If you do like Jeff Tweedy, and you are planning on being at Lollapalooza this year then get yourself over to the Kidz stage at about 3:00 on Friday, 'cuz he's playing a set. "Just A Kid," indeed. (I'm thinkin' "Shot in the Arm" or "Handshake Drugs" might not be the best choices for his setlist.)
Yeah, the schedule was announced a while back, but now we have days and times. The full schedule for Kidzapalooza after the jump.
Kidzapalooza 2008 Lineup Set. I Think.
It's a little hard to tell because the only place it's available is a less-than-helpfully-formatted Myspace page, but here's the lineup for the Chicago edition, set for August 1-3, 2008.
The Jimmies
Tiny Masters of Today
The Dream Jam Band
Homemade Jamz
The Q Brothers
The Terrible Twos
Perry Farrell
Peter DiStefano & Tor
G Love
Suzy Brack and the New Jack Lords
Paul Green School of Rock All Stars
John Yost's Rhythm Revolution
Considering one of the few bands I'm not familiar with - Suzy Brack and the New Jack Lords - is pegged as "tiki-punk," it's safe to say the stage will bring no small amount of rock.
Kidzapalooza Branches Out
When I first saw this weekend's press release announcing the announcement of the Kidzapalooza 2008 lineup, I was somewhat confused. Lollapalooza and its Kidzapalooza stage is scheduled for CHICAGO August 1-3. The Paul Frank Store Los Angeles is, uh, located in LOS ANGELES. As the poster announcing the announcement says, "Of course!" What better place to announce a lineup for a Chicago show than in LA? Perhaps they can also tell us what's coming to the Art Institute of Chicago in early 2009.
But then came this announcement (hat tip: Idolator) that Kidzpalooza is getting its own stand-alone concert at the Hollywood Bowl September 28, with pre-show activities starting at 4:30 PM and the show starting at 6:30 PM. The only artist currently announced is chief Lollapalooza poobah Perry Farrell.
While I think this is a great idea, and one producer Tor Hyams had previously suggested would happen, two concerns:
1) Ticket prices are $12 to $70 (!) dollars. I know, I know, a bunch of people can afford that on the upper end. And that's a pittance compared to, say, Hannah Montana tickets. But I gotta tell you, it was hard enough convincing people to plop down $20 for a Dan Zanes ticket. Anything more than that, even for more multiple artists, is going to be hard...
2) 6:30 PM on a Sunday night? Monday morning's going to be a pain getting the kids ready...
I'd also note this is the same weekend as Austin City Limits Festival, which will certainly make Tor a busy man that week.
Anyway, tickets for the Hollywood Bowl show go on sale Saturday morning at 10 AM. And once you've done that (or not), go over for the events at the Paul Frank Store Los Angeles (which also includes a raffle for a trip to the festival in Chicago). Schedule is after the jump.
Interview: Tor Hyams
I've been sitting on a bunch of interviews from my trips to Austin last September. With the music world once again congregating in Austin for SXSW, it's high time I transcribed and shared them with you.
Given the South By Southwest connection, I thought it appropriate to kick things off with Tor Hyams, who will be speaking at a kids music panel at SXSW Friday.
Among the many roles that California-based Hyams has is producing the Kidzapalooza stage at Lollapalooza and the Austin Kiddie Limits stage at the Austin City Limits Festival, not to mention the Little State stage at the Big State Festival. It was backstage at ACL 2007 that I caught up with Hyams and talked about producing those events and his thoughts about the future of kids music festivals.
Zooglobble: What's been the best part about the Austin Kiddie Limits stage?
Tor Hyams: The best part about the Austin Kiddie Limits is, I have to say, Austin. People are really different. There's no airs about anybody, they're very open and honest and willing to have a good time, and that makes what we do a lot easier.
You produce Kidzapalooza, Austin Kiddie Limits, and the kids stage at the Big State Festival. Big State is more country, while the other two are more rock. How did you decide who you would try to get for Kidzapalooza as opposed to Austin Kiddie Limits?
In Kidzapalooza, we go a little harder-edged. It's just a different energy to that place than here. This is more of a roots-rock kind of energy, where Kidzapalooza is more of hard-rock kind of energy. Some bands fit into both, like the Sippy Cups. Some bands don't work in both. For example, we had the Blisters, Jeff Tweedy's son's band, at Kidzapalooza, but they're from Chicago, and they're kids. It would've been hard to get them out here. I think they would've done well here, but it's just a different thing. So it's really who fits more the roots-rock mold or even country crossover acts do well, but Austin's such a dynamic city that I think you could any kind of act on stage here and it would work.
I saw a quote from Charles Attal, the head of C3 Productions who sort of described the festival circuit as a land grab -- there are a lot of opportunities in a lot of other places to establish these festivals. Do you think a kids stage is something C3 or other entities would be looking towards doing?
It's Never Too Early To Start Thinking About Summer Music Festivals
I've hear rumors of particular bands being booked for C3's twin titans of summer kid-friendly music festivals, Kidzapalooza and Austin Kiddie Limits, and some of those rumors would appear to be inching toward the realm of reality.
Austin Kiddie Limits has posted some new tracks on its Myspace page. New to the page are The Jimmies, Buck Howdy, Uncle Rock, and Mr. RAY. These artists would all appear to be on the bill for AKL, set for September 26 through 28. (Buck Howdy already has AKL dates on his live calendar.) And The Jimmies have a Kidzapalooza date set on their calendar. (Kidzapalooza is set for August 1 through 3.)
These aren't all the bands I've heard rumors of, so more will be announced at some point, to be sure. But, hey, it's only February -- ACL is 7 months away, after all. Now you can plan your summer 2008 road trips accordingly.
Jim James Is Kermit and Alvin at Kidapalooza
Thank goodness for the internet. Without it, there'd be no way for me to show you Jim James' kinda-accurate impersonation of Kermit the Frog at this weekend's Kidzapalooza. Here he does "Rainbow Connection," accompanying himself on banjo:
And if that wasn't enough, James, the front man front from the excellent My Morning Jacket, turns Alvin and the Chipmunks' novelty hit "Christmas Don't Be Late" into something almost haunting. Yeah, it's August, but it's worth a couple minutes of your time...
It's not clear how many kids were actually in that crowd of what looked to be primarily people over 5' 6", though...
