Hosted by a character named DJ Lance Rock, the series features a mix of live-action segments featuring cartoonish costumed characters--Muno (the red cyclops), Foofa (the pink flower bubble), Brobee (a little green monster), Toodee (the blue cat-dragon) and Plex (the magic yellow robot)--and many short animated sketches and musical numbers.[4]

In its first two seasons, the show featured a wide variety of guests, including Jack Black, Leslie Hall, The Shins, The Aggrolites, Cornelius, Biz Markie, Shiny Toy Guns, Supernova, Mark Mothersbaugh, Rahzel, The Postmarks, Sugarland, Tony Hawk, The Roots, Low, Laila Ali, Elijah Wood, Mýa, The Salteens and series co-creator Jacobs' band, The Aquabats. In the second season bands like Enon, The Clientele, Joy Zipper, Of Montreal, Mates of State, The Ting Tings were featured. [Wiki]

Continue reading "3rd Yo Gabba Gabba show added @ Beacon Theatre (on sale)"

DOWNLOAD: Of Montreal - Brush Brush Brush (MP3)

Fresh on the heels of the release of the first Yo Gabba Gabba! CD release Yo Gabba Gabba! Music Is Awesome!, hitting the shelves nationwide on October 20, W!LDBRAIN and S2BN Entertainment present Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! There's A Party In My City, the first live U.S. touring show. A one-of-a-kind live event, the tour will kick off on November 14th, and will feature music, animation, games, singing, dancing, and special musical guests. Favorites such as "Party in My Tummy" "Hold Still" and "Get the Sillies Out" will be featured in the show. Special guests will also join the party on stage rocking their favorite 'Dancey Dance' moves. Presented using state of the art production elements, Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! There's A Party In My City will offer audience members of all ages an unparalleled experience.

The album Yo Gabba Gabba! Music Is Awesome! comes out October 20th on Filter US Recordings. The show is pretty well known for its musical guests (Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo, Biz Markie, Chromeo, I'm From Barcelona, Mark Kozelek) and the fact that its co-creator, Christian Jacobs, is MC Bat Commander from The Aquabats. Those guests are respresented on the album, as is Of Montreal, with the song "Brush Brush Brush" (about brushing your teeth) posted above.

Tracklist, album art, tour dates and musical clips from the show are posted below...

Continue reading "Yo Gabba Gabba! - live show dates, new CD, Of Montreal MP3"

The brainchild of veteran US videogame composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Video Games Live is a concert devised to encompass the cultural significance of videogames. Since its debut at the Hollywood Bowl in July 2005 it has since gone on to be performed in front of over 100,000 people across the world.

It's a show that's a classical concert, lightshow and rock gig all at once. And while the running footage of games and off-the-wall audience participation, such as a giant on-stage game of space invaders, make Video Games Live a deliciously geeky experience, the music conducted by Wall and played with such aplomb by world-reknowned orchestras is just as impressive.

If any one piece summed up the entire evening it was the rendition of the Halo theme. As the gregorian chants of the London Choir rose above the fiery strings of the orchestra, an excitable Tallarico, bedecked in torn jeans and a denim jacket, bounded across stage playing a thunderous electric guitar riff. All the while the giant screen showing the colourful alien warfare of the Halo series. Rarely is a clash of cultures in such harmony. [Telegraph UK]

Continue reading "Video Games Live on tour (dates), coming to NYC (win tix) "

Tickets are now on AmEx presale for the Neko Case show happening at the Beacon Theatre in November. A "Bowery/Radio/MSG Pre-Sale" starts Thursday at 10AM (password?). General sale begins Friday at 11:00.

Tickets are also now on pre-sale for Sonic Youth & Dinosaur Jr.

Tickets for ZZ Top's September 18th show at NYC's Beacon Theatre are now on presale (password "METRO"). General sale starts tomorrow (August 20th) at 9am.

The group recently had to replan its fall dates after tourmate Aerosmith was forced to cancel.

The two live ZZ Top videos you want to see are below...

Continue reading "ZZ Top Beacon Theater tickets & Presale"

It is with great regret that AEROSMITH are canceling the remainder of their summer tour, it was announced today [Aug. 17th].

Due to injuries STEVEN TYLER sustained last week when he fell from the stage during a concert in Sturgis, SD, doctors have advised the lead singer to take the time to properly recuperate from the accident that resulted in a broken shoulder and stitches to his head. In his current condition, TYLER is unable to tour and the band wants to give him time to get healthy.

Ticket refunds for the rest of the tour dates with special guests ZZ Top will be available at point of purchase.

TYLER fell from the stage during the August 5 show that was part of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Western South Dakota. The mishap occurred while he was dancing during the band's "Love in an Elevator." TYLER was subsequently airlifted to a hospital and then returned to Boston to consult with his own doctors.

