The new tour for 2018 with Psychedelic Furs launches tomorrow at the Pleasantville Music Festival in New York, and then heads west with shows in Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington and Utah through the rest of July. The English post punk/New Wave band is one of my favorite live acts, and they did not disappoint with their Singles Tour last year. Definitely one of the tours to catch up with in 2018. [Read more…]
In about a week, R&B hip hop legends Eric B & Rakim will be embarking on their first tour in two decades. After a 2017 reunion show for the 30th anniversary of the debut album, Paid in Full, this will be their first full tour since they broke up in 1993. [Read more…]
After a series of gigs with Lionel Richie in Australia and New Zealand over the next week, Nile Rodgers & CHIC will be playing a number of dates all over the world through the end of August, including many festival appearances. [Read more…]
Yesterday, Coldplay kicked off the second North American leg of their “A Head Full of Dreams” tour at at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This is a follow-up to the first visit to North America in July, August and September of 2016. The band’s seventh tour, it is a return to larger arenas and stadium and in total they will play over 100 shows across five continents. Their latest EP, Kaleidoscope, came out last month. [Read more…]
September and October sees Tears for Fears performing 14 shows in North America, making up for a set of concerts that were previously postponed. More, they are working on a new album with Warner Bros. Records that is due out in 2017, the first since 2004’s Everybody Loves a Happy Ending. [Read more…]
Rock and roll legends Journey continue their massive series of shows in the U.S. as part of their “San Francisco Fest Tour”, ending appropriately enough in San Francisco in early September. Founded in San Francisco in 1973, Journey has sold over 80 million albums worldwide, recording countless top hits in their career. Neal Schon (founding member and lead guitarist), Ross Valory (original member and bassist), along with longtime members Jonathan Cain (keyboardist) and Arnel Pineda (lead singer) are joined on this tour with Steve Smith on drums – the first time he has toured with the band since 1998. Also performing on this tour are The Doobie Brothers and Dave Mason. [Read more…]
2016 marks Coldplay’s first global stadium and arena tour in years, in support of their seventh studio album, A Head Full of Dreams. The U.S. leg of the tour began in mid-July and runs through early September. As always, the tour promised surprises and a lot of candy for both eyes and ears, with a setlist that spans their entire career. [Read more…]
“Put your hands in the sky…” Robert Smith of The Cure dispenses with the chit chat in-between songs for the most part, but fans of the band are so into every thought expressed in every song that the subconscious grooves in the back of their mind move them to connect with the moment, as as he sang those words during “From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea”, a majority of the sold out crowd at Shoreline Amphitheatre reached up to the blue above. Not even a “hit” song for the band, that is the power of their music among the devoted. But it wasn’t just those long-time, hardcore fans that turned out for this show, but quite a number of “casual” fans as well, as this current tour is their first major one in the U.S. in about seven years. Apparently, their absence has been felt and their return is cause for celebration. They are not touring just the U.S., but the world at large through the end of the year. With their sprawling set lists and shows running around three hours non-stop with three or four encores, one wonders how they physically keep up… yet the shows they put on are stellar and truly unique experiences. The band has been recording and performing for so long – formed four decades ago – it is something just to hear the music from such different eras all performed in the same style and sound, with Smith’s matured vocals making them better than ever. A spectacular evening of music from one of the most original and talented bands of my generation – live music events don’t really get much better than this. One of the “must see” tours of the year, hands down.
Rock and roll icons Fleetwood Mac and their “Own With The Show” tour is heading west later this month, with a second leg of shows added for January, February and March of 2015 as part of their extensive North American tour featuring their historic line-up of Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Stevie Nicks. [Read more…]
“Is that the new iPhone 6?” Roland Orzabal, early on in the show, as he and Curt Smith looked out over the sea of cell phones in the air, held by an exuberant sold out crowd at the historic Wiltern in Los Angeles last night. Tears for Fears, best known for their collection of timeless and classic New Wave hits from the 80s, do not tour very often, and when they do, the tours are usually not too many dates and cities. So there was a bit of an “event” feeling in the air, and based on some of their comments later in the show, they both seem to have quite an affinity for the City of Angels. As such, it seemed to be one of those special sort of shows, that unfold in a different sort of way. About halfway through the show, Curt even gave a shout out to Richard Blade, who was at the front of the GA crowd in the pit… if you didn’t know him by his own lifetime in music, you would think he was the band’s biggest fan (and maybe he is). Perhaps the development that represented the biggest point of fan service, prefaced by Roland with “nothing like changing it up for L.A.; obviously this is a special place for us…” was the surprise encore opener, a song that “we haven’t done for many, many years”. He said that this version will be included in their deluxe reissue of Songs From the Big Chair in November. He said it has been impossible for them to do live “until now”, and then proceeded to play “The Working Hour”. Definitely a special show by a fantastic band, and the place was certainly buzzing when it all came to a close after upwards of a two hour show.