by Bill Pearis

Arriving on the mid-'70s London scene as a rough'n'ready product of the pub-rock era -- an R&B- loving Nick Lowe with a sharper, more ambitious pen, as it were -- Parker predated Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson, both of whom would second his illustration that the singer/songwriter idiom could be recharged, giving intelligent rock fans an excitable and energetic alternative to (slightly) older guardsmen like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Randy Newman and Van Morrison. - [Trouser Press]

Graham and the Rumour are currently touring the record in America and will be playing the previously mentioned NYC show at Concert Hall at the NY Society for Ethical Culture on Saturday (12/1, tickets) with openers The Figgs, and then The Paramount Theatre in Long Island on Sunday (12/2, tickets) which is a co-headling show with Ian Hunter. All tour dates are below.

Parker's had a long career, and had college radio hits with his 1988 album The Mona Lisa's Sister and has kept on going since. He may be about to get another moment in the spotlight as fan Judd Apatow tapped Parker to not only contribute songs to his new film, This Is 40, but also appear in the film. The comedy, a sideways sequel to Knocked Up (about Paul Rudd's character from that film) will be out in theaters December 21. The soundtrack was produced by Jon Brion and also features Norah Jones, Fiona Apple, Lindsay Buckingham, Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, Paul Simon, Wilco, Loudon Wainwright and more. Tracklist is below, as is the trailer for the film.

A list of tour dates, album stream, videos, and the This Is 40 trailer and soundtrack tracklist, below...

Continue reading "Graham Parker reunited with The Rumour, made first new LP in 31 years, on tour, appearing in 'This Is 40' (dates, streams)"

Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Edie Brickell, Tina Fey, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, James Taylor, and more are playing the Children's Health Fund 25th Anniversary Concert at Radio City Music Hall on October 4. Tickets for that show are very expensive and on sale now.

When we mentioned that Easy Star All-Stars put out a Michael Jackson tribute album called "Thrillah", we didn't realize they were also performing from it at Irving Plaza on 10/4. Tickets are on sale.

As mentioned, tickets are on sale for the Afghan Whigs show at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets for the Delta Spirit, FIDLAR, and JEFF the Brotherhood show at Irving Plaza are on sale now.

Tickets for Lady Gaga's upcoming shows at MSG and Barclays Center go on sale at 10am.

Prong is playing Rocks Off cruise during CMJ on October 19 with Eminence and For Sleeping or Jumping. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Speaking of CMJ shows on boats, Tickets for the El-P CMJ Rocks Off cruise (also happening on 10/19) are on sale now.

If you noticed El-P's friend Killer Mike in the initial CMJ lineup, that's because Mike is opening for GZA as part of a tour that hits Irving Plaza on 10/18. Tickets are still on sale.

Tickets to see High on Fire's two upcoming NYC shows (Bowery and MHOW) go on sale today at noon.

Sam Sparro plays Webster Hall on November 30. Tickets go on sale at noon.

Tickets to see Field Report atMercury Lounge go on sale today at noon. You can also get tickets to Union Hall.

Tickets to see The Waterboys' Mike Scott at Music Hall of Williamsburg go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Anais Mitchell at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Diamond Rings at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

BAIO (aka Chris Baio of Vampire Weekend) is playing Glasslands on October 26 with Germany Germany. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Iggy Azalea and Havana Brown are opening for Rita Ora at Highline Ballroom on October 30. Tickets for that show go on sale today at noon.

Theophilus London is playing Gramercy Theatre on October 20 with Chip Tha Rippa and Phony PPL. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Tickets to the Owen shows at Mercury Lounge and Union Hall go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see The Frank and Walters at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Kelly Hogan show at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Petty Fest tickets go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Callers and Sam Mickens show at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Sam Mickens also plays as a duo with Mike Pride at Death by Audio on October 14 with Aurora and Glockabelle.

Tickets are still on sale for the Jens Lekman/Taken By Trees show at Terminal 5.

