So, does anyone recall a little upstart festival from last October called Moogfest? Well, in case you haven’t been stalking Pollstar.com, watching your text alerts like a high school girl in prom season or browsing the Moogfest website on the hour, here’s the news: the festival is seriously back for 2011.
Okay, you’re right. That’s not news. Everyone knew is from pretty much night one of last year’s super-successful festival. This year, it takes over downtown Asheville Friday-Sunday, October 28-30. (But you knew that from the Pollstar stalking.)
So here’s what we’ve all been waiting to here: The lineup. Which Moogfest just announced. (Tickets go on sale Saturday, June 4 at noon.)
• The Flaming Lips (Rock, space rock, dream pop and psychedelia, originally from Norman, Okla.)
• Passion Pit (Electropop from Cambridge, Mass.)
• Tangerine Dream (Ambiant/electronica, founded in 1967, from West Berlin, Germany)
• STS9 (Five-piece electronic collective from Santa Cruz, Calif.)
• Ghostland Observatory (Electro-rock/funk duo from Austin, Tex.)
• Suicide (performing their album Suicide) (Electronic protopunk musical duo/early synthesizer/vocal duo, from New York, N.Y.)
• Crystal Castles (Producer/vocalist duo from Toronto, Canada)
• Chromeo (Electrofunk duo from Montreal, Canada)
• Battles (Experimental rock from New York,. N.Y.)
• Umphrey’s McGee (Prog-rock jam band from Chicago, Ill.)
• Mayer Hawthorne & the Country (Hawthorne is a DJ and retro-soul crooner from L.A., Calif.)
• Adrian Belew Power Trio (Balew is best known as the “stunt guitarist” from prog-rock group King Crimson, originally from Covington, Ky.)
• M83 (Electronic dream pop from Antibes, France)
• Holy F**k (Electronica with an array of instuments and non-instruments — toy phaser guns, anyone? — from Toronto, Canada)
• Matthew Dear (Producer, DJ, avant-pop musician from Detroit, Mich.)
• Toro Y Moi (A.K.A. Chazwick Bundick; chillwave from Columbia, S.C.)
• Twin Shadow (A.K.A. George Lewis, Jr.; indie-pop/electronica from New York, N.Y.)
• Oneohtrix Point Never (A.K.A. Daniel Lopatin; drone/ambient music from Brooklyn, N.Y.)
• The Naked and Famous (Rock from Auckland, New Zealand)
• Can’t (The noise band of Jessica Rylan from Boston, Mass.)
• Austra (Ambiant electropop from Toronto, Canada)
• Brandt Brauer Frick (Akustischer Techno from Berlin, Germany)
• Tim Hecker (Abstract structured ambient music from Montreal, Canada)
• Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Composer from Berlin, Germany)
• Gold Panda (Composer, performer and producer from the U.K.)
• Little Dragon (Soul synthpop from Gothenburg, Sweden)
• Anika (Experimental music from Bristol, U.K.)
• Causing a Tiger (Self-described as “awkward. Like the tourettic guest, or the sibling who knows too much” — or avant-garde/experimental — from Oakland, Calif.)
• Ford & Lopatin (Electronic duo formerly known as Games; Dan Lopatin is also in Oneohtrix Point Never, from Brooklyn, N.Y.)
According to a press release for the festival, “The final Moogfest 2011 lineup will ultimately feature performances by over 60 internationally acclaimed artists in numerous venues throughout downtown, including the Asheville Civic Center Arena, the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, and world-renown Orange Peel Social & Pleasure Club. The festival will also host workshops, talks, interactive experiences and art exhibitions and installations.”
Tickets are $149.50/$184.50/$199.50 for general admission weekend passes, $379.50 for VIP weekend passes. Buy tickets by calling 800-745-3000, visiting the Asheville Civic Center box office or going online to Ticketmaster.
Pitchfork weighs in (complete with spaceman video):
http://avl.mx/3b
Short thing from jambands.com:
http://avl.mx/3c
hmm, guess I was expecting a little more…
seems a bit tame in re: to last yrs headliners
Suicide?
Hmm. Might have to start rolling pennies.
No Rush, dang it.
Holy Fuck is a great live band. If they play the same night as the Lips, I’m going.
