Tag: Cigarettes After Sex

Music Festivals by William Ruben Helms

Although it’s January and some parts of the country are blanketed in snow, Summer Festival season is around the corner. And that means Summer Festival announcement time is upon us, y’all! Let’s get to it, huh?

Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival 2024, the internationally renowned camping festival will take place between June 13, 2024 – June 16, 2024 on The Bonnaroo Farm, located in Manchester, TN, just 60 miles southeast of Nashville.

Much like previous editions of the festival, 2024’s edition will continue the festival’s long-held reputation for hosting a roster of the world’s top artists and performers performing around the clock, across more than 10 stages over the course of the festival’s four day run. Expect live music and much more through the night and into the early morning with special sunrise sets.

This year’s edition will include sets from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Post Malone, Fred again. . , Pretty Lights, Megan Thee Stallion, Cage The Elephant, Maggie Rogers, Melanie Martinez, Khraungbin, Cigarettes After Sex, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Diplo, Carly Rae Jepsen, Fisher, Jon Batiste, Dominic Fike, Parcels, Idles, Joey Bada$$, Lizzy McAlpine, T-Pain, Interpol, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Two Friends, Taking Back Sunday, Gary Clark, Jr., TV Girl, Thundercat, Ashnikko, Brittany Howard and much more. (The full Bonnaroo 2024 lineup is below.)

For the first time in the festival’s history, their What Stage (the main stage) will power up for a special Pretty Lights Thursday night headline set. Pretty Lights will also perform a second sunrise set on the festival’s The Other Stage during the weekend. Bonnaroo will also mark the only US festival performance by rising electronic act Fred again . . . this year.

This year’s edition will also feature a very special edition of the festival’s world-famous SuperJam. Taking place on June 15, 2024 in That Tent, this year’s All-Star collaboration will be “Once More With Feeling (s) — The Dashboard Confession Emo SuperJam, with performances from special guests both announced and unannounced, guaranteeing that this year’s session will be a must-see celebration of community, showmanship and unmatched musical adventure.

Additional lineup announcements, including plans for the Where In The Woods Stage, as well as the Late Night showcase performances will be announced soon.

But in the meantime, the presale begins Thursday, January 11 at 10:00SM Central Time. Fans can sign up for a presale passcode exclusively here: http://www.bonnaroo.com/tickets. A public on-sale will follow if tickets remain.

2024 ticket options include:

  • 4-Day General Admission
  • 4-Day General Admission+
  • 4-Day VIP
  • 4-Day Platinum
  • And there are a variety of camping and parking options starting at just $25 down with a payment plan

Bonnaroo’s General Admission ticket includes over 150 performances on more than 10 stages, access to the entire campground, food for purchase from over 150 vendors, including vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options, bars, concessions, access to purchase official band and festival merch, free water stations and more amenities throughout the park and campground.

GA+ tickets include all of the above, plus unlimited access to the Centeroo GA+ Lounge, which features relaxed seating, dedicated food for purchase, air-conditioned restrooms and concierge to assist with all festival needs, a private bar with drinks for purchase plus complimentary soft drinks, a complimentary water refill station, a dedicated premium entrance lane at both gates into Center and more.

VIP and Platinum ticket holders will enjoy a number of exclusive ungrounds, including dedicated close-in and on-field viewing areas, unlimited access to VIP and Platinum Lounges, express lanes at the Festival Store, commemorative festival gifts and more. More information on VIP and Platinum tickets can be found here: http://www.bonnaroo.com/tickets.

The Festival will offer a wide range of camping and parking options at Outeroo, Bonnaroo’s campgrounds, including Primitive Car Camping, Glamping RVs, Backstage Camping, Accessible Camping, Group Camping, Community Camping and more. Premium Outeroo Camping accommodations include pre-pitched souvenir tents, cool and comfortable darkroom tents, weatherproof luxury bell tents and spacious two-person wood frame safari tents — for the ultimate Bonnaroo camping experience. Additionally, four-day on-site parking will be available for ticket holders, who won’t be camping with car parking passes granting one parking spot in the Cosmic Nomads Day Parking Lot. For details and accommodation options, check out: http://www.bonnaroo.com/accommodations.

Bonnaroo has also maintained a commitment to local and regional issues, since the festival’s beginnings. Founded back in 2009 as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, Bonnaroo Works Fund (BWF) contributes to more than 100 local, regional and national nonprofit partners benefiting the arts, education, environmental sustainability and social impact — with a direct focus on local reinvestment and asset building. Nearly $10 million in funding has been generated thus far, providing much-needed local support to Middle Tennessee, especially Manchester and Coffee County communities.

