By Rob Goald
rsgoald@comcast.net
 

Rage Against The Machine, Iggy & The Stooges, Muse and Daft Punk To Headline 3rd Annual Vegoose Music Festival October 27 &28 at Sam Boyd Stadium

We are witnessing the rebirth of the music festival and once again America’s de facto entertainment capital, Las Vegas, is leading the way with the third incarnation of the Vegoose Music Festival. While not the wisest or oldest festival in the nation, it is clearly the most rad featuring a potpourri of indie bands, hip- hop and jam bands performing in a carnival atmosphere celebrating the Halloween weekend October 27-28. To add to the fun there will be an Impersonators Café designed for faux celebrity sightings and a Vegoose Wedding Chapel performing quick and fake nuptials for all so inclined. Halloween costumes while not required are strongly suggested. Tickets for both days run $146.50 with a one day pass priced at $79.50 and a very special VIP ticket package at $477.50.

Promoter Jonathan Mayer has planned a non-stop party weekend taking advantage of the Vegas reputation for after partying by kicking off the festival the night before (i.e. October 26th) at The House of Blues with the trip- hop sounds of Thievery Corporation playing an 11PM set while Moe, a venerable favorite at music festivals jams things up at The Joint at 10:30PM.
After parties are scheduled every night after the Festival day ends.
What follows is an annotated line-up for Vegoose 07:

Saturday October 27, 2007:

DAFT PUNK: French duo will supply electro- funk with a dash of existential madness and a “Carrot Top” approach to staging and choreography


IGGY & THE STOOGES: Iggy Pop (aka James Osterberg Jr. ), Godfather of Punk, will perform with the original Stooges (minus Dave Alexander who’s dead) their entire second Elektra album entitled Funhouse for the first time in 37 years! Some of the great cuts on that album include: “Down on the Street”, “Loose” & “ T.V. Eye”. At 60 years old let’s see if Iggy still has the washboard stomach.



THE SHINS
A classic indie guitar pop group from Albuquerque, NM that writes hook infused pop tunes that will put a smile on your face.


CYPRESS HILL
The first Latino hip-hop superstars, notable for their slow, rolling bass-and-drum loops that pioneered a new, stoned funk that became influential in '90s hip-hop


QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
Formed from the ashes of a band called Kyuss, this California stoner band is supported by many fans including head Foo Fighter Dave Grohl.

PUBLIC ENEMY
Hip-hopping for over 25 years with lead rapper Chuck D hitting on more social problems than Barrack Obama and Hilary Clinton combined.

STS9
Aka Sound Tribe Sector 9 brings a style of dub-influenced, break beat-infused psychedelic music with a heavy emphasis on group improvisation,.

THIEVERY CORPORATION
Make abstract, instrumental, mid-tempo dance music somewhere between trip-hop and acid jazz

M.I.A.
London based hip hop with a unique voice

ATMOSPHERE
A hip-hop group from Minneapolis that centers around rapper Slug (aka Sean Daley).

MASTODON
Plays an innovative, hard-to-categorize blend of metal, grind core, and hardcore

BLONDE REDHEAD
Noisy, dissonant guitars, alternate tunings, and quiet, stilted lyrics have often been compared to early Sonic Youth

LUPE FIASCO
Grammy nominated Chicago based rapper

GOGOL BORDELLO
Combining elements of punk, gypsy music, and Brecht-ian cabaret, Gogol Bordello tells the story of New York's immigrant Diaspora.

BATTLES
NYC based experimental rock

FEDERICO AUBELE
Argentine guitar player who dabbles in electronica and is tied to the Thievery Corporation


Sunday, October 28, 2007

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Bombastic, fiercely polemical music, with sloganeering leftist rants against corporate America, cultural imperialism, and government oppression into a I.E.D. of punk, hip-hop, and thrash.

MUSE
English synth rock that is both emotive and dynamic

MOE
Distinct blend of Americana, playful melodic turns, exceptional songwriting, and diverse arrangements

MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD
Angry young hip-hopper with a political, socially conscious bent

UMPHREY’S MCGEE
A jam band coming out of the Midwest in the mid-'90s, Umphrey's McGee edges toward the late Frank Zappa style of improv rock scale

ROBERT RANDOLF & THE FAMILY BAND
New Jersey style blues rock

INFECTED MUSHROOM
One of Israel's key trance producing duos
.
GHOSTFACE KILLAH & The Rhythm Roots Allstars
One of the original members of the seminal '90s rap crew The Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah (aka Tony Starks) performs hip hop with a NYC accent

UNKLE
Experimental hip-hop outfit launched the instrumental mid-'90s down tempo breakbeat revival eventually termed trip-hop.

GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY
Mashing together electro, rock, and funk and taking cues from artists like Daft Punk.

PHAROAHE MONCH
Pharoahe Monch developed a reputation as one of underground hip-hop's pre-eminent lyricists, crafting intricate and intelligent raps with partner Prince Poetry.

ALO
California funk jam

For up to the minute details check out the official Vegoose website at:
http://www.vegoose.com/index3.htm