Archive: 2004

With Deep Banana Blackout on hiatus, guitarist/songwriter Fuzz has remained busy as usual by writing new songs and touring with his own band.

Los Lobos have lined up a thirty-date tour in honor of their thirtieth anniversary.

The veteran Los Angeles troupe first came together thirty years ago when acquaintances and multi-instrumentalists David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Louie Perez and Conrad Lozano gave up their respective high school bands and first started playing together. “We’ll be everywhere,” Perez says. “We did our annual thing last fall at the Fillmore [in San Francisco], and people brought presents, so I think it’s gonna feel like that all year long. It’s going to feel like an extended birthday party.”

The birthday isn’t the only reason for touring (and celebration). Lobos will also be plugging their new record, The Ride, a record unlike any other the group has recorded over the past three decades. Lobos called in favors from friends old and new for the record and got guests including Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Caf

Sonic Youth will release its first DVD in June. Corporate Ghost will feature 23 music videos from its decade-plus tenure on Geffen Records, plus hours of bonus material, commentary and interviews. The set will arrive June 8, the same day as the band’s new studio album, Sonic Nurse.

In addition, the band is prepping an expanded edition of its 1990 album Goo for release in the fall. The set will be bolstered with an eight-track demo session as well.

Sonic Youth will make its second appearance on the Lollapalooza tour this summer, alongside such acts as Morrissey, PJ Harvey, Modest Mouse and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Source Billboard.com.

After five long days of deliberations, a jury of seven women and five men just couldn’t call it, leaving the judge in Beanie Sigel’s murder case with no option but to declare a mistrial.

“He walked in innocent and he walked out an innocent man,” said Defense attorney Fortunato Perri Jr outside of the courthouse on Tuesday evening. Perri believes his case was won because of the overall “quality” of the witnesses and discrepancies in their testimonies. The victim, Terrance Speller, originally told investigators he couldn’t identify the gunman but later fingered Sigel and argued he and another witness lied because they “feared for themselves and their families.”

Prosecutors have declared they will retry the case with the same jury if possible.

Meanwhile, Sigel remains free on $150,000 bail but is facing a sentencing in July on federal gun charges. Sigel can face between three and eleven years in prison on these charges, for which he entered a guilty plea agreement two weeks ago.

Source SOHH.com.

Radiohead has cancelled the final date of their Australian tour due to lead singer Thom Yorke suffering from

The recording industry sued 477 more computer users Wednesday, including dozens of college students at schools in 11 states, accusing them of illegally sharing music across the Internet.

The Recording Industry Association of America, the trade group for the largest labels, praised efforts by colleges and universities to use technology and school policies to crack down on music piracy on their own computer networks. But it said the most egregious offenders on campus deserved to be sued.

Campus officials at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania warned students months ago about requests from the recording industry to crack down on copyright infringement on its computer networks.

It threatened to unplug the Internet connection for each student identified by the recording industry as illegally sharing music, until the student removed all software used to distribute songs online.

“Not everyone agrees that downloading and file-sharing is copyright infringement,” wrote the school’s technology director, Connie L. Beckman. “While this may be debatable, Mansfield University is required to comply with the law.”

The latest filings brings the number of lawsuits filed by the recording industry to 2,454 since last summer. None of the cases has yet gone to trial, and 437 people so far have agreed to pay financial penalties of about $3,000 as settlements.

The trade group said the newest lawsuits targeted students at Mansfield; Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island; Emory University in Atlanta; Georgia Institute of Technology; Gonzaga University of Spokane, Washington; Michigan State University; Princeton University in New Jersey; Sacred Heart University of Fairfield, Connecticut; Texas A&M University; Trinity College of Hartford, Connecticut; Trinity University of San Antonio; the University of Kansas; University of Minnesota and Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Source CNN.com.

311 will take to the road next month on a U.S. tour slated to run through the beginning of August. Along on nearly all dates will be the Roots, with Medeski, Martin & Wood on board for about half of the trek. The tour kicks off June 18 in Santa Barbara, Calif., the sole show that will feature the Ataris as the opening act.

