “No Time To Think”
Michael Franti – “Subterranean Homesick Blues”
State Radio – “John Brown”
Ximena Sarinana – “I Want You”
Cage The Elephant – “The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll”
The Gaslight Anthem – “Changing Of The Guards”
Lenny Kravitz – “Rainy Day Women”
Elvis Costello – “License To Kill”
The Airborne Toxic Event – “Boots Of Spanish Leather”
Mariachi El Bronx – “Love Sick”
Raphael Saadiq – “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”
We Are Augustines – “Mama, You Been On My Mind”
Fistful of Mercy – “Buckets of Rain”
Flogging Molly – “The Times They Are A-Changin”
Of course Dave Matthews Band – “All Along The Watchtower”
And yes, I can’t believe I’m writing this but Miley Cyrus – “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.” See for yourself, below.
You can click here for the official release regarding the album, artists, making, etc. and how you too can support Amnesty International.
Michael Franti and Spearhead – The Sound of Sunshine
21 SepMichael Franti is one of those artists I could listen to nonstop every day. His latest release The Sound of Sunshine is definitely the most upbeat album in the collection and it works beautifully. I can already tell this is going to be a vacation soundtrack for me in the near future. The title track “The Sound of Sunshine” is a great way to kick off the disc and really get the good vibes flowing and put a smile on your face. “Hey Hey Hey” keeps the positive message going while “I’ll Be Waiting” will catch some off guard as you hear a U2 rift in the background. “Love Don’t Wait” is upbeat and catchy, a bit reminiscent of his last hit “Say Hey (I Love You)” while “The Thing That Helps Me Get Through” is a Lenny Kravitz-esque track. While it’s still early and I need to keep listening, I’m loving The Sound of Sunshine disc.