Search Results for: hard rock

Los Angeles – In a dismal year for the touring industry, with ticket prices soaring and seats going unsold, music fans in North America partied like it was 1989 as Prince and Madonna topped the concert box office. According to freshly tabulated estimates provided by concert trade publication Pollstar, Prince sold $87.4 million in tickets in 2004, while Madonna earned $79.5 million. Prince also worked a bit harder for his payday, playing 96 shows, compared with 39 for Madonna. Canadian pop singer Celine Dion actually topped Madonna by about $900,000, but her haul came exclusively from 154 dates performed at… Read more »

Few music careers begin as dramatically as that of Philadelphia’s bluesy hard rockers Silvertide. By the end of the band’s first gig in February 2001, police had raided the club where they were playing and arrested dozens of crowd members for underage drinking and drug possession. Frontman Walt Lafty was almost hauled off as well. “I had given a bunch of equipment to my friends so they could sneak out the back and say they were carrying gear,” he explained. “Then I noticed all the gear was gone and I wasn’t out yet. So when I tried leaving, this black… Read more »

While most of us will spend December shopping for gifts and whipping up eggnog, Mos Def will be out on the road, spreading the word about The New Danger. The Emmy-nominated MC will begin a tour in support of his new album on December 4 in St. Louis, and wrap things up in Orlando, Florida, on December 18. More dates are expected to be added. Mos will leave the trek briefly on December 15 to attend the premiere of his latest film, “The Woodsman.” The drama, which also stars Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick and Eve, is due in select theaters… Read more »

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – The evolution of digital downloads marks another milestone on November 23, 2004, with the debut of UMe Digital, the world’s first all-digital download label from a major music company. UMe Digital product – individual songs, EPs, and full-length albums – will be distributed exclusively online. With its unparalleled music and video marketing capabilities and the power and scope of UMe to place songs in films and TV shows and commercials, UMe Digital offers unprecedented access and exposure for artists. The releases on UMe Digital will be consistent with UMe’s philosophy of marketing established acts and acts… Read more »

Santa Monica, Ca – Takeover Records has announced the addition of Near Miss and Inspection 12 to their label roster. Jacksonville artists Inspection 12 have been making great music since 1994. Their first large scale record, “In Recovery,” was released by Honest Don’s Barely Legal Recordings in May of 2001. Inspection 12’s influences range from punk to country, hard rock to classical. The band displays an incredible sense of maturity, which further validates that they’re far too talented to allow themselves to be pigeonholed. Near Miss, based out of Austin, TX, was started by Max Béchard and Jeremy Hernandez, two… Read more »

Green Day leads the roster of rock and rap artists contributing music to Madden 2005, the latest in the series of football video games bearing the name of legendary announcer John Madden. The title track from Green Day’s forthcoming album, American Idiot, will appear on the game even before it reaches radio stations or record stores, while other artists contributing tracks from current albums include Franz Ferdinand, Hoobastank, the Hives, Chevelle and New Found Glory. Madden 2005 arrives on August 17. Green Day’s new album, American Idiot, is set for release on September 21. Hard rockers Earshot contribute their own… Read more »

The Rolling Stones and Radiohead got theirs from song titles, U2 and the B-52’s from military aircrafts and Lynyrd Skynyrd from their old gym teacher. And the stories behind new millennium band names are no less random: Yellowcard According to these So-Cal pop-punkers, “yellowcard” is a take on the ever-popular Frat house idiom, “party foul,” proving drunks can be simultaneously obnoxious and witty. Perhaps Ewan McKegger was already in use. Coldplay Chris Martin and his mates, originally called Starfish, were friends with a band called Coldplay. When that band gave up the name, Starfish asked if they could use it.… Read more »

British heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath will reunite for the first time since 2001 for Ozzfest, which begins July 10 in Hartford, Conn., a spokeswoman for the annual road show said on Tuesday. Ozzfest co-founder and headliner Ozzy Osbourne will revisit such hard rocking classics as “War Pigs” and “Paranoid” along with guitarist Tony Iommi and bass player Geezer Butler. But original drummer Bill Ward will be replaced by Mike Bordin, who backs Osbourne on his solo gigs. Along with three-quarters of the original Black Sabbath, Ozzfest will also feature four-fifths of the original Judas Priest, and such acts as… Read more »

This year is a milestone for the Vans Warped Tour, as the hard rocking fest enters its tenth year of carrying the post-punk banner. Footage of some of last year’s touring bands – including the Used, the Ataris, Sum 41, Glassjaw, Pennywise, Rancid, Thrice and Less Than Jake – will be included on Vans Warped Tour ’03, a DVD due on June 22nd. Shot over forty-five dates last summer, Vans Warped Tour ’03 includes twenty-three songs in 5.1 surround sound, an hour of interviews, backstage footage and a photo gallery. As for this summer’s Vans Warped tour, it is scheduled… Read more »

The Lostprophets titled their second album Start Something for two reasons. One was to motivate people out of complacency. “We spent the last three years touring and meeting loads of people who were like, ‘I’d love to do this and that,’ but they never had the drive to get up off their asses and do it,” explained singer Ian Watkins. “Start something. Start anything.” The title’s other meaning reflects the band’s feeling that Start Something is their first musical step, despite releasing their debut album three years ago. They’re neither trying to ignore 2001’s The Fake Sound of Progress nor… Read more »