Music Festivals

The Worst Things About SXSW 2013

This year, our sister papers at the Houston Press music blog Rocks Off and Dallas Observer music blog DC-9 at Night teamed up to bring you only the choicest moments from last week's SXSW madness. See Also: -The Scene at SXSW: Here's What You Are Missing -SXSW 2013: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Spai ... More >>

LouFest Update: Lineup to Be Announced in Late April

Last night C3 Presents -- the company that will be partnering with LouFest this year, also responsible for Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits Festival -- hosted a "Media Happy Hour" at Five Bistro. Many members of the local media were in attendance -- in addition to RFT Music, there was the Pos ... More >>

Student Startup Madness: Local Collegians Compete to Be Next Mark Zuckerberg

Many people come up with the dumbest ideas of their lives during college. But, as Sean Branagan, director of the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Syracuse University, observes, some pretty good ideas have come from college students, too: Facebook, FedEx, Dell computers, Google, Reddit, t ... More >>

The Five Best Summer Concert Survival Strategies (Photos)

5. Hydrate: Not just an issue of consumption. The Warped Tour made its annual stop in St. Louis at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (I-70 & Earth City Expwy, Maryland Heights), bringing with it such pop-punk luminaries as Falling in Reverse, Of Mice and Men and the Used. And, of course, this all h ... More >>

Pulse is St. Louis' First EDM Festival

Electronic Dance Music has been on the rise, both in the US and St. Louis in particular. At the end of last year, we talked to promoter Amin Mohabbat about St. Louis status as a hub for EDM in this part of the country. This weekend, Mohabbat and his Brown & White Productions outfit are bringing this ... More >>

Win a Pair of Bonnaroo Passes

Update: And our winner is Alex Fritz, because we love it when our food writer makes sex jokes about bands. Instructions are on their way via Twitter. Thanks, everyone. Yep, that's right. Looking to make some last minute plans for a trip down to Tennessee this weekend? We've got a pair of Bonnaroo w ... More >>

The End of SXSW 2012: Too Much Portland to Count and a Little St. Louis

Friday, March 16, 2012 2:15 p.m. By mid-afternoon the South Congress strip had become a not-quite-debauched Mardi Gras parade of young and old, hip and unhip, crunchy and coiffed, and dogs, lots of dogs, all taking in the food trucks, boutiques, vintage apparel encampments and day parties, lots of ... More >>

The Worst Moments from SXSW 2012

The last few days, Village Voice Media's indefatigable music staff has been regaling you with stories of the best from SXSW 2012. In the midst of these discoveries, we've been culling another list: the worst shit. The acts that ranged from huge bore-fests to downright lame. Below, you'll find our cr ... More >>

Fiona Apple, Tennis and Corporate Sponsorship: SXSW 2012 Days 1 and 2

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 6:25 p.m. I've been coming to SXSW for over a decade now, and pre- and post-apocalypse days off are as much essential rituals as 2 a.m. taco runs and sleep deprivation. This year, there'd be no day-before day off, as SXSW has extended the music portion of the festival/confer ... More >>

Bluegrass America

The Schedule for the Missouri Botanical Garden's 2012 Whitaker Music Festival

If there is a better summer date night in St. Louis than the Whitaker Music Festival, we don't know about it. The series, held on the grounds of the Missouri Botanical Garden (4344 Shaw Boulevard, 314-577-9400), has just announced its 2012 lineup. It is once again dense with excellent local talent: ... More >>

Jane's Addiction at the Pageant, 2/22/12: Review, Photos, Setlist

Jane's Addiction | Black Box Revelation The Pageant February 22, 2012 Jane's Addiction remains an undisputed king of the '90s. From its inception in 1985 to the creation of Lollapalooza for its 1991 farewell tour, the band has lent more than its share to the birth of alternative culture, second to ... More >>

Man Found Dead at Kanrocksas Music Festival

​A man in his twenties was found dead in the camping fields at this past weekend's inaugural Kanrocksas Music Festival. The police department in Kansas City, Kansas, issued a press release on Saturday saying that officials responded to a report of an unresponsive person. The man wasn't breathi ... More >>

