Bumbershoot is returning to Seattle this year from August 31 to September 2 at Seattle Center. This year's lineup was just announced, and it includes Death Cab for Cutie performing Transatlanticism (in case The Postal Service reuniting wasn't enough Ben Gibbard nostalgia for you), Kendrick Lamar, MGMT, The Breeders, The Zombies, Alt-J, Deerhunter, Baroness, Crystal Castles, Gary Numan, Joey Bada$$, Eric Burdon, Bob Mould, David Bazan, Charli XCX, Redd Kross, The Men and more.

Tickets (3-day passes, 2-day passes, and single day tickets) for the festival are on sale now.

Full lineup below...

Continue reading "Bumbershoot 2013 lineup & tix (Death Cab for Cutie, MGMT, Kendrick Lamar, Breeders, Zombies, Alt-J, Deerhunter & more)"

Tickets to see Rodriguez at Barclays Center go on presale today at 10 AM (code: "METRO").

Tickets for the Weezer Cruise go on sale today at noon.

Heart is playing Jones Beach on June 27 and PNC Bank Arts Center on July 2 with Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience. Tickets for those shows go on sale Friday (3/22) at 10 AM. A Citi Cardmember presale and Live Nation presale start today at 10 AM for Jones Beach and a Live Nation presale for PNC Bank Arts Center starts today at 10 AM.

Tickets for the Peter Frampton and Robert Cray show at Beacon Theatre go on presale today at 11 AM (anyone know the password)? with a general on-sale starting Friday (3/22) at 11 AM. They also play The Paramount (6/23) in Huntington, NY and tickets for that show go on sale Friday (3/22) at 10 AM.

Joan Baez is playing Central Park Summerstage on June 17 and New Jersey Performing Arts Center on June 19 with Indigo Girls. Tickets go on presale today at 10 AM (anyone know the passwords?) and tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday (3/22) at 10 AM.

Talib Kweli is playing Soundcheck Live at the Greene Space on April 24. The show will include a live performance and a conversation with host John Schaefer. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Rush at Barclays Center, October 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

In a just-held ceremony at the Nokia Theatre in L.A. that was hosted by Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were announced after nominees surfaced a short two months ago. Among this year's class are Randy Newman, Public Enemy, Donna Summer, Heart, Albert King and the long-snubbed Rush, along with receipients of the Ahmet Ertegun Award, Lou Adler and Quincy Jones.

Reportedly, Rush was the clear beneficiary of the recently instituted popular vote, and the band had the following comment:

"We are honored to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The 3 of us are especially appreciative of our loyal fans whose support and dedication has gone a long way to making this possible. P.S. And special thanks to our moms for voting 6000 times!" - Alex, Geddy, & Neil

This letter, signed by a ton of artists and pictured above, is set to appear in an ad in Billboard:

We are big fans of Pandora. That's why we helped give the company a discount on rates for the past decade.

Pandora is now enjoying phenomenal success as a Wall Street company. Skyrocketing growth in revenues and users. We celebrate that. At the same time, the music community is just now beginning to gain its footing in the new digital world.

Pandora's principal asset is the music.

Why is the company asking Congress once again to step in and gut the royalties that thousands of musicians rely upon? That's not fair, and that's not how partners work together.
Congress has many pressing issues to consider, but this is not one of them. Let's work this out as partners and continue to bring fans the great musical experience they rightly expect.

The issue is that Pandora is supporting the Internet Radio Fairness Act which they say will "help end the long-standing discrimination against internet radio". Artists are mad because that possibly means less money for them, but Pandora and other Internet radio providers argue they can't stay in business the way things are now.

Continue reading "A bunch of artists wrote an open letter to Pandora who support the Internet Radio Fairness Act"

Kraftwerk at MoMA in April (more by Greg Cristman)

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2013 nominees: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chic, Deep Purple, Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Albert King, Kraftwerk, The Marvelettes, The Meters, Randy Newman, NWA, Procol Harum, Public Enemy, Rush, and Donna Summer.

For the first time in its history, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will offer fans the opportunity to officially participate in the induction selection process. Beginning on Thursday, October 4 and continuing through December 5, the public can vote for the five nominees they believe to be most deserving of induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The top five artists, as selected by the public, will comprise a "fans' ballot" that will be tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2013 inductees.

Alejandro Escovedo at Clearwater 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Alejandro Escovedo, who will be on NYC soon for a free show at Stuyvesant Town Hall on July 28, will be heading out later this year on a tour supporting arena rockers Heart. That tour comes to the NYC area for shows at Beacon Theatre on October 3 and Long Island's Paramount on October 10. Tickets for both shows are on Heart Fanatic presale now. Beacon Theatre tix are on Internet presale right now and on sale to the general public on Friday (7/20) at 11AM. Paramount tix are also currently on venue presale (password: "pulse") and go on sale to the general public on Friday (7/18) at 10AM. All dates are listed below.

Speaking of Stuy Town, they just had a big free show over the weekend (7/14) with Blizten Trapper and Ben Kweller. Did you go to the show? How was it?

A list of all Alejandro Escovedo dates is below.

Continue reading "Alejandro Escovedo touring w/ Heart (dates)"

Lilith Fair, which has been dormant since 1999, will reform this year for a North American tour this summer. Exact dates and venues are forthcoming, but the ongoing list of confirmed acts is impressive (though they won't all play every city). The lineup currently includes Beth Orton, Cat Power, Emmylou Harris, Erykah Badu, the Gossip, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Heart, Indigo Girls, Janelle Monae, Ke$ha, La Roux, Lights, Loretta Lynn, Mary J. Blige, Metric, Miranda Lambert, Norah Jones, Rosie Thomas, Sarah McLachlan, Serena Ryder, Sheryl Crow, Tara MacLean, Tegan and Sara.

New York City is one of the tour's confirmed stops. The rest of those and the fest's so-far lineup are below...

Continue reading "Lilith Fair 2010 (Cat Power, Norah Jones, Tegan & Sara, Janelle Monae, Metric, Grace Potter, Gossip, Erykah Badu, Beth Orton, Sia, many more)"

Willamette Week's Musicfest NW announces this year's festival line-up which will be held at various venues around the Portland, OR metropolitan area on September 16, 17, 18 & 19. On the heels of the most successful MFNW to date, MFNW 2009 launches with nothing but the hope of a bigger and better festival. MFNW's ultimate aim is to provide Portland with a unique and special musical experience that features all types of acts including nationally renowned artists while still honoring and supporting the special musical scene of the Northwest.

The lineup so far, including the newly-reunited Sunny Day Real Estate, is below...

Continue reading "Musicfest NW in Portland, OR (Sept 16-19) - lineup"

UPDATE: TICKETS ARE ON SALE

Continue reading "Journey, Heart & Cheap Trick - 2008 Tour Dates"