Festival Review: CoS at The Great Googa Mooga
“Food is the new rock ‘n roll.”
- Justin Warner, chef at Do or Dine
“A knife, a fork, a bottle and a cork /That’s the way we spell New York.”
- Escort, “Cocaine Blues”
“You’re going to what?” The Great Googa Mooga doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but “music”, “food”, and “festival” do, and that’s about all I needed to tell people about the eponymous inaugural festival this weekend in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. If that wasn’t enough to win over the skeptics, I broke it down by the numbers: 75 food vendors, 35 breweries, 30 winemakers, 20 bands, and 40,000 general admission tickets that sold out in a few hours. That’s what happens when you bring together Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio, David Chang of Momofuku (or alternatively, Jimmy Fallon’s fried chicken throwdown against ?uestlove’s “Love’s Drumsticks”), Anthony Bourdain, and James Murphy under Superfly, the events and marketing company behind Outside Lands and Bonnaroo.
The intersection of food and music is nothing new—I Like Food, Food Tastes Good tells you how to make your favorite bands’ favorite foods, James Murphy is an unabashed food enthusiast, and Sammy Hagar has his own restaurant, to name just a few favorite examples—but thanks to Googa Mooga’s advertising in every New York subway stop in the weeks leading up to the event, it’s recently been both lauded and vilified as the ultimate Platonic ideal. Admittedly, $ 250 per day is a hefty price tag for the Extra Mooga tickets, which allowed you to see panels like “Noshing with…” James Murphy, Aziz Ansari, and David Chang or eat brunch to the dulcet tones of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. It’s hard to argue that there’s anything wrong, though, when you’re sampling three different kinds of pork sandwich while watching Fort Lean, or sipping Thai basil lemonade while Peelander Red plays guitar on top of a Porto-Potty.
Like any festival, there wasn’t nearly enough shade or free water (for once, there were plenty of bathrooms); the festival’s parameters were hard-pressed to fit so many people; and the hottest dishes, like Tom Colicchio’s pork belly tacos and Baohaus’ fried chicken Bao buns, sold out within hours of long lines that just kept getting longer. But concertgoers and foodies alike made up for it by sharing bites, wiping sauce off each other’s faces, and handing out extra water bottles to small children. The thing overheard most, however, was: “What is that, and where can I get it?”
When Robin Gibb Reigned
Robin Gibb performs at the Stadtwerkefestival in Potsdam, Germany.
Frank Hoensch/Getty Images
Ahead of the Bee Gees spread disco fever across radio waves, dance floors and film screens, they had been somewhat less acknowledged for their exquisite pop ballads. And they had a different lead singer: Robin Gibb, who succumbed to cancer right now at the age of 62. Unlike massive brother Barry’s smooth, seductive falsetto – which propelled Seventies strobe-light classics like “Stayin’ Alive,” “Jive Talkin’,” and “Night Fever” – Robin’s lead vocals have been warbly, yet soulful, elevating woeful anthems of sinking ships, collapsing caves and lovers strolling to the electrical chair. Morrissey supporters, acknowledge!
Aside from supplying the Bee Gees his signature lead and harmony vocals for five decades, Robin served as a key songwriting partner for bandleader Barry and – albeit to a lesser extent than his twin brother and gifted musician Maurice – a multi-instrumentalist, chipping in on guitar, organ and harmonica.
But here are some of Robin Gibb’s most transcendent moments from his reign as Bee Gees lead singer, which you can listen to on Spotify under:
“New York Mining Disaster 1941″
The Bee Gees’ very first U.S. hit. This 1967 tearjerker – with the catchy refrain “Have you seen my wife, Mr. Jones?” – sounded so considerably like the Beatles that rumors spread that it really was the Fab 4 performing underneath a cryptic name meaning “Beatles Group.” As for the song title, nope, this disaster by no means occurred. Robin plucked the date and locale out of the air to give the song additional substance.
“To Really like Somebody”
You know you have composed a normal when both Gram Parsons and Clay Aiken have recorded it. Here, Robin transforms into a mighty blue-eyed soul crooner above a heaping assisting of strings and horns, and, of course, his brothers’ sweet harmonies.
Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch: ‘Very Courageous’ and ‘Hopeful to the Very End,’ Mother Says
Bryan Bedder, Getty Photos
As fans, admirers and artists of all stripes carry on to spend tribute to Beastie Boys rapper Adam “MCA” Yauch, who died yesterday (Might 4) immediately after a 3-year battle with cancer, the most heartfelt words might have come from his mother, Frances Yauch.
“He was a extremely courageous particular person,” she told the New York Times, revealing that her son died at 9AM on Friday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. “He was hopeful to the quite end.”
