Concert Dates, Concert Tour News, Artist Information

Calle 13 Takes Home Five Latin Grammy Awards

Last night, in Sin City, Calle 13 rolled a lucky pair of dice.  The popular Puerto Rican duo won all five awards they were nominated for at the Latin Grammy Awards ceremony.  Calle 13 won the honor for Album of the Year for their unique and innovative collaborations and for their politically-minded and spirited brand of reggaeton.  Lead singer Rene Perez, also known as “Residente,” dedicated the award to the famous Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa, who recently died in October at the age of 74.  Perez said, “May she rest in peace.  An applause for Mercedes Sosa, please.”  Later on, Perez elaborated on his admiration for Sosa by saying, “She is a voice who should never die, and young people should listen to her.  In an era of dictatorship and difficult times, she wasn’t afraid.  That’s why I dedicated it to her.”

Don’t miss out the next time that this Latin pair roll into a city near you.  You can get your Calle 13 tickets today from StubHub.

MTV EMAs Honor Beyonce

MTV hosted its European Music Awards in Berlin, Germany yesterday (Nov. 5), and former Destiny’s Child lead singer Beyonce walked away with the most awards. Held at O2 World Arena in the German city in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 16th EMAs kicked off with a free performance by Irish rock band U2 at the Brandenburg Gate. Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z joined Bono & Co. for the performance as a special guest. German pop-rock outfit Tokio Hotel performed their hit single “World Behind My Wall” and was honored for the third time (after receiving awards in 2007 and 2008), beating out Green Day, Jonas Brothers, Kings of Leon and Black Eyed Peas for Best Group.

Beyonce won three awards at the EMAs: Best Singer, Best Song (for “Halo”) and Best Video (for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”). When accepting the Best Video award, Beyonce told the crowd, “There’s only one person I want to thank and that’s Jay-Z, who put a ring on my finger.” Jay-Z won the award for Best Urban Act later on in the night and told the audience, “I am looking forward to the time when all the walls fall and it’s all only about music.”

Get your Beyonce tickets at StubHub.

Paste declares the 50 best albums of the decade

Paste is a pretty well celebrated arts and entertainment magazine with excellent taste in music. So it comes as no surprise that they have compiled a hell of an end of the decade list, assembling what they believe are the 50 best records of the past 10 years. Topping the list is Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois (better known as Come On and Feel the Illinoise), his amazing tribute to the great state of the Midwest. Chicago figures predominantly into the album, of course, but Stevens finds plenty of subject matter to write about, from history to Superman (who is known in comic books for living in Metropolis, which is also a real city in Illinois) and a lot of other exciting facts and figures.

It’s kind of like a geeky tourist guide and love letter to the Midwest. Paste includes the album via Lala, so feel free to play some of the songs on there and give it a listen. And while he isn’t touring now, in the future, if you see Stevens hitting the road, make sure to look for concert tickets at StubHub.

Devo had to earn Mick Jagger’s satisfaction

Spinner has an awesome little rock anecdote up today about recording their 1980 debut record, the brilliant Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! The album opens with the band’s classic, weird and wonderful version of the Stones song “Satisfaction.” But in order to do that, the band had to actually play a recording of the cover for Mick Jagger, giving him a sense of what it was like before he approved the rights to include it.

Devo bassist Gerald Casale adds that this was back in the days “when people took intellectual property seriously.” He and Mark Mothersbaugh went to present the song, meeting Mick at his lawyer’s stately office. They were incredibly nervous that it would be rejected—“We would have been so crushed, crestfallen…It was cold and raining outside and the fire was going and he started dancing around in front of the fireplace going ‘I like it! I like it!’ We were like ‘Oh f—-. It’s Mick Jagger and he’s dancing and saying “I like it.” It was great.”

The band still tours and still plays “Satisfaction” for their crowds. Get concert tickets at StubHub next time they’re on the road.

New Beatles USB drive coming out

Pitchfork has a posting up today about the Beatles reissues, which are apparently going to be released in a digital format. Apparently, you’ll be able to purchase an apple-shaped USB drive with all the reissues on it. This is clearly an attempt to satisfy modern listeners who have complained for a long while about the Fab Four not being available on iTunes (because people are willing to shell out for Beatles stuff on CD or vinyl).

Pitchfork has an image of the drive, and we have to say, it doesn’t look very good. It’s not really so much apple-shaped as Christmas ornament-shaped. Also, this little drive will set you back $300. That’s some serious moolah, though you are getting a collection of some of the best pop music ever recorded. It might be a good idea to get it if you’re a hardcore Beatles fan and really, really want their stuff in a digital format. Although the AV Club recently stumbled across an alternative outlet for the Beatles music. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Anyways, there are plenty of Beatles cover bands still performing, too, and you can get concert tickets to see them at StubHub.

Sufjan Stevens questions the relevance of the album

There has been a lot of chatter on the Internet about the continued relevance of the physical album, with illegal downloading—and just downloading in general—changing the industry profoundly. Pitchfork caught a great interview between indie singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens and Paste magazine, in which Stevens seems to cop to experiencing a kind of musician’s crisis of faith.

