2006

An announcement is expected today (April 24) regarding this summer’s Crosby Stills Nash & Young Freedom of Speech tour. The 35-date tour, promoted by TNA International, will begin July 6 at the Tweeter Center near Philadelphia, and run through Sept. 10 in at the Post-Gazette Pavilion in Burgettstown, Pa.

Neil Young will be touring in support of two albums: his 2005 acoustic set “Prairie Wind” and a politically charged rock album, “Living With War,” which will begin streaming Friday for free on his Web site.

There had been speculation that Young might tour with his rock band Crazy Horse this year, but a CSNY tour is always welcome, according to TNA President Arthur Fogel. “They’ve been talking about doing this on and off for a while, but it’s up to them when the stars all align and they decide to do it,” Fogel tells Billboard.com. ” It has been four years since they’ve gone out, and this is one of those things [where] when you get them all together, it’s pretty magical.”

Ticket prices will be “pretty similar to last time,” Fogel says, and will top out in $175-$250, depending on the market. Lawn and upper-tier arena tickets will be in the $30-$35 range. There will be a fanclub pre-sale later this week, and tickets will go on sale to the general public this weekend.

CSNY last toured in 2002, grossing more than $35 million, ninth best for the year. The CSNY2K tour in 2000, the group’s first as a foursome in 20 years, grossed $42 million.

Source billboard.com.

Minneapolis indie rock outfit Tapes N’ Tapes has announced a new round of June tour dates for North America, following the band’s first-ever U.K. tour in May.

Chicago’s Abbey Pub, New York City’s Bowery Ballroom, and Stubb’s Barbecue in Austin, Texas, are all on the itinerary, which stretches for just over three weeks.
The group’s U.K. trek spans seven dates, including two London shows.

Source: pollstar

Quickly becoming one of the most anticipated new artists of 2006, Gnarls Barkley announced today that they will make their first live NYC appearance at Webster Hall on May 22nd to coincide with their appearance on the Conan O’Brien show on May 24th.

Gnarls Barkley is made up of Danger Mouse, one of the most promising artist/producers in music today, and the one-of-a-kind soulful superstar Cee-Lo Green.

With one of the most talked-about new releases of the year, Gnarls Barkley’s full-length debut St. Elsewhere contains the single “Crazy,” which recently became the first track to reach #1 in the United Kingdom through downloads alone and has since been #1 for four weeks straight.

St. Elsewhere will be released May 9th on the Downtown/Atlantic label.

Gnarls is in Los Angeles this week preparing for their appearance at Coachella, with a backing band that includes Nine Inch Nails’ co-founder Chris Vrenna on drums, Justin Meldel Johnsen the famed bass player for Beck, and Holly Palmer performing background vocals.

Tickets for the Webster Hall show will be $25 and go on sale this Wednesday, April 25th at 12PM. They are available through www.ticketweb.com and the Mercury Lounge Box Office.

Veteran singer/songwriter John Hiatt has inked in a new round of concerts across the U.S., starting with the Doheny Blues Festival May 21 in Dana Point, Calif.
He’ll concentrate on the West Coast and South through early July, with a few Midwest dates to close the tour in July.
Hiatt is supporting his latest studio album, Master Of Disaster, released last year on New West Records.
Over his three decades in the music industry, Hiatt has released more than 15 albums and has seen his songs covered by Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Iggy Pop and The Neville Brothers, to name just a few.

Source pollstar.com.

As expected, Pink Floyd principal Roger Waters will tour North America this fall and will be performing the band’s classic 1973 album “Dark Side of the Moon” in its entirety. Beforehand, Waters will spend the summer touring Europe, beginning June 2 at the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon.

The North American tour, Waters’ first since 2002, will get underway Sept. 6 in Holmdel, N.J., and hit arenas and outdoor amphitheatres. The band will include longtime sidemen Andy Fairweather Low and Snowy White on guitar, drummer Graham Broad and Waters’ son Harry on Hammond organ.

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason will make a guest appearance at Waters’ July 14 show in Nevers, France, but at deadline is not confirmed to join the band at any additional shows.

Sans Waters, Pink Floyd performed “Dark Side of the Moon” in full for the first time during its 1994 tour in support of “The Division Bell.” With Waters back in the fold, the band performed the “Dark Side” tracks “Breathe” and “Money” as part of its four-song set at Live 8 last summer.

Here are Roger Waters’ North American tour dates:

Sept. 6: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC Bank Arts Center)
Sept. 8: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center)
Sept. 12-13: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Sept. 15: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach)
Sept. 16: Camden, N.J. (Tweeter Center)
Sept. 18: Auburn Hills, Mich. (Palace of Auburn Hills)
Sept. 20: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Sept. 21: Montreal (Bell Centre)
Sept. 24: Burgettstown, Pa. (Post Gazette Pavilion)
Sept. 27: Cleveland (Gund Arena)
Sept. 29: Chicago (First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre)
Sept. 30: Noblesville, Ind. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
Oct. 3: Phoenix (Cricket Pavilion)
Oct. 5: Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl)
Oct. 8: Las Vegas (Theatre Under the Stars)
Oct. 10: Mountain View, Calif. (Shoreline Amphitheatre)
Oct. 12: Seattle (Key Arena)

Confirming news first reported here in February, veteran modern rock act Smashing Pumpkins is writing material for its first new studio album since 2000. In a message on its Web site, the Billy Corgan-led group said it will begin recording this summer but has no release date in mind for the project.

At deadline it is still unclear if Corgan and Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin are working with any other musicians. “As long as Billy has Jimmy, he can make the essential Pumpkins record, I’m sure,” former Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur previously told Billboard.com, adding that while she is not involved in any reunion plans, “my services are always there to play my favorite songs.”

Corgan stunned fans last June when he took out a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times announcing his intentions to “renew and “revive” the Pumpkins, who split acrimoniously in 2000. In 2004, he broke his silence about why the band dissolved, lashing out at guitarist James Iha and bassist D’Arcy Wretzky for walking away from an endeavor he described as “essentially my entire life… a dream I still believe in.”

Corgan’s newspaper ads came out the same day as his Reprise solo debut, “The Future Embrace,” which met with a chilly reception at retail.

Source billboard.com.