I wish it was Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning, or Kill 'Em All on one night, but I'll take Ride the Lightning which Metallica announced via Livestream that they'll be performing in its entirety at their Orion Festival in Atlantic City. It's Ride the Lightning one night and the Black Album the other.

UPDATE: It's true, and it's called Orion Music & More

Metallica @ Yankee Stadium in 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Metallica sent out a "Save the Date" on Friday. Along with the below video, it included this message:

WHO: Metallica
WHAT: Save The Date
WHEN: Tuesday, February 7th at 11:00 AM PST
WHERE: www.metallica.com

METALLICA IS THROWING A TWO-DAY FESTIVAL IN ATLANTIC CITY THIS SUMMER...

What we do know: a two-day Metallica festival is set for June 22 & 23 in Atlantic City, and due to be announced this afternoon. Many bands are playing.

What we don't know: everything else. We will update as soon as we find out more information. An announcement is set for 2PM EST, today.

UPDATE: It's true, and it's called Orion Music & More

Look for clues in the "Save The Date" video below...

Continue reading "Metallica announcing a two-day NJ festival today?"

Adele @ Joe's Pub in 2008 (more by Bao Nguyen)

Adele's reps say:

Adele has been forced to cancel her upcoming 10 city sold-out tour of the U.S. due to a haemorrhage into her vocal chord. Vocal chord issues forced the British singer to postpone dates earlier this year as well. Adele has just wrapped up touring around the UK and was preparing to kick off her US tour on October 7 in Atlantic City, NJ when her illness reappeared (see below for full list of cancelled US tour dates). Renowned for her powerful live vocal performances, Adele has been advised by doctors that she'll need an extended rest period in order to begin to recuperate properly. Further details to follow regarding these cancelled dates. Refunds may be obtained at point of purchase.

Continue reading "Adele cancels US tour again (Atlantic City included), released a new video recently (watch)"

"Elvis Costello sincerely regrets that due to illness he must postpone his July 22nd Elvis Costello and the Imposters concert date at The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa." Check the Borgata's site for info on refunds and rescheduling. Elvis's tour continues this weekend at Gathering of the Vibes in CT followed by a NY show in Westhampton.

"Mars Volta killed. Now awaiting the boys of Soundgarden to bring
their thunder to the Borgata." - Matt Volpe

"Was right up near the rail tonight-Soundgarden at the Borgata.Another amazing show not quite as loud as Nwk. Chris was especially charming." - Donna

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Soundgarden played Borgata Spa & Resort Event Center on Thursday (7/14) in Atlantic City, NJ with The Mars Volta. Soundgarden's setlist was pretty similar to their earlier shows at Jones Beach and Prudential Center, save for a few songs.

The Mars Volta's setlist consisted entirely of new songs except for the last song "Goliath," off their 2008 LP The Bedlam in Goliath. The songs are assumingly off of their upcoming full length, which supposedly will be released in 2012. The Soungarden/MV tour continues through the end of July.

More pictures, videos and setlists from the AC show below...

Continue reading "Soundgarden & Mars Volta played Atlantic City (pics, setlist)"

Arctic Monkeys at Summerstage in May (more by Dana (Distortion) Yavin)

Arctic Monkeys, who just headlined Summerstage, are back for another North American tour late this summer and early fall. First they'll play a run of August dates which include Lollapalooza and Outside Lands. Then, after returning to Europe for a few festivals there, the Monkeys will head out on another North American run in September and October with Smith Westerns opening most of the dates. The tour doesn't hit NYC at the moment, but the band will play Atlantic City, NJ on October 14 at Showboat Atlantic City. Check Arctic Monkeys' website for pre-sale info and ticketmaster for general sale, which starts Friday (7/15) at 10 AM. Hopefully the band will find time to stop in NY while they're here.

Arctic Monkeys also recently made a video for Suck It and See track "The Hellcat Spangled Shalala." The video was directed by Focus Creeps, who were also the duo behind the acid visuals of Arctic Monkeys' "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair" video.

Check out both of those videos and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Arctic Monkeys touring w/ Smith Westerns (2011 dates, video)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

"I'm watching Motorhead in Atlantic City.
Nothing else needs to be said. #Lemmy" - Mike Conroy

Not long after passing through both Starland Ballroom in NJ and Best Buy Theater in Times Square, the Motorhead / Clutch / Valient Thorr tour hit House of Blues in the gambling capital of NJ. No Valient Thorr, but pictures from the rest of the 3/4 House of Blues show continue below...

Continue reading "Motorhead & Clutch played Atlantic City (pics) "

photos by Greg Cristman

Q: Even though "Raw Power" was a great album, the Stooges never got to tour behind it properly because your management company quit you and your record label didn't seem to care either. So is it a case of getting back to unfinished business with this album?

A: Absolutely. I'm finishing a job here. It had its re-release. I did my remix too, which I knew at the time in the '90s there was a muscle-bound rock-metal thing going around, and I knew that people couldn't hear the record as it was originally mixed and mastered in that environment. So I thought if I make it unbearably loud, it would sell, and it did! (laughs) Now it's been re-released, and James has been able to tell his stories about it, and get his credit as due, gotten to say his piece. I'm in the midst of fulfilling my leadership obligations to the group on this record. And I've done really well with it.

Q: What do you think of Bowie's original mix?

A: It's a good mix of a particular taste. It was very similar to the way David had his own records mixed around that era. It's peculiarly English. What I didn't know at the time was that it was disastrously mastered (after Bowie mixed it). By that time we had no communication with management who had decided to let us go. I didn't know why you had to turn your stereo to "10" to hear it at all. One of the archivists at Sony later postulated that because of the non-management the group was under, the record had no advocate at the label, and it was assigned to a guy who didn't know the Stooges, and he was applying the standards of a Mitch Miller record to it (in the mastering stage). They were rightfully listening to it as a load of noise, and their concern was how can we reduce it? So if you reduce the noise on "Raw Power," you will reduce the record...-[from a Chicago Tribune interview w/ Iggy Pop]

Iggy Pop @ House of Blues

The band played a loud and killer set for 1.5 hours to the NJ crowd who may have learned about the show from the giant billboard on the highway, or the 'Atlantic City Weekly' cover story on Iggy. Iggy dove into the crowd multiple times including one backwards free fall. Unfortunately, the room was only half-full, but that didn't stop it from being a great show. Full setlist below. On Sunday, the band played the Riviera (4746 N. Racine) in Chicago after the show was moved from Aragon late on Friday night. On Tuesday, 8/31, you can catch the band at the Bank of America Pavillion House of Blues (it was moved too) in Boston.

In other Iggy news, Jim Jarmusch will direct an upcoming documentary on the legendary rocker upon the request of Iggy himself. Jim Jarmusch will also be in attendance at ATP New York Next weekend, curating the entirety of Sunday's bill (with sunn/Boris, Fucked Up, many many others).

More pictures, and the setlist, from the Atlantic City show, continue below...

Continue reading "Iggy & the Stooges played House of Blues in Atlantic City - (pics, setlist)"

photos by Ryan Barkan

Jones Beach, 8/18

One of the best things about Phish Tour is getting to see and enjoy shows with so many friends gathered in one place. It's social multi-tasking. It's a big fucking party! I met up with some of said friends and we pre-gamed appropriately for such an occasion: Phish's 2010 Summer Tour closing run at Jones Beach. Hershey Park was a lot of fun, but wasn't completely satisfying. This being the end of the tour, I hoped the boys would have their Tour Legs on and be ready to kick some major ass, as per the 2009 MSG run. -[Jambands.com]

Phish is back on the road this fall, tie-dying the rest of the East Coast and NYC does not get a look in this go around, but Atlantic City gets four shows including Halloween, and there are strong rumors of Madison Square Garden on New Years Eve (and speaking of hippies at MSG, Further is playing there twice in November). Tickets for the new Phish shows go on sale to the general public on Sept 10th and 11th, but a fan "ticket-requesting" system is up and running until then. For the upcoming fall trek, all concert-goers will receive copies of the show they attended (in MP3 form). The band also recently posted a free-for-download live sampler entitled Live Bait.

More pictures and the setlists from Jones Beach and the new tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Phish played Jones Beach (pics), playing Halloween in Atlantic City & other dates (including MSG on New Years Eve?)"

Built to Spill @ Webster Hall Oct. 2009 (more by Bryan Bruchman)

Built to Spill and The Black Keys are both opening for Kings of Leon on their North American tour this summer. Their travels together don't come near New York City though. The closest Kings of Leon get is the Altantic City Borgata, and that's with The Whigs opening. Tickets are on sale (and only $125).

The Black Keys' upcoming NYC shows are two nights at SummerStage in Central Park (the full lineup for which just got fully announced) with the Morning Benders. (Check out their "sexy new video" if you haven't already.)

Ends up, Built to Spill will be in NYC too this summer - they play a Wednesday, July 28th show at Irving Plaza. Tickets go on Live Nation presale Thursday at 10am. General Sale starts Friday at 10am.

All Kings of Leon tour dates and their other openers (The Features, The Stills) are below...

Continue reading "Built to Spill touring w/ Kings of Leon, playing NYC too (dates)"

Wayne Coyne @ ATP NY 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

The Flaming Lips have revealed they're in talks with Des McAnuff to turn their hit 2002 album Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots into a theatrical spectacular.

Frontman Wayne Coyne tells WENN, "We've talked about doing something with Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots now for about five or six years. They did it with Tommy and Des McAnuff was the director, and he's the one that wants to do Yoshimi.

"We've actually pursued it to a certain extent and I think that where it sits is really just me deciding to dedicate a couple of years of my life to making it.

"It's a strange opportunity but I know we've talked about it since 2003. We would incorporate all the songs and probably write some other music that told a little bit more of a story. I guess my biggest dilemma is there's not really a story with Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots; it's just a series of unconnected songs that sound connected when you listen.

