The pop star-heavy schedule for this year's free Toyota-sponsored Today Show concerts that bring screaming fans and tourists to Rockfeller Plaza on Friday mornings at 7am, has been announced. The shows kick off with Sting on May 14th (that one should be fairly subdued), and continue with people that include Maroon 5, Maxwell, Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Justin Bieber (this one will be completely nuts), ....Full lineup, more info and and other Sting shows below...

Continue reading "2010 Today Show Rockefeller Plaza concert lineup, Sting, etc"

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"

words by Nick Masi

photo from the Jones Beach show (more by Eric Townsend)

The Police played what was being billed as their final concert ever last night at Madison Square Garden (August 7, 2008). The 150th show of their reunion tour, which started in 2007, wrapped up at New York City's famed arena.

They opened with a cover of Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love," and then went into their own catalog...with a bang! The group brought out the NYPD marching band and had them line the front of the stage. Banging their drums in unison with Stewart Copeland, they all went into a raucous version of "Message In A Bottle." From that point on the show never slowed down. All the hits were played, except for "Spirits In The Material World"(my favorite Police song) and "Man In A Suitcase." They also covered Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and Manfred Mann's "Do Wah Diddy," which led into their own, "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da." Sting took time out to thank his band mates for their companionship and support, even added some comic relief by saying, "The real triumph of this tour is that we haven't strangled each other."

During the encore, the video screens showed Sting backstage, shirtless, getting his full beard shaved by two women while crew members shined his shoes and Stewart kissed him! The crowd ate it up, laughing and screaming until they came back onstage. After playing "So Lonely" and a few others, The Police let the crowd know that they were officially done. They brought out a "Fat Lady" (actually not a lady) to sing (lip sync) opera on stage, which then turned into the Looney Toons theme and Porky Pig saying, "That's All Folks!" If the "Fat Lady" did indeed sing and this really was the final performance by The Police, they did it not only with energy, class and flair, but with humor.

Lots of videos and the setlist below...

Continue reading "The Police (last show ever) @ MSG - videos, setlist, NYPD"

photos by Eric M. Townsend

"I remember the first time we played Long Island," a firm and fit Sting told Jones Beach about seven songs into The Police's Monday night show. "We played My Father's Place. Well, not my father's place, but your Father's Place. And then we came back and played the Nassau Coliseum."

Nostalgia is good . . . in small doses. And last night's historic Police concert at the Nikon Theater at Jones Beach hit the spot. For more than an hour and a half, the Anglo-American trio -- calling it quits (again) after Thursday's show at Madison Square Garden -- played with the exuberance of a band half its age. Say what you will about Sting, the man looks and sounds good. Still. Drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers, though not as physically well-preserved as their bass-playing boss, have more chops than a kung-fu flick. Still.

Throw in opening act Elvis Costello and the Imposters (whose keyboardist, Steve Nieve, and drummer, Pete Thomas, are from the Attractions), and, well, you have the makings of a WLIR concert that could have taken place in the early '80s at the Malibu... [Newsday]

The Police & Elvis Costello are back at Jones Beach tonight (August 5). The Police also play MSG on Thursday. More pictures from last night's show below...

Continue reading "The Police & Elvis Costello @ Jones Beach - pics, setlist"

I know that headline doesn't sound music related, but these are the police led by Sting we're talking about.....

Attention Police Fans!
Tomorrow at 1pm EST, The Police will join Mayor Bloomberg to make a very special announcement in New York City's Times Square (44th Street & Broadway/7th Avenue). Space is limited for this special event and fans will be accomodated as best as possible. Fans should arrive no later than 12.30pm.

A press release of the announcement will be posted to http://www.nyc.gov soon after 1pm TOMORROW.

Tomorrow = today (thx Eduardo).

The Police are on tour.

1 2 3 4 (via)

May 8th @ Carnegie Hall.....

Continue reading "2008 Rainforest Benefit @ Carnegie Hall - Feist, Brian Wilson, Billy Joel, Sting, etc...."

We are delighted to confirm that second concerts have been added at the Hollywood Bowl and at Jones Beach on May 28 and August 5 respectively.

If they don't add any more shows and if Sting wasn't kidding when he said "There will be no new album, no big new tour, once we're done with our reunion tour, that's it for the Police.", then there's also the chance that the August 5th show will be their last show ever. More info and all the latest dates below.....

Continue reading "The Police add 2nd shows @ Jones Beach & Hollywood Bowl"

Continue reading "The Police & Elvis Costello - 2008 Tour Dates"

The latest news making the rounds is that The White Stripes have announced they recorded a few new songs with Beck.




Papertiger points out why this is not a surprise.....

1. Beck appeared in the Stripes’ video for “The Hardest Button To Button”.

2. Beck showed up to play bass on “The Denial Twist” at the Stripes’ show in LA in August 2005.

3. Jack showed up to play guitar with Beck & Smokey Hormel at their show in Detroit in August 2002. They played “99,” “Last Fair Deal Gone Down,” and “Cold Brains.”

4. Jack plays bass on “Go It Alone” on Guero, and they reportedly did a few other songs together then too (but it’s the only one that’s out yet).

5. In a photo gallery on beck.com, Meg was pictured, hanging out with Beck and his band on a boat in Australia (I think in 2003).

6. Beck covered “Black Math” once on stage (a bootleg surfaced of this show, but it has not fallen into the hands of Beck collectors yet).

7. Jack White interviewed Beck once.

"Conquest" details below....

Continue reading "Beck & The White Stripes - they go way back"