When the time came, she said, MCA was aware and surrounded by loved ones. His wife, Dechen Wangdu, was there, as was his 13-yr-old daughter, Tenzin Losel Yauch his parents and his in-laws.
Yauch had been in the hospital given that April 14 — the very same evening his bandmates Ad-Rock and Mike D have been in Cleveland celebrating the Beastie Boys’ induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“It all just seemed to come about overnight,” said Frances Yauch, adding, “He was a terrific man and had a short but really fantastic lifestyle. We are actually proud of him.”
Stagecoach 2012: Some highlights — Miranda Lambert, Dave Alvin
Right after a comparatively low-key very first day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival on Friday, with just a half-dozen acts on a single stage, the music kicked into high gear Saturday. On the second day, all 3 phases have been up and running with 17 a lot more acts representing nation, pop-country, alt-nation and each other form of hybrid nation music below the desert sun.
That’s downright modest compared to the complete sensory and routine overload of the 143 acts that played the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the two previous weekends, but still adequate to develop some tough selections among concurrently scheduled performers.
For instance, do you catch 85-year-old bluegrass master Ralph Stanley at the expense of a rare possibility to hear singer-songwriter J.D. Souther, a single of the architects of the Southern California nation-rock sound that’s been the template for much of what is been coming out of Nashville for the final two decades? And then miss out on rising Texas singer songwriter Sunny Sweeney, who was on the Mane Stage at the exact same time as Stanley and Souther?
Such are the dilemmas of Stagecoach 2012.
A single solution: in a music festival equivalent of culinary grazing, attempt to get a representative, if truncated, sampling of as several bands as feasible.
Emeli Sande ‘My Kind of Love’ Video: Singer Rescues Ailing Friend With Joyride
Redferns via Getty Photos
Emeli Sande delivers a new set of visuals for “My Kind of Enjoy,” a song featured on her debut LP, Our Version of Occasions, set for a U.S. release June five.
Directed by Dawn Shadforth, the British native comes to the rescue of an ailing good friend, who is ill in the hospital. Apparently her sick pal has lost her hair but the songstress is not letting that cease the exciting from taking spot. Sande surprises her with a pink wig and will take her on a joyride to see the ocean and consider in the sights and sounds of nature.
Although the storyline depicts a robust friendship, Sande’s lyrics can also go the romance route. “I can’t acquire your enjoy, don’t even wanna attempt/ Sometimes the truth will not make you joyful/ So I am not gonna lie/ But don’t ever query if my heart beats only for,” she sings more than the piano-laden beat.
The chanteuse said her inspiration for the video came from her time as a med student.
“During my time studying medicine, I discovered it tough to compose, but one of the factors that inspired me had been the sufferers and the interaction that they had with their loved ones for the duration of their time of illness,” she shares. “When people arrived at the hospital, money and status became irrelevant and only wellbeing mattered, which sparked an honesty among folks which was amazing. This interaction, declaration of help and love, was the inspiration for ‘My Variety of Love’ and one thing I desired to attempt and portray in this video.”
Shea Rose Disses Male Boasters in ‘I’m the S—’ Video, Will Open for Sam Sparro
525 Entertainment
Shea Rose, a self-described “female Lenny Kravitz meets Lauryn Hill with a splash of Betty Davis,” will hit New York City hotspot Highline Ballroom Saturday (April 21), exactly where she’ll open up for Australian singer-songwriter Sam Sparro. Hailing from Boston, the chanteuse has both perspective and soul in her voice, which can be heard on a single of her new songs “I am the S—.” The expletive just proves she’s confident in her work.
On the track, she sings adamantly of dismissing braggart men. “I do not truly care about your entourage, your financial institution account or what you believe about/ I do not actually care about your magic stick. I want a dollar boy, you happen to be just 50 cents,” Rose declares.
She’s bold there and on self-penned works featured on her Rock ‘n’ Rose” EP or Tiny Warrior mixtape.
Check out the Berklee College of Music graduate’s catalog and upcoming show dates at shearose.com. To order tickets to Saturday’s Highline Ballroom show, head right here.
Wilson Phillips talk new reality series, the power of ‘Hold On’, more
Upon releasing their self-titled debut album in 1990, Wilson Phillips immediately took the pop world by storm, scoring multiple number one hits not just in America, but worldwide. While the group disbanded in order to pursue solo projects in 1993, the bond between the three women – Carnie and Wendy Wilson and Chynna Phillips – remained strong and they eventually reunited for a new tour, a new album and most excitingly, a new reality series documenting their career.
We sat down to chat with the members of Wilson Phillips about all of the above and more…
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