2006

How does a band like Stereophonics follow up five studio albums and four consecutive number one albums in the UK? They release a live package that showcases their career in a way that few bands can. On April 18, Stereophonics are set to release Live From Dakota on their own imprint label, Vox Populi Records. After reaching a crossroads in North America, Stereophonics have jumped at the chance to go it alone with a DIY approach. Live From Dakota is a 2-disc compilation featuring 20 tracks spanning all five of the bands albums and captures the best of their 2005 world tour.

Their fifth album, ‘Language. Sex. Violence. Other…’, heralded a fantastic return to form, sending them out on tour in front of sell-out crowds all over the world, including over 200, 000 fans in the UK alone. The last year has been so successful, the band felt the need to celebrate it in a special way: their first live album.

“We didn’t want to do a greatest hits package or anything like that,” says Kelly. “We wanted to do a live album because it feels like a celebration of the year we’ve had and also of the ten years that this band has been going. I wanted to put this out as a souvenir, for the fans and for ourselves, because I wanted to capture the moment where we’re all really into the band again. To not share that would be silly. The feeling and excitement in the band hasn’t ever been as strong as this which is why we’ve never done anything like this before.”

The energy and raw feel of Stereophonics live has been perfectly captured on these recordings. “Even just when we were rehearsing it felt really energetic, gritty and in your face. As soon as we started playing with Javier it felt so natural. We felt like a unit onstage – it was like the old gang mentality,” adds Richard. “The shows last year were among the best we’ve ever played.”

“If you’ve never been to one of our gigs before, then this will make you want to come. If the only perception you have of us is from a few singles on the radio, then this will totally change your mind.”
-Kelly Jones

Track listing:

Disc One:
1. Superman
2. Doorman
3. A Thousand Trees
4. Devil
5. Mr. Writer
6. Pedalpusher
7. Deadhead
8. Maybe Tomorrow
9. The Bartender and The Thief
10. Local Boy In The Photograph

Disk Two:
1. Hurry Up and Wait
2. Madame Helga
3. Vegas Two Times
4. Carrot Cake and Wine
5. I’m Alright
6. Jayne
7. Too Many Sandwiches
8. Traffic
9. Just Looking
10. Dakota

The surviving members of Alice In Chains are hitting the road this summer for the first time since frontman Layne Staley’s death from a drug overdose in 2002. With Staley, Alice In Chains’ last tour was in 1996. Since then, guitarist Jerry Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney have only taken the stage together once, at a February 2005 tsunami benefit show in Seattle.

According to Cantrell’s official Web site, the lone reunion show confirmed at present is the Nova Rock Festival in Austria on June 28, alongside such heavy-hitters as Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Queens Of The Stone Age and Massive Attack.

The trio will warm up for its summer dates with a March 10 performance in Atlantic City, N.J., as part of a VH1 “Decades Rock” episode devoted to Heart. For that show, Staley’s shoes will be filled by Comes With The Fall singer William DuVall, who also doubles as a member of Cantrell’s touring band.

Source billboard.com.

Pearl Jam wears its emotions on its sleeve on its self-titled eighth album, which, as previously reported, will be released May 2 via J Records. Material for the 13-track set took shape in the wake of President George W. Bush’s re-election as well as the United States’ invasion of Iraq, the third anniversary of which is quickly approaching.

To read more about the new Pearl Jam release please visit billboard.com.

The New Amsterdams are a side project no more, with spring plans including a headlining tour and their first album since the dissolution of frontman Matt Pryor’s other band, the Get Up Kids.

Following a March 16 appearance at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, the New Amsterdams will kick off a round of North American dates at San Francisco’s Bottom Of The Hill.

The band – comprising Pryor, guitarist/singer Dustin Kinsey, bassist Eric McCann and drummer Bill Belzer – will head east to the legendary C.B.G.B in New York City and stay on the road through April 15, when they play Virginia Beach’s Peppermint Beach Club.

They’ll be back in California two weeks later to play the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

Source pollstar.com.

As predicted by Glide last week, in a year when best picture nominees thrived on controversy, the Academy Awards’ top honor went to the film that attacked its issues most bluntly.

The Los Angeles social drama “Crash,” which interwove plots and characters from different racial and economic backgrounds in Los Angeles, won best picture honors despite favorite “Brokeback Mountain” winning virtually every other major award it had been up for leading up the the 78th Oscars.

The ensemble film, with a cast that included Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock and hip-hop star Ludacris, also won awards for best original screenplay and best editing.

“Brokeback Mountain” director Ang Lee won best director for his film about the homosexual relationship that grows between two sheepherders in remote Wyoming.

“Brokeback” writers Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, and Gustavo Santaolalla took the award for best original score.

hilip Seymour Hoffman and Reese Witherspoon were awarded best actor and actress honors.

Hoffman won for his portrayal of Truman Capote in “Capote,” while Witherspoon won her Oscar for playing June Carter Cash in the Johnny Cash biography, “Walk the Line.”

Rachel Weisz won her first Academy Award for her performance as an impassioned activist who dies under mysterious circumstances in “The Constant Gardener.”

And George Clooney won best supporting actor for his performance as a CIA man who starts unraveling the truth in the political thriller “Syriana.”

PROJECT/OBJECT, the acclaimed and internationally known Frank Zappa repertoire band, is declaring its MISSION ACCOMPLISHED tour, commencing April 12 and running through May 13. This is PROJECT/OBJECT