| Live
Events News: |
|
|
► Produced by Live Nation, Crüe Fest is a touring
rock festival embracing the lifestyle of rock. With the lineup
including Mötley
Crüe, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Sixx:A.M. and Trapt,
“Crüe Fest ‘08” will undoubtedly be the summer’s loudest
show on earth. The trek kicks off July 1st in West Palm Beach,
Florida and works its way across North America for over 40
dates throughout July and August.
 Photo
credit: Ari Michelson
► Neil Diamond
treated his dedicated fans to a historic show at the West
Village's famed music venue The Bitter End last night, May
7, 2008. He performed seven song set mixed with new songs
from his latest album, Home Before Dark, and classic material.
Diamond captivated the lucky first 200 concert-goers who had
queued-up since mid-morning upon learning of the secret show
sponsored by MySpace. Neil Diamond greeted the long line of fans stationed outside
The Bitter End on Bleeker Street, saying hello and posing
for pictures. Once inside the club, Diamond, backed by a small
band consisting of members from both his studio and touring
musicians, gave an energized acoustic performance of "Solitary
Man", "Don't Go There", "Home Before Dark",
"Pretty Amazing Grace", "Kentucky Woman",
"Cherry, Cherry" and "Sweet Caroline".
The club placed speakers in the windows during the performance
allowing the hundreds of fans who couldn't get into the club
to sing-along on the street and sidewalk and participate in
this once in a lifetime event.
|
|
► Now on the road, with their Red Carpet Massacre World
Tour well underway, Duran Duran are returning to US
shores for a 22-date run with a spectacular new production
that will showcase their latest record alongside all of the
hits from their extensive catalogue. These shows will be the
band’s first in America since their unprecedented two week
run on Broadway last November, when they played the new album
in its entirety prior to its global launch.
►In anticipation of their upcoming sophomore album Honeysuckle
Weeks, The Submarines
have announced a North American headlining tour that kicks
off in Chicago; Indie-pop rock band Headlights is set to open
on all east coast dates.
The Submarines - Blake Hazard and John Dragonetti - will
celebrate release day with an appearance on DJ Nic Harcourt's
influential radio program "Morning Becomes Eclectic"
on LA's KCRW, which has also named Honeysuckle Weeks the May
"Album of the Month." The album is a glorious collage
of the duo's wide-ranging influences, from old-school dub
(most evident in tracks like "1940" and "Fern
Beard") to intricately layered electronica (as in the
psychedelic-classical "Submarine Symphonika" and
"The Thorny Thicket") to vintage pop (as on "Swimming
Pool" and the Santaria-inspired "Xavia").
This also brings the opening of the anticipated documentary
Surfwise, which was scored by John Dragonetti and also features
the song "Modern Inventions" from The Submarines
debut album Declare A New State!. Though he has scored music
for award-winning TV series and numerous commercials for major
brands, this marks Dragonetti's first feature film. The Submarines
will make a special appearance at the Los Angeles premiere
of the film.
► As the Counting
Crows prepare for the release of their new album SATURDAY
NIGHTS AND SUNDAY MORNINGS and tour with Maroon 5, they kicked
everything off with a Nissan
Live Set and performance at the SoHo
Apple store.
► As they prepare to release their new CD ANTHEMS FOR
THE DAMNED May 13 via Pulse Recordings, FILTER
have announced their first tour in nearly six years. The first
leg of this U.S. trek--a mix of headlining shows, radio festivals
and special engagements--begins April 24 at Stubb's in Austin,
Texas, to be followed by three June shows overseas in Germany
and the U.K. Earlier this month, FILTER made a special appearance
for the troops in
Kuwait when they performed at the March 10 Operation MySpace
concert.
While on tour, FILTER will preview songs from ANTHEMS FOR
THE DAMNED alongside such FILTER classics as "Hey Man,
Nice Shot," "Take a Picture" and others. ANTHEMS
FOR THE DAMNED--produced by Pulse Recording head Josh Abraham--features
the first single "Soldiers of Misfortune"; its been
one of the most added tracks on the active and alternative
radio charts the past two weeks with airplay on stations such
as KDGE (Dallas), KTBZ (Houston), Q101 (Chicago), KPNT (St.
Louis), WBCN (Boston), KQRC (Kansas City), KXXR (Minneapolis),
WEBN (Cincinnati) and WBUZ (Nashville), to name a few. PATRICK
describes the soaring anthem--with its U2/Bowie flavor and
stacked backdrop of buzzing electric guitars--as a "sardonic
anti-war/pro-troops
song." The first-person narrative was inspired by a letter
from a FILTER fan who had enlisted in the Army reserves to
get his college tuition paid;
in his final year of college, he was shipped off to Iraq where
he died from a rocket attack and small arms fire after just
a few days of duty.
Catch FILTER live at the following shows and look for more
tour dates to be announced in the near future.
Look below for the full list of dates!
|
►
N.Y. progressive metal pioneers Dream Theater will embark on
its 21-date North American "Progressive Nation" tour
starting May 2 at Los Angeles' Gibson Amphitheatre and concluding
June 1 in Tampa, FL, highlighted by two shows at New York's
brand-new Terminal 5 (May 21-22), which sold out in just two
days.
Click here for the full story. |
| ►
With the hiatus of pop-punk superstars blink-182 in full effect
by the fall of 2005, singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge revealed the
formation of his new band -- one he'd already been working with
for six months -- Angels
& Airwaves.
With the notoriety of his previous group, much hype ensued
after the announcement: in interviews with outlets like mtv.com,
DeLonge proclaimed (among other things) that the new music
would take elements of bands like U2 and Pink Floyd and ultimately
be something of a revolution to change the face of rock &
roll forever.
Rounding out brainchild and songwriter DeLonge were guitarist
David Kennedy (Boxcar Racer, Hazen Street), drummer Atom Willard
(Rocket from the Crypt, the Offspring), and bassist Ryan Sinn
(the Distillers).
The band is headed out on the road in support of their latest
release I-Empire. Check below for a list of dates in a city
near you!
|
|
|
Live Event
Reviews:
|
| All
Crazy at W.C. Murphy's in Havertown, PA
|
|
If you are in the mood to check out a band that is full of
energy and up for a good time, then the boys in All Crazy
are definitely for you. The sounds can best be described as
hard electric riffs, over hip-hop beats, which brings about
the essence of their coined classification of "hip-rock".
I recently had the opportunity to check these guys out at
W.C. Murphy's in Havertown, PA, and let me tell you they really
know how to work a crowd. Not only are all the guys freaking
awesome to speak with, they definitely know a thing or two
about playing a damn good rock show. Throughout their set
the band mixed in a few cover tunes such as "The Joker"
by The Steve Miller Band, Weezers "Undone" and a
personal favorite "Walk This Way" from Aerosmith.
The band brings their own flare to the cover songs and they
almost seem re-invented. I have to say while the band was
playing some of their original songs, that is when the crowd
really went wild especially during "For the Ladies".
The ladies were definitely flocking up to the group bumping
and grinding right along with every chord.
The group carried their strong energy and stayed hyped up
from the show's start to finish, even hopping up on chairs
to play "Wrong Time". All in all, catching this
band was a great experience and I highly recommend that you
do the same the next time All Crazy comes to your town! Kings
of "hip-rock" they certainly are!
|
|
The Electric Factory Presents: The Midway
State and Mika
► Starting off the night, The Midway State, composed of
Nathan Ferraro (keyboard and lead vocals), Daenen Bramberger
(drums), Mike Wise (guitar) and Mike Kirsh (bass),
brought a mix of spirit and emotionally grounded sound.
The band's forte is their raw performance intensity. One
could really see how much care and love the band put into
their musicianship. Some complaints could be heard, since
they seemed to ignore the audience during their songs; mostly
people excited about Mika.
Their music itself was full of lush symphonic melodies, ripping
rifts, and chordic complexities akin to other bands such as
Radiohead and Coldplay. The joyful pop hit "Change
for You" is a majestic creation, whose unpolished
falsetto harmonies make it a true pop hit. "A Million
Fireflies" is plays like a seductive temptress that
draws you in with haunting vocals and then slams you hard
full of sex between the guitar and keyboard.
While their performance style and musicianship were top-notch
the repetitiveness of their songs, being a simple abab format,
seemed to sooth the crowd into a drunken stupor, causing the
audience to pay more attention to their conversations then
the performance at hand. Even so, their placement as Mika's
opening act was masterful. It played a perfect counter to
Mika's more fantastical performance later in the evening.
Great things can be predicted in the future for The Midway
State.
Mika was spectacle of wonderment and high energy which
makes for one of the best and just plain fun concerts on the
circuit. His set featured hits such as the smooth disco-pop
hit "Take it Easy", the scandalous and quirky
tale of "Billy Brown", and his bust out single
"Grace Kelly", which is up for an award at
the Brit Awards.
Not to leave the audience without a proper encore Mika ended
his show with loads of confetti, giant balloon balls, animal
costumes and a shadow puppet marionette show, culminating
in his cult hit "Lollipop". The Midway State and
Mika started off their tour with a bang and it can only get
better from here on out. So grab your tickets or do whatever
you can to get them for this is definitely not a concert to
miss.
|
| ►
PCM's Kristyn attended Dracula's Ball in Philadelphia this past
Halloween. Check out her review
of the event and view some photos and video from performer Voltaire's
set at the Ball. |
|
► Review of Deepfield
live in Philadelphia by Kristyn
recently had the opportunity to review at live performance of
the alt-rock band Deepfield. The band is currently on tour in
support of Saliva and Puddle of Mudd. Let me start off by saying
this band definitely knows how to jam and get the crowd warmed
up for the headliners. The band played a short set from their
debut album "Archetypes and Repetition" which is in
stores now.
Some stand-out songs from their set included "Into
the Flood" the first single off their CD, "Get It"
, and "Dead Horse". I certainly think that this
band did not nearly get enough love with the Philadelphia
crowd and I personally would love to have them come back to
the area and grace us with a much longer set. In my opinion
this band truly has got what it takes to make it far in the
music industry as, they are the whole package.
Powerful vocals, poignant lyrics, hard-rocking riffs, and
a sense of meaning behind their performance, what more can
you ask for out of a band and a performance. The guys in the
band are some of the most down to earth and approachable artists
I have had the opportunity to speak with and I truly wish
them all the success in the world. Definitely worth checking
out if they are visiting a town near you in the future. A
band with a hard-rocking edge, and some actual thought behind
their music is not one to be missed. Keep rocking, guys!
|
|
|
|
