Posts Tagged → texas
Old Settler’s Music Festival
The Old Settler’s Music Festival returns to the Salt Lick Pavilion and Camp Ben McCulloch this year, and brings with it some of the top Americana and roots acts in the nation. The 2011 lineup includes The Avett Brothers, Sam Bush, Sonny Landreth, Tim O’Brien, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Foster & Lloyd, The Gourds, Jake Shimabukuro, Band of Heathens, Jim Lauderdale, Langhorne Slim, Trampled by Turtles and many many more.
The festival is held just outside of Austin, TX in the height of the Texas Hill Country’s bluebonnet season, making it a beautiful destination for beautiful scenery mixed with equally excellent music. In addition to its musical offerings, the festival also offers other great attractions such as performance workshops, on-site camping, activities specifically for kids, and food, beer and wine from an assortment of vendors.
The festival will be held from April 14-17, 2011 and tickets are on sale now right here!
Tickets for the 2011 Nocturnal Music Festival – Texas are on sale now!
UPDATE:
Check out the official trailer for Nocturnal Festival Texas 2011!
The fest has also announced a bunch of awesome additions to its stacked lineup:
Crystal Castles // Above & Beyond // Ghostland Observatory // Bassnectar // Galactic // Excision // Chase and Status (LIVE) // Avicii // DJ Dan // Ed Rush & Optical // Gareth Emery // Kaskade // Mr. Oizo // Paul Oakenfold // Big Gigantic //Beats Antique // Chase & Status // Conspirator //Eskmo // Excision // Feed Me // Flarup // Funkagenda // Sander Kleinenberg // Savoy Live! // STS9 // Switch // Tipper // Zeds dead
Nocturnal Festival, a name made famous by the festival in California, has spread its reach to the great state of Texas. Last year’s festival lineup included acts such as Kid Cudi, Girl Talk, ATB, Lotus, Bassnectar and a ton of other heavy hitters in the dance scene, and this year’s fest should be no different. Nocturnal Texas is held April 29 and 3o, 2011 in Apache Pass (near Austin, TX). Tickets for the event just went on sale and this is sure to sell quickly given the acts that were present last year, so go grab your tickets now for what is sure to be one of the biggest dance parties of the year!
Live Review: Broken Bells Spinner Popup Show at the Red River Parking Garage
This was definitely one of those sxsw shows that people will be buzzing about for a few days to come. Broken Bells, whose members include James Mercer of The Shins fame and Brian Burton, better known to many as Danger Mouse, played an intimate show in the parking garage at Red River and 8th Street yesterday afternoon. The promoters of the show kept capacity very low – I heard that approximately 220 people in total were let in not including media and personnel. This served to create a very intimate environment within a very unique setting. The line for the show wrapped around two sides of the garage, and most of those people peered through the chain link fence to get a glimpse of the show even once the makeshift venue reached capacity.
Now on to the show. Let me first say that I personally think that the folks over at Spinner did a great job of putting this together and building a nice set with strong sound for this show. Well done guys! The band entered from the top level of the garage and quickly took the stage launching into their first single from their new album “The High Road” with Danger Mouse behind the kit. They spoke only a few times throughout the show, but seemed to be enjoying playing in such a unique setting. Throughout the set, Danger Mouse played a few different instruments, and Mercer provided strong vocals and guitar work for the entire show. The band consists of seven traveling members in total, helping to recreate the depth of sound that can be found on the record.
The set list for the show was comprised of all of the bands material to this point, so this was not simply one of those ten minute pop-up affairs. If you have not listened to Broken Bells, do not expect some type of James Mercer hip hop project. The album has the fingerprints of Danger Mouse all over it, but is unique to anything that the two have produced before, and in my opinion it works darn well. Check out one of my favorite tracks from the album below…actually I really like them all but had to pick one.
