!? /i br / br / b Word On The Street /b br / br / Last week I had the chance to check out a screening of the premier episode of the HBO show, i a href="http://www.
conchords.co.nz/" Flight of the Concords /a /i , at the Rec Center Studio in Echo Park.
The show stars New Zealand folk parody duo Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. i FOTC /i has had several premiers this month, introducing the guitar strummed sitcom to the lucky few who got the word. /p p The Rec Room was a great venue to screen the premier, as the crew at Cornerstone provided popcorn appetizers with drinks as the show was projected onto one of the loft walls.
We watched ldquo;Sally rdquo;, the highly anticipated premier episode, as the guys begin their American takeover, from a cramped New York apartment. br / br / img src="http://farm1.static.
flickr.com/228/509586720_6bd092348f_o.jpg" alt="" width="306" height="238" align="right" / After the show ended, we were served simosas and tandoori chicken, (makes senses after you watch the show) and got the chance to catch up with the creators a href="http://www.
whatthefolk.net/" What The Folk.net /a , a fan site dedicated to ldquo;New Zealand s 4th most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo rdquo;.
They schooled me on all things related to the mighty F to the C, and were very excited to be at the unveiling. The show starts in June on HBO but you can see the first episode at their a href="http://www.myspace.
com/hboflight" MySpace page /a . Add them and tell them Q sent ya! If that wasn rsquo;t enough, the movie i Eagle vs Shark /i , starring Jermaine Clement, is on the way as well!
Stay tuned for more news on the Concords. /p p b Audio-Video Room /b br / a href="http://www.reelworks.
org/index.php" br / b Reel Teen Works Films /b /a b /b in Brooklyn NY is putting the camera in the hands of the city youth. The results they are getting back are amazing beyond words, as some of the short films show real promise in these young directors.
The non-profit after school program is headquarter at the Prospect Park YMCA and serves over 150 teens with their various media related programs. br / br / img src="http://farm1.static.
flickr.com/215/509603887_4e11989a45_o.jpg" alt="" width="350" align="left" / Among some of the films present here is i a href="http://www.
reelworks.org/watch2.php?
classs=Fall%202006 title=Repeating%20History filmer=Layla%20Gardner fName=repeating_history.flv" Repeating History /a /i by Layla Gardner. It rsquo;s a insightful look into the life of fatherless families.
This film attempts to measure the impact of this experience, and discover how and why this cycle has repeated itself and should be seen by all. br / br / Another amazing short featured at the site is i A Girl Like Me /i , a href="http://www.louisianaweekly.
com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20060821b" the re-creation of the Clark doll test, directed by 17 year old Kerri Davis /a .
The film has become somewhat controversial as it shows children from a Harlem Day Care Center, retaking the test, with the same results. Both films are just a tip of the iceberg as Reel Teen Works has dozens of award worthy flicks. Make sure you a href="http://www.
myspace.com/reelworks" visit them /a . /p p b Bodog Battle Takes its Million Dollar Prize Global!
/b br / a href="http://blogcritics.org/www.bodogmusic.
com" br / /a a href="http://www.bodogmusic.com" The Million Dollar Battle of the Bands /a brought to you by Bodog, is taking over the world as it returns for its second competition.
The media company has expanded US cities and plans on forging ahead into the UK and Europe. The newly formed contest will include 60 cities, also reaching into Canada, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, and Berlin to name a few. The best of the best will compete for the big money with the winner to be crowned sometime in the spring of 2008.
Two separate million dollar contracts will be given, one in Los Angeles and the other in London. br / br / It rsquo;s never to early to get yourself in the running. Musicians can register online for free, build your profile, and upload your best material to compete.
For more information on Bodog Battle and to sign up, visit a href="http://www.bodogmusic.com" BodogMusic.
com /a . /p p br / The feature band members who participated on the new album reads like some random rock trivia answers, pulled out of a hat and all assembled together. R.
