2006

Widespread Panic’s May 9 show at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre will be simulcast at movie screens nationwide through a deal with Regal Cinemas and National Cinemedia. Director Blake Morrison will shoot the concert, which fans can view live for $15 at 150 Regal, United Artists and Edwards screens coast to coast.

The Fox show, to be preceded by a May 8 performance to work out technical issues, will come on the heels of April 21-22 dates at the 20,000-capacity Alltel Pavilion in Raleigh, N.C., to complete the band’s spring live work.

The cinema deal is geared to set up the Widespread/Sanctuary Records June 13 release of the new Panic album “Earth to America,” which is also the title of the simulcast. The album’s production wrapped in January at Compass Point in Nassau, with veteran producer Terry Manning twisting the knobs.

Source billboard.com.

Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke have formed a new band, Supernova, and will utilize the CBS reality show “Rock Star” as the vehicle by which to select a lead singer. The show will premiere this summer.

Once a singer has been selected, Supernova will hit the studio with producer Butch Walker (Pink, Avril Lavigne) to record an album that will be released in the fall. A world tour will follow in early 2007.

Guitarist Dave Navarro and actress Brooke Burns will return as the show’s hosts. Navarro promises appearances from Slash, Macy Gray, Moby and Rob Zombie during the competition.

Last fall, “Rock Star” debuted as a talent search for a new INXS frontman. With winner J.D. Fortune in tow, the group has revived its career with a new album, “Switch,” and an extensive tour. INXS will return the road April 21 in Memphis.

Source billboard.com.

Nine Inch Nails has drafted goth legends Bauhaus and its new Interscope labelmate TV On The Radio for its summer North American tour. The trek will begin May 27 in Ridgefield, Wash., and will feature 13 subsequent shows with TV On The Radio. Bauhaus will continue as the opening act through the outing’s July 8 conclusion in Mountain View, Calif., in tandem with another group to be announced.

Beforehand, NIN will complete a run of smaller North American markets on a tour that continues on to Greenville, S.C., tomorrow (March 16). As previously reported, the Trent Reznor-led group will also play Miami’s Global Gathering Festival on Saturday and the Sasquatch Festival in George, Wash., on May 26.

TV On The Radio’s Interscope debut, “Return to Cookie Mountain,” is expected sometime later this spring or early summer.

Here are Nine Inch Nails’ summer tour dates:

May 26: George, Wash. (Sasquatch Festival)
May 27: Ridgefield, Wash. (Clark County Amphitheatre)
May 28: Nampa, Idaho (Idaho Center)
May 30: Morrison, Colo. (Red Rocks)
May 31: Albuquerque, N.M. (Journal Pavilion)
June 2: San Antonio (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
June 3: Dallas (Smirnoff Music Centre)
June 4: Woodlands, Texas (Mitchell Pavilion)
June 6: Birmingham, Ala. (Verizon Wireless Music Center)
June 7: Atlanta (Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre)
June 9: Raleigh, N.C. (Alltel Pavilion)
June 10: Charlotte, N.C. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
June 11: Virginia Beach, Va. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
June 13: Bristow, Va. (Nissan Pavilion)
June 14: Camden, N.J. (Tweeter Center)
June 16: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC Bank Arts Center)
June 17: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach)
June 18: Saratoga, N.Y. (Saratoga PAC)
June 20: Hartford, Conn. (New England Dodge Music Center)
June 21: Portland, Me. (Cumberland County Civic Center)
June 23: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center)
June 24: Toronto (Molson Amphitheatre)
June 25: Clarkston, Mich. (DTE Energy Music Theatre)
June 27: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (Blossom Music Center)
June 28: Columbus, Ohio (Germain Amphitheatre)
June 30: Burgettstown, Pa. (Post-Gazette Pavilion)
July 1: Chicago (First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre)
July 2: Milwaukee (Marcus Amphitheatre)
July 3: Noblesville, Ind. (Verizon Wireless Music Center)
July 7: Irvine, Calif. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
July 8: Mountain View, Calif. (Shoreline Amphitheatre)

Source billboard.com.

