Jul
17
2011
CMS Rock Camp Final Concert
Time: 5:30 p.m. Details: Come support the students of the CMS Rock Camp as they perform their final concert.
Read more on City Pulse
Asheville’s Russ Wilson & Orchestra perform Saturday show
ASHEVILLE — Russ Wilson and His Concert Orchestra will perform 8-10 p.m. Saturday at the Scottish Rite Masonic Hall, 80 Broadway St. Tickets are at the door.
Read more on Asheville Citizen-Times
Jun
23
2011
Tammany Talk: North shore is getting ready to rock
Susan Cowsill plays a free concert Thursday at the Covington Trailhead.
Read more on New Orleans Times-Picayune
Amy Winehouse Cancels Tour as UMG Removes YouTube Videos of Failed Concert
Videos of Amy Winehouse stumbling through a concert in Belgrade, Serbia, hit YouTube Monday, raising concerns about the singer’s wellbeing…
Read more on Mashable
Former American Idols to Play at Independence Day Musical Festival
FOX’s own American Idols, Crystal Bowersox and Casey James will follow The Voice coach Blake Shelton in the Independence Day Music Fest. Following the musical performance the largest fireworks show in Phoenix will light up the summer sky. (PRWeb June 23, 2011) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/6/prweb8595009.htm
Read more on PRWeb
Feb
4
2011
Kid Rock Slated to Appear in Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam
Kid Rock is one of the music stars slated to appear in VH1′s Super Bowl Fan Jam, a concert sponsored by Pepsi.
Read more on HispanicBusiness.com
Big band sounds part of joint concert
SEWARD – Come and relive some classic band sounds as Concordia University, Nebraska’s University Symphonic Band and University-Community Band host a joint concert Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Seward High School auditorium.
Read more on York News-Times
American Music Theatre books Charlie Thomas’ Drifters, Chicago, Michael Jackson tribute
York, PA – American Music Theatre, 2425 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, announced four more concert dates for its 2011 season: Contemporary country singer/songwriter Jamey Johnson will perform at 8 p.
Read more on York Daily Record
Aug
11
2010
That’s right, you heard it here first (or maybe you didn’t) but Grunge-rockers Soundgarden are finally back together after 12 long years apart that has seen Chris Cornell deliver a number of mediocre Audioslave albums along with the band from Rage Against The Machine, not to mention his last two downright disappointing solo albums.
Back in their day, Soundgarden were one of the most impressive and original bands in the Grunge family tree, with Cornell’s eye-openingly impressive vocal range, and their ever-haunting melodies against the backdrop of hard-hittingly heavy or gut-wrenchingly-sweet-yet-slightly-twisted rock-metal music.
The disappointment I felt for their demise had been tinged with hope, as Cornell’s first solo album was simply immense, and showed the absolute best of Cornell’s incredible voice.
This turned to excitement as he teamed up with Rage Against The Machine sans Zack to form Audioslave, but the excitement was short-lived as they quickly turned out to be a backing band for Cornell’s now-starting-to-creak vocals, as oppose to a “band” in the traditional sense of the word.
With the news last year of Rage reforming and two disappointingly poor solo albums, it was only natural that Cornell would return to his own roots for shelter against the onset of old age, and one can’t help but think that is a case of the too-big-for-his-own-boots band-deserter / ‘slave-dictator / failed solo artist, desperately crawling back to the camp he deserted all those years ago with his tail between his legs in the hope of finding his old form once more.
We can but hope, but the “new album”, “Telephantasm: A Retrospective” is a mere compilation of old material with a single “unreleased track” (read “track that wasn’t good enough for the albums the first time round”) to appeal to the fans that already own all of their studio albums, so we’ll have to wait and see whether Lollapalooza and their other new concert dates will have the desired rejuvenating effect on a band that were so groundbreaking in their time, or whether the years have been unkind to Kim Thayil and the rest of the band or if Cornell has stipulated that he’d only a part of it if he gets to write all of the music (and of course claim the financial benefits associated with being the sole songwriter), as was the case with Audioslave, where Cornell declared that he “didn’t want to be Rage Against The Machine’s new vocalist” and refused to allow the others in the band to write any of the songs.
