Concert Dates, Concert Tour News, Artist Information

AVC releases their best of the decade list

With just a little over a month left in the decade, the AV Club has published their end of the decade list, and it’s got some shockers on it. To begin with, it’s surprisingly much more “pop” than Pitchfork’s—that is to say, there are more bands you have actually heard of on here—but it seems pretty complete, too. The biggest surprise by far was seeing Radiohead’s Kid A coming in at number three, simply because it seems to be the default number one for many lists.

But the staff’s list puts Kanye West’s The College Dropout ahead of it, and The White Stripes’ White Blood Cells at number one. That’s earned some rage in the comments section, but looking over the track listing for White Blood Cells should offer a decent reminder of how great that record is, and why the White Stripes earned so much buzz at the beginning of the decade to begin with. The Kanye pick has confounded quite a few people, as well, but once again, there’s a lot on his debut to be impressed with.

In any case, look over the list, pick out your favorite bands and see if they’re still touring. You can find concert tickets at StubHub.

John Mayer Poised for No. 1 Billboard Showing

Billboard.com reports that John Mayer’s new album Battle Studies is set to debut at the coveted No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart. According to some industry sources, Mayer’s new set could move anywhere between 275,000 and 300,000 copies by Sunday (Nov. 22). If Battle Studies does top the chart, it will be Mayer’s second album to do so, as his 2003 album Heavier Things landed at No. 1 in 2003 and sold 317,000 copies. Battle Studies is the follow-up to the singer/songwriter’s 2006 album Continuum, which debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 2 with 300,000 copies sold.

Mayer’s Battle Studies is among nine other albums poised to debut in the Top 20 on the Billboard 200 chart next week. Billboard.com predicts that Casting Crowns’ Until the Whole World Hears may be next to top the chart with as many as 175,000 copies sold while 50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct and Norah Jones’ The Fall are expected to make strong debuts, selling an estimated 150,000 apiece. Other albums predicted to do well on the charts are Justin Bieber’s debut My World, American Idol winner Kris Allen’s debut, Them Crooked Vultures’ debut, Leona Lewis’ sophomore set Echo and Paul McCartney’s new live album Good Evening New York City.

Get your John Mayer tickets at StubHub.

An astronaut with pancakes for a head.

A soccer player running from a spinning axe. A knife fight. Double-hamburger skateboard wheels.

No, this isn’t a Dadaist experiment in blogging. Those are all images that you can expect to see in Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck’s new music video for “Heaven Can Wait,” and it is awesome. Pitchfork is currently hosting the video, which features the lovely and talented French chanteuse with indie-rocker Beck along with a lot of really, really wacky stuff. Like giant walnuts and a nacho bomb. Really, how can you not watch this?

Apparently, it’s all promotion for Gainsbourg’s new album, IRM, which Beck produced. The singer, whose father was the infamous French pop star/lothario Serge Gainsbourg, has been famous in her homeland for a while now, but only in the past few years has broken into the American public spotlight. While she’s a very talented singer, she’s mostly made her name in the film business, appearing in Michel Gondry’s whimsical The Science of Sleep as well as the much more serious and disturbing Lars von Trier film Antichrist, which polarized critics at Cannes this year.

In any case, if you have the chance to see her live, get concert tickets at StubHub.

King Khan and BBQ issue statement about drug arrest

So last week, news broke on Pitchfork that garage rockers King Khan and BBQ were stopped at a safety checkpoint in Kentucky that resulted in their tour manager being arrested for possession of magic mushrooms. Pitchfork reports that the two musicians have issued a statement concerning the arrest, noting that the tour manager, Kristin Klein, was not aware of the contraband at the time and that the validity of her driver’s license was “indeterminable” at the time as well.

Nevertheless, she entered a second degree guilty plea and has to provide proof of her license to the authorities on April 2. That’s caused a brief interruption in the touring schedule: “King Khan & BBQ Show are driving through the night to make their Los Angeles show at Troubadour tomorrow. Tonight’s show in Phoenix is cancelled, but all further west coast dates and will to be honored. Kristin Klein is safe with the band and continuing her tenure as tour manager.”

Seems like things were generally ironed out, though Klein can’t be happy about how they turned out. In any case, this is an awesome band to catch live, so get concert tickets at StubHub and see them while they’re on tour.

Hot Chip Unveils North American Tour Dates

Hot Chip announced a batch of North American tour dates in support of the group’s new album, One Life Stand, reports Pollstar.com. The British electro-pop import will kick off its North American jaunt with a show at Oakland’s Fox Theater on April 16 and remain on the road through April 24, when they play Washington, D.C.‘s 9:30 Club. Hot Chip’s other North American dates include an April 19 gig at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre, an April 20 show at Toronto’s Kool Haus and an April 22 concert at New York’s Terminal 5. The xx will open for Hot Chip on the group’s road trip, which will also feature a live drummer along for the ride. Prior to those dates, Hot Chip will play shows in their native U.K. from Feb. 12-27 followed by a one-off gig in Brussels on March 7.

The track list for One Life Stand, Hot Chip’s fourth album:

1. “Thieves In The Night”
2. “Hand Me Down Your Love”
3. “I Feel Better”
4. “One Life Stand”
5. “Brothers”
6. “Slush”
7. “Alley Cats”
8. “We have Love”
9. “Keep Quiet”
10. “Take It In”

Get your Hot Chip tickets at StubHub.

