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Scottish rock troupe Snow Patrol has announced plans to follow its U.K. tour with a month’s worth of North American tour dates throughout May and June.
The band’s new album, Eyes Open, is set for Stateside release May 9. They’ll land in Denver two weeks later, launching a 19-date tour at the Paramount Theatre.
Concerts are planned throughout the U.S., including stops in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco plus three dates in Canada. The tour wraps June 20 at The Wiltern LG in Los Angeles.
Snow Patrol opened for U2 in Europe last summer after a lengthy headlining tour in the U.S., then retreated to a studio on the Ireland coastline to record Eyes Open.
Fans at South by Southwest and in select U.S. cities got a taste of the new material this March when the band visited for a promo tour.

Source pollstar.com.

Ray LaMontagne is in the midst of finishing his next RCA studio album with hopes to release it in early August. The artist has been recording with producer Ethan Johns at Allaire Studios in Shokan, N.Y. The pair previously worked together on LaMontagne’s 2004 debut, “Trouble,” which has sold 239,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

According to a spokesperson, the as-yet-untitled effort will be preceded by a short North American tour in July, a month after he finishes a stint supporting David Gray in the United Kingdom.

Source billboard.com.

It’s been almost a year since Gomez toured the States, but the wait is almost over for fans of the British group. Dates have been confirmed for a club trek across the U.S. this May, plus festival gigs and more in June.

The tour kicks off in Asheville, N.C., May 3, the day after the band’s new album, How We Operate, hits stores. The group previewed the album at South by Southwest in Texas this spring and followed with a few acoustic promo shows and radio spots.

This May’s itinerary has the band making its way through the South, Midwest and West Coast. The last headlining gig is at Portland, Ore.’s Wonder Ballroom May 27, followed by an appearance at the Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington the next day.

The group is booked for the Wakarusa Festival and Bonnaroo in June, as well as three dates with the Dave Matthews Band. Last spring, Gomez traveled the U.S. with Cake on the Virgin College Mega Tour.

Source: pollstar

The Rolling Stones have played their first ever gig in China on Saturday. The veteran band performed at Shanghai’s 8000-capacity Grand Stage music hall as part of their A Bigger Bang world tour.

Opening with ‘Start Me Up’, several of the band’s classics were missing from the set after the Chinese government censored the band asking them not to play ‘Brown Sugar’, ‘Honky Tonk Woman’, ‘Beast Of Burden’ and ‘Let’s Spend The Night Together’ because of their suggestive lyrical content.

‘Rough Justice’ from recent LP ‘A Bigger Bang’ was also reportedly blacklisted, though before the gig frontman Sir Mick Jagger insisted his band would cope, noting: “Fortunately, we have 400 more songs that we can play so it’s not really an issue.”

Source: nme

“Wetlands Preserved,” the forthcoming documentary film about the celebrated downtown New York rock club Wetlands will close the inaugural Green Apple Music & Arts Festival, the biggest Earth Day event to be held in the U.S. in 2006.

“Wetlands Preserved” will have its world premiere at the historic Ziegfeld Theatre in Midtown Manhattan at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 23rd, and will serve as both the closing film of the first Green Apple Film Festival and the final event in the Green Apple Music & Arts Festival. A limited amount of tickets will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, April 11 at noon at http://www.relix.com/wetlandsmovie

The directorial debut from writer/editor/deejay Dean Budnick, “Wetlands Preserved” salutes a rock club celebrated for its eclectic bookings and political and environmental activism. Hailed as “a landmark rock club” by Rolling Stone and often described as “the Fillmore of the 90s,” The Wetlands is considered the very womb and birthplace of the modern day jamband scene.

From 1989 to 2001, The Wetlands provided a stage for everyone from tiny ska and hardcore bands to future stars of rock and hip-hop. Pearl Jam, Oasis and Rage Against the Machine played their first New York City shows there, and the likes of Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors and Phish turned the venue into a mecca for live, improvisational rock music. Simultaneously, the club itself provided a headquarters for working groups for social and environmental advocacy. Forced out of its downtown Manhattan home when its lease expired, the club closed prematurely in the wake of 9/11, just days before its scheduled finale.