New York-based indie rock act the Hold Steady has signed with Vagrant Records. The group will hit the studio in May to record the follow-up to its 2005 French Kiss swansong, “Separation Sunday,” which is expected to be out before the end of the year.

Several new tunes have been appearing in recent set lists, including “Hot Soft Light,” “Same Kooks” and “Massive Nights.” The group’s only scheduled show at present is April 7 at Warsaw in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Source billboard.com.

Before releasing his first album in six years, Ice Cube will get fans hyped with a lengthy North American tour.
Six weeks’ worth of dates are booked, starting in Anaheim, Calif., April 20. The rap legend will do several California dates, then make his way up the West Coast and across the country, with Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and New York all on the itinerary.
The tour wraps back home in California at West Hollywood’s House of Blues.
Laugh Now, Cry Later is due June 6 and is Ice Cube’s first album released on his own label, Lench Mob Records.
“I’m putting my money where my mouth is because there’s nothing a major label can do for me that I can’t do for myself,” he said.
“Not being signed to a particular label, putting it out myself, not having to worry about what a company or anyone else has to think about the record, being able to just go in and do it how I feel it with no timelines or deadlines, it made me comfortable.
“I was able to recommitment myself to rhyming and rapping.”
Ice Cube hasn’t been on the road since 2000, when he appeared on the Up In Smoke tour and released his sixth album, War & Peace – Volume 2.

Source pollstar.com.

Seventeen years after the last tour by The Cars – one of the most successful and influential bands of the late ’70s/early ’80s “New Wave” era – two of its seminal members have customized a modern model that’s ready to hit the road this spring in the form of The New Cars. Joining The Cars’ original guitarist Elliot Easton and keyboardist Greg Hawkes for Road Rage Tour 2006 Presented by VH1 Classic, will be an all-star group of rockers: vocalist/guitarist Todd Rundgren, fellow Utopia bassist/vocalist Kasim Sulton and former Tubes drummer Prairie Prince.

Newly inducted Rock Roll Hall of Famers, Blondie will ride shotgun with The New Cars, performing classics from their new Greatest Hits- Sound Vision album (Capitol/EMI) which includes the new hit “Rapture Riders,” a mash-up of Blondie’s “Rapture” and The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm.” The Los Angeles Times calls it “one of the best mash-ups ever produced.” Other classics on the new CD include “Heart of Glass,” “Call Me,” “The Tide is High” and “Sunday Girl.”

VH1 Classic Presents: The New Cars and Blondie – Road Rage Tour 2006

5/12 – Robinsonville, MS – Grand Casino Tunica Event Center
5/13 – Grand Prairie, TX – Nokia Theatre
5/17 – Phoenix, AZ – Dodge Theatre
5/19 – Las Vegas, NV – Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts
5/20 – Universal City, CA – Gibson Amphitheatre
5/23 – Alpine, CA – Viejas Casino
5/25 – Saratoga, CA – The Mountain Winery
5/26 – Reno, NV – Reno Events Center Downtown
5/27 – Kelseyville, CA – Konocti Field Amphitheater
5/30 – Englewood, CO – Coors Amphitheatre
6/1 – Hinckley, MN – Grand Casino Amphitheatre
6/3 – Highland Park, IL – Ravinia Pavilion
6/4 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Cetner
6/6 – Vienna, VA – The Filene Center
6/7 – Boston, MA – Bank of America Pavilion
6/9 – Wantagh, NY – Jones Beach Music Theater
6/10 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
6/13 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live (Universal Studios)
6/14 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
6/15 – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel Casino
6/17 – Atlanta, GA – Chastain Park Amphitheater
6/18 – North Charleston, SC – Oyster Shell North Charleston Coliseum
6/21 – Toronto, ON – Molson Amphitheatre
6/23 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
6/24 – Atlantic City, NJ – The Borgata Event Center
6/25 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort
6/30 – Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre