Concert Dates, Concert Tour News, Artist Information

Tour and New Album Following Alice in Chains’ Reunion

A reunited Alice in Chains is set to release its first new album in almost 14 years, Black Gives Way to Blue, via Virgin/EMI on September 29. Alice in Chains’ singer/guitarist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney told Billboard.com that the album fits nicely into the Seattle-bred band’s catalog, with Kinney saying with a laugh, “It’s nice to sound like yourself. It’s not really that hard, actually. I know people are blown away that we really sound like ourselves, and I understand the apprehension, but it’s not really that big a stretch to sound the way you sound.”

Alice in Chains is set to embark on a brief tour in Europe in August before hitting the States for a month-long trip in September, although Cantrell hinted that more legs may follow saying, “We’re not going to stop touring when the record comes out. That would be like an old pattern we’re trying not to do again.” The lead single for Black Gives Way to Blue has not yet but announced, but new track “A Looking View” is currently streaming on the band’s official Web site. Other new songs that may appear on Alice in Chains’ 11-track upcoming album are “Check My Brain” and “A Looking View.” The album is the band’s first with new singer/guitarist William DuVall.

Get all your Alice in Chains tickets at StubHub.

Akon’s Swine Flu Worries

The rapper Akon has reportedly delayed his July tour of the South Pacific and other Asian countries, citing the occurrence of “unforeseen circumstances.”  Though apparently organizers of the event claim that the postponement is due to worries over cases of swine flu.  Akon’s tour was originally scheduled to start on July 14 in Manila…now however the singer’s tour has been rescheduled to start on Oct. 23 and will run through Nov. 7.  A taped message ran on ABS-CBN where the singer stated that the tour was postponed because of the “unforeseen circumstances” and that tickets purchased in advance of the event would still be honored at the rescheduled shows.  Although swine flu was not mentioned as the main cause for the delay, speculation is abound that this is the main reason for the postponement.

Keep up to date with all of the latest news and information regarding concert dates by going to Stubhub and obtaining your own pair of Akon tickets.  Don’t let fears of swine flue deter you!

Michael Jackson update

Exhausted by all the Michael Jackson coverage yet? Pitchfork has a healthy recap this morning of all the post-shock proceedings. The most tragic thing to come out of all the relentless news coverage, it seems, is a resurgence in popularity of the King of Pop, who once seemed to be a fixed mainstay on the top of the singles charts, and still goes down on the books as the man who created the best-selling album of all time. According to Billboard (via Pitchfork): “Jackson’s albums take up the top nine positions on its Top Pop Catalog Albums chart, which measures the sales of albums that are more than 18 months old. Eight of Jackson’s solo albums appear in the top 10, as does a Jackson 5 compilation. Jackson’s Number Ones comp occupies the top spot, selling 108,000 copies. Number Ones, as well as The Essential Michael Jackson (102,000 copies sold) and Thriller (101,000 copies sold) actually outsold the Black Eyed Peas’ The E.N.D., which tops the Billboard 200 with sales of 88,000. This marks the first time in history that a catalog album has outsold the album on top of the Billboard 200.”
Too bad he didn’t live to see himself on the charts again. In any case, many of the artists inspired by Jackson, as well as his contemporaries, are still touring. Get concert tickets at StubHub.

Jack White debuting early film project at Comic-Con

Jack White of the White Stripes has a knack for creating buzz, whether it’s from his work with Meg, the rumors of their relation to one another, or socking other Detroit rockers in the face. But he’ll be garnering lots of attention this July at Comic-Con, where he’ll be debuting a spoof film he worked on way back in 1998. The film was screened only once before, and even then, it was in a half-finished state. But Pitchfork reports that the ‘50s sci-fi spoof, Mutant Swinger From Mars, is going to be shown in it’s entirety.
Expect not-so-glorious black and white, complete with the cheapest special effects Jack could find. But also expect some really big names, including Jack Nicholson and Jim Brown. Apparently there are some rumors floating around that he’s created a new introduction for the film that will be shown at Comic-Con. Regardless of whether that’s true or not, chances are there’s no place else you’ll see this, so keep it in mind when you get to San Diego.
If you’re hoping to just see White performing, keep checking StubHub for concert tickets.

Daughtry Prepares For 13 Theatre and Club Shows

Daughtry is heading out on the road...and this time around the band has several intimate locations marked on their tour book.  The upcoming August run supports the forthcoming release, Leave This Town, which officially drops on July 14.  To add a touch of sweetness to the deal, the first 50 fans from each market hosting the tour that pre-order the album will receive a free ticket.  Sounds like a slammin’ deal.  The tour kicks off in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. at the House of Blues on Aug. 2.  They will also stop off in Boston; Columbus, Ohio; Chicago; Minneapolis; Nashville, Memphis; Houston; Denver; Phoenix; Los Angeles and San Francisco.  The tour concludes in Las Vegas at Pure on Aug. 22.

Don’t miss out on the magic of a live show and catch the latest sounds from this popular band by going directly to Stubhub to purchase Daughtry tickets for you and all of your buddies.  This is a concert that you surely will not want to miss!

Revisiting the Walkman

Do you hear a coughing, wheezing sound coming from your closet? It might be your ancient Walkman trying to revive itself on its 30th birthday. No need to throw a party—the BBC already has. They gave a 13-year-old (who is quite attached to his iPod, thank you very much) a first generation Walkman, and asked him to carry it around for a week. He had a tape—no word on what was actually on the tape—and quickly discovered the many downsides to what was once the apogee of technology. Clunky buttons. No shuffle function. And generally poor sound quality and battery life.
Now here’s something that will really make you feel old: He didn’t figure out that there were two sides to the cassette tape until three days into this little experiment. Even more amusing, he wasn’t sure what the metal/normal switch was for—he thought it might be some sort of equalizer that made all your music sound more like “metal.” But in fact, all it does is switches between two kinds of tapes.
It’s a really amazing and nostalgia-inspiring read, so check out the article here. Then look for concert tickets to all those old bands you used to listen to. They’re probably still touring.

U2 covers MJ

He was the biggest pop star of the late 20th Century. There are some who would argue he was bigger than Elvis. So it goes without saying that Michael Jackson is getting a keen amount of appreciation these days. It seems like every band and artist has a story to share about the infamous King of Pop, and U2 is now showing their appreciation in a way that should please fans of both artists. They’re kicked off their world tour the other night, including two Michael Jackson covers in their set—“Man in the Mirror” and “Don’t Stop (‘Till You Get Enough).” NME has a write-up right now of all the songs they played during their set, plus some fan footage that has appeared online. It should blow away any U2 fans who are eager to see the band live on this upcoming tour.
The Michael Jackson covers might be a little bit of a surprise, simply because U2 doesn’t really sound a lot like Jackson in terms of music. But it seems it pleased fans all the same. Get concert tickets to one of their shows and you might be able to celebrate the King of Pop with them.

Jay-Z Inks Roc Nation Deals with Sony and Atlantic

Brooklyn-bred rapper and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z has signed a distribution deal for his Roc Nation label with Sony and a one-off deal with Atlantic for his upcoming new album. On Friday (June 29), Jay-Z told Billboard.com, “Sony is Roc Nation. That’s where Roc Nation’s going through” and also clarified that his Atlantic contract is solely for Blueprint 3, which will arrive September 11. Said Beyonce’s husband, “That’s pretty much just for this specific album. Roc Nation—we’re experts in marketing and making records. But we do distribution deals. On this one, we’re working directly with the Atlantic staff, which is Julie [Greenwald], Lyor [Cohen], Kevin [Liles] and Kyse [Mike Kyser]. For the rest of the Roc Nation artists, we did a distribution deal with Sony.”

Jay-Z revealed to Billboard.com that he initially approached Def Jam with the same distribution deal four years ago but the label wasn’t having it. “You have to figure, this is like four years ago, and to them it was just like, ‘Are you crazy? No! Make a song!’ Yo me it was like, I’ve sold companies for huge amounts of money. I’m an entrepreneur—that’s what I’ve been all my life. I can’t just sit here and make records and not do anything else. Why wouldn’t you want to do this with me? I felt under-utilized,” said Jay-Z. The rapper opted to buy himself out of his Def Jam contract (reportedly for $5 million) rather than release Blueprint 3 with the label.

Get all your Jay-Z tickets at StubHub.

Three-Day Halloween Festival for Phish

Although the location has yet to be announced, legendary jam band Phish has announced plans to perform a three-day festival during Halloween weekend. Trey Anastasio & Co. revealed their upcoming festival plans via a message reading “Save the date … A 3-day festival 10/30, 10/31. 11/01” on the band’s Web site. The news comes on the heels of two performances by Phish at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee earlier in June and a three-night stint in Hampton, VA in March.

Phish is readying its new album, Joy, which was produced by Steve Lillywhite and will arrive later his summer. The band just finished a four-week tour of the States and will resume their road trip at the end of July. Phish’s upcoming concert dates:

July 30, 31, August 1, 2: Morrison, CO (Red Rocks Amphitheatre)
August 5: Mountain View, CA (Shoreline Amphitheatre)
August 7, 8: George, WA (The Gorge)
August 11: Chicago, IL (Toyota Park)
August 13: Darien Lake, NY (Dairen Lake Performing Arts Center)
August 14: Hartford, CT (Meadows Music Theater)
August 15: Columbia, MD (Merriweather Post Pavilion)
August 16: Saratoga Springs, NY (Saratoga Performing Arts Center)

Get all your Phish tickets at StubHub.

The Pixies are playing Doolittle—straight through

We’ve seen a rash of bands picking a best album and playing it straight through in the recent past, largely at All Tomorrow’s Parties events. That now includes The Pixies, who are going to be touring Europe soon, and have agreed to play through what is largely considered their best album, Doolittle, along with all its B-sides and singles. From Pitchfork: “At these shows, the band will play every song from Doolittle, along with all the associated B-sides. And you know what that means: “Debaser”, “Here Comes Your Man”, “La La Love You”, “Gouge Away”. Doolittle turns 20 this year, after all. It’s almost old enough to buy beer! In a statement, frontman Black Francis had this to say: ‘We wanted to do something special for Doolittle’s 20th anniversary, and we thought this was a good opportunity to play all of the songs from that album, something we don’t normally do at a regular gig.’”
That’s pretty exciting stuff, especially if you’ve never seen the Pixies live before. Considering they broke up in the early ‘90s, there’s a pretty good chance you haven’t, unless you caught them on a recent tour. If you’ll be in Europe, you might be able to hear them. Otherwise, keep looking for concert tickets on StubHub.