2005

Billy Corgan launches a tour in support of his solo debut, TheFutureEmbrace, in Atlanta on June 22nd, the day after his album hits stores. His last date will be in Vancouver, on July 19th.
“It’s guitar-driven and loud, but not aggressive,” the former Smashing Pumpkins frontman told Rolling Stone of the record. “No one will accuse me of sitting on my past.”

Recorded in Chicago, Future was co-produced by Corgan and features eleven new songs, as well as an unlikely cover of the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody,” with the Cure’s Robert Smith on backing vocals. “The Cure is one of my favorite bands of all time,” Corgan said. “Robert is a good friend of mine, so it’s a dream come true. That song’s sort of a gem that not everyone will know.”

The video for the first single off the album, “Walking Shade,” is currently in rotation, and Corgan will play Europe before his North American stint.

Billy Corgan North American tour dates:

6/22: Atlanta, Earthlink
6/24: Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
6/25: Philadelphia, Electric Factory
6/27: New York, Webster Hall
6/28: New York, Webster Hall
6/30: Boston, Avalon
7/2: Toronto, The Carlu
7/5: Chicago, Vic Theatre
7/6: Chicago, Vic Theatre
7/7: St. Louis, The Pageant
7/8: Dallas, Gypsy Tea Room
7/11: San Diego, Soma
7/12: Los Angeles, Henry Fonda Theatre
7/13: Los Angeles, Henry Fonda Theatre
7/15: San Francisco, The Fillmore
7/16: San Francisco, The Fillmore
7/18: Seattle, Moore Theatre
7/19: Vancouver, Commodore Ballroom

Source rollingstone.com.

Jazz legend Herbie Hancock has restaffed his famed Headhunters ensemble with a host of notable names and will take the band on the road for four shows this summer. Anchoring the collective on piano, the artist will be joined by guitarists John Mayer and Lionel Loueke, bassist Marcus Miller, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, trumpeter Roy Hargrove and percussionist Munyungo Jackson.

Headhunters ’05 will play three dates surrounding their June 10 appearance at Tennessee’s Bonnaroo festival: June 8 in St. Louis, June 9 in Dayton, Ohio, and June 11 in Memphis. Hancock will serve as Bonnaroo’s first “artist in residence” and is expected to perform with a host of acts throughout the festival.

Source billboard.com.

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, the International Noise Conspiracy, Ben Kweller, Drive-By Truckers, the Ponys and Mark Farina are some of the latest acts to be added to the Lollapalooza lineup. The bill is headed by the Pixies, the Killers, Widespread Panic, Weezer, the Arcade Fire, Death Cab For Cutie and Dashboard Confessional. Lollapalooza will be held July 23-24 in Chicago’s Grant Park and more information can be found by visiting the festival

Canadian indie rock outfit New Pornographers will return this summer with a new studio album, “Twin Cinema.” Due Aug. 23 via Matador, the 14-track set features a guest spot from group member Carl Newman’s teenage niece Kathryn Calder, who will soon join the touring incarnation of the group. The title cut can be sampled on the New Pornographers’ official Web site.

New Pornographers have begun confirming summer shows, including a previously announced June 25 date as part of the Celebrate Brooklyn festival in the borough’s Prospect Park.

Here are the New Pornographers’ tour dates:

June 23: Hoboken, N.J. (Maxwell’s)
June 24: Lancaster, Pa. (Chameleon Club)
June 25: Brooklyn, N.Y. (Prospect Park)
June 26: Northampton, Mass. (Pearl Street)

Source billboard.com.

Rock outfit Black Rebel Motorcycle Club will release its third studio album, “Howl,” Aug. 22 in the United Kingdom and Europe via the Echo label. The first single is due Aug. 8; BRMC’s official Web site says it will be “Shuffle Your Feet,” although reports suggest it could also be “Ain’t No Easy Way Out.”

In support of the set, BRMC will return to live duty with a seven-date U.K. tour, beginning June 11 in Nottingham. All of the shows except the opener will feature support from Brian Jonestown Massacre.

BRMC member Robert Turner told Billboard.com in October that the new album will reveal a shift from the propulsive rock of the band’s first two sets for Virgin.

“There’s one in the vein of an old, Johnny Cash song, and there are a couple of songs that sound like Dylan’s first couple of albums,” he said. “On the songs that do have a fuller sound, they’re more produced and layered. We used that setup more for our first album than the second; just having fun in the studio layering things, rather than the live electric band, throw-and-go sound.”

It was unclear at deadline what label would release “Howl” in North America.

Here are BRMC’s U.K. tour dates:

June 11: Nottingham (Rescue Rooms)
June 12: Glasgow (QMU)
June 13: Manchester (Academy)
June 14: Birmingham (Academy)
June 16: London (Scala)
June 18: Leeds (Cockpit)
June 19: Brighton (Concorde)

Source billboard.com.