Archive: 2003

Cambridge, Mass., is going to be minus a venerable music venue come mid-September. House of Blues has announced the sale of their Cambridge location, throwing already scheduled concerts into a spin.
The venue will close on September 14, and thus the previously booked events will shut down with it. Although there is the possibility that some shows will be moved to other venues, nothing has been confirmed yet. Ticket holders can receive refunds at the point of purchase.
Affected shows include Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, The Bomb Squat Feat. Jen Durkin, Paranoid Social Club, Ari Hest, Dan Bern, Clumsy Lovers, Willie Porter, and Hot Tuna.
“The sale of our venue in Cambridge is a business decision that does not at all affect our commitment to the Boston area,” Dolf Berle of HoB said. “We have been in the Boston area for over 10 years and we will continue to have a very strong presence there.
“We are also actively looking for alternative creative spaces that will have the look, feel and scale that House of Blues fans have come to expect.”
Source Pollstar.com.

Producer and American Recordings head Rick Rubin is compiling tracks for a Johnny Cash box set that will consist largely of unreleased material the two have recorded together over the last decade. Operating under the working title Unearthed, the set could included Cash

Ratdog has announced the initial dates for their forthcoming fall tour. Featuring Bob Weir, Jay Lane, Jeff Chimenti, Mark Karan, Kenny Brooks and new comer

Primus has announced the dates of their fall tour, their first tour since winter of 2000. The tour begins October 15th in Las Vegas and runs through November 23rd in Toronto. This edition of Primus features Les Claypool, Larry LeLonde, and Tim Alexander.
For full fall tour date information visit Primussucks.com.

Over the course of four records, Sacramento, California based rockers Cake, have fashioned their knack by releasing intelligent, cynical, offbeat and one hundred percent eclectic rock and roll. From the hit singles, “The Distance” and “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” to their quirky arrangements of well known tunes, to continually surprising the ears of their listeners with novel sounds, Cake always remains fresh.

The official Web sites of R.E.M. and Wilco will host a free Webcast of a concert by both bands Sunday (Aug. 31) in Missoula, Mont. The show is the first U.S. date on R.E.M.’s 2003 world tour, which kicks off its North American leg Friday (Aug. 29) in Vancouver.
The Webcast will begin at 9 p.m. ET and will be accessible to fans at Remhq.com and Wilcoweb.com.
Wilco is supporting R.E.M. through a Sept. 14 show at Morrison, Colo.’s Red Rocks Amphitheater. Other opening acts on the include Sparklehorse, Ed Harcourt and Pete Yorn.
Source Pollstar.com.

Rage Against The Machine’s final shows are the subject of the upcoming “Live at the Olympic Auditorium” CD and DVD, due Nov. 18 via Epic. The Sept. 12-13, 2000, gigs at the Los Angeles venue found Rage tearing through tracks from throughout its career, as well as covers of the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams,” Devo’s “Beautiful World,” Cypress Hill’s “How Could I Just Kill a Man,” EPMD’s “I’m Housin'” and Eric B & Rakim’s “Microphone Fiend.”
“Live at the Olympic Auditorium” was originally intended as a companion piece to the 2001 DVD “The Battle of Mexico City,” but never saw the light of day.
Just a month after the Olympic Auditorium gigs, Rage frontman Zach de la Rocha quit the group, citing a “decision-making process [that] has completely failed.” He has been working on his solo debut with numerous collaborators ever since, although no release date has been set. The remaining members of Rage (guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk) went on to join forces with Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell to form Audioslave.
The track list for the upcoming DVD is not yet finalized. A limited amount of CD/DVD combo packs will also be available.
Source Billboard.com.

