It's not quite the same as being there — unless you have long lines at your refrigerator, like to keep your house a balmy 105 degrees and live shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands of drunk people — but watching a music festival from the comfort of your own home isn't the worst thing in the world. (You could, for example, be watching Two and a Half Men.)

The Lollapalooza YouTube channel will be streaming various artists' sets from this year's festival in Chicago, including today's 5:15 p.m. (Cincy/EST time) performance by reunited Cincinnati icons The Afghan Whigs. The festival begins this afternoon; streaming starts at 1:30 p.m. I watched a few live sets from last year's Lollapalooza through the YouTube site and the footage and stream were both pretty strong.

Here's another Cincy act performing at Lolla last year.

Here's the full rundown of streams for the next three days of Lolla (times are CST, so add an hour if you are in the Queen City):

FRIDAY
    •    1:30 PM
    •    Yellow Ostrich
    •    
    •    1:30 PM
    •    Michael Kiwanuka
    •    
    •    2:15 PM
    •    The Black Angels
    •    
    •    2:15 PM
    •    Dr. Dog
    •    
    •    3:00 PM
    •    The War on Drugs
    •    
    •    3:30 PM
    •    Blind Pilot
    •    
    •    4:00 PM
    •    Metric
    •    
    •    4:15 PM
    •    The Afghan Whigs
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    The Head & The Heart
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    Tame Impala
    •    
    •    6:15 PM
    •    The Shins
    •    
    •    6:15 PM
    •    Band of Skulls
    •    
    •    7:00 PM
    •    Sharon Van Etten
    •    
    •    7:30 PM
    •    Dawes
    •    
    •    8:00 PM
    •    Die Antwoord
    •    
    •    8:30 PM
    •    The Black Keys

SATURDAY
    •    1:30 PM
    •    JEFF the Brotherhood
    •    
    •    1:30 PM
    •    Los Jaivas
    •    
    •    2:15 PM
    •    Delta Spirit
    •    
    •    2:15 PM
    •    GIVERS
    •    
    •    3:00 PM
    •    Neon Indian
    •    
    •    3:15 PM
    •    Aloe Blacc
    •    
    •    4:00 PM
    •    The Temper Trap
    •    
    •    4:15 PM
    •    Alabama Shakes
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    FUN.
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    First Aid Kit
    •    
    •    6:00 PM
    •    The Weeknd
    •    
    •    6:00 PM
    •    Washed Out
    •    
    •    6:45 PM
    •    tUnE-yArDs
    •    
    •    7:00 PM
    •    Bloc Party
    •    
    •    8:00 PM
    •    Red Hot Chili Peppers
    •    
    •    8:30 PM
    •    Avicii

SUNDAY
    •    1:30 PM
    •    Oberhofer
    •    
    •    1:30 PM
    •    Bombay Bicycle Club
    •    
    •    2:15 PM
    •    Trampled By Turtles
    •    
    •    2:30 PM
    •    White Rabbits
    •    
    •    3:00 PM
    •    The Walkmen
    •    
    •    3:15 PM
    •    Gary Clark Jr.
    •    
    •    4:15 PM
    •    Franz Ferdinand
    •    
    •    4:15 PM
    •    J.Cole
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    The Gaslight Anthem
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    Toro Y Moi
    •    
    •    6:00 PM
    •    At The Drive-In
    •    
    •    6:15 PM
    •    Of Monsters & Men
    •    
    •    7:15 PM
    •    Florence + the Machine
    •    
    •    7:15 PM
    •    The Big Pink
    •    
    •    8:15 PM
    •    Miike Snow
    •    
    •    8:30 PM
    •    Jack White
    •    
    •    9:15 PM
    •    Childish Gambino

Click here to watch all of the Lollapalooza streams.



The Whigs — who will perform at great Chicago club Metro for a sold-out post-Lolla party tomorrow night — have most recently added tour dates in Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The group comes home to Cincinnati's Bogart's on Oct. 25 for a sold-out gig with part-time tourmates Wussy. (Don't have tickets? Click here for a chance to win a a pair.)

The Van's Warped Tour might not be the most financially successful summer package tour of all time (the promoter and performers work together to keep an ego-free environment and low ticket prices), but it's hard to argue that it is not the most successful overall, especially in terms of longevity. Now in its 18th year, Kevin Lyman's eclectic traveling festival has outlived all of the roving music events that sprouted up around the same time (from Lollapalooza to Lilith Fair) by creating a "customer friendly" experience that's also very "artist friendly."

The tour's 2012 finale is this weekend in Portland, but before shutting things down for the summer, the fest makes its annual stop at Cincinnati's Riverbend today. Doors open at 11 a.m. and music kicks off shortly after. The show ends around 9 p.m. Tickets at the box office will cost ya $42 (about a dime a band, by my estimation).

Click here for more local show details, including info on how you can "Skip the Line" and walk right into the venue.

The set-times for each act are decided just prior to the gates opening; if you're going, look for the giant inflatable Warped logoed amp to see when your favorites are playing. I also highly recommend grabbing the official Warped Tour app.

Be sure to support our local music scene reps — The Few The Fallen, Heres To The Heroes and Let It Happen will play the Ernie Ball Stage. Check out Let It Happen's recent video for "Bridges" from the great release, It Hurts, But It's Worth It.



Here is who's playing where (via Riverbend's site). (Welsh rockers Lostprophets are also on the bill, though not listed on Riverbend's site; all info is subject to change.)

MAIN STAGE: Taking Back Sunday, All Time Low, New Found Glory, Streetlight Manifesto, Yellowcard, Piece The Veil, Four Year Strong, Of Mice and Men, We The Kings, Breathe Carolina, Miss May I, Falling In Reverse, Blood On The Dance

TBD STAGE:  Every Time I Die, Mayday Parade, blessthefall, Chelsea Grin, For Today, Memphis May Fire, Motionless In White, Rise To Remain, Sleeping With Sirens, The Ghost Inside, Vampires Everywhere!, Title Fight

TILLY’S STAGE: Senses Fail, Vanna, Polar Bear Club, We Are The Crowd, Man Overboard, A Loss For Words, Funeral Party, I Fight Dragons, Machine Gun Kelly, Oh No Fiasco

TBD STAGE: Echo Movement, G-Eazy, Stepdad, The Constellations, Ballyhoo!, Champagne, T. Mills, Tomorrows Bad Seeds, Mod Sun, The Green, Amyst

ERNIE BALL STAGE:  iwrestledabearonce, Born Of Osiris, Chunk! No Captain, Fireworks, Transit, Cold Forty Three, The Scissors, The Few The Fallen, Here's To The Heroes and Let It Happen.

KEVIN SAYS STAGE:  Make Do And Mend, Matt Toka, Tonight Alive, Skip The Foreplay, Sick of Sarah, Mighty Mongo, Captain Capa, I Call Fives, Hostage Calm, The Silver Comet, Twin Atlantic, The Darlings, Dead Sara

ACOUSTIC BASEMENT:   A Loss For Words, Koji, Brian Marquis, Rocky Votolato, Transit Owen Plant, Anthony Raneri

Fresh off of one of the absolute best performances at the recent Bunbury Music Festival, Cincy Rock & Roll acrobats Foxy Shazam had their new music video debut this morning on the popular Vevo online vid site. The clip is for "Holy Touch," the latest single (and most Queen-like track yet) from Foxy's debut album on IRS Records, The Church of Rock & Roll.

Along with the band members, the clip for "Holy Touch" (directed by Shane Valdes of Realm) features appearances by actress (and Cleveland native) Paula Jai Parker (Friday, Hustle & Flow) and actor (and son of Gary) Jake Busey (Starship Troopers, Road House 2).

A little Rock & Roll church for your Monday morning.

Tomorrow evening on Fountain Square will be dry! I promise, or I'll personally refund your ticket money. This week's installment of the free MidPoint Indie Summer concert series on the Square features another solid bill. Joining in on the fun Friday is rootsy Indie Rock crew and Bloodshot recording artists Ha Ha Tonka, the eclectic Izzy and the Catastrophics (read more here) and our pals from great Athens, Ohio-born Indie Chamber Folk group, The Ridges.

The Ridges (MPMF vets) usually add a great personal touch to their area gigs by making cool little commercials for the event (which we've featured several times in the past). Tomorrow's show is no different. Check their latest "ad" and then click here to listen to more tunes from The Ridges.

Friday's MidPoint Indie Summer show starts at 7 p.m.

Here's a taste of Ha Ha Tonka, via the music video for the group's "Lonely Fortunes" from last year's Death of a Decade.

And here's a wild video from Izzy and Co. for the song "Mi Bailarina."

Following the successful screening of acclaimed Sigur Ros concert film Inni in April, the Contemporary Arts Center is showing another hot music flick. Tonight (on the same night and at the same time as an ever-growing list of theaters and venues nationwide) the CAC is screening Shut Up and Play the Hits, the much-anticipated concert film/documentary about hugely popular Electronic/Dance/Rock band LCD Soundsystem’s final concert, which took place April 2, 2011, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The film — which has received awards from both the Sundance and SXSW film festivals — features plenty of live footage from the finale, but the narrative focuses on bandleader James Murphy’s day-to-day life leading up to the show (and the day after) as he ponders the “personal and professional ramifications” that come with deciding to break up one of the top bands on the planet at its peak.

