2003

According to the band’s official website, “due to forces and some personal situations” beyond their control Sonic Youth will not be appearing with Wilco at tonight’s Boston date or in Connecticut tomorrow. The dates after that (New York, Philly and DC) are still in limbo at the moment.
The Wilco shows will go on as planned in both Boston and Connecticut. Mission of Burma will replace SY in Boston, no word yet on the Wallingford show.
for more details, see sonicyouth.com.

A massive free Rolling Stones concert has been scheduled for July 30 in Toronto. The outdoor show is aimed at giving the city an economic boost in the wake of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak earlier in the year. Although the official announcement is expected tomorrow (June 24), a taped video message from the band due to be played during a press conference was shown to several local media outlets over the weekend.
“We’re happy to tell you that we’re coming to play on July 30 in a great concert for the people in the city of Toronto, to help bring back the energy to our favorite city,” Stones frontman Mick Jagger says in the message taped at the site of the Stones recent show in Munich.
The event will take place in the docklands area of the city, with the downtown skyline as a backdrop. It is estimated that 10 to 15 supporting acts will be announced.
Source Billboard.com.

Apple Computer introduced on Monday its new “G5” computer chip, a breakthrough design by International Business Machines which can handle twice as much data at once as traditional PC microchips. Cupertino-California-based Apple introduced a new desktop computer based on the G5 chip, which can manage 64 bits of data at once, compared with 32 bits for traditional computers.
“The PowerPC G5 changes all the rules. This 64-bit race car is the heart of our new Power Mac G5, now the world’s fastest desktop computer,” Steve Jobs,.
Source CNN.com.

The Dead have added two three set shows to conclude their 2003 Summer Getaway Tour on August 9 and 10 at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY. The first set of each night will feature an acoustic set.
Source Dead.net.

The final album from late Clash principal Joe Strummer will be released Oct. 7 via Hellcat/Epitaph. Titled “Streetcore,” the set was assembled by Strummer’s former bandmates in the Mescaleros and drawn from sessions recorded prior to the artist’s sudden death last December.
Although the track list has not yet been announced, among the cuts that have reportedly made the album are “The Road to Rock’N’Roll,” which was written for inclusion on a Johnny Cash album, and a Rick Rubin-produced cover of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”
Source Billboard.com.

With a handful of new deals and several high-profile live projects planned, Sanctuary Records is positioning itself as a major player in the burgeoning jam band scene. The New York-based label, which recently issued new albums by Widespread Panic and the Allman Brothers Band, has inked deals with Blues Traveler and Ween, and is in discussions with Galactic and G. Love & Special Sauce.
In addition, Sanctuary is preparing live CDs and DVDs capturing last weekend’s Bonnaroo festival and last fall’s third annual jam-band awards show, the Jammys.
The label will on Aug. 19 release its third album collecting live performances from Bonnaroo, which featured performances from Neil Young, the Dead, and James Brown. The double-disc set will be followed by a DVD in October. “We’re trying to capture the momentum of the festival itself,” says VP of marketing Cory Brennan, explaining the album’s rush release.
Last year, Sanctuary issued a two-disc set and a DVD chronicling the 2002 inaugural Bonnaroo. Earlier this year, the label issued yet another album of Bonnaroo performances, the single-disc “Live From Bonnaroo, Vol. 2,” featuring cuts by lesser-known artists that performed on the smaller stages at the first festival.
Sanctuary’s two-disc Jammys set is slated to arrive in October, although a track list has not yet been nailed down. A DVD will be issued in tandem with the album. Held Oct. 2, 2002, the seven-hour show featured performances by Trey Anastasio, the Allman Brothers Band, the Dead’s Bob Weir and his band Ratdog and many more.
On Aug. 5, the label issues new sets from Ween (“Quebec”) and Blues Traveler (“Truth Be Told”). Both artists were signed to the label in the past few months.
The label hopes to secure a deal with G. Love & Special Sauce soon. Frontman Garrett Dutton has more than 40 songs from which to pick from for his next, as-yet-untitled set, according to his management. The group recently parted ways with Epic after nearly 10 years.
Galactic is now mixing its next effort, which was produced by Dan “The Automator” Nakamura. Over the past year, Sanctuary has worked in tandem with the group’s management, New Orleans-based Superfly Productions, creator of the Bonnaroo festivals.
Over the past year, Sanctuary has also signed deals with Tricky, Morrissey, Kiss, Robert Cray and such lesser known acts as Buddahead and 4-Way Street.
Source Billboard.com.

Weekly rentals of DVDs outpaced videos for the first time last week, an industry group said Thursday, as movies and entertainment on disks continued their steady conquest over VHS videocassettes. Encino, California-based Video Software Dealers Association said 28.2 million DVDs were rented in the week ended June 15 compared with 27.3 million VHS cassettes. “Since the advent of video rental 25 years ago, videocassettes have been the dominant format for video rental. Just over six years since its launch, DVD has supplanted that pioneering technology in the rental market,” said VSDA President Bo Andersen.
Source CNN.com.

Neil Young, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews – have been confirmed for the September 7th Farm Aid gig, but that’s bound to change in the near future as more artists are added to the lineup.The concert, which raises funds for poor families in rural farming communities, will descend on the Germain Amphitheatre in Columbus, Ohio.Tickets go on sale June 28 and range from $36-$78. However, certain artists – including Dave Matthews, for example – are offering pre-sale tickets to their fan club members. Proceeds from the event are donated to farm organizations throughout the States.
Source Pollstar.com.

Three of hip hop’s most intriguing groups have been assembled for this year’s version of the Sprite Liquid Mix Tour. The 20-date outing, headlined by the Roots, N.E.R.D. and Talib Kweli with more acts to come, begins with a doubleheader at Denver’s Pepsi Center (August 14 and 15), followed by any eastward progression that concludes with a September 15 performance at the Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts in Mansfield, Massachusetts.
Tickets are on sale now; for more information, check out Sprite’s Web site, www.sprite.com.

A 2000 ruling against former Dead Kennedy’s frontman Jello Biafra was unanimously upheld by a California Court of Appeals yesterday. The three-judge panel found that Biafra still owed bandmates guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Flouride and drummer D.H. Peligro more than $200,000 in compensatory and punitive damages because his label, Alternative Tentacles, withheld money from the band partnership, Decay Music. Biafra’s attempts to dissolve the partnership and gain sole custody over the Kennedy’s music was also denied.
Source RollingStone.com.