April 10, 2006

It’s been almost a year since Gomez toured the States, but the wait is almost over for fans of the British group. Dates have been confirmed for a club trek across the U.S. this May, plus festival gigs and more in June.

The tour kicks off in Asheville, N.C., May 3, the day after the band’s new album, How We Operate, hits stores. The group previewed the album at South by Southwest in Texas this spring and followed with a few acoustic promo shows and radio spots.

This May’s itinerary has the band making its way through the South, Midwest and West Coast. The last headlining gig is at Portland, Ore.’s Wonder Ballroom May 27, followed by an appearance at the Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington the next day.

The group is booked for the Wakarusa Festival and Bonnaroo in June, as well as three dates with the Dave Matthews Band. Last spring, Gomez traveled the U.S. with Cake on the Virgin College Mega Tour.

Source: pollstar

The Rolling Stones have played their first ever gig in China on Saturday. The veteran band performed at Shanghai’s 8000-capacity Grand Stage music hall as part of their A Bigger Bang world tour.

Opening with ‘Start Me Up’, several of the band’s classics were missing from the set after the Chinese government censored the band asking them not to play ‘Brown Sugar’, ‘Honky Tonk Woman’, ‘Beast Of Burden’ and ‘Let’s Spend The Night Together’ because of their suggestive lyrical content.

‘Rough Justice’ from recent LP ‘A Bigger Bang’ was also reportedly blacklisted, though before the gig frontman Sir Mick Jagger insisted his band would cope, noting: “Fortunately, we have 400 more songs that we can play so it’s not really an issue.”

Source: nme

“Wetlands Preserved,” the forthcoming documentary film about the celebrated downtown New York rock club Wetlands will close the inaugural Green Apple Music & Arts Festival, the biggest Earth Day event to be held in the U.S. in 2006.

“Wetlands Preserved” will have its world premiere at the historic Ziegfeld Theatre in Midtown Manhattan at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 23rd, and will serve as both the closing film of the first Green Apple Film Festival and the final event in the Green Apple Music & Arts Festival. A limited amount of tickets will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, April 11 at noon at http://www.relix.com/wetlandsmovie

The directorial debut from writer/editor/deejay Dean Budnick, “Wetlands Preserved” salutes a rock club celebrated for its eclectic bookings and political and environmental activism. Hailed as “a landmark rock club” by Rolling Stone and often described as “the Fillmore of the 90s,” The Wetlands is considered the very womb and birthplace of the modern day jamband scene.

From 1989 to 2001, The Wetlands provided a stage for everyone from tiny ska and hardcore bands to future stars of rock and hip-hop. Pearl Jam, Oasis and Rage Against the Machine played their first New York City shows there, and the likes of Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors and Phish turned the venue into a mecca for live, improvisational rock music. Simultaneously, the club itself provided a headquarters for working groups for social and environmental advocacy. Forced out of its downtown Manhattan home when its lease expired, the club closed prematurely in the wake of 9/11, just days before its scheduled finale.

The New York Times called the closing a “major loss for music lovers,” and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame proudly made display space available for the infamous Volkswagen microbus that once rested near the club’s front door.

Through accounts of musicians, staffers and clubgoers, “Wetlands Preserved” explores the club’s legend, providing a full account of its rich history for the first time. While the independent nightclub supported new music scenes while also initiating successful activism campaigns, it also emerged over its 13 years as a proving ground and nurturing environment for numerous notable acts who built a fan base and gained renown at the club. Many of these riveting performances appear in “Wetlands Preserved,” which exclusively incorporates music that originated at The Wetlands. In addition to the Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler, Phish, and Pearl Jam, “Wetlands Preserved” also features songs from such artists as Ani DiFranco, Sublime, Ben Harper, moe., 311, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, KRS-1, Joan Osborne, Fishbone, Agnostic Front and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

Long-time Mavericks guitar slinger Nick Kane has assembled a bare-knuckled 3-piece rock’n’roll band and re-writes the book on Instrumental Rock Music.

Nick Kane had spent several years lounging in various bands around Nashville and for most of the 90’s he traveled around the world as a member of country-pop group The Mavericks, collecting a Grammy Award and selling out 8 nights at the Royal Albert Hall along the way.

But it was Nick’s desire to play music that had its own voice, unencumbered from any commercial trappings, and in Nashville’s cold hard heart he found the perfect place to develop this dream without distraction. He was fortunate to find two like-minded cohorts in Rick Taylor, bass guitar; and Joe Scheibelhoffer, drums; and together they have formed The Balls.

The new CD “The Balls…Come Out Swingin'” is a highly original piece of work. Their style has been described as ‘garage-prog’: on one hand they tackle very difficult and ambitious arrangements yet the band is driven by a raw, powerful and ferociously loud rock’n’roll spirit.

The listener will hear shades of early Deep Purple; grungy Link Wray; themes straight out of a Spaghetti Western; flat out paint-peeling Rock and even a touch of Pachelbel. And yet, it’s like you’re hearing it all for the first time.

The Balls are also known for their passionate live performance and their ability to take instrumental-music neophytes on a long and winding journey, riveting the audience and leaving them exhausted, elated and with mouths agape.

“The Balls…Come Out Swingin'” is available from ballsrock.com