Grandaddy to headline Sunday plus Alabama Shakes and more...

[sofiahagberg]

Dear Friends,

We are very pleased to share with you that GRANDADDY are re-forming for a limited run of shows this year, including a UK festival exclusive headlining Sunday night at our End of the Road Festival.

We are also super excited to have confirmed ALABAMA SHAKES, who we've been trying to book since October last year, and who we finally got to see live for the first time last week! It was an amazing show, and we can't wait to see them at End of the Road.

THE DEEP DARK WOODS are a wonderful Canadian band from Saskatoon, who have recently been nominated for two big awards; in the JUNO Awards for 'Roots and Traditional Group Album of the Year' and in the Sirius XM Indie Award in Toronto for 'Folk Roots Artist/Group of the Year'. Congratulations and good luck!

Alex Zhang Hungtai, known by his stage name DIRTY BEACHES, is a Taiwan-born Canadian lo-fi musician based in Vancouver, who's EPs and most recent album 'Badlands' have been making many a fan across the world. His music includes influences from the world of cinematic sounds, particularly the eerie, stylized noir of David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, Quentin Tarantino and Wong Kar Wai.

EAGLE & THE WORM are an 8-piece from Melbourne, Australia, with vibes along the lines of Rolling Stones, T. Rex and Pavement. Songs have been desribed to feel like a friendly jam turned into anthems with a real feel-good factor and infectious glow.

Mauro Remiddi, who goes under the name PORCELAIN RAFT, has been fully dedicated to a life of making music... from playing gypsy klezmer music with the travelling Berlin Youth Circus to playing the piano in bars in New York to being in an indie pop band in London... he even played End of the Road Festival once with his former London based band (Sunny Day Sets Fire). Porcelain Raft is pretty different to most things he's done before, and borrows liberally from both the shoegaze and dream-pop playbooks, with layers of sonic gauze shot through with a delicately strummed acoustic guitar pattern and Remiddi's distinctive voice.

WILLIS EARL BEAL played his first London show only a few nights ago, and it was amazing! The Chicago singer performed his set a capella and backed only by a primitive backing track. His debut album 'Acousmatic Sorcery' will be out on XL imprint, Hot Charity, on April 2nd and we can't wait!!!

We hope these artists excite you just as much as they excite us! Bring on September!

Many happy wishes,

The End of the Road Team

x

[geofelgie]

Ok.....well I have a horrible dose of cold/flu....I'm having to be at work anyway cos builders are stripping out my kitchen and bathroom............and yet I've got a huge smile on my face and may just have to dance a jig anyway!

[Infinite Jest]

Very pleased with Grandaddy, never got to see them the first time around.

Heard very good things about Alabama Shakes and Deep Dark Woods, and was hoping for the chance to see them. Don't know the other acts but they all sound interesting. Lineup is shaping up very nicely for this year

[Spider_al]

Grandaddy - okay. Not really headliner material but that's nostalgia for you.

Undercard - terrible.

Sorry! May pick another festival now.

[seadragon]

Grandaddy - okay. Not really headliner material but that's nostalgia for you.

[Spider_al]

Are you serious? This is the first announcement that has made me even remotely excited about EOTR this year. In fact this is the band on the line up that has made me consider buying a ticket. I saw them back in the early 90's before they split and I've seen Jason solo a few times and I think they're a perfect Sunday headliner. Still, I'm going to wait and see where else they're going to play before I decide on a ticket for EOTR.

[poppins]

Who cares if Alabama Shakes are successful by the time EotR comes round? They are already great, and a fantastic live band. EotR is about "good", not "successful". Personally I can't wait to see them outdoors, hopefully in the sun (though they are good enough that rain wouldn't put me off), and with hundreds of happy people dancing along.

[seadragon]

Yeah, okay, sorry I was a bit dramatic because I found the announcement very disappointing. Grandaddy will be good, although it seems a cynical reunion rather than a genuinely exciting one, and I'm sure they would be nowhere near headliners if they hadn't split up.

I'm just really disappointed with the undercard. Surely now is the time to be filling it out with some decent mid-level bands (War on Drugs? Real Estate? etc...). Alabama Shakes had better be as successful as everyone is predicting by the time EotR comes round.

[geofelgie]

I'm just really disappointed with the undercard. Surely now is the time to be filling it out with some decent mid-level bands (War on Drugs? Real Estate? etc...).

