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Kings Of Leon and Secret Machines will head out on the road together this summer. The tour will begin July 15 in Portland, Ore., and will last through Aug. 20 in Nashville.

Having recently completed its run opening for U2’s Vertigo tour, Kings Of Leon are about to begin a short swing of U.K. headlining dates.

Secret Machines open for Oasis tonight (June 6) in Berlin, and will be in Tennessee this weekend for the annual Bonnaroo Festival. The month prior to the Kings Of Leon tour will be spent playing festivals and headlining dates in Europe.

Tomorrow will see the release of the trio’s new EP, “The Road Leads Where It’s Led,” which features the title cut as well as covers of the Motown staple “Money (That’s What I Want),” Bob Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country” and Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks.”
Here are Kings Of Leon/Secret Machines tour dates:

July 15: Portland, Ore. (Roseland Theatre)
July 16: Seattle (Moore Theatre)
July 17: Eugene, Ore. (McDonald Theatre)
July 19-20: San Francisco (Fillmore)
July 22-23: Los Angeles (Wiltern Theatre)
July 24: San Diego (4th & B)
July 26: Denver (Paramount Theatre)
July 28: Minneapolis (First Avenue)
July 29: Milwaukee (the Rave)
July 30: Chicago (Congress Theatre)
Aug. 2: Pontiac, Mich. (Clutch Cargo)
Aug. 3: Toronto (Kool Haus)
Aug. 5: Boston (Avalon)
Aug. 6: Philadelphia (Electric Factory)
Aug. 8: New York (Roseland)
Aug. 9: Sayreville, N.J. (Starland Ballroom)
Aug. 11: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
Aug. 12: Norfolk, Va. (NorVa)
Aug. 13: Myrtle Beach, S.C. (House of Blues)
Aug. 15: Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (House of Blues)
Aug. 16: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Revolution)
Aug. 19: Asheville, N.C. (Orange Peel)
Aug. 20: Nashville (Ryman Auditorium)

Source billboard.com.

Clear Channel Music, sometimes perceived as the unfeeling behemoth that runs a big chunk of the amphitheatre business, has made good on its promise to invest in revitalizing the concert-going experience with the announcement of a variety of fan incentives including reduced lawn seat prices, ticket packages and concession upgrades.

Another welcome change will be the loosening of restrictions on carry-in coolers, blankets and chairs.

The “Music Sounds Better On Grass” promotion means immediate benefit for the casual music fan – who most often frequents the lawn areas.

In addition to lowering lawn ducats to as little as $20 for some 150 shows this season, CCM is including parking, capping ticket surcharges and eliminating facility fees at 33 of its sheds.

For other shows, Clear Channel is introducing a $39 “Grass Pass” that includes ticket, parking and a $10 food and beverage voucher.

Included in the shed changes is an increase in the number of concession stands as well as the inclusion of local favorites among the eateries on site.

Selection will go up and prices down with the participation of such national companies as Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, Subway, Legal Sea Foods and Au Bon Pain.

The Instant Live program will also offer live recordings of shows for purchase as fans exit select shows.
Clear Channel released on June 1st the results of two fan surveys conducted for CCM that gave the company reason to be hopeful for a more successful summer season than the last.

According to the statistics released by CCM, 69 percent of respondents said that “sitting on the lawn at a concert is something I really enjoy,” while 77 percent said they were likely to sit in a lawn seat. Of those responding, 72 percent said they were “very likely” to attend an outdoor concert.

Source pollstar.com.

Heavenly Jams Band featuring guitarist Yosi Piamenta will return for performances at Ace of Clubs in New York City on July 6th and 7th. Piamenta will be joined for both performances by Yonrico Scott (drums) and Tal Wilkenfeld (bass). Seth Yacovone will join the band on guitar for the show on the 6th, while RANA

On August 23rd, guitarist Leo Kottke and erstwhile Phish bassist Mike Gordon will release their second collaboration,

The NYC Charm Sessions is an international music concert series aimed at representing the stylistic diversity of the New York City music scene. The four night series will feature 18 of the best underground musical acts in NYC ranging from African hip-hop to Finnish a cappella, Brazilian Choro to Old Nashville Country, and Hungarian punk music to Middle Eastern dub. All the performances will be held June 19 through the 23 at The Living Room in New York. Headset Productions, a Brooklyn-based artist development company, will produce the shows, which will be recorded live by Uist Media, a Scotland-based production company. BBC Radio will air the performances in a 6-part/2 hour radio series throughout the United Kingdom.

The International music scene in New York is a true melting pot of ethnic and musical influences, and the series will offer quality and diversity in depth. Here

B.B. King will celebrate his approaching 80th birthday with a multi-artist blues concert in Mississippi that will benefit the planned B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center. King, who will turn 80 in September, will headline the July 30 show at the Isle of Capri’s Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi.

Also on the bill will be Deborah Coleman, Bobby Blue Bland, Smokin’ Joe Kubek, Jody Williams and Dickey Betts. King will close the show with his own set and a jam that will include all of the artists.

Source billboard.com.

Rambo is coming out of hiding and looking for some fresh blood.

After a 17-year layoff, Sylvester Stallone is ready to reprise his role as everyone’s favorite muscle-bound Green Beret for a fourth installment in the popular 1980s film franchise.