"That being said, I don't think it would be overly impossible to draw some connections and come up with some type of emotional storyline." [WENN]

They play Mid Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie (put on by Vassar College) on Saturday, April 17th - tickets are still on sale. Stardeath & White Dwarfs open both the Vassar show and Wellmont, and The Hood Internet play Vassar too. Between those, Flaming Lips perform in Ithaca (Cornell University's Barton Hall to be exact).

The same month as the Central Park show, Flaming Lips have other New York State/New Jersey gigs: July 4th at Atlantic City House of Blues (tickets), July 22nd at ArtPark in Lewiston, NY, near Buffalo (tickets), and July 23rd on an awesome bill with Black Keys and Morning Benders (together in NYC later in July) at CMAC Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua, NY, south of Rochester (tickets).

All Flaming Lips tour dates and more are below...

Continue reading "Flaming Lips making a musical? ++ updated tour dates include many NY & NJ shows that are still on sale "

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Justina Villanueva

Ronnie James Dio commands his drink order from the stage

[Tony] Iommi credits his creativity for his undying love of riff writing, but his love for volume certainly plays a role, too.

"From day one, we were always louder than anyone," [Tony Iommi, guitarist for Heaven & Hell] said. "We certainly made sure no one could talk in our shows."

Iommi chuckles thinking about the early days

"We were always asked to turn it down," he remembered. "They'd tell us to turn it down or they wouldn't book us again. And unfortunately even now, and this is a sign of the times, there's a lot of restrictions on the sound... At one show in Bond, the limit was so low that I actually used only two (amplifier) cabinets of my eight. Bloody hell, I haven't used two cabinets since maybe the '60s." -[Boston Herald]

The pair of bands are closing in on the end of their tour together, parting ways on august 29th when H&H will head down to Atlantic City (tickets) while C&C breaks off to Buffalo.

More pictures, some videos, the setlists from the earlier Chicago show, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Heaven & Hell & Coheed & Cambria - MSG pics & video, Chicago setlists & more tour dates (Atlantic City) "

photos by Tim Griffin

"I can't help but say the word CUTE when it comes to seeing these guys live. They're super smiley and with Richard Butler's jumping and hip shaking and swirls, you can't go wrong. The saxophone player, Mars Williams, was AMAZING. They didn't have him play when I saw them back in 2005(i think?). This guy may be a little short, but he has a lot of energy to belt out the solos that he did. I was a little upset not to see guitarist John Ashton, but the new guitar player was great. The keyboardist wasn't really needed on most songs in my opinion, I'm sure she's awesome and really sweet! Tim Butler will always be cool with his shades and bass lines. It was also cool to see the drummer from Love Spit Love, Frank Ferrer, too." [WHATTITW]

Continue reading "The Psychedelic Furs @ Wellmont Theater in NJ - pics, video"

Photos by Zach Dilgard

"The surprise of the night was when Peter Murphy from Bauhaus added some extra spookiness to "Reptile". It reminded me of how disappointed I am that Bauhaus broke up again. The lighthearted moment of the evening was when Trent Reznor (Vocals/Guitars) lamented how he had apparently messed up the lyrics in the breakdown of "Closer". Luckily, a fan helped Trent out by repeating the correct lyrics when he was tossed the microphone. Trent would later incorporate the lyrics into "Discipline" to the delight of the audience." [Amateur Chemist]

Continue reading "NIN (w/ special guest Peter Murphy) @ House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ - pics & setlist"

photos by Zach Dilgard

Before firing up their decks at the McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn on Thursday night, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist cleared the stage for an instructional film, projected onto two backdrop screens. Beginning with a brief history of the 45-r.p.m. record, the film moved on to the logistics at hand. "All audio is being delivered via vinyl on eight turntables into four mixers," a voice declared, in the plummy tone of a 1950s studio announcer. That may not sound like an applause line, but at this show it drew exuberant cheers.
[NY Times]

The Atlantic City show at House of Blues was weird. The low-ceiling room was on the 2nd floor of a casino off the boardwalk, above slot machines. There was no stage. There were no chairs. There was a little bar in the back. There was some art on the walls. Everyone had to stand in a semi-circle around the two deejays as they mixed songs on a table and projected stuff on to screens behind them. The screens were also basically at floor level. Two big stacks of speakers were placed in each corner of the tables on the floor. The sound was not very good. If the show was more packed (it wasn't that packed), it would have been impossible to see anything for most people there, especially short people. It must have been weird for Shadow & Chemist to go from headlining the huge McCarren Pool with a big stage and giant video screens one day, to that AC show one day later. It was the first time I went to House of Blues in Atlantic City, but as far as I could tell they have multiple rooms for shows. I don't think that's the same room Al Green is playing in. More pics from McCarren below....

Continue reading "DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist (Hard Sell) played McCarren Pool (pics) & House of Blues in AC"

Sound Fix (the place that IS still open) announced this free show:

Apr 19, 2008 1 PM Regina Spektor
yes, it's true. more details to follow. it's free, first come first serve. short performance. signing to follow. doors will not open til after 12:45. please don't call store to ask questions

Continue reading "Regina Spektor - Sound Fix, Atlantic City & 2008 Tour Dates "