Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood will headline the fifth Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio, slated for April 30 and May 1 on a weekend that also will feature country veterans Loretta Lynn, Rodney Crowell and Ricky Skaggs as well as newcomers including the Secret Sisters, Easton Corbin and Steel Magnolia.

Leon Russell, Darius Rucker, Wanda Jackson, Truth & Salvage Co., Josh Turner and Jack Ingram will help fill out the weekend bill, for which tickets will go on sale Nov. 5. The full lineup and details on camping and other arrangements are posted at the Stagecoach website.  Two-day festival passes will cost $99, and children 10 and under are free. Stagecoach is held on the grounds of the Empire Polo Field.

-- Randy Lewis 

Photo of Kenny Chesney at 2009 Stagecoach festival. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Photo of Carrie Underwood at 2008 Grammy Awards. Credit Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

The arrival this weekend of the second Epicenter festival in Fontana begs the question: Does the world really have room for yet another pop music festival?

“No, not really,” says Gary Spivack, co-president of Right Arm Entertainment, the promoter of Epicenter, which in its sophomore year has assembled an eclectic lineup of rock, hip-hop, punk and alternative acts including Eminem, KISS, blink-182, Bush, Rise Against and Bad Religion on Saturday and Sunday at the Auto Club Speedway.

“There are a lot of festivals out there and some really good ones here in Southern California,” Spivack said. “But if someone is being underserved, we want to serve underserved, and we thought, ‘Where’s the really big rock festival that also is able to include some of the really credible hip-hop artists of the day?’ ”

For Eminem, it’s only his third live performance this year -- and only West Coast appearance -- following recent rap blowouts in his native Detroit and then New York on stadium bills he shared with Jay-Z.

“If you’re going to do a show in Southern California, where people have so many options to choose from, you’ve got to swing for the fences,” says Spivack, who started Right Arm four years ago with partners Del Williams and Danny Wimmer. The three were longtime record label employees who “saw the writing on the wall,” Spivack said, in terms of the drastic downscaling so many record companies have gone through in recent years.

 

Tickets never went on sale and promotions were never staged, but a planned headlining concert by electronic artist Tiësto is the center of a seven-figure civil suit filed against the city of Los Angeles on Friday. Local dance promoter Insomniac Inc. claims the city breached its contract when it canceled what would have been an Oct. 30 concert by the well-known trance artist in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

On Monday, the mayor’s office referred requests for comments to the convention center, and a spokeswoman for the facility said no statement or comment would be forthcoming. In its filing, Insomniac --  the company that also staged the now-controversial two-day Electric Daisy Carnival in and around L.A. Memorial Coliseum in late June -- claims that the city did not have proper cause to terminate the concert, for which tickets were to go on sale Aug. 17.

Insomniac writes in its complaint that the city cited the rampant use of the drug Ecstasy at Electric Daisy, as well as the death of a teenage girl who attended the concert and died of a suspected overdose, as its reasons for calling off the Tiësto appearance. In its claims for damages, Insomniac cited more than a dozen recent deaths at or after major music or sporting events, including that of a 27-year-old man who died after being punched at a Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim game, essentially arguing that the Tiësto appearance was unfairly singled out because of public perceptions of dance and electronic rave-like concerts.

The Roskilde Festival in Denmark, billed as Northern Europe’s biggest music and culture festival, usually coincides with Independence Day in the U.S., and this year, veteran composer-arranger-orchestrator-raconteur Van Dyke Parks decided to weave something socio-politically relevant into his recent performance as one of the headliners of  the 2010 event, which wrapped up on July 4.

So he turned to an expansive arrangement of “Across the Borderline,” the Ry Cooder-John Hiatt-Jim Dickinson song that was featured prominently in the 1982 Jack Nicholson film “The Border.”

Now a fascinating behind-the-scenes video has surfaced from Parks’ performance, including interview footage with him and highlights of the song featuring young Guatemalan singer Gaby Moreno and the Danish Radio Youth Ensemble.

“When I got asked to come to Roskilde, I decided that I should keep a focus on something that I’m interested in,” Parks says in the video. “And I found by going to Pan-American music that I could hit on something which is essentially a very hot political topic right now, and that is immigration.”

