Pearl Jam Mixes Dylan, Politics at Bonnaroo

32-year-old Pennsylvania woman found in her tent

(NEWSER) - Authorities don't know much more yet about the woman who died at the Bonnaroo music festival near Nashville this week. They have identified her as 32-year-old Beth Myers of Pittsburgh, according to the Tennessean . (Other services say she's from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.) Friends found her in her tent Thursday night. “There was no evident cause of death,” says a police spokesman. “She didn't have any marks on her body.” An autopsy is planned. Reuters notes that with temperatures in the mid-90s, authorities are looking into whether heat exhaustion figured in. The festival wraps up tomorrow. More»

Do today's female artists still need a festival?

(NEWSER) - Seven years after her last all-original album, Sarah McLachlan is back—and she’s bringing Lilith Fair with her. Since the last Lilith, McLachlan has had two daughters and split from her husband, and female artists have gone from being underrepresented to dominating the Top 40. What does that mean for the all-women music festival? Even McLachlan, who’s headlining, admits “there’s not so much of a need” anymore. More»

'The Fixer' is their best song in years, however you come by it

(NEWSER) - Pearl Jam has been proudly iconoclastic for years—releasing records on vinyl, eschewing music videos, “bootlegging” concerts, and fighting Ticketmaster—but they’re getting old. So it surprises Jonah Weiner that The Fixer, the single from the band’s new album Backspacer, is “by far the most exciting track the band has released in years,” he writes for Slate. And the rub: It's sold exclusively at Target, with ringtones available from Verizon. More»

(NEWSER) - Woodstock become an iconic event of the '60s, but according to Wall Street Journal critic Jim Fusilli, it was a mediocre festival at best. Major artists like Lennon, the Doors, and Led Zeppelin stayed away, those who did show were drugged up, and sound equipment failed—the whole thing was "pretty much a bust." More»

(NEWSER) - Phish, the Beastie Boys, Animal Collective, and Public Enemy highlighted a gorgeous day for Bonnaroo yesterday, write Troy Carpenter and Jeff Vrable in Billboard, after a sadly sodden opening on Thursday. In the first of their two days as festival headliners, Phish announced their comeback after a 5-year hiatus with a set full of crowd-pleasers, ending the night with a playful rendition of the Beatles’ “Day in the Life.” More»