May 2005

CBGB is hoping to host a 30-date festival of big-name acts this summer in a last-ditch effort to save the legendary punk rock club, founder and owner Hilly Kristal told the handful of journalists and supporters who turned out yesterday (May 16) for the start of a fund-raising push.

Kristal indicated that he would invite Patti Smith, David Byrne and many of the other one-time fringe acts who played the New York landmark on their way to mainstream stardom. “If the Beastie Boys are around, I think they’d play,” said Kristal. “Green Day came in one night and just played. Maybe they’d come back.

To read more please visit billboard.com.

Jimmy Martin, a ground-breaking bluegrass guitarist and singer, died Saturday at the age of 77 in a Nashville hospice.

The 3rd installment of the Diesel U Music awards has kicked off with the first round of nominations showcasing some of North America

Coldplay has confirmed dates for its summer North American tour. The run in support of the band’s forthcoming album, “X&Y” (Capitol), will open Aug. 2 in Toronto and close Sept. 30 in Bristow, Va. Rilo Kiley will serve as the opening act.

As previously reported, the outing will include a Sept. 25 headlining berth at Texas’ Austin City Limits Music Festival on the event’s opening day.

Tickets for all shows go on sale June 4, with the exception of a Sept. 23 date in Dallas that goes on sale June 11 and a Houston show the next night that is already on sale. A Coldplay.com online presale will begin May 24.

As previously reported the band taped an episode of VH1’s “Storytellers” at Harvey Theatre in downtown Brooklyn, N.Y., last night (May 16) that will premiere June 8 on the music channel. Tonight, Coldplay will perform a show at New York’s Beacon Theatre for an AOL Music cybercast and will be the musical guest on this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” season finale on NBC.

Here are Coldplay’s North American tour dates:

Aug. 2: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Aug. 3: Montreal (Bell Centre)
Aug. 4: Hartford, Conn. (Meadows Music Theatre)
Aug. 6: Boston (Tweeter Center)
Aug. 7: Camden, N.J. (Tweeter Center @ The Waterfront)
Aug. 9: Cincinnati (Riverbend Music Center)
Aug. 11: Burgettstown, Pa. (Post Gazette Pavilion)
Aug. 12: Noblesville, Ind. (Verizon Wireless Music Center)
Aug. 13: East Troy, Wis. (Alpine Valley Music Theatre)
Aug. 16: Seattle (White River Amphitheatre)
Aug. 17: Portland, Ore. (Amphitheatre at Clark County)
Aug. 19: Mountain View, Calif. (Shoreline Amphitheatre)
Aug. 20: Irvine, Calif. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
Aug. 24: Albuquerque, N.M. (Journal Pavilion)
Aug. 25: Phoenix (Cricket Pavilion)
Aug. 26: San Diego (Coors Amphitheatre)
Aug. 30: Clarkston, Mich. (DTE Energy Music Theatre)
Aug. 31: Columbus, Ohio (Germain Amphitheater)
Sept. 1: Darien Center, N.Y. (Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)
Sept. 3: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC Bank Arts Center)
Sept. 6: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Sept. 9: Charlotte, N.C. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
Sept. 10: Raleigh, N.C. (Alltel Pavilion)
Sept. 13: West Palm Beach, Fla. (Sound Advice Amphitheatre)
Sept. 14: Tampa, Fla. (Ford Amphitheatre)
Sept. 16: Birmingham, Ala. (Verizon Wireless Music Center)
Sept. 17: Maryland Heights, Mo. (UMB Bank Pavilion)
Sept. 18: Nashville (Starwood Amphitheatre)
Sept. 20: Minneapolis (Target Center)
Sept. 21: Kansas City, Mo. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
Sept. 23: Dallas (Smirnoff Music Center)
Sept. 24: Houston (Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion)
Sept. 25: Austin, Texas (Austin City Limits Music Festival)
Sept. 28: Atlanta (Philips Arena)
Sept. 29: Virginia Beach, Va. (Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater)
Sept. 30: Bristow, Va. (Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge)

Source billboard.com.

The Northeast

“I’m ready to shake it all up,” John Mayer says of his next studioalbum, Continuum, due in early 2006.

“They are tunes that live on guitar. When it comes out, I may never win a Grammy again, I may never sell a million records again, but the world will get where I’m coming from,” he tells Rolling Stone’s Smoking Section column. “I’m not afraid to lose it all.”

Meanwhile, Mayer has been an in-demand guest for his heroes: He has recorded with Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy for their upcoming albums, and he’ll be performing at Bonnaroo on June 10th with Herbie Hancock’s reunited Seventies funk-jazz group, the Headhunters. The group will play additional gigs on the 8th in St. Louis, on the 9th in Kettering, Ohio, and on the 11th in Memphis.

Mayer is also preparing to flex his new blues-based outfit, the John Mayer Trio, on the road and on a live disc. “I’m gonna go out in the fall with the trio and just play,” he says. “Power-rockin’, electric-guitar, in-your-face blues.”

Source rollingstone.com.

Wilco will head back into the studio in August to begin recording the follow-up to 2004’s A Ghost Is Born. “For some reason, we’ve been digging a lot of dance music recently, like Fela Kuti,” says Wilco singer Jeff Tweedy, “so look out!”

First, the band will kick off a summer tour on May 28th in Washington. Fellow rockers My Morning Jacket and hip-hoppers the Roots will pop up along the way. “I read an interview where [Roots drummer] ?uestlove said he really likes A Ghost Is Born,” Tweedy says of the pairing.

Filmmaker Sam Jones, who directed the acclaimed 2002 Wilco documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, captured the band live during its recent four-night stand at Chicago’s Vic Theatre. A live DVD is due later this year.

Wilco tour dates:

5/28: George, WA, Sasquatch! Festival at the Gorge
6/11: Berkeley, CA, Greek Theatre
6/14: Los Angeles, Greek Theatre (with the Roots)
6/16: Telluride, CO, Telluride Bluegrass Festival
6/17: Morrison, CO, Red Rocks (with the Roots)
6/18: Lawrence, KS, Wakarusa Festival
6/21: Rochester Hills, MI, Meadow Brook Amphitheatre (with My Morning Jacket)
6/23: Philadelphia, Penn’s Landing (with My Morning Jacket)
6/24: Boston, Agganis Arena (with My Morning Jacket)
6/26: Columbia, MD, Merriweather Post Pavilion (with the Roots)
6/28: Montreal, Metropolis (with My Morning Jacket)
6/29: Buffalo, Albright Knox Art Museum (with My Morning Jacket)

Source rollingstone.com.