I’m actually quite surprised at myself for seeming so cynical about this reunion, having been such a huge fan of Soundgarden and Cornell’s “Euphoria Morning” solo album, but once bitten (Audioslave), twice shy (his later solo albums), three times and pity the fool?
It is my sincere hope that they prove me wrong and show me the badmotorfinger, but I’m not holding my breath and for now it’s all superunknown.
Muso
Thanks to Wikipedia for the heads-up…
On January 1, 2010, Cornell alluded to a Soundgarden reunion via his Twitter, writing: “The 12-year break is over and school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!” The message linked to a website that features a picture of the group performing live and a place for fans to enter their e-mail address to get updates on the reunion. Entering that information unlocks an archival video for the song “Get on the Snake,” from Soundgarden’s second studio album, 1989′s Louder Than Love. The press has speculated that the band would be headlining festivals such as Lollapalooza, and the Reading & Leeds Festivals in the UK, although no official confirmation was issued by the band. On March 1, 2010, Soundgarden announced to the people who signed their e-mail subscribers that they are re-releasing an old single “Hunted Down” with the song “Nothing to Say” on a 7″ vinyl released on April 17 only at Record Store Day. Also, they released “Spoonman” live at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego, CA from 1996.
Rumors that Soundgarden could headline Lollapalooza were confirmed on April 5, 2010. The band announced on their website that they would play on August 8.
It was reported that the band had been rehearsing in Seattle in recent weeks as a precursor to their first confirmed reunion performance at Lollapalooza.
On April 15, 2010, it was announced that Soundgarden would play its first show since 1997 the following day at the Showbox at the Market in the band’s hometown of Seattle. On April 16, an email went out to random Soundgardenworld.com newsletter subscribers with a link to purchase tickets. The show was billed under the pseudonym ‘Nudedragons’, an anagram for Soundgarden. Tickets sold out in just 15 minutes. In addition, a contest was posted on the Soundgarden twitter page, giving one fan a chance to win a ticket to the show.
Billboard confirmed that on August 5, 2010, Soundgarden would play a precursor to their Lollapalooza show in Chicago’s Vic Theater. Tickets were only available to members of Soundgarden’s fanclub at Soundgardenworld.com.
Telephantasm: A Retrospective, a new Soundgarden compilation album, will be packaged with initial shipments of the Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock video game set for release on September 28, 2010. This is the first time a retail music CD has been packaged with a video game, and is one week before the same CD is available in stores on October 5, 2010. Expanded versions of Telephantasm consisting of two CDs and one DVD will be available for sale on September 28, 2010. A previously unreleased Soundgarden song—”Black Rain”—will debut on the Guitar Hero video game and appear on the compilation album. “Black Rain” hits rock radio August 10, 2010.
May
31
2010
Michael Franti & Spearhead announced in November last year that they would be opening for the 2010 John Mayer “Battle Studies Tour” in the spring. It was difficult to picture Mayer, known mostly for his colorful love life rather than his guitar compositions, and Franti, known for his fights against political, religious and racial wars, on the same stage.
Franti’s practicing what he preaches. He is closely involved with CARE, an organization trying to educate mainly women and girls in developing countries in quest against poverty. He travels all around the world on CARE missions. One of the last places he visited was East Timor.
A few years ago Michael Franti & Spearhead released their Yell Fire! album, inspired by Franti’s trip to the Middle East war zones including Israel, Baghdad, Iraq, and the Gaza Strip.
But despite the mixed reactions after the announcement of the collaboration, Michael Franti was confident that his music is compatible with Mayer’s and that Michael Franti & Spearhead would connect to Mayer’s audience.
Franti, in whose veins flow all kinds of blood, is equally open to people of all ages, genders or races. And according to the positive reactions of fans after the first concerts of the Battle Studies Tour, he was right. The light, positive music blending hip hop with funk, reggae, jazz, folk, and rock, turned out to be a perfectly matching opening act for John Mayer’s “Battle Studies.”
Michael Franti & Spearhead gained mainstream recognition last year with the hit single “Say Hey (I Love You)” from their “All Rebel Rockers” album. “Say Hey (I Love You)” turned out to be a gold mine and became double platinum with more than 2 million sold copies sold.
