INXS, complete with the guy who won his way into the band on vocals, are touring this summer and playing Wellmont Theater on August 3 (on sale now) and Beacon Theatre on August 4 (Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 AM).

In related news, Journey's ongoing tour brings them to Jones Beach this summer and "Sublime With Rome" are touring with 311 and playing the same Long Island venue.

In happier news, Joey Belladonna will in fact be back fronting Anthrax when they take the Yankee Stadium stage in September.

What's the most unfortunate example of a band replacing their lead singer instead of just breaking up?

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

"I was home most of the day and bored shitless, so I decided to head out to Mercury Lounge [on Wednesday, 7/22] to see a random classic rock/hair metal-ish show, having never heard of any of the bands on the bill. During ZO2's set, they brought out the following guests on consecutive songs, back-to-back:

1.) John Popper on harmonica for what sounded like a ZO2 original;

2.) Marky Ramone on drums for a cover of Zeppelin's "Good Times, Bad Times;"

3.) The lead dude from that hair metal thing on Broadway, Rock of Ages, for a cover of Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" (with the guitarist donning a Jimmy Page-esque double neck Gibson);

4.) One of the Steves that was at some point in Journey on guest vocals for a song I didn't recognize. No, it wasn't Steve Perry, you wiseass. One of the other ones." [Tuddd's Muddd]

ZO2 are the stars of the IFC network tv show, Z Rock. The Rock Of Ages guy was Constantine Maroulis who became famous on American Idol. More pictures Z02's set below...

Continue reading "ZO2 (and John Popper, Marky Ramone & Constantine Maroulis) @ Mercury Lounge in NYC - pics "

AC/DC @ The Izod Center (more by Ryan Muir)

If anyone had any doubt that touring is where the money is in the music business, a quick look at the top Moneymakers for 2008 should hammer the point home.

Regardless of genre, retail sales or radio play, each of the 20 acts on Billboard's Moneymakers list toured in 2008. (Taylor Swift mostly opened for Brad Paisley but doesn't get credit for that revenue). For almost all of them, touring generated the most revenue. And in a year when recorded-music sales declined yet again, many earned more at the box office than ever before. [Billboard]

I hope Kanye West can handle being below The Jonas Brothers (and Lil Wayne). The whole list below...

Continue reading "the list of musicians who made the most money in 2008"

UPDATE: TICKETS ARE ON SALE

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