RSVP to the BV Austin CMJ Party with Robert Ellis, Wild Child, The TonTons, Shakey Graves, Josiah Hall, and New York City Queens, or just show up with your CMJ badge to get in for free.

Paul Simon at Webster Hall in 2011 (more by Ryan Barkan)

Back in 2011, Paul Simon played a small (for him) club date in NYC, a BrooklynVegan-presented Webster Hall show, and that show is now being turned into a live album/film called Paul Simon Live in New York City which will be out on 2-CD / 1-DVD on September 18. That show was part of Paul's tour of his 2011 LP, So Beautiful or So What, and included a number of tracks off of that album, in addition to many of his classics like "Mother and Child Reunion," "The Sound of Silence," "The Only Living Boy in New York," and others.

Based on the tracklist, which you can check out below, it won't be including the part of the encore when David Byrne came out to perform "You Can Call Me Al" and the Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere" with Paul, or Paul's cover of "Here Comes the Sun," but the majority of the show was captured and will be available. To get a glimpse of what you can expect, check out a video of Paul and his band playing "Dazzling Blue" at that show, along with the film trailer below.

Those videos, the cover art, and tracklist are below.

Continue reading "Paul Simon releasing live CD/DVD of his 2011 Webster Hall show (video premiere)"

A 25th anniversary tour to celebrate Paul Simon's landmark "Graceland" album next year is in the early planning stages. The tour would coincide with a "Graceland" box set that Sony Legacy will release in the late spring, most likely in May.

Simon told Billboard.biz he intends to reunite musicians who toured with him in 1987, among them the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

In July, Simon returned to South Africa with his band and performed with trumpeter Hugh Masekela and Ladysmith Black Mambazo for a crowd of 300 people. Director Joe Berlinger, whose credits include documentaries on the West Memphis Three and Metallica, shot the performance for a film that will be included in a 25th anniversary box set. Berlinger's film is also expected to be submitted to film festivals.

"The documentary," Simon said, "took me back to the artistic aspects and the political aspects of making Graceland and the controversy that surrounded it and how it was resolved, plus what remains of it and what we learn from it."

Paul played a show last night in Atlantic City, NJ at Mark G. Etess Arena and plays another one again tonight (11/27) at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. A few select tickets are still available for tonight's show.

All dates and a few videos, below....

Continue reading "'Songwriter' released, 'Graceland' tour in the works (meanwhile Paul Simon is on tour & in NJ tonight)"

Peter Bjorn and John @ Antone's in June (more by Tim Griffin)

today in NYC
* Whiplash @ UCB
* Chica Libre @ Barbes
* Swingadelic @ Maxwell's
* Cosmic Bee Bee's @ Zebulon
* Anthrax @ Best Buy Theater
* Gordon Lightfoot @ BB King's
* Ganglians, The Mumlers @ The Rock Shop
* Blondie, Lissy Trullie @ Highline Ballroom
* Youth Lagoon, Young Magic @ Mercury Lounge
* Peter, Bjorn & John, Memoryhouse @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Bachelorette, Regal Degal, Household @ Cake Shop
* The Dodos, The Luyas @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Raspberry Bulbs, FFH, Endless Humilation @ Lit Lounge
* Das Racist, Danny Brown, Despot @ Bowery Ballroom
* Karl Berger's Stone Workshop Orchestra @ The Stone
* Wolves in the Throne Room, Thou, Krallice @ The Bell House
* Teddybears, Kid Savant, Body Language, Alex English @ Irving Plaza
* Hot Tub w/ Todd Barry, Jiwon Lee, Franz Nicolay, more @ Littlefield
* Jim Campilongo Electric Trio with Tony Mason & Stephan Crump @ Living Room
* Highlife, Yoga Mom (Prince Rama), Swarms (Rings), DJ Tim Dewitt (Gang Gang Dance), Arch M @ Cameo Gallery

Youth Lagoon plays his first NYC show today.

Blondie play their first of two this week.

Peter Bjorn and John play their first of five this week.

Das Racist's show at Bowery Ballroom tonight is sold out. They just added one at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

In case you missed it, we posted a whole bunch of venue news over the weekend.

