The Atkinsons, Neil Young, Coachella webcast, Record Store Day

If you can't make it out to the big ol' Coachella festival this weekend, and since you are reading this I am assuming you aren't there, you can watch it on Coachella's channel on YouTube.  YouTube does a fine job video and audio-wise with their webcasts so the production values should be great unlike that lame coverage of the French Quarter Fest last week by WWLTV or whatever they were called.  WWLTV made it almost impossible to find the webcast on their site probably because they wanted to hide it because the quality was so bad.  The sound levels were way to high causing the bass to distort and the camera coverage consisted of a static camera back on the soundboard and video quality so bad you could barely make out what was going on on the stage.  At one point on Friday afternoon, I think someone set up the camera and then went to get beers because the about 1/4 of the shot consisted of the back of people's heads.  I mean really, if you can't even put a minimum amount of effort into it, why bother?

Back to the Coachella webcast now.  You will find the webcast HERE.  Go there for the schedule.  All times are Pacific time so add three hours to get our time.  That's a little help there for the time zone impaired.  I would post the schedule here, but there are not one, not two but THREE channels to choose from each day so you can flip around to your hearts content.  Some highlights: Cee-Lo Green, Black Keys, Erykah Badu, Gogol Bordello, Mumford & Sons, Swell Season, Bright Eyes, New Pornographers, Big Audio Dynamite, Raphael Saadiq (coming to Groovin' in the Garden this summer), Scissor Sisters, The National, PJ Harvey, and much much more.  Webcasts start at 7 PM ET on Friday & Saturday, 5:20 PM on Sunday.  Here is a little preview:



Closer to home, Saturday is Record Store Day celebrating our fine independent record stores that are still managing to hang on in this digital download era.  As convenient as downloading music can be, there is still nothing like going to the record store, listening to music while you flip through the CDs and finding something you've been looking for.  Call me old-fashioned and non-green but I still like to have that piece of plastic in my hand.  Our local independent is the fabulous Plan 9 and they are participating in the nationwide festivities.  There will be all sorts of Record Store Day only special releases from your favorite bands such as, well, there are too many to mention so go HERE to check them out.  There will also be some live in-store performances.  Here is the lineup:
12:15-1:00pm-- NO BS Brass Band

1:30-2:15pm-- People’s Blues of Richmond
3:00-3:45pm-- New Politics
4:15-5:00pm--The Dubber
5:30—6:15pm-- The Long Arms

Local Americana band The Atkinsons will be celebrating the release of their new CD with a show at Capital Ale House on Saturday night.  The show is FREE and starts at 6 PM and goes until 9 PM.  Also on the bill are special guests Rachel Leyco and Constance Sisk.  Here is what the Capital Ale House site says about The Atkinsons: "It's been seven years and counting since The Atkinsons first set foot on Richmond, VA stages. What started out as a small acoustic outfit turned into a band that took on a life of its own. The Atkinsons meld roots, country, mountain, and rock music into their own style of rambling swing rock & roll. Heartfelt story-telling is at the core of The Atkinsons and is complemented with three-part harmonies layered over mandolin, fiddle, drums, bass, and electric guitars. With influences ranging from Old 97s to Green Day to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to Drive By Truckers, the sound ends up being quite a musical stew.

The first record "American Gothic" was basically a novel set to music. It followed the misfortunes of a troubled character from his early youth until his untimely death. The upbeat musical style balances out the dark undertone of the lyrics, and together make for a record that's easy to listen to yet hard to describe.

The Atkinsons follow up "American Gothic" with their second release "Mile Marker", which takes the band on a journey through new territories of swampy roots and country swing to Texas Cajun and straight-up rock. Though cut from the same cloth, the new record doesn't pick up where the first album left off. It follows its own path from the back roads to the highways that inevitably lead you back home. "Mile Marker" is set to be released in 2011 and celebrates where the band has been and where it's headed."

Here's The Atkinsons performing "Eileen" at Ashland Coffee & Tea in December 2010:


The great Neil Young comes to the Landmark Theater on Sunday with a great big bag to hold all the money he is charging to see him.  There are still tickets available ranging from $140/ticket to $88/ticket.  That means he sold out the most expensive tickets in the front for $200/ticket to the hard core fans and he sold out the cheapest seats at $55/ticket for people who think a show should be priced reasonably, causing what a call a donut show, with a mess of empty seats in the middle.  If you go, the show starts at 8 PM with Bert Jansch opening.  Neil will be solo and playing electric and acoustic, and will put on a great show, but I don't know if it will be $200 worth of great.  Here is a link to the official film from Neil's latest album "Le Noise" featuring live performances of many of the songs you'll see on Sunday night.  Embedding was disabled so click HERE to watch it.

The next video on Moviefone's Best Music Scenes in Movies countdown comes from a movie that didn't do well at the box office but became a cult classic as it struck a chord with anyone who has ever had to work in a cubicle farm for a mindless, bureaucratic corporation which only sees its employees as a number.  Yes, its "Office Space" and this is the classic scene where the guys finally exact their revenge on the fax machine that has caused so much trouble in their lives.  Watch out because the language in the song is NSFW.


Next up in the Paste Magazine countdown of the 25 Best Music Videos of 2010 is Lady Gaga's "Telephone" featuring Beyonce.  Even if you aren't a fan of Ms. Gaga (I hope she has a baby one day and names him GooGoo), this video is quite amazing because it is so over-the-top in that crazy Gaga way.  It calls to mind every Russ Myers chicks-in-prison movie you ever watched.  And I know you've watched them, my dirty little audience.  Of course this is a lady's prison where they let the prisoners wear latex fetish gear.  Beware that this video is also NSFW unless your work encourages you to watch videos of women making out in prison while wearing bondage gear and sunglasses made out of cigarettes.  I've peaked your interest now, haven't I?  It also features some absolutely blatant product placement (Lady Gaga for Miracle Whip?) which is lame and Beyonce's legs which is good.  And don't forget the gay bakery.  Here it is:


That's it. Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan