And now, your daily news segment on an amazing charity and its efforts to help fight pediatric cancer: the Pablove Foundation, founded in memory of Pablo Castelaz, who died of a bilateral Wilms’ Tumor this past June, is sponsoring a “Pablove Across America” bike tour, in which Pablo’s father, Jeff Castelaz, and his trainer will ride from Florida to Los Angeles (3,000 miles) in 30 days to raise money for the organization. The impressive itinerary traverses the entirety of the southern United States, and the money raised will be donated to help children struggling with cancer both in the Los Angeles region and nationwide.

As the charity’s website explains: “Pablove Across America is Jeff’s show of commitment to fighting kids’ cancer—and his need to wring out his soul of its sadness. Along the way, he’ll visit children’s hospitals to connect with cancer kids just like Pablo. He’ll promote cancer awareness on radio, television and in the written press. Anything to drive home the mission of the Pablove Foundation, and to keep Pablo’s spirit and boundless energy alive.”

To donate to this worthwhile cause, click here. The bicycling trip begins on October 10. In addition to accepting donations, Pablove is also holding a charity auction on eBay, featuring signed memorabilia from Silversun Pickups, Eagles of Death Metal, and Shirley Manson, along with opportunities to ride your bike with Lance Armstrong and visit a Hollywood set with Batman director Christopher Nolan. Start bidding here.

We came, we saw, we sweated. San Francisco Outside Lands attendees were gifted with a heat wave, sans rash, for the first day of the weekend-long festival, and never before have we seen people more confused (the natives knew this was an oddity). Also, all the indie boys who decided to take off their shirts only upped the hotness factor, considering their torsos served as a light deflector and blinded everyone in sight. Holy whiteness, Batman.

With seven stages situated on two meadows and the main polo field in Golden Gate Park, we have to say that this year’s experience toppled last year’s (you know, where I cried a bunch and then scraped my elbow), with a million tents set up for food, photobooths, prizes, massages, wine tastings, free hugs, trampolines, and even a phone charging station. And while the smaller stages boasted a very impressive knit of indie, electronica, and even hip-hop acts, the main stage line-up felt slightly too 90’s. I do own Pearl Jam’s “Ten” on cassette tape though, so maybe I’m not one to judge.

Highlights include:
- the choice people watching we were afforded as we wandered around the site
- Silversun Pickups and Los Campesinos! slaying their sets
- running around San Francisco at night with no jacket on
- remembering how much we were in love with Incubus’s Brandon Boyd in 11th grade
- Throwing blue lacey underwear at Tom Jones

Day one, you ain’t so bad.

Autolux

Akron/Family

Los Campesinos!

The Dodos

Silversun Pickups

Tom Jones

Silversun Pickups, those Pumpkins-loving sons and daughters of Los Angeles are taking their big muff, alt-rock jammage to the road. Starting off at All Points West in Jersey City on Sunday, Silversun Pickups is going to embarking on a cross-country jaunt, joined by Manchester Orchestra and Cage The Elephant along the way. Oh and also, they have a new album out called Swoon. It’s pretty good.

08.02.09 – Jersey City, N.J. @ All Points West*
08.03.09 – Baltimore, Md. @ Ram’s Head Live
08.04.09 – Richmond, Va. @ The National
08.06.09 – Columbus, Ohio @ The LC Pavilion
08.07.09 – Lakewood, Ohio @ Lakewood Civic Auditorium**
08.09.09 – Chicago, Ill. @ Lollapalooza*
08.10.09 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ State Theatre
08.12.09 – Winnipeg, MAN @ The Garrick Centre
08.13.09 – Saskatoon, SAS @ Louis’ Pub
08.14.09 – Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Event Centre
08.15.09 – Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall
08.17.09 – Victoria, BC @ The Royal Theatre
08.18.09 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
08.19.09 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
08.21.09 – Eugene, Ore. @ McDonald Theatre
08.22.09 – Hillsboro, Ore. @ Washington County Fairgrounds
08.28.09 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Outside Lands*
08.29.09 – San Diego, Calif. @ Street Scene*
09.05.09 – Honolulu, Hawaii @ Pipeline Café*
09.14.09 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ Bogart’s
09.15.09 – Grand Rapids, Mich. @ Orbit Room
09.16.09 – Green Bay, Wisc. @ The Club
09.18.09 – Omaha, Neb. @ Sokol Auditorium
09.19.09 – Des Moines, Iowa @ Hoyt Sherman Place
09.21.09 – Fayetteville, Ark. @ George’s Majestic Lounge
09.22.09 – Tulsa, Okla. @ Cain’s Ballroom
09.23.09 – Memphis, Tenn. @ Minglewood Hall
09.25.09 – Little Rock, Ark. @ Revelation Room
09.26.09 – Huntsville, Ala. @ Big Spring Jam
09.28.09 – Lexington, Ky. @ Buster’s
09.29.09 – Johnson City, Tenn. @ Electric Cowboy
09.30.09 – Knoxville, Tenn. @ Valarium
10.30.09 – New Orleans, La. @ Voodoo Experience
* Without Manchester Orchestra and Cage The Elephant
** Without Manchester Orchestra