Paul Simon performed at Ground Zero on 9/11. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"

photos by Ryan Barkan, words by Andrew Sacher

Being that I'm admittedly too young to have seen Paul Simon in his prime, I wasn't totally sure what to expect from his BV-presented Webster Hall show last night (6/6). After watching him deliver a 26 song set, which failed to show any signs of slowing down, I lost sight of all expectations I had and embraced the fact that Paul Simon was just straight up impressive. The set spanned his entire career from his days in Simon & Garfunkel through his recently released So Beautiful or So What, and also included a few covers. The songs off So Beautiful or So What resonated as strongly as his earlier material and blended right in. During the song "Rewrite" I even found myself debating over which of his albums the song was on, only to later realize it was in fact a new one. The entire set was so consistent that choosing any sort of standout is difficult, though if I had to say, When Paul and his band flowed seamlessly from Jimmy Cliff's "Vietnam" into Paul's own classic, "Mother and Child Reunion," I was pleasantly caught off guard.

The real treats, however, came during the encores. After a massive end to the initial set, Paul and band left the stage only for Paul to return with nothing more than an acoustic guitar. He provided some foreshadowing guitar which eventually built into an extremely intimate version of the Simon & Garfunkel staple "Sounds of Silence." Contrasted with a largely upbeat set, that small dose of melancholy left the audience still, silent, and possibly even more captivated. The impact that song holds almost 50 years later isn't matched by many, and Paul Simon's still-strong deliverance is matched by even less. Paul's band returned to the stage and the encore continued for three more songs including a rendition of the George Harrison-penned "Here Comes the Sun."

When the first encore finished and the stage crew scrambled to set up another mic stand, it was obvious that the band was returning for a second encore. But little did I know, the second mic was being set up for none other than David Byrne. The fellow worldbeat loving New Yorker sounds like the most appropriate guest on paper (except for maybe Art Garfunkel) and it was even more than that in real life. As mentioned, David, Paul, and band performed Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere" and Graceland favorite "You Can Call Me Al." Byrne left the stage and Paul Simon and band played two more, appropriately including "Still Crazy After All These Years," before taking their final bows and exiting the stage after playing "Crazy Love, Vol. II".

Check out more pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "Paul Simon @ Webster Hall in pics & review"

Paul & David @ Webster Hall -- photo by Ryan Barkan

An already excellent show was made epic when David Byrne surprised everyone by joining Paul Simon on stage at Webster Hall to perform two songs during the encore last night (6/6). First Simon and band backed David as he sang Talking Heads hit "Road to Nowhere". Then, like they did at BAM in 2008, David and Paul traded verses on Simon hit "You Can Call Me Al". A full review and set of pictures (more like the above) from the Monday night club show are coming soon. In the meantime check out some videos people posted to Youtube, below...

Continue reading "David Byrne joined Paul Simon @ Webster Hall (pic & videos)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Paul Simon at the 9:30 Club

"Simon packed his 2-hour set with lots of classics, a couple of new songs (which sounded great), and even a couple of covers. His voice still sounds beautiful and pure; his band is absolutely stellar, and their well-placed solos and occasional jams were spot on.

Simon had just played DC's DAR Constitution Hall a few days ago to rave reviews. But the 9:30, which holds about 1,200 people, is one third the size of DAR. Seeing him in this intimate setting was quite an experience and the (over)sold-out crowd showed him much love throughout the night." [club D]

A few more pictures from DC club show, the setlist, and the popular internet video of fan Paul Fournier singing with Paul Simon on stage at the bigger DC show, below...

Continue reading "Paul Simon played the 9:30 Club (pics, setlist), Paul Fournier sang with him @ DAR Constitution Hall (video)"

Tickets go on general sale at 10am for Paul Simon at Webster Hall. The presale sold out quickly yesterday.

Meanwhile Paul's tour continues tonight at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington DC. His show at 9:30 Club is Friday.

