Grimes, Cults, Grouplove to headline free Make Music Pasadena

When Grimes last played Los Angeles, the indie electro-pop artist sold out the Echo and tickets on the secondary market were fetching close to $70. Fans won't have to shell out a dime for her next gig in the area, as the Canadian artist will bring her moody, shadow-illuminating synth textures to the free daylong Make Music Pasadena festival on June 16, organizers announced today.

The festival is set to host a mix of local and nationally known indie acts, and promises a final lineup of more than 100 bands performing about 150 concerts throughout the day. Others confirmed for the downtown Pasadena event include the wispy, soulful pop of boy/girl duo Cults, high-energy locals Grouplove and hotly tipped up-and-comers Electric Guest, whose Dangermouse-produced debut, "Mondo," was released this week.

Now in its fifth year, Make Music Pasadena is presented in conjunction with Santa Monica public radio station KCRW-FM (89.9). Running from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Make Music Pasadena boasts more than a dozen pop-up stages in unique locales, including outdoor courtyards, parks and neighborhood churches. Pasadena's ARTS buses will also host live music onboard, and carry riders to Make Music Pasadena's multiple main stages.

Others near the top of the bill for the fest include boogie ace Dam Funk, worldly psychedelic act Dengue Fever, French singer/songwriter Soko and soft pop harmonizers Milo Greene. Rounding out the list of confirmed acts thus far are Happy Hollows, So Many Wizards, Torches, Shadow Shadow Shade, Correatown, the Peach Kings, Ozma, Gustavo Galindo and KCRW DJ Jason Bentley. 

Make Music Pasadena is produced by the Old Pasadena Management District, the Playhouse District Assn., and South Lake. More acts are to be announced in the coming weeks, and maps and further information will be available on the fest's site.

Although the Sunset Junction has gone south, there will be no shortage of outdoor music happenings in the L.A. area in the coming weeks. The Silver Lake Jubilee, which runs two days over Memorial Day weekend and comes with a $20 fee, has already unveiled a lineup that includes punk band FIDLAR and soul artist Aloe Blacc.

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-- Todd Martens

Photo: Grimes at South by Southwest 2012 in Austin, Texas. Credit: Todd Martens

Coldplay, Incubus, Silversun Pickups tapped for Weenie Roast

Those who missed out on tickets to Coldplay's three early May shows at the Hollywood Bowl will now have another chance to catch the British pop band. Coldplay will help anchor the annual day-long radio station festival in Irvine that is KROQ-FM's Weenie Roast y Fiesta. Joining Coldplay at the top of the May 5 bill at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater will be Southern California rock band Incubus, which last year released its first album in five years.

Like most KROQ (106.7) festivals, the Weenie Roast largely honors bands that have long been staples on the station's airwaves, and it does so while sprinkling in a newcomer or two that seem preordained for heavy rotation. Local punk bands Pennywise and Offspring are slated to appear, as are Blink-182 off-shoot Angels & Airwaves and technologically minded alt-rock act Garbage. The latter has a pair of sold-out dates at the El Rey on April 9 and April 10.

Silver Lake's Silversun Pickups will perform in advance of its May 8 album "Neck of the Woods," and peppy, fast-rising locals Grouplove will celebrate the success of debut album "Never Trust a Happy Song." Rounding out the bill will be electro-rockers Awolnation, reggae act the Dirty Heads, dancey power-pop band Walk the Moon and anthemic, Icelandic folk-rockers Of Monsters and Men. 

Those who sign up to be members of KROQ's street team mailing list will have first access to tickets Thursday at noon. Tickets will be available via LiveNation.com and Ticketmaster.com. Tickets for last year's event ranged in price from $45 to $75, not including service fees. 

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-- Todd Martens

Photo: Coldplay's Chris Martin performs at the MTV European Music Awards 2011 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on  Nov. 6, 2011. Credit: Joel Ryan / Associated Press

Death Cab, Foster the People to close KROQ's Acoustic Christmas

Death Cab for Cutie, the Black Keys and Cage the Elephant will headline the second and final night of the yearly Almost Acoustic Christmas presented the weekend of Dec. 10 by KROQ-FM (106.7). Other acts on the bill for Sunday night include local breakout stars Foster the People, the rock theatrics of Florence + the Machine and veterans Jane's Addiction, among others. 

