Month: May 2021

Hours before Glastonbury’s Live At Worthy Farm festival got underway on Saturday, Radiohead’s Thom York and Jonny Greenwood stepped forth with news that they — along with producer Nigel Godwich and drummer Tom Skinner — announced they were about to debut a new band. They’re called The Smile and they would perform for the first time together at Glastonbury’s livestream show.

The group’s set opened up with a performance of Radiohead’s unreleased track “Skirting on the Surface.” According to a setlist the band posted to their Twitter page afterward, the song has been renamed “Skating on the Surface.” The rest of The Smile’s set amounted to seven tracks under the following titles: “The Smoke,” “You Will Never Work In Television Again,” “Opposites,” “Panavision,” “Just Eyes And Mouth,” “We Don’t Know What Tomorrow Brings,” and “Thin Thing.”

This is not the first time that Yorke has worked with members outside of Radiohead. In 2009, he created Atoms For Peace with Nigel Godrich, Flea, Joey Waronker, and Mauro Refosco. Four years later they released their debut album, AMOK. Yorke has also played multiple shows with Godrich and Tarik Barri.

You can watch the band perform “Thin Thing” and “We Don’t Know What Tomorrow Brings” in the video above.

The Suns got off to a hot start in Game 1 of their first round series with the Lakers, opening up a seven point lead after the first quarter. Among the catalysts was, unsurprisingly, Chris Paul, who had three points, five assists, and four rebounds in his first 10 minutes of play, doing a bit of everything for a Phoenix team that came out with a ton of energy playing the defending champs.

However, disaster struck in the early second quarter when Paul went down in agony after colliding with teammate Cameron Johnson while going for a rebound in transition. Paul immediately grabbed at his right shoulder and fell to the ground, writhing in pain as the team training staff and players from both teams surrounded him in concern.

Paul would eventually be helped back to the locker room with a towel over his head, as there was obvious concern from all parties about his health. There has been no doubt to the impact Paul has had on the Suns in his first season, helping to lift them to one of the league’s best teams with his steady hand at the point guard spot as well as his ability to close games out with his scoring.

UPDATE: Despite how serious it looked with how Paul went down, later in the second quarter he returned to the bench and joined the team in the huddle, getting a massive ovation from the Phoenix crowd.

As the Suns announced, he would return with a shoulder contusion and was back on the floor after missing less than a quarter of play.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine is one that’s been at center stage in the news for the past few weeks. A number of celebrities have spoken out about the tensions between the two countries while expressing support for one of the respective sides. This includes Dua Lipa who, along with model sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid, took a stance in supporting Palestinian human rights in the deadly conflict. As a result, the trio’s support was recently criticized in a newspaper ad paid for by World Values Network, headed by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.

It claimed the trio “accused Israel of ethnic cleansing” and “vilified the Jewish State.” An online version of the ad went even further and said they displayed “anti-Semitic bile to demonize Jewish people.” In response, Dua Lipa took to Twitter to slam the ad while doubling down on her original stance.

“I utterly reject the false and appalling allegations that were published today in the New York Times advertisement taken out by the World Values Network,” she wrote. “This is the price you pay for defending Palestinian human rights against an Israeli government whose actions in Palestine both Human Rights Watch and the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem accuse of persecution and discrimination.”

She continued, “I take this stance because I believe that everyone – Jews, Muslims and Christians – have the right to live in peace as equal citizens of a state they choose. The World Values Network are shamelessly using my name to advance their ugly campaign with falsehoods and blatant misrepresentations of who I am and what I stand for.” Lipa concluded her statement writing, “I stand in solidarity with all oppressed people and reject all forms of racism.”

You can view her post above.

Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The movies are slowly but more or less surely coming back, with summer promising an army of long-delayed blockbusters. Among those that have been collecting dust since the pandemic began is F9, aka the ninth Fast and/or Furious entry (tenth if you count the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw). It’s already opened in Hong Kong and South Korea, but Americans have to wait till June 25 to see what ridiculous mayhem Dominic and gang have up their sleeves. And to get people pumped — and to gently rib star Vin Diesel — this year’s SNL season finale offered a parody welcoming people back to questionable multiplexes.

Beck Bennett plays Diesel, sending up his molasses slow baritone as he reminds people about all the great and not-so-great things about an activity people have mostly not been able to do for over a year. For more than 100 years, there’s one place where we all came together to be entertained: the movies,” Bennett’s Diesel says, then starts simply listing things you find at the movies. “The popcorn, the previews, the pretzels, and don’t forget—the movies.

“It’s time to get back to the carpets, the cupholders, the armrests, the napkins,” he continued. “When the movie’s not loud enough, when the movie’s a little too loud. I guess you could say there’s something for everybody…only at the movies.”

