LISTEN
INDIO, California – Perhaps it was a sign that the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arcade Fire and Hot Chip were sharing the same bill. Whatever the case, Saturday was certainly one of the most scorching Coachella afternoons ever, with temperatures into the100s for hours on end. That meant the tented stages provided plenty of shadowy solace, while pre-sunset outdoor acts were playing to their diehards and suffering while doing it. (Let’s just say there were multiple hipster rockers quoting Lil Jon’s infamous sweat-dripping lyrics.) Still, Peter Bjorn and John and the Decemberists wore their suits and the Sahara tent was… Read more »
With the release of their fourth album Good Morning Revival, Good Charlotte have achieved Top 10 chart debuts in eleven countries including the U.S., marking their highest international chart positions ever. The rankings are: #1 in Japan, #2 in Canada and New Zealand, #4 in Hong Kong, #5 in Australia, #6 in Mexico, #7 in the U.S. and Switzerland, #8 in Thailand and #10 in Germany and Austria. The band is set to make multiple U.S. and international TV appearances in support of the album. First, Good Charlotte will appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday, April… Read more »
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame swung open its doors Monday night to the latest batch of acts ticketed for music immortality, with the Georgia alt-rock icons and the dysfunctional Pasadena party band leading the way. They were joined by ’70s punk pioneer Patti Smith, ’60s girl group the Ronettes and the first hip-hop act to crash the party, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The 22nd annual induction ceremony–which per tradition was held at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel–felt like an I Love the ’80 special, thanks to its two biggest inductees. R.E.M. received a warm introduction… Read more »
There are several thoroughly rocking places a band can hole itself up in to begin work on a much-anticipated new album. But when it came time for the guys in Panic! at the Disco to embark on the follow-up to their platinum-plus debut, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, they decided to pick one of the most un-rocking places on Earth: an honest-to-goodness cabin nestled in the hills of Nevada. “Guess you could say I’ve been hibernating for the past few months,” guitarist Ryan Ross wrote on the band’s site. “I’ll be meeting up with everyone at the cabin in… Read more »
A rock archive Web site is fighting back against a copyright lawsuit brought by some of music’s most notable classic rock acts, dragging two major record labels into the battle. In December, Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead, Santana and the Doors sued Wolfgang’s Vault claiming that the Bill Sagan-owned Web site violates intellectual property rights by selling merchandise and streaming concert archives belonging to the musicians. In response, Wolfgang’s Vault attorney Michael Elkin recently filed a 40-page counterclaim against the musicians and their labels, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group. “Far from being about bootlegging, consumer confusion or infringement of… Read more »
Good Charlotte know they aren’t the world’s most critically acclaimed band. So instead of trying to appeal to an audience bent on hating them, they’ve fully embraced their pop leanings on their new album, Good Morning Revival. The record finds the band in a much more comfortable place than 2004’s The Chronicles Of Life And Death, and they even seem to accept why so many people hate them. “I remember one of the first reviews I ever read about our band when we first came out, they were like, ‘They’re a manufactured band and they’ll be gone tomorrow,’” guitarist Benji… Read more »
NEW YORK – An evening with Hinder is like hanging out with a bunch of frat boys. Only most frat boys don’t have tour buses. Most have pledges – not roadies, managers, security guards and publicists – and sorority girls, not strippers, as their dates. Plus, most frat parties eventually end. But Hinder’s party is showing no sign of winding down. “Lips of an Angel,” their power ballad about infidelity, is a huge hit. Extreme Behavior, their debut album, has topped a million sales and was the 10th best-selling CD of 2006 . And at one point, the band was… Read more »
LOS ANGELES – In the weeks leading up to the 49th Grammy Awards, many miles of verbiage were unspooled by slick-suited TV pundits and somewhat bitter music journalists to dissect, predict and pick apart music’s biggest night. But as the awards themselves actually unfolded, live from the Staples Center, it was the moments in which very little – if anything at all – was said that carried the most weight. Whether it was the Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines simply – and somewhat fittingly – quoting “The Simpsons” in a kiss-off to the group’s many critics; Chris Brown’s footstep-perfect rendition of… Read more »
