2005

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.

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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.

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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.

Celebrating their fourth consecutive year, Bockman (formerly Bockman

Singer/songwriter Nellie McKay is making progress on her as-yet-untitled sophomore album for Columbia. The artist tells Billboard.com she is eyeing a September release for the set, which will feature a duet with Cyndi Lauper on a track titled “Bee Charmer.”

The new album will be the follow-up to McKay’s 2004 double-disc debut, “Get Away From Me,” which peaked at No. 7 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart and has sold 100,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

A DualDisc version of “Get Away From Me” was released last month, the DVD side of which features eight songs taped in November 2004 in San Francisco, plus the previously unreleased audio tracks “Teresa” and “John-John.”

McKay says she may play some shows this summer, but at deadline, there are only two performance on her schedule: tonight (April 29) in New Orleans and a May 23 benefit at New York’s Irving Plaza with Lauper and Natalie Merchant. “I don’t want to promote the record before it’s ready,” the artist says.

Proceeds from the New York show will be donated to the family of former Elektra Records employee Theresa Wilson, who died March 20. The event will also feature performances by Chris Whitley, Steve Forbert, Dan Baird and Sandra Bernhard

In the meantime, McKay has just sealed up her debut film role in “Safety Glass,” which will also star Mandy Moore, Amanda Peet and Michelle Williams. “I play a girl named Sue, who has a bit of a ‘Children of the Corn’ thing going on,” she reveals.

Source billboard.com.

Patti Smith will headline this summer’s Meltdown Festival at London’s South Bank Centre, which will run from June 11-26. The event will be highlighted by a complete performance of her acclaimed 1976 album “Horses” on June 25 at Royal Festival Hall, on a bill that will also feature the set’s producer, John Cale.

Smith will perform with several of the acts throughout the event, including Sinead O’Connor, Beth Orton and Kristin Hersh on June 18 under the billing “Songs of Innocence, Protest Songs and Lullabies.” She will also join My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields and Cat Power for a June 22 show at Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Tickets go on sale Thursday (May 5) via the event’s official Web site.

The only other live activity on Smith’s schedule comes Sunday (May 1), when she will revisit New York’s CBGB, the club at the center of the ’70s punk explosion she led with the Ramones, Television and Blondie, among others.

Here is the Meltdown festival lineup:

June 17: Rachid Taha, Patti Smith (Royal Festival Hall); Yoko Ono (Queen Elizabeth Hall)
June 18: Patti Smith, Sinead O’Connor, Beth Orton, Kristin Hersh (RFH); Billy Bragg (QEH)
June 19: Steve Earle and Patti Smith (RFH)
June 22: Patti Smith, Cat Power, Kevin Shields (QEH)
June 23: Bertolt Brecht tribute with Patti Smith, Marc Almond, Neil and Tim Finn, Antony & the Johnsons, Dresden Dolls, London Sinfonietta (RFH)
June 24: Antony & the Johnsons (QEH)
June 25: “Horses” performance with Patti Smith and John Cale (RFH)
June 26: Jimi Hendrix tribute with Patti Smith, Jeff Beck, Flea, John Frusciante (RFH)

Source billboard.com.

G. Love & Special Sauce, The Black Keys, Donavon Frankenreiter, Medeski Martin & Wood, Gomez, Ray Lamontagne, Toots & The Maytals, Jurassic 5 and Galactic, are among the artists who have been announced for this summer