The New York Times called the closing a “major loss for music lovers,” and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame proudly made display space available for the infamous Volkswagen microbus that once rested near the club’s front door.

Through accounts of musicians, staffers and clubgoers, “Wetlands Preserved” explores the club’s legend, providing a full account of its rich history for the first time. While the independent nightclub supported new music scenes while also initiating successful activism campaigns, it also emerged over its 13 years as a proving ground and nurturing environment for numerous notable acts who built a fan base and gained renown at the club. Many of these riveting performances appear in “Wetlands Preserved,” which exclusively incorporates music that originated at The Wetlands. In addition to the Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler, Phish, and Pearl Jam, “Wetlands Preserved” also features songs from such artists as Ani DiFranco, Sublime, Ben Harper, moe., 311, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, KRS-1, Joan Osborne, Fishbone, Agnostic Front and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

Long-time Mavericks guitar slinger Nick Kane has assembled a bare-knuckled 3-piece rock’n’roll band and re-writes the book on Instrumental Rock Music.

Nick Kane had spent several years lounging in various bands around Nashville and for most of the 90’s he traveled around the world as a member of country-pop group The Mavericks, collecting a Grammy Award and selling out 8 nights at the Royal Albert Hall along the way.

But it was Nick’s desire to play music that had its own voice, unencumbered from any commercial trappings, and in Nashville’s cold hard heart he found the perfect place to develop this dream without distraction. He was fortunate to find two like-minded cohorts in Rick Taylor, bass guitar; and Joe Scheibelhoffer, drums; and together they have formed The Balls.

The new CD “The Balls…Come Out Swingin'” is a highly original piece of work. Their style has been described as ‘garage-prog’: on one hand they tackle very difficult and ambitious arrangements yet the band is driven by a raw, powerful and ferociously loud rock’n’roll spirit.

The listener will hear shades of early Deep Purple; grungy Link Wray; themes straight out of a Spaghetti Western; flat out paint-peeling Rock and even a touch of Pachelbel. And yet, it’s like you’re hearing it all for the first time.

The Balls are also known for their passionate live performance and their ability to take instrumental-music neophytes on a long and winding journey, riveting the audience and leaving them exhausted, elated and with mouths agape.

“The Balls…Come Out Swingin'” is available from ballsrock.com

As the Doors’ surviving members gear up for the band’s 40th anniversary — with plans for a comprehensive boxed set, reissues, merchandise and an interactive Las Vegas attraction — there is a possibility that their music may be used in commercials for the first time.

It almost happened in 1969, when drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger and keyboardist Ray Manzarek agreed to license “Light My Fire” to Buick to advertise its German-made Opel. Singer Jim Morrison, who was out of town for the meeting, vehemently disagreed, and the deal never came to pass. From that point, Densmore has opposed commercial usage, although Krieger and Manzarek have opened up to the possibility.

All deals, licensing and otherwise, must be approved by all partners in the Doors’ assets: The three surviving members have a 75% share, and Morrison’s families and his late girlfriend, Pamela Courson, share the other 25%.

To read more visit billboard.com.

Radiohead is eyeing multiple-night stands in Montreal, Toronto, Philadelphia and Chicago as part of its summer North American tour, which will get underway in June, Billboard.com has learned. Dates, venues and an opening act are still being finalized. For now, the lone confirmed show is a June 17 headlining set at the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tenn.

Radiohead has not performed in the United States since it headlined California’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival almost two years ago. As previously reported, the band begins a European tour May 5 in Copenhagen. International headlining and festival dates will resume Aug. 12 in Budapest.

Following the expiration of its contract with longtime label EMI, the band has been working on a new studio album for several months. In a recent interview with NME, frontman Thom Yorke said Radiohead will not sign a new deal until the as-yet-untitled album is complete.

Source billboard.com.

Asthmatic Kitty Records has announced plans to release a new collection of songs from Sufjan Stevens, titled The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album which will hit shelves on July 25, 2006.

