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

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

Radiohead is eyeing multiple-night stands in Montreal, Toronto, Philadelphia and Chicago as part of its summer North American tour, which will get underway in June, Billboard.com has learned. Dates, venues and an opening act are still being finalized. For now, the lone confirmed show is a June 17 headlining set at the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tenn.

Radiohead has not performed in the United States since it headlined California’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival almost two years ago. As previously reported, the band begins a European tour May 5 in Copenhagen. International headlining and festival dates will resume Aug. 12 in Budapest.

Following the expiration of its contract with longtime label EMI, the band has been working on a new studio album for several months. In a recent interview with NME, frontman Thom Yorke said Radiohead will not sign a new deal until the as-yet-untitled album is complete.

Source billboard.com.

As the Doors’ surviving members gear up for the band’s 40th anniversary — with plans for a comprehensive boxed set, reissues, merchandise and an interactive Las Vegas attraction — there is a possibility that their music may be used in commercials for the first time.

It almost happened in 1969, when drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger and keyboardist Ray Manzarek agreed to license “Light My Fire” to Buick to advertise its German-made Opel. Singer Jim Morrison, who was out of town for the meeting, vehemently disagreed, and the deal never came to pass. From that point, Densmore has opposed commercial usage, although Krieger and Manzarek have opened up to the possibility.

All deals, licensing and otherwise, must be approved by all partners in the Doors’ assets: The three surviving members have a 75% share, and Morrison’s families and his late girlfriend, Pamela Courson, share the other 25%.

To read more visit billboard.com.

Widespread Panic, the wildly popular standard bearers of rootsy American rock, are readying for the release of their audacious new album Earth To America (June 13, Sanctuary/ Widespread Records). Their 9th studio CD, Earth To America captures the band at a new creative peak in collaboration with producer Terry Manning, the first time they’ve worked with the famed studio master whose credits stretch back to Stax days.

Beginning with the eerie, ambitious 11-minute plus epic “Second Skin,” (a staple of their live shows), the album twists and turns through 10 tracks of time-honed classic rock. Other standout tracks include the boisterous barroom rocker “Goodpeople” and the toe-tapping, blues tinged “Time Zones”. Extended workouts like “You Should Be Glad” give the band a chance to show off their chops, while the tender closing benediction “May Your Glass Be Filled” highlights the band’s delicate touch on a down tempo ballad. Also noteworthy is the band’s hard charging cover of Bob Dylan’s “Solid Rock” from 1980’s ‘Saved’.

The album will be available in four formats- digi-pack, jewel case, double Vinyl LP, and digital download. The vinyl includes two bonus songs not available on the CD. The fans who pre-order the disc through widespreadpanic.com before June 13th will have access to 6 bundles of digital extras including home video from the recording at Compass Point studios, exclusive band interviews, unreleased concert footage, artwork, and more.

Widespread Panic will perform 4 spring concerts this year, 2 in Raleigh, NC and 2 Atlanta, GA at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. The May 9th Fox Theatre show will be simulcast through select movie theaters nationwide in association with National Cinemedia. Plans are in the works for a full summer tour to be announced soon.

Apparently outside the boardroom, Donald Trump likes to let his freak flag fly.

“The sound of booing filled New York’s Beacon Theatre last night when Donald Trump announced that Bob Weir was unable to perform and that he would instead be taking his place fronting Ratdog. It was, of course, a ruse, and the band, with Bobby in tow, took the stage to thunderous applause.” read more

Asthmatic Kitty Records has announced plans to release a new collection of songs from Sufjan Stevens, titled The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album which will hit shelves on July 25, 2006.

The little secret behind the Illinois record is that it was originally conceived as a double album, culminating in a musical collage of nearly 50 songs. But as the project began to develop into an unwieldy epic, common sense weighed in