This just in, early bird tickets for the 3rd edition of All Tomorrow’s Parties NY (September 3-5, 2010) are available now.

To continue our year-long celebrations of Ten Years of ATP we are thrilled to announce that All Tomorrow’s Parties will return to Kutsher’s Country Club, Monticello for it’s third ATP New York festival over Labor Day weekend, running from Friday 3rd September – Sunday 5th September. Weekend and Day Tickets are available, with a Layaway Ticket option available.

Tickets are available from today on pre-sale via ATP, and will go on general sale this coming Wednesday from ticketsellers via www.atpfestival.com

We are incredibly excited to announce the start of our line-up…

On Friday 3rd September we will present our regular day of Don’t Look Back performances, with a very special list of acts set to perform:

IGGY & THE STOOGES performing Raw Power
SLEEP performing Holy Mountain
MUDHONEY performing Superfuzz Bigmuff + Early Singles
THE SCIENTISTS performing Blood Red River (first ever U.S. Show)
+ more to be confirmed!

Friday will also feature DJs, a Comedy Stage and Cinema curated by the Criterion Collection.

Read the rest of the press release after the jump.

We will be confirming the line-up for Saturday and Sunday over the coming weeks. We can also confirm that this year the bars, food vendors and Djs will continue until 6pm on Monday 6th September so that all guests can enjoy a later check-out and a more relaxing start to their post-ATP week!

Tickets priced at $250 + booking fee for the weekend, or Friday day tickets priced at $110 + booking fee are on pre-sale now via Paypal direct to ATP. To buy tickets email feedback@atpfestival.com with NEW YORK TICKET BUY in the subject line and specifying how many tickets you would like to purchase.

LAYAWAY TICKET OPTION:
To make it easier for some people to pay for their weekend tickets, we will allow them to pay $125 of their weekend ticket price now, with the second $125 payable by 31st March 2010. For more information and to take part email deposit@atpfestival.com with NEW YORK LAYAWAY in the subject line.

Accommodation costs $150 per person for the three nights + room tax. There is also a small transaction fee added to cover paypal fees. All rooms must be paid for with Paypal.

Rooms at Kutshers are available for groups of 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 people. Here is a breakdown of the costs including room tax + paypal transaction fees:

3 Berth Room: $508.50 + paypal fee = $530
4 Berth Room: $678 + paypal fee = $710
5 Berth Room: $847.50 + paypal fee = $885
6 Berth Room: $1017 + paypal fee = $1060
7 Berth Room: $1185.50 + paypal fee = $1235

To order a room please email feedback@atpfestival.com with ATP NEW YORK ROOM BUY in the subject line, and please specify the size of room you want.

If you live down under and you’re a Pavement fan, I guess today is your lucky day!

Pavement will launch their highly anticipated reunion tour on March 1, 2010 in Auckland, New Zealand and then continue on to Australia. All shows except Golden Plains go on sale at 9:00 AM local time on Friday, October 23. This is the only time the tour will stop in the two countries.

In other news that I only tweeted about, Pavement is curating All Tomorrow’s Parties UK next year (May 14-16, 2010) at the Butlin’s Holiday Centre in Minehead. Tickets for that music geek extravaganza are on sale now at atpfestival.com

PS So the tour starts in New Zealand now?

All Pavement NZ and Australia 2010 dates after the jump.

NEW ZEALAND 2010
Presented by Galesburg, Mystery Girl, 95bFM and Cheese on Toast
Tickets on sale 9:00am Friday 23 October

AUCKLAND
Monday 1 March – Auckland Town Hall –
Tickets available from: www.ticketek.co.nz

AUSTRALIA 2010
Presented by Handsome Tours, triple j, Street Press Australia and Rip It Up
Tickets on sale 9:00am Friday 23 October

SYDNEY
Thursday 4 March – Enmore Theatre -
Tickets available from: premier.ticketek.com.au or 132 849, The Enmore Theatre Box Office www.enmoretheatre.com.au, or (02) 9550 3666

VICTORIA
Saturday 6 March – Golden Plains -
Go to www.goldenplains.com.au for more info

