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Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing Philadelphia

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Philadelphia, PA — Five bands perform to a sold-out crowd. Hey Monday, Cobra Starship, Metro Station, All Time Low and Fall Out Boy

Radio stations 102.1 and 104.5 put on a concert at Festival Pier, Penns Landing, Philadelphia, PA. They said, “Rain Or Shine”. Maybe they should have said, “Rain And Shine”.

At 5:00pm, there was a long, long line waiting in the rain for the 6:30 show. They had drenched clothes and blankets, broken umbrellas and soaked heads. The gates opened at 6:00. As soon as the line started moving, the sun broke through the clouds, the rain stopped and the sky turned blue. Everyone figured it was all over and left their rain gear. Inside, the general admission “seating” basked in the warmth of a beautiful evening. Hey Monday played under the sweet sunlight. Cobra Starship rocked out as the sun started setting behind them. Then, something began to feel amiss. During Metro Station’s set, giant clouds started rolling overhead. Splash! The rain came pouring down. Within an instant, it was a massive wet t-shirt contest.

The show went on rain… and, shine… and, rain… and….

Hey Monday
The first band to take the stage was Hey Monday. Hey Monday is an American pop punk band from West Palm Beach, Florida, United States. Fronted with a female singer, Cassadee Pope, they played a spirited and spunky set that included: Run Don’t Walk, Candles, How Do You Love Me Now and Homecoming.

Cobra Starship at Penn's Landing, Festival Pier, Philadelphia, PA

Cobra Starship at Penn's Landing, Festival Pier, Philadelphia, PA

Cobra Starship
It was a little surprising that Cobra Starship was the second act. Of the five bands, they were probably the second best performance of the night. Their music is a powerful blend of punk, pop, techno, mosh, funk and rock. As vocalist, Gabe Saporta, said, we “bring it all together.”

They appeared to get pleasure from playing in front of the sold-out crowd. There was plenty of interaction with the audience, as well as, encouragement to “go for what you want”. In fact, by the time their set was done, they had converted the entire audience into Cobras. Having taught the uninitiated the proper hand sign, thousands upon thousands of arms could be seen held high in the air creating a sea of snakes.

set list
1. The City Is At War
2. Smile For The Paparazzi
3. Kiss My Sass [With A Verse From Hollaback Boy]
4. Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)
5. Pete Wentz Is The Only Reason We’re Famous
6. Guilty Pleasure

Metro Station
Hmmm… what can be said about Metro Station? Despite the downpour during their set, they still didn’t float my boat. On the other hand, they were quite dance-able. The age group of dancers was diverse, too. From eleven year olds to fifty year olds, people couldn’t help but dance and sing. Perhaps some people like to dance to disco more than listen to disco? It seemed like the songs went something like: Kelsey, Now That We’re Done, Dead And Gone [cover], Seventeen Forever and Shake It.

All Time Low
You’d think Metro Station would be the all time low, but as All Time Low took the stage you’d have to think again. (just kidding) Sure, All Time Low also started out a little too disco. When they started showing their harder edge, about half way through, the sound started to bring you back up. As Poppin’ Champagne started playing, they got a bit easier to swallow. The last song, Dear Maria, Count Me In, redeemed their status to — Yeah!

Fall Out Boy at Festival Pier, Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, PA

Fall Out Boy at Festival Pier, Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, PA

Fall Out Boy
What can be said about Fall Out Boy? A: They rock.
The sound was on the money. If not that, at least worth the price of the ticket to get in. It kind-of blew you off your feet, yet, was not so loud as to deafen your ears. With a solid sound and charismatic stage presence, it was easy to understand why they were the headliner.

They continued the sing-a-long theme of the evening. That is to say, the patrons new just about every word to every song to every band. A few of the highlights included: Sugar, We’re Going Down, I Don’t Care and This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race.

Lollapalooza Lineup 2009

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

Lollapalooza 2009 will be held in Austin and Chicago. The lineup will include: Kings Of Leon, Jane’s Addiction, Depeche Mode and the Beastie Boys. The full lineup is ecpected to be announced in April.

Spinal Tap: Turn It Up To 11

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

The members of the 1984 rockumentary/mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap have announced a new tour. The band members are are Michael McKean (as David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest (as Nigel Tufnel) and Harry Shearer (as Derek Smalls). The tour is called “Unwigged & Unplugged.”

