LISTEN
The largest North American power blackout in history plunged more than 50 million people into darkness in a 9,600-square-mile swath from the East Coast to the Midwest and Southern Canada on Thursday, affecting everything from subways in New York to the water supply in Cleveland. The outage also cut the power to a number of summer tours, knocking Bob Dylan and Tori Amos offline and sending many other bands scurrying for backup plans and places to crash for the night. An eagerly awaited hometown reunion of punk pioneers the Stooges, scheduled to play their first Detroit show in more than… Read more »
Melisma/Atlantic rock group matchbox twenty is returning to the North American concert circuit this fall for a major cross-continental tour. Slated to open on September 24th in Tallahassee, Florida, the itinerary will keep the band on the road through the end of the year. The first two weeks of shows have just been announced, with more dates being added daily. In early July, matchbox wrapped up a ten-week headlining tour of North America, and the quintet has just returned from a sold-out arena tour of Australia. In September, the matchbox show moves on to Europe, with a schedule which includes… Read more »
It seems that not everyone was happy with the outcome of this season’s American Idol. A large group of AI fans have banded together online and have started an email campaign to Fox and the Federal Communications Commission (or FCC), alleging that the talent contest was fixed in favor of winner Ruben Studdard. A group of emailed complaints collected by TheSmokingGun.com-who requested them from the FCC under the Freedom Of Information Act-profile various complaints, including the accusation that Fox provided fewer lines for runner-up Clay Aiken’s voters, that judge Simon Cowell deliberately refrained from picking on Studdard’s weight, and that… Read more »
This is the night for Clay Aiken, not May 21, when Ruben Studdard edged him out to win “American Idol.” On Wednesday (June 18), the former Raleigh, North Carolina, student had to like what he saw in what is perhaps a more accurate reading of America’s pop-music radar – his trouncing of the Velvet Teddy Bear on the singles chart. Aiken’s “This Is the Night”/”Bridge Over Troubled Water” single sold 392,975 copies last week, according to SoundScan, beating Studdard’s “Flying Without Wings”/”Superstar” by about 107,000 copies. Interestingly, Ruben won the “American Idol” competition by about 130,000 votes. Both finalists are… Read more »
Avril Lavigne probably never went to band camp, but that didn’t disqualify her from the soundtrack for “American Wedding,” the third slice of celluloid from the “American Pie” series. The previously unreleased Avril song “I Don’t Give” will be featured on the disc, which comes out July 22. The track was recorded during the session for Let Go, and is about an independent girl who refuses to be played. “You know I’m not gonna cry/ About some stupid guy/ A guy who thinks he’s all that,” she sings in the chorus. The 17-song “American Wedding” soundtrack also features an unreleased… Read more »
