73 Days 'til Coachella - Mastodon

Hey METULHEDZZ!!

Are you fuckin' pissed off that Tool, RATM and other meathead headbanger bands aren't listed for this year's Coachella?

Well, fear fucking not motherfuckers! Yeah, fuck yeah!! Mastodon is here to appease you and to lower the collective IQ of the entire festival!

OK, and now, a drink recipe from my high school days, the better to rot your brain with this drivel with:

HORSEPISSER

2 oz. Canadian Club whiskey
Mountain Dew

1. Fill a glass with ice
2. Add whiskey
3. Add Mountain Dew
4. Enjoy!

77 Days 'til Coachella - Schedule is UP!

I am so excited I barely know what to do with myself!!

While I have a few issues with the lineup this year, it's looking like it's going to be a great year in the desert once again. I'll be very curious to hear exactly who was holding out for them to make this announcement, though.

A few thoughts:

My Bloody Valentine!!!! AAAAARHH!!!! I never thought I'd get to see the band that created Loveless, my favorite album of all time, and now I get to see them twice in less than seven months' time. Excellent

Throbbing Gristle??!?!?? This one's a HUGE shocker. The fathers of industrial music are going to freak pretty much everyone out, causing many a chaperon to pull the kiddies out a bit early.

Leonard Cohen!! The rumors were true. Very cool, finally get to see this iconic songwriter. A better poet than a singer, but he's been a part of my life since the cheesy-but-in-a-good-way movie Pump Up the Volume first introduced our generation to him with Everybody Knows.

I've got my ticket, here we go again!!

81 Days 'til Coachella - Even the Radio Stations are Perplexed

I mentioned that I called 91x in a moment of weakness last week, and that they promised they'd have "all the details" on Coachella on Monday. I have to admit, I haven't listened to anything but the local jazz station in easily five years, but somehow I knew that they wouldn't scoop the innernets.

So I called again tonight, and the "radio personality" (<-- fourletterword) said that they'd been told that they'd be given all the information Monday, but that maybe they were trying to get even bigger acts than they'd already signed.

To steal a phrase from the legendary Gibson Haynes in the excellent Butthole Surfers' Blind Eye Sees All DVD (shot live in Detroit, repruzent):

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Hey, I'm not picky, anyone, anywhere, somebody give me the 1.0 of the lineup. Is that really too much to ask?

Goldenvoice, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR DAMN MIND!?!?!?!?!?

82 Days 'til Coachella - Still Nothing Official

Well, shit.

There's still nothing official on the lineup for this year's three day music festival in the desert. Rumors now include things as ludicrous as Paul McCartney, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen. After last year's Sunday headliner surprise of Roger Waters, though, anything's possible.

I actually called a couple of local radio stations (yeah, I know, I know, but I'm desperate) to try to get the skinny. 91x told me that they'd have "all the details" Monday (tomorrow), so we'll see. I also spoke to Mike Halloran at 94.9, who's a really cool cat, the last hope for decent radio in this town, and has been for over 15 years. He stated that he "knew some things" but that nothing was final until the announcement was made.

The Orange County Register has some new rumors up as well, including the one about Sir P. McC, but I don't think they're any more valid than the ones that have been put up by bloggers across the 'net who have actually taken the time to check their favorite bands' schedules for allusions to Indio, CA between April 16th and 18th.

If you can't be bothered to click the link (or if my feedback on that page never gets approved), here's part of my response to this article:

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It’s all rumors until they post the lineup, and even then, nothing is for sure (see the late addition of Prince last year, the once-posted and then quickly evaporated Cocteau Twins and Future Sound of London a few years back).

Agreed that the RHCP would be a very UNWELCOME act this year, or any other. They’ve outlived their welcome, IMHO. I saw them at Lollapalooza 2 (dating myself) in 1991. That was a good show but enough for me. Then again, I’m the kind of guy who leaves before Tool or Rage Against the Machine gets started because I just can’t be arsed to deal with meathead fans.

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For the record, I managed to get Tool's Coachella set in its entirety on the ol' BitTorrent, and I have to say it was absolutely amazing.

Hopefully the rumors that the full setlist will be posted tomorrow are true. Stay tuned.

88 Days 'til Coachella - So Where's the Poster???

While there have been several rumors about "confirmed" acts (including Pitchfork's #1 pick for 2008, Fleet Foxes), nothing has been posted on the official Web site.

Until something's posted officially, I'm reluctant to do much else but complain. So here's a picture a friend of a friend took near here.

My life sucks.

Fox 5 San Diego Sucks Ass

Fox 6 used to be pretty cool, despite the obvious leanings of some of their more idiot morning show personalities. Their evening news shows used to be pretty liberal - much more "fair and balanced" than your regular Fox News bullshit.

As you probably know, they've replaced 6 with 5, taking over the ex-UPN, ex-WB, ex-WTF station. And don't you know, they kept the "news personalities" from the old station.

The agenda stands. It's your old friends, the anti-freedom, ANTI FUCKING AMERICAN REPUBLICANS that only want to take away your freedoms and scare the living shit out of you so you'll obey.

Even longtime cool chick Chrissy Russo seems to have surrendered to the dark side. Sigh.

Good won over evil this time, after two elections where people just didn't make enough of a fuss about a bullshit result, but it's still not enough.

DO NOT TRUST FOX 5. KEEP PAYING ATTENTION.

Antony and the Johnsons - Walt Disney Concert Hall - Los Angeles, CA

Wow. I'm really not sure how to sum this up, so I'll use a phrase from my oftentimes concert partner in crime, Mr. Conner:

It was awesome. The musicians were amazing, the venue was amazing and the crowd was amazing.

Antony performed with the LA Philharmonic this evening at Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. This is a truly inspiring venue, both inside and out. Designed by God, or at least God's Assistant, this thing is gorgeous to look at on the outside, and almost scary to be inside of. Kinda like a superstar model.

Antony took the stage at about 8:15 with a group of approximately 18 musicians, a full brass section, oboe, bassoon, piano, percussionist, and clarinet, to name a few. Not to mention the conductor, who was exciting to watch as well. He just did what he did so well.

They played for probably about 90 minutes, including one encore, which included a very long story about one of Antony's role models in New York. He also shared that he'd only met the LA Philharmonic the day before, and had practiced with them twice before the performance. Describing how he explained the songs he said, "I told them, OK, for this one, imagine you're a fish..."

Most of the songs were ones I wasn't familiar with. He only did one song from I Am A Bird Now (For Today I Am A Boy), and I assume most of the other songs were from his recently released Another World EP and from his debut album. However, I did catch his touching, yet somewhat funny cover of Beyonce's Crazy In Love. A bit different than the version David Byrne treated us to with The Extra Action Marching Band at the Hollywood Bowl a while back, but it was still pretty amazing.

Another highlight: 30 seconds of silence during one of the songs. Honestly. Without exaggeration, it was at least that long, and nobody took a breath.

This was one of two shows on this US tour. He plays on 10/16 at The Apollo in NYC(!!!!!), and then two dates in London at the end of the month. Truly, this was a special evening. It's not every day you get to see a transvestite sing torch songs with a miniature symphony.

Oh, I should mention, I went to throw out my gum in what I thought was a trash can, but had to take it outside to find one.

"I thought it was a trash can, but it wasn't, I told my companions."

"What was it?" they asked.

"It was," I started, grasping for a word, "art."