MTV Newsroom › Gil Kaufman

The Flaming Lips, She And Him Pound Out Some Joy At The Forecastle Festival

Posted 7/12/10 3:05 pm EST by in Music

Set up in the shadow of downtown, sandwiched between the Ohio River and the picturesque Louisville Slugger minor league ballpark, the three-day eco-urban Forecastle Festival hosted one of the most high-profile lineups in its low-key nine year existence this weekend.

With a new location in a 70-plus acre riverside park that aimed for a mini-Lollapalooza vibe, the weekend kicked off on Friday night (July 9) with Forecastle faves Widespread Panic, followed by the reconstituted Smashing Pumpkins on Saturday (July 10) and the always-explosive Flaming Lips closing things out on Sunday night (July 11). With temperatures in the brain-melting upper '90s down south, we opted to just check out the final day’s activities and when we arrived it looked like plenty of three-dayers were running on fumes (and from the looks and smell of it, some other gases and solids) after 48 hours of music from a variety of DJs, lesser-known jam bands and national acts like Devo, Cake, Manchester Orchestra, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Bassnectar and the New Deal.

Most of the afternoon was about beating the heat, as sweaty modern primitives strapped hammocks between trees in the waterfront park and gently swayed near the Ocean Stage to a DJ spinning hacky sack-friendly techno.

One of the first big names of the day was duo She and Him, who opened a pleasantly perky set with the summer swayer "Rave On," during which actress/singer Zooey Deschanel busted out an electric ukulele. When she wasn't singing, partner M. Ward added a smoky croak to her high and tight vocals on the band's country shuffles, playing a series of slide solos with an assist from a bottle of local microbrew.

Deschanel, dressed in a 1960s vintage Nashville cowgirl singer blue dress with white frilled piping, brought a delicious longing to "Thieves" and bopped along while strumming her uke on the Hawaiian pop "Get Along Without You Now." With the sun finally fading behind some clouds, a crowd gathered near the main stage for the girl group singalongs "In the Sun" and "Don't Look Back." The set ended with a rousing cover of "Roll Over Beethoven" with Ward on lead vocals as Deschanel pounded away on her keyboard.

Spoon appear to be spending time in dingy dance clubs, as half of their strong set felt like it had gotten a remix from Chicago avant-rockers Tortoise. Along with straight-ahead rockers like "The Beast and Dragon Adored," they added a six-piece horn section for the secret agent rock of "Rhythm and Soul" and trippy, echo-laden dub effects for "Don't You Evah." A cover of the punk icons the Damned's "Love Song" was stripped of its pop sheen and reworked into a spare, spooky drone while "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" sounded like a Motown-via-Elvis-Costello swinger, accented by the low fart of a bass saxophone.

As the long lines for free water from the fountains near a child's playground overrun by hipsters covered in body paint began to ease up around sunset, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists blasted away a set of blitzkrieg punk to a sparse crowd near a canal larded with party pontoon boats. Read More...

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Eric Clapton And Roger Daltrey Kick Off A Summer's Worth Of Classic Rock In Cincinnati

Posted 7/1/10 5:30 pm EST by in Music

They're the kind of bands that lazy summer evenings on the lawn are made for. Plus, they happen to be the bread-and-butter of outdoor amphitheaters starved for new headliners who can bring out massive crowds from June to September. And this summer I decided I was going to go see as many as I could, because, well, they're not getting any younger and life's to short to have regrets, right?

Which is why I found myself standing next to my father-in-law at a nearly sold-out Riverbend Amphitheater in Cincinnati, Ohio, on a perfect Wednesday night (June 30) for a show by guitar god Eric Clapton and Who singer Roger Daltrey, one of only three (he informed me, because he does his homework) shows the two charter Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legends would be playing together this summer.

I couldn't have picked a better show partner, since he has seen Clapton five or six times and the Who at least twice, and I'm not just talking the later-day versions, either.

I've actually seen the Who — back on their third or fourth unretirement tours back in the '90s — but I'd never seen Clapton. And though I've never been a superfan, he is Slow Hand, so you have to check that one off the list.

Daltrey came out first, immediately busting into a trio of Who classics ("I Can See For Miles," "The Real Me" and "Behind Blue Eyes") backed by a muscular five-piece band that gave a bit of a rougher edge to the FM radio staples without messing with the arrangements too much. Daltrey would probably be the first to admit he's lost a bit of the top edge of his range, but the grittiness that replaced it was perfect for a dirty blues cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Born on the Bayou," which he dedicated to victims of the BP oil spill.

Though he didn't have lifelong foil Pete Townshend with him, Daltrey had the next best thing in the Who guitarist's younger brother Simon, who filled in (with eerily Pete-like vocals) on a cover a tune the singer said the Who had never performed live, the rousing "Going Mobile."