To complement the songs’ lyrics about the perils people are willing to risk in search of a better life for themselves and their families in another land, longtime Southern California resident Parks said, “We took a trip back to these great romantic classics of Latin America to find the rhythms we love that said the things that we think are important to think about.

Musically speaking, “I presented some very difficult arrangements for a bunch of young people. …I think it served what I wanted to do: I wanted it to serve people that are younger than any of my neckties.”

As for the heated debate raging over immigration back home, Parks notes, “I don’t have any answers. But I want my music to raise questions. I would like to comfort people, but I'd also like to take the people that are comfortable by the throat and yank them into a sense of obligation into improving this world.”

Take a look and give a listen.

-- Randy Lewis

The following is an excerpt from a story that will appear in tomorrow's Los Angeles Times.

When the Electric Daisy Carnival — a massive dance party with top-name acts — rolled into town last weekend, officials thought they were prepared, this time.

There were rows of ambulances ready outside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Nearby hospitals raised their staff to levels that are used for "multi-casualty incidents," such as train crashes. The Los Angeles Police Department used twice as many officers as are usually deployed at USC football games. Crash-proof fences were installed to guard against crowd surges and an investigator from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was stationed at the command post.

But was it enough?

The suspected drug overdose death on Tuesday evening of a 15-year-old girl who had attended the event came on the heels of reports that hundreds had tried to crash the gates and scores were taken by ambulance to nearby emergency rooms, most with symptoms of drug intoxication.

On Wednesday, as criticism mounted, Coliseum officials announced a temporary ban on new contracts with rave operators as they consider whether to allow another such event.

"The general public deserves to be assured that when the Coliseum's tenants stage an event, the health and safety of the promoter's patrons are protected," Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who serves on the joint state, county and city commission that oversees the Coliseum, said in a letter calling for a temporary halt to such events. "Clearly, there was a breakdown at the Electric Daisy Carnival which put the public at risk."

The death Tuesday of Sasha Rodriguez, a high school student and drill team member from Atwater Village, was the latest in a string of high-profile problems at raves held in public venues — problems that already had attracted the attention of the CDC.

Last month, the CDC reported at least 18 Ecstasy overdoses at a New Year's rave at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, next to the Coliseum. Two men died of suspected overdoses during a Memorial Day weekend rave at the Cow Palace in Daly City, south of San Francisco.

At the Electric Daisy Carnival, held for the 14th year, Los Angeles police made 118 arrests, mostly for drug possession. Deputy Police Chief Pat Gannon said he had 40 plainclothes detectives working the show — and added that "if I had 1,000 I would have made 1,000 arrests it was so packed with drugs."

Officials from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said they have filed 34 felony drug charges in connection with the event. In addition, 25 cases alleging possession with intent to sell have been referred to the L.A. city attorney's office.

Los Angeles has perhaps the most thriving rave scene in the nation, and the Electric Daisy Carnival is billed as North America's largest dance event. Promoters said 185,000 attended over two days. Raves are known for mixing a stew of electronic music, special effects and, frequently, narcotics, to fuel dancers for hours. Many who attended the event said the crowd was friendly and mellow.

Technically, anyone who was under 16 had to be accompanied by an adult — but Gannon said there was no evidence that anyone was checking attendees' identification.

Los Angeles-based Insomniac Inc., the festival's producer, called Sasha's death "a tragic circumstance" in a statement Wednesday.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to her family and friends at this difficult time," the statement said. "We are currently reviewing the entire event and planning process with our security team, law enforcement and the city officials who participated in organizing and planning Electric Daisy Carnival."

Insomniac declined to discuss the issue further.

Read the full story. 

Crowds rush a fence at the Electric Daisy Carnival. (John W. Adkisson / Los Angeles Times)

Rong-Gong Lin II on the Times' L.A. Now reports: 

A 15-year-old girl has died of a suspected drug overdose after attending a rave over the weekend at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a hospital official said Tuesday.

