Search Results for: fall out by

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 »

New York – The year began with the Super Bowl halftime show fiasco and ended with aftershocks from Howard Stern flipping his detractors the bird and taunting the Federal Communications Commission with a just-try-and-get-me-now move to satellite radio. Between those two seismic events, the FCC levied a record number of indecency fines, responding to an avalanche of complaints carefully orchestrated by conservative zealots and election year political pressure. The results from the government crackdown were widespread. Top-rated personalities were fired. Zero-tolerance edicts were issued. On-air delays and indecency tutorials became commonplace. Warhorses like Pink Floyd’s “Money,” Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer”… Read more »

They endured unpredictable weather on a Spanish plain for their “Vertigo” video and traffic on the streets of New York for “All Because of You,” so U2 thought they were keeping it simple by shooting their next clip in a Dublin, Ireland, theater. That is, until they were put at the mercy of the venue’s Christmas production of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” The group shot the video for the track “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own” on Monday at the Gaiety Theater, according to a band spokesperson. The theater, which is currently housing the children’s story production, gave… Read more »

BURBANK, Calif. – The inspiring holiday adventure “The Polar Express,” from Warner Bros. Pictures, continues to defy conventional box office fall-off patterns with significantly increasing grosses that crossed the $100 million mark Friday and gained through the weekend for a cumulative total of $109,826,809 and no end in sight. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Theatrical Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures. Still at full steam in its fifth week, “The Polar Express” remains the only movie in wide release setting an exceptional upward trend in box office receipts, grossing over $9.5 million this weekend and posting… Read more »

Sometimes it’s hard to keep it real, and there’s probably no place where that’s more true than in Sum 41’s surreal new video. Their clip for “Pieces,” to be shot by director Brett Simon this weekend, plays with notions of perception and perfection, while also poking fun at the idea of the music video as a commercial. The treatment suggests that Sum 41 have found the “clever” idea they said they were having trouble coming up with. According to the treatment, frontman Deryck Whibley sits in a La-Z-Boy chair in a drably colored apartment while the world outside appears to… Read more »

Las Vegas – With a No. 1 debut for its current album “American Idiot,” and now Tuesday’s news of six Grammy nominations, Green Day has found itself back in the spotlight. But if the punk-rock trio has its way, its Reprise album may yet fuel a crossover into an entirely new medium. “We’re definitely working on a film based on the album,” bassist Mike Dirnt told Billboard.com ahead of the group’s performance on Wednesday’s Billboard Music Awards. “I mean, the story is already there. But to some degree, it will depend on who ends up doing the writing as to… Read more »

Record labels are embracing new technologies in search of music’s next big thing Joe Berman looks for new bands. Typically, that means hanging out in dive bars, enduring hours of unlistenable music by groups whose rock-and-roll dreams far exceed their talent, praying for the occasional act that shows promise. About 16 months ago, however, the Los Angeles-based talent-finder sat at home scouting the globe for groups. He typed “New Zealand indie rock bands” into his computer search engine and found Steriogram, five lads from the town of Whangarei in New Zealand. They had a song and a video posted on… Read more »

Brian Littrell, arguably the cleanest-cut member of megaselling ’90s boy band, has signed a recording contract with Tennessee-based Christian music label Reunion Records. While a couple of his bandmates have made news for their sinful ways, Littrell aims to get back in touch with his gospel roots (Littrel and cousin/Backstreet Boy mate Kevin Richardson began singing in local church choirs when they really were boys in Kentucky). Littrell will become the second Backstreeter to venture out on the solo tip-Carter famously tried and failed to capture the attention of pop fans with his ill-received 2002 effort, Now or Never. Littrell’s… Read more »

Opening band The Disasters are aptly named. There’s just something so incredibly insincere about their music that angered me as much as it bored me. They’re a train wreck. I mean, you’ve got one of the grandfathers of hardcore – NEW YORK Hard core at that – crooning away like he’s part of the SoCal pop-punk elite? It’s all wrong. Now, I’m all for helping out the underdog, but on this night in particular, The Disasters seemed like nothing more than a few bandits hoping to cash in on something they know nothing about. Derivative songs were half-heartedly hammered out… Read more »

Los Angeles – The raucous rulers of the sex-and- drugs-fueled nightlife on L.A.’s Sunset Strip have returned to their old stomping grounds. All four original members of Motley Crue, the glam-metal gods who’ve sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and who paved the way for other seminal rock acts, have reunited for the first time in six years, announcing a new world tour – VH1 & VH1 Classic Present “Motley Crue: Red White & Crue Tour 2005… Better Live Than Dead,” – and giving their fans a live taste of it. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, December 11th… Read more »