Tickets for the Webster Hall club show go on presale at 10am. And the password is: ritz2u

Probot members Dave Grohl & Lemmy

As previously discussed, this weekend is the Hangout Music Fest in Gulf Shores, Alabama (May 20-22, 2011). As we wrote, "Hang Out Music Fest is heavy on the jam bands, but will also feature appearances from Paul Simon, The Black Keys, The Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, Foo Fighters, Motorhead, Cee Lo, Girl Talk, Minus The Bear, El Mariachi Bronx and many more over its three days." If you can't be there, iClips will be streaming performances online all weekend.

Speaking of Paul Simon, his tour just got bigger with the addition of another NYC show.

Speaking of My Morning Jacket and streaming, they'll be streaming a live show on May 31st directed by Todd Haynes.

Speaking of Foo Fighters, Motorhead and El Mariachi Bronx, BBG writes, "there's something wrong with the world when Motorhead is hitting the road supporting Foo Fighters, but nevertheless they're doing that right now with Biffy Clyro. Those dates include a showing at the Hangout Festival and conclude when Foo Fighters hit Sasquatch on May 27th."

Foo Fighters are also planning a trip to the Northeast, and have announed more dates that include one in the NYC-area at Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ on 9/26. Tickets go on sale 5/20 at 10AM and support at the NJ date, as with all dates on that leg, will come from Rise Against (who just played T5 twice two weeks ago with Bad Religion) and Mariachi el Bronx (who recently played Highline Ballroom, are also playing Hangout, and are playing a boat as the Bronx).

All FF tour dates and some video is below.

Continue reading "HangOut Music Fest streaming online, Foo Fighters touring w/ Motorhead (announced more dates, NJ, etc)"

NYC did just get two nights of Paul Simon at the fabulous Beacon Theater, but I still couldn't help feeling left out since the March announcement of rare Paul Simon club dates. Seattle, LA, San Francisco, Toronto, Chicago, DC and even Boston were given chances to experience Paul up close and personal . NYC wasn't included... until now. BrooklynVegan is proud to present Paul Simon at Webster Hall on June 6! (at 8pm)

Tickets for the NYC club date will go on sale to the public on May 25 at 10am (via Ticketmaster), but there will also be a presale beginning exactly 24 hours earlier. Check in right here on BrooklynVegan.com on the morning of May 24 for presale details and a password.

UPDATE: Password HERE.

You can also try and WIN two tickets on the BrooklynVegan Facebook page now. All tour dates, Philadelphia on June 4 & 5 included, are listed below.

Paul's Chicago club show happened on Monday at the Vic. Greg Kot was there...

"Paul Simon has played stadiums and festivals. He's done Central Park. So it was a treat Monday to see one of the most venerated songwriters of the last half-century turn the relatively intimate, sold-out Vic Theatre into his living room.

The 69-year-old singer-songwriter dressed for the occasion in loose-fitting jeans and black T-shirt underneath an unbuttoned shirt. His eight-piece multi-culti band framed him, with Simon at times resembling a crossing guard at a three-way intersection as he directed musical traffic. His foot tapped, his arms waved, he crouched and jutted a guitar toward his musicians, he even played an air washboard solo...

Continue reading "Paul Simon playing a NYC club show! (BV Presents @ Webster Hall) +++ updated tour dates, SNL video & the Chicago setlist"

Paul Simon in MN on 5/2 (photo by Darren Tutt)

"...Mr. Simon, 69, has a preexisting relationship with vintage gospel music, as he hinted elsewhere in the show. (A double-time rave-up coda in "Kodachrome," released in 1973, plunged straight into "Gone at Last," from 1975.) By now gospel commingles easily with sounds adopted from Africa and Brazil--and New Orleans, and Memphis, while we're at it--in his pursuit of ecstasy through rhythm. This was a show about that pursuit, and it was marvelous: brisk and unsinkable, smartly balanced, deftly paced.