St. Louis' biggest hip-hop showcase turns two

Have a Summer Music Festival Pro Tip/Great Story? We Want to Hear It

wikimedia commons​The forecast is calling for 90 degrees this weekend, which is appropriate for Memorial Day. Summer is here, folks, and that is a heady thing for music fans: BBQs with boomboxes, block parties, the touring high season and, naturally, festivals. We are working on a guide for ... More >>

Living Things Releases a Free Mixtape, Malocchio

Living Things, which still proudly claims St. Louis as its home, yesterday released a new, free mixtape on its website. Called Malocchio, the release is "influenced by the sounds of Afrobeat and psychedelic-era Nigerian dub," according to a release sent out by the band's publicist. The genesis for ... More >>

St. Louis at SXSW 2011: Who's Playing Where

Annie ZaleskiNato Caliph at SXSW a few years ago​It's hard to believe, but the music portion of the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2011. In the last quarter-century, the annual event has evolved to become the gathering place for music-industry darlings, wann ... More >>

So, Who's Going to SXSW from St. Louis This Year?

Image via​In a little over a month, bands from all over the world will converge on Austin, Texas, for this year's edition of SXSW. The lineup, as always, has a mix of legends and upstarts -- everyone from the Bangles to Cloud Nothings and Das Racist are appearing. (The list of bands showcasing ... More >>

From Andrew W.K. to the Oompa-Loompas: The Best Of Warped Tour St. Louis

Jon Gitchoff​The 2010 Vans Warped Tour rolled into St. Louis on Monday. Photographer Jon Gitchoff was there to capture the mayhem. Click through for a look at ten of the best shots of the day, or visit the slideshow for the entire set.​​View the full slide show from the 2010 Vans W ... More >>

Airplanes Wins Local Talent Search, Plays Lilith Fair

Snakebit PhotographyAirplanes​Back in May, we told you about a contest Lilith Fair was having to fill one "Ourstage" slot at the St. Louis Lilith Fair. It was just announced that local twosome Airplanes won the area talent search, with the original song "Sun." Airplanes will be the first perf ... More >>

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Plays the Pageant Tonight -- With a St. Louisan in the Midst

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is a project birthed by Alex Ebert after a break-up and a stint in rehab. Appropriately, the music is themed around a fictional savior figure who Ebert says "was sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind...but he kept getting distracted by girls and falli ... More >>

Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige, Emmylou Harris Added to St. Louis Lilith Fair Line-up

Kelly Clarkson will be at Lilith Fair in St. Louis.​Pop powerhouse Kelly Clarkson, hip-hop diva Mary J. Blige and country legend Emmylou Harris will be joining previously announced acts Sarah McLachlan and Metric at the St. Louis stop of the Lilith Fair on Friday, July 16. Others scheduled to ... More >>

Lilith Fair Has a Confirmed St. Louis Date. And At Least Two Acts...

Metric is finally coming back to St. Louis.​So, the roll-out of 2010 Lilith Fair dates and each city's line-up is slow. Really slow. As in, almost one at a time. Look in the dictionary under the definition of "piecemeal," and the tour is there. We reported months ago that the tour was coming t ... More >>

Five Questions: Vocalist Brian Kelley of Irish Lo-Fi Band, So Cow

courtesy of Tic Tac Totally Records​At a day party on the last official day of SXSW, aggressive, garage punk filled the small confines of Trailer Space Records. Sharing the bill with the likes of West Coasters Thee Oh Sees and Nodzzz, Ireland's So Cow breezed through their ninth SXSW appearanc ... More >>

Breaking Exclusive: Metropolis St. Louis Cancels This Year's Lot Festival

​Bummer news: Metropolis St. Louis announced late yesterday that it's canceled this year's edition of the Lot, an annual local music festival traditionally held in the parking lot of the Schlafly Tap Room. In a press release, Michael Tomko, one of the festival's organizers, said: "What it com ... More >>

SXSW Day Two: KDHX/Twangfest Day Party, Ray Davies, John Hiatt, Morning Benders, Roky Erickson/Okkervil River -- and More

Hating on South By Southwest is too easy. Just look around: Shit-faced lawyers waxing bizness gobbledygook to shit-faced salesmen of exercise bikes, members of psych-metal bands (probably called Red Octopus or Purple Cobra) barely remaining vertical for all their unbathed rock studiousness, the endl ... More >>

Alex Chilton's Missouri Ties: How the First Big Star Reunion Happened in Columbia

Big Star/Box Tops legend Alex Chilton's sad, unexpected death continues to reverberate throughout the music industry. Tributes are pouring in, from the LA Times and Rolling Stone to the NY Times and basically the entire SXSW music festival. Jason HarperThe cover of the Austin Chronicle's SXSW suppl ... More >>

Who Is Responsible for YouTube Video Sensation iamamiwhoami?

Few viral campaigns have so successfully captured the attention and imagination of the increasingly hard-to-shock Internet public like the recent iamamiwhoami sensation on YouTube. The series of hypnotic videos -- the latest of which was released on Sunday -- feature a disguised, blond-haired woman ... More >>

SXSTL: St. Louis sends several representatives to Austin for this year's SXSW festivities

Win a Pair of Tickets to Cubic Zirconia's March 14 Show at Fubar!

We introduced you to Cubic Zirconia -- the new, dance project of St. Louis native Nick Hook, formerly of Men, Women & Children -- last October, via a video interview. The group is currently on a tour that'll take it to next week's SXSW music festival, a trek that includes a stop at Fubar on Sunday, ... More >>

Woodstock (or Altamont) in the Ozarks -- The 35th Anniversary

ozarkmusicfestivalexhibit.comThe Ozark Music Festival kicked off 35 years ago last Saturday, July 18, at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia. Concert promoters had assured Sedalians that they would be hosting a "soft rock" festival with 50,000 spectators.Instead, 160,000 people (and that's a c ... More >>

Tonight! Ha Ha Tonka at Off Broadway New MP3

Tonight at Off Broadway, Springfield's own Ha Ha Tonka is headlining a bill with Magnolia Summer and John Henry and the Engine. The band's forthcoming album, Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South, was recorded at Sawhorse Studios with Jason McEntire. We had this to say: Ha Ha Tonka's 2007 al ... More >>

Alejandro Escovedo Returns to St. Louis; Headlines Twangfest in June

flickr.com/photos/hammhawkEscovedo playing last year's New Orleans' JazzFest.St. Louis' annual indie music celebration Twangfest announced yesterday the line up for its June festival. Headlining the kickoff party at the Pageant on Wednesday, June 10, is the incomparable Alejandro Escovedo. The singe ... More >>

Hump Day Slow Jam of the Week: Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get It On"

The Singer: We're covered Marvin Gaye in this space before (with "Sexual Healing"), but we're giving him another airing for this sad and special day: Today marks the 25th anniversary of Marvin Gaye's shooting at the hands of his father (he died the next day). I'm not much for numerology, but it's fi ... More >>

Twangfest Confirms First Artists: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys, more

Twangfest's twitter just let me know that the four-day music festival confirmed several acts today. No venues or days listed yet, but these will take place between June 10 and 13.Big Sandy & the Fly-Rite Boys Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles Bruce Robison Dad ... More >>

Billiken Club and Gargoyle Announce Initial Fall Dates: AA Bondy, Damien Jurado, Liam Finn, Dark Meat, the Cribs, Ratatat, Broken Social Scene, Land of Talk, Parts & Labor, Centro-matic, more!

Over the Weekend: World Naked Bike Ride, Lollapalooza, Jargon, City Style Lingerie Fashion Show, DJ Skribble

DJ Spin-Off Still On Tonight, at Atomic Cowboy

Ludo, Earthworms, Nato Caliph Playing SXSW

Lollapalooza, Day One: The Rest of the Fest

Siblings at SXSW

Movin' Right Along

KDHX holds a pledge drive, and the Creepy Crawl sets a moving date

Sounds of the Underground

Saturday, July 9; Pop's (1403 Mississippi Avenue, Sauget, Illinois)

Cave-In

Sunday, September 21; Mississippi Nights

Peter Cincotti

Saturday, January 25; Sheldon Concert Hall

Skate or Die

Thrill-seekers on wheels of all sizes are invited to a get-together

O.A.R. and the Baldwin Brothers

Friday, Aug. 17; Mississippi Nights

Whitaker Jazz Festival

Wednesdays, June 6-July 11; Missouri Botanical Garden

John Digweed

Thursday, June 15; Velvet

Vans Warped Tour

Tuesday, July 13; Riverport