earache!

One of our current goals here at the Chronicle is to not only put out a solid and informative print issue each week, but to provide our readers with interesting daily content on our website, whether that be breaking news, a review of the previous night's big show, or a Downton Abbey recap. Read More | Comment »

I'll be posting pics from the pit throughout the day. Keep checking back for updates, and go to our photo gallery page for lots more photos. Day 1 || Day 2 || Day 3 Read More | Comment »

I'll be posting pics from the pit throughout the day. Keep checking back for updates, and go to our photo gallery page for lots more photos. Click here for Friday's pictures and here for Friday Live Shots. Day 1 || Day 2 Read More | Comment »

I'll be posting pics from the pit throughout the day. Keep checking back for updates, and go to our photo galleries starting tomorrow morning for lots more photos. Day 1 || Day 2 Read More | Comment »

Looks like Nelly didn't see our previous warning.
It was also just announced that Fiona Apple's show will not be rescheduled. Read More | Comment »

When traveling from the Southwest to Austin, we recommend avoiding the area in red. Tonight's Fiona Apple show at ACL Live at Moody Theater has been postponed. Purchased tickets will be honored for the rescheduled date (to be announced). See "Apple Busted for Hash in West Texas" for more. Read More | Comment »

Austin has no shortage of music festivals. Austin City Limits and Fun Fun Fun fests are two monsters coming up in October and November, respectively. Both are three days long, have similar ticket prices, and are in neighboring parks. In a pickle trying to decide which one to attend? This infographic might help. Read More | Comment »

As a music lover/photographer, I always have two reactions to the ACL Music Fest lineup, the first being who I want to see, and the second being which performances I want to shoot. Here's who I want to photograph and why. Read More | Comment »

East Cameron Folkcore packs a powerful punch. Thursday night, it packed the White Horse despite the rain. The evening was a CD release party for The Sun Also Rises and a tour send-off for a 10-day trek that takes the group across the Gulf Coast and through the Southeast. Read More | Comment »

Tommy Gabel of Against Me! is taking a courageous step in this Friday's issue of Rolling Stone by revealing plans to make the transition into life as a woman. In college, my first photo documentary was on a woman who had made the transition. Read More | Comment »

Invasion of the New Grrl Order was choreographed by Allison Orr of Forklift Danceworks and Girls Rock Austin founder Emily Marks. Read More | Comment »

Last night, musicians and fans gathered at the Austin Moose Lodge to bid farewell. It was the last night of shows for the beloved venue that gave local and national acts a one-of-a-kind space over the last few years. Anyone who had ever played the Moose was invited to bring an instrument and battle it out. Read More | Comment »

For the past few years, people have been telling me about their amazing experiences at Bonnaroo. I was thoroughly convinced after a security guard at last year's ACL Fest went on and on about how it's the festival he looks forward to most every year. The lineup added fuel to the fire. After a 15-hour overnight drive, I arrived in Manchester, Tenn., in the pouring rain. Within the first 10 minutes, I ran into three friends from Austin. After getting the campsite set up as much as one can in stormy weather, it was time to check out the grounds. The first thing that struck me as different than all the other festivals is the amount of stuff you can do without catching a single act. There was the Silent Disco – a tent where everyone was handed headphones playing the same music and told to jam out in their own way. There was a ferris wheel, peepshow, music trivia in the FuseTV house, and booths galore. I had to save my energy though, because the music went until 4am. Highlights: Extremely friendly staff Clean Port-A-Potties Arepas The air-conditioned comedy tent Watching a press panel (headed by Andy Langer) where Janeane Garofalo and Ani DiFranco got into it over Obama Seeing Nine Inch Nails perform for over three hours in what turned out to be their last U.S. show ever The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Shooting Crystal Castles (dark stage, single strobe light) Watching Public Enemy play "It Takes a Nation of Millions" Standing 10 feet from an extremely energetic Drew Barrymore Sleeping in the tent in pouring rain during Paul Oakenfold's set Read More | Comment »

When I first learned of the NINJA tour, I was really excited but a little perplexed. Nine Inch Nails playing before Jane's Addiction on every stop of the tour led to further confusion. The pairing seemed odd, but eventually made sense – Jane's had offered NIN a spot on Lollapalooza more than 15 years ago. And since neither is touring in support of a recent album, I was geared up for a grandiose night of set lists pulled from a long list of solid albums. When my editor asked me to photograph the show, I was even more excited. Ok, I won't lie. I jumped up and down for a good five minutes. The day before I couldn't sit still. I even had a dream that I lost my memory cards and pouring rain killed my equipment. Nine Inch Nails is my favorite band. This was going to be my 17th time to see them. It's all I could think about. Shooting Jane's was added incentive. There's nothing more fun and fulfilling than taking photos of a band that really knows how to perform. I arrived early, full of nerves. Preparation included five gigabytes of extra memory cards, three extra batteries, and obsessively cleaning my lenses. My escort came to meet me and we walked through backstage to the photographers' holding area. About 30 feet from the door, I silently crossed paths with Mr. Reznor himself. This did not help my nerves. Read More | Comment »

A few more shots from this week's photo feature to the right. Read More | Comment »

The musicians ranged from 8 to 18 and, over the course of five weeks, they performed in virtually every genre, from rock to folk to hip-hop to blues, with a lot of stops along the way. For the last showcase this past Saturday at Threadgill’s, a dozen teenage bands and performers proved that Austin isn’t just the Live Music Capital of the World – it could be the Teen Music Capital of the World. Click through the gallery on the right for proof. Read More | Comment »

Photographers at big festivals are like field mice with short attention spans. It's a simple process: run to the stage, nod to the other photographers you've been bumping elbows with all weekend, shoot three songs, hop to the next stage. Repeat. My weekend at Austin City Limits Music Festival was a picture-taking workout with an awesome live soundtrack. I've finally cleaned the Zilker Park dust off my lenses, but it's still in my lungs. I'd like to talk to Jack White about the bass that's still trying to find its way out of my ear canal. Stages are high and up-the-nose shots are plentiful. I shot more than 30 bands, but only heard three songs from my two favorites – Against Me! and Jenny Lewis. The weekend is a blur and I didn't even drink. Click through the gallery for pictures I mostly don't remember taking. Read More | Comment »

A superfan is like an elevated groupie. It goes beyond wearing a vintage tour t-shirt to the current show. Superfans catch multiple shows on the tour, traveling in cars shoe-polished with inside jokes only fellow superfans will get (see gallery). They're known in the fan club. They frame their tour posters. They can tell you everything about every lineup, album, and bootleg. Some are lucky enough to meet their idols and get an autograph. Even fewer get the autograph on their body tattooed (see gallery). Superfans argue about who is a bigger fan. They show up early to shows to guarantee that coveted spot on the rail. I am a Nine Inch Nails superfan. I've seen them 13 times. I have autographs, bootlegs, guitar picks, a fan club member card, lithographs, etc. I've taken my mom, who listens to barbershop quartets, to see them. In fact, my mom probably knows more than the average person about the band. So last week, when I came upon a photo pass for the Dallas stop of the Lights in the Sky tour, she was the first person I called. I've been dreaming about shooting Nine Inch Nails since I was in middle school and first picked up a camera. The motivation grew stronger the first time I saw the band perform live: May 23, 2000, also the day I graduated from high school. Read More | Comment »

Girls Rock Camp Austin held two week-long camps where girls ages 10-18 formed bands, wrote a song in one day, and performed the songs at incredibly cute and rocking showcases at the Parish the second and fourth Saturdays in July. Click on the image gallery for the next generation of Austin musicians. Read More | 1 Comment »

"Welcome to my life, tattoo! I'm a man now, thanks to you. I expect I'll regret you, but the skin-graft man won't get you, You'll be there when I die, tattoo!" – The Who's "Tattoo" Nothing says "loyal fan" like getting some artwork inked into your skin forever. These Austinites felt moved to wear their passion on their sleeves. Or, in some cases, sleeve their passion on their arms. Click through the gallery for the ink. Read More | Comment »