E.M. rsquo;s Mike Mills, Michael Blake from Lounge Lizards, and guitar legend Buddy Cage are just a few of the musicians involved in i Iris Nova /i .
The new CD packs eleven new songs and a cover of The Police rsquo;s ldquo;Spirits In The Material World rdquo; to boot. i Iris Nova /i will be available on iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody, and all the other e-stores soon, and limited CDS are available at the live shows. /p p b a href="http://www.
myspace.com/hotdollar" Hot Dollar /a /b has the streets on lock with his new single and looks ready to take the newly formed Island Urban Music Label to new heights. His CD entitled i My Dreams hellip;A Day in the Life /i will be in stores on August 14th.
Check the single ldquo;Streets On Lock rdquo; below! br / br / Hot Dollar ndash; Streets On Lock AUDIO: br / a href="http://www6.islanddefjam.
com/www2/av_system/go.wax?link=56M88EJ153M9E85F2J759237-87342" Windows Media Hi: /a br / a href="http://www6.
islanddefjam.com/www2/av_system/go.wax?
link=33687uT2d222C05g7204631D-87343" Windows Media Lo: /a br / a href="http://www6.islanddefjam.com/www2/av_system/go.
rm?link=F6ec833QLuz381sE4Y08878F-87344" Real Media Hi: /a br / br / b DJ Khaled /b is heating the streets up something major with his new CD i We The Best /i . If that wasn rsquo;t enough, Khaled has a new mixtape ready to hit the block.
Cinematic Music Group s i Good Talk Vol. 2 /i Mixtape hosted by Sean Kingston and DJ Khaled features tracks by Sean Kingston, Hot Dolla, Nipsey Hussle, and more. Guest vocal are provided by Rick Ross, Jermaine Dupri, The Game, Vybz Kartel, Kardinal Offishall, Trey Songz and more.
You can a href="http://www.sendspace.com/file/4gpwam" download the entire mixtape /a !
br / /p
With the every growing list of posthumous material, the award winning, World Record setting Shakur now has another DVD release of never before seen live performance footage. i Tupac: The Complete Live Performances /i is the only live recorded performances of Tupac in existence, making this a must have! /p p Disc one shows Pac rocking the House Of Blues stage, and he is joined by The Outlawz, Snoop Doog and the entire Dogg Pound, and Ki-Ci Jo-Jo.
The DVD is shot well enough, as we watch Pac from a few stationary camera angles, giving the DVD that live show look. Since the footage is of Tupac doing some of his most memorable songs, the repetitive stage angles will have to do. Pac sets the show off with some of his hits, "Ambitions Az A Ridah," "Freek'n You," and the venomous "Hit "Em Up" with the Outlawz, in pure 1996 anti-Bad Boy posture.
With that out of the way, The Dogg Pound step on stage and run thought their hits, "Murder Was The Case," "Ain't No Fun," "New York," "Gin Juice," and Pac and Snoop close the show with "2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted." This DVD was previously available but is a great addition to the set. /p p Disc Two is special for a couple of reasons.
It is shot in the infamous Club 662, on the day that Tupac was released from prison. With all of the drama surrounding Tupac at the time, the DVD is like a time stamp, showing us exactly what he was doing the night he got out of jail in 1995, as he started his run with Death Row Records. Classic performances are presented here as well, with The Outlawz and The Dogg Pound joining the stage again.
Songs performed are "So Many Tears," "California Love," "What Would You Do," and more. /p p The DVD has bonus features like music videos for "California Love" (remix), "To Live And Die In L.A.
," "Hit 'Em Up," "How Do You Want It" (concert version), and "I Ain't Mad At Cha" freestyles, commentary with Treach, and more. With these extras, the i Tupac: The Complete Live Performances /i is a must-have addition to the collection for hip-hop and general music fans alike. /p p Sage returns with a new album this month, and its filled with more undeniably brilliant vocal skills and lyrics bursting at the seams with ingenuity.