Ironicly, the artists never made any money from the movie. Since it was made, the movie changed ownership several times and is now owned by StudioCanal.

“It’s a cautionary tale that we don’t intend anyone to pay heed to,” said McKean. “If you’re a young guy or gal and you want to be in a rock ‘n’ roll band, see this movie but do it anyway.”

We’ve never gone out as ourselves,” said Shearer. “It’s interesting. After playing characters on stage all these years, we’re having meetings now trying to figure out who we are.”

On this tour they will go out as themselves, not playing the parts from the movie. They will also play other music, such as songs from the movie “A Mighty Wind.”

“We’re gonna destroy hotel rooms,” said Guest.

“Actually, at our age, we’re gonna hire people to destroy hotel rooms,” added Shearer.

Progressive Nation 2009 – North American Summer Tour!

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

DREAM THEATER’S “PROGRESSIVE NATION 2009″ TO TOUR NORTH AMERICA IN JULY/AUG WITH SPECIAL GUESTS ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA, PAIN OF SALVATION AND BEARDFISH
New York progressive metal veterans DREAM THEATER will take their PROGRESSIVE NATION tour back on the road for its second incarnation with a run through America and Canada in July/Aug 2009.

In addition to a headlining set by DREAM THEATER, this year’s package will feature the outstanding musicianship of ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA as well as two incredibly talented imports from Sweden: PAIN OF SALVATION and BEARDFISH.

PROGRESSIVE NATION was created by DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy and its successful inaugural run in 2008 also featured OPETH, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME and THREE.

Portnoy once again hand-picked all of the bands for the 2009 bill based on their diversity and musicality. He comments: “This year’s lineup is so exciting for me. Every band is bringing something very unique to the package to create an incredibly well rounded musical experience. I am just as excited to be watching all the bands from the side of the stage as I am to be performing with mine in the center of it!”

Fresh on the heels of his Grammy win, Dweezil Zappa is pleased to announce his plans to join forces with Dream Theater as part of the Progressive Nation 2009 tour: “It’s no secret that I started ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA with the intention to diversify and expand the audience for my father’s music. I figured I’d probably have to do it one concert at a time. Playing with DREAM THEATER on the PROGRESSIVE NATION tour is a great way to accomplish that goal. Music fans who are seeking something to challenge their senses should definitely consider attending this great bill.”

Portnoy adds, “It is an absolute honor for me to have ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA on board. Frank Zappa is one of my all-time biggest heroes and his music practically invented the term ‘progressive’. Dweezil is doing an amazing job carrying on the tradition of his father’s daring spirit and like his dad, has surrounded himself with a band of jaw-dropping, incredible musicians”

Sweden’s PAIN OF SALVATION will bring their unique brand of cutting-edge progressive metal to PN09. Vocalist/Guitarist Daniel Gildenlow comments: “We are truly very happy to be part of the PN09 tour, and to be back in the States again and bring all the sweat and flesh to our music and our well deserving American fans. We feel honored to have been asked.”

Gildenlow also joked, “Actually, Mike has been on our backs now for two years in what we believe to be a personal campaign, bordering on harassment, to make us come over. So when he asked us about PN09, it was a joy to finally be able to say yes. And if Mike didn’t give up on us, then hopefully America hasn’t either.”

Vocalist/Keyboardist Rikard Sjöblom of BEARDFISH is equally excited: “When we read on a website that Mike Portnoy had our album “Sleeping in Traffic Part 1″ among his favorite releases of 2007, we just couldn’t believe it and we were really happy about it! And now we once again gasp for air since we’ve been asked to join PROGRESSIVE NATION 2009 together with DREAM THEATER (one of the biggest bands in this genre today!), PAIN OF SALVATION (hey, fellow Swedes!!!) and ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA (being a HUGE Zappa fan myself, I think this is really cool!). Since we’ve only played the US once before we simply can’t wait to come over and rock out!”

PROGRESSIVE NATION will be the first North American tour for DREAM THEATER in support of their newest Roadrunner Records release which is slated for a June 2009 release.

For more information, including dates to be announced soon, visit:
www.progressivenation2009.com (coming soon)

www.dreamtheater.net
www.myspace.com/dreamtheater

Ticketmaster Settles Springsteen Probe

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

New Jersey — Ticketmaster has agreed to change its business practices after a suit was filed by the New Jersey Attorney General.

