Morning Music Notes – The New Trend of Double Weekend Festivals

I had my first taste of the Olympics last night, heading to Old Trafford to see Great Britain draw Senegal in the men’s football. We got to see 2 matches in Manchester, and they ran out of fuckin’ food before the second match started! I see the 7 years of planning went to good use – ridiculous. I also heard the new Muse song, Survival, several times as it is the official London 2012 Olympic song. Be prepared to hear it a LOT these next 2.5 weeks.

Arctic Monkeys to Play at London 2012 Opening Ceremonies?

Speaking of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, one of PeteHatesMusic’s favourite bands, Arctic Monkeys, are rumoured to be playing the Olympic Games opening ceremonies, after the band were reportedly spotted rehearsing for the event (via NME). Also rumoured are Muse, Happy Mondays, Adele, and the not-appropriate for live TV MIA. Paul McCartney has been confirmed as a performer in movie director Danny Boyle’s hopefully stunning Opening Ceremonies. The whole thing kicks off tonight at 9pm local time (4pm eastern). Any bets on who lives the Olympic flame?

Austin City Limits Reveals 2012 Schedule, Might Expand to 2 Weekends in 2013

The legendary Austin City Limits festival is this October 12-14, and they have announced their schedule. And as usual, you will need a cloning device to avoid the inevitable conflicts. Check out the full schedule here, but for starters, good luck with Weezer/The Black Lips/Florence + the Machine and M83/M.Ward on Friday, Zola Jesus/Bombay Bicycle Club, Metric/Andrew Bird, and Jack White/Neil Young and Crazy Horse on Saturday, and Childish Gambino/Crystal Castles on Sunday, amongst other conflicts.

To possibly avoid conflicts, you might be able to attend the festival in 2 consecutive weekends, if reports are to be believed (via Consequence of Sound). C3 Presents, the promoters of Austin City Limits, are in talks with the City of Austin to “pull a Coachella” and expand to two consecutive weekends. The initial plan is to run October 4-6 and October 11-13 starting in 2013. The promoters would increase its donation to help improve Austin parks, as well as pay for more security and clean up duties. Fingers crossed – it’s a fine festival.

How to Continue to Sell Out: Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong to Join TV Reality Garbage, The Voice

Green Day recovered their career with the pretty good album, American Idiot, and then repeated the rock opera formula on the not-as-good 21st Century Breakdown. As they prepare to release 3 albums in rapid success, singer Billie Joe Armstrong is going to help promote their release by exposing himself (not that kind of exposing…or is it?) on mainstream TV in America. Armstrong will join Christina “what the hell happened to my career” Aguilera on Season 3 of reality singing show, The Voice (via Hollywood Reporter). Billie Joe will be a mentor, and will join Christina’s team, whatever the hell that means.