Concert Dates, Concert Tour News, Artist Information

Slash releasing a solo album!

While Axl Rose may have been the face and voice of Guns ’N’ Roses, the band’s image was perfected by Slash, the gangly guitarist with the jungle of hair hidden under a top hat. While many Guns ’N’ Roses fans are no doubt are tuned in to the hotly anticipated release of Chinese Democracy, Axl Rose’s baby (due to be birthed more than a decade after he began working on it), many will also be interested to know that Slash has a solo record coming out.

Most recently, Slash has made a name for himself performing in the supergroup Velvet Revolver. But Rolling Stone has a great interview with him, including video, that let’s him riff on everything from his time in Guns ’N’ Roses to his solo career to the reason why a David Bowie concert was one of his favorites. Read the interview here.

While he’s working on his own now, Guns ’N’ Roses fans can still see their favorite band live on tour. Concert tickets to their shows are sure to sell fast. Get Guns ’N’ Roses tickets at Stubhub.com now!

They’re Baaaack!

Now things will really heat up on the stage with the Backstreet Boys setting forth on an upcoming tour to start at the end of October.  The Backstreet Boys will begin in Reading, Pennsylvania at the Sovereign Center on October 30 and will continue their journey through other cities like Wallingford, Connecticut; Hamilton, Ontario and Prince George, British Columbia.  The Backstreet Boys are a well-known Grammy-nominated American pop group and they have had 13 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.  They mainly struck success in the late 1990’s.

What is perhaps most reassuring is that the Backstreet Boys are baaack!  They returned to the music scene officially in 2005, with their sound changing dramatically, offering a more guitar and piano driven pop rock sound.  The four member outfit includes Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and A.J. McLean.  Check out their current itinerary and book your spot at one of their upcoming shows by purchasing a pair of Backstreet Boys tickets from Stubhub.com.

Micheal Stipe, other musicians protest

Under the Radar magazine hit upon a hot topic when they decided to do a “protest issue.” Focusing on music and politics and the strange place where the two meet, they photographed a myriad number of musical artists, asking them to pose with different protest signs. The signs are autographed and auctioned off on eBay, and raise money for War Child, a charity that benefits children in war-torn areas of the world.

So what do these artists sound off on? Some chose various pet causes. Decemberist frontman Colin Meloy’s sign encourages subsidies for wind and solar power. Fleet Foxes’ sign pointed out “Capitalism i$ unethical (and we’re hypocrites).” Some were more whimsical: Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips encourages people to “just be a nice person,” a wonderful sentiment. My Morning Jacket’s sign says “Puppiez y Kittens,” with little hearts drawn around the words.

Micheal Stipe’s was rather fiery, reading “Things I Hate” on one side and “gutless puff adder journalists” on the other. Stipe’s never been known to mince words, and if you get concert tickets to see him and his band performing, you can hear more of his words. Get R.E.M. tickets at Stubhub.com.

Janet Jackson Postpones Montreal Show Due to Illness

During a soundcheck for her show at the Bell Centre Montreal last night (Sept. 29) Janet Jackson fell “suddenly ill” and was rushed to the hospital, according to her publicist. Jackson’s Montreal show is postponed until the pop star is released from the hospital and ready to perform. Jackson is currently under observation in a Montreal-area hospital but her people have yet to reveal any more information about her condition.

The promoter for last night’s show, Gillett Entertainment Group, assured fans that last night’s tickets will be honored for a make-up date to be announced. Some fans were already inside the venue when the news of the cancellation was announced. Jackson is slated to perform in Boston tomorrow night and there has been no announcement as to if that show will be postponed due to health issues as well. Jackson, who recently parted ways with her label, Island Def Jam, is currently on her Rock Witchu tour in support of her most recent album, Discipline.

Get your Janet Jackson tickets at Stubhub.com.

Austin City Limits photos available

Undoubtedly one of the most exciting and eclectic music festivals in the country, Austin City Limits draws some of the hottest artists on tour, as well as music media outlets like Pitchfork. Fortunately for those of us with neither the money nor time to visit, Pitchfork’s photographers provide weekend-after pictures of who was there.

There was plenty to look forward to this year, and everyone from Vampire Weekend to M. Ward and the Swell Season made an appearance. There are some great shots of David Byrne and his back-up dancers and vocalists, all of them dressed in white. There’s also a brilliant picture of M. Ward’s guitarist. It’s not clear who that is, but he’s got great taste in T-shirts.

Of all the ones who were there, you know you can still get concert tickets to David Byrne’s shows if you missed him. Look up David Byrne tickets at Stubhub.com.

Chinese Democracy is due to be released!