Stevens, you’ll recall, half-jokingly proposed a series of concept albums, with each record being about one of the 50 states. He got through two of them—Michigan and Illinois (with the latter having the awesome title of Come On, Feel the Illinois)—and hasn’t done a state album since. In the Paste interview, he says it was definitely just a joke, but he also says the following: “I’m wondering, why do people make albums anymore when we just download? Why are songs like three or four minutes, and why are records 40 minutes long? They’re based on the record, vinyl, the CD, and these forms are antiquated now. So can’t an album be eternity, or can’t it be five minutes? ... I no longer really have faith in the album anymore. I no longer have faith in the song.”

Going into the new decade, this is a crucial question that the music industry—including everyone from artists and labels, but also including music buyers—will be attempting to answer. One thing that’s not going away? Concert tickets on StubHub.

Lil’ Wayne at the Center of Another Court Battle

Things haven’t been easy for Lil’ Wayne.  The rapper recently pleaded guilty to attempted weapon possession, and now it appears that he is being sued for copyright infringement by a guy who has an issue with Weezy and Birdman’s 2006 album, Like Father, Like Son.  Thomas Marasciullo says that his voice was used without his permission on the album.  Specially he points to the tune, “Respect,” as well as other tracks from Birdman’s 2007 album 5 Star Stunna.  Marasciullo admitted that Lil’ Wayne and Birdman had asked him to record some “Italian style spoken word recordings” a few years back, but apparently he was not aware at the time that they were going to be used on the albums.

Be sure to catch the rapper when things lighten up a bit!  You can always find a great selection of Lil’ Wayne tickets from the best ticket source on the web: StubHub.

U.S. Leg of Pixies ‘Doolittle’ Tour Begins in L.A.

Last night (Nov. 4) the Pixies began the U.S. leg of their Doolittle Tour at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Palladium, performing a set list featuring songs from the band’s iconic 1989 album as well as some B-sides and fan favorites. As Frank Black & Co. took the stage, a screen behind them displayed scenes from Un Chien Andalou, Luis Bunuel’s surrealist film, and then the band kicked things off with a batch of B-sides like “Bailey’s Wall” and “Weird At My School” before delving into Doolittle. Bassist Kim Deal spoke to the audience throughout the night, while frontman Black was largely silent when not performing, reports NME.com. Deal offered updates to the audience saying “These are B-sides” throughout the performance and telling the crowd, “We’re about halfway through side one” later on. Pixies will play two more shows in Hollywood (Nov. 5 and 6) before hitting the road in the States.

Pixies Nov. 4 set list:

1. “Dancing The Manta Ray”
2. “Weird At My School”
3. “Bailey’s Walk”
4. “Manta Ray”
5. “Debaser”
6. “Tame”
7. “Wave Of Mutilation”
8. “I Bleed”
9. “Here Comes Your Man”
10. “Monkey Gone to Heaven”
11. “Mr. Grieves”
12. “Crackity Jones”
13. “La La Love You”
14. “There Goes My Gun”
15. “Hey”
16. “Silver”
17. “Gouge Away”
18. “Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf)”
19. “Into The White”
20. “Isla De Encanta”
21. “Gigantic”
22. “Where Is My Mind?”

Get your Pixies tickets at StubHub.

More North American Dates for Devendra Banhart

Devendra Banhart is set to embark on a tour in support of his latest album, What Will We Be, later this month, and has added additional dates onto his road trip. According to NME.com Banhart will play a show at Brooklyn, New York’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 23 while touring throughout the States and Canada. What Will We Be is the cosmic folk rocker’s major label debut, released via Warner Brothers late last month, and the follow-up to his 2007 album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon.

Devendra Banhart’s upcoming tour dates:

Nov. 16: Chicago, IL (Vic Theatre)
Nov. 17: Ann Arbor, MI (The Ark)
Nov. 19: Burlington, VT (Higher Ground)
Nov. 20: Boston, MA (Berklee)
Nov. 22: New York, NY (Town Hall)
Nov. 23: Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall of Williamsburg)
Nov. 24: Philadelphia, PA (Electric Factory)
Nov. 25: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
Nov. 27: Toronto, Ontario (Queen Elizabeth Theatre)

Get your Devandra Banhart tickets at StubHub.

No More Sublime

Yesterday, a judge ordered that a group of former Sublime members stop using the band name without approval from the deceased lead singer’s estate.  Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh went on to form the Long Beach Dub Allstars after Bradley Nowell’s death from a heroin overdose in 1996, but earlier this year, with new singer Rome Ramirez, they started performing under the moniker “Sublime” again.  Norwell’s estate took notice and they won a preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz, who ordered the trio to stop performing as Sublime.  Shortly after the ruling, Gaugh and Wilson issued a statement that said: “Our goal continues to be sharing the music and message of Sublime with all of our fans around the world.  We intend to take the court’s advice and work on a business solution to this issue.  We hope the estate follows suit so the music of Sublime can live on and be accessible to everyone.”

To see the group you can still check out StubHub for Sublime tickets, but a new name will likely be popping up soon!