ADELAIDE
Sunday 7 March – Thebarton Theatre -
Tickets available from: Venuetix www.venuetix.com.au or (08) 8225 8888

PERTH
Monday 8 March – Metro City -
Tickets available from: Tickets from www.megatix.com.au or 1300 634 284

BRISBANE
Wednesday 10 March – The Tivoli -
Tickets available from: Ticketek www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849,
Rocking Horse Records ph: (07) 3229 5360

MELBOURNE
Friday 12 March – The Palace -
Tickets available from: Ticketek www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849, www.oztix.com.au or 1300 762 545, Greville Records, Polyester Records (City & Fitzroy stores), The Espy Hotel and The National Hotel (Geelong).

Please enjoy Drake’s recap from the final day of Bumbershoot 2009 below:

After mostly holding back during Bumbershoot, the rain pretty much ruled the final day of the music and arts festival. With the ground already saturated from the late night-to-early-morning buckets from the prior two days, the last day was pretty dreary. There were still plenty of acts to be excited about, but my expectations were once again dampened going in, as far as live music was concerned. However… I did have one indoor activity planned for the middle of my day that I was excited about, and that was the Writers From Lost panel, featuring Executive Producer Carlton Cuse and hosted by EW’s Doc Jensen.

The Minus 5 at the Mural Ampitheatre

Scott McCaughey doesn’t play enough for his old city these days, so it’s always a party when he graces us with his presence. And he’s always bringing his (semi)famous friends along for the ride. There’s always R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, and this time out, The Minus 5 players include Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate) on guitar and Linda Pitmon (Zuzu’s Petals, Golden Smog) on drums. While Minus 5 gets the marquee, it should be stated that this was also a The Baseball Project and The Steve Wynn IV show, as each got their turn. Besides the “contractually obligated by The Late Show with David Letterman” song “Past Time,” they performed “Harvey Haddix,” about the Pirates pitcher who took a perfect game into the 13th inning only to end up losing the game. Since they list all the pitchers who’ve thrown perfect games in the song, it was fitting that a ‘Mark Buehrle‘ got thrown in for one of the choruses (sung like “Five Golden Rings”). Peter Buck even pulled out a 12-string for The Dream Syndicate’s jangly hit “Tell Me When It’s Over.”

I was going to duck out a song early to check out Say Hi, but McCaughey & gang spoiled those plans with a blazing cover of the Sonics’ “Strychnine.” It was early and raining, so the crowd was a little thin, which is unfortunate as it just might have been my favorite set of the whole festival.

Janelle Monae at Fisher Green Stage

Monae’s schtick is from another planet, quite literally. She’s a true blue sci-fi diva, with robotic moves, crazy eyes, and with an amazingly tiny frame. She went on late (as was the case with many a Fisher Green Stage performer), so I only made it through one song before having to run off to the next set.

Akron/Family at Broad Street Lawn Stage

The freak folkers played during some of the wettest parts of a very wet day, but did not disappoint. Like Holy Fuck the night before, they had the crowd in trance, moving to the grooves they were providing. The rain ended up feeling more like a special effect than an act of God.

The Cave Singers at the Mural Ampitheatre

Seattle’s latest buzz-y beard rockers, The Cave Singers can no longer be considered a collective, as even in the rain, the crowd gathered to see them seemed bigger than any of their respective acts (Pretty Girls Make Graves, Cobra High, Hint Hint) ever got at the festival.

Vieux Farka Toure at Fisher Green Stage

Being the son of Mali’s greatest export means Vieux has big shoes to fill. Ali Farka Touré played Bumbershoot some 16 years ago when Vieux was just 12 years old, so it was fun seeing his son getting a similar ecstatic response from the crowd. While Vieux is a fine guitarist, his backing band was the attraction for me. The bass player, percussionist and even the drummer with dancing shoes made of shells all made the rain feel a lot less wet.

Soulsavers featuring Mark Lanegan at the Broad Street Lawn Stage

While it was great hearing Soulsavers revisit their 2007 album It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s the Way You Land with Mark Lanegan on vocals, after a few songs, everything started to sound the same. And since nobody was moving on stage, it pretty much looked the same. Lanegan’s voice always makes me want to drink, and so a beer garden was in order, with Lanegan’s baritone singing of a “Kingdome of Rain” still following us in the distance.

