Queens Of The Stone Age Page 2

Alabama's sun-soaked, sold-out Hangout Music Fest begins officially today (May 16th 2014) following yesterday's kick-off party - and there's almost too much fun to take in.

Set against the glorious backdrop of Gulf Shores' pure white beaches, this festival truly is the place to 'hang out' this weekend with top headliners The Black Keys, The Killers, Outkast and Jack Johnson leading the talent-studded bill. Acts such as Jack Antonoff's latest project Bleachers, CLASSIXX and Bonobo's DJ set went down a storm at the Discover Great Thursday Kickoff Party, but don't worry if you missed it because things are getting even better over the rest of the weekend.

Headliners The Black Keys open the festival today

Continue reading: Experience Sun, Sand And Sensational Sounds At Hangout Festival 2014

The final headliners for Reading and Leeds have been announced and for the first time ever festival goers will be treated to four headline acts over the weekend. Yes, joining the already announced Arctic Monkeys and Blink 182 is both Queens Of The Stone Age and Paramore, who will share headlining duties. So now we know the full lineup lets take a  closer look at this year’s headlining acts.

The Arctic Monkeys at this year's Brit Awards

Arctic Monkeys

Continue reading: As Paramore And QOTSA Join Line Up, A Look At The Reading And Leeds Headliners

Nine Inch Nails, Queens Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham have all been announced to play at the finale of the upcoming 56th annual Grammy Awards, which will take place on Sunday.

Nine Inch Nails Have Been Confirmed To Play At The Grammys This Year.

Such a gathering of alt-rock icons will represent a Grammys first for QOTSA and Nine Inch Nails, true rock 'n' roll leviathans. "We're incredibly excited about this number," Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich said in a statement, via SPIN. "There's nothing better than when the Grammys can rock out, and to have these artists all together on one stage, doing a number that, when they presented it to us, knocked us out, is going to turn out to be one of those Grammy moments that people talk about for a long time. Long live Trent, Josh, Dave and Lindsey and these great bands!" Ehrlich added.

Continue reading: Grammys Finale: Nine Inch Nails, Queens Of The Stone Age, Dave Grohl, Lindsey Buckingham Announced

Arctic Monkeys are looking set to be the stars of the show at this year's NME Awards after the newly-released nominees list shows the British rockers sitting atop a pile of nominations higher than any other artist. The Sheffield group are up for an impressive eight awards this year and are only rivalled by Californian sister group Haim, who have gathered six, according to NME.

Arctic Monkeys Are Leading The NME Awards Nominations.

The band's fifth studio album, AM, rocketed to the top of the charts and has earned Mercury Music Prize and Brit Awards nominations, as well as critical acclaim. The R&B-inspired album faces competition in the Best Album category from Queens Of The Stone Age's ...Like Clockwork, In Love by Peace, Kanye West's Yeezus, Savages' Silence Yourself and Drenge's self-titled debut.

Continue reading: Arctic Monkeys And Haim Lead NME Awards Nominations

Coachella 2014 will be returning to Indio, California, this spring for a two-weekend spectacular that will see some of the world's biggest performers gather in one polo field in the middle of the desert. This week the full line-up for the latest incarnation of the ever-popular festival was announced, with the bill yet another feast for the eyes (and eventually the ears too).

Big Boi and Andre 3000 will reunited for the headline performance

Eight years since their last album and eventual hiatus, Outkast will reform to headline the first day of the festival, which will kick start on the weekend of 11-13 April. The Grammy-winning hip-hop duo will be joined on the first day by fellow returnees The Knife, who released their first album in seven years - the acclaimed Shaking the Habitual - in 2013 and The Replacements, who reformed in 2012. Ellie Goulding, Chromeo, Haim, A$AP Ferg, Bryan Ferry, DJ Falcon and many others will also appear on the first day.

