Imagine Dragons, The Strokes to headline Lolla India
Imagine Dragons and The Strokes will headline the inaugural edition of Lollapalooza India.
Other acts slated to perform at the Mumbai event include Greta Van Fleet, electronic dance music’s Diplo and Zhu, Indo-Canadian Punjabi music and rap-star AP Dhillon, and dream-pop artists Cigarettes After Sex.
The lineup also features a mix of Indian and international acts including Prateek Kuhad, Divine, Japanese Breakfast, Madeon, Alec Benjamin, Jackson Wang, Chelsea Cutler, The Wombats, Imanbek, Kasablanca, Apashe, Raveena, The Yellow Diary.
Bloodywood, Sandunes, Aswekeepsearching, The F16s, Kayan, Tejas, House of Hashbass, Madboy/Mink, T.ill APES, Kumail, Kavya, Mali, Tanmaya Bhatnagar, Easy Wanderlings, Abhi Meer, Bombay Brass, Parimal Shais, Siri, Tracy De Sa and Aadya are also on the bill.
“The event will feature more than 40 artists across four stages and over 20 hours of live music”
In total, the event will feature more than 40 artists across four stages and over 20 hours of live music. Some 60,000 fans are expected. The two-day festival will take place at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Race Course, between 28 and 29, January 2023.
Lollapalooza India is being produced by Farrell, WME, C3 Presents and India’s BookMyShow, and means the brand has now grown to eight countries on four continents, including editions in the US, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, France and Sweden.
“Lollapalooza India aims to bring together music aficionados across genres, entertainment enthusiasts, global and Indian audiences that are seeking marquee, unique experiences at par with international standards,” the organisers said in a statement.
“Amongst the boldest, brightest, most colourful and diverse festivals around the world, Lollapalooza is a festival that offers everyone something to take back home through its music, ethos, vibe and unparalleled experience.”
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Goldenvoice revives This Ain’t No Picnic festival
Goldenvoice is bringing back one of its earliest festivals, US-based event This Ain’t No Picnic.
The Strokes and LCD Soundsystem will headline the event at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in California on 27 and 28 August 2022.
According to the promoter, the festival will feature six stages of artists from “the past, present, and future spanning cutting-edge indie, hip-hop, dance, underground and everything in-between”.
Le Tigre, Phoebe Bridgers, Idles, Courtney Barnett, Caroline Polachek and Honey Dijon are also billed for the 2022 edition of This Ain’t No Picnic.
The festival’s name is a nod to one of Goldenvoice’s earliest festivals, launched in Irvine, California in 1999, the same year as Coachella.
Le Tigre, Phoebe Bridgers, Idles, Courtney Barnett, Caroline Polachek and Honey Dijon are also billed for the 2022 edition
The inaugural event featured Sonic Youth, Sleater-Kinney, Guided by Voices, Will Oldham, and others. The 2000 This Ain’t No Picnic showcased Beck, Yo La Tengo, Built to Spill, At the Drive-In, Modest Mouse, and more.
After a hiatus, This Ain’t No Picnic returned in 2002 with headliners Guided by Voices, Jimmy Eat World, and the Donnas.
2022 will also see AEG subsidiary Goldenvoice launch southern California festival California Vibes, it was announced in October.
In the US, Goldenvoice produces several festivals, most notably Coachella, as well as operating 14 mid-sized venues and promoting over 1,800 shows per year.
Two-day general admission tickets for This Ain’t No Picnic start at US$299. See the full line-up for the festival below.
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APE overcomes sound issues for successful first weekend
AEG Presents’ All Points East returned to London’s Victoria Park over the weekend, following up on the success of its inaugural edition last year, despite sound issues tainting performances for some.
The first weekend of All Points East took place from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 May in the east London park with headline performances from the Chemical Brothers, the Strokes and Christine and the Queens.
The festival is held over two consecutive weekends, with four days of free, community events held on the site in between. This year marks the second outing of the AEG Presents/ Goldenvoice event, which had a “highly successful” first year in 2018.
The Strokes made their first UK appearance in four years, heading up the bill on the festival’s second day, alongside the Raconteurs, Interpol and Johnny Marr. However, festivalgoers claimed the set was marred by poor sound quality.
Fans also complained about the sound quality during Johnny Marr and Interpol performances.
All Points East organisers released the following statement in response to the complaints:
“The sound quality at our shows has been of a consistently high standard since we started All Points East in 2018”
“Thank you to the Strokes for joining us last night for a truly incredible show. The sound quality at our shows has been of a consistently high standard since we started All Points East in 2018 and we were disappointed to learn that there was a sound issue in some areas of the site during the Strokes’ set.
“The sound engineers worked hard to address the problem as quickly as possible and, whilst it improved, we regret that a section of the audience didn’t have the audio experience that we expect for them. We will be responding to individual customers in the next few days.”
No sound issues were reported the following night. Christine and the Queens closed the first weekend of the festival on Sunday evening with a well-received debut headline performance.
Ten-day All Points East continues throughout the week with four days of free-to-access offerings including outdoor cinema viewings, live music, dance workshops, sporting activities, yoga sessions, children’s theatre and street food and pop-up bars.
Weekend two kicks off on Friday 31 May with headliners Bring me the Horizon, followed by Mumford and Sons and Bon Iver on Saturday and Sunday.
AEG Presents/ Goldenvoice have a five-year contact with Victoria Park owner Tower Hamlets Council, for exclusive use of the park for events.
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The Strokes price out touts with LA benefit gig
The Strokes have explained their decision to price entry to their upcoming City of Angels benefit concert in Los Angeles at US$125 – out of reach of many fans – arguing that such a high barrier to entry will keep tickets out of the hands of touts.
The American band, who recently released their second EP, Future Present Past, will play Live Nation’s 1,850-capacity The Wiltern on 25 July in aid of charities Waste Not Want Not Now, The Center in Hollywood and the Downtown Women’s Center.
“In doing a show for the charities […] our responsibility is to keep costs down and to ensure as much of the money goes to those in need,” the band write in a post on their Facebook page. “100% of net proceeds of this show will be going to the charities.
“For those of you who might not be able to afford tickets and are disappointed, we’re sorry – but in this instance we made a decision to prevent as much money being siphoned away as we could”
“Similarly, we have to acknowledge many tickets will appear on secondary sites within minutes of going on sale, which means that anyone can flip a ticket and make a $50, $75, $100+ profit. None of that additional money would go to any of the charities but to scalpers [touts], and it will happen at a regularly priced show.
“For those of you who might not be able to afford tickets and are disappointed, we’re sorry but in this instance we made a decision to help the charities and prevent as much money being siphoned away from the people in need as we could.”
Earlier this week economist Mark J. Perry said a for-profit resale market for concert tickets exists only because they are under-priced and/or under-supplied, echoing comments made by Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino at the 28th International Live Music Conference (ILMC) in March when he said artists need to be braver in how they price the house.
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