Dates are confirmed through an Aug. 1 show in Tampa, Fla., although the band’s official Web site reports that the tour will wrap Aug. 5 at an as yet unconfirmed location. The site also lists pre-sale opportunities for members of the band’s “The Hive” fan club and public on-sale dates.

The itinerary also includes a July 2 stop at the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes, Minn. The Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood will also appear on that day of the July 2-4 event; others slated to perform over the weekend are String Cheese Incident, Galactic, Los Lobos, Maroon5 and John Mayer.

Here are 311’s tour dates:

June 18: Santa Barbara, Calif. (Santa Barbara Bowl; w/the Ataris)
June 20: Berkeley, Calif. (Greek Theatre; w/the Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood)
June 22: Long Beach, Calif. (Long Beach Arena; w/the Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood)
June 23: Las Vegas (Orleans Casino; w/the Roots)
June 25: West Valley City, Utah (USANA Amphitheatre; w/the Roots)
June 26: Morrison, Col. (Red Rocks Amphitheatre; w/the Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood)
June 28: Sioux City, Iowa (Tyson Events Center; w/the Roots)
June 30: Maryland Heights, Mo. (UMB Bank Pavilion; w/the Roots)
July 1: Tinley Park, Ill. (Tweeter Center; w/the Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood)
July 2: Detroit Lakes, Minn. (Soo Pass Ranch; 10,000 Lakes Festival)
July 3: Milwaukee, Wis. (Summerfest; w/the Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood)
July 6: Cincinnati (Riverbend Music Center; w/the Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood)
July 7: Clarkston, Mich. (DTE Energy Music Theatre; w/the Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood)
July 9: Philadelphia (Penn’s Landing; w/the Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood)
July 12: Pittsburgh (Chevrolet Amphitheatre; w/the Roots)
July 13: Columbus, Ohio (Germain Amphitheater; w/Medeski, Martin & Wood)
July 15: Bonner Springs, Kan. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
July 16: Omaha, Neb. (Memorial Park;)
July 17: Indianapolis, Ind. (White River Park; w/the Roots)
July 19: Cleveland, Ohio (Tower City Amphitheatre; w/the Roots)
July 20: Wallingford, Conn. (Oakdale Theatre; w/the Roots)
July 21: Gilford, N.H. (Meadowbrook Farm Musical Arts Center; w/the Roots)
July 23: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center; w/the Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood)
July 24: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC Bank Arts Center; w/the Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood)
July 25: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach; w/the Roots and Medeski, Martin & Wood)
July 27: Charlotte, N.C. (Paladium@Carowinds; w/the Roots)
July 29: Virginia Beach, Va. (Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheatre; w/the Roots)
July 30: Bristow, Va. (Nissan Pavilion; w/the Roots)
July 31: Atlanta (HiFi Buys Amphitheatre; w/the Roots)
Aug. 1: Tampa, Fla. (Tampa Bay Amphitheatre; w/the Roots)

Source billboard.com.

Guster is going on tour this summer with Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright, as a triple-headliner. Each band will play an hour a night and the order of the bands will change every show, though the line-ups will be announced ahead of time.

Tour Schedule:

June 19th…. Dayton OH…. Fraze Pavilion
June 20th …. Detroit MI…. Freedom Hill Amphitheater
June 22nd…. Columbus OH…. PromoWest Pavilion
June 23rd …. St Louis MO…. Fox Theater
June 26th…. Indianapolis IN…. White River State Park Amph.
June 27th…. Cleveland OH…. Scene Pavilion
June 29th…. Vienna VA…. Wolf Trap Filene Center
June 30th…. Baltimore MD…. Pier 6 Concert Pavilion
July 3rd…. Rochester NY…. High Falls
July 5th…. Sayreville NJ…. Starland Ballroom
July 7th…. Philadelphia PA… Penn’s Landing
July 8th…. Boston MA…. Fleet Boston Pavilion
July 10th…. Wallingford CT…. Oakdale Theater
July 11th…. Boston MA…. Fleet Boston Pavilion
July 13th…. New York NY…. SummerStage (Central Park)
July 14th…. New York NY…. SummerStage (Central Park)
July 15th…. Pittsburgh PA…. Chevrolet Amphitheater

Tom Waits is working on a new studio album, “Real Gone,” expected to be released in the fall via Epitaph’s Anti label. The iconic singer/songwriter has been recording material described as primal rhythmic blues, written with his wife and frequent collaborator Kathleen Brennan, in an old school house in Mississippi.

