HI this is Gemma Dempsey and welcome to another edition of the GGG. This week we head to Israel for Jerusalem Rocks! Texas for Austin City Limits, San Francisco for 911 Power to the Peaceful, Los Angeles for the Underground Electronic Music Festival and a quick reminder about a couple of UK Festivals…
The UN has designated September 21st as an International peace day to commemorate and strengthen the ideals of peace through a global ceasefire. During September The GGG will feature some of the events that are doing their bit to bring peace and understanding to this planet. One such festival is Jerusalem Rocks in Israel. According to the website All About Jazz, this event aims to celebrate the freedom of expression inherent in music with the added hope of making Jerusalem a place to embrace cultural differences. It will be held at the Teddy Kollek Stadium and as it takes place close to the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the organizers hope that people who were coming to Jerusalem for the holiday will also make time to attend the event. The line up includes Black Eyed Peas and Arrested development as well as local Israeli acts – making it the biggest event of this nature to take place in Jerusalem in 20 years.
In San Francisco Michael Franti and Spearhead presents the 911 Power to the Peaceful Festival in Golden Gate Park. This event aims to promote social justice, co existence and environmental sustainability. Also on the bill The Indigo Girls and DJ Spooky. What began in 1998 for a crowd of 6,000 now draws over 60,000 fans – proof positive of the power of music to unite like minded people.
Its that time of year again when the state capital of Texas hosts one big music party – Austin City Limits – Taking place at Zilker park it comprises 3 days, 8 stages and 130 bands that include Bob Dylan, The White Stripes, The Decemberists, Crowded House and Fionn Regan to name just a very few. If you check out the Austin City Limits website you can see the full line up as well as participate in The Sound and the Jury – this allows you to vote online for your favourite new band – the lucky winner will get a spot on music festival’s line up.
If you are listening to the Global Gig Guide from Los Angeles and you are into electronica, you’re in luck – September 15th heralds the Underground Electronic music festival. Featuring DJ’s , VJ’s, producers and live bands, this event brings together music makers and fans to listen, network and dance from 2pm to 2 am. The list of DJs includes Adriana Lopez from Spain, Robin Porter from the UK and a live performance from the Mexican electronica trio Nino Astronauta. A portion of the profits will go towards helping victims of landmines in Colombia.
And finally a quick trip to Blighty to mention two of the last festivals of the summer – The End of the Road in the south of England is a 3 day event featuring I’m From Barcelona, Midlake, Yo La Tengo, My Brightest Diamond and lots of stars on the rise. If you are a KCRW subscriber and will be in the UK in mid September, you could win tickets to all three days of Festival by emailing us at Giveaway@kcrw.org or go to KCRW.com/globalgigguide for more information on how to win.
On the weekend before End of the Road is Bestival in the Isle of Wight; curated by BBC Radio’s Rob Da Bank it’s a lot of fun frivolity and great music – its also sold out! So if you are going please send us some photos - especially if you are wearing fancy dress or a false moustache.
That’s it for this weeks GGG. Feel free to email us information about festivals in your part of the world, the address is Global@kcrw.com. Otherwise check back with us next week for more information about global gigging.
The Global Gig Guide is produced for KCRW.com by JC Swiatek and the theme music is composed by The Plush Interiors.