January 25, 2006

The Strokes will begin a spring U.S. tour on March 3 with a hometown show at New York Hammerstein Ballroom. According to the band’s Web site, a five-week theatre outing will run through April 11 in Minneapolis, with more are expected to be added.

The quintet is also rumored to be playing the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in late April in Indio, Calif. “I loved it when we played it last time [in 2002],” guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. tells Billboard.com. “Absolutely loved it. It was one of the coolest festivals. No offense to American festivals, but it felt very European. It’s outdoors but it’s warm, which is so important.”

The Strokes will be out in support of their just-released third RCA studio album, “First Impressions of Earth,” which debuted earlier this month at No. 4 on The Billboard 200.

Before the U.S. run, the band will be in the United Kingdom for an 18-date tour that begins tomorrow (Jan. 24) in London.

Here are The Strokes U.S. tour dates:

March 3: New York (Hammerstein Ballroom)
March 6: Nashville (Ryman Auditorium)
March 8: Atlanta (Tabernacle)
March 10: Kansas City, Mo. (Uptown Theatre)
March 11: Tusla, Okla. (Cain’s Ballroom)
March 14: Austin, Texas (Stubb’s Barbeque)
March 15: Houston (Verizon Wireless Theater)
March 17: Grand Prairie, Texas (Nokia Theatre)
March 19: Denver (Filmore Auditorium)
March 21: Meza, Ariz. (Mesa Amphitheatre)
March. 24: San Francisco (Concourse)
April 2: Portland, Ore. (Roseland Ballroom)
April 4: Seattle (Paramount Theatre)
Apri 7: Chicago (Aragon Ballroom)
April 8: St. Louis (Pageant)
April 10: Milwaukee (Eagles Club)
April 11: Minneapolis (Orpheum Theatre)

Source billboard.com.

Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah Harmer will begin a North American tour Feb. 2 in Buffalo, N.Y. The 32-date run will include a March 17 performance at the South By Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, and will close April 16 in Santa Monica, Calif. The Shiftless Rounders will support through a March 4 show in Pittsburgh.

Harmer is touring in support of her third solo album, “I’m a Mountain,” due Feb. 7 via Zoe/Rounder. As previously reported, the set boasts 11 songs, including first single “I Am Aglow” and a cover of Dolly Parton’s “Will He Be Waiting for Me.” The disc was released in Canada in November and will come out March 6 in Europe.

Here are Harmer’s tour dates:

Feb. 22: Buffalo, N.Y. (Town Ballroom)
Feb. 23: Burlington, Vt. (Higher Ground)
Feb. 24: Boston (Paradise Rock Club)
Feb. 25: Newmarket, N.H. (Stone Church)

Feb. 27: Northampton, Mass. (Iron Horse)
Feb. 28: Alexandria, Va. (Birchmere Music Hall)
March 1: New York (Canal Room)
March 3: Philadelphia (World Cafe Live)
March 4: Pittsburgh (Dowes)
March 7: Carrboro, N.C. (Cat’s Cradle)
March 8: Greenville, S.C. (The Handlebar)
March 9: Asheville, N.C. (The Grey Eagle)
March 10: Nashville (Exit/In)
March 11: Decatur, Ga. (Eddie’s Attic)
March 13: Louisville, Ky. (Headliner’s Music Hall)
March 14: St. Louis, Mo. (Blueberry Hill)
March 17: Austin, Texas (Momo’s South By Southwest)
March 27: Ann Arbor, Mich. (The Ark)
March 29-30: Chicago (Schuba’s Tavern)
March 31: Madison, Wis. (High Noon Saloon)
April 1: Minneapolis (Fine Line)
April 4: Thunder Bay, Ontario (Thunder Bay Community Auditorium)
April 5: Winnipeg (Westminster United Church)
April 6: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Knox United Church)
April 8: Calgary, Alberta (Knox United Church)
April 10: Vancouver (Stanley Theatre)
April 11: Victoria, British Columbia (Alix Goolden Hall)
April 12: Seattle (Tractor Tavern)
April 14: San Francisco (Cafe Du Nord)
April 15: Los Angeles (Knitting Factory)
April 16: Santa Monica, Calif. (McCabe’s Guitar Shop)

Source billboard.com.

Online search engine leader Google Inc. has agreed to censor its results in China, adhering to the country’s free-speech restrictions in return for better access in the Internet’s fastest growing market.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company planned to roll out a new version of its search engine bearing China’s Web suffix “.cn,” on Wednesday. A Chinese-language version of Google’s search engine has previously been available through the company’s dot-com address in the United States.

By creating a unique address for China, Google hopes to make its search engine more widely available and easier to use in the world’s most populous country.

Because of government barriers set up to suppress information, Google’s China users previously have been blocked from using the search engine or encountered lengthy delays in response time.
To obtain the Chinese license, Google agreed to omit Web content that the country’s government finds objectionable. Google will base its censorship decisons on guidance provided by Chinese government officials.

Although China has loosened some of its controls in recent years, some topics, such as Taiwan’s independence and 1989’s Tiananmen Square massacre, remain forbidden subjects.

Google’s decision rankled Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog group that has sharply criticized Internet companies including Yahoo and Microsoft Corp.’s MSN.com for submitting to China’s censorship regime.

“This is a real shame,” said Julien Pain, head of Reporters Without Borders’ Internet desk. “When a search engine collaborates with the government like this, it makes it much easier for the Chinese government to control what is being said on the Internet.”

Full article: cnn

The initial artist announcement for this summer’s Bonnaroo Music Festival will be this Wednesday, February 1st. This announcement will include an initial lineup of artists, as well as ticket on-sale information for the festival being held June 16-18, 2006.

For updated info on Bonnaroo, please visit bonnaroo.com.