tony

INTERVIEW w/ Brian Chase & Karen O by Eyeball Skelton.

EYEBALL SKELETON is:
Charlie Brown: bass, vocals, age 9
JJ Brown: vocals, guitar, age 10
Dad: guitar, beats, age unknown

Karen O (K): Hey JJ, Hey Charlie
Eyeball Skeleton (EBS): Hey
EBS: Um, first of all is…do you know any doctors?
K: (Laughing) That's the one I was most interested in. Um, yeah, um I think
my cousin's a doctor. She's like…she just became a doctor and um her
parents are both doctors, and then, like, my best friend, her mom and her
dad are doctors too and uh
EBS: Yeah, cuz we…I break a lot of bones. Like, I have a cast on right
now…because from like from skateboarding and all that and snowboarding.
Brian Chase (B): Wow
K: Wow, how many…how many bones have you broken?
EBS: Let's see (counting to himself)…like seven or six
K: Oh my God! Wow, wow so, um…I've never broken a bone before, but, uh, I
broke my jaw once…so I guess that's a bone.
B: Whoa
EBS: Ow..That's painful.
K: Yeah
B: Did you have to wear the metal brace…the, uh, contraption. Did they wire
your jaw shut?
K: No but I had to drink um strawberry milkshakes for like about two weeks
and that was all I ate for about two weeks was strawberry milkshakes. Yeah,
so, um that's all the doctors I know. Do you know any doctors Brian?
B: Um, my Dad's a dentist.
K: (Laughs)
B: So, I don't know JJ, do you think a dentist counts as a doctor?
EBS: What?
B: Do you think a dentist counts as a doctor?
EBS: Yeah
B: Yeah, I think so too.
K: Yeah, I think so. I agree with all of you on that one.
B: Yeah
K: So what's your next question?
EBS: How high can you count?
B: Oh man! How high? Let's see, that's a tough one because it just kind of
keeps going doesn't it? So, um, I guess if you can count really high you can
say you can count to infinity:
EBS: Yeah
K: But I don't know what comes after, I think I can count only, I don't know
what comes after a trillion. I know there's like Millions, billions,
trillions, but I'm not exactly sure what happens after trillions.
EBS: I think it's like a google or something.
B: It's a google
EBS: I learned about google last year.
K: Oh really?
EBS: Yeah
K: Wow. Well that's new to me. Um, yeah, I think that uhh thats where my
counting skills stop. At a Google.
EBS: Thanks, what's your favorite season?
K: I think this is my favorite season. Fall, because, like, because I think
it's the best holidays which is, for me, I like Halloween a lot, and I also
like…even though I'm really bad at picking costumes, um, I still like
Halloween a lot because of all the candy and stuff but I also like
Thanksgiving a lot because you know…I'm a really big fan of stuffing…turkey
stuffing, so…
EBS: Yeah, I love turkey. And its not too hot and its not too cold either.
K: As long as you're not wearing sandals and shorts, you're all right.
(Laughs) And, uh, it's a good season to be breaking bones in, I think,
right? The Fall? No actually, I think the winter is the best season to
break bones in because there's all that ice around and stuff so if you go
skateboarding, you know?
EBS: Um yeah.
K: (Laughs) or snowboarding, that's probably the season that you break the
most bones in I'd say.
EBS: Okay. Are you planning to go on Cribs?
(Laughter)
K: Yeah, I watch that show all the time and, um, I'm thinking that right now
wouldn't be a good time to go on Cribs because, uh, I live in a two bedroom
apartment. But, um, I was thinking that I'm going to on one of those shows
one day when I live in, like, a big building on the beach that all my
friends live in too, you know?
EBS: Uh huh
K: That's the day that Karen O will be on Cribs. So…
EBS: Yeah
K: (Laughs) and there will be…I don't know what else would be in it, but I
know that there would be an indoor planetarium in there, you know…
B: Oh wow!
K: …where I could sleep under the stars every night, but I could be really
indoors and still sleep under the stars every night.
EBS: That sounds cool.
K: Yeah, yeah, that's kind of my, that's kind of my dream. So, uh, Cribs
will have to wait until I have an indoor planetarium and the apartment
building on the sea with all my friends living in it.
EBS: What time do you go to bed?
(Laughter)
K: Brian, what time do you go to bed usually?
B: Um…
K: I know that we're different
B …I usually go to bed, usually around like two in the morning. But when I
was, like, eleven, I always went to bed when I was told. (Karen laughs) So I
guess that's my story.
EBS:Um we go to bed at like 9:30 because we have to wake up at like six to
go to school.
EBS: Yeah, we catch the bus at 6:30
B: Wow, you get the bus…that's so early, you get the bus at 6:30 huh?
K: Is it still dark out at 6:30 or is it…has the sun come up yet?
EBS:It's still dark.
K: Wow
EBS:Yeah
K: When I'm in New York, I like to go to bed around five in the morning, so
I think its just about like , you know, an hour or two away from the sun
coming up.
EBS: Uh huh
K: But when I'm in Los Angeles I go to bed around 9:30pm , you know?
EBS: cool
K: Same time as you guys.
EBS: So, do we go to the next set of questions?
K: Yeah do it.
EBS:Okay, um…do you like Chinese food?
B: Yeah I like, I'm a big fan of Chinese food. You know how the Chinese do
it? They eat, like eyes and stuff like that.
EBS: They do?
B: They do, yeah, totally. Yeah, like fish eyes are supposed to be good
luck.
EBS: That sounds gross.
B: Yeah, would you ever eat a fish eye?
EBS: (Laughs) um do you have a jackhammer?
B: Do I have a jackhammer?
EBS:Yeah
B:Um Yes, I have a jackhammer. I have to use my jackhammer instead of a
knife, so like when I'm at the table and I need to cut my food I just take
out my jackhammer.
(Laughter)Or if I ever need to crack open an egg or anything, instead of
using my knife, I just use my jackhammer…Do you guys have a jackhammer?
EBS: Yeah I got one and it's in my room
B: Wow. Does you dad like it when you use the jackhammer?
K: um… So..is your…does your dad I'm sure your dad likes to make sure
um you know that he's around when you use the jackhammer, right?
EBS: Uhh, Yeah
K: you don't want to be breaking any bones with the jackhammer or anything
like that.
EBS: Yeah…Um hold on... OK the next question is "Can we be done yet"
(Laughter)
B: Um yeah well, Can we be done yet? What do you mean?
K: Yeah, I'm having a pretty good time I'm not so nervous any more
EBS: My dad just just, we had like 40 questions so I asked him if we could
be done yet, and he just wrote it down, and I asked him if we could erase it
but he wouldn't.
B: yeah that's a good one, usually, yeah That's a question we wish more
people would ask. Yeah cause like sometimes you know, you just kinda
wanna, you get bored and you want to do something else. You know. And
uh, you know.
EBS: What's your favorite TV show?
B: Um, I dunno Karen, what's your favorite TV show?
K: My favorite TV show? Yikes. Um, I really like that show, um, its on HBO
its called Curb Your Enthusiasm. Um, I think I dunno if you guys know it,
its for um, older, more sort of grumpier adults like to watch the show so I
dunno if you guys would be interested in it but I think right now its like
my favorite TV show that's on television.
EBS: We like the Simpsons
K: Ooh Yeah
B: Oh yeah
K: Alright I take that back, that might be my favorite tv show too.
B: you can't top the Simpsons, that's probably be the best TV show ever
made.
K: whose your favorite Simpson's character?
EBS: Hmm… Millhouse and Bart and I like Homer, he's funny.
K: Yeah Homer's really good.
EBS. We have one more left. We already did that one. "How high can you
count" was on there twice"
B: Oh yeah?
K: alright well…
B: I can only count to twenty cause you know I have 10 fingers and 10 toes.
K: So like uhhhh…do you guys know how old we are?
EBS. Uh-uh.
K: So how about you guys guess how old I am and then you guess how old
Brian is? I'm just curious if you know…
EBS: hmmm….
K: No cheating, you know? just you know go with whatever comes to your
head about how old we are.
EBS: 32?
K: (Laughs) oh ok, is that how old you think I am? How old do you think
Brian is? Like about the same?
EBS: yeah um… 80?
B: 80!?
EBS: I'm just kidding
B: I sound like an old man?
K: well I don't feel so bad now about being 32 Brian.
EBS: 33?
K: well that's not too far off. Yeah well, I'm 26 and Brian is 27. So you
don't get the jar of eyeballs that Brian was talking about.
EBS: We can't really see you that good cause we're looking at the CD
B: Ohh Wow, ok, what CD?
EBS: Um, Fever To Tell?
K: Wow, we were yeah, I think we should do something about that if we're
looking like 80 years old or 32 years old on the cover.
EBS: It's just blurry, I can't really see it.
B: Yeah a friend of ours did the drawings and maybe he wanted to make us
look a little older.
EBS: Yeah the snakes are cool.
B: yeah
EBS: How they're like poppin' out.
K: yeah they are cool. I like those snakes.
B: do you guys have a favorite animal?
Charlie: hmmm I like dogs and penguins
EBS: I like um, ducks and snakes
B: Yeah, ducks and snakes
K: Nice, those are good animals. And um, do you guys like uh, we just
wanted to let you know how much we like your band as well. Eyeball
Skeleton.
EBS: Yeah we were just listening to that Power Puff Girls song.
EBS: yeah that song's cool.
K: Good good good. Yeah well I'm really glad we got to talk to you guys.
You guys are the the coolest…what do you think Brian? Do you think they
might be the best interview we ever had.
B: Yeah I think so yeah. Yeah definately.
K: And we're really, we're dead serious when we say that. We're completely
serious.
EBS. Cool Thanks.
B: Yeah, yeah. Cool, Its been a pleasure, its been great getting to talk to
you guys. Thanks for all your hard work for you know asking us these
questions.
K: yeah thanks for coming up with 40 questions. Sorry we only answered 10 of
them. But we have a question for you and that's like "can we be done yet?"
EBS: OK
K: Ok cool. Alright Thanks boys!
B: thanks Have a good night
K Yeah have a good night…say hello to your dad for us.
B: Yeah totally Yeah definately
EBS: Ok
K: Have a good one.
EBS: Ok.