More photos of The Minus 5, Janelle Monae, Akron/Family, The Cave Singers, Vieux Farka Toure and Soulsavers from Day of 2 Bumbershoot 2009 after the jump.

Last but not least, a huge thanks to “Sr. Bumbershoot Correspondent” Drake LeLane for his deep coverage of Bumbershoot this year, funny how going without kids frees you up a little.

The Minus 5 at Bumbershoot (09/07/09)

Janelle Monae at Bumbershoot (09/07/09)

Akron/Family at Bumbershoot (09/07/09)

The Cave Singers at Bumbershoot (09/07/09)

Vieux Farka Toure at Bumbershoot (09/07/09)

Soulsavers at Bumbershoot (09/07/09)

Check out Drake’s recap from Day 2 of Bumbershoot 2009 below:

Day 2 of Bumbershoot was like the first in that the weather looked grim initially, but held up fine once things got going. Other than that, though, it was quite a bit different. There was a black hole in the middle of the day schedule-wise, but that allowed me to both visit Flatstock, and to scope out the Lost panel (hosted by EW’s Doc Jensen) for Monday. By 5:45, though, things got ca-razy, starting with Common Market’s vivid set. From there I ping-ponged around the grounds seeing six bands over the next two hours, before deciding to jump into David Cross’ set, so I could finally sit down for a bit. Pics to follow (brief recaps to be added piecemeal as time before too long).

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band @ Broad Street Lawn stage

MSHVB is a band that is easy to root for, and I always go in hoping for the best, but I find myself wishing they could just rev it up a notch. Visually, they’re pretty stoic for the music, with seemingly only Traci Eggleston exhibiting any life, looking like an indie rock Kristen Bell.

Parenthetical Girls @ EMPSFM’s Sky Church stage

The indie rock cabaret isn’t my cup of tea, but I can see it’s appeal to the disaffected youth. It’s as if Kurt from Glee fronted an indie rock band of Liza Minelli fanatics. It was a bittersweet set for the band, though, as singer Zac Pennington announced it was their last with keyboardist Matt Carlson.

Common Market @ Fisher Green Stage

The hip-hop band, like The Whore Moans the day prior, saw the Depression as a source of inspiration for their set, but while the Whore Moans lads played out the haves, Common Market took the part of the have nots. Where Satan is the corporate master and all the workers are slaves. Full of rich theatrics, it was one of the highlights of the festival. Covering Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” was pretty, but wholly unneeded — let’s have a moratorium on that cover, k?

Vivian Girls @ Broad Street Lawn Stage

I heard some complaints about their KEXP set, but on the big stage their reverb-drenched punk-pop-shoegaze mashup sounded delicious. Sure, the guitar playing is a bit sloppy, but it’s rock and roll y’all.

No Age @ the Exhibition Hall Stage (Rock Star Energy Stage)

This might be my biggest disappointment of the whole weekend. I’ve repeatedly missed their earlier swings through Seattle due to scheduling conflicts and was looking forward to their set. Maybe it was the cruddy sound of the Exhibition Hall (they actually sounded better than most have in the venue), but the crowd and the band both seemed kind of tired. Or was that me projecting?

Holy Fuck @ Broad Street Lawn Stage

The naughtily-named quartet from Canada took their Can-inspired spacey jams and made a crowd of thousands move their feet. I so wanted to see them play at the Neumo’s after-party, but just didn’t have the energy to get there (on foot/bus all weekend). Next time.

David Cross & Friends @ Bagley Wright Theatre

After a long day on my feet I just felt the need to sit down and laugh. Cross always pleases, and while most were expecting either Eugene Mirman or possibly Sarah Silverman to show, seeing Wyatt Cenac and Doug Benson was just as good. And BUMBERCLAP!

