• McDowell Mountain Music Festival

    McDowell Mountain Music Festival kicks off Friday

    What: McDowell Mountain Music Festival
    Where: Westworld – north Scottsdale, AZ
    When: Friday, April 24th & Saturday, April 25th

    This is a weekend I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. My favorite local festival, the McDowell Mountain Music Festival, kicks off tomorrow. Over the next two days, north Scottsdale’s WestWorld grounds will transform itself into the music mecca of the area for the weekend.

    The next two days will feature some seasoned veterans: Hot Tuna and New Riders of the Purple Sage (a band that once featured one Jerry Garcia); some festival favorites: Michael Franti & Spearhead, Railroad Earth; an Irish band from L.A. (the Young Dubliners); a Hasidic Jew with a flair for all things reggae (Matisyahu); and then, headlining Saturday night, a band that has us – the desert dwellers – abuzz: the Flaming Lips!

    Fun in the sun, groovalicious tunes, cold brewskis for those of us who enjoy such things, great food, great people….

    And a nice forecast…

    I’ll be snapping up some photos, and tweeting around throughout the weekend. For now, I leave you with a cool version of the Flaming Lips covering Madonna’s “Borderline”. See you all on the other side!

  • McDowell Mountain Music Festival,  Rock

    Flaming Lips to headline day 2 of McDowell Mountain Music Festival

    It’s been a few days for me. My Ickmusic command center (aka my loft) is in the process of a makeover (hardwood floors), so the Mac has been moving hither and yonder and I’ve been busy doing man stuff. My neighbor Kevin is a jack of all trades, and he works for beer (for his next door neighbors). So thanks Kevin for showing me how it’s all done…

    So here’s some big news from Arizona’s coolest music festival, the McDowell Mountain Music Festival. They just announced the Flaming Lips as Saturday night’s headliner! Their past lineups have always been impressive, but have tended to lean more toward the jam scene and reggae, which I have no problem with at all. But with the announcement of the Flaming Lips, they’re clearly expanding into other territory that will bring in a wider audience, and give it more clout to pull in more impressive acts for years to come.

    I’ve heard great things about the Flaming Lips live show, so I can’t wait. Now I need to get a good primer on the their music, because I just checked my iTunes, and I only have three tunes: “In the Morning of the Magician” and “Do You Realize” from ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots’, and “The Machine in India” off of ‘Zaireeka’. – – – Okay, well I just bought all of ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots’. So Lips fans, where do I go next? What’s the essential album? Any good DVD’s I can Netflix?

    The Flaming Lips – “In the Morning of the Magician” (mp3) – from Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

    McDowell Mountain Music Festival – 2009 (Web Site)

    Friday, April 24th

    Saturday, April 25th