MTV Newsroom › Ra Ra Riot

All Points West's Nine Best Breakout Bands

Posted 7/29/09 2:41 pm EST by in Music


By Jett Wells

The headliners at this weekend's All Points West Music Festival in Liberty Park, New Jersey are are all must-see artists who tend to turn in exceptional performances, including Jay-Z, Tool, Coldplay and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But beyond the top-billed groups, there is an abundance of great bands, each of whom could steal the show early. If you want to be on top of the performances that everybody will be talking about when Monday morning rolls around, be sure to arrive early and check out the following sets.

Day 1

The Knux
(1:15 p.m.-2:00 p.m. at Blue Comet Stage)
The New Orleans hip-hop duo brings old-school rhymes and inventive instrumentation to the stage. Their buoyant single "Cappuccino," a catchy rap song with funny lyrics and electronic beats, was featured in "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."
Read More...

Tags , , , , , , ,

Ra Ra Riot Work Out The Kinks At New York Gig, By Kim Stolz

Posted 1/23/09 5:38 pm EST by in live


Ra Ra RiotNew York's Ra Ra Riot opened for Regina Spektor Thursday night at the Bowery. Their latest LP, The Rhumb Line, is worth a few listens, so was looking forward to taking a friend to their live performance. As the concert started, the band immediately put forward the excuse of not having performed in a few months — never a good sign. Maybe that made me expect them not to be good, and sure enough, the band's energy left something to be desired. Each of the six bandmembers seemed excited and enthusiastic, but that energy didn't translate into a cohesive set, which is precisely is what a band at Ra Ra Riot's level needs to do. They have a relatively big fanbase and the blogosphere certainly knows them, but they haven't quite broken through yet. However, after a few more shows, hopefully they will find their rhythm. If The Rhumb Line is any indication of what is to come, the future looks bright.

Tags ,

Stephen Malkmus, Broken Social Scene Lure Sweaty Masses To Coney Island's Siren Festival

Posted 7/21/08 12:13 pm EST by in Festivals, Video


By Rya Backer

I'd long resisted the idea of attending the Village Voice celebration of all things indie music, the Siren Festival, because of an adage many of my fellow New Yorkers are familiar with: location, location, location. This year, however, I finally took on the hour-long subway trek to Coney Island for a(n extremely hot) day of great music, great people and Nathan's Famous hot dogs.

Siren Music Festival

The men and women who came to Coney Island expressly for Siren sported an almost uniform look of ironic (read: regrettable?) tattoos, multicolored Wayfarer knockoffs, Keds, rompers (for the ladies) and long, tight pants (not for the faint of heart). But the event was for everyone; the music from either stage could be heard from the boardwalk, and both concertgoers and curious weekenders were able to see such acts as Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Broken Social Scene, Islands, the Helio Sequence, Ra Ra Riot, and the Dodos gratis.

(Check out live footage of BSS after the jump.)
Read More...

Tags , , , , ,

SPONSORS
AD:
©2012 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. MTV and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.