With the Beasties Out, What Will Happen to Summer Festivals?

Since Adam Yauch was diagnosed with cancer and it was released to the press a couple days ago, there has been much speculation as to how promoters would fill the spot that the Beastie Boys would leave vacant as Yauch would undergo treatment. Aside from the fact that the group postponed tour dates indefinitely, [cl] was wondering what would happen to the festival lineups that the Beasties were supposed to headline. There is undoubtedly a group of music lovers out there that bought tickets for the specific day of a festival or for the entire weekend just to see these three white Jewish dudes from Brooklyn and now feel as if they’re going to have to make a decision. There are four festivals that the Beasties agreed to headline and here’s the news on what might happen and what will happen next.

All Points West

July 31 – August 2; Liberty State Park, NJ

Jay-Z has agreed to step into the gaping hole left by the Beasties at the Liberty State Park event in New Jersey. This is Jay’s first festival performance in the US, though he has performed in a handful of festivals overseas. July 31, when Jay-Z is performing, also features Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ra Ra Riot, Vampire Weekend, MSTRKFT, The National and Fleet Foxes.

Osheaga Music and Arts Festival

August 1-2; Montreal, Canada

The Beasties were supposed to close out the Canadian festival on Sunday evening and cancelled once Yauch’s news was released. The festival promoters and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs agreed the following day that they would fill in for the Beasties.

Lollapalooza

August 7-9; Chicago, IL

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs fill in for the Brooklyn-ites again; a move which must have been a tic-for-tac deal between the two native New York groups.

Outside Lands

August 28-30; San Francisco, CA

No word yet on who will headline on Sunday evening in place of the Beastie Boys (so far no agreement has been reached with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), but we’ll keep our fingers crossed for our friends in San Francisco.

Austin City Limits

October 2-4; Austin, TX

The Beastie Boys have been pulled from the bill on Friday evening from 8:15-9:30. Again, there has been no announcement as to whom will take Friday’s headlining act but the word around town is that Kings of Leon and ACL’s promoters are talking.

Lewis Corson

“Heads Will Roll” Video

Universal Music Group threw up the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs video for “Heads Will Roll” three days ago. Never before have I seen a video as compelling as this one is. Directed by Richard Ayoade, the video features “Thriller”-esque theatrics, Kill Bill slow-mo and red confetti instead of splurging blood.

We hope they include the werwolf in their string of tours!

Lewis Corson

O. Yes

Zinner, O and Chase (from left)

We’ve all been jamming to the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ album since it was released a couple weeks ago with little to no misconceptions about the direction that the threesome has decided to move in since their 2006 release Show Me Your Bones. Shifting away from the more periphery and edgier sound that the band founded their reputation on towards a more new-wave dance revival that rings loud with riffs from Nick Zinner’s relentless shoe-gazing shredding, the YYY’s have found success in a more commercial approach with It’s Blitz! 

While we find Karen O doing less whining and more singing, her punk and indie appeal remains intact in the track “Dull Life” in which she grinds her chords against Zinner’s relentlessly distorted riffs. “Heads Will Roll” show us the versatility of O’s voice and “Soft Shock” showcases Zinner’s musical creativity in his use of sounds that we’ve never before heard in music (listen: the distorted guitar riff in “Soft Shock” that sounds sort of like an squeaky swing set).

Overall, the group has taken a turn towards a more commercial sound with overarching new-wave guitar and lyrics that are marketable. However, we still find Karen O crooning and screaming, Nick Zinner shredding and Brian Chase (drummer) trying to hold the band together with some tight percussion alimentation.

Album Rating: 8.5/10. New-wave dance meets classic YYYs as Karen O and Nick Zinner decide to break the archetypal sound that the band has fostered in their past albums.

I keep getting yelled at by YYYs’ management for posting their songs, so I’ve got some remixes below that bump.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (Emre B Remix)

7.7/10. A fat synthed bass-line complements the already danceable “Heads Will Roll.”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero (RAC Remix)

7.4/10. This remix has been floating around the blogosphere for quite some time and was (and still is) worthy of being on a number of blogs as being a phenom RAC remix.

Lewis Corson

Tunage

A couple new “for sampling use only” songs for you guys.. get it done.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero (unfortunately no longer available due to the Millennium Act)

Rating: 6.8/10 –> This is somewhat of an exclusive, the first Yeah Yeah Yeahs track off of their upcoming album called It’s Blitz! This song meanders a bit more than most of the other YYYs stuff and doesn’t seem to have much direction. Not a great sign.

Feist – I Feel it All (Diplo Remix)

Rating: 8.2/10 –> Diplo warped this song into something great.

TV On The Radio vs. Afrika Bambaataa - Staring At the Sun (Diplo Remix)

Rating: 9/10 –> Another GREAT Diplo remix with one of my favorite songs over the past few years.

And above are some GREAT Tony the Tiger Dunks.