Alternative Rock
Arcade Fire to Join Saturday Night Live’s Five-Timers Club
Arcade Fire are returning to Studio 8H! On Saturday, NBC revealed the rock band will be back on Saturday Night Live for the May 7th episode opposite host Benedict Cumberbatch. It will mark Arcade Fire’s fifth time serving as the show’s musical guest since they made their SNL debut back in 2007. (Side note: is there an equivalent to the Five-Timers Club for musical guests? Do they get jackets, too?) This time, Win Butler and co. will be promoting their latest album WE, which drops on May 6th (the same day Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opens in theaters). Advertisement Related Video This past weekend, Arcade Fire took the stage at Coachella, playing an emotional 13-song set dedicated to the people of Ukraine and Pearl Jam. Lizzo pulled double duty on the latest ep...
Coachella 2022: Billie Eilish Performs Gorillaz’s “Feel Good Inc.” with Damon Albarn
Billie Eilish’s Saturday night headlining performance at Coachella included a surprise appearance from Damon Albarn, who joined the young pop singer to perform Gorillaz’s classic “Feel Good Inc.” Albarn initially joined Eilish on stage to lend vocals to “Getting Older,” from Eilish’s sophomore album, Happier Than Ever. The two, along with De La Soul’s Posdnuos, then launched into a rousing version of “Feel Good Inc.” “[Damon] changed my life in a lot of ways, and changed my view of what music and art and creation could be,” Eilish told the crowd as she introduced Albarn. “My first favorite band ever was the Good, the Bad and the Queen when I was six years-old, and Blur changed the world, and Gorillaz changed the world, and this man is literally a genius, and that’s that.” Advertisement Rel...
Coachella 2022: Arcade Fire Dedicate Emotional Set to Ukraine Punk Bands, Pearl Jam
Arcade Fire treated Coachella to a surprise hour-long set at the Mojave Tent on Friday. The 13-song early evening performance included several songs from the band’s upcoming album WE, including: “The Lightning I,” “The Lightning II,” “Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole),” and “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid).” Arcade Fire re-started the latter song so that frontman Win Butler could recompose himself: “It’s been a hard couple fucking years,” Butler tearfully told the crowd. “We tell ourselves so much poison.” Elsewhere during their set, Butler dedicated the band’s performance of “The Suburbs” to the people of Ukraine. “Everyone in a punk rock band in the Ukraine right now,” he added. “I’m thinking about everybody who is dealing with the war right now.” Related Video Butler also shouted out C...
The Killers Kick Off “Imploding the Mirage Tour” with Raucous Hometown Gig in Vegas: Recap + Photos
It has been said there is nothing quite like a Killers show in Las Vegas, and that statement will echo three times over to sold-out crowds April 15th, 16th and 17th as the city’s unofficial “house band” launches the “Imploding The Mirage Tour” at The Chelsea in The Cosmopolitan. For Friday’s opening night, The Killers showed up with everything which has endeared them to their hometown crowd for more than two decades—a jumping, pumping, sing-along dance party for 3,200 brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends. Frontman Brandon Flowers, backed by drummer Ronnie Vannucci, Jr., and guitarist Dave Keuning delivered a 90-minute, soulful, thunderous, biographical musical journey, performing songs from six of the band’s seven studio albums. (Absent from the setlist, Wonderful Wonderful). Roundi...
Florence + the Machine Kick Off “Dance Fever Tour”: Video + Setlist
Florence + the Machine took the stage at O2 City Hall in Newcastle, UK on Friday night for their first full-band performance in three years. The concert marked the launch of the band’s expansive “Dance Fever Tour” in support of their upcoming album of the same name. As such, the 18-song setlist featured the debut four new songs: lead single “King,” “Heaven is Here,” “Free,” and “Girls Against God,” as well as the full band debut of “My Love.” Elsewhere on the setlist, Florence dusted off “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up),” “What the Water Gave Me,” and “Spectrum” for the first time in a half a decade, and performed a new version of “Never Let Me Go.” Florence Welch was also forced to restart “What Kind of Man” after forgetting the lyrics, and relied on the front row of the crowd to help he...
PUP Add Dates to 2022 North American Headlining Tour
PUP have added a run of fall dates to their ongoing North American headlining tour. The new round of tour stops begins September 6th in Grand Rapids, Michigan and runs throughout the month with stops in Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Atlanta, Baltimore, and more before wrapping September 25th in Burlington, Vermont. Currently, the punk rockers are making their way through the West. This weekend they’re set to perform at The Van Buren in Phoenix followed by shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Denver in the coming days. After finishing up this latest run of newly-announced dates, the band will also head overseas in October for the tour’s UK and European leg. Check out the latest list of dates below and get tickets via Ticketmaster. Related Video PUP’s tour is in support of their new album ...