After protracted legal wrangling, the rights to Rambo were snapped up in 1997 by Miramax’s genre division, Dimension Films. But a planned Rambo IV stalled. Now, with Miramax heads Harvey and Bob Weinstein exiting Disney, they have sold the sequel rights for the intrepid character to Nu Image/Millennium Films, and the project is finally moving forward.

In addition to breaking the old red bandanna out of mothballs, Stallone, 58, will write the screenplay.

“I’ve signed the deal and I have the old headband, machine gun and bow and arrow ready to go. I am looking forward to showing movie fans the real action hero again,” Stallone said in a statement.

To read more visit yahoo.com.

Flush with the news of the highest Billboard 200 debut of its short career, animated U.K. act Gorillaz has confirmed details for an innovative virtual U.S. tour. Unique performances will be streamed via the Web sites of radio stations across the country, beginning June 6 at KNDD Seattle’s www.1077theend.com.

Through June 21, the Demon Detour will “visit” the sites of 39 U.S. radio stations, and two national broadcasts, one via radio host Mancow’s syndicated show and the other via Sirius Satellite Radio’s Alt-Nation channel.

The activity comes in support of Gorillaz’ sophomore album, “Demon Days,” which debuts this week at No. 6 on The Billboard 200 after selling 107,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The mark is a career best for the act, which is a creation of “Tank Girl” creator Jamie Hewlett (aka Murdoc) and Blur principal Damon Albarn (aka 2D), who co-produced the set with Danger Mouse.

“It’s not enough that we’ve just recorded and released the defining album of the century, now we’ve gotta go tell the world about it,” Murdoc says in a statement. “We’re gonna play some live songs, maybe talk a little about the album, crack some jokes.”

Last week Hewlett and Danger Mouse were found actively supporting the set with promotional appearances in New York, Boston and Atlanta. In the Big Apple, they answered questions for a lunchtime crowd at the Union Square Virgin Megastore. Later the same day, Hewlett signed copies of the limited-edition Gorillaz action figures he designed for Kid Robot.

The Demon Detour will be the most extensive U.S. “visit” by the group, which is rounded out by characters Noodle and Russel. In support of the band’s 2001 self-titled set, the real-life counterparts of band members played shows behind a screen, onto which were projected images of their virtual selves.

“You know, doing a tour like this is a little like running for office, campaigning for the listener’s vote. Although in this case I think it’s a little er… like bringing the mountain to Mohammed,” Murdoc says of the radio station trek. “I mean, we’ve just released a CD with 15 f***ing good reasons to vote Gorillaz, so if that ain’t enough you’re probably not the type of fan we should be after anyway.”

Here are the Demon Detour dates:

June 6: KNDD Seattle
June 7: Sirius Satellite Alt Nation (Channel 21)
June 7: KCNL San Jose
June 7: KNRK Portland, Ore.
June 7: KMBY Monterey, Calif.
June 7: KCXX Riverside, Calif.
June 8: KITS San Francisco
June 8: XTRA San Diego
June 8: KJEE Santa Barbara, Calif.
June 9: KRZQ Reno, Nev.
June 9: KEDJ Phoenix
June 9: KMYZ Tulsa, Okla.
June 10: WSUN Tampa, Fla.
June 10: WOCL Orlando, Fla.
June 10: WPBZ West Palm Beach, Fla.
June 13: WNNX Atlanta
June 13: WEND Charlotte, N.C.
June 13: WDYL Richmond, Va.
June 13: WROX Norfolk, Va.
June 13: WHFS Baltimore
June 13: Y100.com Philadelphia
June 13: WHTG Monmouth, N.J.
June 14: WXRK New York
June 14: WBRU Providence, R.I.
June 14: WFNX Boston
June 14: WCYY Portland, Maine
June 15: WBTZ Burlington, Vt.
June 15: WEQX Albany, N.Y.
June 15: WZNE Rochester, N.Y.
June 16: WXDX Pittsburgh
June 16: CIMX Detroit
June 17: WGRD Grand Rapids, Mich.
June 17: WWCD Columbus, Ohio
June 18: WBUZ Nashville
June 18: KPNT St. Louis
June 18: KRBZ Kansas City, Kan.
June 19: WLUM Milwaukee
June 20: Mancow (syndicated)
June 21: WKQX Chicago
June 21: WMAD Madison, Wis.

Source billboard.com.

The Strokes are nearing the finish line on their as-yet-untitled third studio album, due in late January via RCA. The group has recorded 14 songs for consideration, three of which were co-produced by longtime collaborator Gordon Raphael, while the rest were produced by David Kahne (Paul McCartney, Fiction Plane). Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine) will handle mixing.

Source billboard.com.

Jeff Tweedy of Wilco will be playing a solo show at the Calgary Folk Music Festival on July 21st. The festival held July 21-24, will also feature a number of acts from Blues, African roots, hip hop, country, bluegrass and swing. Artist to play include Arrested Development, Steve Earle, Mary Gauthier, Del McCoury, Allison Moorer, Buck 65, Christine Fellows, Bill Frisell, Thea Gilmore, Sarah Harmer, Ron Sexsmith and Tortoise.

For more information, please visit, the festival’s website.