The fact that this out-of-shape vegetarian can keep on par with the very best of underground hip-hop only adds weight to his underdog mystique. /p p How can you not love a guy who throws a lyric like that with such authority? And if that doesn rsquo;t do it for you, there rsquo;s probably no other artist on the planet who could come up with: blockquote /p p ldquo; i She dangled that carrot and then asked me, lsquo;What would Bukowski do?
rsquo; / Don rsquo;t go there, he rsquo;d make you his mom / And then completely lie about it in a book later on /i rdquo;. /blockquote /p p i Human the Death Dance /i is more abstract than his previous work, and sometimes it seems to be reaching a bit too far, but most of the time it lands dead-center in the sweet spot. /p p A spot that Sage is now officially very comfortable with.
/p p 1. Growing Pains br / 2. Underground For Dummies br / 3.
Civil Obedience br / 4. Got Up This Morning br / 5. Good Fashion br / 6.
Clickety Clack br / 7. Midgets and Giants br / 8. Broccoli Break br / 9.
High Step br / 10. Keep Moving br / 11. Water Line br / 12.
Black Out On White Night br / 13. Hell Of A Year br / 14. Call Me Francois br / 15.
Hoofprints In The Sand br / 16. Going Back To Rehab /p div id="authorbio" Robert Burke spends much of his time lovingly crafting thematic music playlists for the a href="http://www.rhadish.
com" Rhapsody Radish /a and the a href="http://www.scopecreep.com/Yahoo" Yahoo Radish /a .
/div br style="clear: both;"/ p First of all I am sorry for posting about 50 Cent, so let me first say this: I do believe fiddy is a good rapper, and I have high expectations for his upcoming album. Therefore, I am going to write a review of the singles Straight To The Bank and Amusement Park. /p p After taking a few years off to work on his movie career 50 Cent is back, and still as hard-core as ever.
50 Cent s new album is entitled i Curtis /i , his real first name (real gansta if you ask me). One can already pre-order the album, which is set to release June 26th. i Curtis /i will surely be a success on the Clear Chanel charts, but the question is if i Curtis /i will actually contain decent rap.
It is rumored to have a souly sound, which will help make this an excellent album. It already has an A-list group of celebrity appearances; Eminem will be featured on the track Peep Show, and Dr. Dre produced the single, just to name a few.
/p p The first released single is entitled Straight To The Bank. This track, produced by Ty Fife and Dr. Dre, has an excellent beat.
The song starts off sounding like another Candy Shop, but it rapidly turns into an ode to the classics (I think it sounds like a Biggie beat). The song is about money, but don t start bantering on how rappers only talk about money and ho s; 50 Cent said in an interview Straight To The Bank is the only song about money. So look forward to 17 songs about Ho s!
Overall Straight To The Bank is a sure fire chart topper, and a well rounded song. /p p The second single Amusement Park is not quite as good as the previously stated. Amusement Park sort of makes me queezy, much like an actual amusement park.
The beat is really choppy, and sounds unfinished. Besides that problem, the song is a real jem! /p p The hip-hop genre is epitomized by poets and thugged-out simpletons.
In a sea of gangstas and hos, a pasty white boy is producing ballads of robots and data encryption. MC Frontalot, pioneer of the nerdcore hip-hop subgenre, has released a new album titled i Secrets from the Future /i . This is a follow-up to his i Nerdcore Rising /i album, which was released in 2005.
br / /p p This brand of music is certainly a unique concept, and the album features song titles such as You Got Asperger s and I Hate Your Blog. Could this be somewhat interesting and carry the potential to entertain? If you think so, you might be as imbecilic as I was for taking this review.
/p p I can only assume that Frontalot was going for laughs, and his drivel induced none from me. Drawing any parallels between his work and that of clever laugh rappers like Eminem would be a mistake. Frontalot s attempts at musical wit are absent of inspiration and writing quality while his delivery is flat.
Simply put, the man s singing bores me to a greater extent than his flavorless lyrics. /p p Bizarro Genius Baby? That s correct.
