Rock The Garden 2009: Lineup Announced
Though the tentative lineup has been bouncing around for quite some time, the Walker officially announced the lineup for this year’s Rock The Garden concert today. Standing as one of the finest outdoor events of the summer, this year’s lineup includes the Decemberists, Calexico, Yeasayer and Solid Gold. The event will once again be held on the Walker’s hillside “amphitheater” overlooking the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden on Saturday, June 20, 3-11.
The Decemberists: Purchase | Official | Twitter | MySpace | Wikipedia
Calexico: Purchase | Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Yeasayer: Purchase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace | Wikipedia
Yeasayer “2080″ [MP3]
Yeasayer “Sunrise” [MP3]
Solid Gold: Purchase | MySpace
i’m kind of underwhelmed. does that make me a bad person?
Not in the least… I haven’t seen the Decemberists, but Erik tells me they’re well worth it… seen The Yaysayerz a bunch of times & love them, but I kinda feel the same… guess we were spoiled with last year’s bill (which comparatively is pretty similar to this, in all fairness).
it’s not as great as last year, but i’ll still have fun i’m sure.
honestly i’m actually am more excited by the Basilica’s initial lineup with The Hold Steady, The Jayhawks (the circa 1995 lineup!), + The Black Crowes. hopefully they add a couple other decent acts.
the only RTG i’ve missed since I’ve lived here though was Wilco / The Bad Plus / Fog in 2003 cuz we were out east seeing Pearl Jam.
my fave is probably Sonic Youth + Stereolab in ’00 or David Byrne w/ the Tosca Strings + Antibalas from ’04
as for The Decemberists… i’ve been very let down by their last 3 shows i’ve seen honestly. last good show I saw them do was years ago at the 400 Bar, and I kinda feel like their albums have had diminishing returns since ‘Her Majesty’ to boot.
but i’m down w/ the Yeasayer love and Calexico are just a stunning live band.
“The event will once again be held on the Walker’s hillside “amphitheater†overlooking the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden”
Pretty versitle “amphitheater” they got…works pretty sweet as a road most days, but one day a year…..watch out Red Rocks.
shrugs, I wish The Current would actually put together a line-up that hints at their supposed diverse playlist instead of a Wonder Bread-safe ticket seller. Given any event they put together would still sell-out. gliok for Solid Gold, Yeasayer should be fine.
Jon, make no mistake, Rock The Garden is a Walker event first and foremost. It existed LONG before 89.3 did. The Current are obviously a major player but let’s not point all the blame on them
and Josh, actually the stage setup isn’t the same this year, the stage will face the grass, unlike previous RTG’s (which actually never even had that grass hill until last year’s). that should make for a lot better setup imo.
i’m going to have to second what jonjon said, regardless of who is responsible.
not saying i disagree… but let’s hear your guys ideal 4 artist lineup that fits the average Walker/Current demographic that you’d approve/prefer?
by the same token, there’s a lot of things I could have complained about the lack of diversity at Soundset too
yo solace, I’m just sayin…and Soundset, hmmm, Rhymesayers got the indie, emo, & college radio on lock, I’m not sure what diversity they are missing unless you’d like to see Cam’ron, Lil’Wayne or some other mainstream garbage-bin rapper. I was at Soundset it was terrific, heavy on the suburbs fa’sho, this year so far they’ve added MF Doom, Immortal Technique….they didn’t add Black Eyed Peas and pretend its a jump-off of glory.
are we now talking average Walker/Current demographic??? jokes right?
