Besides the awesome J.U.S.T.I.C.E. and Daft Punk,

I like to YELLE!!!!

 Yrock Internacional - Saturdays - 5-7pm

We all have worked quite a few shows promoting Y-Rock on XPN over the years. Concerts, movies, street festivals, you name it. However, my day on Saturday at Festival Pier for the annual Jammn’ on The River was by far one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever had.

The day started off normally - we set up the tent and hung up our Y-Rock signs around noon. Then the gates opened and we signed people up to win tickets for The Roots Picnic. However, by 10 pm that evening fellow dj Andre and I would be dancing on stage with The Flaming Lips - dressed up, of course, as Iron Man. How did this happen, you ask? I’m still trying to figure that out, but check out this pic …

Andre deserves much of the credit for our Iron Man experience. He actually challenged various band members to rock paper scissor showdowns, too, but I’ll let him discuss that in another post.

We danced on stage for the entire show as The Flaming Lips rocked out and shot confetti in to the crowd. If you attended the concert, you know that there was also one other “unique” thing that happened involving four young women who danced on stage during a song. I won’t get in to that, either!

But what I WILL say is that The Flaming Lips are both a great band and a great group of guys. I ended the night by giving Wayne Coyne a big hug after the show, thinking about the day I had and how badly I probably danced in front of thousands of people. In the end, though, the dancing wasn’t the point, nor the confetti, inflatable Santa Claus, nor Iron Man … it was all about the communal experience and interaction the band shared with the fans - that’s what made it special, unique, and such an extraordinary day. Jam on.

Just had a good chuckle over Weezer’s new video for Pork and Beans. As if Rivers’ cowboy mustache wasn’t enough, the video features =w= teaming up with a whole bunch of internet sensations including my fav…TAY ZONDAY!

UPDATE: Now we find out if the new Weezer CD will blend…

XPN’s Artist To Watch for May is an old friend of the Y-Rock world: Santogold aka Santi White. I’ve been a fan of her work for a long time. Back in 2003, Y100 ran a local band contest to pick a group to play the side stage at Lollapalooza. White’s old band Stiffed was one of the finalists, and though they didn’t win, I thought they should have and was really impressed by their ska-influenced hyper-punk rock. I dug their EP Sex Sells and their final release, 2005’s Burned Again. Santi visited the old Y100Rocks.com bunker 3.0 and recorded a really cool little acoustic session at the time, with Philly icon Chuck Treese on makeshift percussion. In fact, here is a treat for you: Stiffed - A Day With Andrew (live at Y100Rocks.com)

Last year, White resurfaced under the name Santogold. First on Mark Ronson’s awesome Version record, covering The Jam’s “Pretty Green.” Then the blogs starting hyping her new solo career, as she collaborated with Spank Rock, another artist with Philly roots. Her long-awaited debut landed in stores this week and it’s damn good. Santi jumps with ease from Strokes-ish guitar anthems (”L.E.S. Artistes”) to dub reggae (”Shove It”) to New Wave melodies (”Lights Out”). “Creator” draws obvious comparisons to M.I.A. (and ended up in a beer ad last month) while “You’ll Find A Way” and “Say Aha” defy classification. Santogold truly lives up to the hype and is one of the most energizing new releases in 2008. And it’s good to see Philly (via Brooklyn) represented nationally with such a unique talent.

Santogold will be a part of the Roots Picnic at Festival Pier in Philadelphia on June 7.