The girl was one of two rave attendees who were in critical condition at California Hospital Medical Center after the 14th annual Electric Daisy Carnival. According to the event's website, guests had to be at least 16 to attend, raising questions about how the girl gained admission.

She and the other critically ill patient had been taken to the downtown Los Angeles hospital by ambulance directly from the venue, officials said. Both were treated for drug intoxication in the  intensive care unit.

“She came in as an emergency patient from the rave. She was in respiratory arrest when she got here and she never recovered,” said Katreena Salgado, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

Salgado said the 15-year old girl arrived non-responsive and never woke up. She died shortly before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

A full determination of the drugs in the dead teen's system will not be known until an autopsy and toxicology tests are completed. 

Read more on L.A. Now, including statements from Pat Lynch, who manages the Coliseum.

When well-known indies Sub Pop, Merge and Touch & Go threw anniversary parties, the labels did so in their hometowns. New York's famed Matador Records, however, is going the twentysomething bachelor party route, celebrating is 21st anniversary with a three-day weekend in October in Las Vegas. The already-reunited Pavement will be joined by the soon-to-be-reunited Guided by Voices, leading a lineup of more than 20 artists on Oct. 1-3.

Masters of the low-fi guitar rock, Guided by Voices split, more or less, in 2004, and Matador promises that the Vegas anniversary gigs will feature the band's "classic" 1993-96 lineup, which likely means the band that included guitarists Tobin Sprout and Mitch Mitchell. The event is set for the Palms Casino & Resort, and ticket prices and a full lineup will be revealed on July 5.

After missing in action since 1999, alt-rock slacker heroes Pavement have become regulars around the Southwest, having already appeared at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and a festival warm-up date, and are currently booked for a Sept. 30 gig at the Hollywood Bowl. 

Other artists on the Matador bill include Spoon, who signed with the label outside the U.S., Belle & Sebastian, Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the New Pornographers, Superchunk, Girls, Cold Cave and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, among others. 

The label promises more acts to be announced. Matador's anniversary party is being thrown in conjunction with Los Angeles promoters' FYF Fest.

-- Todd Martens

This blog post will begin after the following thank-you note:

Dear Chicago,

Pop & Hiss would like to thank you for again putting our West Coast life into perspective. The recent reporting on Vocalo.org and the Chicago Tribune has reminded music fans here in L.A. that our annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival may indeed appear to be downright altruistic in comparison with your annual waterfront party, Lollapalooza. 

XoXo,

Pop & Hiss

And now for the blog post:

Political and business dealings always seem more in interesting in Chicago. In fact, interesting probably isn't the right word for the Windy City, which has blessed the world with a string of head-scratching characters and shady deals, ranging from William Hale Thompson's pro-booze and pro-gangster mayorship during Prohibition to the continued cartoonish buffoonery of the always "golden" Blago.

And now Chicago's rock media elites, Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, are reporting that Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan is conducting an antitrust investigation of Lollapalooza promoters for enforcing particularly strenuous radius clauses into their contracts. All major festivals, including our desert dance bonanza, Coachella, insist on radius clauses, which prevent an artist from performing in the market in the weeks and months leading up to the event. 

Yet do Lollapalooza's rules go too far? DeRogatis broke the story on the festival, which is co-owned by the William Morris Endeavor agency and Texas-based C3 Presents, and he wrote, "Sources have said that the most extreme of these clauses stretch from six months before Lollapalooza to three months after it, and that they encompass a 300-mile radius -- which would include concert markets as far away as Milwaukee, Madison, Iowa City, Detroit, and Indianapolis."

And here we in L.A. simply thought that Lolla's biggest offense was an $850 VIP "lounge pass."

Multi-day San Francisco music fest Outside Lands today pulled back the curtain on its all-star lineup of designer food and wine. Let's Be Frank, the Vampire Weekend of hot-dog eateries, and Pica Pica Maize Kitchen, which boasts a cachapa aimed squarely at a Calexico fan's heart, will anchor a lineup of more than 30 cult culinary options from acclaimed restaurants and wineries. 