Holy F**k! They put on a great show.
Well, I remember how many stellar acts were added in the months leading up to the actual festival. There’s still tons of time to add to this already wonderful lineup. I would like to see some Hip Hop. Other than that, I anxiously await the last minute surprise announcements.
Perhaps it may be a good idea to mention that while STS9 is now based in Santa Cruz, they used to be based in Athens, GA and played Asheville very regularly (as often as, say, Toubab Krewe does these days)….frequently enough that they were almost considered a local band. Also, percussionist Jeffree Lerner was an Asheville resident at that time (and he also played with Leftover Salmon).
Feel free to fact-check this but I’m fairly certain of the accuracy.
Also, correct me if I’m wrong but last year’s Moogfest lineup was announced initially as 5 or 6 main headliners followed sometime later by the rest. Maybe they are doing the reverse this year? I don’t really see any band that would fill the Civic Center so far.
Adrian Belew Power Trio will be worth seeing
I don’t care for electronic music so I will pass again on this festival … good luck though!
[b]Perhaps it may be a good idea to mention that while STS9 is now based in Santa Cruz, they used to be based in Athens, GA and played Asheville very regularly[/b]
Thanks for pointing that out. I thought maybe i had just dreamed them formally being from Athens.
Last time Tim Hecker played in Asheville, it was at the teeny BeBe Theatre on Commerce Street (last year). Which goes to further show the radness of the fellas at Harvest Records, who booked it.
Toro Y Moi (Chazwick Bundick) was born & raised in Columbia, S.C., so there’s another strong regional connection.
Well I love electronic music and none of these bands do it for me. Especially not to the tune of $200, thousands of bodies and three days of my life. Maybe Suicide, but not under these harsh conditions.
Columbia’s a stretch – it’s not in the mountains.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/AppalachianLocatorMap2.png
They really need to offer reduced pricing for locals, in my opinion. Those are some steep ticket prices.
Assuming you get the $200 ticket and see ten bands, then it’s $20 a group and that’s less than what you’d probably pay to see some touring act at the Peel.
Plus, there’s the appeal of being part of the “scene”.
Of course, you could see those ten shows over ten months and not strain your wallet.
So, really, it’s a wash. The only complaint should be the short time between the announcement and the sale of tickets.
Or maybe a reserved batch for locals.
Good grief, the Orange Peel’s website strangles my browser when it’s up. Pete’s sake, people.
Oh, you could also suck up for press passes. Or win the inevitable facebook contests.
Or, just hang around outside the venues. Those things are loud. You’ll hear plenty *and* be able to smoke.
Gee … I really want to be part of the ‘scene’ … and people still smoke?
[i]and people still smoke? [/i]
people still say ‘people still smoke?’?
hey it took me a full month took make that jacket i want some credit here!
trey, love the jacket!!! bob would be proud!!
People: Moogfest is not about the ‘scene’ or finding a cheap way to be entertained or being able to smoke… it is about becoming smoke, being sound, being a part of something really really fun, enjoying yourself, appreciating the musical inheritance we have here in Asheville, newness, original ideas, people, electricity….
[b]People: Moogfest is not about the ‘scene’ or finding a cheap way to be entertained or being able to smoke… it is about becoming smoke, being sound, being a part of something really really fun, enjoying yourself, appreciating the musical inheritance we have here in Asheville, newness, original ideas, people, electricity…. [/b]
http://matrophe.freeshell.org/images/bunny-pancake.jpg
Neon Indian and Miami Horror (so Alan can sing with em)… lineup so far is insane, can’t wait! $200 too much for this? Hello no
notice the article says that the full line up will be ~60 bands (just like last year).
i’ve got my ticket, moogfest gonna be amazing.
I will be getting tickets. Lineup is not quite as “top heavy” as last year. But still more than enough stuff I am interested in to make for an awesome weekend of music. I am sure much more will be announced. The Flaming Lips are so far the only band that could really fill the Civic Center as a headliner. I kind of have my fingers crossed for a big “meat and potatoes” rock act to be added. Moog doesn’t necessarily have to equal electronic music.
This page is getting some traffic tonight.
Hello, future visitors to Asheville!