Many more photos of Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band, Parenthetical Girls, Common Market, Vivian Girls, No Age, Holy Fuck and David Cross from Day of 2 Bumbershoot 2009 after the jump

Mt St. Helen’s Vietnam Band at Bumbershoot (09/06/09)

Parenthetical Girls at Bumbershoot (09/06/09)

Common Market at Bumbershoot (09/06/09)

Vivian Girls at Bumbershoot (09/06/09)

No Age @ Bumbershoot (09/06/09)

Holy Fuck at Bumbershoot (09/06/09)

David Cross at Bumbershoot (09/06/09)

DJ Shadow at Bumbershoot (09/06/09)

Roy Ayers at Bumbershoot (09/06/09)

Bumbershoot 2009

Jesus Christ, Blink-182 is still making dick jokes? The crowd was lucky to hear a single late-’90s pop-punk song end without an immediate reference to “cock n’ balls,” guitarist Tom Delonge’s fondness for handjobs, or bassist Mark Hoppus’ desire to “go down on Oprah.” And after awkwardly discussing the key of the next song, the California trio returned to form by blasting out “The Blow Job Song.” At least the past decade hasn’t changed Blink-182 too much—and based on the crowd’s reaction to each mention of a penis, the teenagers that first laughed at their hijinks in 1999 are apparently stuck in the same state of arrested development.

But shit, Travis Barker can wail, and I’ll admit it: Blink’s show was shamefully fun. I think we all missed their old little-persons-on-trampolines shtick during “All The Small Things,” though. [DC Decider]

After VFF, Blink-182 decided to take some time off to mourn the passing of Travis Barker’s friend, collaborator and fellow plane crash survivor, DJ AM. In order give Travis some time to grieve, Blink-182 recently cancelled a show in Saratoga, NY and postponed two dates in Cleveland and St. Louis. The St. Louis show has been rescheduled for September 29 and the new date for the Cleveland show is September 30, no word on whether the Saratoga gig will be rescheduled.

More photos of Blink-182, Taking Back Sunday, Richard Branson, Flavor Flav and other famous and non-famous people at the 2009 Virgin Mobile Free Fest after the jump.

PS Thanks again to PJ Sykes for all his hard work at VFF this year.

Blink-182 at Virgin Mobile Free Fest (08/30/09)

Taking Back Sunday at Virgin Mobile Free Fest (08/30/09)

Crowd shots, Richard Branson, Flavor Flav and more at Virgin Mobile Free Fest (08/30/09)

As promised, here is Drake’s recap from Day 1 of Bumbershoot 2009:

Bumbershoot’s first day is in the books, and it couldn’t have gone smoother. Weather threatened to dampen the day, with downpours through the morning, but as the gates opened, the clouds stayed at bay until well after De La Soul played their final note. Here’s a few photos and brief review of each performance I managed to take in.

Akimbo @ EMPSFM’s Sky Church stage

My day started late, but I made sure to get in for Seattle’s hardcore superstars, and to bring my ear plugs. The riffs were loud and the EMP-SFM Sky Church was packed wall-to-wall with their dedicated fans. As usual, ear-drums were bleeding by the end of their set, but no one was complaining.

Matt & Kim @ Broad Street Lawn Stage

Matt & Kim were all smiles and energy, and I swear I saw kittens and rainbows coming from the speakers when they played. After sending makeshift M&K beach balls into the crowd (Toyota branded inflatables re-branded with Matt & Kim-markered stickers) the married Brooklyn duo played through their happy, happy set while beaming big, big smiles. It was like a box of fluffy puppies for the tween audience, and they were lapping it up, beach balls and all.

The Whore Moans presents: The Black Atom! @ EMPSFM’s Sky Church stage

The Whore Moans have started a Bumbershoot tradition for themselves, with a one-time only theme for the festival. After last year’s Celebration of the end of the Bush Era’ theme, this year’s is a theatrical soul revue called “The Black Atom!” Besides the Soul Punk song execution, the audience was treated to the band in depression era zoot suits, gospel like intros to songs, added keys & sax along with backup singers (Prisilla Ray and Duffy from the Cute Lepers) decked out in 20’s style flappers. Whore Moans For. The. Win.

