Festival Fallout...

Having established that I am not (wahh!) going to Coachella this year, it's time to take stock of the consolation prize, that embarrassment of riches we shall call 'Festival Fallout'.  Proximity to festivals is definitely having an impact on my life-the recent Veronica Falls/Bleached show in LA came worked around their appearance at the Noise Pop Festival in San Francisco, not to mention upcoming shows like Cults, whose west coast run is tacked on after SXSW.

Weep not for me indeed, as even without attending Coachella, I won't have many breaths to spare.  Given the two weekend setup this year, there is a lot of loose time around, and nature abhors a vacuum.  The Santa Barbara County Bowl is opening its season with Radiohead, Florence & The Machine, and Bon Iver, all courtesy of Coachella.

Goldenvoice, who brings you Coachella, has put up their own schedule filling every nook and cranny of offtime with shows...absolutely insane.

While I am looking forward to getting back on the road to festivals, in the meantime, let's call it the next best thing to being there!

Charles Bradley's Golden Moment...

If I had to pick a 'feel good moment' from last year, it was seeing the hard won dreams of Charles Bradley come to fruition.  Not only was his debut LP "No Time For Dreaming", released on Daptone Records, but he hit the road for a string of shows with the Menahan Street Band that was joyously received, to say the least.
Now that golden moment is captured in the form of a documentary, Charles Bradley: Soul of America that will have it's debut at this year's SXSW Film Festival.  Have a look at the trailer below:



Had the pleasure of catching Mr. Bradley & The Menahan Street Band at Soho in Santa Barbara last fall.  It was an emotional night, and Charles performed a fiery set, capping it off by literally bringing the love to the audience, wading out for hugs at the end of his set.  It was hard not to be moved.