Also on the bill for Sunday is local pop act Grouplove, folk rockers Mumford & Sons, Noel Gallaher's High Flying Birds project and glossy New Zealanders the Naked and Famous. Saturday night's bill, as previously announced, will feature Blink-182, Bush, Chevelle, Incubus, New Found Glory, Social Distortion, 311 and Young the Giant. As has been typical for the station's annual holiday event, the second night represents more up-and-coming artists while the first night showcases acts that have, generally speaking, long been KROQ fixtures. 

Lineup announced for Also I Like to Rock weekly KCRW concert series at Hammer Muesum

 
Summer is almost here. And with that comes another season of rock shows that will definitely inspire a few trips to the museum. Starting in  July, the concert series Also I Like to Rock, in the courtyard of the Hammer Museum, delivers a new round of free weekly concerts featuring Graffiti6, the Soft Pack, Grouplove, the Henry Clay People and other favorites on the L.A. music scene.

 Presented in partnership with KCRW FM (89.9)  and curated by Buzz Bands L.A., the evenings kick off every Thursday at 7 p.m. with DJ sets by KCRW selectors followed by two band performances. The shows start at 8 p.m. and admission is free on a first-come, first-serve basis. With a healthy focus on the surging L.A. scene, the concert series is known to tap into local talent that has graced the KCRW airwaves. Past acts have included the likes of Saint Motel, Fitz and the Tantrums and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

On July 7, soulful British electropop  duo Graffiti6 take the stage with support from the the Eastern Conference Champions, whose indie rock inclinations balance between ferocious  guitar power and tender balladry. Resident KCRW crate digger Dan Wilcox will spin earlier in the night. Subsequent lineups include the Soft Pack and Hanni El Khatib on July 14, Grouplove and Milo Greene on July 21 and the Henry Clay People with Lady Danville on July 28.

-- Nate Jackson

Photo: Joey Siara of the Henry Clay People performs during Day 2 of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival  in April. Credit: Charley Gallay /Getty Images

Los Angeles, get to know Grouplove

Don't hate local newcomers Grouplove because they met and formed while spending a summer on the Greek Isle of Crete. They think it sounds silly too.

"We hate our story," says keyboardist/painter Hannah Hooper. "It sounds like we’re all just like, 'Oh, let’s just lead our amazing lives and go to Greece for the summer!' It’s quite the opposite of that."

Two years ago Hooper was offered a first-year art residency in Greece for her work as a painter. With singer/guitarist Christian Zucconi in tow, the pair left New York for Europe, and met, randomly, their future bandmates: Drummer Ryan Rabin was in the midst of traveling abroad, bassist Andrew Wessen was in Crete to surf and Londonite/guitarist Sean Gadd was visiting a friend. 

"We were just at a point where we were fed up with the monotony of our lives," Hooper says. "Christian and I sold everything to get those plane tickets, and those were the equivalent of a month’s rent."

Going through Crete withdrawal, the newfound pals regrouped in Los Angeles, and their fiddling with instruments started to feel like more than a hobby. A friend of Rabin's signed on as manager, shows started being booked and it suddenly no longer made sense for the five piece to live in three different cities on two continents. 

But enough with the formalities.

If Los Angeles music fans are heretofore ignorant of Grouplove, they're about to get a crash course in Grouplove's anthemic indie-pop oddities, as the band has the opening slot on Florence + the Machine's three-night, sold-out stay this weekend at the Wiltern. The groups share a booking agency in CAA.

"That’s all our agent," Hooper says. "I wish that was more interesting. I want to say, ‘I met Florence in the street and she was amazing and we hit it off.’ But we’ll meet her on Friday."

Come January, Grouplove will lead a residency at the Bootleg Theater, and a full-length is due in 2011 via Warner-affiliated Canvasback. For now, here's what you need to know: