May 2005

Sleater-Kinney’s whose seventh album, The Woods is due out out May 24th has announced tour dates to support the release. While The Woods’ ten tracks may not sport the trenchant political content of 2002’s One Beat, the album is said to be just as strong.

Tour Dates

5/31: Seattle, Moore Theater
6/2: Portland, OR, Crystal Ballroom
6/4: San Francisco, Warfield
6/7: Pomona, CA, Glass House
6/8: Los Angeles, Henry Fonda Theater
6/9: Los Angeles, Henry Fonda Theater
6/15: Minneapolis, First Avenue
6/16: Chicago, Riviera
6/17: Cleveland, OH, Beachland Ballroom
6/18: Toronto, Phoenix
6/19: Montreal, La Tulipe
6/21: Burlington, VT, Higher Ground
6/22: Boston, Avalon
6/23: New York, Roseland
6/25: Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
6/30: Knoxville, TN, Sundown in the City
7/1: Atlanta, The Variety

In support of its brand new album, Deadwing, British quartet Porcupine Tree will cross the pond for North American dates. The tour begins May 13 at Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club and wraps June 11 at The Grove of Anaheim in Los Angeles.

The band just concluded a European tour during which they performed in Switzerland, Italy, Spain and France.

While touring the U.S., Porcupine Tree will make their way through the East hitting up New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania along the way. From there, they’ll travel through the Midwest, eventually landing on the West Coast.

Some gigs include the House of Blues in Cleveland May 25; Boulder, Colo.’s Fox Theatre June 1; and The Fillmore in San Francisco June 8.

Former King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp will open for Porcupine Tree on various West coast dates. Additional openers are still in the works.

Porcupine’s current lineup -comprising singer/guitarist Steven Wilson, Richard Barbieri on keyboards, Colin Edwin on bass, and drummer Gavin Harrison – has been together since 1993. Along with its success on the British indie charts, the band also has a reputation as a pioneering underground force in the U.K.

Source pollstar.com.

Performances from some of the world’s most popular and influential bands highlighted the sixth Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, which concluded last night (May 1) at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif. About 50,000 people descended on this desert town for the two-day event, which featured headlining sets by Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails, plus rare appearances from Bauhaus, Gang Of Four and hip-hop duo Black Star.

Coldplay’s Saturday set went heavy on such anthems as “Clocks,” “The Scientist,” “Yellow” and “In My Place” but was bookended by songs from its upcoming Capitol album, “X&Y”: opener “Square One” and closer “Fix You.” The group also debuted new album track “Low” and “‘Til Kingdom Come,” the latter of which was penned for Johnny Cash prior to death but appears as a bonus cut on the upcoming disc.

Last night, the Trent Reznor-led Nine Inch Nails drew one of the biggest crowds of the weekend to the main stage for intense versions of “Head Like a Hole,” “Closer” and “Piggy,” plus its latest single, “The Hand That Feeds.” That cut is the lead track from the new Interscope album “With Teeth,” NIN’s first since 1999.

To read more visit billboard.com.

Wilco has announced dates for their summer tour which is set to begin June 11th in Berkely, CA, which will follow with a show in Los Angeles at the Greek Theatre with special guests The Roots. From there, the tour will swing east hitting stops at Red Rocks, the Wakarusa Festival and east coast dates in Philadelphia, Boston, Columbia, MD, Montreal and Buffalo. My Morning Jacket will be opening for Wilco in Rochester Hills, MI, Philadelphia and Boston.

For for more information, please visit the band

Former Pink Floyd leader Roger Waters has completed Ca Ira, his long-awaited opera. After a decade of work on the project, Waters reports that “it’s done and delivered” and should be available as a double-CD through Sony Classical this fall.

Ca Ira — loosely translated as “So It Will Be” — was inspired by the French Revolution and is the latest conceptual work from the mastermind of The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and The Wall (1979).

Waters is considering staging Ca Ira as a concert performance in Rome this November with a full symphony, as well as adult and children’s choruses. “I might conduct it,” he says. “Wouldn’t that be a buzz? Of course, I might need a few beta blockers before going on.”

Waters has also long been at work on a rock album to follow1992’s Amused to Death, his examination of capitalism and mindless entertainment. Although he’s recorded enough songs to “cobble something together and put it out tomorrow,” Waters is aiming for a more coherent collection of songs. “I just keep smashing paint up against the canvas and waiting for it to make sense,” he says.

While initially a meditation on love, the album has evolved to incorporate current world events. “Living in America now, I’m struggling with all those questions — about the law, the Constitution, what’s next for mankind and whether there’s any moral high-ground to be had,” Waters says. “Actually, it’s all the same stuff I’ve been obsessed with since I was a teenager [laughs], so nothing new, really.”

Source rollingstone.com.