“All Rebel Rockers” was recorded mainly in Jamaica. Franti finds inspiration not only in Jamaica but also in classical albums like Stevie Wonder’s Songs In the Key of Life. But what really makes their sound so unique is the live performance of the band. Something that draws Michael Franti to reggae are the vibes that the band creates when they play together.
Right now Michael Franti & Spearhead are working on their next album.
Jun
17
2009
Cake is an indie-rock band from Sacramento, California that has a devoted fanbase and loyal following for their unique blend of indie, funk, jazz and country music. Fashion Nugget, Cake’s second album, became the album that brought the band into the public eye and gave them their first radio success with the song “The Distance”. After another five albums, a bounty of TV snippets including having written the theme tune to Chuck, and a number of hit singles has made them one of the most popular bands on the Alternative Rock scene.
In 2008 the band removed their studio (Upbeat Studio) from dependence on Sacramento, California’s power grid by installing a system of solar panels. The band subsequently announced that their upcoming studio album will be “recorded using 100% solar energy.”
Although Cake’s music is often classified as alternative rock or indie-rock, it combines elements of multiple musical genres, such as funk, rockabilly, jazz, rap, and country. Cake’s music features droll lyrics rife with word play and syncopation, catchy distorted guitar riffs (courtesy of guitarist Greg Brown until 1998, and bass player Victor Damiani until 1997), prominent use of a Moog, and a solo trumpet (played by Vince DiFiore).
The laconic and rap-like style in which lead vocalist/guitarist John McCrea brings the lyrics is sometimes called sprechgesang.
In the summer of 2002, Cake headlined the Unlimited Sunshine Tour festival among such varied bands as Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, De La Soul, Latin techno fusion band Kinky and bluegrass group The Hackensaw Boys. Cake brought back the tour in 2003 with Cheap Trick, country singer Charlie Louvin, garage rockers The Detroit Cobras and a return performance from The Hackensaw Boys. The tour returned in 2007 with the Brazilian Girls on the East Coast dates, return of The Detroit Cobras for the West Coast dates, and Oakley Hall, Agent Ribbons and King City for all the shows.
In June 2008, lead singer John McCrea told music publication REVUE that he is thinking seriously of quitting touring to become a farmer.
On June 11, 2009, Cake played at the Apple World Wide Developer Conference 2009 bash in San Francisco, California.
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Jun
12
2009
Tokyo-based instrumentalists LITE formed in 2003. Their debut “Filmlets” received great critical acclaim, and since then the band have toured Japan constantly, embarked on their second UK & Ireland tour last September and they have appeared at the Fuji Rock Festival.
LITE’s sound combines the precision and musicianship of prog rock with the emotionally charged cinematic compositions of art rock, in a heavier, more modern package that they describe as “math rock”. Nowhere near as heavy as mathcore or prog metal, but more so than your average prog rock band.
Shortly after that appearance, the Japanese quartet released a split CD with Funanori (Go! Team guitarist Kaori Tsuchida and Mike Watt from The Minutemen) and teamed up with Mike Watt again in February this year to host his Brother’s Sister’s Daughter tour of Japan.
With the release of their second full-length album, “Phantasia”, the intense gigging schedule has obviously paid off. The band have improved their songwriting skills and their ability to translate their energetic live performances into an impressive studio album. Their instrumental prowess comes across in splendid fashion and the result is a varied and satisfying album.
Darker in parts to its predecessor, “Phantasia” contains many influences, from King Crimson-esque jazz-rock to full-scale guitar assault as on “Contra” or the opener “Ef” which has been re-recorded and reignited with the fury of its live rendition.
Throughout, there are stories woven into these grooves; the sea-faring tragedy “Shinkai” and the melancholic “Solitude” illustrate the band’s maturity as “storyteller” songwriters.
With “Phantasia”, LITE is set to cement its reputation as one of the most exciting bands to have emerged from Japan in recent years.
The band are Nobuyuki Takeda (guitar), Kozo Kusumoto (guitar), Jun Izawa (bass), and Akinori Yamamoto (drums).
We at the Real Music Forum love LITE. We hope you do too.
To discuss this article, or anything else for that matter, please visit our forums. Click HERE.