COMPLETE BONNAROO 2024 LINEUP

THURSDAY, JUNE 13

Pretty Lights (Headlining Main Stage)

FISHER

BigXthaPlug

Disco Lines

Durand Bernarr

Eggy

Geese

Gwar

The Heavy Heavy

HoneyLuv

it’s murph

Matt Maltese

Medium Build

Michigander

Militarie Gun

Nation of Language

Neal Francis’ Francis Comes Alive

Ocie Elliott

Oliver Heldens

Róisín Murphy

Say She She

Sid Sriram

FRIDAY, JUNE 14

Post Malone

Maggie Rogers

Khruangbin

Seven Lions

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead

Dominic Fike

Lizzy McAlpine

Interpol

T-Pain

Svdden Death

TV Girl

Gary Clark Jr.

The Mars Volta

Faye Webster

Key Glock

Thundercat

Lovejoy

ISOxo

GROUPLOVE

David Kushner

The Japanese House

Dr. Fresch

49 Winchester

MIKE.

Larkin Poe

Shy FX

Bonny Light Horseman

Baby Queen

Mdou Moctar

Jessica Audiffred

Half Moon Run

Hamdi

LYNY

SATURDAY, JUNE 15

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Cage The Elephant

Melanie Martinez

Cigarettes After Sex

Diplo

Jon Batiste

Reneé Rapp

Parcels

IDLES

Brittany Howard

Sean Paul

Knock2

Ethel Cain

Gregory Alan Isakov

The Teskey Brothers

BADBADNOTGOOD

Teezo Touchdown

Whyte Fang

Bakar

d4vd

The Maine

Josiah and the Bonnevilles

Kasablanca

NEIL FRANCES

Tanner Usrey

Ryan Beatty

MIKE

Trousdale

Vandelux

LOVRA

Once More With Feeling(s) – The Dashboard Confessional Emo SuperJam

SUNDAY, JUNE 16

Fred again..

Megan Thee Stallion

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Two Friends

Carly Rae Jepsen

Joey Bada$$

Goth Babe

Galantis

Taking Back Sunday

Ashnikko

Four Tet

Charles Wesley Godwin

Milky Chance

Chappell Roan

Greensky Bluegrass

The Garden

Yves Tumor

The Beaches

Jake Wesley Rogers

S.G. Goodman

Libianca

TSHA

Irreversible Entanglements

Armand Hammer

veggi

Music Festivals by William Ruben Helms

Summer Festival season is coming — and it’ll be here sooner than you know it. And of course, that means all kinds of festival announcements.

So let’s get to it, right?

Taking place annually in San Francisco‘s Golden Gate Park, Outside Lands is one of the most popular summer vents in the region for both music fans and foodies. The three-day festival showcases world-class music programming, from legendary acts to emerging artists plus some of the region’s best restaurants, wineries and breweries, as well as Outsider Art, Cocktail Magic — and the return of Grass Lands, the first curated cannabis experience at a major American music festival. It’s the very best that the Bay Area has to offer!

The 15th anniversary edition will take place August 11, 2023 – August 13, 2023 and will feature an incredibly stacked music lineup that will include Kendrick Lamar, Zedd, Janelle Monáe, J.I.D., Interpol, aespa, and WILLOW on Friday; Foo Fighters, Lana Del Rey, Maggie Rogers, FISHER, Father John Misty, Orville Peck, and L’Imperatice on Saturday; and ODESZA, The 1975, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Yachty, Noah Kahan, Cigarettes After Sex, and Tobe Nwigwe on Sunday — with much more across the festivals’ run.

Fan favorite electronic music haven, SOMA Tent will return for a third year and promises club beats with top-level sounds and lights throughout the festivals’ run. Friday features Claptone, BLOND:ISH and Justin Jay; Saturday includes sets from Daniel Avery, Sama’ Abdulhadi and Denis Sulta; and Sunday concludes with Âme b2b Trikk, WhoMadeWho, Tinlicker; and many more each day. 

Additionally, festival organizers announced the daily chef and restaurant lineups Golden Gate Club, Outside Lands’ premiere luxury experience: Friday will feature Golden Gate Club, Outside Lands’ premiere luxury ​experience. Friday ​will ​feature​ Food & Wine’s Best New Chef 2016 winner​ ​Ravi Kapur ​from​ the James Beard Award-nominated restaurant Liholiho Yacht Club​,​ ​who​ will serve South and East Asian inspired heritage cuisine. Saturday features two-time James Beard Award-nominated ​​chef Tyler Florence with Miller & Lux ​offering innovative renditions of American steakhouse classics. Sunday closes out the elevated experience with Michelin Star and James Beard Award-winner for Best Restaurant, Boulevard, ​led by chef duo Nancy Oakes & Dana Younkin​ who will serve New American staples from their iconic Embarcadero location.