Eventually he outstays his welcome, puzzling AMC employees played by Keenan Thompson and host Anya Taylor-Joy. “It’s time to go home, watch a movie at home with no mask,” he finally says. “It’s amazing.”

You can watch the sketch in the video above. And be prepared to remember how annoying it can be to go to the movies.

Game 1 of the Wizards-Sixers series got started with a more dramatic first half than many anticipated, as the Wizards were able to bring the game to their preferred chaotic pace to take a 62-61 lead into the break. Bradley Beal got going, Alex Len had a surprisingly good start, and the normally excellent Philadelphia defense struggled to contain the Wizards high-flying offense.

The Sixers stayed in touch with the Wizards thanks in large part to the sensational play of Tobias Harris, who had 28 in the first half and finished the day with a new playoff career high as he led all scorers with 37 points.

It looked for a bit in the third like the Sixers would run away, but even as they slowed the game to their preferred pace with a defensive struggle in the fourth quarter, the Wizards managed to hang around as the Sixers failed to execute offensively down the stretch and had free throw issues, namely Ben Simmons who was 0-for-6 from the stripe. Still, Philly did what it needed to defensively even as their offense scuffled, and the big games from Harris and Joel Embiid, who had 30 points on 9-of-16 shooting, was enough to gut out a 125-118 win.

For Washington, Beal came up big with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, but didn’t get the help he needed in the scoring area from Russell Westbrook and others, as Russ had 16 points and 15 assists, while Davis Bertans had 14 and briefly looked like he might get hot before cooling off at the wrong time. Neither team will probably feel great about their Game 1 showing, but the Sixers got the win and know they have plenty more to give, while the Wizards will feel like they let one slip away on an afternoon where Philadelphia didn’t have its A-game.

The first half of Game 1 of the Wizards-Sixers series in Philadelphia was far more competitive than many anticipated, with Washington taking a one-point lead into the break. It was a back-and-forth affair, with the Wizards starting slowly but coming alive late in the first quarter and battling the rest of the way.

That isn’t often how the 1-8 series goes, but Washington comes into the series on a bit of a heater with Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal playing tremendous basketball of late. For many, it was a pretty riveting half of basketball, as Philly is trying to shake free of its own playoff demons against a team that is playing, truly like a squad with nothing to lose. However, for others, the 1 p.m. tipoff came a bit too quickly after last night’s action ended at 1 a.m. ET.

When the Inside the NBA crew came on for halftime, Charles Barkley started talking about the first half, particularly the defensive effort of Philly before he was cut off by Shaq, who had video evidence of the Chuckster fast asleep in the green room during the first half.

For many it was just a funny, classic Chuck moment, while others found it frustrating as another example of the biggest NBA studio show not actually paying attention to the game they’re supposed to be talking about. Shaq couldn’t help but call out Chuck for his napping transgressions and you can bet any time Barkley is offering up questionable analysis the rest of this postseason, everyone is just going to assume he was passed out in the back during the game.

Lil Nas X has done it all in the less than two years since his 2019 breakout moment. The singer has two Grammy awards to his name, the record for most consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart, and the most certified single in music history.

Despite the long list of achievements and milestones, prior to this weekend, one thing that Lil Nas hadn’t done yet was appear on Saturday Night Live. All of that changed last night when the singer stepped onto the Studio 8H stage to perform “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and “Sun Goes Down.”

The singer kicked off the night with a performance of the ever-so-controversial “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” Sticking with the fiery theme of the song’s music video, Lil Nas danced and sang in front of a backdrop of hell that even featured a stripper pole for him to dance on.

Unfortunately, as he danced on the pole, Lil Nas accidentally ripped his pants in what proved to be a funny SNL moment. Afterward, he spoke about the wardrobe malfunction on Twitter. “I know i do a lot of planned sh*t but ripping my pants on live television is not one of them,” he wrote.

Lil Nas X would push past this potentially embarrassing TV moment and return to the SNL stage to end the night with a performance on “Sun Goes Down.”

You can watch the performances in the videos above.

The final Weekend Update of Saturday Night Live‘s Season 46 was a bit like the cold open in that it recapped the wild year that was. But it was the less-topical jokes near the end of the segment that brought down the house for the fully-vaccinated audience at capacity for the first time all year.

“Well it is our last Weekend Update and I have to say, I think that the country is in a better place than when we started this season,” Colin Jost began by saying. “In September there were headlines like ‘Will the president destroy democracy?’ And now there are headlines like ‘Will this be the most turnt-ass summer ever?’”

Attention turned to the headlines from the last year, including the insurrection attempt in Washington that Republicans are likely to refuse inquiring into officially.

