Outside Lands Promoters Scared to Death, Another 'Stray' iPhone, Sonny & the Sunsets sign to Fat Possum

By Ian S. Port Fri., Jun. 18 2010 at 8:52 AM

Categories: Morning Music News

Sonny and the Sunsets at Bottom of the Hill last year

Outside Lands promoters are "scared to death" of the soft economy and bad concert season, which is why they cut the festival back to two days. Contrary to what we heard, promoters say tickets are selling slowly. From SF Gate:

Organizers said they're hoping for about the same size crowds this year for groups like Kings of Leon, the Strokes, Social Distortion and Furthur at the multistage concert, but sales have been slow.

"We're scared to death, quite honestly," said Sherry Wasserman, president of Another Planet Entertainment, the event's promoter.
The concert industry, which relies on music lovers willing to part with their discretionary money to listen to their favorite bands and take a chance on new ones, has been pummeled by the flailing economy.
"It's been hard on us," said Wasserman.
Outside Lands is set to run on Aug. 14 and 15, a Saturday and Sunday, in Golden Gate Park. The event has a permit to put on shows on Aug. 13, as well, but the promoter has been unable to score a big-name act for Friday night.

Local vintage-pop wizards Sonny & the Sunsets sign to Fat Possum Records, home of the Black Keys, Band of Horses, and Andrew Bird, along with a host of old-school blues greats. (The band also performs 6/27 at Bottom of the Hill). From The Owl Mag:

Chalk another one up for the west coast vintage pop revival. Fat Possum has signed Sonny and the Sunsets. SF-based (geo-locate him in Sunset district) Sonny Smith started up the all-star filled Sunsets back in 2007.

Czech person finds another "stray" iPhone 4, checks out the features. From Wired:

"Happy Swenak", reader of Czech blog Jablíčkář.cz has gotten his hands on yet another stray iPhone 4 and has put the camera through its paces. Apple's sample photos might be un-retouched, but they are also taken in almost perfect lighting conditions. Swenak took some more regular snaps, along with unedited video, and despite a little over-exposure, the results look fine.

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