“Feelin’ good about it all,” Waits says. “Songs about politics, rats, war, hangings, dancing, automobiles, pirates, farms, the carnival and sinning. Mama, liquor, trains and death. In other words, the same ‘ol dirty business!”

To realize the new recordings, Waits has tapped the talents of Larry Taylor (guitar, bass), Marc Ribot (guitar), Primus alums Les Claypool (bass) and Brian “Brain” Mantia (drums) and Shotgun Messiah’s Harry Cody (guitar, banjo). Also contributing percussion and turntable work is Waits’ son, Casey, who last appeared on the artist’s 2002 Anti album, “Blood Money.”

Waits’ recording relationship with former Canned Heat bassist Taylor dates back to his famed 1980 Asylum album “Heartattack and Vine.” Ribot first collaborated with Waits on 1985’s “Raindogs” (Island). Waits and Brennan are co-producing the album, which is being engineered by Mark Howard (Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams).

Source billboard.com.

The Paul Simon Songbook stands as a time capsule of Simon

Nickel Creek held true to their bluegrass roots throughout their two hour performance at the Pageant, covering and conquering the likes of Nirvana, Carrie Newcomer, Beck and Gillian Welch, while also cruising through traditional folk and country instrumentals within their growing catalog of original material.

Photos by Andrew Francke of Orchestra Baobab’s performance featuring Trey Anastasio at the Higher Ground in Winooski, VT on April 25th, 2004.

This was the final show at the Higher Ground.

Built around the soothing rhythms of Cort Farris

Guided by Voices are planning to split after releasing and promoting their new album, Half Smiles of the Decomposed, later this summer.

“I’ve always said that when I make a record that I’m totally satisfied with as befitting a final album, then that will be it,” frontman Robert Pollard wrote in a Web post. “And this is it. I love the guys in the band, but I’m getting too old to be a gang leader.”

Pollard became that gang leader in 1985 when he was a fourth-grade schoolteacher. With guitarist Mitch Mitchell and drummer Kevin Fennell, he formed Guided by Voices, playing in local bars in Dayton, Ohio. A prolific songwriter, Pollard inked material for numerous albums, EPs and other releases starting with 1987’s Devil Between My Toes. More than twenty musicians would be included in GBV’s fold in its nineteen years, as the group found a bigger following in the Nineties, allowing Pollard to quit his teaching job in 1994.

Last year, GBV issued a new studio album, Earthquake Glue, along with Human Amusements at Hourly Rates, a single-disc compilation, and the 129-song, five-CD/one-DVD Hardcore UFOs box set.

Half Smiles will be the group’s fifteenth long player and is due August 24th. Pollard, who has released several albums under his own name and with other non-GBV ensembles, plans to continue working as a solo artist. “There’s a sense of maturity, and even integrity, I think, in continuing as one’s self,” he wrote.

Source rollingstone.com.

Dave Matthews Band has scrapped plans to hold a festival in the New York metropolitan area during the U.S. Independence Day (July 4) weekend. Instead, the group has added July 2-3 shows at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to its summer itinerary, which kicks off June 17 in Maryland Heights, Mo.

The event was reportedly to be held on Governor’s Island, which is only accessible via ferry.

“We have been putting a great deal of time and effort over the past few months into trying to make the festival happen but due to logistical issues, it simply cannot happen this year,” the group writes of the planned festival on its official Web site. “We assure you that we will continue to look for suitable opportunities and locations for DMB festivals in the future.”

Tickets for the Saratoga shows are available now to members of DMB’s Warehouse fan organization and will go on-sale May 8 to the general public.

DMB is at work on its next RCA studio album, following the recent renewal of its contract with the label. As part of the deal, sources say the band now has control of its master recordings outside of North America and is free to make its own deals for catalog and future projects in the rest of the world. For the first time, DMB will also begin distributing authorized concert recordings online.

Source billboard.com.

