Written by Tom Joens

The Japandroids, the two-man band from Vancouver, Canada consisting of Brian King on guitar and vocals and David Prowse on drums and vocals, wowed an appreciative crowd on Sunday night at the Pitchfork Music Festival.  I hope you were there to see their amazing performance.  If you closed your eyes, you thought you were hearing a six-piece band.  The intensity and pure noise of the Japandroids are overwhelming.

Japanese Breakfast entertained a Sunday late afternoon crowd at the Pitchfork Music Festival with their high energy music.  Opening her set by exclaiming" "We're Japanese Breakfast and we're from Philadelphia!," lead singer/ songwriter Michelle Zauner's solo project impressed fans with a high energy stage presence and hard-hitting music.  Jumping around for her entire set, whether playing her guitar or not, Zauner's enthusiasm carried over to the audience, who clearly enjoyed

The War on Drugs rocked the Pitchfork Music Festival Saturday night to an enthusiastic and appreciative audience.  The Philadelphia indie-rock band (which is what you would expect at Pitchfork) was ably led by front-man/co-founder/ primary songwriter/guitarist  Adam Granduciel, who did not speak to the crowd much during The War on Drug's hour-plus set, but rather let the music do the talking.  The music was carried by the rhythm section of Charlie Hall on drums and David H

With the roar of a Saturn V rocket and the agility of a glider (EP?), Desert Daze releases Phase III. Followers of Desert Daze have reached a fever pitch while organizers have moved assuredly and with poise to put everything in place. With anticipation at a blinding fervor, the gates have been opened.

A story with a head wound is always a good story. This story has a head wound. But it's not the best part of the story. This story is about music. Music at Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival. You'll notice I omitted the. It's not The Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival. It’s Grey Fox. We’ll get to that just like we’ll get to the head wound. But first, music. After all, that’s why we travel to the Catskills every year. But why this music? What about this music sets it apart? Truth be told, bluegrass can feel so rigid.

Once again, paths to music, wonder, and joyful celebration converged in early July at the four-day High Sierra Music Festival in the small mountain town of Quincy, California, where the elevation is twice the number of the population. Headlined by Sturgill Simpson, The String Cheese Incident, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Grace Potter, George Porter Jr., Melvin Seals and more, this was the 28th High Sierra Fest. and the 20th at the county fairgrounds in Quincy.

With Pitchfork Music Festival's three stages and three days of music, it is tempting to do the impossible, try and see every act's full set. So our gratefulweb team who will be on-site this weekend has come up with, in no particular order, a list of must-sees to check out. 

Say hello to Southern California’s newest music festival, Same Same But Different (SSBD), coming September 22nd and 23rd, 2018. This inaugural two-day music & arts festival will celebrate the end of summer in a jaw-dropping setting and feature a diverse range of multi-genre musical acts that build in energy throughout the day. On Saturday, performances from Lettuce, BoomBox, Through The Roots, The Family Crest, and more will take place across the festival’s two stages.

It was great to learn that The Trey Anastasio Trio, as listed on the schedule, was actually playing as a quartet, given that Ray Paczkowski had just returned to his keyboard the night before, after recovering from a health issue. That may have been Trey’s first real interaction with the crowd, there before the encore, where he played two solo songs with his acoustic, including a lovely “Waste,” before bringing his bandmates back for a third together. I did love how he phrased it, the news about Ray being better, genuinely thrilled to share “some good news in what seems like a world of bad news.”