Talk about a blast from the past! D’Arcy Wretzky, formerly of the Smashing Pumpkins, put in a call to Chicago’s Q101 radio station and had an impromptu chat with radio host Ryan Manno. Manno has since posted the entire conversation online, in which the bassist discusses life on her horse farm in Michigan, Marilyn Manson’s parents, her admiration of Davy Jones and Silversun Pickups, amongst other topics. Definitely worth a listen. (via P4k)

Silversun Pickups and Eulogies will be rocking for a good cause this Thursday at the Echoplex in Los Angeles. Tickets go on sale tonight and all proceeds benefit The Pablove Foundation.

The Pablove Foundation is named after Pablo Castelaz, the five-year-old son of Dangerbird Records co-founder Jeff Castelaz and his wife Jo Ann Thrailkill, who suffers from a bilateral Wilms’ Tumor, a rare form of children’s cancer.

In addition to the performances, there will be some swag for purchase to raise more money for the foundation, including a limited edition t-shirt and the two-disc benefit compilation Give. Listen. Help. Volume 5, featuring Radiohead, Bloc Party, Oasis and the Dangerbird Records roster. Each CD purchase will be accompanied with a free poster, crafted specifically in honor of the evening.

Tickets go on sale tonight at 7 p.m. for $25 via TicketWeb. Purchase will be limited to two tickets per customer and are only available through online purchase, with a scheduled will-call pick-up.

Here’s some more background on The Pablove Foundation:

On May 17, 2008, Pablo was diagnosed with bilateral Wilms’ Tumor, a rare form of children’s cancer, and has been receiving treatment at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

The Pablove Foundation also plans to contribute to cancer research and treatment at CHLA, including the efforts of CHLA’s Saban Research Institute, one of the top cancer research facilities in the United States.

At last, the Lollapalooza rumors are put to rest — Depeche Mode, Tool, The Killers, Beastie Boys, Kings of Leon and (of course) Jane’s Addiction will be headlining this year’s festival, along with an impressive cast of supporting bands, Lollapalooza organizers confirmed today.

More than 100 bands/artists/DJs will take the Lolla stage this year, including TV on the Radio, Vampire Weekend, Andrew Bird, Animal Collective, Arctic Monkeys, Fleet Foxes, Silversun Pickups, Bon Iver, Crystal Castles, Los Campesinos! and Passion Pit. This year’s event will also introduce “Perry’s”, a nightclub style stage featuring dance and electronic music. The DJs set to spin include MSTRKRFT, Bassnectar, DeadMau5, Animal Collective and Bloody Beetroots.

After selling out last year for the first time since Lollapalooza took roots in Chicago, ticket sales don’t seem to be lagging. Early bird discount passes went on sale at the end of March for $195. Regular priced tickets are $205, and of course if you’re not like the rest of us, worrying about saving $10 on a $200 concert ticket, you can always check out the VIP options at Lollapalooza.com.

Lollapalooza 2009
Depeche Mode
Tool
The Killers
Jane’s Addiction
Beastie Boys
Kings of Leon
Lou Reed
Ben Harper and Relentless 7
Thievery Corporation
Snoop Dogg
Rise Against
Andrew Bird
TV on the Radio
Vampire Weekend
The Decemberists
Neko Case
STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)
Animal Collective
Band of Horses
Of Montreal
Arctic Monkeys
Coheed and Cambria
Ben Folds
Fleet Foxes
Silversun Pickups
Kaiser Chiefs
Crystal Castles
Bon Iver
Santigold
Atmosphere
Dan Auberbach
Cold War Kids
Deerhunter
Lykke Li
Robert Earl Keen
Peter Bjorn and John
Heartless Bastards
Gomez
Glasvegas
Federico Aubele
Dan Deacon
Passion Pit
The Raveonettes
The Gaslight Anthem
The Airborne Toxic Event
White Lies
Ra Ra Riot
No Age
Asher Roth
Los Campesinos!
Bat For Lashes
Chairlift
Gang Gang Dance
The Virgins
Amazing Baby
Portugal. The Man
The Knux
Ida Maria
Delta Spirit
Friendly Fires
Manchester Orchestra
Constantines
Ezra Furman & The Harpoons
Hockey
Miike Snow
Alberta Cross
Hey Champ
Sam Roberts Band
The Henry Clay People
Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam
Cage the Elephant
Living Things
The Low Anthem
Blind Pilot
Langhorne Slim
Other Lives
The Builders and The Butchers
Eric Church
Joe Pug
Kevin Devine
The Green Cards
Carney
Thenewno2