As of this morning, tickets were surprisingly still available (most screenings around the country have sold out). I'd call ahead to make sure there are some left (513-345-8431). Or if you can get to the box office early, tickets are on sale for $10 ($5 for CAC members) in the CAC Store. Screening is at 9 p.m., but you can show up starting at 7:30 p.m., have some drinks and tour the museum.

Here's a brief clip from the film.

Archer’s paradox, according to Wikipedia, is the phenomenon whereby "in order to strike the center of the target with an arrow, the arrow must be pointed slightly to the side of the target." 

Archer’s Paradox, the band, according to the two members I spoke with on a hot Thursday — much the same.

“It started about a year ago. I disbanded from a band I was in earlier (with Mia Carruthers, of MTV’s Taking the Stage fame) and Stefan Wright (drummer) and I started making songs in my room by myself,” says project founder, Seth Huff, “and then Cam (Nawaz, synth and backup vocals) started coming over out of nowhere, and we started hanging out and he was like, ‘Hey, those songs are pretty good’, and here we are, a year later, with four other people, having fun.”

Originally conceived as a two-piece consisting of Huff and Nawaz performing live with recorded backing tracks, the duo realized that direction would be “the most boring thing in the world,” says Nawaz, “so we quickly moved past that. And we realized that we have numerous friends who are really good at playing instruments.”

The band was fleshed out with Wright on drums, guitarist Alex Solin, and bassist Mark Wilson.

Working with a five-song EP recorded solely on Huff’s MacBook Pro, Archer’s Paradox has a distinctly DIY vibe. Very calculated in their approach to publicity and performing, Archer’s Paradox only performed its first show this year at Rohs Street Café during the sixth The Heights Music Festival in Clifton.

“We’re all about the DIY thing. That’s kind of like our religion. If we had to pick a religion, it would be DIY,” says Huff, who writes all of Archer’s Paradox material.

More shows followed, and in “a stroke of luck”, as Nawaz says, Archer’s Paradox earned a slot at the inaugural Bunbury Music Festival, held at Sawyer Point today through Sunday. Nawaz details how, while informing friends via text of their latest project and upcoming show, Wright happened to text Ian Bolender, a former bandmate from another band (Ellison), who happened to be an employee of Nederlander Entertainment, which happened to be the company booking Bunbury Music Festival. Bolender responded within 15 minutes with the offer of having Archer’s Paradox play Bunbury.

“We make our own luck,” clarifies Nawaz. “We use every outlet of who we know and every resource to our absolute maximum potential.”

Huff agrees, relaying how other shows have fallen into place just as harmoniously. I point out that maybe instead of finding "luck," Archer’s Paradox has serendipity on their side.

“THAT’S our religion,” Huff jumps in, eagerly. “I take back that thing I said before.” We note the fact that the letters “DIY” are also in ‘serendipity’, and thusly, the band’s definition is fully confirmed.

“Work smart, not hard,” Huff continues. “Observing the way other bands do it, you can learn a lot and make a game plan from that. If you have decent music, you have a really good shot if you learn to use the machine that is the Internet.”

“We knew we didn’t want to take the ‘let’s get signed right away, let’s get distributed’ path before playing anything,” Nawaz chimes in, referencing internet-phenom bands without much substance to back up their product.

“You have to gain the respect of fans and then they’ll actually want to pay for the music,” says Huff.

At this year’s Bunbury Music Festival, Archer’s Paradox will have their biggest chance yet to do just that.

Archer’s Paradox opens up the Landor Stage at Bunbury on Sunday at noon. Listen to them here and check out this clip for the group's song "Patience."

The inaugural Bunbury Music Festival — three days of top-shelf Alternative music at Cincinnati's riverfront Sawyer Point Park — is TOMORROW! All this week, CityBeat's music blog has featured samples from some of our "sleeper picks" for the fest, artists who some may not be as familiar with as they are Weezer or Death Cab for Cutie or Jane's Addiction.

Our next "sleeper" is Now, Now, performing Sunday at 3 p.m. on the Bud Light Stage.

Cacie Dalager and Bradley Hale, paired up as songwriters since 2003 when both were in high school marching band, officially started as a duo with the unwieldy handle Now, Now Every Children; their 2008 debut full length Cars was an indie sensation.

That success ultimately resulted in a moniker makeover to the sensibly edited Now, Now and the addition of second guitarist Jess Abbott, which broadened the band’s sound on its 2010 EP, Neighbors. Sporting an energetic Indie Pop vibe that could pass for Kathleen Edwards channeling Motion City Soundtrack, Now, Now teamed with veteran producer Howard Redekopp for its just-released sophomore full length Threads, an expansive album that throbs with an aggressive Ambience.

Here's "Thread" from Threads.

Tickets and full info on the Bunbury Music Festival can be found here.