The two-day Golden Gate Park event is set for the weekend of Aug. 14, and Outside Lands will unveil its full roster of side attractions, including its music, on June 1. Limited-edition, lower-priced tickets go on sale Friday (May 7). That should give fans plenty of time to decide which wine goes best with the Animal Collective's 5 1/2-minute warped mediation of "Graze." 

All kidding aside, the move points to a burgeoning collision of the indie and foodie set, as well as, perhaps, the more affluent concertgoer who can shell out the cash for multi-day fests and hotels. The IFC's "Dinner With the Band" showcases the culinary smarts of the likes of Kid Sister and Yacht, among others, and Lollapalooza tapped famed Chicago chef Graham Elliot Bowles to curate the festival's food options. 

Because Brooks & Dunn and Toby Keith played Sunday night after the deadline for Monday Calendar's Stagecoach report, coverage of their performances is being blogged on Pop & Hiss:

The most impressive thing about Toby Keith’s festival-closing performance Sunday at Stagecoach was the fact that he took the time in the middle of the set to string together several contemplative songs on a night when most fans would have been happy to spend the whole time on their feet whooping and hollering along with the upbeat stuff.

Nuance isn’t a quality that gets a lot of attention in the waning hours of events like this.

But this Oklahoma tough guy has his sensitive side too, which makes some of his more blustery songs easier to swallow in context.

It helps, of course, when his reflective nature is directed toward such subjects as his favorite watering hole (“I Love This Bar”) or the yearning to have lived a more adventurous life (“Should’ve Been a Cowboy”) using imagery his audience can fully relate to.

He’s a good lyricist and as time goes by he’s found inventive ways to show it, one of the best being “As Good As I Once Was,” a self-deprecating look at a chronic bar brawler who realizes several years down the line that a lot of things about him ain’t what they used to be.

The way he’s going, Keith is on track to wind up better than he once was.

-- Randy Lewis

Photo: Toby Keith at Stagecoach. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

Because Brooks & Dunn and Toby Keith played Sunday night after the deadline for Monday Calendar's Stagecoach report, coverage of their performances is being blogged on Pop & Hiss:

The charitable view of Kix Brooks & Ronnie Dunn’s announcement last August that they’ve decided to call it quits as a duo, which included the detail that they wouldn’t do so until the end of a 2010 farewell tour, is that they wanted to give fans some closure, one last chance to see them live.

The cynical view is that they simply want to give a fading career one last jolt in the bank account before each musician moves on to new ventures. It’s hard not to take the cynical view when Brooks & Dunn’s long hit streak, which started to sputter about a decade ago, was built on songs that craftily — cynically? — combine time-honored country music imagery, push-button emotions and frequently derivative instrumental and melodic hooks.

All were in play Sunday night as the farewell tour touched down at Stagecoach. The set went heavy on the hits, and no production touch was too shameless for their adoring crowd, including the trotting out of three military officers in full uniform to salute the flag during 2001's “Only in America,” which concluded with the firing of confetti cannons packed with red, white and blue streamers.

Or consider the chorus of “Hard Workin’ Man,” their 1993 hit.

Just as attendance for Coachella saw a significant jump this year over 2009, the turnout for Stagecoach is also up substantially.

Goldenvoice chief Paul Tollett said Sunday that preliminary figures put total attendance for Saturday and Sunday over 100,000. The average daily attendance over more than 50,000 people tops last year’s record of 40,000 per day, which count as sellouts.

A reconfiguration of the stages allowed more territory in front of the Mane Stage, headlined this year by Toby Keith and Brooks & Dunn on Sunday and Keith Urban and Sugarland on Saturday, potent 1-2 punches both nights.

There also appeared to be a noticeable increase in the number of merchandise vendors this year, and the food merchants also were out in impressive numbers.

[Updated at 8 p.m.: Indio Police spokesman Ben Guitron said arrests for the two-day Stagecoach weekend total 10, most of them for alcohol-related charges, including drunk and disorderly behavior. This compares to last weekend's three-day arrest total of 49 at Coachella, most of those drug-related, Guitron said.]

--Randy Lewis

Photo credit: Gina Feazzi / Los Angeles Times