The Rib Rock Festivals scheduled for this Saturday, August 27th at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater and this Sunday, August 28th at the PNC Bank Arts Center have been cancelled due to safety reasons concerning Hurricane Irene.

Refunds are available at the point of purchase.

Catch Peter Wolf instead at two NYC shows in October.

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

The Flaming Lips and Weezer played side-by-side sets at PNC Banks Arts Center last night (7/28) with an opening set from Yeasayer (who we missed). Pictures from the NJ show are in this post.

As mentioned, Rivers Cuomo was quoted in a recent press release saying, "I asked Wayne if he has an extra bubble I could ride in." He wasn't joking! Toby Tenenbaum, who shot the show, writes:

The special intro comprised the two lead singers from Flaming Lips and Weezer (Wayne Coyne and River Cuomo) pulling one of the most original stunts I had ever seen. They were both inside their own inflatable balloon and used it to crowd-walk/surf over the heads of the crowd. It was truly awesome and unique.

As the two frontmen rolled around the audience in the space balls, the remaining band members on stage played a rendition of Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf." Check out a video of all of that happening below.

The two bands then alternated every few songs. To quote Toby again, "With the average song length for FL being about 6 minutes per song and for Weezer its the standard 3 minutes per song it felt that Weezer were simply playing intermittently between a Flaming Lips show. One high point for Weezer was the Radiohead Paranoid Android cover." The bands also played together at the end of the show. The full setlist and other videos are also below.

All three bands will play again tonight (7/29) at Jones Beach Theater in Long Island. Tickets are still available. Stay tuned for pictures and a review from that show too, and congrats to all the BV contest winners that were/are in attendance.

More pictures, the video and the NJ setlist below...

Continue reading "Weezer & the Flaming Lips played 'side by side' @ PNC Bank Arts Center (pics, video & setlist)"

Matt Pinfield @ RXP concert in 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

Last month it was announced that "RXP TakLiberty Festival" would take place on September 18 at NJ's PNC Banks Arts Center with Coldplay, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Two Door Cinema Club, The Kooks, and more. According to RXP's website, the show is now cancelled "due to unforseen circumstances". Refunds are available at the point of purchase.

According to "Barry",

"It was so strange that the concert was announced a day before the news that WRXP was being sold. Then it was promoted for over a week. I'm surprised Emmis let this happen. This must represent a lot of work down the drain for some of WRXP's staff. I feel bad for them."

Back on June 21st the Daily News reported:

The future of New York's only contemporary rock radio station, WRXP (101.9 FM), was tossed into the mosh pit today when Emmis sold a controlling interest to a new radio group run by ultra-colorful radio entrepreneur Randy Michaels.

WRXP has been a rock station since Feb. 5, 2008, when Emmis terminated its former smooth jazz format. The station has struggled to find an audience in a town not known for rock radio, but in recent months had shown significant ratings gains.

Merlin Media, which is paying $110-$130 million for a controlling interest in WRXP and two Chicago stations, made no announcement today on the format at WRXP.

Leslie Fram, program director, said that for now the station will continue rocking.

The Village Voice then said that, "It's not too much of a stretch to assume....that the station will change formats before the RXP Takliberty Festival's scheduled date of September 18, hence the cancellation."

Well, they were right. The Daily News has reported today:

Don't tell Leslie Fram a contemporary rock station can't work on New York radio - even though the one she has programmed for the last 3-1/2 years ends its run Thursday, apparently to be replaced by news aimed at soccer moms.

WRXP (101.9 FM), which switched from smooth jazz to rock in February 2008, is being sold by Emmis to Merlin Media, and while the deal hasn't closed yet, Merlin takes over the programming Friday.

Listeners will hear music for a couple of weeks until Merlin launches its new format, expected to be all or mostly news targeting women in their 30s and 40s.

On the surface, this change might seem to again support the often-heard mantra that when it comes to radio music, New York is a rhythm town, not a rock town.

Fram, a WRXP host as well as program director, says she sees every indication that's not true.

She notes that for the last three months, an average of about 2.3 million people per week at some point tuned to WRXP. While that's about half the audience for WHTZ, WLTW or WKTU, it's not a small number.

"There are a lot of rock fans in this area," Fram says. "[Classic rock] WAXQ is a fine station, but there was room for us, too.

"We wanted to be the heritage rock station for people who grew up in the '90s or later, and we could have. Without us now, where will you hear a new Eddie Vedder or Mumford and Son?"

RIP WRXP

photos by Tim Griffin

DJ Shadow @ the Great Escape

Instrumental hip hop guru DJ Shadow is set to release his first LP in five years The Less You Know, The Better on September 5. He released the single "I Gotta Rokk" back in May. Check out the video for that track below.

DJ Shadow performed at Glastonbury this past weekend. According to @RadioRassilon, "DJ Shadow in the John peel tent at #Glastonbury - mind boggling. I'm boggled. Boggled flat." We don't have pictures from his set there but we did catch at the Great Escape, also in the UK, in May. As previously seen on the BV Facebook, pictures from that one are in this post.

Those fests were some of many performances Shadow has/had lined up this summer, which is largely being occupied by the touring electronic festival, IDentity Festival in August and early September. IDentity will be headlined by Kaskade, Steve Aoki (who was spotted at the Gay Pride Parade on Sunday), and Steve Lawler. It also includes live sets by Holy Ghost!, Hercules and Love Affair, and Modeselektor. It hits PNC Bank Arts Center in Jersey on 8/14 and Jones Beach in Long Island on 8/21. Tickets are on sale for both.

Video, tour dates, more live pics and the IDentity Fest lineup and flier below...

Continue reading "DJ Shadow announced new LP, touring w/ IDentity Festival, played Glastonbury & the Great Escape (pics & dates)"

The RXP TakLiberty Fetival will take place on two stages on September 18 at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. The radio station (current home of Pinfield) festival features performances by Coldplay, Richard Ashcroft (The Verve), Two Door Cinema Club, The Kooks, Graffiti 6, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and more to be announced. Ticket pre-sale begins Tuesday (6/21) and general sale starts Friday (6/24) at noon.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart also have upcoming shows including August 8 and 9 at Terminal 5 with The Kills and A Place to Bury Strangers. Tickets for both shows are available. The Kooks play a sold out show at Bowery Ballroom on June 27th. Richard Ashcroft recently played Bowery Ballroom.

Coldplay play Austin City Limits two days before the NJ show. They're also on the lineup of Lollapalooza. All of their other dates are overseas at the moment.

Coldplay have a new single awesomely named "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall." According to Coldplay's YouTube account, the song contains compositional elements of "I Go To Rio" by Peter Allen, and was produced by Markus Dravs, Dan Green and Rik Simpson with additional composition by Brian Eno. Listen to the song below...

Continue reading "Coldplay, TPOBPAH, Richard Ashcroft, The Kooks & others playing RXP TakLiberty Fest in NJ & stuff"

Weezer @ Roseland Ballroom in 2010 (more by Chris La Putt)

Yeasayer head out on tour later this month with the Smith Westerns and Hush Hush. That tour concludes with a sold out show at Terminal 5 in NYC. Yeasayer appear at Camp Bisco less than a month later.

Weezer are playing a handful of dates later in May including radio station shows in Philly & DC, a gig in Atlantic City, and B.O.M.B. Fest in CT. They'll also be keeping busy for most of the summer.

The Flaming Lips also have shows scheduled in May in addition to various summer shows that have been popping up all over the place, Hopscotch in North Carolina, the Osheaga Festival in Montreal, and Atlantic City as part of the Dave Matthews Band Caravan included.

Weezer, The Flaming Lips and Yeasayer will share a bill at PNC Bank Arts Center in NJ on July 28th and at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on July 29th. Tickets for both shows go on sale Saturday morning, 5/7, at 10am.

All tour dates for all three bands are below...

