Rock Notes from Sheila

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August 30, 2011, 8:16 am

For the September 2-4 Labor Day weekend, New York City's Randall's Island plays host to Electric Zoo, a dance music extravaganza that will close out summertime in fine fashion. And whether you're heading to the party or not, Spin is offering a free digital download of top electric zoo performers, including a little smooth house by Beck. 
 
Willamette Week brings us up to date on two of the Northwest’s two biggest, city-based music fests happen on back to back weekends and OMN will be heading up to Bumbershoot  for the 41st edition of Seattle’s longest-running music and arts festival.

Over Labor Day weekend–September 3rd through 5th–more than 120 musical acts will take stages on the Seattle Center’s grounds including Key Arena headliners like Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs, Wiz Khalifa, Broken Social Scene, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Hall & Oates.  Plus twelve Portland acts will be making the drive up north including several playing the Decibel-curated electronic showcase.

And that’s just the music; there’s comedy, theater, film, dance, spoken word, visual arts, kids activities, and more (like skeeball).  There’s some decent overlap between the Bumbershoot bill and MFNW, so here’s a quick rundown of who you can catch two weekends in a row if you’ve also got your MFNW wristband:

Little Dragon, The Kills, Butthole Surfers, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, YACHT, Charles Bradley, Sharon Van Etten, Thee Oh Sees, Phantogram, You Am I, DåM-FunK + Master Blazter, Emancipator, Shabazz Palaces, Tennis, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, PS I Love You, Joe Pug, AgesandAges, Caleb Klauder Country Band, Kasey Anderson and The Honkies, Mad Rad, Natasha Kmeto, Pickwick
 
Sebastian Bach's Home Destroyed
Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach lost his home in New Jersey as a result of flooding from Hurricane Irene this weekend. The rocker's Lincroft, NJ house was knocked off its foundation after surging waters from Irene snapped a nearby bridge, which tumbled into the singer's garage.

The singer's basement was completely flooded, resulting in the destruction of irreplaceable Skid Row master tapes and live recordings, as well as his extensive collection of Kiss and Skid Row memorabilia. Luckily for Bach, his comic book collection and his father's artwork were safe on a higher level of his house. Bach plans to salvage what he can from the house before having it destroyed.

Michael Jackson Tribute Concert
Janet Jackson has announced that she will not attend a tribute concert for her brother Michael Jackson because it will coincide with the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray , the physician charged with involuntary manslaughter in the pop icon's death.

"Because of the trial, the timing of this tribute to our brother would be too difficult for me," Janet Jackson said in a statement yesterday. This echoes the sentiment of her brothers Randy and Jermaine, who announced earlier this summer  that they would not be involved with the show, which is set to take place on October 8th in Wales.

Though Janet, Randy and Jermaine have distanced themselves from Michael Forever: The Tribute Concert, their mother Katherine and sister LaToya have backed the show, which will feature performances by Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Smokey Robinson.

Oldest of Delta Blues Singers Dies
David Honeyboy Edwards, believed to have been the oldest surviving member of the first generation of Delta blues singers, died on Monday at his home in Chicago. He was 96. His death was announced by his manager, Michael Frank. 

Mr. Edwards’s career spanned nearly the entire recorded history of the blues, from its early years in the Mississippi Delta to its migration to the nightclubs of Chicago and its emergence as an international phenomenon. 

Over eight decades Mr. Edwards knew or played with virtually every major figure who worked in the idiom, including Charley Patton, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.
 
Gibson Guitar Offices Raided by Feds
Gibson—the legendary instrument makers behind the Les Paul, SG and 335 guitar models—had its Memphis and Nashville factories and offices raided by federal agents last Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The article said federal officials seized pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. While federal officials have not commented on the investigation, Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz led reporters to believe the issue was an environmental one, stating “The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier.”

The article explains that the investigation’s pressing issue was probably the origin of the guitars’ wood:

The question in the first raid seemed to be whether Gibson had been buying illegally harvested hardwoods from protected forests, such as the Madagascar ebony that makes for such lovely fretboards. And if Gibson did knowingly import illegally harvested ebony from Madagascar, that wouldn’t be a negligible offense. Peter Lowry, ebony and rosewood expert at the Missouri Botanical Garden, calls the Madagascar wood trade the “equivalent of Africa’s blood diamonds.” But with the new raid, the government seems to be questioning whether some wood sourced from India met every regulatory jot and tittle