INTERVIEW w/ Nick Zinner by Eyeball Skelton.

Eyeball Skeleton: Are you a pryro?
Nick: Um…I like fire a lot but, um no, I'm not a pyro. Are you?
EBS: I am…
N: Really?
EBS:…but I don't like to burn houses
N: Burn what?
EBS: I don't like to burn houses or anything
N: Probably a bad idea…but small things like paper, I guess, are kinda fun.
EBS: ok. Whats your favorite hobby besides playing music?
N: Well I like to take pictures, and um, I like to travel also.
EBS: What?
N: Oh I like to take...take photos. And um, travel. And um, I guess that's
about it.
EBS: Excellent, I love taking pictures.
N: You do?
EBS: Mmmhmm.
N: Cool. Do you have a camera?
EBS: Umm, yeah, my dad has one, but I use it a lot.
N: That's good. What do you like to take pictures of?
EBS: Umm, like, when kids I know do skateboarding tricks…
N: Rad
EBS: and when we go hiking.
N: hmm, that sounds good.
EBS: Do you have any pets, like tarantulas?
N: uh no I don't, well, I have a bat skeleton, but I don't think that really
counts cause its dead….I want to get a cat though, I want to get a
sphynx which is a hairless cat, cause they look like little monsters.
EBS: It's hairless?!
N: They're weird, it's like a naked cat.
EBS: That sounds funny!...what time do you go to bed?
N: MMM..You know, I'm kind of nocturnal, usually I go to bed at like
maybe 4 or 5 in the morning.
EBS: Wow…that's late!
N: Yeah. Pretty late but sometimes if I'm having a night in, reading, or
studying, then maybe I'll go to bed at midnight, or one in the morning…but
usually pretty late…what time do you go to bed?
EBS: Um I really have to catch the bus at like 7..
N: Wow that's pretty early .
EBS: I know, so I have to go to bed at like 9, but on the weekends I get
to stay up.
N: Wow. I bet you miss a lot of your favorite TV shows. Or maybe
not. Um. Cool well, that sounds good. Oh, how's your band doing?
EBS: Doing good, we're about to record some songs…
N: Cool I can't wait to hear.
EBS: And we're going to play a concert in New York and Philadelphia…
N: …Oh Okay Cool, well it was nice talking to you guys…and…I hope to
talk to you soon.
EBS: Okay...

EYEBALL SKELETON is:
Charlie Brown: bass, vocals
JJ Brown: vocals, guitar
Dad: guitar, beats

PS. Thanks to Lizy for telling me about this!

What a difference a continent makes.

In the UK Hard-Fi are the chart-topping fancy boys whose life is a broken cash machine spitting out euros willy nilly.

Finicky NME named their 2005 debut "Stars of CCTV" Album of the Year calling it "tirelessly inventive, genre-splicing genius"; The Times of London called it "As close to a five-star record that I've heard all year," adding "there have been some
terrific debut albums by British bands this year, but this rough diamond by Staines' Hard-Fi is the best yet"; and Q magazine deemed the group "the next major British band."

"Stars of CCTV" entered the UK charts at #6 in July 2005, and hit #1 in January of 2006.

They earned two Brit Award nominations for Best British Band and Best British Rock Act.

But in the States, the record, which has only been out for two weeks peaked at #7 on the Modern Rock charts and is currently #15 on that chart, not even making the Billboard 100.

Infact the best thing that has happened to the likeable rock band with gritty tunes with a pepped up pop sensibility was the rumor that singer Richard Archer was Scarlett Johansson new beau. Turned out that Archer's luck with American bombshells was just as bad as his band's first two weeks on the US charts - something that quite possibly could happen in the future, but aint happenin right now.

Fortunately the video "Cash Machine" is getting played on MTV, Hard-Fi is touring the states, and they're playing on the best bill in America: Coachella.

And if things don't work out this spring for the group they still have each other - and England. Hard-Fi has already sold out London's Brixton Academy for five nights in a row. A feat that has only been matched by the likes of Bob Dylan, The Prodigy, Massive Attack, and The Clash. Only the Chemical Brothers have sold out the historic venue six nights in a row.

APRIL US & Canadian tour dates
1 Brooklyn, NY Warsaw
2 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
4 Montreal, QUE Le National
5 Toronto, ONT Phoenix Concert Theatre
6 Cleveland, OH Agora Ballroom
7 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
22 Vancouver, BC Plaza Club
24 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
25 Portland, OR Berbati's Pan
27 Sacramento, CA The Boardwalk
28 San Francisco, CA Slim's
29 Indio, CA Coachella Music & Arts Festival!!!

Easilly the most interesting story this year is that of Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah. A group of five young men with pop tunes, high ideals, and a strong indie DIY backbone.

Here's your scorecard: Alec Ounsworth, guitar and vocals, Sean Greenhalgh, drums and percussion, Tyler Sargent, bass and backing vocals, Lee Sargent, guitar and keyboard and backing vocals, Robbie Guertin, guitar and keyboard and backing vocals.

Except for Ounsworth, everyone is from Brooklyn, Alec is from Philly.

Long story short, they played small clubs once a week in NYC for a little while and then the word spread among MP3 blogs... yes blogs... that they were the shit.

Most Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah historians point to these very short reviews on the music blog Said The Gramophone as being the first to get the hype going

this song is 5 minutes and 43 seconds long. the more prepared you are, the better.

It starts off normal enough, but you don't realise what kind of voice is waiting to stretch its legs. Striding alongside, pretending to catch up but being perfectly capable of running circles around the music, the vocals and the melody play like two brothers.

What's so great about it is how normal it is. It sounds like so many bands, but just way better. - about "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth"

This has that restrained, rumbling power that gives me tingles when I'm walking down the street/trying to not be me. It stands behind you and puts its hand on your shoulder; you and the song can wait together for the awful things that are just up ahead. You can both watch trouble tie its laces. - regarding  "Details of the War"

Soon David Byrne and David Bowie were spotted poking their noses into clubs to check out the band, then came the labels, then came the agents. Strangely the boys turned their backs on all of them and first re-printed their selfmade cd, and then finally signed with the UK indy Witchita Recordings (Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bright Eyes) proving that they're one of the last of the real independents.

Media darlings rarely live up to the hype, The Strokes were able to withstand it, as were the White Stripes. Of the bands at Coachella who will be under the cynical scrutiny of music snobs and the curious alike, no one will be under the microscope more than Clap Your Hands And  Say Yeah.

Rarely does Pitchfork give a glowing review, so the question everyone will be asking about CYHASY is are they this good:

Jangly, processed guitar, shimmering cymbals, and vocalist Alec Ounsworth's chorused vocals meet somewhere between a much poppier pre-Loveless My Bloody Valentine and the conventional indie songcraft of the Arcade Fire. So basically we're trying not to piss ourselves. - Pitchfork

While most people focus on the headliners, Coachella founder Paul Tollett advises that you also keep your eyes on the smaller bands. Last year for example Coachella was host to groups like The Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, and M.I.A.

"When the ad came out last year, maybe those bands weren't so big, but when the day came around, they'd blown up," Tollett told Billboard last month. "People will be surprised when they sift through all the band names this year."

He's not kidding, already huge in the underground scene playing Coachella this year will be Animal Collective, Art Brut, Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, Hard-Fi, Mates of State,  The Go! Team, The Like, The Magic Numbers, The Subways, Wolf Parade, and Wolfmother.  Not to mention two artists who currently find themselves surprisingly in the Top 40:  Matt Costa, (who is on the Curious George soundtrack) and hasidic reggae-phenom Matisyahu,

Last year I had the good pleasure of talking with Tollett who was downright giddy at the NIN/Weezer/Wilco lineup.

After six years of trying to get Nine Inch Nails to headline the two-day event, Tollett finally got a yes out of one of his favorite bands.

"They were the first band I ever tried to book (for Coachella)," Tollett said from his Goldenvoice office on the Miracle Mile. "Trent really delivers live. He's a big show guy."

So I asked him then why would he book the middle of the road Coldplay?