This song--which claimed the longest four minutes of my life--describes an alleged dream of the artist s in which he fathered an infant prodigy. A dream denied, I m certain. The best line of this song was a lame ending to a sorry performance.
As for You Got Asperger s, Frontalot has clearly confused the symptoms of this syndrome with those of high-functioning autism. /p p Then again, song titles are irrelevant when every song on the CD sounds identical to the previous waste of cerebral activity. The instrumentation and vocal performances are equally bland.
This album is not jarringly piss poor; it s just a worthless, insipid 52 minutes of who cares with a side of shut the Hell up. /p p This is a man whiter than Al Gore feigning a rapper s voice in the clumsiest, most transparent way possible as a means for joking of pseudointellectual subjects in an asinine manner. Perhaps Frontalot should adopt a better front, as his lack of style and attitude is glaringly reflected in his work.
Good music is not born of nonsense, which appears to be the strong point of his rhymes. /p p You hate my blog, Frontalot? It s divine in comparison to your album and that s not saying much.
Frontalot s ideas could very well become something decent in more capable hands. Without actual talent and creativity to back up his concepts, they are merely pathetic and annoying. i Secrets from the Future /i is an all-around loser.
/p p /p div id="authorbio" Joe Harris is a disgruntled writer with an affinity for loud music and paisley ties. An alumnus of two McDonald's franchises, staying out of the nut-house and overcoming cystic acne are among his triumphs. The handsome Dallas resident is commonly found toiling at a job which is beneath him or drinking alone with his cat.
/div br style="clear: both;"/ p One of the most respected and revered underground hip-hop labels, Rawkus Records, is back in the mix! The former home to such rap heavyweights as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Company Flow, and Pharaoh Monche, is entering the music game again with a blazing collection from Canadian-born member of The Beat Society, Marco Polo. br / br / a href="http://en.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Authority_(album)" img src="http://farm1.static.
flickr.com/202/492877765_a6243c78a1_o.jpg" border="2" alt="" hspace="2" vspace="2" width="200" height="200" align="left" / Marco Polo /a is one of the newest producers to watch, as he has crafted real hip-hop music for the likes of The Boot Camp Clik, Masta Ace, and Large Professor and was recently named one of the Next 100 by Urb magazine.
He steps up to the plate with this self produced full length project. The CD is packed with heat, with a huge list of names on board and collabos that make it look like a East Coast who s who of emcees. Ed O.
G, Sadat X, Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, Buckshot, Jo Jo Pellegrino, Copywrite, and many more are on this CD, making it a pretty safe purchase. br / br / Kardinal Offishall teams up and delivers the lead single and possible one of the best songs on i Port Authority /i , the spine tingling War . Some of the other standout tracks on the disc are The Wrong One featuring Wordsmith, Go Around featuring Buckshot, Time Place featuring Ed O.
G. and the ode to Jamaican cigarettes Rolling featuring Sadat X, AG and JuJu. Make sure you let the CD run all the way so you can catch the bonus track Relax featuring J.
Davey, as they come with it on this Tribe Called Quest inspired joint. br / i br / Port Authority /i gives real Hip-Hop heads, B-Boys, and good music fans alike, something to look forward to. The CD has been getting some a href="http://www.
djbooth.net/index/interviews/entry/marco-polo-interview/" incredible reviews /a and looks to be o a href="http://www.hiphopdx.
com/index/reviews/id.788/title.marco-polo-port-authority" ne of the hottest rap albums of the year /a .
The resurrection of Rawkus is underway, as is the mission to save Hip-Hop s honor. a href="http://blogcritics.org/myspace.
com/marcopolobeats" Marco Polo /a helps serve the first round with this soon to be classic Rap Album. I highly suggest that you go cop that on May 15th! a href="http://www.
marcopolobeats.com/" Marco Polo /a br / i Port Authority /i br / Rawkus/SoulSpazm Records br / Release Date-May 15th, 2007 /p div id="authorbio" p img src="http://static.flickr.
com/19/161120941_40111c606e_t.jpg" width="100" height="71" alt="Kayaro Records logo" align="left"/ /a /p p Laron Cue's a href="http://www.canhead.
wordpress.com" Canhead Blog /a has everything from news, reviews, interviews, online sales, concert info, MP3s, videos, weblinks, and anything else we can cram online. /p p a href="http://www.
kayaro.blogspot.com" Kayaro Records Blog, /a is the online home to Kayaro Records, a new independent record venture, which is home to JhaVoice.
