2003

Dance clubs, concert halls and even outdoor festivals are in danger of being put out of business due to a new piece of legislation that passed in Congress on April 10th. According to the bill, any individual who owns or operates a venue where audience members are using drugs could be sent to jail or subjected to steep fines. The bill was tacked onto the Amber Alert Act, concerning child abductions

Is one stage big enough for both Kiss and Aerosmith? Probably not, but they will attempt to combine their sixty years of combined musical history on one stage with a joint summer tour in ampitheaters across the U.S. beginning August 2 in Hartford, CT and wrapping up Oct. 18 in California. Special guest Saliva, will open the shows. For a full list of dates, visit Pollstar.com
In other Aerosmith news, the band is about to head in the studio to record their next album that will consist mainly of blues songs. About two thirds of the material are covers songs, while the rest will be original blues tunes. Blind Willie McTell’s “Broke Down Engine,” Little Walter’s “Temperature,” and “I’m Ready,” famously recorded by both Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters, are among the songs being worked up by the band. The yet untitled record is scheduled to hit stores in September.
Source Billboard.com.

In case you missed out or got sold out of the recent Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds acoustic tour, an extra show has been announced for May 5th at the Mullins Center in Amherst, MA. This is a benefit for The Tiger Kloof School in South Africa. Tickets go on sale to the general public on April 26th, while you can also obtain tickets through the band

Instead of congregating at conventions, book fairs and on the Internet, science fiction fans will get their own shrine dedicated to the art, literature and film of science entertainment, courtesy of billionaire Paul Allen. Tentatively named the Science Fiction Experience, the exhibit is slated to open in the summer of 2004 within the confines of Allen’s Experience Music Project (EMP) in the shadow of Seattle’s Space Needle. “Science fiction shows us that change is constant and exhilarating,” said Microsoft Corp. co-founder Allen, who is funding the project. Flanked by science fiction props such as Captain Kirk’s original command chair from the “Star Trek” television series, classic science fiction books and movie banners, Allen said the $20 million non-profit endeavor would provide “entertaining and thought-provoking exhibits” for visitors. Allen, a philanthropist who has invested in everything from cable television to professional sports teams since leaving Microsoft in 1983, has funded several cultural projects in his hometown of Seattle, including the EMP, a Jimi Hendrix-inspired music museum and the Cinerama, a restored 1960s-era movie theater with a giant, curved viewing screen. Allen said he expects the Science Fiction Experience, which will be built in a newly vacated space within the EMP, to pull in 150,000 to 200,000 more visitors to the building every year. Science fiction author Greg Bear of Seattle will chair an advisory board to the museum and said that respect for the genre has been long overdue. “Science fiction is one of the greatest untold stories of science and art today,” said Bear, winner of two Hugo awards for novels such as “Eon” and “Queen of Angels”. Among the items on display will be a complete set of autographed first editions of the Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov, a collection of “Astounding Science Fiction” magazines and artwork depicting the future.
Source CNN.com.

The Grateful Dead’s “View From the Vault” archive series has moved into its fourth volume, with DVD and CD audio documents of a pair of summer 1987 California concerts: July 24 at Oakland Stadium and July 26 at Anaheim Stadium. As with past releases in the series, the Monterey Video DVD is culled from the four cameras that projected stage action onto large video screens in each venue.
At the time, the Dead was at the height of its second wave of popularity, thanks to a string of sold-out concerts (some with Bob Dylan) and the single “Touch of Grey,” was rising on the charts.
The DVD features the full Oakland show, and most of the drastically different set list of the Anaheim date. The four-disc Grateful Dead Records audio CD includes both in their entirety, restoring “Friend of the Devil,” “Me and My Uncle,” and “Big River,” cut from the DVD due to time limitations.
In other Dead news, it was announced that Bob Dylan will be opening up leg two of the band

Ween’s highly anticipated next studio album will be called “quebec,” but guitarist Dean Ween (real name: Mickey Melchiondo) says a few wrinkles still have to be ironed out before the 16-song set sees the light of day. “I can’t give you a definitive release date right now,” he wrote on the band’s official Web site. “We were in negotiations with a record label and things fell apart, setting us back even further.”
“I have no idea how this will affect our summer touring plans just yet as we planned on having the record out by June at the latest. It is still possible that this may happen,” he continued. “As for the record itself, it is heavy, dark, psychedelic and musically intricate at times, and musically really f***ing cheap at times as well. All and all it’s a great record that we put a lot of time and love into and it was produced by Andrew Weiss, mostly recorded in his living room.”
Source Billboard.com.

Overshadowed by the many ambitious festivals in the jam scene, the Field Day Festival in Calverton, New York on June 7th and 8th presents an absolute amazing lineup in the heavier alternative genre. Radiohead has just been announced to play the first night of the festival. Other acts confirmed for the first day include: Beck, Beth Orton, Interpol, The Raveonettes, Spiritualized, Thievery Corporation, and Tortoise.
Confirmed bands for the second day are just as impressive and include: The Beastie Boys, Sigur Ros, The Roots, Elliot Smith, N.E.R.D., Blackalicious, and Le Tigre.
Visit FieldDayFestival.com