Search Results for: When We Were Young Fest

The concert business is thanking Paul McCartney for a big first half in 2002. But don’t be fooled: A closer look shows that attendance is actually down, and the increase in revenue is due solely to a hike in ticket prices, which have jumped by about four dollars. Rock concerts in 2002 have split into two separate markets: nostalgia fests for baby boomers willing to pay as much as $100 a ticket, and tours by current bands whose younger fans usually aren’t expected to pony up more than $30. The result? More money spent on fewer tickets. According to concert-industry… Read more »

Trey Anastasio spent 17 years ripping genres apart and sticking them back together at odd angles with the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink uber-jam band Phish. So maybe it’s no surprise he’s whipped up another unusual concoction: a jam/swing hybrid dotted with sugary-sweet love songs and chamber music. The self-titled release has the elements you’d expect from Anastasio, from the drawn-out, frenetic jams to the catchy guitar riffs. But it’s also a departure: It’s got horns, it’s got soul, it’s got more horns. It’s clearly not a Phish album hiding under a different name. “I’ve been listening to a lot of big band music,”… Read more »

With the passing of Layne Staley, those who knew him best remember him as deeply troubled yet immensely talented. Described as a caring person, he made great strides to elevate an underground genre to the mainstream. In the early ’90s, Alice in Chains, along with Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, were directly behind Nirvana on the grunge wave that began in Seattle and cascaded throughout the country. The singer’s Alice in Chains bandmates – guitarist Jerry Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez, drummer Sean Kinney and former bassist Mike Starr – their manager and Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell gathered Saturday, a day after police… Read more »

A study by market-research firm Odyssey shows that 31% of online users over the age of 16 – or over 40 million U.S. consumers – report they have downloaded or transferred music online in the past six months, and they do so an average of 11 times per week. These findings were part of Odyssey’s Breadbox, a semiannual study of U.S. consumers focused on attitudes toward, and usage of, e-commerce and other retail channels. Affecting The Industry While the music industry tries to restrict file sharing among online users, consumers continue to transfer and download online music. Later this week,… Read more »

Heavy metal superstar Ozzy Osbourne, infamous for biting the head off a bat in his younger days, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday for his dark brand of showmanship. Wearing a black suit, a large gold cross and round, blue glasses, with bright red streaks in his brown hair, Osbourne accepted the star with humility. “To say that this is an honor is not enough,” he said. “This is just so overwhelming, with all of you turning out so early in the morning to see my old butt.” The 53-year-old is enjoying renewed popularity with… Read more »

When Joey Fatone needed a break from ‘NSYNC, he decided a wedding would be nice. Nah, the singer didn’t tie the knot – he took on a role in the independent film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” which hits theaters April 14. “Obviously [‘NSYNC] can get old or tiring after a while and you’re like, ‘I want little bit of a change,’ ” Fatone said at a screening of the movie last week. “[So you] go do a movie. Be a character. Be nutty. Be silly. Whatever the case may be. And then you’re like, ‘OK, well, now I can… Read more »

While on the road last year filming his latest independent movie, director Ludi Boeken and his relatively unknown cast decided to stop at Hooters for lunch. It would have been no big deal except that one of his stars looks almost identical to Britney Spears. And, of course, he (yes, he) was dressed in character as the pop icon. “We were so used to seeing Robert as Britney, we didn’t think anything of it,” Boeken recalled. “All of a sudden we had like 800 people looking at us. He fled, and they chased him. From then on, we just brought… Read more »

The rock band U2 had the second biggest tour ever during a year in which concert industry business was off but ticket prices continued to rise, an industry trade publication said Thursday. The top 100 concert tours sold 34.4 million tickets in 2001, down about 7 percent from 37.1 million the year before, according to an analysis by Pollstar magazine. U2, coming off one of its strongest albums, sold out arenas across the country with a well-received back-to-basics show. They even added dates after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The band’s $109.7 million in estimated ticket sales is second only… Read more »

Fresh from his blockbuster performance before U.S. military forces stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Lava/Atlantic recording artist Kid Rock has just scored RIAA platinum with his new album, “COCKY.” The announcement comes less than one month after the release of the Kid Rock-produced collection, which includes the current hit single, “Forever.” Recent weeks have seen Kid Rock continuing to demonstrate his support of American military personnel, including a very special appearance at San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado, where he signed autographs and posed for pictures with thousands of U.S. sailors. In early December, Kid Rock and his Twisted… Read more »