Os Mutantes @ Fisher Green Stage

My most anticipated act of the festival didn’t disappoint… well, perhaps a little. Since it’s down to just Serge Diaz from the original lineup (and drummer Dinho Leme, who joined during the post-Rita Lee prog years) the set list was tailored to fit Diaz’s guitar playing, which kind of took the air out of the set at times. The fun, early material often gave way to long guitar solos and more selections from their prog-rock years. New material from their album coming out next week sounded great, including “Querida Querida” and “2000 e Agarrum,” and it was great hearing “Baby” sung in Portuguese (and having Obama as “El Justicero”). Unfortunately, much of the fun of “Bat Macumba” and “A Minha Menina” was lost through extended guitar solos. Yes, Serge is still impressive on the axe, but not every song needs a demonstration of that.

World Party at Mural Ampitheatre Stage

I knew I was only going to catch one or two songs, as I had to get back for De La Soul, so it was nice that Karl Wallinger decided to treat us with “Put the Message in the Box” as the first song. I’m sure “Ship of Fools” came some time later, but I had already moved on to that other fave from the late 80’s…

De La Soul @ Fisher Green Stage

This was my other big anticipated set for the night, thanks to it being part of the much celebrated “20 Years and Rising” tour, celebrating the 20th anniversary of 3 Feet High and Rising. De La Soul has never gotten high marks for their live shows in the past, but this tour has been a revelation for the band. By incorporating a live band into the act, their Daisy Age sound is much more realized than with just Maseo’s turntable mastery. Posdnuos roamed the stage like he was 20 years younger, while he and Trugoy ‘passed the mic.’ By the end of the set, the moon was out and the Space Needle loomed over us all, pointing homeward, where we all headed just in time to beat the next downpour of rain. Thank you, oh Gods of weather, for your kind deflection of precipitation (and more of that Sunday, please!)

Many more photos of Akimbo, Matt & Kim, The Whore Moans, OS Mutantes, World Party and De La Soul from Day of 1 Bumbershoot after the jump.

Akimbo at Bumbershoot (09/05/09)

Matt & Kim at Bumbershoot (09/05/09)

The Whore Moans at Bumbershoot (09/05/09)

OS Mutantes at Bumbershoot (09/05/09)

World Party at Bumbershoot (09/05/09)

De La Soul at Bumbershoot (09/05/09)

Yes, some genius event planner decided to give The National an hour slot at the Virgin Mobile free festival. Yes, we should all send him a thank you note, because the National was hands down the best thing the festival had to offer all day. With each performance, Brooklyn’s The National proves to be one of the finest live acts in recent memory. Their slow building, clean, elegant sound evokes a spine tingling effect in the audience, something which very few bands are capable of inducing. As guitars build off of each other, bass creeps in, but not overpowering the brilliance of Brian Devendorf’s slick rhythms. Matt Berninger’s low vocals tell nostalgic tales of youth and love lost atop it all, beginning with a sense of serenity and understanding, which eventually caves in on itself as he yells red faced into the microphone. Then, to insure that Berninger’s yelps don’t get too out of hand, a lush horn section helps to alleviate some of the pain. To paraphrase the brilliant “All The Wine,” God is on their side, and if he isn’t, he damn well should be. This here, is a group of guys who have got it down, and as they played through cuts from Boxer, Alligator, and even a selection from Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers, quite simply, they owned it. Even a new tune, “Blood Buzz Ohio”, sounded great. The National “won’t fuck us over” and if you see them live, then neither will you. [Consequence of Sound]

More photos of The National, Girl Talk and Franz Ferdinand from the 2009 Virgin Mobile Free Fest after the jump.

The National at Virgin Mobile Free Fest (08/30/09)

Girl Talk at at Virgin Mobile Free Fest (08/30/09)

Franz Ferdinand at at Virgin Mobile Free Fest (08/30/09)

Bumbershoot, Seattle’s Annual Music and Arts Festival starts tomorrow (Sep 5) and continues throughout the Labor Day weekend. Music critic in-residence Drake LeLane will be on the scene at Seattle Center this weekend reporting on all the comings and goings at the festival.

In other Bumbershoot news, Youngershoot, three days of “kid-specific and family-friendly programming”, makes it inaugural bow at this year’s festival. Ironically, Drake is attending Bumber “kid free” this weekend, (or “fancy free”, if you will), so I guess we’ll have to hear his first hand reviews of Spin The Bottle Jr. some other time… or will we?