/div br style="clear: both;"/
I., and 50 Cent's G-Unit empire was still just a dream. /p p Now, Redman has finally made his return with em Red Gone Wild: Thee Album /em and it's a triumphant one.
While some artists sound rusty when they return after a long hiatus, Redman sounds rested and refreshed. He may mine familiar territory with this new album, but he does it quite well. /p p During Redman's absence, labelmate Ludacris sort of filled in Red's niche of clever party rapper.
However, with Luda going serious on his last album (and winning a Grammy as a result), the timing is perfect for Redman's return. However, don't call it a comeback because Redman doesn't. Listening to this album, it feels like Redman never left.
/p p Most of em Red Gone Wild /em follows Redman's typical formula. There are odes to weed ("Merry Jane" featuring Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg), collaborations with Def Squad members ("Walk In Gutta" featuring Erick Sermon, Keith Murray, and Biz Markie), funny skits ("F**k Ur Opinion" is inadvertently timely), and even another installment of the "Soopman Luva" series (featuring the resurrection of rapper Hurricane G). /p p There are many solid tracks to be found here.
"Rite Now" is a signature Redman track with its Al Green-sampling, Erick Sermon beat. The wordplay is top-notch on the Red-produced "Wutchoogonnado" featuring vocals by Melanie Rutherford. And Red reunites with Method Man on the track "Blow Treez.
" Red also gives us the beginnings of a new persona on the silly "Pimp Nutz." /p p Just like fellow Def Jam artist Ghostface Killah did with his excellent 2006 release em Fishscale /em , Redman doesn't stray too far from what works for him on em Red Gone Wild /em . There are no attempts to be serious, no blatant attempts to be trendy, and no dumbing down of his style to appeal to the current hip-hop crowd.
Redman just makes some wild and unapologetically fun hip-hop music. In sticking to what he knows, he has made music that doesn't sound like anyone else's. /p p Welcome back, Redman.
Now let's just all hope that we don't have to wait another six years to hear more from you. /p div id="authorbio" Sterfish is an entertainment junkie and aspiring writer. You can read reviews, essays, and more at his blog a href="http://sterfish.
blogspot.com" Sterfish's Place /a . /div br style="clear: both;"/
While nitpickers may point out that summer doesn rsquo;t officially begin until June 21st, those of us who experienced the 100-plus degree temperatures know better. This year, the eighth time it is being held, the event has expanded to three days. Many people wisely took advantage of the on-site camping, which was probably the smartest move for concert-goers who were attending more than one day, as the logistics were a nightmare.
br / br / Although I have read horror stories about traffic by those who started their journey too late, I had no problems getting to town about 11:45am. I hung out with some people I had met on the Coachella forum, who lived about two miles away. I headed over about 1:30pm and got into the lot off of Monroe and 52nd around 30 minutes later.
br / br / I was disheartened to see the parking lot empty of traveling vendors selling their wares, and very limited amounts of people partying. It couldn rsquo;t have solely been the heat, but I didn rsquo;t notice a heavy police/security presence so I rsquo;m not sure what the issue was. I will have to wait until some other event to pick up that t-shirt all the kids frying will be mesmerized by and the cryptic bumper sticker that only Spreadheads will understand.
br / br / Part of the reason might have been the huge lines to pick up tickets. There were a few booths with very long lines. I heard people complaining of having to wait almost three hours with no shade of any kind, just to pick up their tickets, and that doesn rsquo;t count the security check.