Jun
8
2009
Rage Against the Machine was the genre-spawning debut album by rap-metal band Rage Against The Machine, released November 11, 1992. The songs tend to feature political mantras as rapped vocals. The album peaked at #17 in the UK albums chart, #1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart and #45 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.
The rapped vocals and funk-metal guitars mixed with hard hip-hop/funk beats and grooves were a massive deviation from the traditonal rock/metal of the time, but before long “Nu-Metal” arrived on the scene, making such genre crossovers commonplace.
Tom Morello’s guitar technique stays on fairly traditional territory on this album, compared to subsequent albums, tending to be more influenced by funk and metal, as opposed to the more experimental hip-hop-influenced guitar styles Morello strays towards on later Rage albums.
In 2001 the album Rage Against the Machine was named in Q magazine as one of the “50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time” (which is rubbish, as anyone that has heard the wealth of thrash and death metal that is out there would agree). The album is included in the book “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”. In 2003, the album was ranked #368 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time”.
The album is known for its high production values, which are almost to the strictest audiophile standards. Some audiophile magazines and websites even go as far as using the album — in particular the song “Take the Power Back” — to test amplifiers and speakers.
One of the songs, “Know Your Enemy”, features Tool / A Perfect Circle vocalist Maynard James Keenan on “additional vocals”. Keenan has occasionally appeared onstage with Rage to perform the song.
Who?
“Acclaimed” BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe named Rage Against the Machine as one of four albums to be added to his list of ‘Masterpieces’, and his personal favourite album, on December 2nd, 2008 (although repeatedly naming the singer as ‘De La Rocker’).
The cover artwork features a famous photo of Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, burning himself to death in Saigon in 1963. The monk was protesting President Ngô Đình Diệm’s administration for oppressing the Buddhist religion. The photograph drew international attention and persuaded U.S. President John F. Kennedy to withdraw support of the Ngô Đình Diệm’s government. It was taken by Associated Press correspondent Malcolm Browne; a similar photograph earned the award of World Press Photo of the Year in 1963.
Activists such as Provisional IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands and Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton are listed in the “Thanks For Inspiration” section. Also thanked were Ian and Alec MacKaye – De La Rocha was “Straight Edge” at the time, though he later took up smoking.
The lyrics for each song were printed in the album booklet with the exception of those for “Killing in the Name”, which were omitted; the booklet reads “2. KILLING IN THE NAME”, skips the lyrics and continues with the next song.
No synthsThe statement “no samples, keyboards or synthesizers used in the making of this record” appears at the end of the sleeve notes, and similar statements were made in the band’s subsequent albums. The band also refer to themselves as “Guilty Parties” in the sleeve notes of each album.
“Bombtrack” – 4:05
“Killing in the Name” – 5:14
“Take the Power Back” – 5:37
“Settle for Nothing” – 4:48
“Bullet in the Head” – 5:09
“Know Your Enemy” – 4:55
“Wake Up” – 6:04
“Fistful of Steel” – 5:31
“Township Rebellion” – 5:24
“Freedom” – 6:06
“Darkness” – 3:40
“Year of tha Boomerang” – 4:02
“Freedom” (Remix) – 6:14
“Take the Power Back” (Live) – 6:12
Rage Against the Machine – Production, Art Direction
Zack de la Rocha – Vocals
Tim Commerford – Bass (credited as “Timmy C.”)
Brad Wilk – Drums
Tom Morello – Guitars
Maynard James Keenan – Additional vocals (“Know Your Enemy”)
Stephen Perkins – Additional percussion (“Know Your Enemy”)
Garth ‘GGGarth’ Richardson – Producer, Engineer
Stan Katayama – Engineer
Craig Doubet – Assistant Engieer
Jeff Sheehan – Assistant Engineer
Bob Ludwig – Mastering
Midas – Mixing / Production
Andy Wallace – Mixing
Steve Sisco – Mixing Assistant
and Nicky Lindeman – Art Direction
An inspiring album in so many ways, and not a weak track on the whole album. This album should be a definite purchase for any self-respecting rocker, metaller, nu-metaller, neo-goth, funkster, hip-hopper and/or fan of REAL music.
The RMF loves Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine. We hope you do too.
Mar
18
2009
Twelve more bands have been announced for Download Festival UK 2009. Former Soundgarden and Audioslave lead vocalist Chris Cornell will be playing, as will be rock giants Journey!