The little secret behind the Illinois record is that it was originally conceived as a double album, culminating in a musical collage of nearly 50 songs. But as the project began to develop into an unwieldy epic, common sense weighed in

Apparently outside the boardroom, Donald Trump likes to let his freak flag fly.

“The sound of booing filled New York’s Beacon Theatre last night when Donald Trump announced that Bob Weir was unable to perform and that he would instead be taking his place fronting Ratdog. It was, of course, a ruse, and the band, with Bobby in tow, took the stage to thunderous applause.” read more

Widespread Panic, the wildly popular standard bearers of rootsy American rock, are readying for the release of their audacious new album Earth To America (June 13, Sanctuary/ Widespread Records). Their 9th studio CD, Earth To America captures the band at a new creative peak in collaboration with producer Terry Manning, the first time they’ve worked with the famed studio master whose credits stretch back to Stax days.

Beginning with the eerie, ambitious 11-minute plus epic “Second Skin,” (a staple of their live shows), the album twists and turns through 10 tracks of time-honed classic rock. Other standout tracks include the boisterous barroom rocker “Goodpeople” and the toe-tapping, blues tinged “Time Zones”. Extended workouts like “You Should Be Glad” give the band a chance to show off their chops, while the tender closing benediction “May Your Glass Be Filled” highlights the band’s delicate touch on a down tempo ballad. Also noteworthy is the band’s hard charging cover of Bob Dylan’s “Solid Rock” from 1980’s ‘Saved’.

The album will be available in four formats- digi-pack, jewel case, double Vinyl LP, and digital download. The vinyl includes two bonus songs not available on the CD. The fans who pre-order the disc through widespreadpanic.com before June 13th will have access to 6 bundles of digital extras including home video from the recording at Compass Point studios, exclusive band interviews, unreleased concert footage, artwork, and more.

Widespread Panic will perform 4 spring concerts this year, 2 in Raleigh, NC and 2 Atlanta, GA at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. The May 9th Fox Theatre show will be simulcast through select movie theaters nationwide in association with National Cinemedia. Plans are in the works for a full summer tour to be announced soon.

After playing multiple shows wearing a brace and taking anti-inflamatory injections, Tommy Lee

Hot off their sold-out tour with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Hollywood/Kemado recording artists ELEFANT are returning to the road with a headlining club tour that begins May 3rd at The Social in Orlando, Florida. Opening for Elefant, from Orlando to Austin will be Austin, TX-based SOUND team and Boston

Three vintage Rush home videos will make their DVD debut as part of the boxed set “Rush Replay X 3,” due June 13 via Mercury/UME. The collection will include 1982’s “Exit … Stage Left,” 1985’s “Grace Under Pressure” and 1991’s “A Show of Hands,” plus a previously unreleased audio CD version of “Grace Under Pressure.”

As previously reported, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson created new stereo mixes for the releases, which are presented in 5.1 Surround Sound. Tour booklets from the three concerts have also been reprinted for the set.

Filmed in 1981 in Montreal, “Exit … Stage Left” spotlights Rush in its early career heyday as it performs such tracks as “Red Barchetta,” “YYZ,” “Tom Sawyer,” “Limelight” and “Closer to the Heart.”

“Grace Under Pressure” was taped in Rush’s Toronto homebase and blends hits like “New World Man” and “The Spirit of Radio” with more uncommon fare like “Witch Hunt,” “The Enemy Within” and “The Weapon.” The latter track is accompanied by a video featuring actor Joe Flaherty as his “SCTV” character Count Floyd.

“A Show of Hands” was taped in 1988 in Birmingham, England, and was issued in tandem with a live album of the same name. Peart’s nightly drum solo appears here for the first time on an official release. Other highlights include “Turn the Page,” “Marathon” and a closing medley of “2112”/”La Villa Strangiato”/”In the Mood.”

Rush is in the early stages of work on its first studio album since 2002’s “Vapor Trails.”

Source billboard.com.

Following the June 3 close of the first leg of Pearl Jam’s North American tour, the band will return to the road June 23 in Pittsburgh. Fourteen dates are set for the second leg through a July 22 show at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Wash., with more to be expected.

