Concert Dates, Concert Tour News, Artist Information

Dates for 2009’s Coachella Pushed Up Two Weeks

Can’t wait for this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival? You’re in luck, because this year Coachella will move its 2009 dates up two weeks to April 17-19. The lineup for the festival, which will take place in the usual location (Empire Polo Field in Indio, California) has yet to be confirmed. Past artists who have graced the famed Coachella stage are Rage Against the Machine, Radiohead, Daft Punk and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. The upcoming lineup will be revealed early next year.

Coachella, which began in 1999, is the American music festival of the year for alternative music fans. The event promotion company for Coachella, Goldenvoice, also puts on the country music festival Stagecoach. Stagecoach debuted in 2007 at Empire Polo Field and will be held subsequent to Coachella (April 25-26) in 2009. Tim McGraw and Carrie Underwood were among last year’s Stagecoach headliners.
Get your Coachella Music Festival tickets at Stubhub.com.

Johnny Rotten does butter commercial

In ’77, he was a snotty kid with wild hair, torn clothes and a snarl that would make him an icon. Today, he’s a not-so-genteel Englishman buttering his toast with Country Life.

Punk lovers who take themselves too seriously were thrown into a tizzy recently when Johnny Rotten agreed to appear in a commercial for Country Life butter. There was anarchy in the U.K.—as well as everywhere else where you can find people who consider Rotten an icon of the anti-authoritarian ’70s punk movement. He justifies it to The Guardian, saying that he only agreed to do things that he wants to do or believes in, and that it would have to be done his way.

“I’ve never done anything like this before and never thought I would, but this Country Life ad was made for me and I couldn’t resist the opportunity,” Johnny “Rotten” Lyndon told the paper.

The paycheck may have greased his hand—if that great-tasting butter didn’t do the trick. You can watch it and read the story about it here.

If you’re looking for concert tickets, check out Stubhub.com.

The Cool Kids to appear in video game

Hip-hop lovers have found a new duo to champion in the form of The Cool Kids, a bright, shiny new group that’s been doing well in indie circles. In a unique marketing twist, they’ve recently partnered up with the video game company 2K Sports, and will be featuring their music as well as themselves—as playable characters, no less—in a new game from 2K due out in the near future.

Billboard notes that they’re also headlining the Bounce Tour, which is an annual promotional event put on by 2K. The upcoming game, NBA 2K9, will include “2K Pennies,” a brand new song from The Cool Kids. Besides themselves, other playable characters include Steve Aoki, Aceyalone and Phife Dawg from A Tribe Called Quest.

If you haven’t seen the Cool Kids yet, you’d better beat the rush and try to secure some concert tickets now. The Cool Kids tickets are available over at Stubhub.com.

Girl Talk interview

There’s been some very mixed reactions to the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink blend of pop that goes into Girl Talk’s records. The human name behind the band moniker is Gregg Gillis, a 26-year-old who developed a love of experimental electronica in high school, and, after listening to the music of Negativland and Kid606, was inspired to de/re-construct pop music.

His albums are chock full of samples from literally dozens upon dozens of bands, mixing and matching vocals with beats and verses, effectively tearing the fabric of the pop song asunder and restitching it into fun party jams. Pitchfork has a very revealing interview with Gillis that illuminates how he got to where he is musically, as well as his perspectives on the ethics of what he’s doing and the changing nature of music consumption.

Probably one of the most interesting things is his open-mindeness about musical taste. He says he doesn’t have “guilty pleasures” anymore, because he sees an kind of intrinsic value in every pop song. For the too cool for school, leave your predjudices about Top 40 pop at the door before reading this.

If you’re looking for concert tickets to one of Gillis’ insane live shows, check out Girl Talk tickets at Stubhub.com.