2009 Festival Update

- Dates and Location: August 7 to 9 at Grant Park, Chicago

- Confirmed Headliners: Beastie Boys, Depeche Mode, Jane's Addiction, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Tool

- Other Confirmed Performers: Andrew Bird, Atmosphere, Ben Folds, The Decemberists, Delta Spirit, Friendly Fires, Kaiser Chiefs, Lou Reed, The Ravonettes, Neko Case, The NewNo2

- Confirmed Performers Include: Ben Harper and the Relentless 7, Boombox, Buckethead, Assembly of Dust, Galactic, Cornmeal, Les Claypool, Umphrey's McGee

- Dates and Location: July 17 to 19 in Chicago

- Confirmed Acts: Built to Spill, Grizzly Bear, The Jesus Lizard, The National, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Pharoahe Monch, Tortoise, Vivian Girls, The Walkmen, Yo La Tengo

SXSW 2009

From March 13 to March 22, the South by Southwest Festival was in full swing in Austin, Texas. While many bands performed, here are some of the reported highlights.

- Indie rock band The Decemberists performed their upcoming album The Hazards of Love in its entirety. The album has been viewed as a rock opera in the vein of Tommy.

- Jane's Addiction, who recently reunited and will hit the road with Nine Inch Nails this year, played a ten song set in the strange venue of a former supermarket. The group ripped through several hits from their first decade, ignoring their post-Ritual de lo Habitual material. The setlist included "Mountain Song," "Stop!" and "Been Caught Stealing."

- Metallica played a 90 minute greatest hits set that surprisingly didn't include Enter Sandman. Probably one of the strangest factors of the show was the band's opening act. Instead of a traditional band playing, three contest winners played Guitar Hero: Metallica tracks.

- Other acts that performed at the show included Kayne West, Ben Harper and the Relentless7, Devo, Fleet Foxes, Ra Ra Riot, Silversun Pickups, The Duke Spirit, The Morning Light, The Used, and Tori Amos.

Nine Inch Nails/Jane's Addiction Announce Tour Dates

Trent Reznor announced the tour dates he's worked out with Jane's Addiction so far. It sounds like there could be more dates confirmed in the future. As it stands, the tour will begin in May in Florida before working its way across the U.S. over the next month. The date tickets go on sale and the price have not been announced yet. Here are the tour dates:

May 8 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
May 9 - Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre
May 10 - Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
May 14 - Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
May 15 - Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
May 16 - Chula Vista, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
May 18 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Pearl
May 20 - Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
May 22 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
May 26 - Englewood, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
May 27 - Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre
May 29 - Chicago, IL @ Charter One Pavilion (NIN Only)
May 30 - Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
May 31 - Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
June 2 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
June 3 - Darien Lake, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheatre
June 5 - Camden, NJ @ Tweeter Center At The Waterfront
June 6 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
June 7 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Music Theater
June 9 - Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 10 - Burgettstown, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
June 12 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

It looks like a pretty good trek but I wish they would have chosen somewhere other than Jones Beach for the NY show. It's pretty tough for anyone without a car to get there. For all you Nine Inch Nails fans out there, Reznor has stated that this will be the last NIN work he does for some time. The band will be going on hiatus soon so go to these shows if you get the chance. It may be the last of Trent you see for a while.