Meanwhile, Aerosmith tourmates ZZ Top have been adding and rescheduling dates to make up for many of the cancellations. In lieu of their Setpember 14th MSG show with Aerosmith, ZZ Top will be playing on September 18th at NYC's Beacon Theatre. There's no ticket details yet. The dates on their tour that have been confirmed are posted below...

Continue reading "Aerosmith cancel tour, ZZ Top reschedule new one (Beacon) "

He plays there 11/9 and 11/10 and now 11/5 too. Tickets for the new show go on "Radio and MSG presale" on Thursday at 10AM, and then on general sale Friday at the same time.

Neko Case just announced a show there too.

Neko Case @ All Points West 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

"Without doubt, Neko Case was one of the highlights of this year's Lollapalooza. Prior to her Sunday set, I wasn't really sure how she'd come across in the music festival setting. So much of her material is thoughtful and intimate and suited for venues that allow it to shine, not a huge grassy field filled with hot, sweaty drunk people.

Somehow, though, Case managed to make it work wonderfully.

As soon as she started playing the Budweiser Stage at 4:30, it was clear the sound was 100 percent on target and that the set would be a welcome change of pace. She played a variety of songs from her latest record, Middle Cyclone - including "This Tornado Loves You," "I'm an Animal," The Pharaohs" and the marvelous, jangly single "People Got a Lotta Nerve" - in addition to back catalog favorites such as "Maybe Sparrow" and "Deep Red Bells." Case's clear, pure voice couldn't have sounded better, and she was charming and down-to-earth throughout - no doubt one of the classiest acts on this year's bill." [Chicago Examiner]

Continue reading "Neko Case - 2009 Tour Dates (Beacon Theatre) "

Tickets to the November 9th show were not supposed to go on sale until Saturday, but apparently they are sold out and a November 10th show was added. Tickets for that one go on sale Saturday at 10am.

The cast of FX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" will be live at the Beacon Theatre on September 16th, performing their musical "The Nightman Cometh." Based on the fan-favorite episode, "The Nightman Cometh" is a full-length musical featuring cast members Rob McElhenney (Mac), Charlie Day (Charlie), Glenn Howerton (Dennis), Kaitlin Olson (Sweet Dee), and Danny DeVito (Frank) with special appearances by Mary Elizabeth Ellis (The Waitress) and Artemis Pebdani (Artemis). Following the performance, there will also be a screening of new episodes from the upcoming season of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on FX.

Continue reading "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia show tour (Beacon Theater)"

Tickets for Regina Spektor's upcoming show at Radio City Music Hall show are an AmEx presale and "Internet Presale" (@10am) (Password = HEREGINA). General sale starts Monday at 11:00. Grab a live recording of Regina's Beacon Theater show HERE. See her at Barnes & Noble on August 18th. See Nick Cave at Barnes & Noble in September.

Steely Dan was scheduled to play the Beacon Theater tonight (7/29), but the show has been cancelled with "Reschedule info to follow". Last night's show (7/28) did happen though, and so far all the other zillion shows they have coming up at the Beacon are still happening too (and still on sale) (thx Sean).

"We're thrilled to announce that Ray LaMontagne will return to the road in the U.S. this fall, starting with two dates with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on October 15 in North Bethesda, MD followed by an October 16 show at Meyeroff Symphony Hall.

Following the orchestra shows, LaMontagne's next dates will offer a polar opposite experience where the Maine singer songwriter will play stripped down solo acoustic shows starting November 1 at Atlanta's Fox Theatre."

All tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Ray LaMontagne - 2009 Tour Dates (Beacon Theater)"

DOWNLOAD: Monsters of Folk - Say Please (MP3)

Monsters of Folk (Mike Mogis, Conor Oberst, M. Ward, and Yim Yames...or Jim James as most know him) will be heading out on tours of North America and Europe this fall. That tour comes to NYC for two nights in November. One will be November 6th at the United Palace (which recently hosted Sonic Youth). The second will November 8th at the Beacon Theater. Tickets for the NYC shows (and all shows) go on general sale Friday, July 31st, and "an exclusive pre-sale for Monsters of Folk fans begins on Tuesday, July 28th".

For the tour...

The four members will be switching instruments and trading roles throughout each show, maintaining the freewheeling and highly collaborative spirit of their work together thus far.

On this inaugural tour, Monsters of Folk is partnering with Air Traffic Control, a resource for musicians' philanthropic and social change work, to donate monies raised from ticket sales. The band will be donating $1 from every ticket sold on the tour to local non-profits.

M. Ward plays his own show at Central Park Summerstage on August 1st. All MoF tour dates and the album track list, below...