“And who can forget that time the president tried to murder congress?” Jost said. “Apparently, congress can.

“Republicans just want to forget that the riots ever happened and focus on the future of the party. And the future of their party is, well, yikes,” Jost continued as a picture of Matt Gaetz popped up.

Michael Che got in on the fun to make fun of Rudy Giuliani’s son, who launched an attempt at becoming the governor of New York State earlier in the week.

“Andrew Giuliani, who is the child of Rudy Giuliani and, I’m gonna say Gary Busey, announced that he’s running for governor of New York and claimed that he’s spent five decades in politics despite being 35 years old,” Che said. “I didn’t know you can get brain damage when your father drinks during a pregnancy.

The most popular part of the segment, though, was Che and Jost swapping jokes they wrote for each other in what’s essentially an effort to ruin each other’s lives. It’s a bit the two have done occasionally over the years, but with it being the last show of the season they really swung for the fences here.

The jokes are all terribly offensive, but the two seem to revel in making each other uncomfortable. You can hear the lines for yourself in the video above, but this image really says it all.

There was an air of finality to the segment for a number of reasons, but fans who like seeing Che make Jost uncomfortable will certainly hope it’s not the last time the two man the desk in Studio 8H.

Bleachers bandleader and constant pop star collaborator Jack Antonoff just announced a new album and a massive tour behind it. Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night is shaping up to be an excellent third album from Bleachers, with early singles featuring none other than Bruce Springsteen (!), “45” almost hearkening back to the Steel Train days, and the newest track, “Stop Making This Hurt” officially clocking in as their best song since “I Want To Get Better.” Check out the video above if you haven’t seen it yet.

Today, however, Antonoff had the band’s upcoming tour strongly on his mind — and the fact that price gouging on Stubhub has become such an epidemic it often prohibits fans from being able to afford to attend the show. What happens is bands release tickets for shows, they’re bought up by scalpers, and re-sold for massive markups. It’s always been a terrible scourge on the live music industry, but after eighteen months without shows, economic downfall for so many artists, and a general re-centering of priorities, artists like Antonoff have had enough.

“Dear Stubhub,” he began a lengthy Twitter thread this morning. “I will never understand why you are legal (let alone ethical), but since I cannot find a way to stop you from selling my tickets for WAY more than i feel comfortable with – would you consider donating a portion of your mark up to the Ally Coalition? A dollar from every @bleachersmusic
ticket sold goes to the Ally Coalitions. Can you do the math and donate based on your markup? Lastly, the price we sell our tickets for is very carefully considered based on the respect we have for our audience. Please do not gouge these people. Sell the tickets for a reasonable price and match our donations.”

After his initial tweets, Jack later added that he was blown away by fan’s reaction and support of the tour: “And now to you guys- overwhelmed by the response to the tour. Can’t wait to see everyone out there. Love you very much.”

Before clarifying a few more thoughts on the Stubhub process, and tagging the company’s president to double down on his request that Bleachers ticket sale prices not be gouged on the re-selling platform.

“What I am asking for is this: Don’t want my tickets marked up at all. If someone can’t make the show and wants to resell at its face value that’s cool, but no gouging. Asking
@stubhub @sukhindersingh to not let Bleachers tickets be sold over ticket price. I’d be fine with you guys taking a small fee as the service that lets people resell tickets if they can’t make a show. But what’s happening is a scam and we can do much better, can’t we?”

It’s admirable to watch an artist speak up for their fans this directly, and here’s hoping Stubhub responds in kind.

Rick And Morty will return next month with its fifth season, and the latest trailer for the Dan Harmon-led project expands on what we know about the season ahead to the tune of some 90s hip-hop. The usual stakes are there in the minute-long trailer, with danger and shooting and lots of sci-fi weirdness for the Sanchez family.

“Someone out there is trying to kill us,” Summer says as a montage shows portal jumping and police turkeys loading their weapons.

“Someone’s always trying to kill us,” Rick replies as the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” gears up.

The trailer alludes to other bits of plot we’ve seen from earlier trailers, including some kind of mech parody called Team Voltron and an ocean-themed arch nemesis for Rick that we haven’t previously met.

“Police,” Jerry says, holding a phone. “A strange horny ocean man is on my lawn.”

A bunch of little moments make it clear Season 5 will be more of the same. Rick shoots a gun of his own face. In another moment, a LEGO-looking Rick driving a car in the desert takes off the top of his head to reveal a different kind of gun. And the genre-bending self-referencing is back and as biting as ever.

“It’s OK, Morty. It’s what you do,” Rick says as Morty apologizes for some kind of mess. “Now let me deus ex machina this sh*t and let’s go home.”

Season 5 of Rick And Morty hits Adult Swim on June 20.