Tag: Empire of the Sun

BottleRock Napa Valley 2020 Preview

BRNV 2020

It’s January, and that means: festival announcement time, ladies and gents! This year, Napa Valley’s favorite festival (that’s Bottle Rock Napa Valley, if you didn’t already know) welcomes back headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers (yessss!), as well as BRNV-first-timers Stevie Nicks and Dave Matthews Band. In addition to those three huge acts, I’ll be trying to squeeze every drop of live music fun as possible into my weekend; I have so many other sets I want to try to catch! Personally, I’m most looking forward to seeing Maggie Rogers, Of Monsters and Men, Foals, Local Natives, Finneas, Caamp, The Band CAMINO, the freaking Village People (!!), Absofacto, Atlas Genius, Eliza & the Delusionals, and always brilliant and fantastically talented The Alive, among still many others. Who are you most excited to see this year?

Here’s my preview playlist featuring aforementioned faves. Enjoy and I’ll see you in my hometown this Memorial Day weekend at BottleRock Napa Valley!

Listen to BRNV2020 Playlist!

BottleRock ticket info: 3-Day Tickets are sold out, but single day passes go on sale tomorrow (1/9/20) at 10am PST).

Show Review: Empire of the Sun with Vin Sol at The Fox Theater, 04/17/2014

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Empire of the Sun are simply a band that somehow defies explanation and supersedes any real definition, and their live show at The Fox in Oakland on Thursday certainly follows suit. With an intro that rivals most Las Vegas shows, a light package that is worthy of any pure EDM set, and a lead singer that truly embodies the enigmatic rock star persona, their show definitely rearranged every brain cell I have into what feels like pure energy.

And that’s even without getting into the music itself.

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Festival Diary: The 2011 Treasure Island Music Festival, Day 1

The glamtastic Saturday headliners

The details of the Treasure Island Music Festival are well known to Bay Area music regulars. I’ll go over them briefly.

The setting is beautiful, on an island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. There are only two stages that alternate acts, so there’s never any clashes. There are two days: Saturday leans toward dance music, and Sunday is for indie rock. It’s small so you can easily get close to the stage whenever you want, without having to park yourself in the front row all day long. Those are the basics — everything else changes year to year. In fact, the organizers — Noise Pop and Another Planet — intend to never repeat a band. So here’s a quick look at this year’s collection of talent.

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San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival 2010: Day 2

The far eastern Twin Peaks stage of Outside Lands (photo by kelp: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelp/4896077718/)
The far eastern Twin Peaks stage of Outside Lands (photo by kelp: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelp/4896077718/)

The second day of San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival was met with both tiredness and anticipation from the thousands of fans who arrived to see the remainder of the odd but interesting festival lineup. While the day began just as overcast and somewhat gloomy as it had when it faded out the night before, blue sky finally broke through the clouds in the early afternoon, treating those who arrived to warm sunlight and renewed energy (especially with those who had been drained of theirs the night before). With a handful of big acts to come in the evening, it was expected that the opening bands would parallel their predecessors of the first day and serve as appetizers to the eventual banquet of concert frenzy; today, however, things got off to a rather slower, smoother start, which caused thankfulness in some and restlessness in others.

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Album Review: Jay Z – The Blueprint 3

Blueprint_3

I know, right, a hip-hop record leaking, impossible! NO, really it did. Despite the fact that Jay-Z traveled all the way to Hawaii to record, the Blueprint 3 is still leaked, someone must have got on an air craft with a copy, what is the TSA doing! Continue reading “Album Review: Jay Z — The Blueprint 3”