Take a look at the more or less complete list of Bumbershoot performers after the jump or check out the entire lineup at sched.bumbershoot.org.

Bumbershoot (September 5-7, 2009)

Music

The Black Eyed Peas / Sheryl Crow / Modest Mouse / Jason Mraz / The All-American Rejects / Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Katy Perry / Michael Franti & Spearhead / Franz Ferdinand / Old 97’s / Cold War Kids / The Knux / De La Soul / Metric / Raphael Saadiq / Brett Dennen / Os Mutantes / Soulsavers featuring Mark Lanegan / The Long Winters / Sly & Robbie & the Taxi Gang / World Party / Keller Williams / Roy Ayers / MSTRKRFT / The Helio Sequence / Common Market / UH HUH HER / Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women / Eric Hutchinson / No Age / Matt & Kim / Dead Confederate / Janelle Monae / The Cave Singers / Audrye Sessions / Akron/Family / Swollen Members / Vieux Farka Touré / Lenka / Gang Gang Dance / Vivian Girls / Todd Snider / The Devil Makes Three / Holy F**k / Elvis Perkins in Dearland / Iglu & Hartly / OTEP / DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid / Low vs Diamond / Sera Cahoone / Eleni Mandell / Mirah / Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears / 3 Inches of Blood / Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground / U.S.E / Carrie Rodriguez / The Honey Brothers / Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head / Say Hi / Extra Golden / Mayer Hawthorne & The County / The Minus 5 / Forgive Durden performing Razia’s Shadow / Cordero / Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band / Telekinesis / Hey Marseilles / Everest / The New Mastersounds / Oren Lavie / Dyme Def / Delhi 2 Dublin / The Dusty 45s / Visqueen / Truckasauras / Head Like a Kite / Akimbo / Adrian Xavier / Paul Oscher “Alone with the Blues” / Parenthetical Girls / Massy Ferguson / The Lonely Forest / Sleepy Eyes of Death / Past Lives / Macklemore / Michael Shrieve’s Spellbinder / Wallpaper / The Whore Moans Present: The Black Atom! / Point Juncture, WA / Kim Field & The Mighty Titans of Tone / D.Black / Spaceman / Handful of Luvin’ / Champagne Champagne / Romance / Kristen Ward / Dept. of Energy / The Kindness Kind / Mark Taylor Quartet / Hotels / Black Whales / Kore Ionz / Grand Hallway / Anomie Belle / Steve Griggs Quintet / We Are Golden / Olympic Sound Collective / Dyno Jamz / Central Services’ Board of Education / The Not-Its! / Recess Monkey and more

Comedy

Patton Oswalt / Eugene Mirman / Todd Barry / Reggie Watts / Matt Braunger / Doug Benson’s The Benson Interruption / Wyatt Cenac / Maria Bamford / Tommy Johnagin / Charlyne Yi / Red Wine Boys / Laff Hole / Canadian Comedy That Cares! / Famous Mysterious Actor and more

Literary Arts

David Cross / S.E. Hinton / Melvin Van Peebles / Writers of LOST: Carlton Cuse, Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz / McSweeney’s New Fiction / Christian Lander’s Stuff White People Like / The Enablers Have Spoken and You’re Fine with Spencer Moody / Zak Smith / Tom Douglas / Manic D / Youth Speaks Seattle w/ Staceyann Chin & Prometheus Brown (Geo of Blue Scholars) / Jessica Anthony / Bill Cotter / Ross Simonini / James Hannham / Starlee Kine / iLL-Literacy / Jess Walter / Kathleen Flinn / Daniel Wilson / Kevin Emerson / Writers In The Schools / Jon Longhi / Amber Tamblyn / Lynn Breedlove / Bruce Jackson / Tara Hardy / Jack McCarthy / Danny Sherrard / Kevin Sampsell / Kerry Cohen / Lyall Bush w/ Devin Sullivan and more