Chris Cornell will be playing his solo meterial and the appearance follows the recent release of his 3rd solo album, Scream, last week.
I’ve not heard Scream yet, but rest assured, I’ll be reviewing it soon. His first solo album, Euphoria Morning is a work of genius, but sadly his 2nd effort, Carry On, didn’t hit the same heights.
Incidentally, if you haven’t heard Euphoria Morning, get yourself onto Spotify and check it out. Superb stuff.
Chris Cornell has stated to the press that a Soundgarden reunion is unlikely to ever happen, and that the various former members of the band had put a lid on their Soundgarden days. Ah well. Another great band I’ll never get a chance to see live.
Discuss Download UK 2009 on this thread in the Real Music Forum….
Skin as they were in the mid 90's
UK rockers Skin will be appearing, making their first live appearance since 1998! Once upon a time, almost every gig I went to, Skin seemed to be supporting, but alas they disbanded during the decline in popularity of rock in the late 90′s. Is this the beginning of the second era of Skin? Who knows, but if you’re into 80′s/90′s rock with some proper guitar solos and you happen to be going to Download, check them out!
Also added to the bill are Down, Lacuna Coil, Tesla, Papa Roach, Clutch, Black Stone Cherry, Architects, Parkway Drive and Karma To Burn.
The lineup so far (in no particular order) :
Don’t forget, you can discuss Download UK 2009 (or anything for that matter) in our forums…
http://www.realmusicforum.com/forums/
Come and have your say!
Mar
5
2009
Following funky acid-rockers Jane’s Addiction‘s successful recent comeback gigs, a short set at the first-ever NME Awards USA on April 23, 2008 after their acceptance speech for the “Godlike Genius Award”, their first full set in 17 years in Los Angeles on October 23, 2008 at La Cita Bar, and two other “secret” gigs, it has been confirmed that they will be touring this year with Nine Inch Nails.
Reformed again: Jane's Addiction
When the full reunited line-up of Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Eric Avery, and Stephen Perkins played the NME Awards, it was the first performance they’d played with bassist Eric Avery since 1991. The band played “Stop!”, “Mountain Song”, “Ocean Size” and “Jane Says” and the event was broadcast via MySpace.
The set list for their La Cita Bar gig was “Up the Beach”, “Trip Away”, “Whores”, “1%”, “Ain’t No Right”, “Pigs in Zen”, “Ted… Just Admit It”, “Ocean Size”, “Had a Dad”, “Been Caught Stealing”.
The confirmed dates so far are:
West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre ( May 8 )
Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre (9)
Atlanta, GA Lakewood Amphitheatre (10)
Albuquerque, NM Journal Pavilion (14)
Phoenix, AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion (15)
Chula Vista, CA Cricket Wireless Amphitheater (16)
Las Vegas, NV The Pearl (18)
Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Irvine Meadows (20)
Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre (22)
Quincy, WA Sasquatch Festival (23)
Englewood, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre (26)
Kansas City, MO Starlight Theatre (27)
Chicago, IL Charter One Pavilion (29) *
Noblesville, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center (30)
Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Center (31)
Toronto, Ontario Molson Amphitheatre (June 2)
Darien Lake, NY Darien Lake Amphitheatre (3)
Camden, NJ Tweeter Center at the Waterfront (5)
Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center (6)
Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater (7)
Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion (9)
Burgettstown, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion (10)
Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (12)
*Nine Inch Nails solo gig
Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails
The tour is said to be ending in Las Vegas in December, but worldwide dates are yet to be announced.
Trent Reznor recently announced that this was to be Nine Inch Nails’ last tour in their current format.
RMF opinion: Hopefully this tour will be Europe-bound. We’d like to see more from the superb “Strays” album on the set-list too! This may be your last chance to see Nine Inch Nails in all their energetic live glory, following Trent Reznor’s recent statement that NIN would never play live again in their current format. Sounds like Trent Reznor plans to take NIN in a new direction, so watch this space. In another recent announcement, Reznor admitted that he has been in the studio recently, recording Jane’s Addiction’s first new album since Strays in 2003. We can’t wait to hear it!
Verdict: Unmissable!
Discuss this tour, or anything else, in the REAL MUSIC FORUM
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