"the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced the Alice Cooper Band, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Darlene Love and Tom Waits as its 2011 performer inductees. Also being inducted this year as individual recipients of the Ahmet Ertegun Award are Jac Holzman and Art Rupe. The Award for Musical Excellence (previously the Sidemen category) will be presented to Leon Russell. The 26th annual ceremony will take place on Monday, March 14, 2011, at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City and be broadcast on Fuse, Madison Square Garden's national music television network."

Catch Darlene Love at BB King Blues Club in NY tonight (12/19).

photos by Chris La Putt

Darlene Love, tree & friends @ South Street Seaport in NYC

As mentioned just two posts ago on this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the South Street Seaport Christmas tree lighting took place Friday evening with the help of Darlene Love and other special guests. A set of pictures proving that all happened, continues below...

Continue reading "Darlene Love sang & the Seaport Christmas tree is lit (pics) "

Darlene Love will perform her Christmas classic, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," at the lighting of the South Street Seaport Christmas tree at 6:00pm today (11/26). Santa will be there too, as well the "Elves of Heaven" featuring Corinne Caouette, and the Pace University Department of Performing Arts who will read/perform excerpts from A Christmas Carol.

UPDATE: Pictures of the Christmas tree lighting HERE.

And two nights after Ronnie Spector plays her Christmas show at BB King's in Times Square, Darlene Love will play a Christmas show at the same venue. Tickets are on sale for the December 19th show which is one day before Darlene appears again on Letterman. On December 22nd, she does a holiday show in Englewood, NJ.

All dates, a flyer showing all Christmas events at South Street Seaport, and a video of Darlene's 2009 Letterman performance, below...

Continue reading "Darlene Love playing Christmas shows (dates), singing at South Street Seaport tree lighting (today)"

John Waters as the other creepy old Santa...

A John Waters Christmas is hitting the road this December. Six dates are scheduled with a New York City stop at BB King's on December 22nd. The show takes the form of a monologue that "explores and explodes traditional archetypes as [Waters] shares his compulsive desire to give and receive perverted gifts, a religious fanaticism for Santa Claus, and an unhealthy love of true crime holiday horror stories." Tickets for the NY show are on sale. He visits New Brunswick, NJ's State Theatre four days before (12/18) and tickets for that are on sale too. All dates below.

A John Waters Christmas is actually the name of the director's own holiday compilation that features the likes of Fat Daddy, Alvin & The Chipmunks and Tiny Tim. Videos of few of those are below.

BB King's will host another holiday show with Darlene Love on December 13th. The singer is a 2010 nominee for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and she appeared at the museum's two-night MSG show with Bruce & the E Street band. A video of her annual Letterman performance of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is below. Tickets are on sale.

Darlene Love's Love for the Holidays will also be at Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ on Sunday, December 20th. Tickets are on sale.

Elsewhere in Jersey, Darlene teams up with Ronnie Spector for "A Christmas Gift for You" at Red Bank, NJ's Count Basie Theater on Thursday, December 17th. (Both got their holiday start in part from their songs on 1963's A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector.) Tickets are on sale.

Then, Ronnie Spector's annual X-Mas Party runs for two nights at BB King's on Saturday, December 19th and Sunday, December 20th. Tickets are on sale.

Spector's new disc The Last of the Rock Stars (...) has guest appearances that include Keith Richards, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Patti Smith, Patrick Keeler (The Raconteurs) and Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather). There's also a version of "It's Christmas Once Again" to add to your holiday rotation alongside ubiquitous Ronettes versions of "Sleigh Ride" and "Frosty the Snowman."

Speaking of Patti Smith, she has some annual holiday shows coming up of her own, but those are after Christmas and include New Years Eve.

Dates & songs from all three are posted below...

Continue reading "John Waters, Ronnie Spector & Darlene Love - holiday albums, videos & 2009 shows in NY, NJ, other places (dates) "

Bruce Springsteen & Tom Morello @ MSG (BMoreSweet)

U2 closed the second night of the MSG Rock & Roll Hall of Fame shows on October 30th. At the first (10/29), it was Bruce Springsteen & Billy Joel (before one big group sing on Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher")...

After "Badlands" much of the drained audience began leaving and then rushed back to their seats when Billy Joel sat down at the piano and launched into "You May Be Right," "Only The Good Die Young" and "New York State Of Mind." (The pair were uniting the kindred spirits of New Jersey and Long Island, Springsteen explained.) "Higher and Higher" wrapped up the night. The official set list had the show ending at 11:36:55 (yes, they thought they had it down to the exact second), but the final notes rang out at 1:31 a.m. Six straight hours of music, and that was just the first of two nights. [Rolling Stone]

Bruce was actually there both nights (one of many possibly "filling in" for Eric Clapton, who canceled last minute on the second). Those in attendence on the 30th got to see U2, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith sing together on "Because the Night." (And U2 + Mick Jagger (another unannounced guest) + Fergie + Will.i.am sing "Gimme Shelter"...). Ray Davies, Lou Reed, and Ozzy Osbourne all performed with Metallica. Many played with Stevie Wonder. Full setlists below.

HBO will be airing four hours of highlights on Thanksgiving weekend.
(November 29th at 8PM ET).

Bruce's current tour wraps up November 22nd in Buffalo. He was at Giants Stadium earlier this fall, playing the last concerts ever there. U2 also played the venue for two nights in September, and will be back in Jersey in 2010 as part of their just-announced tour.

Set lists for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shows are below...

Continue reading "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame hosted 2 very long shows @ MSG (setlists), will air on HBO Thanksgiving weekend"