Performing & Visual Arts

Wise Fool New Mexico / Pacific Northwest Ballet / Gage Drawing Jam / Jason Webley / The Seattle-Moscow Poster Show / Performance Space 122 / COBU / Justin Kredible / The Goldberg Variations (featuring Mark Haim) / Dada Economics / Kerfuffle (or The Uneasy Relationship Between Humanity and the Environment) / Julie Lindell / DASSdance / All-Terrain / Woolly Mammoth Comes To Dinner / Amy Steel’s Snack Bar / Hand-made midway games from Chris McMullen and Steve Withycombe / a flea circus

Weezer, who recently launched their own 24 hour web radio station at A.P.E. Radio, shared the headlining duties at this year’s Virgin Free Fest with the reunited Blink-182. Weezer’s Brian Bell recently shared a few insights about their new radio venture with MTV.com:

“It’s a little insight into the things that turn us on and things we’ve been inspired by,” said rhythm guitarist Brian Bell. “There’s things that have inspired me like classical pieces by Franz Schubert, some soul pieces, some rock things and even things you’ve heard a million times but people should listen to again like the Beatles’ ‘Twist and Shout,’ which has one of the most fantastic rock vocal deliveries ever. It embodies rock and roll.”
…
“I’m embarrassed by some of the things I picked because I take it very seriously, but I don’t want it to come back and haunt me,” Bell admitted. “But I tried not to pick things just because they were obscure and cool.” Then again, alongside songs by early influences like the B-52s, Bob Dylan and the Cars, he did pick some more obscure stuff, like songs by Kid America and the Action Figures, early synth punk act Suicide and the unreleased “Ugly Things” from his side project the Relationship, whose debut is due out later this year. [MTV.com]

The Weezer/Blink-182 joint tour (which has been without Blink-182 for a couple of nights) concludes on September 17 in Irvine, CA. Weezer’s new album, Raditude (yup, that’s what it’s called), will be released on October 27, 2009.

The “Radio Weezer” widget and more pictures of Weezer, Public Enemy and The Hold Steady from the Virgin Free Fest after the jump.

Weezer at Virgin Free Fest (08/30/09)

Public Enemy at Virgin Free Fest (08/30/09)

The Hold Steady at Virgin Free Fest (08/30/09)

In case you forgot, this Sunday, August 30, is the 2009 Virgin Free Festival. Check out the full schedule in words after the jump.

PS PJ Sykes will be on the ground at VFF for bumpershine this year.

Pavilion Stage
Mates of State: 1:30-2:25 p.m.
Taking Back Sunday: 2:50-4 p.m.
Jet: 4:20-5:30 p.m.
The Bravery: 6-7:15 p.m.
Weezer: 7:45-8:45 p.m.
Blink-182 : 9:15-10:45 p.m.

West Stage
Sundays Roulette: 11:15-11:45 a.m.
The Birthday Massacre: noon-12:30 p.m.
St. Vincent: 12:45-1:35 p.m.
Wale: 2-3 p.m.
The Hold Steady: 3:35-4:45 p.m.
Public Enemy: 5:15-6:30
The National: 6:50-7:50 p.m.
Girl Talk: 8:10-9:20 p.m.
Franz Ferdinand: 9:50-11 p.m.

Dance Stage
Holy F*ck: 1-2:30 p.m.
Lee Burridge: 2:45-5:30 p.m.
Danny Howells: 5:30-8:15 p.m.
Pete Tong: 8:15-11 p.m.

Tickets to this year’s FYF Fest on September 5, 2009 in Los Angeles, CA are only $8 until 5PM PST on August 29, 2009 (Buy Tickets Here).

Seems like a pretty great deal to me, check out the impressive lineup below:

FYF Fest 2009 Lineup
Black Lips . Lightning Bolt . Tim & Eric . Lucero . Converge . Dillinger Escape Plan . Dan Deacon . Fucked Up . The Thermals . Glass Candy . No Age . Torche . Japanther . Times New Viking . Darker My Love . Carbonas . Peanut Butter Wolf . Crystal Antlers . Mika Miko . Wavves . Nobunny . Telepathe . Cold Cave . Har Mar Superstar . The Strange Boys . Dios . Woods . NinjaSonik . Kurt Vile . Eat Skull . Avi Buffalo . Grabass Charlestons + more bands and comedians.

