Search Results for: Rock Fest

Newly installed VH1 toppers Brian Graden and Christina Norman are moving quickly to put their stamp on the struggling music cable network, greenlighting an aggressive fall slate of series and specials aimed at building on the channel’s still-strong retro music brand. VH1 is also beefing up its “Movies That Rock” franchise, snagging the broadcast premiere of the Oscar-winning “Moulin Rouge” and several other theatricals. And rather than simply repurposing other networks’ music specials, Graden wants VH1 to sign A-level talent for original concert specials. The flurry of activity comes barely three months after Graden was named entertainment president of the… Read more »

K elly Osbourne got up on stage and sang with super-hyped rocker A ndrew W.K. on Friday evening (July 19) when OzzFest hit the PNC Bank Arts Center in New Jersey. She chimed in on vocals for “She Is Beautiful,” which is found on Andrew W.K.’s debut, I Get Wet. “It was a very organic, circumstantial kind of thing,” said Andrew W.K. “It was sort of like, she’s here, I’m here. It’s her family’s whole operation. She seems like she might be sitting around wanting to do something. Maybe she would like to sing a song. ‘Kelly, would you like… Read more »

When Ozzy Osbourne was chiefly known in middle America for decapitating winged creatures and urinating on the Alamo, he and his annual hard rock hoedown were greeted with protests, boycotts and prayer meetings. But, oh, what a difference a year makes. The former most-feared man in rock has now become its most beloved father figure, courtesy of the rib-tickling warts-and-all series “The Osbournes.” So as he returns to the road for the first time since becoming the toast of prime time, Ozzy and Ozzfest 2002 are being greeted not with protests but with open arms, and at least a few… Read more »

OzzFest 2002 kicks off today (July 10) in Scranton, Pennsylvania, after the first two dates of the tour were postponed due to cancer surgery performed on tour mastermind Sharon Osbourne. This year’s festival faces heightened media scrutiny due to the unexpected success of the reality-based TV show The Osbournes. Sharon was asked if the show’s success will add to the success of this year’s OzzFest. “No, because it’s sold out for the last seven years, and it’s selling out this year,” she said. “So as far as Ozzy’s musical career, it’s as big as it ever has been. So, this… Read more »

The rock world’s top 20 female icons are celebrated in a photographic exhibition opening at Britain’s National Portrait Gallery Monday. The exhibition, “She Bop,” was inspired by former music journalist Lucy O’Brien’s book “She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul.” Exhibits range from rocker Chrissie Hynde to soul diva Dusty Springfield and disco queen Madonna ( news – web sites). “Female artists haven’t been given the recognition that they’ve deserved and I felt there was a whole history of women to be written to chart how big a part women have played in popular… Read more »

Strahov Stadium has had it all – communist rallies, anti-globalization protests, gymnastics exhibitions, drive-through movies and, now, Ozzfest. The crumbling structure, which stands as the largest stadium in the world per square foot, lent itself well to Ozzy Osbourne and his latest touring comrades, who hit the venue Thursday night for the seventh stop on the metal tour. With their stage parked in the middle of the field, the hard rockers used only half of the 200,000-capacity stadium, carving out an almost cozy cradle for Bohemia’s metalheads within the concrete monolith. While the tour got off to a less-than-grand beginning… Read more »

You know you’re a long way from home when Groove Armada and Faithless play for wilder crowds than the godfather of heavy metal. “I can’t f-ing hear you!” is Ozzy Osbourne’s standard concert rallying cry, but it took on a new urgency Friday night at the kickoff of the three-day Rock Im Park festival in Nuremberg. As the 53-year-old showman peered out at the half-full Frankenstadion, his famous baffled expression – mouth agape, black-lined eyes open wide, arms extended as though desperately soliciting a hug – looked a bit more confounded than usual. Of course the metal madman delivered, leading… Read more »

Garage-rock band The Strokes, riding high in the music charts on both sides of the Atlantic, are to headline the 2002 Reading and Leeds festivals, organizers announced on Tuesday. The New York band, last year promoted to the events’ main stages due to popular demand, is expected to attract more than 100,000 festival-goers over the August Bank Holiday weekend. “This year has seen them (the Strokes) become the most talked-about band in Britain,” events promoter The Mean Fiddler Group said. “They are playing no other UK dates this year… this is your only chance to see them.” Co-headlining with The… Read more »

Turnout was thin Saturday for the second day of an event organizers promoted as a hybrid of music festivals and extreme sports. The Beyond 2002 Super Festival offered five stages of hip-hop and rock music, as well as motorcyclists, snowboarders and skiers. Organizers Todd Ross, 24, and Justin Moss, 23, said they tried to include the most popular elements of youth culture in one event. But by late Saturday afternoon, the second day of festival, only about 2,000 people were attending the event they had hoped would draw at least 20,000. “It’s not quite what we would have expected,” Moss… Read more »

Two of the surviving members of legendary rock band Queen have teamed with actor Robert De Niro to answer the venerable questions: Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Fantasy, apparently. On May 14 at the Dominion Theatre in London, the futuristic new musical “We Will Rock You” will bring the music of Queen to the stage, producers Brian May and Roger Taylor – the former guitarist and drummer for Queen, respectively – and De Niro announced in a press conference Tuesday (March 26). Rather than tell the story of Queen, which came to an end when singer… Read more »