Concert Dates, Concert Tour News, Artist Information

Mac is Back

No, not John McCain…but Fleetwood Mac, who has just added a whole new slew of performance dates for the month of June.  New stops will occur in Salt Lake City, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Milwaukee, Baltimore and New Orleans.  The lineup consists of Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.  The group has been on the road since their first concert date on March 1st at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, PA.  Critics and fans have been more than thrilled with the band’s emphatic return to the stage, and have been drawing in thousands of fans from across the U.S.

Other stops for Fleetwood Mac include:

New York City: June 11

Atlantic City: June 13

Manchester, NH: June 16

Uncasville, CT: June 17

Nashville: June 19

For a complete list of their tour dates and concert schedule, be sure to visit Stubhub.com and tell all of your friends to join you at one of their upcoming concerts.  Purchase your Fleetwood Mac tickets for 2009 and rock on!

Animal Collective remix Yeah Yeah Yeahs song with mixed results

What the heck was Animal Collective thinking? That’s what most people will probably say after hearing their latest remix, a rather strange version of the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs song “Zero.” That track is a pulse-pounding, fun, synth-ridden hit, begging for a more danceable remix, possibly, but not the langurous and trippy remix that the Collective gave it. It seems to depend on your tolearance for their music in the first place. Sometimes, Animal Collective’s songs can be very, very slowly paced and tranquil. It’s good music for listening to on a lazy day when you just want to sit and think, wonder, reminisce, etc.

But Pitchfork sums up their “Zero” remix accurately: “...they could’ve easily thrown Karen O’s vocals over something like “Summertime Clothes” and we all would’ve squealed like idiots…but I’m pretty sure that if Animal Collective’s idea of “getting their leather on” happens to be an experiment in patience this sexless and tedious, maybe someone should get to work on that “Summertime Clothes” thing after all.”

Eesh. Not a recommendation. But the original version of “Zero” is awesome. What you need to do to appreciate it is get concert tickets and hear it live. Get Yeah Yeah Yeahs tickets at StubHub.com.

Fifth No. 1 Album for Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is on track to score his fifth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with Together Through Life, with industry prognosticators suggesting the Columbia-released effort will sell over 100,000 copies within its first week. Dylan’s last studio album, 2006’s Modern Times, also rose to the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 192,000 in its first week. In 1974 Dylan’s Planet Waves became his first No. 1 album and the effort was followed by two more chart-topping efforts, 1975’s Blood on the Tracks and 1976’s Desire.

Dylan’s Together Through Life also leads the Nielsen SoundScan Building chart which was released on April 29. Nielsen SoundScan’s sales tracking week runs from Monday through Sunday of each week. Trans World Entertainment, iTunes, Borders, Best Buy, Target and Anderson Merchandisers are the seven merchants who report to Nielsen SoundScan’s Building chart and they comprise about 60% of all U.S. album sales.

Get all your Bob Dylan tickets at StubHub.com.

Hey! What’s Camera Obscura listening to?

No doubt you’ve been sitting at home or work or wherever it is you people read this, thinking to yourself, “I wonder what the members of Camera Obscura are listening to right now?”

Well, now you know. Pitchfork has a neat little Q&A with Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura, who talks about not just what she’s listening to at the moment, but what movies she’s into, what she’s recently purchased, and what favorite place her band has recently performed in. Although they have a tough time getting some firm answers out of her on some questions.

One Obscure Band I Think Should Be More Popular

“I’m not really that up on my local bands, to be honest, so I don’t really know who deserves what. I think things come to people when they should. I’m not really into thinking some deserve more than what they have.”

That’s a nice answer, but not exactly as exciting as some fans might have hoped for. Not nearly as exciting as admitting a fan declared that they’d take a bullet for her.

Anyways, read more here. Or get Camera Obscura tickets, which can be found along with other concert tickets on StubHub.com.

Michael Jackson’s stuff, the umpteenth chapter

By now you’ve probably seen several collections of stuff from Michael Jackson’s recent (suspended) auction. Neverland Ranch is indeed playground as much as home for the aging popstar, and considering how reclusive he is, everyone wants to see a bit of his life. Internet celebrity and uber-nerd Wil Wheaton directed BoingBoing’s attention to a truly superior photographic slideshow that captures a lot of the stranger detritus in Jacko’s collection. Everything from the artwork to the video games will probably keep you in a state of awe. You might also be a little weirded out. Fair warning.

Among the more disturbing objects are paintings that capture Jackson at his most regal, artwork by Macaulay Culkin, and not very realistic looking, life-sized figurines of gap-toothed children. There’s a pretty large gap between the man’s stuff and life and the man’s music—the latter of which seems flawless. The one similarity? In both cases, there’s an abundance of it: He has a vast collection of things, and a vast library of hits.

Looking to hear some of those hits? Jackson’s going to be on tour soon, and concert tickets will be available. Get Michael Jackson tickets at StubHub.com.

Austin City Limits Lineup Announced

2009’s Austin City Limits Music Festival lineup has been announced with top headliners of the event scheduled as: the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam the Beastie Boys and Kings of Leon.  The music festival takes place October 2-4 in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas.  The popular event features 130 bands playing on eight stages and with musical genres ranging from pop to country, to indie to folk, to hip hop to blues, gospel and   reggae.  Other artists that will be spending some time on stage include: Ben Harper and Relentless7, John Legend, Mos Def, Sonic Youth, Flogging Molly, Arctic Monkeys and The Decemberists.