[perfectpassion]

I thought Spider meant the undercard on that announcement? I have to be honest and admit to being stupid. Apart from RRR mentioning Alabama Shakes, I have never heard of any of these bands, including Grandaddy, (I think I was knee deep in nappies and the school runs when they were around first time).

[Hotcider]

Brilliant announcement, my faith in EOTR is restored !

[geofelgie]

_{listen to The Sophtware Slump - a true alt-country classic from about 2000.}

_{Kinda like Mercury Rev but bigger, weirder and somewhat more "ELO"!!!}

[Christophales]

Porcelain Raft are worth checking out, new album came out a month or so back and is very good.

The undercard is in my opinion weaker than last year, and undoubtedly less varied, but there are still more announcements to come

[Joe-]

I'm not a regular and haven't even been EOTR before, but can someone show me where to start with Grandaddy, album-wise. I've heard bits from them over the years, and the announcement has increased my interest in getting a ticket. Just wondering which album to start with.

[RedRockRick]

I thought Spider meant the undercard on that announcement? I have to be honest and admit to being stupid. Apart from RRR mentioning Alabama Shakes, I have never heard of any of these bands, including Grandaddy, (I think I was knee deep in nappies and the school runs when they were around first time).

[seadragon]

I'm not a regular and haven't even been EOTR before, but can someone show me where to start with Grandaddy, album-wise. I've heard bits from them over the years, and the announcement has increased my interest in getting a ticket. Just wondering which album to start with.

Edited March 2, 2012 by seadragon

[Nigey_boy]

Start with this...

Edited March 2, 2012 by Nigey_boy

[wackojackohighcliffe]

Great news - thought I'd long missed a chance to see Grandaddy. Hopefully they're a good reunion.

[Jeddon]

This announcement made me really really happy this morning.

I think the line up is incredibly good so far this year - as it has been for the previous 3 years (2009 was my first).

[Dibford and Son]

For anyone who may already be well aquainted with Grandaddy but unaware of the sad situation regarding the health of Jason's sister Anna, there is a great package of demos and unreleased material (and I mean literally dozens and dozens of tracks, videos, artwork, etc) that you can download for a donation via the talkscape forum. Honestly, this is for a great cause (you can read the full story via this link) and what you get for your donation is well worth it, so check it out if you haven't already:

http://talkscape.jas...c.php?f=2&t=378

Hi SD. I've tried this link but cannot work out how to make a donation. I keep clicking on the download option and nothing happens. What am I missing?

[Jeddon]

You need to scroll down to the third post, underneath the details of what you get:

How do we proceed ?

Concerning the "price" of the thing, w consider this big package full of wonderful music worth 30 $ (which is 23 euros, a bit more than the price of a new cd), especially for this cause. It's a minimum price to receive everything, needless to say that you can send more money to help the situation. Jason's family and Anna will do all they can to make sure every dollar will be well used.

The procedure :

1. Send your donations to Jason's father via paypal, at Jerome Lytle's email address : strawberrybob@aol.com

Please send as a "personal gift" to defray charges.

If you don't have a paypal account, write to Jerome Lytle, at the same address to find another solution.

2. You will receive the download links in your email box from Jerome Lytle's address. The next update will be there for chrismas 2011.

Feel free to contact Jerome Lytle or me (didierbraibant@hotmail.com) for any question regarding this project.

In advance, thanks a lot for Anna & her kids.

Didier.

[ElGanzo]

One of my favourite ever bands reunite to headling the last night of my favourite ever festival. Oh Lord, I need to sit down. End of the Road, thank you!

[Maoster]

Fantastic news!!!! Grandaddy were IMO one of the truly great turn of the millenium bands and are awesome live - must have seen them a dozen or so times. Actually think the big stage will work with them as they do f***ing rock loud!

Anyone who needs to check them out first, would recommend Sopthware Slump first then under the western freeway - all the back catalogue is great other than the last album, IMO.

Happy days - has made my weekend. Thankyou EOTR team!

Edited March 2, 2012 by Maoster

[ElGanzo]

Not sure if its been mentioned in another thread but according to their twitter, Alabama Shakes are playing the 1st and the 2nd, a show each day. I have yet to listen to them so I can't comment on if this is good or bad news!

[seadragon]

You need to scroll down to the third post, underneath the details of what you get: