Heading to Freakfest this weekend on State Street Saturday night?

It’s a far cry from Halloween celebrations a few years ago, which sometimes ended with vandalism, and police bringing out the pepper spray. The mix of live entertainment with a more controlled environment and an admission charge seems to have done the trick in making for a party that’s fun without getting too crazy.

Tickets are $8 in advance and $12 at the gates, which open up at 7pm.

There’s a big costume contest as well, with judging next to the North Frances Street stage between 11pm and midnight. A word of warning from police..all dangerous props will be confiscated. So that means leave the swords and Ninja throwing stars at home.

The music lineup this year includes Neon Trees, Locksley and All Time Low. Here’s a preview.

You may have noticed some construction barrels and “Do Not Enter” and “One Way” signs on Willy Street this summer..and may have worried what that would mean for the Willy Street Fair. Well worry no more!  The fair is on this Saturday and Sunday! Bob Queen with the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Association says you won’t have to wear your hard hat..but white shoes might be the worse for wear afterwards.

If you’ve never been to the Willy Street Fair, you’ve really got to check it out. It’s a bittersweet thing, because it means the end of summer. But it’s a party like no other.  There will be entertainment on ten stages over two days, plus food and beverage vendors, street performances, and a parade that could only happen on Willy Street!

For the 3rd year, the Willy Street Fair teams up with the Wisconsin Union Theatre and the World Music Festival to bring acts from around the world to Madison on Saturday.  New this year..free Greyhound bus shuttles from campus to the fair on Saturday.

Here’s the entertainment lineup for 2011:

Saturday, September 17 / 1:45 pm to 9:00 pm, 900/1000 block of Williamson Street

Main Stage
1:45 Luisa Maita
3:30 Marco Calliari
5:30 Sergent Garcia
7:30 Bomba Estereo

3:00 & 5:00 pm Dragon Knights Grounds Parade

Folk stage
2:00 Blake Thomas and Josh Harty
3:30 Eric Schwartz
5:30 Cris Plata

Madcat Electronic/DJ Stage
2:00-7:00 Local/Regional Electronic/DJ Performers
7:00 East Coast/West Coast Legend, Dr. Dunks

Sunday, September 18 / 11:00 am to 7:00 pm, 800, 900 and 1000 blocks of williamson street
Willy street fair parade: 11:00 am

Main stage
1:00 Emmettville
2:30 the Midwesterners
4:00 Bumpus
5:45 the Kissers

Kid’s Stage
1:00 Mad Rollin’ Dolls Demonstration
2:00 Wil-Mar Teen Fashion Show
3:00 Madgadders
4:00 EMCC BreakDancers
5:00 Truly Remarkable Loon
6:30 Willy Street Fair Raffle

Culture Stage
11:45 Yid Vicious
1:00 Cajun Strangers
2:00 Sadira and the Riad Dance Company
2:45 An Blas Quartet
3:50 Xtring
4:55 Atimevu Drum and Dance
6:00 Charanga Agosa

WORT Underground Stage
12:00 Whitney Mann (& Band)
1:10 Roboman
2:20 the Shabelles
3:30 Venus In Furs
4:40 Weapons of Mass DeFunktion
5:50 (From Toronto, Canada) The Sadies

Folk Stage
12:00 Small Potatoes
2:00 Bret & Frisk
3:30 Bill & Kate isles
5:00 Moonhouse

Gotta love those Madison summer festivals…

It was an extremely warm afternoon in Madison, but folks looking for entertainment and camaraderie got what they were looking for at Atwood Summerfest on Saturday!

And it was all for a good cause..the Goodman Community Center.

VO5!

That's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it

The Jimmys

Heat 1, Jimmy 0

Most Summerfest headliners don’t go on until 8pm or 10pm, a lot of people like to get their Summerfest on early. Kitty, who hasn’t missed a Summerfest in nearly 20 years, looked over the schedule to find some not-to-miss shows that will happen while the sun’s still out.

Wed. June 29:
The Nod 3pm at the Cascio Music Stage. Garage rock from Madison. Find out why Rob Thomas of 77 Square says their music is smart and jangly pop reminiscent of Cake or Spoon.

Thurs. June 30
Mighty Short Bus noon at the Briggs & Stratton Stage. See Project M champ Frank Busch in his natural element..on stage with his band.

The Jimmy’s, 2pm at the Briggs & Stratton Stage. A great blues band featuring our favorite rock n roll farmer, Jimmy Voegeli

Bascom Hill, 5pm at the Miller Oasis. More great Madison music!

Friday July 1:
Big Bob & the Ballroom Blitz with Greg Koch, 4pm at the Harley Davidson Stage. Greg Koch just might be the best guitar player in  WI.             Check this show out and experience real gristle!

