2005

Having nearly completed work on its sophomore Domino/Epic album, U.K. rock act Franz Ferdinand has unveiled plans for a fall North American tour. The month-long trek will begin Sept. 20 in Chicago and has dates on tap through Oct. 18 in Toronto. The group is expected to return for more shows in the first portion of 2006.

Like its 2004 predecessor, the new album will be a self-titled affair. A number of songs from the set, due Oct. 4, were road-tested earlier this spring during a series of gigs in Russia, which allowed the band to fine-tune them before recording final versions.

Franz Ferdinand’s tour dates:

Aug. 9: San Sebastian, Spain (Estadio de Anoeta; w/ U2)
Aug. 11: Madrid (Estadio Vicente Calderon; w/ U2)
Aug. 20-21: Staffordshire/Chelmsford, England (V Festival)
Aug. 30-31: Edinburgh (Edinburgh Castle)
Sept. 20: Chicago (Aragon Ballroom)
Sept. 21: Minneapolis (Target Center)
Sept. 22: Kansas City, Mo. (Uptown Theatre)
Sept. 23: St. Louis (Pageant)
Sept. 25: Austin, Texas (Austin City Limits Festival)
Sept. 27: Denver (Fillmore Auditorium)
Sept. 28: Magna, Utah (Great Salt Air Amphitheatre)
Oct. 1-2: Seattle (Paramount Theatre)
Oct. 3: Portland, Ore. (Rose Garden Arena)
Oct. 4: Vancouver (Orpheum Theatre)
Oct. 6: San Francisco (Bill Graham Civic Auditorium)
Oct. 7: Los Angeles (Greek Theatre)
Oct. 9: San Diego (SDSU Open Air Theatre)
Oct. 11: Las Vegas (the Joint)
Oct. 17: New York (Theatre at Madison Square Garden)
Oct. 18: Toronto (Ricoh Centre)
Oct. 28: Paris (Zenith)
Oct. 31: Rouen, France (31st)
Nov. 1: Lille, France (Zenith)
Nov. 2: Metz, France (Les Arenes)
Nov. 4: Grenoble, France (Zenith)
Nov. 7: Dusseldorf, Germany (Phillishalle)
Nov. 8: Berlin (Tempodrom)
Nov. 9: Hamburg, Germany (Colour Line Arena)
Dec. 12: Munich (Zenith)

Source billboard.com.

Dave Matthews, Neil Young, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp will head to Chicago this year for Farm Aid. The twentieth-anniversary concert, to be held at the Tweeter Center on September 18th, will wrap a weeklong series of events, including club shows and a film festival, in the city to benefit American farmers.

“It’s good to be back in Illinois where it all started,” Nelson said Monday at a press conference at Chicago’s Grant Park. “This state is showing how good food can connect places like Champaign and Chicago. It inspires us to think about family farmers every day. I’m looking forward to playing on the Farm Aid stage, playing music with my friends.”

Farm Aid, which began in Champaign in 1985, was the brainchild of Bob Dylan and spearheaded by Nelson and Mellencamp. The concerts have raised $27 million for family-owned American farms.

Tickets to this year’s show go on sale July 30th. More performers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Source rollingstone.com.

World leaders concluded an economic summit shaken by terrorism, offering an “alternative to the hatred” — aid packages for Africa and the Palestinian Authority and a pledge to address global climate change.

But reaction to the outcome was polarized: Rockers Bob Geldof and Bono, two of the world’s best known Africa fund-raisers, declared victory. But aid groups said the pledges didn’t go nearly far enough.

t is in the nature of politics that we do not achieve absolutely everything we hope to achieve, but nonetheless I believe we have made very substantial progress indeed,” Blair said.

With a last-minute pledge from Japan, Blair won a key victory, announcing that aid to Africa would rise from the current US$25 billion to US$50 billion by 2010.

Geldof praised the leaders for pledging to double aid to Africa, saying it will save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. “The world spoke and the politicians listened,” Bono added.

To read more visit CNN.com.

Although the Secret Machines just released The Road Leads Where It’s Led EP last month, the New York City-based trio has already finished recording their next album. The as-yet-untitled follow-up to their breakout debut, Now Here Is Nowhere, is due next year. The Machines — bassist/singer Brandon Curtis, guitarist (and brother) Ben Curtis and drummer Josh Garza — recorded at Allaire Studios in the Catskills in upstate New York. The album will be mixed in London in September with producer Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails, My Bloody Valentine). “We have tons more material than we had to choose from for the last record,” says Brandon Curtis, “which is a blessing and a curse.”

