A pair of interesting local package-tour concerts were announced today for Riverbend's summer season. • On Saturday, July 6, Bob Dylan and his band are headlining the Americanarama Festival of Music when it comes to Riverbend Music Center. Dylan tours a lot, but making this jaunt extra special are the extra special guests — Wilco and My Morning Jacket. Other acts are to be added to round out the fest-like bill (show starts at 5:30 p.m.). Tickets for Americanarama at Riverbend go on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster. Tickets range from $30-$80; between April 27-28, fans can buy lawn tickets for the show for just $20 (plus all those sketchy ticket fees). Read more about the tour here.• For local fans of modern Hip Hop, mark your calendars for Aug. 11. That's when the second annual Hip Hop tour, Under the Influence of Music, will be coming to Riverbend. The show is headlined by Wiz Khalifa and A$AP Rocky and will also feature B.o.B., Trinidad Jame$, Joey Bada$$, Pro Era and Berner and more. The Cincinnati stop is the last on the tour, which always makes for a fun time for the performers (and, thus, the audience).Tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster. Click here if you'd like to RSVP for a chance to buy tickets early. Citi card members get access to presale tickets beginning tomorrow at 10 a.m. Riverbend is offering $15 "Early Bird" tickets through April 28.  And here is some info on getting a jump on the public on-sale. Here's an interview with the headliners about the tour.

Church ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings — or, in this case, until My Morning Jacket are good and ready.The Louisville natives are known to play a lengthy set, which appeals to most people so long as you’re either a baby boomer or on some sort of mind-altering substance. On Sunday night in Columbus at the LC Pavilion, it’s possible nearly every person was one or the other. That or maybe we all just came together to appreciate what the Indie Rock jam band had to offer.To my pleasant surprise, Band of Horses opened up for the band — a piece of information I didn’t bother to find out until my friend and I recognized frontman Ben Bridwell’s distinctive voice from the beer tent.“Is that Band of Horses?”  “By golly, I think it is.”Unfortunately, they weren’t really anything to write home about. A bit on the boring side, the band showed the same amount, if not less, energy than any other given southern Indie Rock band. I appreciated the hits, like “Is There a Ghost” and “The Funeral” as much as the next guy, but there was some sort of intangible barrier, either coming from my point of view or theirs that made the whole thing not as special. I guess they were leaving that up to their “heroes,” My Morning Jacket. And so were we.By this point, the sun was going down and everyone had had their decent fill of 32 oz beers and marijuana cigarettes (isn’t that what you call those things these days?). Jim James, or as I like to call him, “Yimmy Yammies,” took the stage donned in some sort of blue cape. At last! Our super hero! He and his fellow band mates all took their respective places and began forcefully with “Heartbreakin’ Man.” James’ falsetto boldly took shape within the dope-stained air, and the audience was nearly forced by this invisible entity to get ta’ groovin’.Roughly two-and-a-half hours and about 20 songs later and somehow everyone seemed lost in time, concerning themselves only with embracing every goddamn moment — My Morning Jacket included. Deeming us “beautiful fucking people,” James made us feel like there was no other purpose for us than to be standing right there along with him.The band left the stage, only to rejoin us a few minutes later for the encore — encore number one that is. James played “Hopefully” on his lonesome, with the spotlight glaring down on that glorious bearded silhouette like he was God himself. (Blasphemy!) The band joined him for a few more songs like “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)” and “Wordless Chorus."And just when we thought it was all over, My Morning Jacket came out one last time for a second encore and played “Steam Engine.” The finale was meant to be, embodying our current state of being perfectly. Relishing in every moment, we went to some kind of church. And it ain’t over to Jim James sings.

I started out the second day of the Forecastle festival in Louisville by getting caught in the rain and being picked up like a hitchhiker by the Everest band van on the way to setup for their set on the main Mast Stage of the festival. The band agreed to let me hang for “A Day in the Life” photo series as they prepped to play the 10th Anniversary of Forecastle. They were laid back as the rain moved in and gear was unplugged and wrapped in saran wrap.Click here to check out the "A Day in the Life" photo series featuring Everest.Everest has been on the road promoting their third album Ownerless. On Ownerless, you can hear a refined sound in which the band speaks about powerful issues as they took their time to record and find their true voice, writing from the heart and soul. The band consists of members Russell Pollard (vocals/guitar/drums), Joel Graves (guitar/keys/vocals), Jason Soda (guitar/keys/vocals), Eli Thomson (bass/vocals) and new addition Kyle Crane (drums).Everest are rising stars in the alternative music scene and have toured with My Morning Jacket and they will be heading back on the road with Neil Young this fall.It turned out to not be such a typical “day in the life” as the show was held back because of lightning in the area but the band unloaded and prepared to play even as heavy rain descended on the festival. The festival opened an hour late due to rain delays but they did make time for all the planned acts to perform (albeit with shorter set lists).Everest played loud and rocked the crowd as it gathered to hear this band singing my favorite track on the new album as the opening song “Rapture.” Founding member Pollard’s raspy vocals were captivating and I instantly became a fan of this band as they sang older tunes and new record songs like “Into the Grey.” The Watson Twins joined the band for a few songs on backing vocals to round out their set. Overall it was a great day to play music in Louisville as fans gathered to celebrate 10 years of the fest, which self-defines itself as being all about "music, art and activism." The Preservation Hall Jazz Band took the main stage by storm and had fans dancing in the grass; special guests onstage including Jim James and Andrew Bird playing classic tunes with the legendary jazz musicians from New Orleans. James' band (and hometown heroes) My Morning Jacket played over two hours to close out the night while Girl Talk played on the second stage and had a festival rave in full action on the banks of the Ohio river.Click here to check out even more photos from Forecastle.