The summer concert season is upon us and the Hidden Track staff knows that it’s virtually impossible for us to afford every show we want to hit, and still be able to pay our insanely expensive New York City rents. Luckily for us, there are a plethora of fantastic free concerts throughout the summer that don’t cost a dime. We decided to weed through all the listings and present to you our 5th Annual NYC Free Summer Concert Picks. Let’s take a look… HT Recommends: Laura Marling / Michael Kiwanuka / Willy Mason Where: Celebrate Brooklyn! – Prospect Park Bandshell ...

The Soft Pack Recommended Shows :: May 21st – May 27th Monday, May 21 Gothic Tropic @ Bootleg Theater Tuesday, May 22nd Spiritualized @ The Wiltern The Mark Lanegan Band @ Autry National Center Plaza Beck @ El Rey Theatre (Sold Out) Wednesday, May 23rd I Break Horses @ The Echo Devendra Banhart @ The Observatory Robert Francis @ Troubadour The Pharcyde @ The Roxy Theatre Thursday, [...]

Three-plus stages of music … headlining sets from Kinky, Autolux, Aloe Blacc and the Soft Pack … an abundance of great local bands … DJs from across the spectrum … comedy and spoken word performances … children’s music and children making music … and food, vendors information booths and more. This year’s bigger and bolder [...]

The schedule for New York City's annual RiverRocks concert series has been announced, and includes performances from Grimes, John Maus, Dan Deacon, Oberhofer, the Soft Pack, Wild Nothing, Dive, and more. The series will take place at Hudson River Park's Pier 84 for the first time, beginning on July 12. Find full details here .

RiverRocks 2012 With the announcement of the Grimes show yesterday, I knew the full RiverRocks lineup couldn’t be far off. (And wouldn’t you know it, I was right.) Here’s the full 2012 RiverRocks schedule: 14th Annual Hudson River Park’s RiverRocks Lineup 07/12 Dan Deacon and John Maus 07/26 Oberhofer and The Soft Pack 08/09 Wild [...]

The blitz of sideshows prior to and around both Coachella weekends kicked off in grand fashion as Arctic Monkeys played to a sold out pack of rabid fans at the tiny Glass House in Pomona. Alex Turner and the boys were in top form as they rifled through an eighteen song set that included “R U [...]

Our heads are spinning already … and two weeks of this to come: ► Madchester favorites James, with a deluxe boxed set “The Gathering Sound” (all 11 of their studio albums on USB stick, 3CDs, a DVD, vinyl and more — whew) on the way, play a pre-Coachella show at the El Rey Theatre. Elizaveta opens. [...]

Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35, can now be heard twice, every Friday – Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST. SIRIUS 240: Jean Michel Bernard – Generique Stephane ++ The Soft Pack – Fences ++ Zig Zags – Scavenger ++ The Bellys – Chow Chow ++ Lantern – Bleed [...]

WHAT : Moon Block Party Presents: Desert Daze WHEN : April 12-22 WHERE : North Palm Springs, CA WHO : Dengue Fever, Here We Go Magic, the Fresh & Onlys, Bleached, Crystal Antlers, Dead Meadow, Young Prisms, the Entrance Band, the Soft Pack, Cosmonauts, more WHAT :  Snowbombing WHEN : April 9-14 WHERE : Mayrhofen, Austria  WHO : DJ Shadow, Dizzee Rascal, Booka Shade, Fatboy Slim, Jungle Brothers, Lindstrom, the Vaccines, Crookers, more WHAT : Bridgetown Comedy Festival WHEN : April 12-15 WHERE : Portland, OR WHO : Todd Barry, Tim Heidecker, Maria Bamford, Jeanane Garofalo, Doug Benson, Jon Glaser, Todd Glass, Steve Agee, Horatio Sanz, Mary Lynn Rasjkub, more WHAT :  Festival Electrónica en Abril WHEN : April 12-15; April 19-21 WHERE : Madrid, Spain; Barcelona, Spain WHO : Manuel Göttsching performing E2-E4 , THEESatisfaction, Blues Control & Laraaji, Pete Swanson, Hype Williams, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Nate Young, more

Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: The Hold Steady, Gaslight Anthem, The Soft Pack Song: Free Energy - Electric Fever [download here ] What's so good? Per my most recent Friday Five , I really like ’70s music. Per virtually 95% of the music I have reviewed for Indie Shuffle, I clearly dig elemental rock ‘n’ roll. So really, it’s not great surprise that I am loving “Electric Fever,” the newest single from Philadelphia band Free Energy, off their forthcoming album Love Sign . The band professes to embrace the “cheesy” influences so often dismissed by today’s (sometimes) navel gazing ...

by Ze Pequeno • February 2012 About 20 years ago, some people decided it was a good idea to boost concert-going in San Francisco and, possibly taking a cue from the International Pop Underground Convention some time prior, focus primarily on lesser-known styles of music. The subsequently-named Noise Pop Festival has since survived mayors with awful hair, too many suicides, too many good clubs being closed down for one reason or another, and this band essentially playing every year until they broke up . Which is to say 10 times. Now, they serve as the lead-in for tours that usually involve Austin ...

From the 60s surf rock of Surf Club and Fidlar to the gritty rockabilly of Shannon and the Clams to The Soft Pack’s mix of 70s punk and 80s garage, Cafe Du Nord functioned as a four-decade time machine on Thursday night. It was Shannon and the Clams that stole the show, though, amidst a [...]

Hola! Here is one helluva huge mix. Quite more than just decent tunes. Starts off with a classic from Glen Campbell , he will be performing at the Hollywood Bowl in June, and I am considering attending that concert. Question is whether he'll be in shape or not. Sunflower is a brilliant track, gets me into good mood. Capybara lives in Kansas City and yes that is in Missouri. And yes, it is a one man band - lo-fi, fun and quite inventive. Capybara is also a huge rodent. Former (or maybe still current) Vivian Girl and Dum Dum Girl and ...

Another Noise Pop night, another sold-out show without disappointment. Another truly fun night at a San Francisco show (beers….good, German beers). The Soft Pack played to a packed Cafe Du Nord, which is fitting: The Castro venue is relaxed yet compact and loud; The Soft Pack— are the same.  The crowd filled in soon after the 8 o’clock [...]