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Lupe Fiasco, 9:00 PM (Stage 1) Discovered by no less than Jay-Z, Chicago’s Lupe Fiasco rose to fame on the back of 2006 debut Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor. While he was able to follow that up the next year with Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, conflicting and ever-changing third album announcements have come & gone since then. But that third record, most recently titled Lasers, looks to be finally be out this year, so there should be new & old Fiasco at B.O.M.B. |
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30 Seconds to Mars, 8:00 PM (Stage 2) It would have been easy for pretty boy actor Jared Leto to go the pretty boy actor route (literally played ‘Angelface’ in 1999’s Fight Club, but we’re not supposed to talk about that…), but he has done different things, like gaining sixty-seven pounds to portray John Lennon assassin Mark David Chapman in 2007’s Chapter 27, to forming 30 Seconds to Mars (QRO live review) with guitarist Tomo Milićević and drummer/brother Shannon Leto. Of course, he only moved into the emo-heartthrob arena, hardly a huge jump. And some might like his unconventional career choices as much as his recent unconventional hair choice… |
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Girl Talk, 7:00 PM (Stage 1) Greg Gillis (Girl Talk) moved from biomedical tissue engineering to DJ mash-up engineering, taking samples from across the spectrum and making something very new. While he started out playing clubs, he’s graduated to ballroom & even the great outdoors (QRO photos outdoorsQRO review) – but that just means bigger stages to fill with dancing concertgoers… (QRO photos at a festivalQRO review) |
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of Montreal, 5:40 PM (Stage 2) There are few acts that do a live show like of Montreal (QRO live review). Kevin Barnes’ epic orchestra literally fills the stage (QRO photos at a festival) with a performance more akin to (the actually French Canadian) Cirque du Soleil than indie-rock. The band emerged out of the Elephant Six Collective to reach serious heights, most recently with 2007’s Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (QRO review) and the following year’s Skeletal Lamping, but they have to be seen live (QRO photos) to be truly believed. |
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Ra Ra Riot, 5:00 PM (Stage 1) Oh, how they’ve grown! In the less than three years since their self-titled EP (QRO review) and the death of singer/drummer John Pike, this Nor’easter collective (QRO photosQRO review) has not only rebounded but exploded, embracing life even more on 2008’s excellent The Rhumb Line (QRO review) than early single “Dying Is Fine” (QRO video) could have predicted. Ra Ra Riot’s live show (QRO live review) sees everyone but the drummer running around on stage like kids on candy (especially singer Wesley Miles – QRO interview), but they’re also relative road ‘veterans’, from near-immediately after Pike’s death (QRO live review) to outdoor festivals (QRO photos outdoors at a festivalQRO review) to in-stores (QRO photosQRO review) to industry showcases (QRO photos at an industry showcaseQRO review) to bigger & bigger rock clubs (QRO photosQRO review) to opera houses (QRO live review) to fashion launch parties (QRO live review) – and even the occasional basement show (QRO photosQRO review). They’re also building in songbook, from early numbers like “Can You Tell?” (QRO videoQRO review) to Rhumb single “Ghost Under Rocks” (QRO videoQRO review) and the Pike-penned “St. Peter’s Day Festival” (QRO videoQRO review) to the new “Too Dramatic”, and follow-up The Orchard drops in late August. Note: do watch out for a tight pack of males in front of everyone’s indie-rock crush, Alexandra Lawn (QRO interview)… |
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Mute Math, 4:00 PM (Stage 2) Putting some ambience and psychedelica into their alt-rock is New Orleans’ own Mute Math, who followed up their 2006 self-titled full-length debut with last year’s Armistice. The band blew up in 2007 with their video “Typical”, where the band performs the song backwards… |
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Cool Kids, 2:20 PM (Stage 1) The hip-hop duo of Antoine ‘Mikey Rocks’ Reed & Evan ‘Chuck Inglish’ Ingersol (QRO photosQRO review) hail from right around the Great Lakes, and have played with numerous non-hip-hop acts, so are a good fit to bring the beats to da B.O.M.B. |
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Roots of Creation, 1:20 PM (Stage 1) It ain’t an American music festival without a jam band, and filling that slot at B.O.M.B. is Roots of Creation, who add some funk and even electronica to their reggae-influenced sound. |
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Jay Electronica, 12:40 PM (Stage 2) Mix the experimental hip-hop world & the experimental electronica world and you’ll get Jay Electronica. He’s never released an album, but garnered a lot of curious minds with “Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)”, nine-plus minutes of music built out of/upon the soundtrack to The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And he still keeps feet in both worlds, from being part of the Rock the Bells tour to putting out his music through leaks in obscure web forums. |
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MyNameIsJohnMichael, 12:00 PM (Stage 1) New Orleans’ John Michael Rouchell set out in 2008 to write & record one song a week for the entire year (take that, an-EP-a-month Bishop Allen – QRO spotlight on…), which has since grown into a six-person outfit. |
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Quintron and Miss Pussycat, 8:20 PM (Stage 3) One-man band/nightclub runner/musical instrument inventor Robert Bolson, a.k.a. Quintron, teams up with his wife/musician Panacea Theriac, a.k.a. Miss Pussycat (and we’re not to sure that “Panacea Theriac” is a real name, either…). |
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Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez, 4:50 PM (Stage 3) ‘The Beehive Queen’ Christine Ohlman fronts Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez – when she isn’t singing for the Saturday Night Live band, or at the Barack Obama Presidential Inauguration Gala. |
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40 oz to Freedom, 3:00 PM (Stage 3) In art, more than anything else, a far-too-young death can make for an outsized legacy. And if drugs & alcohol were involved, even more so. Such is the case with Sublime, who only hit it big in 1996 when their self-titled record came out two months after singer/guitarist Bradley Nowell’s overdose, bringing attention even to their 1992 debut, 40 oz. to Freedom. Okay, someone might say the same about Nirvana’s Bleach, but someone explain the existence almost fifteen years later of 40 oz to Freedom, “The most authentic Sublime Tribute band, period”?!? Somehow, this 40 oz has been able to tour relentlessly, but maybe this will be mercifully put to an end soon, as the actual Sublime are getting back together and hitting the road (albeit with a new lead singer). |
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Local acts B.O.M.B. isn’t just importing talent, as it’s also a chance for the Nutmeg State’s finest to pipe up. Of course, you’ve never heard of any of them, but here’s info on two: EULA, 6:40 PM (Stage 4) – Somewhere between irresistible dance beats and unforgettable no wave guitar lies EULA (fresh off of a QRO showcase – QRO PresentsQRO review). The Energy, 5:40 PM (Stage 4) – One of those hard rock bands where the singer wraps the mic chord around his forearm – ‘in case things get extreme…’ (QRO photosQRO review)
For festival website, go here: http://www.bombfest.com/ |
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