Exciting news for any Guns N’ Roses fan that’s maintained their interest in the band’s album in development for the past decade, Chinese Democracy. According to Billboard, it appears that the record is finally getting a release date—and it’s sometime this year! That’s right—2008 will be the year in which you get to rock out with Guns N’ Roses again.

Billboard also reveals that Best Buy will be the exclusive distributor of the new record, so you’d better locate the nearest store to you now. It’s sure to sell out soon after becoming available. The album infamously cost millions to record and has been in the works since the mid-’90s. One of the new tracks on the record, “Shackler’s Revenge,” recently became available on Rock Band 2. If you absolutely can’t wait until the end of the year, then you can pick up the game and play along to the new single.

The other option is getting concert tickets to one of the band’s shows and hoping they play some new material there. Guns N’ Roses tickets are now available at Stubhub.com.

Springsteen Will be at Halftime Show!

Bruce Springsteen will be adding a star-element to this year’s Super Bowl, as he will be the performing act during half-time.  The event will be taking place in Tampa, Florida, and just as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers wowed fans, Springsteen will likely bring everyone to their feet.  In the past, musicians that have appeared as the halftime act have included not only Tom Petty, but the Rolling Stones, U2, Paul McCartney and Prince.

Bruce Springsteen is certainly a seasoned singer and will bring the element of down-to-earth all American sound to the stadium.  The Super Bowl is arguably the biggest event watched in the sports industry and the halftime show itself is watched by millions of people, especially when there is a big name musician or band set to take the stage.  Be sure to check out this year’s show and get your Bruce Springsteen tickets from Stubhub.com.

N.E.R.D. and Mars Volta Kick off A.C.L.

The seventh annual Austin City Limits festival began Sept. 26 and Mars Volta, N.E.R.D., Vampire Weekend and the Swell Season were among the bands playing on the opening day. Among the Mars Volta set list were “The Widow” and “Goliath,” as the band took the stage as the first day-headliner. N.E.R.D. brought fans up on stage earlier that day, urging them to dance along to “Lapdance,” “Everyone Nose” and “She Wants to Move” in a melody that fused the two latter songs with the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” tune. N.E.R.D. frontman Pharrell Williams also urged fans to vote, regardless of their party affiliation, in the upcoming election.

The until recently unknown act the Swell Season (who gained notoriety for the film Once) proved themselves to be worthy to perform at A.C.L. with “People Get Ready” and a rendition of Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks.” Indie darlings Vampire Weekend drew a huge crowd with performances of “Oxford Comma,” “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” “M79” and “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance;” the band also debuted a new song tentatively titled “White SKy.” M. Ward appeared solo (taking a break from touring with Zoey Deshanel as She & Him) and Yeasayer also took the stage earlier on, as did Hot Chip. The festival continued the following day with Beck, Conor Oberst, MGMT, the Black Keys and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss.

Get your tickets to Austin City Limits at Stubhub.com.

Bloc Party’s latest album cover is revealed!

Bloc Party fans have been eagerly awaiting the band’s newest LP, Intimacy. Well, the album’s cover has finally been revealed, and it couldn’t be more fitting. Pitchfork has a massive image of the album’s cover, which is a close-up of two lips about to lock in embrace. It’s a vast improvement over the placeholder album cover that, for a moment, Bloc Party fans thought they were going to get (it was just a black cover with the band’s name on it).

The album is due out Oct. 28, and new material that will be on the record can be found on Bloc Party’s MySpace. If you haven’t heard their new sound, then you need to head over there. Songs like “Mercury” take the band’s trademark skronk and chicken-scratch guitar hooks and blend them with a synthesizer-based, more danceable sound.

If you were hoping to hear them live, you can still get concert tickets for their shows abroad. They’ll be in England, Brazil, and Australia in the next few months. Get Bloc Party tickets at Stubhub.com.

Muxtape will be coming back in a new format

Though this blog tends to follow the news about artists—both on large labels and small independents—the recent news about Muxtape bears mentioning. Muxtape was a site that allowed users to upload their own mixtapes to its servers. It’s appeal was how simple it was to use, look at and listen to, and that it allowed music fans to share both mainstream and independent bands with others.

Naturally, this violated all kinds of copyright laws, and incurred the wrath of the RIAA and the major labels, who contacted the site’s owner. The site has been down for a while, and now has a long notice telling the story of the site and what it’s potential future is. Apparently, not long after he created it, the owner was contacted by both the RIAA and majors—and it seemed like he could make a deal with the majors. The short version is, the deal fell through. It’s been pulled for now, but will come back as a way for small independent artists to distribute their own music. If you follow the back-and-forth tussle with copyright infringement issues that’s been going on since the dawn of .mp3s, the notice on Muxtape is an illuminating read.

If you’re looking for a live show, you can find concert tickets at Stubhub.com.