Get the Most out of Tour Dates on Timeline

While Facebook’s new Timeline layout for pages will likely take some getting used to— for fans and page admins alike— we’re optimistic about the range of new opportunities it presents for displaying, promoting, and increasing fan engagement around upcoming events. 

To help with the transition, we’ve outlined a couple of steps for optimizing your Tour Dates on timeline:

Step 1: TAB VISIBILITY

Visibility at the top of your Timeline is essential to keeping visitors to your fan page aware of your upcoming tour dates & events.   We’ve seen some pretty cool examples of  Tour Dates tabs with custom images that make it very clear where dates can be found.  

To make your tab visible: 

1. Click the down-facing arrow on the right side of your first row of apps.
2. Add the Bandsintown app to your “Favorites” by clicking an empty app space and selecting “Bandsintown”.
3. Click the pencil icon at the top right of one of the apps in your first row.
4. Under the “Swap position with:” menu, select “Tour Dates.”

Step 2: UPDATE TAB BANNER

Your Bandsintown Tour Dates tab has automatically been updated to fit Facebook’s new tab width. For best results, you may also need to upload a new banner that is 810 pixels wide to fit these new parameters.

Yesterday one of our API partners, MobBase announced the integration of our tour and ticket data (a well as Soundcloud streaming) into their mobile apps for bands.  We are excited to work with MobBase to provide artists with another great way to make sure their fans are always in the know about upcoming shows. 

Tonight Jeff Castelaz, cofounder of Dangerbird Records will be a guest on Nikki Sixx’s radio show talking about, among other things, The Pablove foundation which fights childhood cancer.  He lost his own son, Pablo, to cancer last year and will be doing a cross country bike ride to raise money and awareness.  

Details on the show can be found here: http://dbrd.la/dioIuP and more info on the Pablove foundation can be found here: http://http://www.pablove.org/

Tomorrow and Friday our adopted home town of San Diego plays host to several cutting edge DJs and Music/ Technology companies at the first annual San Diego Music Technology conference.  

Created by fellow members of The Hive, the conference boasts an array of panels featuring many of our friends from the music/ tech community, including:

- Lee Martin- SoundCloud

- Alan Khalfin- MobBase

- Blas Yaselli- The Music Ninja

- Brenden Mulligan-Sonic Bids

- Eric Weiner- Wild Honey Pie

- Zavier Ramirez- Social Sound System

- RJ Ciccaglione- 8 Tracks

- Ashkay Dodego- Mugasha 

We’ll be speaking on a panel about the Future of Music Sharing, Streaming and API’s on sept 16th at 12:00 pm, so if you’ll be there come say hi. 

The conference is at the Hard Rock Hotel in Downtown San Diego, and tickets are still available here.  Use Discount Code Bandsintown for 30% off.  

Live: Live at Squamish!

By Jennifer Reynolds, Photos by Kristen Macgregor

Driving up to Live at Squamish early Saturday morning, I couldn’t help but think what a beautiful province BC is and what a beautiful location Live at Squamish was going to be.  Boy was it ever!

We were thoroughly impressed walking into the main stage grounds. The Stawamus stage was directly in front of a gorgeous view of The Chef, a giant 700 metre granite dome used for those adventurous outdoorsy types, and set atop probably the most lush, softest, green lawn I’ve ever touched.  Seriously, the grass amazed us all. Two beer gardens and an abundance of food vendors, sponsors and hippy artisan retailers surrounded the outskirts of the lawn.  A wide pathway towards the back directed you past more food trailers (yummmm Beaver Tails!) more artisans and live painters to two smaller stages. Beer gardens and a few food vendors also surrounded The Clubzone stage, which mostly played Electronic Music throughout the festival. Further down was what was fondly referred to as the ‘hippy stage’, The Serf Stage, which was tucked into the forest with a smaller beer garden adjacent to it.