Willie Nelson, B.B. King, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Mavis Staples are among the artists who have collaborated with Dr. John for his forthcoming album. Described as a musical love letter to New Orleans, “N’Awlinz: Dis, Dat or D’udda” is due July 13 via Blue Note.

Others who appear on the legendary piano man’s latest release include Randy Newman, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Willie Tee, Nicholas Payton, Wardell Quezergue, the Creolettes and Snooks Eaglin. The set also reunites Dr. John (real name: Malcolm John Rebennack Jr.) with drummer Earl Palmer, who played on his very first recording, as well as famed cuts by Little Richard, Lloyd Price and Fats Domino, among many others.

The 18-track collection comprises traditional and cover songs such as “Ate Up the Apple Tree” and “Hen Layin’ Rooster, as well as the Dr. John originals “Quatre Parishe,” “Chickee Le Pas” and “I’m Comin’ Home.” All are said to capture the New Orleans native’s unique view of the storied Louisiana city.

Dr. John will perform Friday (April 30) in Detroit and Saturday in Kalamazoo, Mich. In late June, he’ll head overseas to play seven dates with B.B. King in Spain before visiting Belgium, Switzerland, Italy and England. He’s also expected to take part in the B.B. King Blues Festival’s annual late summer North American tour.

Source billboard.com.

U.K. rock act Gomez will offer fans in New York, Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio, a special ticket package for its shows there in June. For an extra $10, fans will receive admission to the show, a copy of the group’s upcoming Virgin album, “Split the Difference” and three live downloads from the specific performance, which will be E-mailed in the days following.

It is not known if the June 8-10 shows will be part of a more extensive U.S. run. As previously reported, Gomez has already signed on for the 2004 Lollapalooza tour, which kicks off July 14 outside Seattle. The group’s new album, “Split the Difference,” will arrive May 18 via Virgin.

Before Lollapalooza, Gomez will head out for an eight-date U.K. tour, beginning May 23 in Manchester. A performance in late June at the U.K.’s Glastonbury festival has also been confirmed.

Source billboard.com.

Broken Social Scene, the Walkmen, the Killers, the Von Bondies, Secret Machines, Bumblebeez, Sahara Hotnights, Danger Mouse and the Datsuns have been added to this summer’s Lollapalooza festival, Billboard.com has learned. The tour will kick off July 14 outside Seattle and will feature its first two-day lineup.

One night’s lineup will sport the above bands as well as Morrissey, Sonic Youth, Le Tigre, PJ Harvey, Modest Mouse and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The second night includes String Cheese Incident, Gomez, Flaming Lips, the Thrills, the Polyphonic Spree, the Coup, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Elbow, Wheat and Dresden Dolls. DJ Peretz (tour co-founder Perry Farrell) will perform with both bills.

Source billboard.com.

Rock veterans Crosby, Stills & Nash are celebrating 35 years together with the 2K4 USA Tour, which has them hitting amphitheatres in more than 40 cities.

As previously reported, the group will hit the Midwest and East Coast in July. The just-announced additions have them spreading to the South and West Coast over the next two months, running through September 22, when they’ll wrap in Woodinville, Wash.

Crosby recently finished a tour with his side project CPR, which features guitarist Jeff Pevar and Crosby’s son James Raymond on keyboards. Pevar and Raymond will reportedly join Crosby, Stills & Nash onstage this summer.

Source pollstar.com.

Cult heroes Violent Femmes are putting together a new North American tour, much to the delight of their ever-growing fanbase.
The band – singer/guitarist Gordon Gano, bassist Brian Ritchie and drummer Guy Hoffman – is currently on the tail end of its European tour, which wraps in early May.

On May 22, they’ll kick off a round of U.S. dates with an appearance at Washington, D.C.’s WHFStival at RFK Stadium. Although only a handful of shows have been announced, the itinerary stretches through early September. A hometown show at the Milwaukee Zoo is set for August 21.

The trio hasn’t released a studio album since 2000’s Freak Magnet, but they’ve kept up a steady touring schedule at home and abroad. In 2002, their self-titled debut album was re-released in a two-disc deluxe edition.

Source pollstar.com.