Saturday July 2
M & I Employee Party, Noon at the Classic Rock Stage. What? That’s not a band name?

Sunday July 3
De La Buena 6pm at the Harley Davidson Stage.  Danceable Afro-Cuban Latin Jazz. Say hi to Jeremy, the drummer. He used to work at Triple M!

Monday July 4
Summerfest is closed. What’s up with that?

Tuesday July 5
Elusive Parallelograms 6pm at the Cascio Music Stage. That just might be the coolest band name ever! They play alternative experimental pop rock.

Wednesday July 6
Mike Droho & The Compass Rose, 6pm at the Cascio Music Stage. Hey  it’s Season One Project M winner Mike Droho! Woo hoo!

Thursday July 7
Locksley, 3pm at the Rock Stage. Little Steven loves ‘em, they’re on tons of commercials..and they’re from Madison!

Friday July 8
Sue DeBaco & The Double Down 6pm at the Potawatomi Stage. How about a little blues for your evening listening pleasure?

Saturday July 9
Pat McCurdy 5pm at the Briggs and Stratton Stage. How about a little Sex & Beer everybody?

Sunday July 10
Daniel & The Lion, 4:30 at the Cascio Music Stage.  Featuring another Project M winner, Jimmie Linville. It’s a Summerfest Trifecta!

Check out the following backstage interviews from Warren Haynes, Ray LaMontagne, Justin Townes Earle, The Walkmen, The Decemberists, & Freelance Whales:

Warren Haynes Int

Justin Townes Earle INT

Walkmen Int

Decemberists Int

Freelance Whales Int

*Photo provided by Music Allies*

Arcade Fire captured the attention of the entire mass of 100,000+ people Friday night.

15 minutes before they took the stage, faces turned up to the sky as around 7 parachutists trailed what looked like pounds of glitter on top of the audience.  Shouts of awe rang across the field as what we all thought was glitter started raining down in a random pattern across the sky.  As it began to get closer, the mystery of the falling objects progressed into further confusion.  It wasn’t glitter – it was something else.  As I managed to jump up and grab a package, I realized that it was a packet of several bands with different colored blinking lights on them.  After people connected to lights to either their bodies or a piece of clothing, a gargantuan sea of flashing lights surrounded the main stage. 

Better yet, Arcade Fire’s energized performance catered to the stereotypical Roo attendee by having a movie screen playing clips/short films behind them that coordinated with the theme of each individual song.  There were repeating images of people dressed in strange, almost doll-like outfits, a short film of people riding bicycles that looked as if it had been produced in the 70s, & colorful or colorless patterns that was designed to induce a particular feeling as you listened to each individual song’s lyrics.  You couldn’t have walked away if you wanted to.  It was absolutely magic.  If you haven’t seen Arcade Fire perform live – I would strongly suggest finding out where they’re touring this summer and buying a ticket, today if not sooner.

*Photo by MusicAllies*

Yesterday at Bonnaroo, you couldn’t get a free moment if you tried.  The lineup was stacked with artists that couldn’t be missed, performances that had to be heard.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying stage hopping in order to hear the wide variety of artists whose performances exceedingly overlapped.  Here’s how my day went…

Ben Sollee 1-2pm

Belafleck & the Flecktones: The Original Line-Up 2-3:15pm

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals 3:15-4:30

Warren Haynes Band 4-5:30pm

The Decemberists 5:30-7

Ray LaMontagne 6:15-7:45pm

Florence + the Machine 6:45-8:15

Bobby Long 8-8:50

Arcade Fire 11-12:30

+ MORE!

I had a hard time making decisions – who to see, how long to stay at which performances, & when to eat/sit.  Straight from Vermont, Grace Potter proved that her music was “rock” label worthy as thousands of people watched – her voice captured a tone that most singers could not pull off in a controlled manner as she masterfully does herself.  She also impressed with her guitar skills & simultaneous head banging/luring electric piano playing.   And the Nocturnals entertained with solos from their guitarists + the happiest face that you will ever see from any drummer out there. 

Ray LaMontagne also mesmerized the crowd with his shy/humble demeanor and calming voice.  His song choices included several songs off of his recently released album, “God willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise.”  And believe me when I say they are as good live as they are recorded.  You wouldn’t have even been able to point out a discrepancy had he not sang as freely as he did. 

The highlight of Friday night – the headliner. Arcade Fire, captured the attention of the entire mass of 100,000 people attending Bonnaroo.  About 15 minutes before they took the stage, something that no one will forget happened…read on to the next post for the details…

Listen to the Ray LaMontagne interview below!