Trixie Mattel Serves Up New Single “C’mon Loretta”: Stream
Game, set, match. Trixie Mattel has released her new single “C’mon Loretta” along with its charming tennis-themed music video. Watch it below. “You took the dizzy road to love/ All in, worse or for better/ Here we go again, c’mon Loretta,” Mattel sings on the buzzy ode to country great Loretta Lynn. “Singin’ songs ’bout runnin’ the show/ But your heart’ll never let him go.” Meanwhile, the campy visual finds the drag queen perfecting her serve in a game of tennis loosely inspired by Billie Jean King’s “Battle of the Sexes” match against Bobby Riggs in 1973 — though that famous exhibition didn’t quite end in death by a flaming overhead shot. Advertisement Related Video “I wanted this song to be a fun little ditty, like The Strokes-meets-the story of Loretta Lynn,” Mattel shared in a statemen...
Chino Moreno on Deftones’ Return to Touring: It’s “Going to Be Cathartic” to Scream and Sing Again
After two postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Deftones are finally set to kick off their North American tour with Gojira. Singer Chino Moreno expects the long-awaited excursion to be a cathartic experience after a couple of years off the road. The tour was originally scheduled for Summer 2020, then postponed to Summer 2021, and finally rescheduled for Spring 2022. The outing kicks off tonight (April 14th) in Portland, Oregon, and runs through a May 28th show in Minneapolis, with tickets available via Ticketmaster. Heavy Consequence recently caught up with Moreno to discuss his side project ††† (Crosses), but he also took some time to share his feelings about Deftones’ highly anticipated return to the stage. “I hate to say this, because it sounds very spoiled, but since I was 15-16 ...
Chino Moreno and Shaun Lopez Talk New ††† (Crosses) Songs, Musical Inspiration, Tour Plans, and More
Last month, ††† (Crosses), comprised of Chino Moreno (Deftones) and Shaun Lopez, released their first new original songs in eight years. The tracks “Initiation” and “Protection” are just a taste of what’s to come, as the duo plan to unveil more music in the coming months, after inking a deal with Warner Bros. Records. The first sign that Crosses were back in the studio came in late 2020, when the outfit unveiled a cover of the Cause and Effect track “The Beginning of the End.” A year later, a cover of Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses” followed, along with news that more music was coming soon. In March, the two aforementioned original songs “Initiation” and “Protection” were released, cementing the fact that Crosses were back in full swing. After releasing their 2014 self-titled debut album and ...
Interpol Release New Song “Something Changed”: Stream
Last week, Interpol announced their new album The Other Side of Make-Believe by sharing lead single “Toni,” and the first part of an accompanying short film. Now, the band is back to finish the story with “Something Changed.” Check out the single and visual below. “In ‘Something Changed,’ part 2 of our short film with Van Alpert, reality and reverie converge and our two lead characters find themselves in a kind of dream state — being pursued inexorably by an ominous figure (played by myself),” Interpol singer Paul Banks explained in a statement. “The lives of the three are intertwined in a nebula of fear, retribution, desire, and defiance.” The track matches the melancholy piano of “Toni” with equally foreboding keys. “I waded through shame for this,” Banks sings, in his famously resi...
Red Hot Chili Peppers Replace Foo Fighters at 2022 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
Foo Fighters have cancelled all their tour dates following the tragic death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, and that includes their scheduled appearance at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 2022. Now, organizers have announced that Red Hot Chili Peppers will join the biggest musical event in the Big Easy, headlining on Sunday, May 1st. This will be RHCP’s first time at the event since 2016. The band is touring in support of their new album Unlimited Love, their first studio set featuring guitarist John Frusciante since 2006. They join a lineup that is also headlined by Stevie Nicks and The Who, and features performances by Lionel Richie, Jimmy Buffett & the Coral Reefer Band, Willie Nelson, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, Ludacris, Norah Jones, Elvis Costello &a...
Damon Albarn’s The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows Gets Deluxe Reissue: Stream
Damon Albarn has released a deluxe version of his latest album, 2021’s The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows. Stream it below. The new four-disc set includes the original LP, a live recording of the singer’s one-off performance at London’s Union Chapel last December, a disc solely of instrumentals, and three bonus tracks — “The Bollocked Man,” poem “Love & Memory,” and hidden song “Huldufolk” — not included on the standard tracklist. Originally released in November, Albarn’s sophomore solo outing was preceded by a steady stream of singles, from the title track and “Polaris” to “Particles,” “Royal Morning Blue,” and “The Tower of Montevideo.” Advertisement Related Video “There’s all this sadness, but longing for rebirth,” the musician told Apple Music 1 at the time. “I jus...