"It's always slightly unnerving and exhilarating to play in your exact neighborhood," Mr. Simon, an Upper West Sider, said playfully, a few songs in. He last played the Beacon as recently as two years ago, when he had the honor of breaking it in after a deluxe refurbishment. There was less of a sense of occasion this time around, which worked to everyone's favor...." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Paul Simon played Beacon Theater, does again today (setlist)"

Legendary songwriter Paul Simon has added club dates in select cities to his recently announced, sold-out spring theater tour. The added shows offer fans a chance to see the iconic artist and his stellar band in an especially intimate, personal setting...

..."I'm going to play 3,000 seat theaters and also clubs," he tells Rolling Stone. "I want to play several songs from the new album and music from my repertoire that I either haven't played in concert or have played very seldom. I want to let the band be freer. I'm actually really looking forward to this tour. I'll play a few songs by other people, maybe a couple of Simon and Garfunkel songs. And then late in the evening, who knows, I might pick up my acoustic guitar and sing whatever comes into my mind. That's the fun of clubs, it's looser. I can come at it all from a place that's fresh."

Continue reading "Paul Simon adds club dates to tour (but not in NYC?)"

you can buy this 2009 poster from Paul's website...

"To celebrate the release of his first new record in five years, legendary artist Paul Simon has announced a very special North American tour beginning Friday, April 15th in Seattle, Washington. The set list will draw from his iconic career, including several songs that haven't been performed live in many years. Also included will be songs from So Beautiful or So What, his brand new album set for release by Hear Music/Concord Music Group on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. Before hitting the road, Simon will appear two consecutive nights, April 6th and 7th on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."

Continue reading "Paul Simon announces tour in support of new LP (2011 dates)"

DOWNLOAD Paul Simon - Getting Ready For Christmas (MP3)

Getting ready for Christmas Day. And let me tell you, namely, the undertaker, he's getting ready for your body. Not only that, the jailer he's getting ready for you. Christmas day. Hmm? And not only the jailer, but the lawyer, the police force. Now getting ready for Christmas day, and I want you to bear it in mind - Reverend Gates

Download the MP3 for free above. Buy it at iTunes.

I'm a sucker for holiday music, but "Getting Ready For Christmas Day" is not technically a Christmas song. Named after and sampling the last recorded sermon by pre-war American Christian preacher and gospel singer Reverend J.M. Gates, its lyrics and title reference the holiday, but not in the happy way traditional holiday music does. The song covers topics like a relative spending the holiday in Iraq, and not having very much money (probably not an actual issue for Simon, but that's besides the point).

That's part of the sampled part of the lyrics quoted above (right below the old Rev. Gates ad which references another one of Gates' Christmas sermons, "Will the Coffin Be Your Santa Claus"). You can read all the Paul Simon lyrics, complete Reverend J.M. Gates samples included, below. The single's cover art is down there too...

Continue reading "a new not-Christmas song by Paul Simon (from his forthcoming album "So Beautiful Or So What") (MP3)"

""The Capeman," Paul Simon's ill-fated foray into the Broadway musical, was so spectacular and costly a flop that when it closed in 1998 after only 68 performances, it was hard to imagine it could ever have an afterlife. But time passes, memories fade, and tastes change, and so for three nights beginning Saturday, the Public Theater will be presenting a new, streamlined version of the show outdoors at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Paul Simon's Capeman in Central Park this weekend (free)"

"Played the Simon & Garfunkel tribute in Central Park last night. John Roderick brought it! Ben Gibbard's psych jam ruled..." - Aimee Mann

Holmes Brothers (Sherman, Popsy and Wendell) & Mayor Bloomberg (WFUV)

Ben Gibbard & St. Vincent play "Fakin it" (WFUV)

Paul Simon & WFUV Music Director Rita Houston (WFUV)

SummerStage hosted a pricey benefit for its free programming last night (June 8) in Central Park. The show was a tribute to the songs of Simon & Garfunkel, and musicians covered the pair mostly as duos. St. Vincent and Ben Gibbard teamed up for "Fakin' It," Dean & Britta played "Homeward Bound," Alejandro Escovedo and Willie Nile played "The Boxer," Aimee Mann and John Roderick did "Only Living Boy in New York," Loudon Wainwright III and Lucy Wainwright Roche sang "Bleecker Street" and lots more. Both Simon and Garfunkel were there, but didn't perform. The full performer+set list is posted below.

