2005

Rock act O.A.R. will begin a summer headlining tour July 9 at Milwaukee’s Summerfest, with Southland and Hawaii-based rock outfit Pepper in tow. Along the way, O.A.R. will also open July shows for Dave Matthews Band in Antioch, Tenn., Cincinnati and a two-night stand in East Troy, Wis.

Also on tap is the fourth annual Feeling Better Than Everfine festival, which will be held in Chicago after previously being based in Cleveland. The all-day event will feature a full complement of additional bands to be announced.

O.A.R. has a handful of shows remaining on its current North American run, including an appearance tonight (April 19) in Dallas. The group will also drop in on the Bonnaroo Festival on June 11 in Manchester, Tenn.

O.A.R.’s latest release, the 2004 live set

While Philadelphia’s groundbreaking Disco Biscuits continue to consider their course when original drummer Sam Altman leaves the band to pursue his medical degree, the fate of their ever-popular Camp Bisco festival is not in question. After two summer seasons of hiatus, today the Disco Biscuits announce Camp Bisco IV: The Trance-Formation, to happen August 26 and 27 at Skyetop Festival Grounds in Van Etten, NY.

Camp Bisco IV will offer up two sets each night of the Disco Biscuits’ jaw-dropping electronic rock compositions. The bittersweet celebration – these shows will be Sammy’s last Camp Bisco performances ever – is sure to go down in festival history as two epic nights of music.

Joining the Disco Biscuits for Camp Bisco IV will be an eclectic line-up of today’s most talented young musicians including Umphrey’s McGee, The New Deal, Conspirator, Ithaca’s own John Brown’s Body, The Benevento Russo Duo, Brothers Past, Big in Japan, plus DJ’s Christian Bruna, Omen and D.R.O. (Final Phaze NYC), DJ Mauricio a.k.a. Fractalien (Portland), and Orchard Lounge (Chicago). Other acts TBA.

This year’s Camp Bisco boasts a family friendly environment, with a family camping area and child play-park, plus plenty of daytime activities for adults, too. Color War anyone?

See discobiscuits.com for more info

Jam Cruise 4 has revealed its artist line-up. Joining Jam Cruise favorites, this year the floating music festival welcomes Gomez, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Digable Planets, and Antibalas Aftrobeat Orchestra to the roster. With Bela Fleck and the Flecktones officially on hiatus for 2005, Jam Cruise 4 offers the band’s only confirmed appearance this year! These first-timers will join 20 other acts, including veterans Galactic, Umphrey’s McGee, Keller Williams, Galactic, and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. Also on the boat for year four: The String Cheese Incident side-projects (Remarkable Elba Kramer featuring Kyle Hollingsworth, Zilla featuring
Michael Travis, Honkytonk Homeslice featuring Billy Nershi and Elastic Mystic featuring Michael Kang with DJ Lorin), Steve Kimock Band, Liza Oxnard, Fantastic 4 (featuring Eric Krasno, Robert Walter,
Cheme Gastelum, andAdam Deitch), and more artists still TBA.

Now in its third year, Jam Cruise has become a leader in the evolution of music festivals and cruise travel. For Jam Cruise 4 the Italian cruise line’s MSC Lirica will leave port from Ft. Lauderdale on January 7, 2006, floating for six days and six nights with stops in Ocho Rios (Jamaica), Grand Cayman (Cayman Islands) and Cozumel (Mexico).

Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson are hitting the road again for a ballpark tour that’s sure to be nostalgic for veteran fans and enlightening for the younger crowd.

This will mark the second time that Dylan – poet-prince of folk and rock – and Nelson – easily one of the most accomplished country-western artists of his time – have done a tour of minor league stadiums. Their last stadium tour was August and September of 2004. That outing received Pollstar’s Concert Industry Award for Most Creative Tour Package.

The tour will begin May 25 at Fort Myers, Fla.’s William H. Hammond Stadium The remainder of month will be spent in Florida, and the beginning of June will be marked by a show in at the BellSouth Park in Chatanooga, Tenn.

More dates in the Southeast follow before the tour finds it way up to New England with shows in Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

Dylan and Nelson will play at the AutoZone Park in Memphis, Tenn., on July 1. According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, this will be that stadium’s first ever on-field concert. July will be spent playing show in the middle-South and plain states, with the tour wrapping up on July 12 in Saint Paul at Midway Stadium.
The ballpark tour will be supported by Texas band, The Greencards, who were recently named Best New Band at the Austin Music Awards.
Currently, Dylan is on tour with another country legend – Merle Haggard. That trek continues until the end of this month – ending with a five-show run at New York’s Beacon Theatre. The Fourth of July will also bring Dylan and Nelson to the annual Willie Nelson Picnic in Fort Worth, Texas. This year’s picnic also features the Grammy-winning trio Los Lonely Boys.