Beck is in the studio next month to begin working his eighth album, that is said to be a more aggressive follow up to his 2002 release

Late rock musicians Jimi Hendrix (news) and Duane Allman (news) lead the list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine.
Hendrix, who invariably tops such polls, received a glowing tribute from Who guitarist Pete Townshend (news), who wrote that he “made the electric guitar beautiful.”
Allman was hailed by the magazine for transforming “the poetry of jamming” with the Allman Brothers Band, the Atlanta rock group he founded with younger brother Gregg in 1969.
B.B. King, who turns 78 next month, came in at No. 3. “His string-bending and vibrato made his famous guitar, Lucille, weep like a woman,” the magazine said.
Clapton landed at No. 4, followed by Delta bluesman Robert Johnson. Rounding out the top 10 were Chuck Berry, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ry Cooder , Jimmy Page and Keith Richards.
The No. 100 spot went to Kim Thayil of defunct Seattle rock band Soundgarden. Townshend himself was No. 50. Two women made the list: Joni Mitchell (news) at No. 72 and Joan Jett (news) at No. 87.
The survey is featured in the next issue, which hits streets on Friday.
Source Yahoo.com.

Fans of seminal New York hard rock act Helmet will have a little something to celebrate later this year, when Universal releases a retrospective of the group’s three studio albums for Interscope. The set is due Nov. 4, although it’s unknown whether any rare or unreleased tracks will be included.
Contrary to a published report, the group, which split in 1999, has no plans at present to reform for a tour in conjunction with the retrospective. A management spokesperson for Helmet frontman Page Hamilton was unsure how the rumor began, but confirmed to Billboard.com that Hamilton is working on a new project with late period Helmet guitarist Chris Traynor, among others. The two musicians recently played together on tracks intended for Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale’s solo debut.
According to the spokesperson, Hamilton is no longer pursuing his band Gandhi, which featured former White Zombie drummer John Tempesta and Rob Zombie bassist Rob Nicholson.
Source Pollstar.com.

California heartland indie rockers Grandaddy just keep announcing those dates. They’ve been touring since spring behind their latest release, Sumday, and plan to stay on the road until mid-December.
With guitarist Jim Fairchild on the mend after a May run-in with a tractor-trailer, the band will set out on the latest leg September 18 in San Francisco. They’ll have Super Furry Animals in tow through October 4, after which Starlight Mints will take over for the remainder of the U.S. dates. Then in November it’s off to Europe, where the Grandaddy fever knows no borders. They’ll make stops in at least a dozen countries, with extensive runs in France and the U.K., before finishing off at London’s Brixton Academy December 10.
For a complete list of dates visit Pollstar.com.

Dave Matthews will make his major studio film acting debut in “Because of Winn-Dixie.” Director Wayne Wang will direct the 20th Century Fox feature. Also in negotiations to join the cast of the dramedy are Jeff Daniels and Eva Marie Saint.
Due to start shooting in late September, the film tells the story of a 10-year-old girl who moves to the small Florida town of Naomi with her preacher father (Daniels). Lonely and friendless, the girl grows close to a big, ugly, suffering dog, Winn-Dixie, whom she names after the supermarket where she finds him. Because of the dog, she winds up meeting and befriending a colorful cast of characters that becomes her extended family, including a drifter (Matthews) and a librarian (Saint).
Co-producer Joan Singleton adapted the screenplay based on the novel “Because of Winn-Dixie,” by Kate Dicamillo.
Source Billboard.com.
Matthews’ past acting credits include the independent feature “Where the Red Fern Grows.

Six months after the Station nightclub fire killed 100 people in West Warwick, Rhode Island, and injured hundreds more, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the club’s owners nearly $100,000, and Great White, the band whose pyrotechnics ignited the February 20th blaze was fined $7,000.
Station owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian were cited for one “willful” violation — installing an exit door that opened in — and six “serious,” including covering the walls with flammable foam for soundproofing.
Great White’s guitarist Ty Longley was among those who died in the fire.
Source Rollingstone.com.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers entered a California studio earlier this summer to record two new tracks for an upcoming greatest hits collection. They left with fifteen. “It was the fastest we have ever recorded so much material,” says bassist Flea. “We gave it no thought, we just rocked and it worked well…[it]is among the most diverse and dynamic good-feeling shit we have ever done.”
The still-untitled greatest hits collection is due in November, but no release date has been set for the album of new material.
The Chili Peppers begin the second leg of their North American tour September 6th in Washington D.C.
Source Rollingstone.com.

