April 2005

Elvis Costello has been touring with his group, The Imposters, since late January in support of his album The Delivery Man. But if you see him at the end of April, you may get a surprise treat – seeing Costello playing with a new band called The Pick-Ups.

The revised line-up features sweet-voiced Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo replacing Imposters pianist Steve Nieve.

This isn’t the first time that Costello and the multitalented Hidalgo have worked with each other: Hidalgo appeared on Costello’s 1986 album King of America; Costello also sang on Los Lobos’ The Ride, which was released last year.

The dates for Hidalgo’s appearances with Costello will be April 24 in Baltimore, April 26 in Norfolk, Va., and April 27 in Athens, Ga.

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Neil Young is recovering from surgery on Tuesday to address a brain aneurysm. After performing with the Pretenders on March 14 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York, the artist experienced what his publicist describes as “visual field disturbances,” and an MRI scan revealed the source of the problem.

Rather than have surgery immediately, Young spent the next week in Nashville recording for an as-yet-unrevealed project. Tuesday’s procedure has been called “a complete success,” and Young is expected to make a full recovery. However, the artist has been forced to cancel his planned Sunday (April 3) appearance at Canada’s Juno Awards while he recuperates.

Source billboard.com.

Additional details have come to light about this year’s scaled-down version of Lollapalooza, which, as previously reported, will be held July 23-24 in Chicago’s Grant Park. According to the event’s official Web site, 70 bands are expected to grace five stages. The full lineup will be announced April 22.

For a week beginning Thursday (April 7) or until supplies last, a two-day pass will be available for $35, with a two-ticket limit per credit card. Tickets can be purchased through a link on the Lollapalooza site, which also promises forthcoming information on travel packages.

On the festival grounds, organizers say to expect installations from local and national visual artists, a runway show, the presence of robots and other man-made machines and the screening of a history-spanning Lollapalooza documentary.

The festival is returning this year after a disastrous 2004 when the entire tour was canceled due to sluggish ticket sales. Lollapalooza was to be a two-day traveling affair featuring Morrissey, String Cheese Incident, Wilco, the Pixies, Flaming Lips and Sonic Youth, among others, but was pulled in late June, less than a month before its planned start date.

Source billboard.com.