Daltrey busted out the classic microphone swings for "Who Are You," which the band played in a kind of spare, deconstructed way that aired it out a bit, and by the time he brought it home almost 50 minutes later with "Baba O'Riley," the crowd went bananas from the first, instantly recognizable keyboard notes until the messy, controlled-chaos ending.

If Daltrey was all about power and energy, Clapton lived up to his stage nickname. Read More...

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Rihanna's Tour Rider: Lots Of Animal Prints, Absolutely No Sequins

Posted 6/18/10 2:39 pm EST by in Music

Forget the no brown M&M's policy, the buckets of condoms and fried chicken, Heliotrope-scented candles, odorless environments, wig rooms, organic cheeses and requests for heavy-duty fans that allow for Bon Jovi video re-enactments; most tour riders just ask for booze, clean socks and a meat plate.

But sometimes a tour rider will come along with just enough wacky requests that the good folks at The Smoking Gun just have to call it out.

Case in point: the backstage requests by Rihanna for her upcoming “Last Girl on Earth” tour, which kicks off next month in Auburn, Washington. Sure, there’s the usual stuff: a direct-dial phone, no harsh fluorescent lighting, a DSL line, heaters, humidifiers and a full-length mirror, which, oddly has to be "thin" (because who wants to look at yourself in a "fat" mirror?)

But then, there are the super-specific requirements that seem … well, you decide. We've highlighted some of the best with all CAPS, parentheses and other grammatical ephemera courtesy of Camp Rihanna. Oh, and for the record, lord help you if you ever give her anything sequined.

1 – 6ft comfortable couch – White, Cloth, Plush (No leather) (wide enough for her to stretch out on and sometimes take a nap)

6-8 Throw Pillows for Couches – Animal Print (Cheetah, Leopard)(NO sequins)

1 Large throw rug – plush and animal print (Cheetah, Leopard) … must be CLEAN, as she will walk on it barefoot.

Pipe and Drape the room in Dark Blue or Black Drapes with Icy Blue Chiffon draped nicely on top/over.

4 Small, clear, square vases with White Tulips, if in season – No Foliage (2nd choice: White Casablanca Lilies no foliage, 3rd choice: White Freesia no foliage)

Also included is a request for six Archipelago Black Forest Candles ($37.50 a piece), with the warning, “if you can’t get these, please let me know ASAP as we have a 2nd choice of candle for Ri.”

And, most importantly, and you can tell because it is in bold, underlined and all caps: “Bathroom must be spotless. Please deep clean toilet and shower.”

Now, we’ve been in our share of backstage areas and seen varying levels of cleanliness, but the fact that Rihanna has to remind venues to provide one of the planet’s biggest pop stars with a clean shower and toilet almost makes the other stuff seem like so many packs of Gold Toe sweatsocks.

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Justin Timberlake Pal Matt Morris Rises Above Noisy Kentucky Club

Posted 6/15/10 2:10 pm EST by in Music

Talk about having to work for you dinner. Matt Morris was singing his heart out and just about the only thing you could hear at Newport, Kentucky's legendary Southgate House on Monday (June 14) night was the annoying vuvuzela-like buzz of idle conversation.

With just 30 minutes to warm up the sold-out venue before headliner Ingrid Michaelson took the stage, Morris took the high road, winning over the chatty crowd with his soaring falsetto and slyly funky songs rather than berating them for treating his set like an open mike cocktail hour (which, coincidentally, was exactly what was going on upstairs in the Lounge).

Morris, you might recall, splashed onto the scene in February when he joined his old "Mickey Mouse Club" pal Justin Timberlake on a mesmerizing cover of Leonard Cohen's 1984 classic "Hallelujah," which helped introduce him to the pop world after years of behind-the-scenes action by the former child star.

From his Mouse House days to now, the 28-year-old Morris is a study in contradictions. He hit the stage with his trio (he plays bass and acoustic guitar alongside a drummer and electric guitarist) dressed in skinny black jeans, dark aviator glasses, a black suit coat pushed up just enough to reveal a right arm sleeve of tats, closely cropped hair, beard and a plunging neckline dark T-shirt that gave a peek of some chest art.

With his long, very lean frame and dark look, you might have expected a morose, Nick Cave-like sound, but instead the audience was treated to the airy slow motion funk of "In This House." Read More...

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The 2010 World Cup By The Numbers: Bigger Than 'Twilight,' 'Lost' And Lady Gaga

Posted 6/11/10 3:30 pm EST by in Television

Unless you've witnessed the sheer madness of a World Cup game in the flesh or visited a soccer-mad country like Brazil or England in the thick of the world's premier sporting event, you really can't comprehend just how huge the next month is going to be.