"They're also really good live," said Tollett, who  President of Goldenvoice, the much-loved LA punk and alternative promotions company who was bought by AEG Live. "I was at the Hollywood Bowl and I was blown away with what I saw."

Despite the fact that Coachella has become the premiere US festival it's still not that easy to cherry-pick a lineup of great bands simply because you want them, Tollett explained.

"You can beg and beg but sometimes people are busy recording or touring and just can't make it here. It's not like we're making the bands play for free, but the world is such a big place and there's a lot of things these people are committed to do other than playing festivals."

Not only do bands beg to be part of Coachella, but Tollett said that the fans also flood the company's email box with requests for their favorite artists. What band gets the most email requests? Weezer. Who last year played their second Coachella.

Fans who have been to the festival before was experienced an improvement that they probably didn't expect. Traffic going in and out of the polo grounds ran much smoother. Tollett predicted this in our chat a year ago.

"Each year we try to improve on the year before. It's a sense of respect for the fans. One year it was how to get the tickets torn quicker, this year it's about getting traffic in and out to run smoother," he said, adding that the city is working with the company to figure out solutions using more lanes of the road and engineering the parking lots so that traffic will flow better.

In the 21 years that Depeche Mode has been around they've played 880 shows. Coachella will be their 886th gig with four warm-ups in some arenas in the UK (including two at Wembly) and a show at Shoreline in No Cal a few days before making it to Coachella.

Depeche Mode has played in the LA area 31 times including an historic show at The Rose Bowl in 1988 where they sold out all 80,000 seats. Two years later they sold out Dodger Stadium two nights in a row and in 1993 they played to five sold-out audiences at the Fabulous Forum.

Here's a quick run-down of all of their performances in and around LA over the years.

See You Tour 1982
Sat, May 15, 1982     Pasadena  -  Perkins Palace                
Sun, May 16, 1982     Los Angeles  -  The Roxy

Some Great Reward Tour 1985
Sat, March 30, 1985     Los Angeles  -  Palladium                
Sun, March 31, 1985     Irvine - Irvine Meadows     

Black Celebration Tour - 1986
Sun, July 13, 1986     Los Angeles - The Forum                
Mon, July 14, 1986     Laguna Hills  -  Irvine Meadows                
Tue, July 15, 1986     Laguna Hills  -  Irvine Meadows


Music For The Masses Tour - 1987-88          
Fri, December 4, 1987     Los Angeles  -  The Forum                
Sat, December 5, 1987     Los Angeles  -  The Forum
Sat, June 18, 1988     Pasadena - The Rose Bowl

World Violation Tour - 1990
Wed, August 1, 1990     Universal City - Universal Amphitheatre                
Sat, August 4, 1990     Los Angeles  -  Dodger Stadium                
Sun, August 5, 1990     Los Angeles  -  Dodger Stadium

Devotional Tour - 1993
Sat, November 20, 1993    Los Angeles  -  The Forum                
Sun, November 21, 1993   Los Angeles  -  The Forum                
Tue, November 23, 1993   Los Angeles  -  The Forum                
Wed, November 24, 1993  Los Angeles  -  The Forum                
Fri, November 26, 1993       Los Angeles  -  The Forum

Exotic Tour - 1994
Fri, May 20, 1994   Irvine - Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre                
Sat, May 21, 1994  San Bernadino -  Blockbuster Pavillion

Ultra Party -  1997
Fri, May 16, 1997  Los Angeles - Shrine Exposition Hall

Singles Tour - 1998
Wed, Dec 12, 1998 Los Angeles, CA - Shrine Exposition Hall
Tues, Dec 18, 1998 Los Angeles, CA - The Forum
Wed, Dec 19, 1998 Los Angeles, CA - The Forum
Thur, Dec 20, 1998  Anaheim, CA  -  Arrowhead Pond
Sat, Dec 22, 1998  Anaheim, CA  -  Arrowhead Pond

The Exciter Tour - 2001
Mon, June 4, 2001  Los Angeles, CA  -  The Roxy (warm up / rehearsal)
Tue, August 14, 2001     Los Angeles, CA  -  Staples Center Arena     
Wed, August 15, 2001     Los Angeles, CA  -  Staples Center Arena     
Sat, August 18, 2001     Anaheim, CA  -  Arrowhead Pond     
Sun, August 19, 2001     Anaheim, CA  -  Arrowhead Pond     

What will Depeche Mode play at Coachella? Who knows, but these tunes are almost guarenteed as they are the most-played numbers over the years:

1. Everything Counts - 554 Times
2. Never Let Me Down Again - 499 Times
3. (tie)Enjoy The Silence / Personal Jesus - 398 Times
5. A Question Of Time - 389 Times
6. Just Can't Get Enough - 340 Times 

One of the most appealing things about Annie Hardy is her dry sense of humor and refreshing honesty, however if she doesnt like going out to the desert I wonder why she accepted the invite to play Coachella?

In December of 2005 the Colorado Springs Indy asked her if she was looking forward to playing the fest in the desert.  While typically that would create the perfect opportunity to blow smoke up their ass, Hardy spoke what could only be seen as honestly

Indy: You're playing Coachella in 2006. How are you feeling about that?

AH: I don't know. I never liked going to it. I hope playing it isn't as bad as going to it. I'm not a big fan of festivals because there's so much going on at once and it's so hot. I can't handle it.

That's quite different than what she told NME earlier this year.

"We are super excited to play Coachella this year," she said. "I love that there are so many different bands that you can see in one place. There's nothing like it over here."

Perhaps she's had a spiritual awakening. Take a gander at what she wrote on their website at GiantDrag.com last month about the festival:

"We are so excited about coachella that we are prepared to eat the entire contents of a porto-potty through a crazy straw and then mosh our asses off to Tool! "

mmmm delish! make sure to stock up on crazy straws on Sunday.

Although she could have performed on the main stage, Madonna chose instead to rock out in the much smaller Sahara dance tent with a scaled-down presentation including a live band.

The Sahara tent has been host to such techno artists as Kraftwerk, The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Underworld, and Fatboy Slim but never anyone as huge as the 47 year old Material Girl, whose appearence at Coachella is also unprecendented for the woman who you'd have thought had done everything in her 20+ year storied career.

