I talked to my friend Brian today and he lives up in the north west so his festival of choice is Sasquatch while mine is Coachella (I live in southern California).  And he told me that Sasquatch is only going to sell 4-day passes.  Honestly it's kinda sad to see that this is becoming a "thing".  Coachella did this years ago and it sucks for the people that really want to enjoy the festival but can't commit to the whole thing.  And I gotta admit, a day or two of Coachella is all you really need.  Three full days is a little much (I'm an old guy now).  I can't even imagine FOUR days of Sasquatch.

I understand that at the end of the day it's just a business, but there's no reason to exclude a minority of fans that can't do it.  What I don't understand is the lame excuse, "there's such a high demand for tickets so we'll only sell 4-day passes".  It just translates to me as, "We can force people to pay $300+ for tickets, so why would we bother to accommodate the people that can only go one or two days?"  This year's Coachella is in such a high demand that they booked two full weekends of identical bands and sold them both out.

So as the demand increases it's just going to push the more casual fan out.  I know people really love the festival (I really do), but there are clear benefits of living in a major town with no festival scene.  At least then you have a fighting chance of seeing only the bands that you want to see and not have to put up with parking, dickheads, heat just to see Gotye.

Let's see how much of this stuff I can put together.  I'm trying to keep on top of my links by using twitter (which automatically goes to facebook) so if you wanna get this info faster please follow us there (some of the stuff below is probably duplicated on twitter and facebook as well)

Tons of good stuff today, a surprising number of NSFW links (two), but they are relevant.  :)  Enjoy!

A week and change after doing "Sacred Trickster" on Letterman, Sonic Youth skipped over the chance to repeat The Eternal's Yves Klein/Noise Nomads/hipster girl anthem and instead offered Fallon the Thurston-fronted, Lee harmonized "No Way." A game-faced Moore wore shades for the occasion, Gordon a silver (Goo-era?) dress. Mark Ibold, clearly locking in with Ranaldo (when not locking in with Steve), received a favorable bass mix. The flashing lights during the breakdown part? Clearly deserved. Afterward, they're all smiles.Continue reading Sonic Youth Tell Jimmy Fallon "No Way"... - Source

Guitars, not car parts. Dummy. - Source

Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon has claimed that Radiohead showed up smaller, poorer bands with the release of 2007's 'In Rainbows', calling their release plan a "marketing ploy". - Source

When we caught up with Thurston Moore recently, he told us, "I think the Matador record shows us in an excited and newly liberated state of play." The John Fahey bedecked Matador album in question, The Eternal, the band's followup to the duskier, tauter Rather Ripped, is indeed a rollicking good time. When you stop to think about it, it's actually hard believing this is album 16, that the band's been around since 1981, and that the core's largely in (or close to, Steve) their 50s. They've had duds, yes, but since Murray Street, they seem revitalized, so the fact that The Eternal's good shouldn't be a surprise. It's more surprising the way they go about it.Continue reading Premature Evaluation: Sonic Youth - The Eternal... - Source

On a Record Store Day exclusive split 7" that was nowhere to be found by the time I got to Other Music, Beck covered EVOL cut "Green Light" and The Sonik Youth returned the favor with a take on Mellow Gold dirge "Pay No Mind (Snoozer)." (The sales climb high through the garbage-pail sky/ like a giant dildo crushing the sun..., you remember.) Matador printed twenty five hundred copies, which means dozens are currently available to you on eBay. If you missed out, or aren't into getting scalped, you can listen to "Green Light" below.Continue reading Beck Covers Sonic Youth, Sonic Youth Covers Beck... - Source

In the grand tradition of selling out, Sonic Youth bassist and singer Kim Gordon has gone into business with Urban Outfitters, making her Mirror/Dash line of clothing available for the masses at the clothing stores starting Monday. We understand if you want to leave now to camp out for your place in line. - Source

Sonic Youth are in the final stages of recording their new album. - Source