summer festivals

  • A Tribe Called Quest Salute Phife Dawg at Final New York Show

    Queens hip-hop legends A Tribe Called Quest stunned their hometown crowd Sunday at New York’s Panorama music festival, when rapper Q-Tip announced in the middle of their main-stage set — which was attended by Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer, and Aziz Ansari — that this would be Tribe’s final NYC-area concert. “This is our last show here in New York, that’s it — as Tribe. You know, we gotta honor our brother, Phife Dawg,” Q-Tip explained, staring up at a video-screened image of his late bandmate.

  • Tame Impala Headlined Panorama With Hits And Rarities

    It's been just over two years since Tame Impala released Currents. And in that time, the man behind it all, Kevin Parker, has seemed fairly ever-present. The band was a fixture on the festival circuit last year, but Parker notably kept popping up in other places, like contributing "Perfect Illusion" to Lady Gaga's 2016 release…

  • Panorama NYC Saturday: A Sweaty Indie Dance Party

    For day two of New York’s Panorama music festival, indie bands brought the dance jams — highlighted by the biggest U.S. show ever by Australia psych-rockers Tame Impala, who headlined the main stage amid a Sabbathy swirl of lysergic lighting effects.

  • Fans See Frank Ocean Like A UFO At Panorama 2017

    One of the best recent Getty Images of Frank Ocean is a paparazzi shot of him wandering around SoHo. Frank’s wearing a T-shirt with a pair of eyes on it, the kind of graphic that Mona Lisas you around a room, and he himself is staring straight into the camera and grinning, flipping off whoever's…

  • Panorama NYC Friday: Frank Ocean’s Spike Jonze-Assisted Political Statement, Vance Joy and Girl Talk’s Mashup Madness

    Also, Solange stunned with a gorgeous, conceptual set that further established her as -- like Ocean -- one of R&B’s most important, forward-thinking artists.

  • Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker Remixes New Mick Jagger Song

    Jemima Kirke (“Girls”) stars in the music video for “Gotta Get a Grip”

  • Tyler, the Creator Clarifies Misheard "Garden Shed" Lyrics

    Tyler, the Creator would know. He wrote the song.

  • Dhani Harrison to Release First Solo Album

    Dhani Harrison will release his first solo album, titled “IN///PARALLEL,” on October 6 through BMG. The musician and songwriter had previously performed with the band thenewno2. He has also collaborated with with the likes of Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, Regina Spektor, Pearl Jam, and Prince, among others. The son of George Harrison, Dhani inducted ELO into the Rock... <a href="http://variety.com/2017/music/news/dhani-harrison-son-of-george-solo-album-1202502173/" title="Read Dhani Harrison to Release First Solo Album">Read more »</a><img src="http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/Entertainment/Variety/pc17#038;c26035310#038;c310000#038;cv2.0#038;cj1" class="editorial"/>

  • Pinegrove Launch Serialized Command + S Documentary About New Album

    Beloved New Jersey folk-rockers Pinegrove have started work on a new album. Though few details about the followup to their outstanding debut album Cardinal have yet been revealed, the band has taken to documenting the process through a new video series called Command + S. Directed by Kenna Hynes, the clip's first installment finds the band…

  • Get your fire extinguisher ready, because Crap Eyewear’s Cherry Glazerr sunglasses are blazing hot

    Crap Eyewear and rock band Cherry Glazerr collaborated on a sunglass collection, and it is blazing hot. Sunglasses and rock-n-roll go together…

  • Aminé Joins HONNE for a Revamped Version of "Warm On A Cold Night"

    HONNE recruit Aminé for a refreshing take on their single.

  • Foxygen – “Be Yourself”

    Last year, Best Coast contributed a song to Amazon's kids special An American Girl Story - Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas. And now, California psych-pop duo Foxygen have written a new song for the upcoming An American Girl Story - Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance, another special based on the American Girl doll line.

  • Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross on ‘Patriots Day,’ New Nine Inch Nails EP, and How Social Media Creates a ‘Toxic Environment’ for Music

    It was a leap of faith for Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to take on the score for the new Peter Berg film Patriots Day, an unflinching film about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three civilians and injured at least 264 others. Previously, the Oscar-winning composing team had worked almost exclusively with director David Fincher on well-developed, full-length features including The Social Network, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl.

  • John C. Reilly Works Up a Night Sweat on Sasquatch! Day 2

    Celebrity sightings at music festivals like Hollywood-adjacent Coachella are NBD, but at the more remote Sasquatch! fest, held at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy, Washington, they’re a much rarer occurrence. So when a cowboy-hatted John C. Reilly showed up Saturday to introduce Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – and execute some Reed Rothchild-worthy boogie moves onstage – it was an event.

  • Andra Day ‘Pulls a Lenny Kravitz,’ Covers Prince and Kendrick at Sasquatch! Day 1

    When rising “Rise Up” chanteuse Andra Day performed Friday on the kickoff day of this year’s Sasquatch! Music festival – held at the gorgeous Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy, Washington – she suffered a wardrobe malfunction that could have sabotaged a less unflappable performer.