How did the new speakers at Central Park sound? The SummerStage series continues through August. Celebrate Brooklyn kicks off TONIGHT (6/9).

No videos from the show at the moment, but someone posted some from the show's rehearsal that took place one night earlier at City Winery. Those with the Central Park setlist, below...

Continue reading "Simon & Garfunkel were honored at Summerstage, Ben Gibbard performed w/ St. Vincent & much more"

photos by Kevin Mazur/ Wire Image

"Yoko Ono, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Bette midler, freaking amazing!" - nico843

Yoko's Plastic Ono Band will be playing a special show at BAM's Gilman Opera House on Tuesday, February 16th. The show includes guest spots from original/former Plastic Ono band members Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Voormann and drummer Jim Keltner. Other guests include Justin Bond, Kim Gordon, Bette Midler, Thurston Moore, Mark Ronson, Scissor Sisters, Martha Wainwright, Haruomi Hosono, Paul Simon and son Harper Simon, and current Ono Band members Cornelius, Yuka Honda and Sean Lennon.

Continue reading "Yoko's Plastic Ono Band played BAM w/ Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Bette Midler, Scissor Sisters & more (pics)"

Yoko's Plastic Ono Band will be playing a special show at BAM's Gilman Opera House on Tuesday, February 16th. The show includes guest spots from original/former Plastic Ono band members Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Voormann and drummer Jim Keltner (one former "member," Ringo Star, isn't scheduled to be there, though he is in NYC on Jan 14th). Other guests include Justin Bond, Kim Gordon, Bette Midler, Thurston Moore, Mark Ronson, Scissor Sisters, Martha Wainwright, Haruomi Hosono, Paul Simon and son Harper Simon, and current Ono Band members Cornelius, Yuka Honda and Sean Lennon. Tickets are on sale.

Plastic Ono Band (sans guests) will also be at this year's Noise Pop Festival in San Fran on Febraury 23rd. The group's new sprawling record, Between My Head And The Sky, the first 'Ono Band' record since the '70s, came out last September. A flyer for the show is below...

Continue reading "Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band playing BAM w/ lots of special guests (Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Bette Midler) (tix on sale)"

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]

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"

Bruce Springsteen @ Izod Center in May (more by Tim Griffin)

Reports on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary show have been confirmed. The two-night event will be happening at Madison Square Garden on October 29th & 30th. The lineup for those shows will include...

October 29:
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Simon & Garfunkel
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Friends
Paul Simon
Stevie Wonder

October 30:
Eric Clapton
Aretha Franklin
Metallica
U2

"American Express cardmembers have access to advance tickets Monday, July 27 at 9AM to Sunday, August 2 at 9PM, before they go on sale to the general public on Monday, August 3 at 9AM. For once-in-a-lifetime VIP Benefit Packages priced from $25,000 to $100,000, email rockhall@eventassociatesinc.com. For other Special VIP Benefit Packages priced from $750 to $5,000, go to ticketmaster.com." The cheapest ticket price is $79.50.

More info on the show's various sets and collaborations from Rolling Stone, who is helping to produce it, below...

Continue reading "Hall of fame shows @ MSG confirmed - tickets, lineup (U2, Bruce, Metallica, Simon, Garfunkel, Clapton, Stevie, Aretha) "

by Andrew Frisicano

St. Ann's Warehouse is hosting its spring benefit, "A Gala Evening with Philip Glass + Ira Glass," on Tuesday, April 28th. The pair will engage in the "World Premiere Performance of Glass on Glass, a one-time-only evening with cousins, composer Philip Glass and master storyteller, Ira Glass, host of public radio's This American Life."

Tickets for the event, which run in $150, $350, and $1,000 packages, are on sale now.

