Our photo coverage of Friday’s festivities comes with a sizable asterisk, as the photo access for the night’s best set — Black Sabbath — was heavily restricted. Check out the rest while imagining the sweet riffs.
Four continents, five bad-ass bands: Greece’s Septicflesh, Brazil’s Krisiun, Jerusalem’s Melechesh, Canada’s Ex Deo, and the USA’s Inquisition. This October, they all join forces to tour the United States and parts of Canada. Miss it at your peril!
See the dates below, and [teaser] read about the first three when we unveil Assault of the Earth: Metal Bands from Around the Globe [/teaser].
Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz: Abraxas: The Book of Angels Vol. 19 (Tzadik)
“Tse’an”
Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz: “Tse’an”
The 19th installment in John Zorn’s Masada Book 2: The Book of Angels is a doozy. As with the rest of the series, these are Zorn pieces given to an extraordinary talent (or set of talents) to perform, re-imagine, or demolish, and acoustic/electric bassist and oudist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz has done all three with his batch of songs.
With the day’s first set, Lollapalooza 2012 officially begins at 11:30 AM CST — “bright and early” for professional rock bands.
We’ll be tweeting and posting to Facebook intermittently with our thoughts, and if you’re down at Grant Park too, let us know if you’re still alive. (Today’s high temp. will be in the low 90s with 50% humidity. Drink your bubble tea.)
Tonight’s festivities end with two of the billion bands to use “black” in their names — Black Sabbath and The Black Keys. Here’s our quick list of sets to catch:
Judgement Day: Polar Shift (Minus Head, 7/31/12)
“Forest Battle”
Armed with simply a violin, cello, and drum kit, Judgement Day began its existence with one goal in mind: to make metal and other types of nontraditional rock music using unconventional instruments.
The Dillinger Escape Plan lead guitarist Ben Weinman shall bestow metalcore songwriting wisdom on New Zealand singer-songwriter Kimbra.
In the first of a three-part in-studio series, Chicago post-metal triad Russian Circles displays its explosive live chops and knack for dynamics.
Serengeti: CAR (Anticon, 7/31/12)
“Amnesia”
“CAR.” What is that exactly? Chicago MC Serengeti makes a case that it’s all about a funk-fueled vibe under enough scratching to require a daily supply of new vinyl. With the help of Anticon producers Jel and Odd Nosdam, Serengeti (born in Chicago as David Cohn) has released the latest in his double-digit hip-hop discography.
For the first time in 10 years, Desaparecidos is back with new material. And front-man Conor Oberst has a bone to pick with embattled Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio.
As Gainesville, Florida’s The Fest heads into its 11th year, its already massive lineup has expanded to add Propagandhi, a reunited Grade, and others to Anti-Flag, Negative Approach, Braid, Coliseum, Naked Raygun, 7 Seconds, Baroness, and more than 270 others.