Here's a statistic that might put it in perspective: 700 million. That's the number of people who tuned in just for the final match between Italy and France in 2006. Not only is that twice the population of the United Staes, it's also a number that is infinitely bigger than any other pop culture phenomenon you think is a big deal.

Need some more perspective? Let's look at some recent big numbers and see if we can't crush them.

13.5 million: The amount of people who watched the "Lost" finale. Frankly, there's no comparison, since even the biggest finale in TV history — that would be the 1983 "M*A*S*H" send-off — only drew 122 million.

100 million: Sorry, Twi-hards, but while the "Twilight" series is seemingly the biggest thing on the planet, the estimated sales figures for the books are chump change compared to the number of people who want to watch Kaka.

190 million: If you took the more than $1.9 billion in box office put up by "Avatar" and assumed the average person paid $10 to see the world's most successful movie ... well, you get the picture.
Read More...

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Lollapalooza 2010 Schedule Creates Tough Calls, Easy Choices

Posted 6/8/10 3:00 pm EST by in Music

Every year around this time, the good folks behind Chicago's Lollapalooza finally unveil the daily schedule for the three-day festival by the lake. It's an occasion both exhilarating and heart-rending for ticket holders looking forward to 72 hours of musical nirvana in the shadow of the big city. Exhilarating because they can finally figure out where to be when, and heartbreaking because, inevitably, they'll realize there's no way to be in two places at once to catch their favorite acts facing off at opposite ends of the more than mile-long festival grounds.

And so, we offer you this year's allotment of musical "Sophie's Choices," which, to be honest, are not as fraught as past years (when, for instance, you had to choose between dueling headliners such as Tool and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Kanye West versus Nine Inch Nails).

Day one, August 6, starts out pretty chill, with a few minor nailbiters — the subdued rock of the Walkmen or the acid jazz/funk of Venezuela's Los Amigos Invisible? — as well as tough calls, including one pitting gospel great Mavis Staples against modern R&B master Raphael Saadiq. Some picks are easy, though, such as the British shoegaze sludge of the Big Pink versus the swampy rock of the Drive-By Truckers, or the New Pornographers' twisty indie pop against revived new wave veterans Devo (my picks are Big Pink and Devo), but as the night goes on, you will have to hustle.
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'American Idol' Results: I Was Wrong, But Also Sort Of Right

Posted 5/27/10 5:00 pm EST by in Music

I have no problem with how things turned out on Wednesday night's (May 26) season nine finale of "American Idol." (That's actually not true. I have a lot of problems with how things turned out, but Joe Cocker has nothing to do with this.)

As I (also) predicted, Lee DeWyze did squeak it out against Crystal Bowersox, and even though it meant I ended my season on a losing vote while my fellow "Idol" prognosticators went out with a W, I still feel like I won.

See, I knew Lee would win, because after nine seasons of watching "Idol" and observing what kinds of singers America seems to be going for lately, Lee was the perfect package: Cute, but not runway handsome (David Cook), humble and solidly Hot AC rock-leaning (Kris Allen) and just nervous and shy enough to make him relatable.

Crystal, on the other hand, seemed to be bucking against the "Idol" machine a bit. She was honest, forthright and not as cuddly and, well, a better, more consistent singer. Personality counts and Lee played the "have a beer with" game way better than Crystal, so for that reason alone, he deserved to win. I met a number of his friends and admirers when I went to his hometown and what you saw was no act, to a person they said Lee is a warm, personable guy and the TV Lee was no different from the Lee that sings karaoke at Potato Creek Johnny's.

Crystal's friends and admirers told me the same thing when I visited her hometown as well, but they also gave me the sense that she was a more private, guarded person, which came across on TV and probably hurt her a bit in the votes department. She was also described as warm and approachable, but Crystal had obviously had to scrape and fight a bit harder for things and she seemed to have the tough exterior of someone who could size up an approaching stranger in a second and know when to put up her guard.

Both already have solid track records based on the independent music they've recorded, so all that said, things worked out as they should.

Lee — described by his producer as a headstrong, opinionated musician in the studio — will probably make a broad, approachable rock album for the masses and, if we're lucky, Crystal will be free to avoid the treacly pap that the winner typically has to record and will make exactly the kind of rootsy, bluesy album she was born to release.

See? We all win. (Plus, technically, I really did win.) But in case you're actually keeping score, here are the final results.

Gil Kaufman: 11-of-20

Jim Cantiello: 10-of-20

MJ Santilli: 9-of-20

Did the right person win "American Idol"? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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'American Idol' Winner Prediction: Crystal Bowersox Will Defy The Experts And Emerge Victorious

Posted 5/26/10 2:10 pm EST by in Music, Television

I've hung in this long and given my insurmountable lead in predicting "American Idol" eliminations, I'm going to buck the better judgment of my fellow "Idol" experts and go rogue with my call for who will win the crown on tonight's (May 26) big season nine finale of "American Idol."

I know MTV News' Jim Cantiello and MJ Santilli of MJ's Big Blog said they think Crystal beat the pants off Lee DeWyze Tuesday night (May 25) and re-asserted her season-leader mantle, while he was a jittery bundle of nerves. And yes, Simon Cowell's parting gift to Lee was re-iterating the bootstraps paint store clerk story to pump up the sympathy vote and make this thing interesting.

And, yeah, I know that this is supposed to be a talent competition, but like high school, when it comes down to it it's just a popularity contest, and Lee has that puppy dog face and everyguy appeal that the ladies can't resist and the dudes can relate to. But I'm a stubborn kind of fella and I refuse to believe that "Idol" watchers can't see an obvious talent gap when it's staring them right in the face.

Crystal crushed it with all three of her songs Tuesday night, capping it off with a tear-jerking cover of "Up to the Mountain" that no less an authority than Randy Jackson called one of the all-time great "Idol" performances. She brought her A-game, and after weeks of seeming like she had one foot out the door, it seemed like she wanted it. Bad.

Effort should count and while I may be disappointed on Thursday morning (and not for the first time), I'm going to go all-in and say Crystal will be this year's "American Idol."

With only one more chance to make the right call, here's where we stand at this point.

Gil Kaufman: 11-of-19

Jim Cantiello: 9-of-19

MJ Santilli: 8-of-19

Check back Thursday to see how we did in our predictions and leave your comments below.

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'American Idol' Elimination Results: Casey James Makes It An Expert Trifecta

Posted 5/20/10 2:20 pm EST by in Music, Television

Though it's sad to derive joy from someone else's misery (the Germans call that schadenfreude, which is much easier to type than it is to say), it feels kind of nice to have predicted the "American Idol" elimination correctly two weeks in a row. You'd have to go way back to the beginning of the Top 12 for that kind of a winning streak.

But let's not kid ourselves: Picking Casey James as Wednesday night's boot-ee was kind of like going all in on whether Lindsay Lohan was going to miss her court date on Thursday: It's a gimme. (And she did, in fact, miss that court date.) The "Idol" train has been steaming toward this station for months and despite his good looks (we get it America, you like the blonde roughneck with the heart of gold type!) and adequate singing skills, James was just no match for team BowerWyze.

The better news is that even with MTV News "Idol"-ator Jim Cantiello and MJ's Big Blog webmaster MJ Santilli joining me in picking CJ, I will still win this year's betting pool no matter what happens next week! I raise a glass to you, random odds of gambling! Next stop Vegas (where I'll probably just spend more time at the Liberace museum).

With only one more chance to make the right call, here's where we stand at this point.

Gil Kaufman: 11-of-19

Jim Cantiello: 9-of-19

MJ Santilli: 8-of-19

Who do you think will be eliminated in next week’s "American Idol" finale? Let us know in the comments!

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'American Idol' Elimination Predictions: Casey James, This Time It's For Real

Posted 5/19/10 4:35 pm EST by in Music, Television

Was it really just two short weeks ago that I predicted Cool, Texas' (c'mon, can that really be a place?) Casey James would absolutely, positively be going home? Back then I said James appeared to be pulling a Castro by trying to get booted off the show after seemingly burning out on the attention and weekly grind.

But he hung in there and made it to the top three, which looks like the end of the line for good ol' boy CJ. Our "Idol" experts thinks so and I have to agree. Conspiracy theories aside, the past few months have felt like a runaway train to Bowersox/DeWyze Junction — with shades of last year’s inevitable Allen/Lambert showdown — and James' lackluster performances on Tuesday (May 18) night appeared to seal his fate.

I mean "OK, It's Alright With Me"? Really? Really? I'm a professional music writer and I've never even heard of this song and making an obscure, and frankly, boring, tune by Eric Hutchinson your choice to wow America into putting you in the final is like getting shelled for eight runs in the first inning of the final World Series game and still thinking you have a chance at MVP. Ain't gonna happen, bro.

After finally getting back into the "W" column last week with my Michael Lynche pick, I'm feeling bullish on this one. So nice work, Casey. With that face and that voice, I'm sure you're gonna do just fine — maybe even better than if you'd actually won.

This is it, ladies and gentlemen. Only one more chance to make the right call. Here's where we stand at this point.

Gil Kaufman: 10-of-18

Jim Cantiello: 8-of-18

MJ Santilli: 7-of-18

Who do you think will be the next "American Idol" contestant to be eliminated? Which "Idol" expert do you think will come out on top? Let us know in the comments!

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