Wu-Tang (performing 36 Chambers)
Broken Social Scene
Santogold
Animal Collective
+
Roma di Luna/Black Blondie/Vampire Hands
or maybe should Wu-Tang be replaced by Sage Francis,to rep the demo,lol
cheers/yo
i meant Soundset is 100% hip hop… sure there’s some diversity in types of hip hop a bit, but that wasn’t my joke
as for demographics… well if you don’t believe that’s what these types of events are about, i hate to break it to you, but they are, like it or not, but it’s true.
as for that lineup… other than Wu-Tang I don’t really see that much difference other than that’s what you’d prefer. in fact i’d argue putting Animal Collective (who aren’t a very good live act anyway) on that bill would automatically make it way more indie-tastic than the current bill.
i posted my wish list lineup on Twitter a while back:
The National
Explosions In The Sky
Calexico
so i got 1 of the 3 bands i wished for
as for Sounset, i’ll go again this year, but I wish they’d get a bit bigger headliner. was really hoping they’d score Q-Tip
Jon Jon, I would see that show in a heartbeat-but you know the Walker/Current would never invite the Wu, and you know if BSS were involved, Chris would hyperventilate due to Canada being represented. I agree, it’s a bit of a safe lineup-but really, what can they do? They need to have a lineup that draws, because the Walker is struggling financially, and needs the revenue from this type of event. I’m pretty sure they would be able to sell it out, no matter what the lineup, just because it’s such a fun event and there are such few good outdoor shows in this city/state-but they really can’t take that chance. But I think it’s a stronger lineup than last year (especially looking back on the sets that were played last year-the day was more fun than the music, imo).
And, I really hope the Decemberists put on a fantastic show (especially since their last show @ First Ave was a dud-Colin was sick, and he said he “owed us a great show next time.”) So, here’s his chance-I hope he, and the band, prove all you haters wrong.
not to mention I think we’ve all released that the Current is no longer all about the diversity and their playlist proves that point out. again, whether we like it or not
but like Erik said… would I rather not have an event like this rather than a safe one? no.
we lack these types of events over say Chicago big time, so I kinda feel we’re lucky with whatever we get for outdoor summer shows.
released? jebus.
how about realized, lol
any random 3 national bands on The Current would likey sell-out the Walker, The Decemberist is the savior of the Walker economic troubles. Wu-Tang was a personal pick, of course they wouldn’t book them,lol.
solace, good that some of your favs are playing. Animal Collective would at least make it interesting, I’m not against it be too indie. I just look at the line-up as bland, boring without any swagger, save for local jump-off kings Solid Gold. Sorry no Q-Tip please.
Demographics, excues?
whoa whoa whoa… Jonny – let’s take it back a step. Leave Cam’ron outta this
DIPSET!
lol, Dipset!
wha? no Q-Tip?
why you hatin’
i just wish they’d get someone quite a bit bigger than Atmosphere to headline. i realize it’s there show, but still would be nice imo.
Hey, not to sound daft but what other bands have played Rock the Garden in years past? I only moved to Minnesota recently. Sonic Youth? David Byrne? Yes, please! Are the lineups usually pretty solid?
yeah, i’m not so much accusing anyone of anything or being angry as i am just a little disappointed.
i mean, take a look at this year’s lineup and last year’s lineup (literally– google image search the eight artists), and tell me what you see.
it’s not just about genre, not just about gender, not just about race, not just about culture, not just about anything– just a little bit of all that.
again, no sour grapes. i think the show will be cool and i hope the walker makes a lot of money; i also know how hard it is to organize large-scale events. it just disappoints me that this is the landscape we have to work with, and that soooo many people aren’t even going to notice that something’s off.
i’m not asking for tokenism; i just hope everyone can have a constructive conversation around this, that we can at least acknowledge that the lineups are kind of, as jonjon said, “bland, boring without any swagger, save for local jump-off kings Solid Gold.”
finally, soundset it explicitly a hip hop show, so there’s no need for genre diversity. i know this event is called “rock” the garden, but i never got that it was supposed to actually be a rock festival, just a big outdoor show. is there a mission statement online somewhere?