Continue reading "Monsters of Folk - 2009 tour dates (Beacon & United Palace)"

It's been ten years since we released Lost & Gone Forever, the album that put us on peoples' radars, helped us graduate from our van to a bus, and taught me to fill my finger cuts with krazy glue.

To celebrate, we're turning the clock back to 1999 and announcing the Lost & Gone Forever Ten Year Anniversary Tour -- 9 very special evenings with Guster. No opener. Two sets, one of which will be the album in its entirety. Yes, even Two Points for Honesty and Rainy Day. I haven't decided if we should play the album in order or in shuffle mode. Any thoughts? [Guster]

Continue reading "Guster playing 'Lost & Gone Forever' - 2009 tour dates"

Regina Spektor - Beacon Theatre, NYC - 06/17/2009 (absolutelyaudrey)

Half an hour into her joyful set at the Beacon Theater [June 17th] Regina Spektor has completely lost her place. She is giggling at first and then laughing and then almost gurgling with pleasure. "Rehearsing at the Beacon theater," she says, "there's so many of you". then she shrugs, "Fuck it," and turns back to arranging the song with her string section. "I'm so happy," she says and she is obviously in a great mood.

Except for two songs on guitar ("I wish I knew more") Spektor sits at her piano throughout the set. She opens with "Folding Chairs" off her new album and continues with another seven new songs till reaching an oldie, a splendid "On The Radio", and it doesn't matter. All the new stuff is maybe her best stuff ever, every song cuts deep with a bouyancy that is like maybe a ball bouncing on the ocean: the undertow pulls her down but she is still light and above it. [Rock NYC Live and Recorded]

Regina Spektor rounds out July with tour dates in Europe, and currently has a set of North American shows planned for September. Her full schedule is below.

She's also appearing at Barnes & Noble's "Upstairs at the Square" series on Tuesday, August 18th with host Katherine Lanpher and writer Kurt Andersen. The event at the store's Union Square location (33 E 17th St in NYC) will include an interview and a performance. Entrance is free, but admission is first come, first served. Considering the fact that her Beacon show sold out (see above), a sizeable crowd should be expected.

Set list and videos from the Beacon Theatre show, with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Regina Spektor played Beacon Theatre, playing Barnes & Noble (and other places - all tour dates)"

PJ Harvey & John Parish @ Weesner Amphitheatre, MN - 6/13/09 (dastinkytwinz)

"I've been a PJ Harvey fan for years, but never got around to seeing her until tonight. Only songs from her two albums with John Parish were played -- understandably, as this is the tour for A Woman A Man Walked By --- and though this was somewhat of a disappointment, it was wonderful to finally see her. Since I got the aforementioned album I've been loving it, but hadn't realized just how...theatrical it is, for lack of a better word, and she played that aspect up on stage. One minute she'd be doing a spazzy dance and the next she was still, arms at her sides, doing delicate as the song demanded it. Doug and I disagreed on the lighting: it reminded him of our high school, and I thought it was perfectly intimate. The bare set and minimal lighting matched the rawness of the music for me." [Alicia DK]

Videos from the Beacon show, setlists, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "PJ Harvey & John Parish touring -- Beacon Theater setlist"

Frostie Steely Dan (gimme a pabst)

Due to overwhelming demand, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have announced that STEELY DAN will play 4 ADDITIONAL SHOWS at the Beacon Theatre for a total of 8 performances.

The "Classic Album (Plus)" Nights will feature an entire album plus additional favorites. The setlists for the Internet Request Nights will be determined by internet votes from ticket-holders for each show.

Tickets for all 8 shows are ON SALE NOW! Buy your tickets today because availability is limited.

July 28 & August 3 - Aja
July 29 - Gaucho
July 31 & August 10 - The Royal Scam
August 1, 4, & 11 - "Takin' It to the Seats" Internet Request Nights

by Klaus Kinski

Unwigged & Unplugged & Elvis Costello @ the Beacon - 5/26/09 (andyg_flickr)

Last night (5/26) I caught the first of two performances of UNWIGGED & UNPLUGGED: An Evening with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer at the gorgeously restored Beacon Theater. As much as I love (and cannot imagine a life without) the music-centric films This Is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, and Waiting For Guffman, the thought of an acoustic, out of character, 'greatest hits' set initially struck me as crass commercialism at its worst. And, hell, maybe it was crass commercialism at it's worst; but holy moly if those dudes didn't slap the smug, cross-armed look off my face within the first five chords.