Springsteen had said, “We were informed that Ticketmaster was redirecting your log-in requests for tickets at face value, to their secondary site TicketsNow, which specializes in up-selling tickets at above face value. They did this even when other seats remained available at face value. We condemn this practice. We perceive this as a pure conflict of interest.”

Under the settlement, Ticketmaster will be restricted for at least one year.

“Ticketmaster will need prior approval from the Attorney General for any links between its ‘No Tickets Found’ Internet page to its TicketsNow re-sale website.”

Also, “Ticketmaster will not use paid Internet advertising that leads customers searching for “Ticketmaster” on search engines to TicketsNow.”

Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff offered an apology:
“While we were genuinely trying to do the right thing for fans in providing more choices when the tickets they requested from the primary on-sale were not available, we clearly missed the mark. Fans are confused and angry, which is the opposite of what we hoped to accomplish. We sincerely apologize to Bruce, his organization and, above all, his fans.”

“We recognize that we need to change our course. “We have committed to Bruce and state publicly here that we have taken down all links for Bruce’s shows directing fans from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow. This redirection only occurred as a choice when we could not satisfy fans’ specific search request for primary ticket inventory, but to make sure there is no misunderstanding in the future, we also publicly state that we will never again link to TicketsNow in a manner that can possibly create any confusion during a high-demand on-sale.

“Specifically, we will not present an option to go to TicketsNow from Ticketmaster without the consent of the artist and the venue, both of whom work together to bring the joy of live entertainment to millions of fans.”

Nine Inch Nails to Tour With Reunited Jane’s Addiction

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

by Trent Reznor

Towards the beginning of my career in Nine Inch Nails, our biggest break came in the form of an invitation to perform a series of shows with Jane’s Addiction. These performances essentially created and defined the term “alternative” rock in the US, created an ongoing festival franchise that is still thriving (Lollapalooza), set the stage for Nirvana to shift popular taste a few months later, and were really fucking FUN to play and attend – truly the best times I’ve had. The shows were epic. So epic, they propelled NIN to the “next level” (whatever that means), but caused Jane’s to implode. The band broke up at the end of that tour.Fast forward to the present. Corporate rock STILL sucks. A friend tells me they saw the original Jane’s lineup play a tiny show in LA that was unbelievable. I break out my Jane’s records and am amazed by how vital they sound. These guys were the real deal and in this current climate mostly dominated by poseurs and pussies it was refreshing to hear something that sounded dangerous, volatile, beautiful and SINCERE.Emails were sent, phone calls were made, dinner was arranged, ideas were discussed and the next thing I know we’re in the studio experimenting. We laugh, we get to know each other, we cry, we yell, we almost quit, we record LOTS of guitar solos, we discuss, we actually begin to all communicate, we yell some more, we become FRIENDS, we laugh again and we do some great things. I get to see first hand why they broke up all those years ago but I also get the chance to see four distinct personalities that become an INCREDIBLE band when they’re in the same room.In NIN world, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of our first releases. I’ve been thinking for some time now it’s time to make NIN disappear for a while. Last year’s “Lights in the Sky” tour was something I’m quite proud of and seems like the culmination of what I could pull off in terms of an elaborate production. It was also quite difficult to pull off technically and physically night after night and left us all a bit dazed. After some thought, we decided to book a last run of shows across the globe this year. The approach to these shows is quite different from last year – much more raw, spontaneous and less scripted. Fun for us and a different way for you to see us and wave goodbye. I reached out to Jane’s to see if they’d want to join us across the US and we all felt it could be a great thing. Will it work? Will it resonate in the marketplace? Who knows. Is there big record label marketing dollars to convince you to attend? Nope.Does it feel right to us and does it seem like it will be fun for us and you? Yes it does.Look for tour dates soon and I hope to see you out there. Trent

Blink 182 Is Back Together!

Monday, February 9th, 2009

There have been many rumors about Blink 182. After frontman, Tom DeLonge, left to
form Angels & Airwaves and drummer, Travis Barker, was in a serious plane crash, many thought the band would never play together again. However, they have announced on their website that they are back:

“Hi. We’re Blink 182. This past week there’ve been a lot of questions about the current status of the band, and we wanted you to hear it straight from us. To put it simply, We’re back. We mean, really back. Picking up where we left off and then some. In the studio writing and recording a new album. Preparing to tour the world yet again. Friendships reformed. 17 years deep in our legacy.

Summer 2009.

Thanks and get ready….”