Continue reading: OutKast, Muse And Arcade Fire To Headline Coachella 2014

This top ten leans more on the rock end of the spectrum but there are also a few curve balls in there. Honourable mentions go to some big bands who put out great albums (Pearl Jam, Suede) which were omitted to make room for some smaller bands who I feel are deserving of the exposure. Without further ado and in reverse order:

Continue reading: Ben Walton's Top 10 Albums Of 2013

Vampire Weekend 'Modern Vampire in the City' - 'Modern Vampires in the City' makes it three for three for the New Yorkers and their latest release could very well be their best yet. It shows evolution for the band, but they have retained that essential quality that made 'Contra' and their self-titled debut such wonderfully upbeat and genuine pleasures to listen to each time. 'Modern Vampire in the City' is also the release that marks Vampire Weekend as a band that should be taken seriously, but one who you can still have immense fun with. 'Diane Young' is yet another indie floor filler, standing shoulder to shoulder with previous bangers 'A-Punk' and 'Cousins.' Where the album really excels, however, is when VW reach out to new quarters and sound completely inimitable. The yelps of 'Ya Hey' bring fun to a song that essentially deals with the theme of lost conviction, the graceful 'Hanna Hunt' erupts in the most complete song released this year and album opener 'Obvious Bicycle' sets the whole thing in motion with its refreshingly angelic melodies and steady, train-like clunks that lie beneath all the splendour. Vampire Weekend are no longer the Brooklyn minions rattling at the gates of eminence, the gates have been swung open for them and the welcoming committee should have made them feel rightly at home. 

Continue reading: Contactmusic.com's Top Albums Of 2013

It looks like Atlanta's Music Midtown festival is on its way back up as 2013 brings us the biggest line-up since its return from a six year hiatus.

We are back to where we started with Midtown, which takes place on September 10th - 21st at Piedmont Park, as we see a 2 day, 2 stage event just like its debut in 1994. We've still got a long way to go before it's back at its peak with 3 days and 6 stages, but the line-up hasn't far off doubled from last year and another stage has been added too. The excitement when it was announced that Midtown was making its return in 2011 is hard to beat, but we reckon this year's line-up could reel in an even more impressive overall ticket sale.

Continue reading: Music Midtown Festival Continues To Grow After Successful Rebirth

The Budweiser Made in America Festival 2013 was jampacked with highlights from some of the most iconic artists of the age, as well as some of the best up-and-coming stars and the hidden talent you'd be a fool to have missed.

Taking place over August 31st and September 1st in Philadelphia, the Saturday kicked things off with some impressive acts. Feisty California sisters Haim performed early on in the afternoon with a thoroughly entertaining set, in terms of both music and audience interaction, on the Liberty Stage where other must-see artists such as Deadmau5, 2 Chainz and triple BRIT winning Emeli Sande also thrilled the crowd. The Freedom Stage saw the likes of Rudimental further establish their place in the hearts of a large proportion of festival goers, while the Skate Park Stage saw much smaller bands such as Ohio group Cloud Nothings and New Jersey D&B duo Brick & Mortar get the ultimate chance to showcase their talents. The main Rocky Stage was, of course, the real crowd bringer, with Beyonce headlining and Phoenix and Imagine Dragons delivering the uttermost electrifying rock shows of the night.

Continue reading: Made In America Festival 2013: One Of The Happier Memories Of The Festival Season

Austin City Limits Music Festival is set to hit Texas for its twelfth year, bringing with it two weekends of fabulous live music and family fun.

The festival organisers first decided to spread the fun out over two weekends last year, in a bid to welcome yet more people into this unique world, and it appears that they haven't gone back on their word as they are set to return to Zilker Park on October 4th - 6th and 11th - 13th. This year sees some impressive headline acts including Depeche Mode, The Cure, Muse and Kings Of Leon - and if that wasn't exciting enough, Atoms For Peace, Lionel Richie, Phoenix and Wilco are also high up on this year's bill! Some of the other acts scattered around are just as jaw-droppingly impressive, not to mention extremely diverse. We have Californian rockers Queens Of The Stone Age, country star Hank Williams Jr.'s daughter Holly Williams, Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar, LA sisters Haim, alt-folk group Thao & The Get Down Stay Down Nottingham singer Jake Bugg and legendary 'Gay Bar' hitmakers Electric Six.