Continue reading "Weezer playing Jones Beach & PNC Bank Arts Center w/ Flaming Lips & Yeasayer (and other dates)"

PNC BANK ARTS CENTER AND NIKON AT JONES BEACH THEATER EXTENDS
$10 TICKET PRICING ON SELECT SHOWS.
SPECIAL $10 TICKET OFFERS AVAILABLE BEGINNING WEDNESDAY, JULY 28!
Purchase tickets beginning Wednesday, July 28th, at 12:01 AM.
$10 ticket offer available while supplies last.
UPDATED LIST OF PARTICIPATING SHOWS:

Tickets will be HERE (Jones Beach) and HERE (PNC Bank Arts Center), though you probably wouldn't accept $10 to go to most of them. Seriously though, for Lilith Fair, that's less than $1 per lady on the bill (which includes Cat Power) (and Beth Orton) (not counting fees). List below...

Continue reading "Live Nation $10 ticket deal extended, includes Lilith Fair, STP"

Bob Lefsetz writes...

Seeing the decline in recorded music revenues, ticket prices soared. We can blame Live Nation, but let's first and foremost blame the acts. Who not only priced tickets exorbitantly, but scalped their own tickets. They were greedy.

What's the end result?

The club business has been devastated. Live music is about the special event, one doesn't go regularly. It's about paying top buck for a name brand. Take a chance? At these prices!

And now we've got Sarah McLachlan admitting that Lilith Fair tickets are "pretty soft" (the story is everywhere, but it originated on "Billboard": Sarah McLachlan says Lilith sales "pretty soft")

What Sarah says seems reasonable, that only 300 seats or so out of 16,000 are $250, and that there are 9,000 that are $25, until you click through and try to buy some.

At the local L.A. date at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre/Irvine Meadows, the first Ticketmaster choice is:

'Lilith Universe' - Diamond Package

The price? $750 a ticket.

Then we've got:

'Lilith Spirit' - Gold Spirit

The price is: $450 a ticket.

Then there's 'Lilith Spirit' - Silver Package. Prices there are $300 a ticket.

And then, fourth choice down, we come to "NEW FULL PRICE TICKET". Where the options are: $252, $101, $71.50, $41.50 and $31.50.

But it gets even worse. After that, there's a line for "Citi Cardmember Preferred Tickets". And then, at the very bottom, we've got "Lawn 4 Pack Offer". Those are only $14.25 apiece, but after service charges, aren't you just better off buying the ultimate DVD, which you can watch again and again in the privacy of your own home. up close and personal?

In other words, first and foremost, we've got a perception problem. No matter how many super-expensive seats there are, perception is you just can't get a good one unless you pay up, demoralizing potential attendees.

Furthermore, no one on the bill is "hot". There's no GaGa that makes people NEED to go. [Bob Lefsetz]

Lilith Fair 2010, back from a 10+ year hiatus, kicks off June 27th and runs into August. The maxi pad-sponsored tour comes to the NYC area for a July 31st show at PNC Bank Arts Center. Acts at that date include Cat Power, Chairlift, Carly Simon, Sarah McLachlan, Selena Gomez, Missy Higgins, Jill Hennessy, Indigo Girls, Sara Bareilles, Priscilla Renea and a "special guest" (other acts not playing NJ include Loretta Lynn, Metric, Gossip, Beth Orton, La Roux Erykah Badu and Tegan and Sara). Tickets are currently on sale with "no service fee."

The tour recently canceled its July 8th stop in Arizona for undisclosed reasons, but there's speculation that it's in protest of the state's controversial new immigration law.

"The GoGo's are encouraging Lilith to move this date to another state in protest of the new immigration law. We are NOT supporting the state government," [GoGo's Belinda Carlisle] wrote on her Facebook account a few weeks ago. "I don't mix business and politics but I'm afraid I have to this time."

Carlisle eventually deleted the post, but The Go-Go's released a press statement last week informing fans the show was cancelled and tickets could be refunded. But they also said the band had not been told why the show was cancelled. [ChartAttack]

Full tour schedule is below...

