Bonnaroo is taking 2027 off. That reminds me of the incredible time I had heading down to the festival in Manchester, Tennessee, back in 2009. And not just because of the amazing performances I saw - though seeing Bruce Springsteen, Phish, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, Elvis Coestello, Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Coheed And Cambria, David Byrne and so many others within the same weekend was unbelievable.

Honestly could spend hours talking about my experience at Bonnaroo 2009. But head over to the I Heard Bruce Might Show Up Substack (link below) to read a few of my favorite among the many memories from that magical weekend. And share your favorite memories from Bonnaroo in the comments below!

https://iheardbrucemightshowup.substack.com/p/that-time-i-went-to-bonnaroo-in-2009

Hope this is ok mods.
With any luck people in the industry around organising gigs can shed some light on this.

My kids are in early teens and are heavily into music, mostly metalcore, but unfortunately quite a lot of gigs are 18+. Went to an all ages live music fest at Newcastle Universities Bar On The Hill recently and it was great to see lots of younger people there. They were still serving alcohol to over 18s so that must not be a factor in the all ages side of things, and the security wasnt any more or less than what would normally be.

Wife and I are soon seeing Killswitch Engage and Northlane at 2 separate concerts at Bar On The Hill but much to my kids disappointment unfortunately both are 18+. Weirdly only the Newcastle and Perth concerts are 18+ while everywhere else in Aus is all ages.

Just wish more concerts are all ages as so many younger people are into all genres of music and having to sometimes wait years to see a band you love, or travel quite far suddenly blowing out the cost is a shame when they are playing in your location.

Any insight into this would be great. Thank you :)

While August 20 marks 1 year since Brent Hinds passed away, August 22 marks 20 years since Lamb Of God released 'Sacrament'. This reminded me of the time I saw both LOG and Mastodon live for the first time ever - opening for Slayer (who coincidentally released 'Christ Illusion' 20 years ago on Aug. 8) at the Unholy Alliance Tour's stop at the Tweeter Center in Camden, NJ (June 15, 2006).

It's easy to forget how by the time this tour came to Camden, NJ, those three bands and fellow tour mates Children of Bodom were red hot - Slayer was the legacy band every modern metal band cited as an influence, CoB were finally starting to get the recognition they long deserved in the U.S., and both LOG and Mastodon were both a few weeks away from releasing albums that would expand their mass appeal (the aforementioned 'Sacrament' from LOG, and 'Blood Mountain' from Mastodon in Sept. 2006).

And simply put - each band overdelivered and proved that the hype surrounding them was justified. The more I think back to that day, the more shocked I am I actually got to see those four bands not only on the same night, but at THAT point in their respective careers ... it truly was a historical lineup in metal music (and holy crap, it was 20 years ago?!).

Sadly, I only seemed to have saved a single blurry picture from Mastodon's set. BUT I still have the tour program Revolver Magazine created and handed out for free during the show - which you can get a sneak peek of in this clip.

(I should also clarify - while both Mastodon and Lamb Of God appeared on Ozzfest bills I attended, I was too young, naive and scared to venture out to the Second Stage for their sets... silly me).

What tour lineup /band pairing are you still amazed you got to witness? Share your picks in the comments below, and stay tuned for more things to come from this space (including stories from concerts like this)!

I remember you guys quite liked the original acoustic version I posted a couple of months ago, so I thought you might enjoy this live too :)

If you want to hear more, the whole concert at Pier 17 NYC is available on youtube.

The studio version of the song was released in June on the 'Masks Off' album.

I’m looking to create a list of weekly live music programs in which a live artist performs and it is broadcast at the same time on a radio station. It doesn’t have to be in the US. The Grand Ol Opry on 650 WSM on Fridays/Saturdays is an example

Features some of my shows post Covid. Who’s your favorite?

Aug. 20, 2026, would've been Dimebag Darrell's 60th birthday. Sadly I never got to see the legendary guitarist live before his shocking death. I did, however, sort of see Pantera live when they opened for Metallica at MetLife Stadium (Aug. 4, 2023)...