"I've never performed at a festival," Madonna said in a statement earlier this month. "And I'm especially excited about playing at Coachella before I start my own tour."

Goldenvoice President and Coachella founder Paul Tollett told NME.com that scoring Mrs. Guy Ritche to rock the tent was a dream come true. "We've got Daft Punk headlining the Dance Tent the first night and we were looking for something else that good," he said. "It just came up and we're super excited. She's so dance oriented right now."

Although the booking of the pop queen is considered risky by some of the promoters as Coachella has established itself by steering clear of mainstream commercial icons (although theyve had no problem  retaining their street desert cred with headliners like Weezer, NIN, and Beck), Tollett told MTV that regardless of her fame, checking out Madonna in a tent isn't something that happens everyday.

"I love things you don't see all the time," Tollett said. "And we're always trying to make it so it's something you don't see anywhere else."

A minute with My Chemical Romance:

A minute with Wolfmother:

thirty seconds of Gogol Bordello:

three minutes with Gomez:

One of the most refreshingly spunky bands of SXSW were the Aussie trio The Grates.

Grates Patience (singer), Alana (drummer) and John (guitar driver) dared you not to smile and clap and tap your foot, and they rarely lose dares cuz there we all were tapping our feet and smiling. I even saw a few people <i>dancing</i> omg.

Seriously this Brisbane band was so sweet and earnest and Ms. Patience stood up there in here springtimey dress with her hands outstretched and sold every phrase as if she was singing to her lover who was running towards her from the gate at the airport.

Alana helped out on vocals a tad and John had his hands full providing all the music but it never seemed thin or too much work. It was pretty and girlie and happy and nice.

The type of kids you'd want to babysit your infant on a warm summer night when you wanna take a long walk with your special lady.

The Grates on the Road:

Mar 24 2006 8:00P	JJ's House of Rock	Wichita, KS
Mar 25 2006 8:00P	Hi Dive	Denver, CO
Mar 28 2006 8:00P	Crocodile Cafe	Seattle, WA
Mar 29 2006 8:00P	The Red Room	Vancouver
Mar 30 2006 8:00P	Doug Fir Lounge	Portland, OR
Mar 31 2006 8:00P	Independent	San Francisco, CA
Apr 1 2006 8:00P	El Rey Theatre	Los Angeles, CA
Apr 2 2006 8:00P	The Casbah	San Diego, CA
Apr 20 2006 8:00P	Prince Of Wales Hotel	Bunbury
Apr 22 2006 8:00P	Rosemount Hotel	Perth
Apr 23 2006 8:00P	Newport Hotel	Fremantle
Apr 26 2006 8:00P	National Hotel	Geelong
Apr 27 2006 8:00P	Karova Lounge	Ballarat
Apr 28 2006 8:00P	Corner Hotel	Melbourne
Apr 29 2006 8:00P	Adelaide Uni Bar	Adelaide
May 3 2006 8:00P	ANU Bar	Canberra
May 4 2006 8:00P	Woolongong Uni Bar	Woolongong
May 5 2006 8:00P	Metro Theatre	Sydney
May 6 2006 8:00P	Cambridge Hotel	Newcastle
May 10 2006 8:00P	Great Northern	Byron Bay
May 11 2006 8:00P	Coolangatta Hotel	Coolangatta
May 12 2006 8:00P	Tivoli Theatre	Brisbane
May 14 2006 8:00P	Sol Bar	Sunshine Coast

Hey Rockstars,

My name is Tony, i'm the community manager of Buzznet.

As you know Buzznet was in full force last week at the biggest music festival in the world: South By Southwest (sxsw) where 1,300 bands played.

Because we knew how strong the My Chemical Romance community was here at Buzznet we made damn sure that we had a good location to take pictures at the show. I, myself, took over 300 pictures.

Hours after the show I put up about 35 for you, then Tuesday I put up another 30, well today I put up 130 in its own folder tony-mcratsxswatemos.buzznet.com

If you guys like what I did and there's enough demand I will put another 100+ pics up from last week's show. Otherwise we'll call it even with this. But for those of you who werent at the gig, you might find it interesting to see the pictures in rapid procession like you now have.

Your band was great, I had always liked them but I had never seen them live, and they were quite impressive, which is a tough trick at a place like SXSW where there are soooo many cool bands of different styles: Matisyahu, Beastie Boys, Morrissey, The Go Team, Of Montreal, Gogol Bordello, Honky, Neil Young, Metric, Belle & Sebastian, and the Bellrays just to name a few.

Anyways, enjoy the pics, tell your friends about this treasure trove here at Buzznet, and savor them because it doesnt sound like MCR is going to be playing live again anytime soon since theyre in the studio making a new record.

Keep rockin,

Tony

The typically snide, cynical, anti-pop, too-cool-for-school Pitchfork found themselves at Emo's on St. Patrick's Day in the middle of the 1300-band fiesta of SXSW surrounded by up-n-coming artists and international phenoms and experimental hipsters and cozied up to listen to My Chemical Romance and... loved it.

Yes, I saw My Chemical Romance at SXSW. No, I'm not going to apologize. It was fucking awesome.

The pop-punk superstars played a short set at the Shirts for a Cure breast cancer benefit on Friday evening at Emo's (yes, yes, emo at Emo's, very funny, haha). Shockingly, the place wasn't even at capacity; I guess everybody at SXSW is too cool for this band. But not the adorable teenagers in eyeliner and Hellogoodbye t-shirts moshing around me as MCR ripped through "I'm Not OK", "Helena", and a bunch of other songs I don't know the names of because I'm a total poseur. Watching those little girls running up on stage to give Gerard Way a kiss, and then diving back into the maelstrom, I almost wished I was still that young and that in love with the idea of rock stardom. Almost.

Gotta say i'm shocked. Pitchfork can be prudes when it comes to doling out props, but they're rarely wrong and at least this time they were honest. It was a great show and the teens were pretty damn adorable.

Taking a break from recording their new album, chart-topping rock band My Chemical Romance took the stage to wild shrieks from the capacity crowd at Emo's, one of the more famous clubs in Austin, Texas.