The Gorge show will be “an evening with” Pearl Jam and won’t feature an opening act. Sonic Youth will support on all but the first two second leg shows, which will boast a performance by former Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard.

As tipped here last month, Pearl Jam will also team up with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for a June 26-27 stand in St. Paul, Minn., and a July 2-3 engagement in Denver. In most cases, the summer shows will be available for download immediately after their completion from Pearl Jam’s Web site.

Pearl Jam is touring in support of its self-titled debut for J, which arrives May 2. First single “World Wide Suicide” is No. 1 for a third consecutive week on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart, which will be posted tomorrow (April 6) on Billboard.com.

Fans who preorder the album through Apple’s iTunes Music Store will receive exclusive video footage of the band in the studio plus a bonus audio track of “Why Go,” drawn from a Dec. 31, 1992, show in New York. That full concert is included as a bonus CD for preorders submitted via the Pearl Jam site.

The band has also confirmed an April 15 return to “Saturday Night Live” (its first appearance on the NBC show since 1994) and an April 20 club gig at London’s Astoria.

Here are Pearl Jam’s tour dates:

April 20: London (Astoria)
May 9-10: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
May 12: Albany, N.Y. (Pepsi Arena)
May 13: Hartford, Conn. (New England Dodge Music Arena)
May 16: Chicago (United Center)
May 19: Grand Rapids, Mich. (Van Andel Arena)
May 20: Cleveland (Quicken Loans Arena)
May 22: Auburn Hills, Mich. (Palace of Auburn Hills)
May 24-25: Boston (TD Banknorth Garden)
May 27-28: Camden, N.J. (Tweeter Center)
May 30: Washington, D.C. (MCI Center)
June 1, 3: East Rutherford, N.J. (Continental Airlines Arena)
June 23: Pittsburgh (Mellon Arena)
June 24: Cincinnati (US Bank Arena)
June 26-27: St. Paul, Minn. (Xcel Energy Center)
July 2-3: Denver (Pepsi Center)
July 6: Las Vegas (MGM Grand)
July 7: San Diego (Cox Arena)
July 9-10: Los Angeles (Forum)
July 13: Santa Barbara, Calif. (Santa Barbara Bowl)
July 16, 18: San Francisco (Bill Graham Civic Auditorium)
July 22: George, Wash. (the Gorge)
Aug. 25: Leeds, England (Leeds Festival)
Aug. 27: Reading, England (Reading Festival)

Source billboard.com.

Columbia Records announced that innovative rock band Coheed and Cambria have elected to hit the road for a spring co-headlining jaunt across North America with Avenged Sevenfold. The band will be using their full live production and lights during their shows, which are now legendary for their progressive dynamics, and high-energy post-punk drama.

The stage props and projections used during the shows will include images borrowed from singer Claudio Sanchez’s 124-page graphic novel that reveals the story behind their current, internationally successful third record, “Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness.” The album was released late last year to glowing reviews, widespread radio airplay and strong sales. The NY Times proclaimed that “no other band is better at turning hard rock into something so wild and sweet,” while Blender gave the record four out of five stars and said that Coheed and Cambria are “an ambitious band that get to balance their charismatic music with a biblically epic take encompassing all human experience.” Alternative Press put the band on their cover and rewarded the record five out five stars, while Rolling Stone hailed: “Good Apollo” is “so over the top, it’s damn near awe-inspiring.” Guitar World said that with the new record, “Coheed and Cambria take prog-rock to the outer limits.”

The dates for the spring tour with Avenged Sevenfold are below:

