Street Scene 2009 Festival Guide

For the second straight year, Street Scene is returning to its East Village roots with a lineup headed by the Black Eyed Peas, M.I.A., Modest Mouse and Thievery Corporation.

Rob Hagey Productions is again teaming with The Casbah’s Tim Mays to book the show, which takes place this weekend downtown.

This year’s Street Scene festival was dealt a big blow after headliners the Beastie Boys canceled their upcoming string of concerts and pushed back the release of their new album “Hot Sauce Committee Part 1.” Adam Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his throat.

Without an established headliner to anchor the show, slow tickets sales have forced organizers to offer a series of deals to spur action at the box office.

Adding to this year’s tough luck for Street Scene organizers, SDNN’s Mikel Toombs learned Grand Ole Party early on that the group was scratched from the Street Scene lineup. Is this the end of the road for GOP?

Casbah owner Tim Mays helped booked the festival in 2008. Along with the return to the East Village last year, the combo of Mays and Street Scene founder Rob Hagey helped breathe new life into the festival after short stints at Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley and Coors Amphitheatre in Chula Vista. Mays is again helping Hagey set up the bands this year.

Despite the turmoil, Street Scene is still San Diego’s biggest music event. The spectacle of watching bands with the backdrop of SD’s skyline in distance is worth the experience, and this year’s lineup has a little bit for everyone: funk and soul from Sharon Jones, heady metal from Mastodon, border town dance music from Nortec and the hip-hop infused pop of the Black Eyed Peas.

Two-day passes are available at the official Street Scene Web site.

Check out SDNN’s coverage of this year’s bands and artists:

Black Eyed Peas bridge the gap from indie hip-hop to chart success

It may be hard to tell through all the glitz and glam of its well-oiled hit machine, but Black Eyed Peas used to carry some serious underground hip-hop cred.

Like the clash of cultures in New Orleans that sparked the birth of jazz, the multicultural city of Los Angeles provided the cradle for the vibrant, underground hip-hop scene of the late ’90s. From this crib, the Black Eyed Peas emerged as one of the underground movement’s defining forces, along with Jurassic 5 and Dilated Peoples. BEP owes a debt to De La Soul, one of the original hip-hop bands that brought elevated lyrics and funky back beats to a wide audience in the early ’90s.

Read more on the Black Eyed Peas

Deerhunter emerges from the mist with ‘Microcastle’

Santa Cruz’s Comets on Fire. D.C.’s Dead Meadow. Japan’s Ghost. Add Atlanta, Georgia’s Deerhunter to the list. With the summer of ‘09 fast approaching, a new slew of bands are channeling the ghosts of the Summer of Love 40 years after the original hippie counterculture movement. Like their parents in the ’60s, today’s kids still want music representing freedom, mental expansion and an outsider mentality.

This time around, Deerhunter and others of their ilk deliver sound quality, musicianship and crisp songwriting along with the psychedelic music experience (sidestepping the pitfalls of 25-minute guitar solos and drug addled nonsensical lyrics).

Read more on Deerhunter

Silversun Pickups spring from L.A.’s Silver Lake ‘hood

From the stylish L.A. hood of Silver Lake springs Silversun Pickups, a quartet firmly grounded in psychedelic rock lineage of My Bloody Valentine and Smashing Pumpkins. Vocalist/guitarist Brian Aubert, bassist Nikki Monninger formed the band nine years ago, adding drummer Christopher Guanlao and keyboardist Joe Lester along the way. The Silversun Pickups found common ground in their friendship, which pre-existed the critically-acclaimed albums, the packed audiences and the accolades.

So far, the ride has swept the four Angelenos from local buzz band to national act. On the strength of incendiary live shows and the band’s pleasing 2006 debut “Carnavas,” Silversun seems poised for larger public awareness.

Read more on Silversun Pickups

Bridwell, Band of Horses return to SD

A lot of people may not realize it, but writing and performing your own songs takes courage. It’s kind of like reclining on the psychologist’s couch on stage every night, exposing your emotional innards for the world to witness. Ask Ben Bridwell. He’s doing well now with the whole situation, but it took him a long time to write his own songs and sing in public.