Next year, and for anyone attending next weekend rsquo;s Stagecoach event at the same venue who haven rsquo;t purchased tickets yet, pay the $2.50 to print the tickets. br / br / The last issue I have dealing with entering the facility is that on the event rsquo;s website it stated ldquo;NO Outside Food Bev, rdquo; yet at the gate I discovered I was allowed to bring in unopened water bottles.
Considering it was over 100 degrees, that information might have been important to pass on to the attendees. However, they were good enough to only be selling 16.9 fl.
oz. bottles for $2 when they could have got more. There was also a promotion that encouraged people to bring back 10 empties in exchange for a full one, but some people dug through the trash and threw it around to fill their quota.
br / br / The festival had five stages of music, two large ones and three under large canopies. In between were all sorts of art projects, food stands, and information booths. Aside from the official Coachella vending tables, there was not much else to buy.
While there were alcohol sales, $7 for a Heinken, the drinks could not be removed from the ldquo;Beer Garden. rdquo; In those areas people could see and hear through the metal fences, but as a grown up, it was disappointing. Plus, it only encourages attendees to get wasted before coming inside, particularly on long-lasting drugs.
br / br / The first act I caught was Terry Mullen at the Sahara tent, a DJ who was playing some driving beats and had a good visual display run by a team of people on computers. He had a small group up front feeling what he was doing, but most in the back just seemed to be taking in the shade, which was the greatest commodity of the day. br / br / Moving on to the Mojave tent, The Noisettes were a rockin rsquo; trio out of London led by bassist Shingai Shoniwa whose voice has a great melody to it.
She sings rather than scream like other girls fronting similar groups. She easily could sing jazz standards if she chose. At the Gobi tent, the Comedians of Comedy started the day.
It seemed like an odd choice, but Zach Galifianakis had the crowd laughing, especially when he went to the piano and offered up amusing thoughts as he plinked out a tune. At the Outdoor Theatre, apparently the creative team didn rsquo;t know ldquo;Kalahari, rdquo; bluegrass band, or ldquo;progressive acoustic rdquo; as they refer to themselves, Nickel Creek sounded great on one of their last remaining dates before they go on an indefinite hiatus. br / br / Frequent Coachella performer Perry Farrell took the main stage with his new group Satellite Party, playing songs from their upcoming album.
They combine the hard rock sounds of Jane rsquo;s Addiction and the world music explorations of Porno for Pyros and his solo album, most notably on ldquo;UltraPayloaded Satellite Party. rdquo; ldquo;Wish Upon A Dog Star rdquo; had a great funk bass groove to it. ldquo;Insanity Reigns rdquo; had a fast raggedness, a controlled chaos, that worked well.
They even delivered a version of Jane rsquo;s Addiction ldquo;Stop rdquo; to the delight of many in the crowd. The band sounded good, especially Nuno Bettancourt who seems a capable guitarist to handle Farrell rsquo;s aural vision. br / br / Unfortunately, what totally detracts is Perry rsquo;s wife, Etty.
She is a ldquo;back-up singer, rdquo; but comes off a cross between a stripper and Linda McCartney. She looked a tad ridiculous running around trying to keep her breasts from falling out while she was dancing around, apparently unaware that her skimpy outfit is why her breasts were falling out while she was dancing around. She was a total buzz-kill.
br / br / Next up, was the simple beauty of the bluegrass/old time music of Gillian Welch David Rawlings. They wore matching rhinestone outfits and I walked in on them covering the Cashes rsquo; ldquo;Jackson. rdquo; While an event like Coachella has a alternative music feel to it, it was refreshing to see the audience so into Welch.
Among the songs they played were ldquo;Look At Miss Ohio rdquo; and ldquo;Elvis Presley Blues. rdquo; br / br / On the same stage and with a very quick turnaround thanks to the small amount of equipment used by Welch, soul singer Amy Winehouse followed. She was backed with a horn section and two back-up singers that gave her music a reggae vibe at times.