Lady GaGa Keeping Busy

Fans are eagerly awaiting the Nov. 23 release of Lady GaGa’s much anticipated album The Fame Monster...but in the meantime, the singer seems to be popping up everywhere.  She is scheduled to kick off the U.S. portion of her “Monster Ball” tour at the Citi Performing Arts Center in Boston next month, where the winners from MySpace Music’s latest contest will be flown in for the evening.  These lucky fans will have the chance to sit in on rehearsals, interview GaGa and film the show.  At the end of the evening, footage from the aspiring cinematographers will be turned in to be edited together into a “comprehensive concert piece shot by her biggest fans.”

Also in GaGa news, “Video Phone,” the much anticipated collaboration between her and Beyonce hit MTV at midnight, and fans, this is hot!  Don’t believe me, check it out for yourself!

Don’t miss seeing the eccentric lady live onstage.  Get your Lady GaGa tickets from StubHub as soon as possible.

Dr. Cocker?

Jarvis Cocker opted for a career in music instead of law or medical, but his former university is apparently just as proud of the alumni.  Sheffield Hallam University awarded the musician an honorary doctorate during a ceremony at Sheffield Hall yesterday.  Cocker was appreciative of the honor but also poked fun a bit, reassuring fans that “don’t worry, I won’t open a surgery.”  He continued by saying, “But I guess if you are a songwriter maybe I could have some kind of musical surgery.  If you had a song with a swollen chorus, or a varicose verse, or if you need a little bit of help I could try and heal your song for you.”

The singer completed an access course at the school before he moved onto Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design in London.  Don’t miss seeing the former Pulp frontman live onstage.  Get your Jarvis Cocker tickets today from StubHub!

The Strokes’ ‘This Is It’ Tops NME’s Greatest Albums Of The Decade List

The Strokes 2001 debut album This Is It topped NME magazine’s Greatest Albums Of The Decade List (issue out tomorrow, Nov. 18). A panel comprised of musicians, producers, writers and record label heads voted the New York’s band to top list, while the Libertines, Arctic Monkeys and Arcade Fire also did well on the list. The Libertines’ 2002 debut effort Up The Bracket ranked No. 2, Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR came in at No. 3 and the Arctic Monkeys’ 2006 debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not ranked No. 4.

The Top 20 of NME’s Greatest Albums Of The Decade List:

1. The Strokes: This Is It
2. The Libertines: Up The Bracket
3. Primal Scream: XTRMNTR
4. Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever To Tell
6. PJ Harvey: Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
7. Arcade Fire: Funeral
8. Interpol: Turn On The Bright Lights
9. The Streets: Original Pirate Material
10. Radiohead: In Rainbows
11. At The Drive In: Relationship Of Command
12. LCD Soundsystem: Sound Of Silver
13. The Shins: Wincing The Night Away
14. Radiohead: Kid A
15. Queens Of The Stone Age: Songs For The Deaf
16. The Streets: A Grand Don’t Come For Free
17. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
18. The White Stripes: Elephant
19. The White Stripes: White Blood Cells
20. Blur: Think Tank

Get concert tickets to see any of these bands at StubHub.

Dan Deacon expects to cut back on touring

Dan Deacon fans—along with Deacon himself—experienced a scare recently when the freaky and fun noisemaker had to cancel the last series of dates on his tour due to intensifying back pain. Apparently he’s experiencing acute sciata, a kind of back ailment that can be pretty debilitating, especially if you’re trying to rock out on a venue floor and get people dancing around you.

Pitchfork has a recent update by Deacon reprinted on their newsblog, and while he seems to be okay, he said that he’s been really hurting his body through relentless touring. Ultimately, he’s going to have to cut back a bit and pay more attention to his health. But the shows that were canceled he plans to re-play, so anyone who got concert tickets for those can look forward to seeing him again.

The account leading up to Deacon going to the ER for his pain is kind of scary: “about a week ago i started to feel a rather uncomfortable pain in the back of my left leg. at first it was only present when i was sitting but as time went on it started to get more and more painful when standing and eventually it hurt at all times, even when laying down. on wednesday evening the pain had come to a peak and it was impossible to bear and it was frightening, since i had no idea why this was happening.”

Let’s hope he gets better soon. In the future, get tickets for his shows at StubHub.

Pitchfork revisits Space Oddity

David Bowie recently re-released his breakthrough record, Space Oddity, which had a pretty twisty history. In reviewing the 40th anniversary edition—which includes a bonus disc packed with songs—Pitchfork’s review takes us through the history of the album, which was pretty interesting.

For starters, it was Bowie’s second official LP, which a lot of people don’t realize, and when it was initially released, it was a flop. Part of that had to do with a confusing name change: In the U.K., the album was titled David Bowie (his second self-titled album); in America, the label decided on calling it Man of Words/Man of Music. We kid you not. Someone thought that would sell. It didn’t.

After initially failing to gain notice, the single “Space Oddity” started playing incessantly on the radio, and that led to a re-release of the record in 1972, with the album retitled after the single (shrewd, Bowie). That worked pretty well, and while it’s a record that still sees the rock chameleon finding his footing, hardcore fans will be pressed to pick it up and hear Major Tom taking off into the stratosphere of music. If you want to see him live in the future, look for concert tickets at StubHub.