If you’ve been to Austin lately, you know that the locals are fighting the good fight to, as they call it, “Keep Austin Weird.” Yep, you can even pick yourself up a bumper sticker or two to show your support for the movement…
ChinaShop was in the Texas town over the weekend for Austin City Limits, showing OUR support and soaking up the sun, the sights and documenting the adventure. Check out our photojournalism below and remember to “Keep Austin Weird.”
ChinaShop isn’t really an action sports blog… In fact, we don’t cover sports… but we do cover BRO’S and in light of the huge southwest swell that just lit up our California coast, and since this is technically “music,” We’ll let it slide. Enjoy!
The Far East Movement could have used a G6 yesterday when their tour bus broke down in the middle of the New Mexico desert, leaving them to thumb a ride back to civilization (seriously, this just happened). A rep from the band told TMZ that “the guys were traveling from Missouri to Phoenix when their bus died … stranding them 50 miles away from the nearest taxi service … which refused to send a car that far.”
I felt tired strolling toward the line forming in front of the famous and previously dormant “Palace Theatre” on the opening night of Lucent Dossier, but one step toward the rabbit hole that is Lucent Dossier, and I, like the Palace, was awakened from my slumber.
Ok, that’s a bit dramatic, but the card flipping magician, top hat wearing stilts man and operatic press facilitator welcoming the gathering South Broadway line immersed me into their crafted “experience” before I had even entered the building… and that’s more than you can say about most formulaic entertainment “experiences.”
Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox is not a shy man. Standing 6′ 4″ tall and almost too skinny for words, he is a perfect rock and roll skeleton… And it’s not from drugs or anorexia. Bradford suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Marfan syndrome, a disease characterized by abnormally long limbs that makes carriers susceptible to cardiovascular disease. Bradford’s early life was plagued by ridicule and shame for his “strange” look. Pain I’m sure that feeds his art to this day, and he is the person (and performer) he is today because of it. And his presence is the perfect match for Deerhunter’s aberrant sound.
It seems that these days, Big Boi is collaborating with everyone… well not just everyone, pretty much the coolest most, keep you on your toes-iest artist like Modest Mouse and Janelle Monáe. Oh, and it seems he’s got a sweet spot for the banjo, telling fuse interview blank that he is itching to get down with Mumford and Sons (I know, kind of awesome hah), and to boot, we might have some new Outkast coming out soon (although Big Boi has been reluctant to “let anything out of the trunk” just yet). I guess we’ll just have to stay tuned.
Paying tribute to the band that started it all, New Found Glory played a cover set of Ramones tunes (featureing Marky Ramone on the skins) to the crowd at New Jersey’s Bamboozle Festival.
New Found Glory, love them or not, is a band that has maintained the same lineup for over 10 years and built a solid fan base through hard touring and good natured relationship building. That in itself is quite an accomplishment and a testament to the tenacity of these pop punk pioneers, not to mention the fact that they’ve played everywhere from TRL to the local dive to.
NFG frontman Jordan Pundik thanked the crowd during their set for keeping the band in business over the years and let them know that they were recording a new album to re released soon. The band announced yesterday that they will be releasing the album title Thurs. May 12th at 8 pm EST/ 5 pm PST on their website via a live in studio chat… Oh and per the band, Ian will probably be flashing his butt cheeks.
Check out Marky and the boys rocking Blitzkrieg Bop (video) and see the Bamboozle pictures after the jump
Honestly, I didn’t know anything about dance-hop duo Chiddy Bang, other than the fact that front man Chidera Anamege aka “Chiddy” just broke M-Eighty’s world record for the longest freestyle ever (at over nine hours straight), until Bamboozle… And I gotta say, the boy’s got skills.
In case you were wondering (like me) why he’s such a Wiz: “Wiz Khalifa- His stage name is derived from khalifa, an Arabic word meaning “successor”, and wisdom, which was shortened to Wiz when Khalifa was fifteen.” -Wikipedia. Apparently, as Wiz told spinner magazine, he was such a talented child, a wiz at everything so to speak, and that also played a role in his choosing the name.
If you are like me, you’re also wondering why his incredibly loyal fans are called the “Taylor Gang”. Well, I did some research and it turns out that contrary to popular belief, it’s not because the artist and his followers rock Converse Chuck Tailors, rather, the name comes from the fact that the original Wiz crew originated from Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh. Oh… and “Black and Yellow” is a Pittsburgh reference (sealers/Pirates/etc) in case you didn’t already know.
Now that you’re caught up on all the Wiz facts, It’s time to show you the pictures from the Rapper’s Bamboozle performance.
It seems that The Ontario quartet made up of Greg Alsop (drums), Josh Hook (guitar), David Monks (vocals, bass) and Graham Wright (keys/percussion) are having quite the year. Playing Coachella’s Main stage and gracing East Rutherford’s Bamboozle festival in support of their 2010 release Champ. We snapped some shots of the Canadians at last weekend’s festival (below) and if you’ve yet to discover this alt-gem, give them a listen after the jump.