2004

Rock supergroup Velvet Revolver plans to jumpstart the release of its debut album Contraband with its first-ever tour.

The band is composed of ex-Guns N’ Roses members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Matt Sorum (drums) with ex-Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland as well as guitarist Dave Kushner. A 2003 Los Angeles show remains the band’s only live appearance thus far.

Velvet Revolver’s long-awaited tour begins May 13 in St. Louis, Mo., and hits major cities including Detroit, Toronto, New York, Seattle, and San Francisco, with the current itinerary stretching into early June.

The much-hyped album comes out June 8, when the band plays the first of two nights at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theatre.

Source pollstar.com.

Wilco has cancelled an eight-date U.S. tour to allow lead singer Jeff Tweedy additional time to undergo rehabilitation for an addiction to painkillers. The trek was set to kick off April 21 in Columbia, Mo., and culminate May 1 at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Ticketholders can obtain refunds for all of the shows except Coachella via local venues.

It is unclear if Wilco will be replaced by another act in the Coachella lineup. “Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. We fully expect all dates after May 1 to go off as scheduled,” the band writes on its official Web site.

Wilco will resume touring May 28 at the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona. The group then returns to the United States for four shows, including the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tenn. A month-long European tour will get underway June 20 in Oslo.

The group’s highly anticipated new album, “A Ghost Is Born,” will arrive June 22 via Nonesuch. The set can be streamed from Wilco’s official Web site.

Here are Wilco’s cancelled tour dates:

April 21: Columbia, Mo. (Blue Note)
April 23: New Orleans (Orpheum)
April 24-25: Austin, Texas (Stubb’s BBQ)
April 27: Santa Fe, N.M. (Lensic Theatre)
April 28: Flagstaff, Ariz. (Orpheum Theatre)
April 29: Tucson, Ariz. (Rialto Theatre)
May 1: Indio, Calif. (Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival)

Source billboard.com.

Tortoise’s April 24 show at Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club will by cybercast on the Web site of the Chicago band’s label, Thrill Jockey Records. Afterward, the concert will be available from the site as an audio stream, as will photos from the gig. The label says it is hoping to begin offering live music events on the site on a regular basis.

Tortoise recently launched its first official Web site, which features a 15-track online radio show and will in the future host remixes and hard-to-find tracks for download. The group is touring in support of its brand new sixth album, “It’s All Around You.”

Source billboard.com.

The Pixies unleashed a 27-song set last night (April 13) at Minneapolis’ Fine Line Music Cafe in what was the pioneering alternative rock act’s first show in 12 years. The evening went heavy on the group’s earlier material, including nine songs from the album “Doolittle” but just one each from the Pixies’ final two releases, “Bossanova” and “Trompe le Monde”

Tickets to the gig were selling for $400 on Internet auction site eBay, and shirts inside jokingly commemorated the production as the “Pixies Sellout” tour. Perhaps the lone track not immediately recognizable to the audience was a cover of Neil Young’s “Winterlong,” which was sandwiched in-between the group’s own “The Holiday Song” and “Nimrod’s Son.”

Obscure oldies such as “Broken Face” and “Levitate Me” were received as warmly and vocally as the band’s nearest things to hits: “Here Comes Your Man,” “Velouria” and “Monkey Gone to Heaven.”

As previously reported, the Pixies are selling instant live CDs from the tour, which culminates May 1 at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Pre-orders for the first three gigs have already sold out.

After spending the summer touring internationally, the group will return to North America for an extensive fall run. Ten dates for that tour have been booked so far, through Nov. 24 in Toronto.

Source billboard.com.

You Are the Quarry, the first new solo material in seven years from Morrissey, is to be released May 17th in the UK and May 18th in the US on Sanctuary’s revamped imprint, Attack. Recorded in Los Angeles and London, Quarry is an album of extraordinary original songs using keyboards interwoven with crunchy guitars that work to create a lush, musical backdrop.

“There are no links to the past. This is a much brighter sounding album, than much of my previous work. We’ve turned the page with Quarry. It’s a dynamic album and I couldn’t be any happier.” says Morrissey.

See morrisseymusic.com for more info.

A Frank Zappa celebration featuring Zappa alumni Ike Willis, Ernie Watts, and Napoleon Murphy Brock & The Burlington Discover Jazz Festival Big Band Conducted and arranged by Ed Palermo will be one of the highlights of this years Burlington Discover Jazz Festival to be held June 4th-13th in Burlington, VT.

Other acts named to the festival include: the Vorcza Trio, Medeski Martin & Wood, Soulive, DJ Logic, Branford Marsalis, Randy Weston