Ray Lamontagne Int

*Pictures taken by MusicAllies and Bonnaroo 2011 Cams*

It’s the 10^th Anniversary of Bonnaroo and you can feel the excitement in the air as people are lining up at the main entrance from the campground.  The vendors have fully prepped everything and await the arrival of those who forgot to bring the essentials with them – food, beer, sandals  (yes, that happened).  They know that since the fest itself sold out, they’re bound to make a killing.  And they will! 

I took an hour or so to check out the various stands that were set up – handmade nomadic shoes, hammocks that you can fold into a pouch, hand-crafted jewelry and clothes, it’s all there, and it’s all unique in some fashion.  It’s basically the most amazing assortment of gift shops that you’ve ever seen. 

And the food – oh the food! You can find anything and everything there – as long as it’s fried or it doesn’t need to be refrigerated.  So, ya know, almost anything.  The food ranges from corn dogs to Thai food and your taste buds can be satisfied in under 5 minutes if you so choose.  Heaven in your mouth? The answer to that question is Yes, YES!

There are 5 large stages – THAT tent, THIS tent, WHAT stage, WHICH stage, & the OTHER tent.  Last night, the Band of Skulls was the highlight of the 1^st day of Bonnaroo.  They pulled the crowd in with music that made you want to move along with the beat – even if you’re not the dancing kind.  The crowd was up for anything and everything – they couldn’t get enough of it.  So much so that crowd surfing to the front of the stage became the “IT” thing to do because it was the easiest way to make it through the crowd, which fanned out far beyond the reach of the tent.  Never having listened to them much myself, I found myself making a note to buy their CD once I left.

That’s the best part of this festival – there are so many bands that you’ve never heard of but when you make an effort to go watch them perform you could find your new music love! What will today have in store? 

The line-up is stacked with Triple M artists and I’ll have an update for everyone tomorrow morning – Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, Ray LaMontagne, Florence + the Machine – they’re all here! Check in tomorrow for your ROO update!

Yes, that was THE best 3am quote of the car ride…here’swhy…

As we left on the car ride to Manchester, TN all I could think was, “only 14 hours of hell crammed into a tiny car and you’re there!”  Thankfully that 14 hours magically turned into 10 at our driver’s refusal to stop for anything other than 1 – 1 single -  pee/gas break.  As my bladder screamed at him, my thoughts were only those of gratitude.  We were that much closer, that much sooner.

After the miracle car ride, we finally made our arrival at the Bonnaroo campground at 3am. Our hearts sank as we realized that on the opposite side of the road there was a line of cars on the right shoulder that went on for at LEAST 15-20 miles.  It was an endless sea of bright lights, tents littering the grass next to various cars, and people standing outside stretching their legs as they wait in anticipation to begin pitching their tent and actually getting settled in for the weekend.  People were waiting for UP TO 7 HOURS!  Either they seriously love music, or they seriously love to party.  My guess is that it was a combo. 

Getting set up was the least of our worries.  It was quick, simple, but HOT.  HOT HOT HOT.  I’m talking 90 degrees at 9am hot.  Sweat dripping down your face as you empty the first item out of the back of your car.  It may sound bad…but once you’re done it’s all friendly neighbors, smiling faces, beer & of course, music! 

Read the next blog to hear about the highlights from Thursday!

Plan your San Fran trip around the Outside Lands music festival – held at Golden Gate Park.  The fest is geared to the new green movement that has been taking hold across the nation – each year it includes numerous initiatives to enhance the eco-friendliness of the event.  Check out the lineup + buy your ticket today!

2011 Lineup:

Muse

Phish (2 sets)

Arcade Fire

The Black Keys

Deadmau5

The Shins

MGMT

Girl Talk

The Decemberists

John Fogerty

Erykah Badu

The Original Meters

Beirut

The Roots

Arctic Monkeys

STS9

Big Boi

Big Audio Dynamite

Warren Haynes Band

Major Lazer

Little Dragon

Julieta Venegas

SIA

OK Go

The Greyboy Allstars

Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band

Old 97’s

Mavis Staples

!!!

Latyrx featuring Lyrics Born & Lateef

Best Coast

Collie Buddz

Phantogram

Charles Bradley

Foster the People

Lotus

STRFKR

Junip

Pajama Party

The Infamous Stringdusters

The Vaccines

Toro y Moi

Vetiver

The Limousines

The Stone Foxes

The Joy Formidable

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Wye Oak

Ana Tijoux

Orgone

Lord Huron

Tamaryn

Grouplove

The Fresh & Onlys

Ximena Sarinana

Ry Segall

Sunbirds

Nicki Bluhm & The Gamblers

Diego’s Umbrella

Ghost Robot