The Smashing Pumpkins will be touring cities in North America starting next week and running through the end of April as part of their “In Plainsong” tour, with Liz Phair supporting. Billy Corgan, Jeff Schroeder and Jimmy Chamberlin will be playing stripped-down “acoustic-electro” renditions of their songs. [Read more…]
The Naked And Famous are playing select U.S. club shows this month, in advance of going into the studio to finish their third studio album (as well as playing BFD 2016 at Shoreline in June). [Read more…]
Seal is coming to perform a special one off show at Fox Theater Oakland early next month, in support of his latest album, 7, which was released in November. The Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter is celebrated all over the world for his incredible live shows, with a vast catalog of original hits and timeless covers in his repertoire. The show is being promoted by Another Planet Entertainment and Red Devil Presents. [Read more…]
Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival has announced the bulk of their concert line-up for 2015, which has shaped up to be one of the best this year. The Las Vegas event – making this the third annual – will be held September 25th, 26th, and 27th, and headliners include Stevie Wonder, Imagine Dragons, Kendrick Lamar, Duran Duran, Hozier, Kid Cudi, Weezer, Major Lazer, Death Cab for Cutie, Brandon Flowers, and more. [Read more…]
Alternative rock and folk singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega will be touring the United States over the next three months, and then play a number of shows in the United Kingdom and Norway over the Summer; it is expected additional dates will be added. Her latest album, Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles, was released last year. [Read more…]
Innovative American drummer Terry Bozzio will be finishing his solo North American tour in California later this month, before taking his massive drum kit overseas to Japan for more concerts in November. Best known for his work with Frank Zappa and Missing Persons, Bozzio has had a fascinating career and developed innumerable innovations in drumming. [Read more…]
Garage punk band The Kills will be playing a handful of just seven shows in North America in the second half of October, kicking off in New York and finishing up in California, with the last stop appearing with Queens of the Stone Age in Los Angeles. While their last album, Blood Pressures, hit in 2011 on Domino Rocords, the duo have explored other media in 2014. Jamie Hince opened his “Echo Home” exhibit of photographic work at the Morrison Hotel Galley in New York in June while Alison Mosshart has had several original paintings on paper, canvas, and fabric included in “Push It”, a group show of female artists at ArtNowNY in April. Their work can be seen in Du Jour and New York Times T Magazine, respectively. [Read more…]
“Are we not in the desert? Where are we?” A bit of comic relief part way through The Go-Go’s set by Gina Schock, who as per tradition emerges from her drum kit at some point in the show to give us a bit of fun. And that is kind of at the heart of The Go-Go’s punky/poppy/surfy/beachy New Wave music, so what better a group to headline 2014’s newest 80s-centric tour, Replay America. Also on the bill is Patty Smyth from Scandal, Martha Davis from The Motels, and Pete Byrne from Naked Eyes. A real assortment of 80s hitmakers each took to the stage at Thunder Valley Casino Resort on Saturday night to take the crowd back about three decades to a real innovative time in music. Though there was a lot of music to be heard, things proceeded along quite quickly with the first three artists sharing a band (with some changes set to set), and a quick changeover for the aforementioned Go-Go’s, who closed out the night with a string of classic songs. Definitely a unique opportunity to catch many favorites in one sitting, and I know I thoroughly enjoyed each artist, only half of whom I’d seen live before (though I was already a fan of all four). Awesome show.
Replay America, a U.S. tour taking place this month, will feature The Go-Go’s, Martha Davis and The Motels, Patty Smyth and Scandal, and Naked Eyes featuring Pete Byrne. With such a significant line-up of 80s music and pop culture icons, the concert series will certainly be one to see this Summer. Everything kicks off in Clearwater, Florida this weekend.
“Before the night is over, I’m going to be in with these guys…” At some point into the sprawling one hour, forty five minute set put on by (an at times plain goofy) James Blunt and his band, the singer-songwriter looked up at the small section of balcony seats in the sold out show at The Fillmore in San Francisco, then glanced at the standing crowd right below, and made those up front feel that something special might happen toward the end of the show. Keeping his promise, a sweaty James Blunt did indeed end up surfing the crowd – not what one might expect of the emotional crooner, best known for his kind of dark, break out hit song “You’re Beautiful”. Full of energy and great humor (much of it self-deprecating, which wasn’t surprising coming from an Englishman), James Blunt seemed like a born entertainer, feeding off the crowd and giving it all back in spades. At times it seemed like a bit of an odd affair all around; kind of like what might come about from making cookies without a cookie cutter… the audience certainly didn’t fit any particular profile or stereotype, and his music seemed to draw what you might call “people who don’t dance at concerts” (and funny enough, I would classify myself as one of those), so there was a sort non-traditional connection between artist and fan – not so much seen, but felt. It seems that the James Blunt fan might be more of a devotee – quizzing the crowd up front, people started a line at 2:30 for the 7:00 doors show. With four studio albums under his belt (with the latest, last year’s Moon Landing serving as the theme for this tour), he seems to be doing well, and enjoying himself along the way.