She asked if she could have a drink, sure to continue the gossip about her. When I could no longer take the two fat, sweaty guys rubbing against me, I made my way out of the tent to discover that Amy had been placed at too small of a stage. I had to fight my way through the throngs outside the tent because so may people packed the area.
br / br / Art was a big part of the events as well. In between there were a number of installations to view and appreciate. One art installation that captivated a great many people was a number of rows of lights on strings coming out from a center pole forming a sphere.
They alternated color and different patterns. It was the best piece there. Other pieces included a long-winding tunnel of multicolored fabric where a small meditation circle was at the end, and a Chinese dragon made entirely of balloons that paraded through the crowd.
br / br / On a raised platform, a performance art/dance troupe pranced around to Middle Eastern-sounding music, dressed in odd tribal costumes. Part of their improvised routine involved shooting and spraying water into the crowd, which had to be a reason for their audience in the late afternoon. br / br / One way to beat the heat was a tent called ldquo;Recharge and Relax.
rdquo; They pumped the place full of air conditioning. There were free computers all over the place and they offered free charges to cell phones. br / br / DJs played inside of a large jungle gym where colored gels were in sections on the top.
As I passed by at one point I heard Tones on Tail rsquo;s ldquo;Go, rdquo; while later I caught old standards from the lsquo;30s or lsquo;40s, which drew me inside. The DJ appeared to have a Victrola mic rsquo;d up. I never got a good look at the gentleman because of the hat and feather boa he wore, but I believe it was David J from Bauhaus and Love and Rockets.
br / br / The Arctic Monkeys took the main stage while the sun was setting over the mountains and the temperature was perfect. The band was having a good time, and their energy infused the crowd, which was getting larger. More people were standing and squeezing together, a combination of the current act and the ones to come.
br / br / While Sunday rsquo;s Rage Against The Machine reunion has getting most of the buzz in the press, the reunion that created a great buzz on stage was the feedback-drenched, Reid Brothers, better known as Jesus and Mary Chain. They sounded fantastic playing many of their hits to the delight of the large crowd and certainly played one of the loudest shows of the day. Jim asked the crowd, ldquo;Are you having fun?
rdquo; When he got an enthusiastic response, he came back with his trademark feistiness, ldquo;Well let s see what we can do about that! rdquo; Celebrities were spotted throughout Coachella, but none was more noticeable than Scarlett Johansson who joined JAMC on vocals for ldquo;Just Like Honey, rdquo; a fitting cameo as the song played during the end of a href="http://elbichoshive.blogspot.
com/2003_12_14_elbichoshive_archive.html" i Lost in Translation /i /a . The band performed a new song, which sounded good and is an encouraging sign they will continue past a reunion, and closed with ldquo;Reverence.
rdquo; br / br / Back over at the Sahara tent, Benny Benassi was spinning a great set and had the audience on its feet, including girls dressed like animals and a guy with the pacifier. It was another great visual show and there rsquo;s something about nighttime that adds to that music. Over in the Mojave tent, Peeping Tom put on a rockin rsquo; hip-hop show if that was more your flava.
The crowds there were dancing with their hands in the air. br / br / Jarvis Cocker started late and played a shortened set due to equipment problems. To my surprise, a lot of people were still walking in at 9:20.
Not campers, but people just arriving at the show. I know the $90 to $100 ticket prices were comparable to 2.5 hours at other concerts, but with all there was to offer it seemed surprising considering how much was missed.
br / br / I headed out early to beat the traffic, which was a good thing as I later read some people complaining that once the show closed, it took two hours just to make it to the freeway. If you can handle the logistical problems, the afternoon heat, and about 60,000 people in one place, some of whom have no idea how to clean up after themselves, Coachella is a great place to see bands you love and to discover new ones. /p div id="authorbio" This writer is a member of a href="http://www.
maskedmoviesnobs.com/" The Masked Movie Snobs /a , a collective that fights a never-ending battle against bad entertainment. El Bicho is an active contributing editor for BC Magazine.
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