Lots of media from this show to be seen: check out a video from the show right here and a couple photos including the set list, and go here for the rest of my show photos and here to add your own photos from the show. Hope you enjoyed the show if you were there and that this gives you a taste of it if you weren’t!
[audio:http://www.frontgatetickets.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/10.The-Mall-and-Misery.mp3|titles=The Mall and Misery by Broken Bells]
Live Review: Flaming Lips – Austin Music Hall 3-12-2010
The Flaming Lips kicked off their North American tour on Friday in Austin at the Austin Music Hall. This was actually my first time to see The Lips in concert, and they did not disappoint one bit. Wayne Coyne and company swept through a set of career-spanning hits that was sure to please most everyone in attendance. The Flaming Lips are well-documented for their strange theatrics and over-the-top production, and this show was no exception.
Whether it was the 20 ft wide disco ball, Wayne’s light up gong or the point in the show where he invited everyone to shine laser pointers at him that the band had distributed before the show, the theatrics were ever-present and held everyone’s attention captive for the entire show. Wayne even strapped on his acoustic for a sing-along rendition of “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.” Before the song he joked about his lack of guitar skills and demonstrated these skills during the song with a few slip ups that somehow only added to the show in my opinion.
I have heard people knock The Flaming Lips for their productions or claim that the band has to cover up what is lacking in their music with these productions, but I did not witness that on Friday. What I saw was a beautiful blend of great music, talented musicians and a stage show that kept me captivated for the entire night until the last piece of confetti had fallen from the rafters. After Friday, if I have the chance to see these guys again, I will jump at it, and I would encourage you to do the same.
Photos are coming to the post – if you took pictures or video at the show share them here!
Cheers.
SXSW kicks off with a bang at the frog design party!
On March 13, Frog Design hosted their SXSWi opening party at the Mexican American Cultural Center. I was planning on heading down to check out this party after stopping by a few other parties and happy hours on the way. That plan was soon nixed as each place that we went to had a line wrapped around the block where the parties were being held.
I decided that was not how I wanted to spend my evening, so we headed towards the frog party. A line had started to form for this party as well, but once the doors opened we were inside in a matter of a couple of minutes. When you entered the party, you were given an RFID tag that you were to scan anytime that you got something from the bar or at any number of various stations setup throughout the party.
This was a really cool idea, but some of the spots where you were supposed to use the tags were not hooked up and therefore did not function! Overall, however the party was very well hosted! The lines at the bars moved quickly if there were lines when you walked up, and the layout of the party made it always feel like there was plenty of space to move around and chat regardless of how many people showed up. Overall, I give the party a big thumbs up! Thanks to all the folks at frog design for making it a fun-filled evening!
If you have photos from the event post them here!
Cheers.
Live Review: Portugal. the Man at The Parish
Portugal. The Man quickly became my favorite Alaskan band on Friday night. I was lucky enough to get into the first of two sold out shows at the freshly remodeled Parish. The room was full and lively as Portugal. The Man took the stage. I was actually surprised by the number of people who immediately started singing along to the band’s catchy tunes. The elements of the music were melodic enough to keep your head bobbing, while the band does a good job of mixing in various flavors and styles into their set. The band also seemed to be truly excited to be back in Austin and frontman John Gourley commented on how nervous he was to be playing the packed room.
These Austin dates were some of the first of the band’s in support of their newly minted American Ghetto album, the songs of which were very well received that night. They played a tight set that I personally feel transfers very well from the album to the stage. I have to admit that before this show, I had not listened to the band extensively, but I will also say that as I write this after seeing them, their album is what is pumping through my headphones. If you have the chance to catch these guys on tour, you will not regret it one bit! Also, if you get the opportunity to catch an upcoming show at The Parish, I imagine that you will be pleasantly surprised.
If you have pictures from the show post them here, and I will select my favorites to put in the gallery on the blog as well. Thanks in advance!
[audio:http://portaldev/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Portugal-The-Man-The-Dead-Dog.mp3|titles=Portugal The Man -- The Dead Dog]