Continue reading "maxipad-sponsored Lilith Fair tour dates & soft ticket sales (happening in NJ, but not NYC or Arizona...)"

by Black Bubblegum

Judas Priest played their first of two NYC area shows at PNC Bank Arts Center on July 11th (Jones Beach was the next day). The shows were part of their resurrection of the classic British Steel which was the main attraction (they played the 1980 album from start to finish). The whole setlist, which was more than just the album, was comprised of mostly classic songs (unlike the slightly heavier Nostradamus list from the Metal Masters tour). They closed with the Screaming For Vengeance classic "You Got Another Thing Coming" from atop a Harley ridden on stage (as usual)...

"I felt like I was rocking out in the 70s somewhere. Some of the slower moving stuff in songs like The Rage & Victim of Chances really had people tripping out. I think I actually saw some people dancing and grooving out...at a Judas Priest show." [Blogman 3000]

The most recent complaint about Priest is that vocalist Rob Halford is showing his age. Halford is very stoic on stage, and at times uses a cane or a staff to walk around, but his high pitched vibrato-laden voice is still in full effect. Add the fact that the rest of the band plays with coordinated guitar dance moves straight out of the 80s and you have one helluva show that is both skilled and fun to watch.

Priest's new live album, A Touch of Evil, is out this week (July 14th) and the band's trek in celebration of British Steel continues. Full tour dates, more pictures from and the setlist from PNC Bank Arts Center (which was identical to Jones Beach the next night) as well as trailer for the live LP, are below...

Continue reading "Judas Priest played British Steel @ PNC Bank Arts Center (and Jones Beach) - pics & setlist"

photos by Zach Dilgard

...the brazenness that once defined Jane's Addiction has leveled off into something rigid and dutiful. (This was never more obvious than on "Jane Says," a signature ballad, and a diffuse and lackluster final encore.) Mr. Farrell sang in his piercing, theatrical whine, and as the alternative-rock front man most often pegged as Dionysian, he fulfilled a given role, shimmying and writhing, sometimes with a bottle of wine. "Still partying!" he crowed at one point. These days his freak show is a happy place.

By contrast Nine Inch Nails, which played a potent preceding set, delved into the colder aspects of freakishness. This too was true to form: Trent Reznor, the group's mastermind, has always been a brooder. But he sends his energies outward in performance: most of his songs reached eruptive fervor, even if they began in shadowy quietude. Mr. Reznor's lean backing band was equally engaged by thrashing post-punk riffs and thudding electronics, and his vocals created a calculated impression of soul baring at every degree of intensity. [NY Times]

Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction played two NYC-area shows togehter. They were Saturday, June 6th at PNC Bank Arts Center, and Sunday, June 7th at Jones Beach Theater. The photographs and review are both from Jones Beach. The co-headlining tour, that included a stop at Sasquatch, wraps up this weekend on June 12th in Charlotte, NC. NiN go on to play Bonnaroo on June 13th, while Jane's Addiction has shows June 13th and 14th in Portsmouth, VA, and Wallingford, CT, respectively. Both bands will travel abroad to Europe and elsewhere for the rest of the summer. Of course, Jane's Addiction will return in time for Lollapalooza on August 7th.

Street Sweeper Social Club (a band with Tom Morello and Boots Riley) opened both shows. More pictures and all setlists below...

Continue reading "NIN/JA played Jones Beach (pics) & PNC BAC (all setlists) "

The promoter of the more than 30 concerts scheduled for PNC Bank Arts Center this summer has banned tailgating at five of the events, hoping to reduce alcohol consumption, especially underage drinking.

High-ranking representatives of Live Nation Corp., the promoter, told the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee in Trenton today tailgating will not be permitted rock concerts by John Mayer, OAR, 311, Beatstock and a day-long rock festival tagged Projekt Revolution. There will be no Ozzfest tour this year.

Live Nation, which has nine years remaining on a seemingly ironclad 20-year contract to present concerts at the state-owned amphitheater, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, and the State Police want to prevent a repeat of the last year's concert season when 2 teenagers died, and 615 people were arrested, mainly for heavy drinking, including 437 who were 20 years old or younger at 34 concerts. [NJ.com]