The latest Democratic drive to make sure President Bush serves just one term takes a page from the effort to oust a Democratic governor in California, calling its web site “bushrecall” and garnering support through petitions.
A new committee called the Fair and Balanced PAC plans to launch its www.bushrecall.org Web site Thursday. The PAC’s founders include Joe Lockhart, a press secretary to former President Clinton, and Mike Lux, a Democratic political consultant.
The Constitution provides no way to recall a president through a ballot initiative, as California voters have a chance to do to Democrat Gray Davis in October.
Instead, the PAC will work to defeat Bush in next year’s election, building lists of supporters through a petition drive and raising money to run ads against the Republican, he said.
“What we hope to do is to remind people that all of the things that are being said about Gray Davis as the reasons for the recall can be applied to George Bush,” Lux said Wednesday. “For example, they say Davis turned big surpluses into deficits in a matter of a couple of years. That’s the same thing that happened with George Bush.”
Source CNN.com.

Akron, Ohio-based rock duo the Black Keys will spend most of the fall on a world tour in support of its Fat Possum album, “Thickfreakness.” The group will appear this weekend at the U.K.’s Reading and Leeds festivals, followed by 10 additional dates in the region through Sept. 5. A six-date tour of Australia will follow, wrapping Sept. 19 in Sydney.
From there, the group will take a few weeks off before beginning an 11-date U.S. tour Oct. 6 in Northampton, Mass. A one-off Dec. 6 gig in Oberlin, Ohio, is also on the itinerary, as is a New Year’s Eve bash at Cleveland’s Beachland Ballroom. A spokesperson says the group will likely not have time to record new material until early next year.
For a list of tour dates visit Billboard.com.

Metallica will cram into New York’s 500-capacity Bowery Ballroom on Aug. 29 for a show open only to fans who will win tickets from local radio station WXRX (K-Rock). The station will begin distributing tickets Friday (Aug. 22).
As previously reported, Metallica is among the performers set for the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, to be handed out Aug. 28 at Radio City Music Hall. “We’re in town to do the MTV shindig the day before,” drummer Lars Ulrich explained via phone from Dublin. “That’s gonna be so cool. We’re gonna make that floor shake.”
The group plays the U.K.’s Reading and Leeds festivals this weekend and will return to the road beginning Oct. 25 in Buenos Aires. Metallica’s latest Elektra album, “St. Anger,” debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 1.3 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Source Billboard.com.

Back for the fifth year, the Voodoo Music Experience is taking over New Orleans for a record three days, from October 31 to November 2, molding costumes, music and partying. This year marks the expansion of the fest from its normal daylong event to three days.
A firm schedule has yet to be announced, but artists confirmed for sometime during the three-day event include 50 Cent, Marilyn Manson, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Roots, Mos Def, Paul Oakenfold, The Donnas, Felix da HouseCat, String Cheese Incident, ?uestlove, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Gov’t Mule, Better Than Ezra, Disco Biscuits, and Blackalicious.Tickets are available from August 22 through voodoomusicfest.com, and are marked at $80 for three-day passes, which will only be available in advance and not during the festival weekend.
Source Pollstar.com.

Michael Franti and Speahead will launch a fifteen date tour September 5th in San Diego in support of its latest album, Everyone Deserves Music, which was released earlier this summer.
Among the tour dates is a headling gig at the fifth annual 911 Power to the Peaceful Festival, a free concert and rally set for September 6th in San Francisco.
Also set for release is a retail release of Songs From the Front Porch, an acoustic album, the band has been selling on their website.

Galactic has announced plans a lengthy fall tour in support of its new album, Ruckus that is due out October 7. Produced by Dan the Automater, Ruckus is said to push the Galactic sound into a more song oriented approach. The tour includes stops all over the continental U.S. For list of tour dates visit Galactic.com .