In order to benefit The Shirts for a Cure Project the New Jersey quintet headlined the 6 hour concert that also included  legendary punk band Lifetime for the free show that only asked for donations to support breast cancer research.

Hundreds of MCR fans had waited for hours for the doors to open at noon to get a good spot to see the group, and they weren't disappointed. Not only were all the hits performed with passion and sweat and enthusiasum but after the 45-minute set was over, climaxing with "Helena", the crowd chanted "one more song" and after 15 minutes the band returned to the stage surprising many who had left and all who were still in attendence.

"We're going to regret this," singer Gerard Way smiled adjusting the mic before introducing the encore number, explaining that what they were about to play was a new song called "Father" which the band hadn't quite nailed down yet.

Needless to say, no one at the SXSW event complained with the unexpected bonus whose intro sounded faintly like Pink Floyd, but soon errupted into the MCR trademarked rock frenzy.

Way sported a curious ensemble of a leather jacket, on top of two or three other shirts and black leather pants. Curious because Austin was one of the warmest towns in all of the USA on 3/17 with temperatures outside the club nearing 80 degrees and inside the club, particularily onstage creeping much higher. It was also humid from the light drizzle of the afternoon. The singer also had the word Wolves written across his sweaty neck.

Circa Survive, Drive By, Head Automatica, The Loved Ones, The Receiving End of Sirens, Hit The Lights, and The Fall of  Troy were also on the bill  that took place on two seperate stages that did not require a SXSW wristband.

Emo's is an iconic small rock club in Austin, a town known for its fine selection of live music. Founded by a man named Emo, the club has been around for decades. After Johnny Cash played their they hoisted the stool that he performed on to the ceiling in honor of that fine performance.

Because of their multi-platinum success, the likelihood of MCR playing a club like Emo's was relatively small. But combined with the invitation by the charity and the 20th aniversary of the 1,300 band music festival, one of the more popular "emo" bands around was able to perform at Emo's sparking ironic jokes all along the noisy streets of Austin.

sometimes all it takes are a few pictures to tell the whole story

rock kicked my ass and i kicked back.

ten straight days and nights of partying and drinking and rocking out to some of the finest music in the world does take its toll which is probably why the skies opened up tonight here in austin with thunder and lightening and sheets of rain so as to wash the sins from the streets.

never made it to the roller derby because my wife miss amerikill let her cousin be her plus one even though she promised it to me last night. ah women.

so instead i took in three local punk bands at room 710: castle siege, the fuckemos, and finally punk. apparently the fuckemos got so big at one time that they started playing at emos. the reunited this year and played some shows at sxsw.

the fuckemos singer is actually in several bands including the uss friendship and castle siege who opened the night's lineup with a cross section of metal punk and marriachi. led by a guy who really cant sing very well. and hes quite fat. and when hes fronting the fuckemos he pulls out a trombone on one of the numbers.

finally punk is an all girl teenage punk band whos singer leapt offstage to slamdance with the boy she was singing about while singing. the kids are alright.

because that wasnt enough i went back to emos as the rain started coming down to enjoy the neil diamond tribute band the diamond smugglers.

a very nice cleansing of the pallet. especially while walking home in a weak drizzle as the band played daydream believer to a crowd who sang along to every word.

its 230am my rooms a mess, i havent packed and i have to be out of my room by 9am i figure. so im setting my alarm for 8. i can do this.

austin is a beautiful town where the birds scream in the trees and the bands scream wherever theres a stage.

i blame most of my debauchery to two entities, the red bull house and the texas roller derby girls. for if either of them werent around i would never have stayed up so late and drank and drank and drank.

i blame the rest of my fun to all the people who came up wanting to smoke weed with me, and whats so interesting is just as many offered the miracle herb during the interactive days as during the music days.

and yes i did see Lifetime before the my chemical romance show. not bad but i dont get the hype.

i will be back next year and i will plan out my day much better now that i know whats going on. and unlike the masses who fled town tonight, next year i will stay on the sunday night of sxsw just like tonight because the local bands are well worth the attention.

theres a deepness to the souls of black folks thats different from the rest. and theres something even deeper to the souls of black women. particularily black women who are no longer girls but women.

Lisa Kekaula is tina turner returned from the dead. she wears high heels and a tight skirt and picked out her afro as big as she can upstairs at room 710 which is the backstage dressing room slash office at the club that asher owns.

shes a dark skinned nubian princess destined to be queen and the longer it takes her to get their the more emotional and wild and soulful her singing and performances get.

i was lucky enough to catch a show of theirs two years ago at spaceland and i was blown away by the mixture of punk thrash with her soulful vocals. and i was twice as shocked that somehow theyve upped the ante with something that can only be described as heart.

ms kekaula shook her ass, shook her cha-chas got on her knees, jumped on the stage and sang with the people and even bent over backwards to let us in on what soul music is all about while her band kept a steady beat and a tight rock melody. she told us cheer only if we wanted to only if we felt it only if it was true. and then she reminded us that clapping along helped us feel the spirit it helped us get into the groovy it helped us be one with the power of love.

and then she belted out a song that made us keep clapping because we wanted some of whatever that was. and if you ask me, that was the begining of the end to the evil that was inside me. yes i had been excorcised by rock n roll.

after the inpsiring and devistating performance i asked her to pose for a picture with asher and sara and dan and i was so nervous because she is really the real deal and all 50 people who were at the show knew it and the picture turned out blurry because i couldnt think straight and before she left i hugged her. she was sweaty i was sweaty but i did feel the magic and i wanted to hug the source. i had to. and i did.

i thought i was complete after the one-two punch of gogogogo bordello and honky but im often wrong and sometimes its great to be wrong about things.

way more pics of the show here

hi its saturday the day after st paddys day. the day after the my chemical romance show. the day after the my chemical romance after party at the red bull house where the boys did show up but i was busy being bored to tears by Witch at the dirty dog and being stoked by zZz who opened.

but lets start with Witch. it must be sad for J Mascis. sad and dull to only get rave reviews for everything that he does. Dinosaur Jr. was the shit back in the day, all those records were great, what with his swirling shredding barbed wired solos and melloncolly vocals of wanting and longing. his semi-solo cd martin & me was touching and gorgeous featuring all the hits we loved but in a more intimate setting. and even his last band The Fog was killer and rocking and perfect and magical.

so he probably looked at all these glowing reviews and thought, i wonder if people will still be on my jock if i put together a band where i dont sing or play guitar, but instead surround myself with young kids who look like my sons who dont have my chops who dont have my signature style, who dont, infact, rock?

the answer dear one, is no, we will notice we will pout and we will write bad reviews on our blogs. Witch sucks. if someone would have walked past the Tower Records private party and saw the mess that Witch is they would have thought someone let the roadies get a set as a reward for being on tour for so long. its uninspired, its lacking of any substance, the solos were dull and the drumming sounded exactly like that of a guitar hero playing drums.


is mascis dying of cancer? was this his make a wish request? is he mad at his label and putting out the worst music he could deliver so as to get released or fulfil some sort of obligation? did he want to hear boos like those that Dylan heard when he went electric? what ever the situation he should come clean and let his audience know that if what theyre expecting is Houses of the Holy, what they will receive is Coda at the nice price.

afterwards i took a picture of j and whoever the frontman was so i could document one of the most disappointing rock shows ever.

zZz however were experimental and trippy and weird and original and had the Tower execs holding their ears. zZz is a dude on drums and a dude on sound effects delivered through keyboards.

the dummer sings and drums. he only has a snare a floor tom and a kick drum and cymbals and looks down alot and sounds like jim morrison and the music sounds like the doors if the doors were truly psychelic and not pop. youre not going to ever hear zZz on the radio which is good because radio doesnt deserve them.

reverb and echos and static and drumming and crashes and nearly techno but right close to that edge without falling in. i love zZz and im glad that i walked across town to see them open for Witch and im glad that Mascis got to hear them too because hopefully he was all, "omg so thats what drumming and new music sounds like, maybe i should fire these poseurs ive got and try something like this."

but i doubt it because it seems like he hates someone and doesnt want to make up.

sxsw day three for youre knowledge. i need a intern. i'll be accpeting resumes when i get back to LA. muyst be able to remember all the people who i talk with during a comnfvention like last nnight. but must write shit down and take more pics than i do and interview people and fax the homeoffuice all the shit they need and must pack way more than 100 business cards cuz im already out.

muyst close my mouth when i drink. must not let me drink asw i sleep walk because its now 146pm and im waking up and im drunk and i hafta see mc brown rock the mic at his panel. must upload my piooccs and videos and tryuly must not let me go every day drunkblogging because yeah its fun but this very nice woman from cnn (who said i was cute - whoo hoo) said that someone recommended that she talk to me but she hasnt seen my blog before and i was all uhhh maybe youre better off not reading this this week cuz im full of booze and who knows what you'll think.

last night i sat at the Odeo table during the web awards and i blogged and anywhere else that would be not at all cool and maybe it wasnt cool there but i think if anyone would understand it would be them. sorry i wasnt blogging for the busblog but i am now.

hi.

ok the buzznet blogads pbs knopff party was killer. they were turning away Dooce and Scoble and all these big wigs and normally thats cool but we actuiallly wanted those people in so we were all, dude if they arent carrying weapons please let them in, we have booze for them.

so theywere cool.

so i interviewed Craig from Craigslist and he acknowledged that the CEO of Buzznet, anthony batt actually did convince him to name craigslist craigslist.

i interviewed Scoble and asked him the toughest question you could ask a blogger - whats your favorite blogs.

he held in there. then we went to Asher's bar next door, the 710 room and it would be my local bar if i lived in Austin but the only way i would live in Austin is if i got a scholarship to be part of their Masters program - the one is in cuz  knows her shit and she seems to like that school.

so dan and i and marc and i drank and then walked over to 6th street and had some late night pizza and drank some more and all was well. all was well. im missing so much. ok the blogging while black panel was great.

there was even some controversy. George claimed that in the last panel that we were at i said that i was a "horrible writer" and i had to tell him that i dont remember saying that but now it dawns on me, i said that someone called me "the best bad writer out there" which i said that i loved because when you drunkblog or not spell check or

make new paragraphs whenever you want theres goonnna be people who say you suck or youre bad but when you get people to say that youre actually great at being bad then that is a freedom that most people dont have. fucking maureen dowd cannot

just
say
i
wanna
write

anywayiwanna write and say fuckshitfuckcuntpussycock whenever she wants.

a hot babe let me lick her umnevermind last night, oh bodyshots thank you for existing

so george i think thats what you heard me say, but if i said i was a horrible writer then maybe i did, youre far more a sober soul than i.

there was more controversy at the panel like a white woman standing up and saying "yes i was the one who said that the moderator 'spoke well' last year." which can be taken the wrong way among black folk because its like, what did you expect us to speak like? George Bush?

of course we're well spoken.

afterwards we drank across the street and i got to meet some of the good people from the audience and oh shit its 4 minutes till marcs panel so i gotta shower and haul ass. i love you i need you i want you all.

tonights the google blogger party invite only, followed by the odeo party where i will interview ev and thank him for the 4398723 time for inventing this platform because without it i would certainly not be here today listening to NWA in this suite with a stack of business cards and phone numbers and this huge fucking smile on my face.

go to my vid page and watch the vids. i heart you all, bitches.

day two. sxsw. for yr ass. its 439am its dark mc brown is snoring away and the verve are oplaying on the ipod machine. im drunk im tiurned im sleepy but i myst blog for your ass. i kmust , you want me to, and i wanna and here we are at a bologging fiaesta so here goes.

earlier today, i made my way to the red bull house. i walked most of the way and took a cab the rest of the way. all cabs no matter where you go in austin cost $3. its like living in 1966. girls will kiss you for a quarter too, its killer.

get to the house and i see that theres a car filled with punk rock looking suicide type girls and i recognize a blonde from earlier today, its the texas roller derby girls. one of them was bringing over smokes for her boyfriend who is a security guard for us. he asked me if he could get the girls some red bulls i said, only if they hang out in the house and stay all night.