Matt:
past Rock The Garden’s (i don’t know the lineups prior to 2000, i moved here in October of ’99):
2000
Sonic Youth, Stereolab, Sunship Sextet
2002
Medeski Martin & Wood
2003
Wilco, The Bad Plus, Fog
2004
David Byrne (w/ the Tosca Strings), Antibalas (still called Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra at the time)
then it was on hiatus until last year’s:
Andrew Bird, New Pornographers, Cloud Cult, Bon Iver
honestly I don’t see that much diff between this year and last years in terms of bands that people would complain about being “bland boring and without any swagger”, in fact maybe even moreso than this year. and just because Solid Gold have “swagger” and are danicer, they’re just as big of hipster attractions as any other on this years lineup IMO.
Kyle, i know Soundset is exclusively a hip hop show, it was a joke
that said, i still think they too could do a little more in the way of diversity within their lineup than has been announced so far this year, just my .02
They probably didn’t consider Animal Collective because the drug arrests would be staggering
I am not all that happy with this lineup, but as far as the Current/Walker goes – it isn’t all that surprising. They need Indie bands that also have a lot of crossover appeal to the suburbanites.
It would be awesome if they took more of a chance and got a band that drew more than just white 20 and 30 somethings, but i am not going to hold my breath.
At least they threw in Yeasayer and Solid Gold though.
Anyone want to organize the Rock the Garden’s evil twin show to play on the same day across the street?
I am thinking:
Ghostface/Raekwon
King Kahn and the Shrines
Flying Lotus
Gay Witch Abortion
again, i’d argue Yeasayer and Solid Gold are much more prototypical “indie” acts than Calexico…
Calexico is the most diverse band in this entire lineup (which i realize isn’t exactly a compliment, but still)
and no offense Jon, but your lineup would sell less than 2000 tickets
Maybe, but it would still be a better show
Geez, I kind of agree with most everything that’s been said – to sum:
-it looks like an interesting lineup (Calexico really kicks it live!)
-it’s not a very diverse lineup
-it pretty much represents the demographics
-it could definitely benefit by being less ‘wonder bread & miracle whip’
-anything too ‘edgy’ prolly wouldn’t sell tickets, which is sort of the whole point of a fund-raiser event
-there are precious few outdoor music events in the TC
-Explosions In The Sky would make any lineup better
I think Ozomatli might make for an interesting addition/substitution and would shake things up a tiny bit – not enough to keep the Deephaven (to pick on but one suburban enclave) wallets shut, but enough to spice it up a little. Depending on the desired vibe, Culver City Dub Collective would make for a cool show at that ‘venue’. I’m curious to see how it sells.
I think you’re all a little spoiled. I’m coming down for the show from Grand Forks, ND. I’m thankful we have a music scene at all up here, even if half the acts are mediocre cover bands. I really enjoyed The Decemberists’ live performance here, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96585759, and knew I had to jump at the chance to see them. I’m marginally familiar with Calexico and had never heard of the other bands.
I’m looking forward to this event and hope you can all see the best in it as well.
I haven’t attended one of these since the Sonic Youth/Stereolab one. Since then the lineups seem to get blander and blander and haven’t really had much I have wanted to see. (well I probably would have gone to the Wilco one but I saw them that summer elsewhere if I remember my years right).
Besides, I’m not going again till the Walker makes this a 4 hour outdoor performance by Sunn0))). I’d also go to Jon’s lineup.
my goodness I think some of you are talking about bands you’ve never investigated. go listen to calexico’s hot rail and then spokes and then feast of wire and garden ruin and convict pool and you’ve got mucho diversity right there!
they are worth it alone, along with decemberists and yeasayer you are pretty much covering most of the indie spectrum
add explosions (i agree solace!) and a poppy band like stars and you’ve got it all really (what is this hip hop and indie only cross occasionally). I don’t even know this solid gold band of which y’all speak so I don’t have a stupid uninformed opinion of them either.
and jon your taste in music is very individual and may only make you happy. you’d rather see a neasayer than a yeasayer and sorry anyone who calls them bland is strange i’ve seen them live and they have lots of tribal drums and a front man prone to dramatic interpretation too. interesting at the very least!