Sure, it’s more of a clever way to sell iPods and flatscreen TVs than it really is a “musicfest”, but any way you look at it, it’s free concerts in Downtown NYC (23 Park Row and City Hall Park). Here’s what the lineup looks like for this year’s J&R Musicfest & Tech Expo:

J&R Musicfest & Tech Expo
Thursday, August 27th – Saturday, August 29th
Three days of in-store and outdoor performances at various times
23 Park Row and City Hall Park

It’s Downtown NYC’s Biggest & Best Block Party!
Three days of free concerts in City Hall Park featuring the biggest names in R&B, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Latin, Pop and more. Plus, an exciting Tech Expo with hands-on demonstrations of the latest technology by leading manufacturers.

Thursday, August 27
2:00 pm Dick Dale and Jimmy Dale (Autograph Signing Only)
5:00 pm Diane Birch
6:00 pm Jemina Pearl
7:00 pm The Smithereens

Friday, August 28th
5:00 pm Melinda Watts
5:30 pm J Moss
6:00 pm Clipse
7:00 pm Mario

Saturday, August 29th
1:00 pm KRS-One and Buckshot
1:00 pm Randy Jackson (Musical Instruments Store)
2:00 pm Letoya
3:00 pm Nikki Yanofsky
4:00 pm Roberta Gambarini
5:00 pm Roy Hargrove

Gunfight

Get Haunted

Bottle Up and Go

Full ATJ schedule with set times after the jump.

Friday, August 28 (Buy Tickets)

8pm Dinosaur Feathers
9pm Holiday Shores
10pm Thing One
11pm My Teenage Stride
midnight Javelin

Saturday, August 29 (Buy Tickets)

3pm Shark?
4pm Captain Ahab and the Sea Crackens
6pm Bottle up and Go
7pm Talk Normal
8pm Wild Yaks
9pm Drink-up Buttercup
10pm Free Energy
11pm Ninjasonik
midnight Das Racist

Sunday, August 30 (Buy Tickets)

3pm The Octagon
4pm I’m Turning Into
5pm Get Haunted
6pm Gunfight
7pm Hospitality
8pm Acrylics
9pm Julianna Barwick
10pm Blood Warrior
11pm Suckers

This actually happened last week and I meant to blog about it, but it kind of fell through the cracks. Despite the solid lineup, ticket sales for the Barrie, Ontario event were not going as well planned, so it has been relocated to the Molson Ampitheatre in Toronto. The Refund/Ticket Exchange FAQ is over here.

“Since we announced the details for Virgin Festival Ontario ticket sales haven’t been what we had hoped for,” said Andrew Bridge, Director of Virgin Festival Canada. “We asked festival-goers why and they said that although the line-up and intended site are both awesome, they wanted the festival to return to Toronto this year to make it easier to access. We’re delighted to announce that Virgin Festival Ontario will now take place at The Molson Amphitheatre on August 29 and 30!” [newswire.ca]

Come hang out with us all day! Free Brooklyn Lager for the first hour each day!

Not to mention…

A delicious food menu designed by former WD-50 chef, Scott Koshkoodi

Live screenprinting by artist j.morrison from Space is the Place

A GIANT hot pink elephant art installation by Snoozer Loser

Organic and vegan bake sale by Jamie Cakes

Plus other surprises throughout the weekend!

*Added to the line-up is Helado Negro dj, The Octagon, Shark?, Captain Ahab and the Sea Crackens and Thing One

Order your three day pass now, don’t miss out on anything! Pre-order for a discounted rate of $25 and one day passes for $10. Door is $30 and $12.

Special Thanks to our supporters:
Brooklyn Brewery ASCAP CMJ’09 Goldest Egg

AFTER THE JUMP IS ORGANIZED BY:
themusicslut . batteringroom . ryspace . irockiroll . merryswankster . softcommunication . musicisart . bumpershine .themodernage . productshopnyc . subinev . punkphoto . poptartssucktoasted . jinners . nyctaper

WITH HELP FROM:
watercoolergossip . brooklynskiclub . radioexile . starkonline . wesleyverhoeve.com

Streaming music sampler after the jump.