Tokyo Police Club on the main stage

Not only were the grounds impressive, so was the production. Great sound that didn’t seem to travel to the other stages, impressive video equipment, a well thought out schedule that allowed for one to catch pretty much everything they wanted to and an amazing variety of musicians playing throughout the two-day festival.

We are the City on the Serf Stage

Speaking of amazing musicians, Said the Whale started out the festival, at least for me, by getting the slowly tricking-in crowd pumped up. I’m pretty sure I heard someone proclaim they wanted to have Said the Whale’s baby. Next, we headed over to the smaller Serf Stage to check out our friends, We are the City and managed to catch the tail end of an interesting performance from Michael Bernard Fitzgerald (who did a lovely acoustic rendition of Sisqo’s “The Thong Song” and The Black Eyed Peas “My Humps”). We are the City took the stage and of course played a beautifully energetic set. Not beautiful was that dude in green that was having his own personal mosh-pit and bumping into everyone. Seriously dude, chill! While live tweeting from @BandsinBC, drummer Andy was so intensely playing that his drumstick broke and nearly took my eye out. The risk you have to take when seeing a band with such intense passion, also probably a good idea to keep your eyes on the stage. Then it was back to the main stage for The Dudes and Matthew Good, who reminded me why he’s such a Canadian legend. You can’t help but jump up and down while belting out the lyrics of a Matthew Good song.  The only somewhat disappointing part of the festival was that the beer gardens closed at 9pm.  Seriously!?! While sipping on a brew and having a funny conversation with Scott Ross of The Dudes, which involved him removing his front teeth, we were told the beer garden was shutting down and were nicely ushered out. Urgh. 

Becky Ninkovic and Derek Adam of You Say Party!

Day Two started off with You Say Party! The group put on an amazing performance with new drummer Al Boyle and keyboardist Robert Andow, who by the way, had some fancy footwork while simultaneously playing the keyboard and guitar. The crowd danced their hearts off to every song and was thoroughly disappointed when the band finished their set.  The rest of the day we spent back and fourth between stages catching Mother Mother, Rich Hope, Tokyo Police Club, Bad Religion, Tom Middletown and finally finished the night with The Decemberists, who played a variety of old and new songs from their upcoming album.

The Decemberists

All in all, Live at Squamish was definitely a great weekend with an all round good vibe from everyone in attendance. Festival goers were excited to be there, even most of the bands stuck around throughout the weekend and could been seen playing air drums while rocking out to the other acts amongst the fans.  Fingers are crossed Live at Squamish is around next year, which I’ve heard is highly likely.  Kudos to Brand Live for putting together what was truly happy times, in a big field with great music.

Who’s In Town!? Not to Miss Shows In… OC!

Reel Big Fish - photo courtesy rebelnoise.com

By Kristina Tassio

Ahh, the fresh smell of Fall. Summer ending doesn’t mean the fun has stopped! Quite the contrary! Prove it to yourself by hitting up some of these shows!:

16 September - A.A. Bondy @ The Detroit Bar (Costa Mesa) 21+

18 September - Reel Big Fish (End of the Locally Grown Series!) @ The Grove of Anaheim

18 September - Nekromantix @ The Glass House (Pomona)

22 September - Riverboat Gamblers @ Alex’s Bar (Long Beach)

24 September - Voodoo Glow Skulls @ Alex’s Bar (Long Beach)

28 September - Jimmy Eat World @ The Fox Theater (Pomona)

Be sure to follow @BandsinOC on twitter to keep up with giveaways and shows in our area!

Who’s in town!? Not to miss shows in … BC!

By Jennifer Reynolds, photo via Arcade Fire’s Facebook

The next few months are jam packed full of amazing shows here in BC. Not only do we have the Olio Festival and the Rifflandia Festival coming up we’ve also got some major shows such as Arcade Fire, The National and Phoenix with Neon Indian that are sure to be nothing short of amazing. So dust off that credit card because it’s going to see a lot of action this fall. Here are just a few shows we recommend you hit up this September in Vancouver.