Featured performers at Perry’s
Bassnectar
MSTRKRFT
Simian Mobile Disco
DeadMau5
Boys Noise
KiD CuDi
Crookers
A-Trak
Hercules and Love Affair (DJ Set)
The Bloody Beetroots (DJ Set)
LA Riots
Kaskade
The Glitch Mob
Hollywood Holt
Rye Rye
He Say, She Say
Car Stereo (Wars)
Dark Wave Disco
Moneypenny
Yello Fever
Animal Collective (DJ Set)

The line-up for San Francisco’s second annual Outside Lands Music & Arts festival has been announced. The three-day festival will take place in late August at the Golden Gate park, and headliners include Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, M.I.A. Dave Matthews Band, and… Tom Jones. (If that’s not enough to make you want to go by itself, than we don’t know what to tell you.)

The festival runs from August 28-30, and along with it’s diverse line up, the event offers some of the best food and wine in the California region, as well as providing various eco-friendly options — like recycling and a solar powered cell phone charging station — for concert-goers.

Along with the aforementioned headliners, other acts on the roster include Modest Mouse, TV on the Radio, Mastodon, Built To Spill, Atmosphere, Deerhunter, Portugal. The Man and Matt and Kim, among a whole bunch more. Tickets for the Outside Lands Music & Arts festival go on sale this Sunday, April 19, at 10 a.m. Some of the proceeds for each ticket sold also go to a good cause, helping benefit San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department.

Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival Line-up
Pearl Jam
Dave Matthews Band
Beastie Boys
Incubus
Black Eyed Peas
M.I.A
Jason Mraz
Ween
The Mars Volta
Thievery Corporation
Modest Mouse
Band of Horses
TV on the Radio
Dead Weather
Atmosphere
Tom Jones
Silversun Pickups
The National
Q-Tip
Brett Dennen
Built To Spill
Mastodon
Raphael Saadiq
Calexico
Os Mutantes
Midnite
JJ Grey & Mofro
Kinky
Deerhunter
Lila Downs
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
The Dodos
Bettye LaVette
Dengue Fever
Heartless Bastards
The Dirtbombs
Lenka
Akron/Family
John Vanderslice
Matt and Kim
Portugal. The Man
The Morning Benders
The Duke Spirit
Zee Avi
Blind Pilot
SambaDa
Ryan Bingham
West Indian Girl
Extra Golden

Like many of you out there, we’re totally excited to see Silversun Pickups back in the news for their highly anticipated April 14 release of Swoon on Dangerbird Records. It’s already getting a lot of love for the debut single “Panic Switch”, which is currently the number one most added single at modern rock radio this week (note: not college). But why are they overlooking their real first show of 2009?

We’re not serious about this in case you were wondering, we’re just curious as to why we received a press release stating the Pickups will make their ‘09 live debut at SxSW accompanied with tour dates that lists their first show in Kansas City the Tuesday before SxSW? Our Notes From Middle America columnist Danny Phillips is waving his Missouri flag as we speak.

Either way, we’re excited to see the return of the Silversun Pickups to stages wherever they may be. Aside from Kansas City and SxSW, the quartet will play a pre-Coachella warm-up show before helping to usher in the 10th annual Music and Arts Festival. They’ll also be performing at The Sasquatch Festival on May 25.

Silversun Pickups tour dates
03.17.09 – Kansas City, MO (KC Power & Light District)
03.20.09 – Austin, TX (SXSW/ Stubb’s)
03.21.09 – Austin, TX (SXSW/ Antone’s)
04.12.09 – Pomona, CA (Glass House)
04.17.09 – Indio, CA (Coachella)
05.25.09 – George, WA (Sasquatch Festival)