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Wilco Tickets – (The Album) Leads Wilco to More 2010 Dates
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tim McGraw Tickets – McGraw’s Sweet ‘Southern Voice’
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tim McGraw Tickets – McGraw Stays Busy in Music, Film
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Who Tickets – The Who Prepare for Super Bowl Halftime Performance
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tony Bennett Tickets – Still a Class Act after Seven-Plus Decades
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Concert Articles
Wilco Tickets – (The Album) Leads Wilco to More 2010 Dates
Wilco is gearing up for their latest spring session, jaunting off early February in Missoula, Mont. before hitting up 15 cities through mid-April. The group is supporting their synonymous album, the seventh studio set that has been defined by the guys as their most retrospective and definitive yet. “Most of us are feeling that this record, this lineup, epitomizes Wilco,” drummer Glenn Kotche said to LiveDaily months ago.
The lineup has developed such a confidence that they are giving away their singles for free; in exchange for a Haiti donation, the Windy City natives are offering up a few concert downloads. Yet another band on the long list of musical heroes helping out following the earthquake devastation that has misplaced millions, Wilco asked fans to make a $15 minimum donation to Oxfam or Doctors without Borders before getting downloads from their Keyspan Park performance of July or a London performance during November. Are you more interested in getting the real thing rather than just the downloaded version? Pick up Wilco tickets from http://www.stubhub.com.
“You’re getting a really nice, disparate mix of what we’re capable of as a band and what we’re interested in as a band,” Kotche said during his summer interview with LiveDaily. “I think that’s reflected in the new record.” The album, which appeared last June via Nonesuch, was the second album to get mainstream exposure following their breakthrough release Sky Blue Sky. The album debuted in the top five of Billboard’s Top 200 chart, the best placement for the alt-indie folk outfit. Following their nationwide tour, Wilco will spring toward Japan, New Zealand and Australia for the world of Wilco (the album) in April and May. Meanwhile, the group has been rumored to be recording throughout January while co-founder Jeff Tweedy repeats his current Billboard work in the Mavis Staples effort, recorded at Wilco’s studio.
Wilco formed when Uncle Tupelo, an outfit that included Jeff Tweedy and a sound that insisted it was seminal roots rock, disintegrated. Tweedy banded together his former sound studio buddies Ken Coomer, John Stirratt and Max Johnston for the renamed outfit Wilco, and issued their debut A.M. by 1995. It was the sophomore Being There that dismissed Tupelo’s former sound and created the Wilco original we know today – with fusions of psychedelia, pop, soul and classical R&B wind. It was at this time that Wilco saw the internal instability positioned as a longtime dilemma over the years, as one band member departed and others focused on their side project.
Still, the third effort Summerteeth proved just as successful as the critically acclaimed sophomore release, though commercially their sound had difficulty catching a large audience; following the 2000 Warner release Mermaid Avenue, Vol. 2 the group’s drummer and guitarist left, as did their label. The new group – Tweedy, Kotche, Stirratt and Leroy Bach – released the new Nonesuch Records release Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and toured in support. The group returned, albeit with more internal problems, in 2003 with A Ghost is Born, followed by Kicking Television: Live in Chicago. Sky Blue Sky appeared in 2007 and made the Billboard and international charts.
Tim McGraw Tickets – McGraw’s Sweet ‘Southern Voice’
With his “Southern Voice,” Tim McGraw has been making women swoon all over the world for years, but for his wife Faith Hill it isn’t just about that sexy vocal range that gets her – she’s also lucky enough to get a thoughtful man, as well. The country crooner, along with his wife Hill, was recently awarded the Courage Award at the 13th Annual Unforgettable Evening benefit dinner on Jan. 27 in Los Angeles.
The event helped to raise awareness and funds for the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund, as the husband-and-wife country duo have made significant contributions over the years. McGraw’s own charity Tug McGraw Foundation supports cancer research, while the couple’s other charity Neighbor’s Keeper strengthens communities through different projects. As McGraw shines in the limelight, he continues to keep up his Southern Voice Tour, with http://www.stubhub.com selling Tim McGraw tickets.
McGraw’s Billboard exposure for Southern Voice led to a tour extension late January as the Louisiana native added a few dates here and there to his already extensive promotion. The first single, “It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You,” made it to Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart at 13 while the album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 when it appeared in October. On his 10th studio set, McGraw’s longtime collaborator Byron Gallimore helped to get the singer out of trouble with his record label Curb with the new studio release. The first since 2007’s Let it Go, McGraw was publicly outraged when Curb released a greatest hits album in 2008 without his permission. Though everything has since calmed down, McGraw is under contract and has made no plans to leave his label since.
Born in Delhi, La., Samuel Timothy Smith was raised by his single mother, unaware of his famous father until years later (Tug McGraw was a star relief pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets). Following in his father’s footsteps, he attended Northeast Louisiana University on a baseball scholarship but moved to Nashville in 1989 to pursue music, a passion he rarely focused on while in school.
As a country bar resident, McGraw caught the attention of Curb Records and released the single “Welcome to the Club” in 1992. Yet it was the jingle still heard on the radio today – “Indian Outlaw” – that got McGraw mainstream recognition; a controversial hit that stereotyped Native Americans in a light-hearted way, “Indian Outlaw” appeared on the sophomore Not a Moment Too Soon. With the attention of the hit, more fans started listening to Not a Moment Too Soon tracks like “Don’t Take the Girl,” “Down on the Farm” and others, helping it to sell five million copies.
The next album saw McGraw supporting his sound in a nationwide trek with opening act Faith Hill, a glimmer of fate for the two country stars who wed following the tour, which helped to promote the next McGraw album, 1997’s Everywhere. As fans followed the two lovebirds around via their duets “It’s Your Love” and “Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me,” McGraw continued to draw attention with his own tracks like “Where the Green Grass Grows” and “Just to See You Smile.” The albums kept on coming as did the commercial success that kept the McGraw–Hill union powerful. Now the two celebrate their unheard of success with others through their charities and special performances.
Tim McGraw Tickets – McGraw Stays Busy in Music, Film
While some artists give up their music careers to pursue acting, country star Tim McGraw has decided he wants it all. And with his recent film and musical success, he got it. He was recently in the headlines because of his role in the Sandra Bullock film The Blind Side, which won Bullock a Golden Globe Award as well as People’s Choice and Screen Actors Guild Awards. He will be alongside another celebrated actor for his next film as well, as he is set to star in Love Don’t Let Me Down with Gwyneth Paltrow.
McGraw’s character in the upcoming Love Don’t Let Me Down is manager and husband to a former country star whose career has stalled. Garrett Hedlund plays a young singer/songwriter who is on the rise in the film. Paltrow plays McGraw’s wife in the film, but she also gets involved with Hedlund’s character. The film also stars Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester. Hedlund and McGraw have worked together before as father and son in Friday Night Lights. Paltrow does all of her own singing in the film, and The Boot reported that McGraw said, “She’s a really good singer. You’re going to be surprised at how well she sings.” Paltrow has sung before for a film, 2000’s Duets, where she sang with crooner Huey Lewis.
His busy film schedule doesn’t mean that McGraw has forgotten his country music roots. In fact, he is still on the top of the scene with his new single “Southern Voice.” The single slowly climbed the country charts, eventually landing at the top spot. The song is the title track off of his 2009 album, which also yielded the hit single “It’s a Business Doing Pleasure with You.” “Southern Voice” joins past top-charting singles for McGraw like “Don’t Take the Girl,” “Where the Green Grass Grows,” “My Best Friend,” “Grown Men Don’t Cry,” “The Cowboy in Me” and “Live Like You Were Dying.”
McGraw is known as much for his amazing live shows as his music, and the late winter and spring will see him hitting dates like Omaha, Little Rock, New Orleans, Detroit, San Diego, Tampa, Atlanta and many other cities. His tour features the up-and-coming group Lady Antebellum as an opener. One date that isn’t on his normal tour will take place on Feb. 14, when he takes part in the pre-race show at the 52nd Annual Daytona 500. With three Grammys, 14 ACM Awards and 11 CMA Awards, McGraw has surely earned an invite to perform at one of racing’s biggest events. Tim McGraw tickets go fast no matter where he goes, and they are available at StubHub.com.
As if he wasn’t already busy enough, McGraw is also continuing his career as an author. In 2008, he released the children’s book My Little Girl with the help of songwriter Tom Douglas. The story was about a little girl named Katie and her father, and the 2008 book went on to win a Mom’s Choice Award. McGraw is working on the second edition of the book, this one about Katie entering a talent competition. The new book is called Love Your Heart and will be on sale Feb. 16.
The Who Tickets – The Who Prepare for Super Bowl Halftime Performance
Following in the footsteps of some of rock ‘n’ roll’s biggest names like Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and U2, the Who is set to perform at the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 7. The Who’s Pete Townshend recently spoke with Billboard.com, revealing that the band will perform a “compact medley” of their greatest hits, a format adopted by previous halftime performers Prince and the Boss.
Fans unable to attend Super Bowl XLIV, which will see the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints fighting for the trophy, can get the Who tickets from StubHub.com.
“We’re kinda going a mashup of stuff. A bit of ‘Baba O’Riley,’ a bit of ‘Pinball Wizard,’ a bit of the close of ‘Tommy,’ a bit of ‘Who Are You,’ and a bit of ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again.’ It works—it’s quite a saga. A lot of the stuff that we do has that kind of celebratory vibe about it—we’ve always tried to make music that allows the audience to go a bit wild if they want to,” revealed the guitarist to Billboard.com before adding, “Hopefully it will hit the spot.” The Who’s Roger Daltrey, Pete’s brother Simon Townshend, executive producer Ricky Kirschner and new director Hamish Hamilton created the band’s Super Bowl set list.
Along with rock rivals the Rolling Stones, the Who emerged during the British Invasion of the mid-1960s and into the 1970s. Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and vocalist Daltrey played in a band called the Detours in the Shepherd’s Bush neighborhood in London; after changing names to the Who, the lineup expanded to include drummer Keith Moon. Due to Townshend’s tendency to smash guitars on stage and engage in other wild stage antics, the Who quickly garnered a sizable fan base, which only increased after “I Can’t Explain” became one of the biggest hits of 1965.
“I Can’t Explain” ushered in a wave of hit singles for the Who, such as “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” “The Kids Are Alright,” “Substitute” and “My Generation,” in which Townshend issued the proclamation that would epitomize an era in rock and roll: “I hope I die before I get old.” The Who continued to shape rock ‘n’ roll as the 1960s came to an end with the 90-minute rock opus Tommy. Their influence continued as the 1970s began, with the 1970 album Live at Leeds. Keith Moon tragically died of a drug overdose in 1978 and Kenney Jones filled in on drums on tour, but sadly a few years later Townshend endured a near-fatal overdose. Also in 1981, Entwistle and Daltrey hit the road solo and the band released its first album since Moon’s death, Face Dances.
The Who reunited sporadically throughout the 1980s and 1990s and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards, although the honor was overshadowed by the death of Entwistle, who suffered a fatal heart attack at the hands of cocaine in 2002—the night before the Who was set to embark on a string of live shows in the U.S. After taking some time off to mourn his death, the band kicked off its tour with a show at the Hollywood Bowl on July 1, 2002 and continued on to 26 dates in the U.S.
In October 2006, the Who released its first album of new material since 1982’s It’s Hard. The album, titled Endless Wire, was recorded at Pete Townshend’s home studio between 2002 and 2006, and the band continues to tour and land high profile gigs, such as their upcoming Super Bowl halftime show.
Tony Bennett Tickets – Still a Class Act after Seven-Plus Decades
Tony Bennett has finished his holiday album promotion and turned his efforts toward the spring events that keep him musically involved – with a special variety event for May, a summer concert series and even a St. Jude Children’s Hospital special benefit concert that includes food by Daniel Boulud of New York’s four star Restaurant DANIEL and wine from the Napa Valley. The events keep this veteran smooth jazz crooner on his toes as he nears 70 years on the job. Still inspired by his standards that have put many covers to shame? Get Tony Bennett tickets today from http://www.stubhub.com.
Tony Bennett (Anthony Dominick Benedetto) was born in Queens, N.Y. His father died young, which forced his mother and four siblings to start work early in order to support the family. Yet it was already in Bennett’s blood stream that he would one day become a professional singer. Following his performances outside the Mayor Fiorello La Guardia during the opening of the Triborough Bridge, Bennett attended the High School of Industrial Arts before dropping out to earn money for his family; his career as an amateur artist fell short after he was drafted into the army in 1944.
With the GI Bill following his service in 1946, Bennett returned to music at the American Theater Wing and worked as a show biz man throughout the Big Apple. It was only when Bob Hope caught the Italian singer at a Greenwich Village show that the star helped push Bennett to fame – with a name change and a connection that led him toward a record deal with Columbia Records. The A&R Director at the time, Mitch Miller, couldn’t stop listening to Bennett’s version of “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and helped him to record the 1951 single “Because of You.” The chart topping tune was followed by Hank Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart” and “Rags to Riches.”
Though rock and roll started overpowering the charts by the late ‘50s, Bennett stayed skillful with tracks that jumped to the chart like “There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight,” “Cinnamon Sinner” (both Williams’ hits) and “Stranger in Paradise.” As he settled himself into a standard nightclub act, Bennett jumped avenues when he recorded the jazz album of 1957 The Beat of my Heart, followed by 1959’s In Person! With Count Basie and His Orchestra.
Bennett redeveloped his sound as an original artist when the George Cory and Douglass Cross single “I Left my Heart in San Francisco” came to the attention of his pianist. Though it took a few months to catch on, the tune eventually became Bennett’s signature lick (beyond his standards tracks) and helped him become a familiar face amongst traveling stars.
I Left my Heart in San Francisco became a Top 20 album and earned Bennett Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Solo Male Vocal Performance. The set helped to keep his sound in the spotlight over the next few albums, which lasted until the early ‘70s, when he was forced to form his own record label following bouts with Columbia and MCM.
At this point Bennett was well-known, and he continued performing without much new material, retaining a steady audience; it was during the early ‘90s that his career took a turning point with the albums Perfectly Frank and Steppin’ Out – both which earned him Grammys and gold sets. He has continued to record, turning 80 in 2006.
