Festivals
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DIIV’s Cole Smith and Colin Caulfield on redefining guitar rock, inspirations
Portrait photos: Che Holts Cole Smith is not a fan of the popular perception of guitar rock. He and his bandmantes in New York rock band DIIV stray as far as possible from blues-heavy chugging guitar chord that lean on the contributions of others during the past five or six…
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Preview: 20th Street Block Party expands in fourth year
When Noise Pop’s 20th Street Block Party fills the streets of the Mission District with live music, food and local art on Aug. 20, the fourth-annual event will do so with a clear goal: demonstrate that San Francisco can merge tech and the city’s traditional values. “We want to…
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INTERVIEW: The Wombats try, try again
The Wombats. Courtesy photo. It took three albums and more than a decade for America to start noticing The Wombats, as bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen sees it. But that narrative is in line with the other effort the Liverpool rock trio has put in to attain success and seniority…
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Q&A: Tastemaking with St. Lucia’s Jean-Philip Grobler
St. Lucia frontman Jean-Philip Grobler chats with RIFF at Outside Lands on Aug. 7, 2016. Photos: Che Holts Midway through Brooklyn synthpop band St. Lucia’s set at Outside Lands last week, frontman Jean-Philip Grobler lied down on the stage, collecting his breath. But within seconds, his band launched into ’80s-drenched,…
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NYC production duo The Knocks dish on their creative process
The Knocks. STAFF photo. Even if you haven’t yet heard of The Knocks, chances are your favorite artists have. From 2010, when Chiddy Bang sampled several of their songs to various collaborations that followed, Ben “B-Roc” Ruttner and James “JPatt” Patterson began a trek that turned them into one…
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U.K. indie rockers the Wombats pick favorites in soccer, don’t drive tired
The Wombats perform at Outside Lands 2016. Photos: Che Holts. U.K. indie rock trio The Wombats were running on fumes by the time they arrived at Outside Lands last Saturday. The previous day, singer-guitarist Matthew Murphy, drummer Dan Haggis and bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen performed in Santa Ana. Then they…
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Poliça looking for hope in the trash pile with ‘United Crushers’
Courtesy: Jonathan Weiner At first, Channy Leaneagh, vocal and creative leader of electronic rock and pop quartet Poliça, wavers on the thought. Does the Minneapolis native now officially write for electronic music? Or is she still the folky singer-songwriter she was when she was younger? “I don’t know. I…
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Big Boi, Big Freedia tapped for Outside Lands’ GastroMagic
San Francisco’s Zoo Station With the festival arriving next week, the Outside Lands Music Festival unveiled Tuesday its GastroMagic stage lineup, including segments with OutKast’s Big Boi, Big Freedia and San Francisco’s own U2 tribute band Zoo Station. Celebrity chef Chris Cosentino, a San Francisco resident, leads a lineup that…
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Outside Lands 2016: Artists from near and far converge on Golden Gate Park
Click to view the full map The 72 music performers at the 9th annual Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival next month represent at least 10 countries and 16 of the United States. Despite the absence of Asian and South American artists, as well as the classical penguin stylings…
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Outside Lands announces daily schedule for 2016
Festival organizers released the schedule Thursday for the ninth annual Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park. Headliners LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead and Lionel Richie will close down the Lands End main stage on the Polo Field on Aug. 5, 6 and 7, respectively. On the Twin Peaks stage in…