  • See Brandi Carlile, Alabama Shakes, and Twenty One Pilots Highlights From ‘Bonnaroo Rewind’ Documentary

    After 15 years of going strong, Manchester, Tennessee’s Bonnaroo continues to be one of the go-to music festivals of the summer. Watch the 60-minute documentary Bonnaroo Rewind on att.net/bonnaroo to see a best-of look at the most celebrated live performances of the 2015 four-day event, when it descended upon Manchester, Tennessee last June, and check out previews from three of the incredible artists – Brandi Carlile, Alabama Shakes, and Twenty One Pilots – below.Brandi Carlile, “The Eye”

  • Peaches, Jane’s Addiction, More Bring Halloween Fun to Voodoo Music & Arts Experience Day Two

    Day two of the Voodoo Music & Arts Experience in New Orleans brought with it patches of severe rainstorms, but that only led to more dramatic moments in a memorable and event-filled day of music. Here were some of the best tricks and treats delighting fans on Halloween.  Peaches Bares (Almost) All Wearing a cross between a leotard and a bikini with a face in the front, the charismatic singer showed she meant to back up her ferocious snarl on “Burst!” where she sang, “I kill, I kill, I kill the other bitches…I kill the competition.”

  • Florence Welch, Ryan Bingham, and More Bring Spirit to Voodoo Music Arts & Experience

    As one would expect from such a consummate performer, Welch embraced the spirit of the weekend, coming out in Day of the Dead face paint. “We have come for human sacrifice,” the face-painted Welch said as she ran across the stage, a welcome sight after so many months of her recovering from a broken foot while on tour. As Welch pumped the crowd with her zealous enthusiasm before leading into the song, the crowd predictably went crazy.

  • Wave Your Phone in the Air: How Technology Is Changing Live Music

    For decades now, technology — from vinyl LPs and FM radio to MP3s and online streaming — has been changing the way we listen to recorded music. The new applause Those upraised cell phones are certainly the most visible part of the trend. While websites — including Yahoo — continue to present official concert streams, live-streaming apps such as Periscope and Meerkat allow fans to DIY concert-stream and share bootleg broadcasts. Some artists, including Katy Perry, have embraced the new technology.

  • Landmark Festival 2015: On the Scene in D.C.

    Check out live photos of the Strokes, Miguel, the War on Drugs, CHVRCHES & more!

  • Major Lazer’s Walshy Fire Discusses His Musical Mix

    Major Lazer, the electronic duo created by Diplo and composed of current members Jillionare and Walshy Fire, is known for a juicy blend of musical styles that hook in fans from all areas. For starters, one of his favorite genres of music might surprise fans: “Surprisingly, the biggest music in the Caribbean is country music,” he explains with a smile. Walshy Fire showed off some of this musical alchemy during a lively set at Toyota Tent in conjunction with SPIN at this year’s Life Is Beautiful festival in Las Vegas.

  • Austin City Limits 2015: On the Scene in Texas

    See photos of the Foos, Drake, the Weeknd, the Strokes, and more, live in Austin.

  • The 11 Best Acts at This Year’s Austin City Limits Festival

     (photo: Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP) Living up to its moniker as the “live music capital of the world,” Austin, Texas, specifically Zilker Park, was home to some of the biggest names in pop, rock, hip-hop, and EDM for Austin City Limits this past weekend. Ben Howard Every festival needs a breakout act, and English singer-songwriter Ben Howard was the clear discovery of the weekend.

  • Kendrick Lamar, Surprise Killers Set End Life Is Beautiful on High Note

    During its three days, Life Is Beautiful didn’t feature a lot of event-esque collaborations or surprise appearances, so it was only fitting that hometown hero Flowers upped the ante considerably by bringing out his bandmates halfway through his set on Sunday. Following a six-song solo set that included “Can’t Deny My Love,” “Lonely Town,” and “Still Want You,” Flowers invited his Killers up for a six-song greatest-hits set, starting with “Mr. Brightside” and climaxing with an anthemic rendition of “When You Were Young.” Seeing the city’s other local heroes, along with Saturday headliners Imagine Dragons, was just the jolt of energy the crowd needed to ramp back up after two and a half days of music, food, and art. RTJ have been another fan favorite at festivals this year, and with good reason: The duo delivers nonstop energy, and they kept the massive LIB crowd pumping hands in the air almost the entire time, despite the Vegas heat still being near triple digits around 7:30 p.m.

  • Imagine Dragons, Snoop, Duran Duran Give Crowd What They Want at Life Is Beautiful Day Two

    On the second day of any music festival, there is a definite risk of letdown, and Life Is Beautiful was no exception. Having Stevie Wonder headline on day one was a difficult act to follow, as there are only a handful of artists at his living legend status that can bring the same singular feeling of witnessing an event that he does.  So day two of Life Is Beautiful had to be about the composite experience. The highlights came early on the Downtown Stage with U.K. power rock duo Royal Blood absolutely smoldering under the Vegas sun. After being endorsed by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, Royal Blood have been heralded as the next big thing in rock – and in this set more than any other we’ve witnessed this year, it’s easy to see why.