Archive: 2005

Until recently, there was one U.S. date on the books for Gang of Four: an appearance in front of the massive crowd at California’s Coachella music festival May 1.

Now the band will be playing the next two evenings at San Francisco’s Fillmore. Gang of Four will also be visiting Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Chicago, New York and Washington D.C., among other cities, before ending things in Philadelphia May 21.

Gang of Four is considered one of the most influential groups of the early 80s. R.E.M., U2, Rage Against The Machine and Red Hot Chili Peppers probably would have sounded more like Night Ranger if it wasn’t for this band.

The lineup is the same as it was in 1981: Jon King, Andy Gill, Dave Allen and Hugo Burnham. The foursome released 1978’s Damaged Goods, and 1979’s Entertainment and Solid Gold – three very influential albums from that era.

Gill is currently a record producer, with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Killing Joke, Futureheads and Jesus Lizard under his belt, among others.

A double-disc set of Gang of Four music is expected to be released around the same time as the U.S. dates.

Source pollstar.com.

Blues legend B.B. King won’t celebrate his 80th birthday until Sept. 16, but a host of events are in the works leading up to the occasion. King is already in the midst of an extensive tour, which rolls into San Diego tonight (March 1) and has dates on tap through July 5 at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

Later this month, King will begin work on a new duets album, which is confirmed to feature pairings with Van Morrison, U2, Sting and Elton John. The set will be released later this year on a Universal Music Group label to be announced.

It will be King’s first new studio album since 2003’s “Reflections,” which debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Blues Albums chart.

In June, ground will broken on the B.B. King Museum in his hometown of Indianola, Miss.. Benefit concerts for the museum are in the works for late summer at a venue to be announced and on Sept. 20 in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Also in September, King will be the subject of the Bulfinch Press book “B.B. King’s Treasures,” which follows his 1996 autobiography “Blues All Around Me.”

Source billboard.com.

Photos by Scott Meivogel of Keller Williams at the House of Blues, Cleveland, OH – 2.20.05.

To the delight of Percy Hill fans, After All shows no signs of reinvention, instead it’s another sticky album, that sounds like Percy Hill should sound:
soulful, funky, crisp and dynamic. It

David Singer

Philadelphia’s own Brothers Past are taking a big step forward with their new album, This Feeling’s Called Goodbye. Shedding the jam band clich

The Thievery Corporation aren

The boxing saga “Million Dollar Baby” was the Academy Awards heavyweight Sunday, claiming best picture and three other trophies, including honors for director Clint Eastwoo), lead-actress Hilary Swank and supporting-actor Morgan Freeman.

Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator” came away with the most Oscars, its five awards including the supporting-actress prize for Cate Blanchett.

Eastwood, who at 74 became the oldest directing winner ever, noted his mother was with him when his Western “Unforgiven” won the 1992 best-picture and directing Oscar.

The 77th Oscars were another heartbreak for Scorsese, the man behind “The Aviator,” who lost the directing race for the fifth time. Scorsese matched the record of Oscar futility held by a handful of legendary filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Altman, who also went 0-for-5 in the directing category.

Swank became a double Academy Award winner Sunday for “Million Dollar Baby,” while Jamie Foxx took lead actor for “Ray.” The wins for Freeman and Foxx made it only the second time blacks won two of the four acting prizes.

Swank, who previously won the best-actress Oscar for “Boys Don’t Cry,” once again beat out main rival Annette Bening, nominated for the theater farce “Being Julia.” Bening had been the front-runner for “American Beauty” five years ago but lost to underdog Swank.

Foxx won for his uncanny emulation of Ray Charles in “Ray.” As he had at earlier awards triumphs, Foxx led the Oscar audience in a rendition of the call-and-response chant from Charles’ 1959 hit “What’d I Say,” whose funky electric-piano grooves play over the opening credits of “Ray.”

Foxx had been a double Oscar nominee, also picked in the supporting category for the hit man thriller “Collateral.”

Playing Katharine Hepburn in “The Aviator,” Blanchett had the spirit of the Oscars’ most-honored actress on her side. Hepburn, the love of Hughes’ life in the 1930s before she began her long romance with Spencer Tracy, earned 12 nominations and won a record four Oscars.

“Thank you, of course, to Miss Hepburn. The longevity of her career I think is inspiring to everyone,” said Blanchett. She added thanks to “Aviator” director Scorsese, saying, “I hope my son will marry your daughter.”

Oscar host Chris Rock said Blanchett was so convincing that Sidney Poitier, Hepburn’s co-star in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” showed up at Blanchett’s house for supper.

The wins by Freeman and Foxx followed Denzel Washington and Halle Berry’s triumph three years ago for “Training Day” and “Monster’s Ball,” the only other time blacks claimed two acting Oscars.

The superhero action comedy “The Incredibles” won the animated-feature prize, beating 2004’s biggest box-office hit, the fairy-tale sequel “Shrek 2.” It was the second-straight animated Oscar for Pixar Animation, which won a year ago for “Finding Nemo.”

Source yahoo.com.

For a full list of winners, visit here.

Sigur Ros, Mercury Rev, the Pogues, the reunited Dinosaur Jr. and Fatboy Slim are among the first acts to sign on for Japan’s annual Fuji Rock Festival. The event will be held July 29-31 at the Naeba Ski Resort outside Tokyo.

Other confirmed artists include the Music, the Coral, Dresden Dolls, Kaiser Chiefs, the Bravery, Cake, the Beach Boys, Yonder Mountain String Band, Steel Pulse, Aqualung and Juliette and the Licks. For ticket information, visit Fuji Rock’s official web site.

Photos by Alan Hess of Ratdog at the House of Blues, Anaheim, CA – 2/4/2005.
View more of Alan’s work at shotlivephoto.com