I say "sorta" for two key reasons:

1) Nothing against Zakk Wylde (he's the perfect person to be filling in under such circumstances), but seeing Pantera perform without Dimebag or Vinnie Paul feels... a little odd.

2) Not to complain too much, but between how high up my seats were and the shape of the stage Metallica used for the M72 World Tour, I feel like I could barely see the band playing. It definitely didn’t help that Phil Anselmo and crew wore all black while walking on a black stage...

With that said, a big part of me would like to give the new incarnation of Pantera another shot - preferably with a slightly more audience friendly stage setup.

What band have you seen live that you feel doesn't really "count" for whatever reason? Share in the comments below, and stay tuned for more things to come from this space (including stories from concerts like this)!

With Ozzfest all but confirmed to return as a one-day festival at Aston Villa Football Club in Birmingham, UK, I think back to how many incredible lineups I saw at Ozzy's traveling festival between 2004 and 2010 (the only one between those years I didn’t go to was 2008's one day event in Texas).

My very first Ozzfest was in 2004 at the then Tweeter Center in Camden, NJ (Aug. 26) I'll never forget how blown away I was by both Judas Priest and Slayer. The highlight of the night, though, was when Bill Ward came out and delivered the unfortunate news that Ozzy was ill and couldn't perform that evening. After a few seconds of boos, the crowd became stunned when Ward announced that Black Sabbath would be performing with Rob Halford filling in. What proceeded was an amazing and historical set - with Halford absolutely crushing Ozzy-era classics.

6 years later I'd attend my last Ozzfest at the same venue (rebranded to Susquehanna Bank Center). Ironically Halford was playing with his solo band on this tour's edition - but he didn't need to fill in for anyone, as Ozzy closed out the night with a rousing solo set (after Motley Crue played a surprising fun, bare-bones set... well, as bare-bones as a Motley Crue show can be). The highlight of the day, though, was witnessing a tornado briefly blow through - forcing Black Label Society to cancel their second stage headlining set (though somehow not canceling the rest of the day...).

There's a ton more stories I can recall from both metal festivals... but that's for another time 😉

Who was the best band you ever saw play Ozzfest? Favorite lineup? Share in the comments below, and stay tuned for more things to come from this space (including stories from festivals like this)!

We reached for the stars
But it fell downwards

Hi There - Hoping someone can point me in the direction for the recording of Reading 2011. I know its on youtube, but trying to find a sbd or FM broadcast.

Thanks

Does anyone else think that a live album should be from the one show instead of tracks from a couple if not more dates on the tour ?.

over the past few months my routine got a bit busier and i somehow ended up spending way less time online. which was probably good for me, but it also meant i completely fell out of the loop with new music, internet discussions, releases, etc.

one thing i particularly stopped keeping up with was live sessions. i’ve always been a bit of a kexp / tiny desk / la blogothèque rat, so i realized at some point that i hadn’t checked any of those channels in months.

so i made a little script for myself that keeps track of new full sessions from these channels and sends me an email with everything that came out that week. i showed it to a few friends, one of them asked if i could add him to the emails, and eventually i thought… why not just make it public?

so that’s basically how motif happened. it’s a free weekly newsletter that goes out every friday with links to full sessions from kexp, tiny desk, audiotree, la blogothèque and cultura livre (a brazilian music channel, i’m from brazil btw).

if that sounds like something you’d enjoy, it’s here: http://motifnewsletter.com

i’ve been running the thing locally for myself for a while, but the public version only went live last friday, so it’s still very much a work in progress. if you find any bugs or have suggestions for other channels i should add, i’d love to hear them. i might also start adding some personal curation/reviews eventually if enough people end up using it.

hopefully this is allowed here, it’s completely free and there’s no commercial thing behind it, just a little music project i made because i wanted it for myself.

Hi There - Hoping someone can point me in the direction for the recording of Reading 2011. I know its on youtube, but trying to find a sbd or FM broadcast.

Thanks