Sept 7^th – Pavement @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Sept 8^th – The Tallest Man on Earth @ Rickshaw Theatre

Sept 9^th & 10^th – The National @ Malkin Bowl

Sept 15^th – Ratatat @ Commodore Ballroom

Sept 15^th - Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (Last show in Vancouver) @ Biltmore Cabaret

Sept 16^th – Aerosmith @ Rogers Arena

Sept 16^th – Cuff the Duke @ Biltmore Cabaret

Sept 17^th – Teen Daze @ The Cobalt

Sept 21^st – Blitzen Trapper @ Rickshaw Theatre

Sept 23 – 26 - Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Brasstronaut, Yukon Blonde, Maurice, Treelines and more @ Rifflandia Festival (Victoria)

Sept 23 - 26 - Analog Bell Service, B-Lines, Babe Rainbow, Walter TV and more @ Olio Festival

Sept 24^th – Hot Hot Heat @ Commodore Ballroom

Sept 24^th – Tegan & Sarah @ The Malkin Bowl

Sept 28^th – Arcade Fire w/ Calexico  @ Pacific Coliseum

Sept 26^th – Phoenix w/ Neon Indian @ PNE Forum

Sept 26^th – The Flaming Lips @ Malkin Bowl

Sept 27^th – Matt & Kim @ Rickshaw Theatre

Remember to follow @BandsinBC for the latest concert announcements and other general awesomeness. Cheers!

Live: FYF Fest 2010!

Best Coast @ FYF Fest 2010; picture courtesy Nicole Trimillos

By Kristina Tassio

Labor Day weekend in LA can get hot, really hot, and at Los Angeles State Historic Park this past Saturday, it was. Despite the heat, tons of people showed up to brave the heat, 45-minute waits-in-lines for water, bathrooms and booze, to enjoy one of the best lineups for a festival show ever. One of the best things about the lineup is that it’s so much like a mix tape: there were ups, downs, quiet parts, loud parts, mellow parts and chaotic parts and they were all timed perfectly. Here are some of my favorite parts:

Best Coast (pictured above) seemingly brought a breeze to overheated fans with their easy, breezy, bittersweet surf-rock. Simple, but fun and totally worth the heat.

AA Bondy played beautiful, winding songs that made you want to snuggle close to someone you love and slow dance the afternoon away.

Local Natives brought the sing-alongs with their descriptive lyrics and dance-worthy grooves.

Fans endured the most unshaded, dusty spot in the park to get a taste of the awesomeness that is old school punk rockers, 7 Seconds. While being the oldest of bands (we definitely don’t mind) to perform that day, they put forth the most energetic and adrenaline-inducing set all day.

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti put on a mind bending, hallucinogenic set, providing the experience without needing the means to an altered perspective.

Dead Man’s Bones performed their ghoulish doo-wop with their ever-popular children’s choir, Saturday they were called Warm Glass of Milk. Playing a few new songs and including a costume contest for the kids, who dressed as deceased fictional and historical characters, in which the prize was a trophy and the chance to smash a guitar on stage, the band put forth a most enjoyable set despite fangirls screaming obscenities at Ryan Gosling.

All in all, the day was fun and jam-packed. Hopefully, the organizers can get the water and bathrooms situation figured out by next year, so the fest will be the best.

Keep following @BandsinOC and @bandsin_LA for more awesome shows and news!

Who’s in town!? Not to miss shows in… Amsterdam!

By Levina Duivesteijn

Some nice concerts coming up in Amsterdam (and in Utrecht, not far from the capital after all!) this month. Unfortunately, the Nationale Nederpop Avond -a concert of several Dutch musicians- which was going to be held in the Heineken Music Hall on the 17th this month, has been canceled. Too bad, as one of my favourite Dutch bands, Moke, was one of the acts! Meaning, we need some other good gigs to make up for this. Fortunately there are several other sweet concerts - have a look below and listen to our playlist at the bottom!