Their re-orchestrations of Tap classics to fit a folk mold were awe-inspiring works of genius. Highlights from the set included Hell Hole, Saucy Jack, The Bulging River, Stonehenge, Start Me Up, A Mighty Wind, Eat At Joes, and Sex Farm. But the major holy shitballs moment of the evening was when the trio backed up ELVIS COSTELLO for an extremely ballsy rendition of Gimme Some Money. The event wasn't without its minor clams though. I felt that the show was about 30 minutes too long and that the stage banter was at times too long winded, self-indulgent, dated, and often unfunny (ie, poking fun at the lack of music played on MTV). That said, these guys can really play and sing and for the most part they had me busting a gut and admiring their very real skills as musicians. Add to that the brief video interludes featuring vintage, rare Tap footage and a couple of fan-made music videos, and I had myself one helluva time.

While looking around for a setlist of the show, I came across this livejournal entry that talks about a different Unwigged show, but nonetheless pretty closely describes the basic format and pacing of the Beacon show I saw. Catch them at the same venue, again tonight (5/27). Some videos from last night below...

Continue reading "Christopher Guest, Michael McKean & Harry Shearer (& Elvis Costello) were Unwigged & Unplugged @ Beacon Theater"

The first presale for this show sold out instantly. Tickets go on "Venue and Live Nation Presale" today/Thursday at 10am. The password may be HEREGINA. If that doesn't work, try "live". Tickets then go on regular sale on Friday at noon.

Tickets are also on sale for the show Little Joy is playing at Bowery Ballroom.

A ticket pre-sale begins at 1:00pm for the June 17th Regina Spektor / Little Joy show at NYC's Beacon Theater. And to sweeten the deal:

THE TICKET FOR THIS SHOW INCLUDES A 2-SONG GIVEAWAY FROM WARNER BROTHERS RECORDS. With every ticket purchased, you will receive a download of two new Regina Spektor songs from her upcoming album "Far" including her new single "Laughing With" and "Blue Lips." To redeem "Laughing With" and "Blue Lips," you will receive a separate e-mail including the instructions to download by Monday 5/18/2009.

As previously reported, Little Joy, the band with Fabrizio Moretti of the Strokes, has a June US tour coming up. That includes a Tuesday, June 23rd show at the Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale.

In that post, we highlighted the connection between Little Joy/The Strokes and Regina Spektor (touring together, recording together, etc.)...as it turns out, Little Joy will be opening for Regina Spektor at Beacon Theatre on Wednesday, June 17th. No ticket info yet. And that's just one of many dates Spektor is expected to announce for the summer.

And bad news for those who like Little Joy at least a little because of who is on drums... Fabrizio Moretti is skipping most of this Little Joy tour to record the Strokes' fourth full-length album.

While concert-goers shouldn't be surprised if co-founding member Fabrizio pops in to make an occasional cameo appearanceon stage, he will for the most part be occupied with recording obligations to the Strokes, and therefore unable to tour with the band for the large majority of the dates.

Rodrigo (vocals and guitar) and Binki (vocals, keys) will fill out the band with Todd Dahlhoff and Matt Borg from The Dead Trees (on bass and guitar, respectively), Matt Romano from Albert Hammond Jr.'s band (drums) and Jack Dishel from Only Son (guitar, backing vocals).

All Little Joy tour dates below...

Continue reading "Regina Spektor playing Beacon Theater & other (possibly Stroke-less) Little Joy tour dates "

Tickets are on sale for the PJ Harvey and John Parish show at Beacon Theater.

PJ Harvey & John Parish @ Irving Plaza in March (more by Jacob Blickenstaff)

"Polly and John have confirmed the following shows in the States for June. Performing songs from their current album A Woman A Man Walked By and their previous collaboration Dance Hall At Louse Point the pair will be backed by Eric Drew Feldman, Giovanni Ferrario and Jean Marc Butty. Polly and John are currently on tour in the UK, where their opening night show in Brighton has been receiving rave reviews from the Independent and Guardian amongst others."

Continue reading "PJ Harvey & John Parish - 2009 Tour Dates (Beacon Theater)"

Spoof band Spinal Tap have announced a "world tour" consisting of a single June date at London's Wembley Arena.

The tour marks the 25th anniversary of mockumentary film, This is Spinal Tap, which launched the band's career.

The band will be backed by 1960s folk trio The Folksmen, the focus of another spoof film, 2003's A Mighty Wind.

Spinal Tap's lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel commented: "If we're going to do a World tour on only one night, at least it's this world."

Bassist Derek Smalls added: "one night is not enough, and it's way too much". [BB C]

Tickets for the March May 27th show at Beacon Theater go on pre-sale this morning at 10 am. [ Password = UNWIGGED ]. Regular sale starts 24 hours later.

Video from Spinal Tap's 2007 Live Earth appearance, below...

Continue reading "2nd Unwigged show PRESALE & a Spinal Tap "World Tour""