Search Results for: Rock Fest

Seattle – Fans of Bob Dylan, the songwriter who has been called the conscience of the 1960s generation, will be able to see items from the artist’s early career and listen to rare recordings at an exhibit opening in Seattle this weekend. Dylan’s handwritten lyrics for “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Like a Rolling Stone,” as well a 24-minute recording of Dylan’s first concert in New York, which was never commercially released, are featured in “Bob Dylan’s American Journey 1956-1966” at the Experience Music Project. The collection is the first comprehensive exhibit of Dylan’s work, according to Jasen Emmons, the… Read more »

This past weekend brought fans of the four boys from Dublin to Toronto for InTO The Heart, a U2 Fan Fest. The conference brought U2 expert B.P. Fallon to town to share his insight on Bono and the gang. Fallon has a rich rock history – he’s been on tour with Led Zeppelin, his Death Disco club nights attract the brightest of stars, he was U2’s DJ on the ZooTV tour and he’s perhaps the world’s ultimate authority on the world’s self-proclaimed biggest band. And although an international fan conference is something that few bands can boast, Fallon says this… Read more »

Toronto – The rainy night was all about Muse. The crowd was packed to the Kool Haus rafters with everyone from hipsters young and old to college students and cute little girls in trendy clothing, creating a palpable excitement in the room. Last time Muse came to Toronto was as 102.1 The Edge’s “next big thing” and it seems that the U.K. darlings’ popularity has exploded since then. And for good reason – thanks to their stint on the Curiosa Festival, the buzz around Muse’s live show has been outstandingly positive and they didn’t disappoint the sold-out Kool Haus audience.… Read more »

New York – Musician Paul Westerberg says that even though he spent his life as a working musician, his father never really understood the whole rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. “He kept it pure that I was his son, that I was no more than the little boy he played catch with who now plays catch with his son,” Westerberg said in an interview with AP Radio. Westerberg’s father recently passed away and he writes about it on his new album, “Folker.” Westerberg, who was a member of the 1980s band the Replacements, says his dad never came to see him… Read more »

Right about now, we’re thinking 50 Cent would have rather been in da club than on da stage. The chart-topping hip-hopster cut short his set at Britain’s Reading Festival over the weekend after getting booed and pelted with plastic bottles by a hostile audience just minutes after he began performing. Accompanied by his G-Unit crew, 50 Cent hadn’t even taken the stage at the legendary U.K. music bash on Sunday evening when the cranky crowd of 55,000 began yelling insults at the former crack peddler and hurling plastic cups. Things got even worse when the lights came up on 50… Read more »

Holding its festivities for the first time in the city of skin, Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards was sizzling, energetic and colorful – yet tame, by MTV standards. There were no wardrobe malfunctions (sorry TiVo). Britney didn’t kiss Madonna like last year – or anyone else, for that matter (neither were at the blowout affair). The most skin shown was from Usher, who preened in front of the camera barechested as simulated raindrops fell on his chiseled body during the opening performance. Even the Christina Aguilera was classy, dressed sexy yet demurely as she debuted a jazzy number, “Tilt Ya… Read more »

Sum 41 have named their third album Chuck as a tribute to United Nations representative Chuck Pelletier, who the band members credit with saving their lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo back in May. The Canadian rockers were shooting a documentary in the war-torn African nation when fighting between a militia and the newly formed national army erupted on May 26th. The band hid in a hotel bathroom to avoid the gunfire. “Chuck Pelletier made an evacuation plan, putting us all in groups to get us into armored tanks,” Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley told Rolling Stone. “He was… Read more »

Arthur Kane, original bass guitarist for the 1970s-era punk rock group New York Dolls, has died of complications related to leukemia. He was 55. Kane died Tuesday after being admitted to a Los Angeles hospital and diagnosed with leukemia, said band manager Darren Hill. “He didn’t even know,” Hill said Thursday. “It wasn’t until he went into the hospital that afternoon that they diagnosed that.” The New York native had been suffering from severe flu-like symptoms for several days, forcing him to back out of a July 11 reunion show in Manchester, England, Hill said. In a statement on behalf… Read more »

When the powers-that-be asked Dashboard Confessional’s frontman if he would pen a tune for the “Spider-Man 2” soundtrack, Chris Carrabba had just one question. And it wasn’t about money, deadlines, or a particular feel that they were looking for. “Do I get to see the movie early?” asked the admitted comic-book geek. After receiving an affirmative response to his query, the rest was all downhill. “I was a big fan of ‘Spider-Man,’ the comic-book, and I thought the first movie was brilliant,” Carrabba said. “Spider-Man is such an underdog, but he makes good. I always liked that.” Carrabba already had… Read more »

Record labels have historically invested significant financial resources toward new acts’ touring efforts, whether it be $20,000 for a regional van trek or $200,000 for a national bus outing. But in today’s world of shrinking revenue and tight budgets, tour support funds – though almost always recoupable against album sales – are becoming harder to come by. “There’s not as much money at any level, whether it’s signing bonuses, (recording) albums, tour support or anything else,” says Tim DuBois, senior partner of Nashville-based record label Universal South, home of such ascts as Pat Green and Joe Nichols. “But even in… Read more »