Search Results for: european

U2 may have disappointed Canadians when they only announced one stop here for their Vertigo tour, but the band love our country enough to set up camp here a month before the tour begins. The Canadian Press reports U2 are taking over Vancouver’s GM Place for the next month to rehearse for the tour. There’s been no official announcement from ClearChannel Entertainment – the tour’s promoter – if the band will be in Vancouver. There’s been reports of trucks lining up in the GM Place parking lot, however, so suspicions are high. This isn’t the first band to stay in… Read more »

A French consumer group has initiated legal proceedings against Apple and Sony, claiming their online music sites violate European anti-trust legislation. We’ve seen this kind of silliness before. Like California resident Thomas Slattery, who filed a similar complaint against Apple in January, Paris-based UFC-Que Choisir claims that Apple’s iTunes Music Store and Sony’s Connect service are anti-competitive because they only work with the companies’ own music players. This is, of course, nonsense. In Apple’s case songs can be downloaded and played on any Windows PC – a kind of machine the company does not itself produce. Sony Connect songs can… Read more »

Los Angeles – British rock group Oasis has confirmed its first U.S. shows in three years, which will come in support of its as-yet-untitled new studio album. The band will play Toronto (June 17), Detroit (June 18), Chicago (June 20), New York (June 22) and Philadelphia (June 25), with support from Australian rock outfit Jet. Tickets for all shows go on sale Feb. 12 via Ticketmaster. The dates will be sandwiched between a run of European and U.K. performances, including previously announced visits to the German Hurricane and Southside festivals. The new album, a follow-up to 2002’s “Heathen Chemistry,” is… Read more »

In a team-up worthy of the Wonder Twins, two of emo-punk’s biggest acts – Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday – have announced plans to launch a North American tour on April 10 in Champaign, Illinois. “I remember in high school, the true measure of your ‘scene points’ was having Jimmy Eat World’s first album,” Taking Back Sunday frontman Adam Lazzara said. “A lot of the stuff we do, they wrote the script for. When I first heard “Goodbye Sky Harbor” [from 1999’s Clarity ], I was floored, and I’ve been trying to produce something like that ever since.… Read more »

In the wake of a major tragedy, some bands and artists find it difficult to stand idly by or wait for someone else to take action. U2, with their politically charged music and frequent humanitarian efforts, are one of those bands. Following news of the shocking destruction of lives and land in southern Asia, U2 posted a call to action on their Web site, asking friends and fans to help the families who lost loved ones in the Indian Ocean earthquake and subsequent tsunami on December 26. In a post on Thursday, the band began by assuring fans that bassist… Read more »

The message posted in an Internet chat room read, “Seeking well-built man, 18-30 years old for slaughter.” A few months later, a user responded: “I offer myself to you and will let you dine from my live body. Not butchery, dining!!” It wasn’t a joke, and what followed was far more gruesome and bizarre than the plot of nearly any horror film. In March 2001, Armin Meiwes, a 42-year-old computer technician in Hesse, Germany, killed, dismembered and ate 43-year-old microchip engineer Bernd Juergen Brandes. While Brandes was still alive, the two dined on parts of his flesh together, then Meiwes… Read more »

Sugarcult have a video – “She’s the Blade” – that’s garnering major airplay, an opening slot on Blink-182’s European tour and an extremely devoted female fanbase. But as singer Tim Pagnotta is reminded every day, there’s still a whole lot of ground to cover before the band can count itself among rock’s elite. “Whoa, somebody is totally screaming,” Pagnotta said recently while standing backstage in Paris. “Sorry, some kid just saw Travis Barker eating a sandwich, and he just started screaming.” The fact that a kid wandered by the lead singer of Sugarcult without even pausing – but went totally… Read more »

December 21, 2004 09:00 AM US Eastern Timezone Beverly Hills Film Studios Announces Strategic Alliance with Award-Winning Music Production Company Touch-Tone Productions LOS ANGELES-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Dec. 21, 2004-Beverly Hills Film Studios Inc. (OTC: BVHJ) management is pleased to announce today a joint alliance with Touch-Tone Productions, a California-based music production company. With special focus on the production of music for movie soundtracks, Beverly Hills Film Studios Inc. (BHFS) has teamed with Touch-Tone as producers/composers. Touch-Tone is a dynamic conduit to the music industry and will be involved in all aspects of film music development and production, song placements and recording artist… Read more »

Once upon a time, holiday shoppers fought over Cabbage Patch Dolls and Beanie Babies. This year, they’re going to the mat over iPods. The world’s most popular portable music player is in short supply, leaving many potential gift buyers disappointed. Apple Computer has been unable to keep up with demand for the sleek little player, a Stereophile “Recommended Component.” Most models are on back-order, and most retailers are completely out of stock, according to retailing reports that appeared in mid-December. Among sources where you are unlikely to find an iPod in time for Christmas are Best Buy, Target, J&R Electronics,… Read more »

The North American touring business is breathing a sigh of relief as the curtain drops on what many call the industry’s worst year in a decade. The final Billboard Boxscore tally shows the industry finishing with a microscopic increase in gross ticket sales of 0.2% in 2004. But that does not tell the full story of a year in which profitable shows were hard to find and promoters scrambled to fill seats, especially in an oversaturated summer season. As promoters lick their wounds, the big question facing the industry is whether the flat performance of 2004 was a blip on… Read more »