After working with Conan O’Brien for 17 years, Max Weinberg is parting ways with the red-headed late night talk show host. The Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band drummer found a second career as O’Brien’s band leader in 1993. The Max Weinberg 7 helped make the Late Night with Conan O’Brien a success over the years. Weinberg often himself became involved in skits with Conan along with other band members like La Bamba, and current band leader Jimmy Vivino. Conan O’Brien was eventually awarded the The Tonight Show and Weinberg moved out west. As we all know, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien was eventually canceled and Conan and the cast were given a huge settlement. Max put together the Max Weinberg Big Band this past year and scheduled a tour playing the hits of Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Buddy Rich, and others of similar style. O’Brien’s new show Conan will feature Vivino leading the band. However, many Conan fans will miss Weinberg’s flashy drumming and suits when the show debuts on TBS on November 8th. Weinberg will be on the road in North America with his the Max Weinberg Big Band.
Tonight, Arcade Fire will stream their concert at Madison Square Garden to likely millions of music fans. The rock critic favorites are not the first to stream a live concert live, but the show tonight could be one of the biggest live online webcasts in history. Arcade Fire will be the first to feature on the YouTube/VEVO concert web series “Unstaged”. The show is sponsored by American Express and will be directed by Oscar-nominated director Terry Gilliam. I’ve never seen a live online concert that has created as much excitement as tonight’s. I’ve seen tons of ads while surfing the web for the concert, and “Arcade Fire” has been trending consistently on Twitter for the past three days. The band’s new album, The Suburbs, was streaming live all day on Monday for free on NPR’s web series First Listen. Tonight’s show could be a big step for both Arcade Fire and for the future of concert webcasts.
On the strength our their debut album, Gorilla Manor, Local Natives’s fanbase is growing steadily. The Californian indie rock outfit has quickly risen from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Silver Lake to touring the both the US and Europe, playing festivals like Bonnaroo and the Leeds Music Festival. The five piece band seems to be apart of a new movement of American bands influenced by the Afro-Pop stylings of Paul Simon. The band crafts interesting multi-part harmonies of wandering lyrics that’ll have you huming before you know it. The band recently played a impromtu show at the East End of London that drew a crowd of 200 fans. The band didn’t even bring amplifiers, because they expected only like ten or so people to show up. Local Natives played six songs for the capacity crowd and even stuck around to have a few beers with audience members. The band will be on the road until at least October. Check out Local Natives’ upcoming tour dates here.
Acclaimed folk artist Josh Ritter released his sixth studio album, “So Runs the World Away”, this month to a warm critical reception. The 33-year-old American singer-songwriter got his break when Glen Hansard of The Frames invited him back to Ireland after seeing him at an open mic. Ritter’s folk sensibilities won over Irish audiences and his third album, Hello Starling, debuted #2 on the charts in Ireland. “So Runs the World Away” blew away NPR’s Bob Boilen and number of Irish, English, and American rock critics. Josh has dates in the US throughout June before returning to the Emerald Isle to play the Galway Arts Festival and the INEC Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney. In the meantime check out the video for “So Runs the World Away” track “Curse“.
David Gray and Ray LaMontagne might not be Top 40 radio regulars, but the singer/songwriters have been two of the most successful over the last ten years. It makes sense that the two team up and tour together this summer for 17 dates in the United States kicking off August 15th in Columbia, MD. David Gray is currently on the road in support of his recent release, Draw the Line, and has been selling out shows across the country. Ray LaMontagne put out Gossip in the Grain in 2009 to great reviews, bringing his live band more into the fray on the album. Both performers are skillful songwriters, but very different from each other, so audiences will get to enjoy two distinct styles. The bearded LaMontagne has one of the most soulful voices in music that can bellow a heart-renching ballad or funky blues number. Gray has a unmistakably sound and will be drawing from songs from his eight studio albums. The price of admission is well worth seeing two great musicians (who are both coming off great albums) perform together.
Following the release of The XXxs self titled debut album in 2009 they have earned buckets of praise from rock critics in the States and the UK. The Xx is currently on tour in America playing a number shows in preparation for playing at Coachella, Sasquatch! Festival!, and Bonnaroo. The indie rock group from London, England is also rumored to be playing Lollapalooza this summer in Chicago. The soft vocals of Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft complement each other perfectly. Their voices’ strong cohesion makes a listener often forget that they are singing a duet. Speaking to the Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot, Sim and Madley Croft talked about their music and there fears on stage. At only 20-years-old the band has a great, a big future is ahead of The Xx.
Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke is embarking on short tour with his band of well known musicians including producer Nigel Godrich, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, drummer Joey Waronker of R.E.M. and Smashing Pumpkins fame, and Mauro Refosco of Forro in the Dark. The tour will culminate when the group plays the Coachella Festival on April 18th. The group played a show in Los Angeles playing a multitude of tracks from Yorke’s 2006 album The Eraser. The super group has been named Atoms for Peace after one of songs of The Eraser. We shall see if this collaboration continues on after Coachella and if a new album is the result.
This year, Michael Jackson tops the search term list, ending Britney Spears’ four-year reign of the search rankings. Other new entrants this year are ‘Twilight’, the vampire movie that has spawned two films, Megan Fox, an actress, Kim Kardashian, a star in a reality TV series, and NASCAR, an automobile racing league.
Irish rockers U2 have announced that they will headline next year’s edition of the world famous Glastonbury festival in Somerset, United Kingdom. It was frontman Bono who made this announcement during the “Lace Up, Save Lives” anti-AIDS/HIV campaign that he launched in London last Monday.
After the departure of Keisha Buchanan two months ago, much has been rumoured about the future of the popular English pop-trio the Sugababes.
Keisha’s leave elicited a hail of media reactions, including the comments that the Sugababes had suffered “one line-up change too many” (The Guardian) and the statement that “The Sugababes [...]
After working with Conan O’Brien for 17 years, Max Weinberg is parting ways with the red-headed late night talk show host. The Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band drummer found a second career as O’Brien’s band leader in 1993. The Max … Continue reading → […]
Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke is embarking on short tour with his band of well known musicians including producer Nigel Godrich, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, drummer Joey Waronker of R.E.M. and Smashing Pumpkins fame, and Mauro Refosco … Continue reading → […]
Tonight, Arcade Fire will stream their concert at Madison Square Garden to likely millions of music fans. The rock critic favorites are not the first to stream a live concert live, but the show tonight could be one of … Continue reading → […]
David Gray and Ray LaMontagne might not be Top 40 radio regulars, but the singer/songwriters have been two of the most successful over the last ten years. It makes sense that the two team up and tour together this summer for 17 dates in the United States kicking off August 15th in Columbia, MD. David Gray is currently on the road in support of his recent release, Draw the Line, and has been selling out shows across the country. Ray LaMontagne put out Gossip in the Grain in 2009 to great reviews, bringing his live band more into the fray on the album. Both performers are skillful songwriters, but very different from each other, so audiences will get to enjoy two distinct styles. The bearded LaMontagne has one of the most soulful voices in music that can bellow a heart-renching ballad or funky blues number. Gray has a unmistakably sound and will be drawing from songs from his eight studio albums. The price of admission is well worth seeing two great musicians (who are both coming off great albums) perform together.