Another upcoming benefit, for the Children's Health Fund, features a performance by Willie Nelson (with CHF co-founder Paul Simon) on Wednesday, May 27th at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Tower. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other notables will be in attendance as well.

To reserve a spot for that event, contribute between $1000 and $100,000 to the CHF (thx rajohn for the tip).

Willie recently played at the Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis in February, and has a US tour coming up. The closest stop to NYC on that is a show at New Brunswick, NJ's State Theatre on Saturday, April 18th. Tickets are on sale. All dates below..

Philip Glass tracks "Prophecies" and "Pruitt Igoe" from Koyaanisqatsi were recently featured in The Watchmen, and PBS is in the middle of screening GLASS: A Portrait of Philip Glass in Twelve Parts, a 12-part doc on the composer as part of its American Masters series.

The night after the St. Ann's benefit, Wednesday, April 29th, Glass' work will be performed by Michael Riesman, director of the Philip Glass Ensemble, at new downtown venue The Greene Space. The music will be integrated into a radio theatre performance of The Invisible Man.

On May 17th, "Signal performs Philip Glass' Symphony No. 3 and Suite from The Hours with pianist Michael Riesman, conducted by Brad Lubman at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City." (Tickets are on sale.)

Part of Glass' Koyaanisqatsi, Willie Nelson's best-of compilation infomercial video, and tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Philip & Ira Glass; Willie Nelson, Paul Simon play benefits & other upcoming shows "

AT 9 o'clock on a recent morning Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were already half an hour into a rehearsal at the rock club Terminal 5 in Manhattan. As N.F.L. executives and a television production team watched, they were tightening their miniset of four songs -- dropping verses, streamlining segues -- to fit their 12-minute slot as the halftime entertainment Sunday at Super Bowl XLIII, expected to reach tens of millions of viewers.

"My take on the Super Bowl?" Mr. Springsteen said after rehearsal. "Fundamentally it's a 12-minute party."

Few musicians anywhere consummate symbolic occasions and mass events better than Mr. Springsteen. He's used to working on a stadium scale, and for decades his concerts have been nonstop singalongs that perfectly embody the yearning for community in his lyrics. In an era when pop hits can be as ephemeral as a deleted MP3 file, Mr. Springsteen has spent much of his career laboring to write durable songs about American dreams, from "Born to Run" to "Promised Land." [NY Times]

The show that was supposed to be at Vanishing Point tonight was cancelled moved to Silent Barn.

Tickets are on sale for the shows Paul Simon is playing at the Beacon Theatre.

Someone told me that Metallica will be showing the Superbowl on a screen at the show tonight. Someone else told me that Metallica was at The Sword show at Bowery Ballroom last night.

Bruce Springsteen is playing the Super Bowl Halftime show.

Springsteen says Wal-Mart album deal was mistake.

Springsten going on tour.

Bruce performing "This Land is Your Land" in 1985, in the video below...

Aretha Franklin's Inauguration Hat May Be Kept In Museum

Aa played Death By Audio last night. Video from that below...

Mahogany played Santos Party House on January 27th. Video from that below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on (Superbowl) Sunday?"

Vampire Weekend's 2008 debut album was quick to draw frequent comparisons to Paul Simon's 'Graceland' for its incorporation of African musical influences. But the band members are quick to dismiss the notion.

"In some ways the fact that it's the only thing that comes up can be kind of frustrating," said Vampire's singer and guitarist Ezra Koenig in front of an audience at the TimesCenter on Saturday as part of the New York Times Arts and Leisure Weekend event. "It makes it sounds like that we're totally one-dimensional, that all we do is rip off Paul Simon. Even from the early days that became like a thing. I think the first time [somebody] yelled 'Paul Simon!' That was in Omaha, Neb., and I was angry for the rest of the show."

The band members approached the source himself to get his opinion of their work. "We did actually get to meet [Simon] when we did 'Saturday Night Live,'" Koenig said. "Rostam [Batmanglij, our guitarist,] had the forward thinking to say straight up, 'Do you think our album sounds like Graceland?' And he said, 'Not really.'" [Spinner]