What do Tom Waits, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Win Butler have in common? All four have hit the stage with the Rolling Stones this summer. Butler joined the Stones last weekend, during the only Montreal show (and final Canadian date) of the band’s “50 and Counting” tour. Together, they blasted through “The Last Time,” [...]

Don’t ask Pegi Young, Neil Young’s wife and a formidable songwriter and musician in her own right, to name her favorite track on the Bridge School Benefit Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition CD and DVD. “It’s like picking your favorite child. It’s just impossible. There are just so many incredible performances.” Pegi was the impetus behind [...]

After years of study, I’ve developed something I’ll call, for lack of a pithier term, the Margolis Music Festival Axiom, which is: They’re always hit or miss. Not only who you hit or miss, that is, but whether the artists you do catch manage to connect with their audience or fail to light a fire. [...]

  A comprehensive look at this year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, TX. Kanye West, Arcade Fire, Stevie Wonder, Cold War Kids and many more performed during the 3-day festival.

  There’s nothing like a free stream of an amazing rock festival. Unless it’s two simultaneous streams at once. Right now if you head to The Austin City Limits Music Festival channel on YouTube, you can choose between sets from Cold War Kids or Foster The People. Cap off your evening with sets from Coldplay [...]

The first time we played the Sasquatch festival [in 2005]. We went on after Arcade Fire, who were just becoming huge at the time. And they are so anthemic. And they’re climbing on the scaffolding and they’re out in the audience beating drums. It was berserk. It was like having your ass handed to you [...]

Arcade Fire Scenes From The Suburbs Merge Rating: There’s inherant drama in all Arcade Fire albums, but we bet you didn’t realize that The Suburbs is about growing up in an Orwellian police state, where homeland security is a twisted joke and the kids are probably not all right. The Houston, Texas-raised Butler boys (Win [...]

“Embrace the gross.” That’s been my Bonnaroo mantra since 2005, and it’s served me well. Why shell out $7 for a shower when you know you’re going to be swimming in sweat within 10 minutes of getting clean? Why bother to shampoo your hair when there’s this must dust flying around? Just accept the fact [...]

Bonnaroo 2011 headliners My Morning Jacket and Arcade Fire, Friday night at Which Stage.

The year of the Buffalo.

Now in its 10th year, the Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, Texas just keeps getting better and better. From September 16-18, Zilker Park will host Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes, Stevie Wonder, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Bright Eyes, and a host of other great bands. Tickets go on sale [...]