Much of the new material — including the songs “Lightning Blue Eyes,” “Faded Lines” and “Daddy in the Doldrums” — has been thoroughly road-tested. “We knew we were going to make another record this year, so we took a batch of new songs and performed them pretty regularly,” says Curtis. “So they actually were afforded the chance to be developed in a live setting. By the time we got into the studio, it was almost like we were recording songs that we’d already recorded.” Another live standard on the new LP is “I Want to Know If It’s Still Possible,” which features the Band’s Garth Hudson on accordion.

Source rollingstone.com.

Saddle Creek Records, the Nebraska-based indie powerhouse responsible for such acts as Bright Eyes, Cursive, Rilo Kiley and the Faint, is gearing up for a DVD documentary recounting its history.

Due Aug. 23 via Plexifilm, “Spend an Evening With Saddle Creek: The First 10 Years of Saddle Creek Records” will feature approximately 50 live performances of varying length by Saddle Creek acts. A premiere screening in Omaha is in the works for mid-August.

The 90-minute film, produced by Omaha natives Justin Kubel and Rob Walters, includes interviews with every band on the Saddle Creek roster as of the 2003-2004 filming, as well as founders Justin Oberst, Robb Nansel and Mike Mogis. The DVD also boasts 70 minutes of extra footage.

Saddle Creek was formed in 1993 by a group of friends distributing cassette tapes by 13-year-old singer/songwriter Conor Oberst. Today, Oberst, who performs with a rotating cast of musicians as Bright Eyes, has earned a legion of dedicated fans and broad critical acclaim. He has also become the best-selling artist on Saddle Creek, having shifted 950,000 copies of his half-dozen albums in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

As previously reported, the label is also looking back with the Aug. 23 release of Cursive’s “The Difference Between Houses and Homes,” which rounds up 12 rare and previously unreleased tracks.

Source billboard.com.

Cowclops Productions, HIGH TIMES Magazine and Igor Management bring you the first annual Adirondack Forest Festival, September 23-25 at Moose River Park in Lyonsdale, NY. This year’s inaugural lineup will feature Burning Spear, a rare northeast performance from progressive rap collective Arrested Development, The Slip, Jen Durkin & The Bomb Squad, Sam Kininger Band, Mecca Bodega and More! Up-to-date lineup and band bios can be found at amf2005.com.

With a special focus on Northeast favorites, The Adirondack Forest Festival is unlike any other this festival season. Aside from the festival’s unique lineup, AFF will focus on raising money for Bands For Lands (www.bandsforlands.org), a non-profit organization focused on preserving pristine lands vital to sustain life, through music and creative arts. More than half of the proceeds received from AFF will directly benefit endangered lands in the New York region.

The gorgeous and secluded Moose River Park, which for years hosted the Adirondack Music Festival, was established in 1968 and is located on a spring-fed lake in Lyonsdale NY, part of the 6-million acre Adirondack Park in upstate New York. There is no better place to experience a festival–imagine being serenaded from the lakefront amphitheater as the sun goes down, while basking in your own semi-private campsite. In addition, sports enthusiasts can indulge in whitewater rafting, hiking, biking and swimming, all within the park!

With something for everyone, this year’s Adirondack Forest Festival is not to be missed. Plus, festivalgoers will be doing their part to preserve local endangered land. Act quickly: the first 1,000 tickets are $55, $75 until the 22nd and $90 at the gate. Tickets include weekend camping. For tickets, information and more, visit amf2005.com . See you at the park!

Current Lineup (more acts TBD, check web site for details):

Burning Spear
Arrested Development
The Slip
Jen Durkin & The Bomb Squad
Sam Kininger Band
Mecca Bodega
SeepeopleS
U-Melt
Trumystic
Furley
Reverend Tor Band
Strut
Next Tribe
Band B
Sven Hooson
JoMama and the Funkdaddies
Downtown Brown

Infinity Broadcasting isn’t commenting on an online report penned by a former Howard Stern Show regular that suggests David Lee Roth will be one of the personalities that ultimately replaces Stern on the airwaves.

Chaunce Hayden, a gossip and celebrity writer for New York/New Jersey entertainment guide SteppinOutMagazine.com, writes that “an Infinity source has confirmed the signing.”

To read more visit billboard.com.