After working as a label owner and a member of Seattle indie rock band Carissa’s Wierd, Bridwell forged out on his own with his Band of Horses. Seamlessly blending high-pitched Neil Young-esque vocals with the trademark Northwest indie rock sound (think The Shins and Death Cab for Cutie), the quartet’s 2006 debut “Everything All the Time” (Sub Pop) is shockingly complete and beautiful for a first effort.

Read more on Band of Horses

Schedule by day:

Friday:

Fulano Stage
Black Eyed Peas 10:40-11:55
Cake 8:30-9:30
Band of Horses 6:40-7:25
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue 5:05-5:45

Fulana Stage
Modest Mouse 9:35-10:35
Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band 7:30-8:25
Devendra Banhart 5:50-6:35
Dirty Sweet 4:30-5:00

Zarabanda Stage
Girl Talk 10:00-11:15
Chromeo 8:30-9:30
Mastodon 7:00-8:00
Shooter Jennings 5:45-6:30
Carney 4:40-5:20

Casbah Stage
Calexico 10:40-11:50
Donald Glaude 9:20-10:20
Deerhunter 8:15-9:00
Matt & Kim 7:15-7:55
wavves 6:10-6:50
Extra Golden 5:00-5:40

Green Stage
Cage The Elephant 10:30-11:15
Nortec Collective 9:15-10:00
Anya Marina 8:00-8:45
Holy Fuck 6:45-7:30
Dungen 5:30-6:15

VIP Stage
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue 9:00-10:15

Saturday:

Fulano Stage

M.I.A. 10:45-11:45
The Dead Weather 8:35-9:35
Of Montreal 6:40-7:25
Ra Ra Riot 5:10-5:45

Fulana Stage
Thievery Corporation 9:40-10:40
Silversun Pickups 7:30-8:30
Public Enemy 5:50-6:35
Black Joe Lewis & The Honey bears 4:30-5:05

Zarabanda Stage
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings 10:40-11:55
Ozomatli 9:00-10:10
The Faint 7:30-8:30
Busta Rhymes 6:20-7:00
Blue Scholars 5:10-5:50

Casbah Stage
Bassnectar 10:10-11:40
No Age 9:10-9:50
LA Riots 7:45-8:45
West Indian Girl 6:35-7:20
Los Campesinos 5:30-6:10
Crocodiles 4:30-5:05

Green Stage
Delta Spirit 10:30-11:15
The Knux 9:15-10:00
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists 8:00-8:45
Gram Rabbit 6:45-7:30
Zee Avi 5:30-6:15

VIP Stage
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears 9:00-10:15

Here are the basics:

Doors open at 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Show ends at midnight both nights

Ins & outs are allowed

Rain or shine

Lineup/set times are subject to change

Everyone is subject to search upon entry

Mosh pitting and stage diving is not permitted

All ages are welcome

Ample parking available in multiple adjacent downtown lots

12th/Imperial trolley stop close to the venue (Check the trolley schedule here)

Food/beverage & other items are sold for cash only

There are specific items that cannot be brought into Street Scene. Rob Hagey Productions, Inc. reserves the right to alter carry-in policies at any time. Currently, these items include, but are not limited to:

- Large bags

- Outside food

- Beverages (One 20-ounce, factory-sealed water bottle OK)

- Alcohol

- Drugs & drug paraphernalia

- Knives/weapons

- Video cameras

- Professional cameras

- Recording devices

- Laser pointers

- Chairs of any kind

- Umbrellas

- Bikes

- Skateboards

- Coolers

- Pets (except service animals)

- Moshing, crowd surfing and/or stage diving

- Unauthorized solicitations, handbills, sampling, giveaways, etc.

Feel free to bring:

- Hats

- Sun block

- One 20-ounce, factory-sealed water bottle

- Cell phones

Chris Nixon is SDNN’s music editor.

Tags: Band of Horses, Beastie Boys, Black Eyed Peas, Cake, Conor Oberst, Dungen, Grand Ole Party, Mastodon, Mia, Modest Mouse, Nortec, Ozomatli, Ra Ra Riot, SDNN, Sharon Jones, Street Scene, Th Dead Weather, The Faint, Thievery Corporation

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 at 4:22 pm and is filed under Arts & Entertainment, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.