Billy Joel and Elton John are back together in the new year for the continuation of the pair’s magical “Face To Face” performances kicking off on Sunday, January 13th in Washington, DC at the MCI Center. Billy and Elton first toured the successful “Face To Face” tour in the United States in 1995 and again in 1996. The tour was extended to Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Europe in 1998. The 31-date “Face To Face” 2001 tour grossed $59 million. Early sales for the Billy Joel/Elton John “Face To Face” 2002 tour of the American northeast immediately set box office… Read more »
System of a Down are on a Los Angeles soundstage shooting a video for the title track to their near-double-platinum second album, Toxicity. Bassist Shavo Odadjian is taking his first turn as director with the aid of veteran Marco Siega, who, in addition to helming clips for Blink-182 and Papa Roach, also crafted System’s TRL standard, “Chop Suey.” The prog-metal quartet has recalled the 200 black-clad fans who populated the “Chop Suey” video to mosh on command for this latest clip. The notion of fan involvement in a video is nothing new to Odadjian. Back in 1993, a young Shavo… Read more »
Silverchair fans will get an early Christmas present when the band’s first new song in almost three years is unveiled on Australian and New Zealand radio at 11am (AEST) this Friday, December 21st. The track is called “The Greatest View” and according to Silverchair’s fanclub newsletter which broke the news, it’s “an epic piece of work which retains the edge of the band’s previous work but which also hints at a more lush and melodic musical direction”. “The Greatest View” was Produced and Mixed by David Bottrill who did the last two Tool albums. It was co-produced and written by… Read more »
In the downtime between their recently wrapped Pledge of Allegiance tour with Slipknot and a series of December radio festivals, System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian has recorded a full-length collaboration with noted Armenian multi-instrumentalist Arto Tuncboyaciyan. The tentatively titled “Serart” is slated for release next year on Tankian’s own Serjical Strike Records. Fans who dug Tuncboyaciyan’s curious noisemaking on System’s newly platinum Toxicity will surely enjoy “Serart,” a collection Tankian says is a marked departure from that band’s prog-metal barrage. “It’s really crazy world, jazz and experimental,” he says. “With some rock and hip-hop, beats, dance beats, electronic… Read more »
As showbiz celebrities and hired models watched in awe, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger let it loose during a rare solo concert at a tiny Los Angeles club Thursday. Jagger’s new album hits stores next week, and he chose the 770-capacity El Rey Theatre near Hollywood as the venue for his only concert performance to promote the release. “This is the world tour for this album, ‘Goddess in the Doorway,”‘ Jagger, 58, told the invite-only crowd. “You can say you were at every gig, OK?” Wearing a sleeveless red T-shirt emblazoned with the Statue of Liberty over the slogan “Liberte,”… Read more »
Ever since the success of her 1988 single “Orinoco Flow,” Enya’s been one of the world’s most popular artists, quietly selling more than 50 million albums while staying, for the most part, out of the spotlight. But now, with her latest single – the gently reassuring “Only Time” – becoming part of the soundtrack to the post-September 11 world, Enya’s very much at the center of attention. The singer’s elegant, evocative and ethereal A Day Without Rain, released almost a year ago, will hit #2 on next week’s Billboard 200 albums chart, right between rappers Ja Rule and Bubba Sparxxx.… Read more »
Most major rock bands are good for one or two live albums during their careers. As of this week, Pearl Jam have 73 live albums to their credit. The Seattle rockers, now in their 11th year together, took the unprecedented step of releasing a budget-priced “official bootleg” CD from almost every show on their 2000 tour in order to combat pirates and to give fans a good deal. The roll-out occurred in three stages, ending Tuesday with the retail release of 24 CDs from the second half of the U.S. tour. Already in stores were 25 CDs from Europe and… Read more »
Stuart Rubin has been promoted to senior vp worldwide marketing at BMG Entertainment. Rubin, who was managing director of BMG New Zealand, will report to executive vp worldwide marketing and A&R Thomas Stein. Rubin replaces Bill Wilson, who left the company to pursue other interests. Wilson had worked closely with former BMG CEO Strauss Zelnick and former chief marketing officer Kevin Conroy, who exited the label group late last year. Rubin will be charged with international and priority artist marketing and will oversee partnership and online marketing initiatives. “Stuart brings to his new position a strong track record in breaking… Read more »
Back in June, we kicked off the official Summertime Sadness Bracket to figure out who wrote the official song of the summer! This is certainly an ongoing debate, so to do this right, we need everyone’s opinion. We need YOUR opinion. From now until Labor Day, we are running a bracket where we need you to vote on your favorite song. Different songs will go head-to-head for each round. This is single elimination, so if you see a song you like, VOTE!!! The Summertime Sadness Bracket is unique because we are including songs from legendary acts like Paramore, Green Day, and Fall Out… Read more »
Last month we kicked off the official Summertime Sadness Bracket to figure out who wrote the official song of the summer! This is certainly an ongoing debate, so to do this right, we need everyone’s opinion. We need YOUR opinion. From now until Labor Day we are running a bracket where we need you to vote on your favorite song. Different songs will go head-to-head for each round. This is single elimination, so if you see a song you like, VOTE!!! The Summertime Sadness Bracket is unique because we are including songs from legendary acts like Paramore, Green Day, and Fall Out Boy,… Read more »
