Bonnaroo 2012 Initial Artist Announcement

Feb 14, 2012 by Eggs

Bonnaroo went hard again this year with their initial artist announcement, and boy does it look like a good time! Leading the dance card at the 2012 Manchester, Tennessee festival are indie rock gods Radiohead, alt-rock monsters Red Hot Chili Peppers, jam titans Phish and legendary surf rockers The Beach Boys. If that isn’t enough to get you to Bonnaroo, they have a little bit of everything else on the line-up as well. For those fans of indie rock, Bon Iver, The Shins, Foster The People, Feist, tUnE-yArDs, Dawes, Delta Spirit and St. Vincent will be playing the festival. Hip-hop fans can rejoice as they’ll be enjoying sets from The Roots, BlackStar, Ludacris, Mac Miller, Childish Gambino and Yelawolf. The nighttime will be the right time with sets from Skrillex, Major Lazer, Flying Lotus and more. While the first years of the festival were predominantly focused on the jam scene, things have changed for the better (arguably, depending on who you talk to), but their is still a strong focus on jambands with two sets from the aforementioned Phish, and also performances from the likes of The Avett Brothers, Dispatch, The Word which features John Medeski, Robert Randolph and The North Mississippi Allstars, Umphrey’s McGee, Dumpstaphunk and ALO.

Check out the initial artist announcement after the jump.

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MUTEMATH @ House Of Blues

Jan 31, 2012 by Eggs

Last weekend was a great one for music, starting Thursday night at House Of Blues when Alt-Rockers MUTEMATH took the stage. I’d seen MUTEMATH once before when they performed at Voodoo a few years back, but among all of the other great acts playing that weekend, they weren’t one that stood out above the rest. Going into this show, especially with such an early start time, my hopes were not too high. Those low hopes were immediately diminished as soon as they walked in the front door of the venue with instruments in hand, headed through the crowd while playing before ultimately taking the stage from the very middle. As soon as they jumped into their first song, I was sold. I had the opportunity to photograph the band for the first three songs, and while the energy was super high as it usually is at the beginning, it didn’t let up one bit after I left the pit. Actually, for over two straight hours, the band never let up. I’m not sure how a band could go for so long with such high energy, but they managed to do it that night – and while this was the first night of their tour, I have a feeling this is how it is at every single show. They were on the stage, off the stage, in the crowd, on top of the crowd, on top of a drum in the crowd, on top of a glittery, light-up air mattress on the crowd, and just about everywhere else besides the balcony and the bathrooms. The music was great too – mixing elements of 90′s alternative, 00′s jambands, and 10′s indie-dance rock, MUTEMATH had people sweating the whole performance. I had a great time at this show, and I can rest assured knowing that a band this good is making a huge name for themselves because of their ability to put on a great show, both musically and theatrically.

I took a bunch of pictures and a few different videos which you can find after the jump.

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Buxton EPK & Driveway Sessions

Jan 24, 2012 by Eggs

You can stream Buxton‘s new album, Nothing Here Seems Strange, over at Paste Magazine‘s official site. Also, check out a bunch of tour dates and video of them performing stripped-down versions of their own “Blown A Fuse” and “Lynchburg Ferry” for Austin Harkey’s Driveway Sessions after the jump.

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Buxton – “Boy Of Nine”

Jan 11, 2012 by Eggs

Houston has seen an influx of bands on the rise in the past year, and one of the frontrunners for Houston’s biggest band comes in the form of five of the nicest guys you could meet and one great little lady. Buxton has slowly yet surely made a name for themselves in Houston, and with the help of their new album, Nothing Here Seems Strange soon to be released via New West Records, they have a great opportunity to become known in a lot more markets than their hometown. Recently touted by Esquire Magazine as one of their 2012 artists to watch, Buxton seem to be already gaining a whole heap of new fans several weeks before Nothing Here Seems Strange even hits shelves.

I’ve had a hold of the album for a while now, and have had the ability to truly let it sink in. The ten track effort brings the songs I’ve loved live to a whole new world with beefed-up instrumentation, precise mastering and mixing and an overall haunting feel to the entire album. I’ve been saying these guys were going to be big for quite some time, so it’s been really great to see their rise from a couple of fresh-faced kids from Podunk, Texas to a national touring act on the verge of breaking into the big time.

New West released Buxton’s first video from the new album which features the song “Boy Of Nine.” The video takes us through the lyrics of the tune, handwritten in front of our very eyes, as well as a flashing array of past tour footage and still frames of the band looking ever so serious.

I took a bunch of pictures of Buxton at their recent New Year’s Eve celebration that took place at Houston’s Fitzgerald’s. Check those out, as well as a video of them covering Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” from the same night after the jump.

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