the girls lit up cuz they wanted so baddly to see the house and they ran in and made themselves comfortable and said you better watch it we might end up sleeping under the pool table and i was all i fucking dare you to wake up under the pool table. and they said do you know who youre talking to and these girls have tattoos everywhere and hot clothes and great names and i said i know exctly who im talking to which is why i invited you and why i love you and why i want you to tell allyour roller derby friends to come here and liven up this taco stand and they said wait youre serious most people want to kick us out of places and i said i want you to enjoy yourself. i want you to have a great time. i want you to play pool and dance and live free or die.

and we took pictures and little movie interviews which i will upload when its not 453 am and we talked and talked and talked and i love these girls with all of my heart all of them and they said we will come back and come back and come back and i said good and then nick douglas showed up and then kyle bunch and his lovely lady and so many people, the director of the movie im seeing tomorrow, pick up the mic, about gay rappers, and these hot babes from google.

and the babes wanted to go to some party and we wanted to eat so we walked them to the party - almost 0- but we found a pizza place so we ate slices and then found them at the party and all these google people were there and marc canter adn ev williams and biz and shit the whole world pretty much and we went to the roof and watched everyone on the streets it waws a parade of fashiopn pretty much and the druinks kept coming and soon it was 136am and we had one more bar to go to

so we went there and it was cool but a little too mellow so we went across the street and Honky was playing which are Austins answer to ZZ Top and who knew that you needed and answer to ZZ Top but you know what you do cuz these boys fucking rulked AAMND they have the long beards and it was a fun clun and then we ate tacos from a roach coach and mc brown said fuck this its only midnight in LA i wanna party more

and mc brown made exactly ONE phone call and said toddy-b wheres the after party in this town and whadday know toddy b was djing at an after hours clunb so we went there and the girls were so fine ladies and gentlemen of the jury that we had to dance and driunk red bulls cuz thats all they could serve after 2am and we did that till 4 and took a cab home and listend to ipod tunes and i have now blogged which means i can sleep in until noon and eat and see the movie and go to my final panel and then party some more hopefully with leah or pants or the google girls or dan and sara, or raspil or the deputy, or if all fails the roller derby chicks or whatever new people we run into tomorrow.

i dont ever want to leave here.

As you can see we are putting a new fresh coat of paint on your favorite site. we are adding some trim, we are dusting, we are fixing some squeaky doors. We are making things better for you and you and you and especially you.

Some of the improvements are from ideas and suggestions that you have made over time, and some of them were things that we never thought could happen but lookatthat there it is.

So please pardon our dust as we roll with the new. If things fall over when you lean on them too hard have no fear it's being worked on and tweaked. If something looks funky it probably is funky and temporary and just there because the alternative was even funkier.

Ultimately we hope to fully be done with all the hammering and sawing and redecorating by the end of the month. Some of the improvements you are seeing right now in your profile page and on the main page. Some of the improvements are being worked on behind closed doors. All of the improvements are for your benefit. Seriously.

So if there's something that you'd like to see, feel free to let us know either in these comments or in private messages or in email, or you can use your powers of esp. It doesnt matter how it gets to us, all that matters is it happens.

One suggestion that some people asked were Mini Books. The suggestion came after we came out with regular-sized books and someone was all, "i just got back from Japan and look at these super cute tiny books!!!" and we were all, "um but isnt bigger better?" and they were like, "nope. mini is cute!"

In the last four months we've had Buzznet parties aka meetups in LA, SF, NYC, Vancouver, Chicago, Amsterdam and this Friday (3/10) prepare for our biggest and bestest one... AUSTIN TEXAS during SXSW.

Check this setup out... Red Bull has partnered up with Buzznet and they have a 10,000 square foot mansion right near downtown Austin which they are sharing with us.

There will be free drinks all night to mix with your Red Bulls, there will be killer djs, free wifi, good vibes, and pictures projected from Buzznet all over the walls.

If we could think of a better way to kick off SXSW ... we'd be doing it.

Now all we need is you.

The only way in is via the guestlist, so if you'd like your name on the guest list, email tony@buzznet.com or message me through Buzznet. If you know of someone who will be in Austin this Friday who you'd think would enjoy a fun party of Buzznetters and free drinks and great music, send them this message.

Even if they're not Buzznetters they're invited, but especially if theyre Buzznetters they're invited. Our goal is to peak too early, to raise the dead, to set the bar for this 10 day festival.

But mostly our goal is to meet you.

Buzznet / Red Bull Partaaay
@ the Red Bull House Austin, 8pm, 3/10
400 Nueces St., Austin Texas
Corner of 4th and Nueces.

Alright kids, its that time of year again when we praise the most praised people in the world. When we allow the most glamorous to get even more dolled up, when we watch as the rich get $75k gift bags and gold trophies for... doing their job of playing dressup.

So please choose who you'd like to see win, who you think will win, and/or who you think should win in the following categories

Best Actor

Philip Seymour Hoffman, CAPOTE

Terrence Howard, HUSTLE & FLOW

Heath Ledger, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

Joaquin Phoenix, WALK THE LINE

David Strathairn, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.


Best Supporting Actor

George Clooney SYRIANA

Matt Dillon CRASH

Paul Giamatti CINDERELLA MAN

Jake Gyllenhaal BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

William Hurt A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

Best Actress

Judi Dench MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS

Felicity Huffman TRANSAMERICA

Keira Knightley PRIDE & PREJUDICE

Charlize Theron NORTH COUNTRY

Reese Witherspoon WALK THE LINE

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams  JUNEBUG

Catherine Keener CAPOTE

Frances McDormand NORTH COUNTRY

Rachel Weisz THE CONSTANT GARDENER

Michelle Williams BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

Directing

Ang Lee BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

Bennett Miller CAPOTE

Paul Haggis CRASH

George Clooney GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

Steven Spielberg MUNICH

Joining Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, Tool, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, hassidic reggae star Matisyahu, and over 60 other acts will be the material girl herself Madonna, who will headline the "dance tent" on Sunday night at the two-day Coachella festival outside Palm Springs in April.

So now are you gonna come?