Source pollstar.com.

In support of their new album, TREE CITY, Robbers on High Street are pleased to announce that they’ll join Hot Hot Heat on the road as their main support act, beginning May 20th in New York City at Webster Hall and wrapping up in Salt Lake City on June 21st.

Currently on the Virgin Mega College tour with Cake and Gomez, and looking forward to a handful of dates with Ivy in early May, this piano-driven quartet has been hypnotizing fans with their live show for the past year, sharing the stage with the likes of Fountains of Wayne, Ambulance Ltd, VHS or Beta, The Dears, Sloan The Robbers on High Street dates with Hot Hot Heat are as follow. More dates TBD:

May 20: New York, NY: Webster Hall
May 21: Northampton, MA: Pearl Street
May 22: Philadelphia, PA: Trocadero
May 23: Boston, MA: Avalon
May 26: Cincinnati, OH: Bogart’s
May 27: Columbus, OH: PromoWest
May 28: Cleveland, OH: Scene Pavilion
May 30: Detroit, MI: 89X Festival
May 31: Milwaukee, WI: The Rave
June 1: Minneapolis, MN: The Quest
June 4: Seattle, WA: Showbox
June 7: Boston, MA: WFNX Festival
June 9: Sacramento, CA: Boardwalk
June 13: Los Angeles, CA: Avalon
June 13: Los Angeles, CA: Avalon
June 15: San Diego, CA: House of Blues
June 17: Phoenix, AZ: Brickhouse
June 18: Las Vegas, NV: House of Blues
June 20: Denver, CO: Ogden Theatre
June 21: Salt Lake City, UT: In The Venue

Singer/songwriter John Hiatt is backed by North Mississippi Allstars sibling duo Cody and Luther Dickinson on his upcoming album, “Master of Disaster.” Due June 21 via New West, the project was produced family patriarch Jim Dickinson and also features longtime Muscle Shoals studio bassist David Hood.

“Master of Disaster” will be released as a Super Audio CD with a standard stereo mix as well as a high-resolution mix playable only on SACD-compatible devices. Raves Jim Dickinson of the latter mix, “It’s like being in the room with first generation audio.”

Hiatt’s tour in support of the album will find him backed by the Allstars, who will also play their own opening set at some shows. The outing begins June 23 in Albany, N.Y.

“Master of Disaster” is the follow-up to 2003’s “Beneath This Gruff Exterior,” which debuted at No. 3 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart.

Here are John Hiatt’s tour dates:

June 23: Albany, N.Y. (Hart Theatre)
June 24: Northampton, Mass. (Calvin Theatre)
June 25: New York (Webster Hall)
June 27: Hampton Beach, N.J. (Hampton Beach Casino)
June 28: Vienna, Va. (Wolf Trap)
June 29: Knoxville, Tenn. (Tennessee Theatre)
June 30: Columbus, Ohio (Promowest Pavilion)
July 2: Bloomington, Ind. (Axis)
July 3: Detroit (Comerica TasteFest)
July 4: Chicago (Taste of Chicago)
July 5: Milwaukee (Summerfest)
July 6: Apple Valley, Wis. (Music in the Zoo)
July 8: Boise, Idaho (Eagle Park Pavilion)
July 9: Portland, Ore. (Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre)
July 10: Seattle (South Lake Union Park)
July 11: Vancouver (Commodore Ballroom)
July 13: Medford, Ore. (Britt Festivals)
July 14: San Jose, Calif. (Plaza de Cesar Chavez)
July 16: Los Angeles (House of Blues)
July 17: Phoenix (Celebrity Theatre)
July 18: Tucson, Ariz. (Rialto Theatre)
July 20: Denver (Botantical Gardens)
July 21: Boulder, Col. (Chautauqua Auditorium)
July 23: Austin, Texas (Stubb’s BBQ)
July 24: Dallas (Gypsy Ballroom)
July 27: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Revolution)
July 28: Tampa, Fla. (Jannus Landing)
July 29: Asheville, N.C. (Bele Chere)
July 30: Nashville (Ryman Auditorium)
July 31: Atlanta (Botanical Garden)
Aug. 3: Glenside, Pa. (Keswick Theatre)
Aug. 4: Oyster Bay, N.Y. (FOTA Pavilion)

Source billboard.com.