Tickets to the Austin City Limits Festival often sell out quickly each year.  This is a music event that you will want to attend with all of your closest friends, so keep up to date with all of the latest news and information by going to Stubhub.com and purchasing your own pair of Austin City Limits Festival tickets before they all run out!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs on tour!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs fans have been very patient, waiting for the band to announce some American dates. If they weren’t around Indio around the time of Coachella a few weekends back, then they haven’t seen the indie rockers in their cities. But in the very near future, that’s going to chance. Pitchfork notes that they’ve finally announced their American tour dates, and they’re looking quite extensive. The band will be attending three more major music festivals, including Sasquatch, Bonnaroo and All Points West. But then they’ve also got a wide range of appearances in cities across America (as well as Europe).

The band is overseas right now, and will be until May 23, when they come back for the Sasquatch festival. Upcoming tour dates are listed below. If you want to see them, get concert tickets. Yeah Yeah Yeahs tickets can be found at StubHub.com.

04-29 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
04-30 Paris, France -  Bataclan
05-02 Hasselt, Belgium - Polsslag Festival
05-03 Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
05-04 Milan, Italy - Magazzini Generale
05-06 Berlin,  Germany - Columbiahalle
05-08 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser Medis
05-10 Tel Aviv, Israel - Ramat Gan Football Stadium
05-23 Quincy, WA - Sasquatch Festival
05-26 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
05-27 Detroit, MI - Clutch Cargos
05-28 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
05-30 Minneapolis, MN -  First Ave.
05-31 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Club
06-02 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
06-03 Kansas City, MO - MO - The Beaumont
06-06 Mountain View, CA - Live 105 BFD
06-12 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
06-26 St. Gallen,  Switzerland - Open Air St. Gallen
06-27 Evreux, France - Le Rock dans tous Ses Etats
06-30 Vienna, Austria - Open Air
07-01 Prague, Czech Republic -  Roxy
07-03 Belfort, France - Eurokeenes Festival
07-04 Werchter, Belgium -  Werchter Festival
07-05 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-07 Hamburg, Germany - Docks
07-10 Balado, Scotland - T In The Park Festival
07-11 Dublin, Ireland - Oxegen Festival
07-31 Jersey City, NJ -  All Points West
08-29 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
08-30 Reading,  England - Reading Festival

Lilith Fair Is Back!

The Sarah McLachlan-created, female-oriented North American summer festival Lilith Fair is making a comeback in 2010. Nettwerk founder Terry McBride confirmed to Billboard.com that Lilith Fair, which ran from 1997 to 1999, will make its return next year, first making the announcement via an April 25 Twitter post. The festival will do a two-week tour in Britain and Europe sometime in 2010 and although no artists have been revealed, both McLachlan and Avril Lavigne are expected to release new studio albums in 2010 which has some speculating they will perform at the festival in support of their forthcoming efforts.

According to Billboard Boxscore, Lilith Fair grossed $52,937,965 and drew 1,616,500 people in a reported 104 shows between 1997-1999. Among the performers were the Dixie Chicks, Jewel, Sheryl Crow, Erykah Badu, Me’shell Ndegeocello and Sinead O’Connor. The festival’s official Web site also announced it would be returning next year.

While you wait for more news on Lilith Fair, get all your Concert tickets at StubHub.com.

Tinted Windows debut gets a review

Music fans all over the blogosphere have been carefully following the evolution of Tinted Windows, a new pop supergroup that has some very incongruous pairings. It’s got a Hanson brother (Taylor Hanson), a Fountains of Wayne member (Adam Schlesinger), a Cheap Trick member (Bun E. Carlos) and most notably, Smashing Pumpkins’ James Iha. Is your mind blown? It should be—although on the AV Club, which recently reviewed their debut album, a discussion is raging in the comments section about how surprising this really is. Some commenters don’t seem to surprised, noting there were links between the individual members (Hanson and Schlesinger were friends, Schlesinger and Iha worked ran a label together, Smashing Pumpkins were big fans of Cheap Trick).

In any case, the record receives a decent review, with the caveat that it’s not terribly original. What’s noted is that it’s pretty generic power-pop, but it’s also very fun power-pop, and it’s hard to not pop this disc into your car while driving around on a warm summer day.

If you haven’t seen the band live yet, now’s your chance. Get concert tickets! Tinted Windows tickets are available at StubHub.com.

Ben Folds indulges a new whim

Even if you don’t like the music of Ben Folds, you have to appreciate the indie singer-songwriter’s talent, genius, and bizarre whims. And he has indulged some very strange whims in the past, which sometimes have resulted in very interesting records. The last time he entered into a side project, it was with William Shatner, who is infamous for his vocal abilities (or lack thereof), and recorded an album called Has Been. Surprise! Critics loved it, and actually, fans did as well.

Now Folds has something new up his sleeve. He’s recorded a greatest hits album—but not any greatest hits album. That would be too straight forward. So he’s gone to various college a cappella groups (which you probably didn’t know existed at your college unless you were in them) and enlisted them to sing some of his greatest hits. Voila! Whim indulged, and lovely little record released. The AV Club gave it a lukewarm response, saying that some of the songs do work out quite well, while others not as much.

If you’re a diehard Folds fan, you probably want to check this out. But in any case, you should keep your eyes on concert tickets, which are going fast. Buy Ben Folds tickets at StubHub.com.