07 Sep - Modest Mouse @ Melkweg The Max

11 Sep - Calexico @ Tivoli (Utrecht)

14 Sep - Dawn Landes + Josh Ritter @ Paradiso

16 Sep - Paul Weller + Kasabian + Tim Knol @ Tivoli (Utrecht)

17 Sep - Modest Mouse @ Melkweg

23 Sep - Lifehouse @ Paradiso

30 Sep - Gnarls Barkley @ Paradiso

Wanted to stay updated about upcoming gigs through Twitter? Follow @BandsinAMS!

Photo of Modest Mouse via opbmusic

Who’s in town!? Not to miss shows in… London!

By Levina Duivesteijn

September has loads of great big and small gigs to offer. One of the concerts I’m looking forward to is Placebo, whom I saw at Sonisphere Festival this summer (photo top!). But there are several other gigs to enjoy before Placebo will be playing at the Brixton Academy on the 27th and 28th. Muse will be playing at Wembley Stadium twice, and is supported by The White Lies on the 11th - a great lineup if you ask me. Dawn Landes plays on the 23rd at the Barbican, supporting her husband and wonderful musician, Josh Ritter. The lead singer of Travis, Fran Healer, will be doing a solo-gig at the great London Bush Hall, and Matthew Herbert will be celebrating the release of his new album at the Hoxton Square Bar. Tickets are only £7.50 - so no excuses to not see this fascinating experimental musician! And as if that isn’t enough yet; another musician worth seeing is Jay Fraser. Discovered his music last Friday when he was playing at The Regal Room in Hammersmith (a place to be recommended btw, if you’re looking for some lovely <free!> live-music on a Friday night!). Apart from Jay’s sweet acoustic songs, his witty comments and stories in between are very enjoyable too. Check out his MySpace, as you can get a free download of one of his new songs on there!

10 + 11 Sep - Muse @ Wembley Stadium

14 + 15 Sep - Gorillaz @ The O2

16 Sep - Fran Healer (Travis’ lead singer!) @ London Bush Hall

17 Sep - Jay Fraser @ The Miller

21 Sep - Plain White T’s @ O2 Islington

22 Sep - Matthew Herbert @ Hoxton Square Bar

23 Sep - Dawn Landes + Josh Ritter @ Barbican

26 Sep - Spring Offensive @ The Windmill

26 Sep - Tom Williams And The Boat among others @ Boogalo

27 + 28 Sep - Placebo @ Brixton Academy

Listen to our playlist below for a few great tracks of some of the musicians listed above, and follow @BandsinLondon on Twitter for more updates about awesome gigs!

Ticket Giveaway: UPROAR TOUR!!

This tour is rockin, crazy, and probably coming to a town near you. The line up features bands like Stone Sour, Airbourne, Hail the Villain, and others that will fulfill almost anyone’s metal & rock dreams.

Our awesome friends over at the wicked Road Runner Records hooked us up with two free tickets to the tour stop at Jiffy Lube on 8/31. Don’t miss your chance to snag these bad boys- check out our DC twitter account (@bandsindc) and enter to win!

Live at Squamish Twitter Giveaway

Tucked away in the forest of Western Canada in a small town called Squamish, an exciting new festival has come to BC. Live at Squamish promises “happy times in a big field with great music” and one cannot see how the outcome could be any different. With a diverse line up from Devo to the Decemberists, Bad Religion to Seb Fontaine, Live at Squamish is a must this September long. We can’t wait to check it out!

We’re giving away two weekend passes to  Live at Squamish! To enter to win follow us on Twitter @BandsinBC and retweet our contest announcement, which will be made this Saturday morning,  before August 21st @ midnight to win! Good Luck!

Photos of Placebo, Alice In Chains, Blaas Of Glory, and Rammstein, at Sonisphere Festival UK 2010. All photos by Levina Duivesteijn.