Date City Venue
Fri. 4/7 Poughkeepsie, NY Mid Hudson Civic Center
Sat. 4/8 Providence, RI Dunkin Donuts Arena
Sun. 4/9 Asbury Park, NJ Convention Hall
Tue. 4/11 Norfolk, VA Convocation Center at ODU
Thu. 4/13 Louisville, KY Louisville Gardens
Fri. 4/14 Atlanta, GA Hi Fi Buys Amphitheatre
Sat. 4/15 Orlando, FL UCF Arena
Mon. 4/17 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless Theatre
Tues. 4/18 San Antonio, TX Freeman Coliseum
Wed. 4/19 Dallas, TX Nokia Live
Fri. 4/21 Denver, CO Magness Auditorium
Sat. 4/22 Salt Lake City, UT The Great Salt Air
Mon. 4/24 Sacramento, CA Memorial Hall
Tue. 4/25 Reno, NV Lawler Events Center
Thu. 4/27 San Jose, CA SJSU Events Center
Fri. 4/28 San Diego, CA San Diego Sports Arena
Tue. 5/2 Phoenix, AZ Mesa Amphitheatre
Wed. 5/3 Albuquerque, NM Albuquerque Convention Ctr
Fri. 5/5 Kansas City, MO City Market
Mon. 5/8 Minneapolis, MN Myth
Tue. 5/9 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom
Wed. 5/10 Chicago, IL Aragon Ballroom
Fri. 5/12 Detroit, MI Cobo Arena
Sat. 5/13 Cleveland, OH Tower City Amphitheatre
Sun. 5/14 Pittsburgh, PA Chevy Amphitheatre
Fri. 5/19 New York, NY Hammerstein Ballroom

Gov’t Mule has returned to the studio to record the follow-up to its 2004 ATO Records release D

MerleFest 2006, the 19th annual festival in celebration of the music of the late Merle Watson and his father Doc Watson, will once again share its performers with some 12,000 members of the local community through the Outreach program. Sponsored by Sprint, Outreach will facilitate performances by MerleFest artists on April 27-28 at 32 different locations.

Artists will appear in all twenty-one Wilkes County K-12 schools, Ashe County High School, Alexander Central High School, Wilkes Development Day School, Montessori Learning School, the Wilkesboro Methodist Church After-School Program, Camp E-Ma-Etu, and several nursing and assisted living facilities. The Outreach performances, designed to expose students and seniors to different kinds of Americana music live, are not open to the general public.Some of the artists scheduled to participate in the Outreach Program include Richard Watson & Charles Welch, the Alison Brown Quartet with Joe Craven, John Cowan Band, Feufollet, David Holt & the Lightning Bolts, Jim Lauderdale & his Bluegrass Band, Chatham County Line, Laura Love Band, the Wilders, the Avett Brothers, the Biscuit Burners, and Darrell Scott.

Repeat artists are rotated to different venues than prior years. Every effort is made to match performances to the ages of the audiences. More than 3000 Wilkes County school students also attend MerleFest as part of organized school groups admitted without charge each year on Friday.

Wilkes Community College will present MerleFest 2006 on April 27 30, 2006 on its campus in Wilkesboro, NC. Among those previously announced as joining Doc Watson and Merle

Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound have reunited to record the album, “Cali Iz Active,” which will arrive June 27 via Koch and Snoop Dogg’s Doggy Style Records. The set features guest appearances by Busta Rhymes, David Banner, Paul Wall and B-Real, in addition to production by Sean “Diddy” Combs, the Alchemist and Jazze Pha.

The first single is the title track, which was produced by Battlecat. “A lot of people came together to make this Dogg Pound record the biggest and best it can be, and with Snoop’s leadership we can never go wrong,” says Kurupt, also known as Young Gotti. Snoop Dogg adds, “I’m letting everybody know that the West Coast is definitely making a strong comeback.”

Tha Dogg Pound will serve as the opening act for Ice Cube’s upcoming tour, which kicks off April 20 in Anaheim, Calif. and runs through June.

Source billboard.com.

The Dancing Wu Li Festival is a semi-annual arts and music gathering located at Snipes Farm in Morrisville, PA (40min north of Phila, 1hr south of NYC). These festivals will bookend the season, with a spring occurrence May 19-20, 2006, as well as a fall soiree Oct 6-7, 2006. Being artists ourselves, Goodie Goodie Productions prides itself upon our impeccable taste in addition to our attention to detail. Thus, Wu Li Festivals are being sculpted as small to medium (3-5k) sized events whose national appeal attracts fans and musicians alike as a destination on their festival itinerary.

The spring Wu Li Festival takes place May 19th and 20th in Morrisville, Pa and will feature two days of music, camping, food, arts & crafts, and theater. The spring festival