Continue reading: Austin City Limits 2013 Set To Return With A Stunningly Diverse New Line-Up

Lady GaGa has left the irritation of Monday's 'Applause' new single leakage behind her and has turned her attention to September, tweeting her excitement for next month's iTunes Festival. The singer announced that she's be gracing Camden's Roundhouse on the 1st September - the first night of the month of free concerts - with the Tweet: "I'M HEADLINING ITUNES FESTIVAL ON SEPT 1 AT ROUNDHOUSE IN LONDON. ONE HOUR OF ALL NEW MUSIC. #UKMonstersGetReady" to make sure all her UK fans knew what awaited them.

Lady Gaga's New Look.

The NY singer called a "911 pop emergency" on Monday after a snippet from the lead single from her upcoming album, Artpop, leaked on the internet. "Little Monsters" rushed to their idol's aide by reporting illegal uploads to record company UMG but the hot new track spread like wildfire across the internet. Gaga made the radical decision to change the single's release date to the 12th Aug, dropping the new track immediately on American radio stations to combat the pirates.

Continue reading: Lady Gaga Promises "One Hour Of All New Music" At ITunes Festival

Robin Thicke is having one heck of a summer so far, seeing his single 'Blurred Lines' climb to the top of just about every singles chart across the globe. With the release of his new album, also titled Blurred Lines, the singer has continued his run of blurry success by landing straight at the number one spot in the Billboard Album Charts, a first for the R&B star in his more-than-a-decade-long career.

Thicke is experiencing the most successful period of his career

As reported by Billboard, Thicke has scored his first number one album at the sixth time of asking, shifting 177,000 copies since it was released last week (30 July). As expected, this success has also landed Thicke with his best week of album sales in his career, with his closest equivalent coming when 2008's Something Else managed 137,000 sales, landing it at the No. 3 spot. Interestingly enough, 2013 has proved to be the year of the comeback as Blurred Lines has become the sixth album to reach No. 1 more than a decade after the artist's debut album was released. Prior to him, Black Sabbath, Queens Of The Stone Age, Daft Punk, Gary Allan and Chris Tomlin all scored number ones with their new releases.

Continue reading: Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' Earns Him First No. 1 Debut In Album Chart

Just when we were all starting to get sick of 'Blurred Lines,' Robin Thicke's mega-hit featuring Pharrell Williams and T.I., New York rockers Vampire Weekend were on hand earlier this week to give us all another reason to care about the track once again as they gave their own take on the track. The performance was part of BBC Radio One's Live Lounge sessions and yes, it does feature an (attempted) rendition of T.I.'s rapped part as well.

The group made the track their own

The laughter-inducing version, that is filled with ad-libs and the occasional cry of "dat falsetto!" whenever someone forgets a line, was recorded with glee by the 'Diane Young' rockers at the London radio studio. Hearing Ezra sing “You the hottest bitch in this place!!!” and mumble “pimpin” and “shake your rump!” in his best T.I. impression is as funny as it founds too, as the white boy indie kids break down into hysterics by the end of the track.

Continue reading: Vampire Weekend Record Their Own Take On Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' [Listen]

Vampire Weekend and Kings Of Leon will join a rapidly growing list, already peppered with fellow rock royalty, including Queens Of The Stone Age, Sigur Rós, 30 Seconds to Mars and Primal Scream.

It won't be solely a festival of rock though - artists from other genres have also been invited, giving everyone at this September's festival something to look forward to, such as Justin Timberlake, Jessie J, Jake Bugg, Rizzle Kicks, and classical composer Ludovico Einaudi.

Having being held since 2007, the annual iTunes festival is held over every night in September and this year will host over 60 acts at the Camden venue.

Continue reading: Vampire Weekend And Kings Of Leon Added To ITunes Festival Bill That Keeps Getting Better

Queens Of The Stone Age brought their desert rock stylings to the Ed Sullivan Theater this weekend to play some new material from their sixth studio album ...Like Clockwork. Josh Homme and co. played through a three-song set between the chatter on the Late Show with David Letterman on Friday (June 14), playing new tracks 'If I Had A Tail' and 'Vampyre Of Time And Memory' as well as the lead single from the album, 'My God Is The Sun.'

Watch QOTSA perform 'My God Is The Sun' on Letterman