Who’s In Town!? Not to Miss Shows In… OC!

by Kristina Tassio

Just because summer hasn’t quite been summer in SoCal this year, doesn’t mean it’s not almost over. Time to finish up those summer bucket lists; I’m sure a few of these shows are on there:

12 Aug – The Ataris, Gasoline Heart and Don’t Panic @ Chain Reaction (Anaheim)

14 Aug – Street Dogs, The Stitches, Chaser and the Disgustingtons @ The Glass House (Pomona)

19 Aug – Girl in A Coma, Gringo Star, Agent Ribbons and Bella Novela @ Alex’s Bar (LB)

25 Aug – The Hold Steady w/ special guests @ Detroit Bar (Costa Mesa)

28 Aug – Three Bad Jacks @ The Galaxy Theater (Santa Ana)

31 Aug – Green Day & AFI @ Verizon Wireless Ampitheater (Irvine)

Don’t forget to follow @BandsinOC on twitter to get the latest announcements for upcoming shows in our area!

The Hold Steady photo courtesy of onethirtybpm.com

Going Local in BC: Get to know … Treelines!

By Jennifer Reynolds

Campfires, beers, friends, jumping into an icy cold lake. Yes, that’s summer in Western Canada, but also the feeling you get when listening to Treelines new EP, Young Man.  Another great band to come out of the interior of B.C., Treelines’ sound has been described as ‘unintentionally Canadian’ and compared to such iconic Canadian bands as The Weakerthans. The band has decided to uproot from their hometown of Kelowna and move to Vancouver this fall. While currently in Kelowna piano and guitarist, Matt Kelly and I exchanged emails so I could learn more about this intriguing, up and coming band.

I admit I had no idea what a ‘treeline’ was until I did a little Wikipedia searching. It’s a cliché thing to ask but … why the name Treelines?

Like any new band, we were throwing around countless ideas for band names. Due to playing shows and having lots of good friends in Vancouver, we all end up driving the Coquihalla fairly often. I suppose on one of those drives, while looking for inspiration for a name, it just sort of clicked. Additionally, Matt L’s old band was called ‘Greatest Explorers in the World’, so he was pretty set on finding a simple name that people would actually get right.

Your first self-tiled EP was primarily written by Matt Lockhart, but your latest EP, Young Man was a collaborative effort by the entire band. What did you guys learn about writing music together for the first time?

We really had no specific intention of writing this EP, we just sort of found that this lineup was able to write really easily together. We tried writing one new [song] after the self titled came out which was right around when I joined the band, and before we knew it we had 6 new songs that we were all really proud of and very excited to record and play live. Not to try to make it sound like it was an effortless process or anything, it’s just nice to find a group of guys who can write together without it ever feeling like work.

What are you guys looking forward to most about living in the city?

Vancouver just has so much more going on culturally than Kelowna: more artists, more venues, more of an active involved arts community etc. Also, both Steve and I have grown up in Kelowna and are definitely looking forward to the change of pace. We’re all very excited and feeling really positive about this fall.

If Treelines could play live on any stage in the world or at any festival, where would it be and why?

It would be a huge honour to get to play the Polaris Music Prize Gala one day, because it would mean that we would have to have been a Polaris finalist. Every year it’s so impressive and inspiring to see the amazing talent coming out of this country, and it would be amazing if one day we were met with that same level of respect from our peers which we have for all the past and present Polaris finalists.

I’ve unfortunately not seen you guys live yet, so obviously looking forward to the show at The Media Club, but I have seen video’s and photos of your shows - this is a question for Matt Lockhart…what’s the story with the headbands?

Matt L: Well, I sweat an embarrassing amount. The only way that I can continue to see, is by having a barrier between my hair and my eyes; the eyebrows alone simply don’t cut it. Think of the headband as one giant, extremely efficient eyebrow. 

If you’re in Vancouver make sure to check out Treelines playing at The Media Club on August 11^th. If not, make sure to track Treelines on Bandsintown, so you don’t miss out when they come to your town!