Festival organizers recently announced that Single-Day tickets are currently on sale — now. Organizers are encouraging fans to purchase tickets quickly as they’re expected to sell out quickly. Single day ticket prices start at: Single Day GA ($199), Single Day GA+ ($299), Single Day VIP ($449) and Single Day Golden Gate Club ($2,199). A limited number of 3-Day GA and Golden Gate Club passes are still available. Taxes and fees apply to all ticket types. Tickets are all available exclusively at www.sfoutsidelands.com. 



Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Acclaimed Dream Pop Act Cigarettes After Sex Release a Hauntingly Spectral Single

Currently comprised of founding member and primary songwriter Greg Gonzalez (vocals, guitar) with Jacob Tomsky (drums) and Randy Miller (bass), the acclaimed Brooklyn-based dream pop act Cigarettes After Sex can trace their origins back to when Gonzalez formed the band in El Paso. TX back in 2008. Their debut EP, 2012’s I received some attention when “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby” became a sleeper hit of sorts, after it was licensed for use in commercials.

With the release of 2017’s self-titled debut, Cigarettes After Sex quickly became international sensations. Since its release the album as sold over 550,000 records to date, amassed over 360 million Spotify streams, 2.2 million monthly listeners and 350 million YouTube streams. They’ve been featured in a number of major media outlets including Vice Noisey, V Magazine, Interview, NPR’s Tiny Desk — and their music has appeared in The Handmaid’s Tale, Killing Eve and in a Ralph Lauren ad campaign. Additionally, Taylor Swift, Kylie Jenner, Lana Del Rey, Françoise Hardy, Lily Allen, Busy Phillips and a long list of others have claimed to be fans of the band’s work. 

During the week of their full-length debut’s release, the members of the Cigarettes After Sex traveled to Mallorca, Spain. And naturally, each of the band’s individual members consciously let the striking location guide what was to become the initial sessions for their forthcoming sophomore album Cry. “The sound of this record is completely tied to the location for me,” Greg Gonzalez explains in press notes. “Ultimately, I view this record as a film. It was shot in this stunning, exotic location, and it stitches all these different characters and scenes together, but in the end is really about romance, beauty and sexuality. It’s a very personal telling of what those things mean to me.” 

While the instrumentation came about quickly — often improvised on the spot — it would be another two years before Gonzalez would attempt to complete the material’s accompanying lyrics. Slated for an October 25, 2019 release through Partisan Records, Cigarettes After Sex’s highly-anticipated sophomore album is influenced by a new, burgeoning romantic relationship, the films of Eric Rohmer and the work of Selena and Shania Twain. Thematically, the material is a cinematic and brooding meditation on the many complex facets of love — meeting, wanting, needing and losing .  . . sometimes simultaneously. But interestingly enough, Cry will find the band blending the carnal subtly of its predecessor with a warmer sonic palette. 

Cry’s first single is the spectral yet lush “Heavenly.” Centered around Gonzalez’s achingly tender and vulnerable falsetto, hushed and shuffling drumming, shimmering guitar, a sinuous bass line and a soaring hook, the song sonically reminds me a bit of Mazzy Star’s smash hit “Fade Into You.” And much like  “Fade Into You,” “Heavenly” is a feverish, narcoleptic dream that expresses a wild, desperate, swooning longing — the sort that mixes devotion, obsession, love and lust into a confusing and wonderful blur.  Of course, the song finds the band managing to craft material that’s as intimate as whispered, sweet  nothings to a lover while possessing a cinematic (and larger than life) quality.  As the band’s Greg Gonzalez explains, the song was “inspired by the overwhelming beauty I felt watching an endless sunset on a secluded beach in Latvia one summer night…”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Rosie Carney is an up-and-coming, 20 year-old, Hampshire, UK-born, Downings, County Donegal, Ireland-based singer/songwriter, who has started to receive international attention for pairing mature beyond her years songwriting with vivid lyricism paired with minimalist arrangements and her effortlessly gorgeous vocals. Recently, the British-born, Irish-based singer/songwriter released a hauntingly spectral cover of Cigarettes After Sex‘s “K,” which features gently strummed guitar, swirling feedback and Carney’s gorgeous vocals singing an equally gorgeous melody — and although her cover is a bit more straightforward, sonically it bears a resemblance to Mazzy Star and Widowspeak.

As Carney explains of her decision to cover “K,” “I wanted to record a song that was released by one of my favorite artists this year. I chose ‘K’ by Cigarettes After Sex because, firstly I’m a huge fan of this band and their music and aesthetic, and secondly because this song definitely resonated with me the most from their new record. It’s such an honest song and I just love the message it carries. I love how relaxing and transcending the melody is. It’s one of those songs that I wish were mine.”