Gavin & Courtney @ Carnegie Hall (aphrodite-in-nyc)

Rufus, Scarlett & Gavin @ Carnegie Hall (aphrodite-in-nyc)

Gavin & U2 @ Carnegie Hall (aphrodite-in-nyc)

Sunday, October 4th was the "Hal Willner Presents: An Evening with Gavin Friday & Friends" show at Carnegie Hall. The whole night was a benefit for (RED), a charity directed toward AIDS in Africa.

The night's advertised guests included Laurie Anderson, Antony, Elizabeth Ashley, Bono, Adam Clayton, Andrea Corr, The Edge, Flo & Eddie, Joel Grey, Bill Frisell, Guggi, Scarlett Johansson, Courtney Love, Lydia Lunch, Patrick McCabe, Maria McKee, Shane MacGowan, Eric Mingus, Larry Mullen, Jr., JG Thirlwell, Lydia Lunch, Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright and Chloe Webb. A few others who appeared were Lady Gaga, Fred Armisen as Prince, and Lou Reed, The night had a strong collaborative atmosphere to say the least...

Rufus Wainwright, Scarlett Johansson and Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen joined Friday for the come-hither cartoon "Mr. Pussy," from Friday's 1995 album, Shag Tobacco. (Armisen came out dressed to the purple nines -- as Prince.) Friday and falsetto-soul singer Antony duetted on a pair of ballads, including a Memphis-brass-soaked reading of "He Got What He Wanted" from Friday's 1989 solo debut, Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves. Friday and Virgin Prunes devotee Courtney Love were just on the right side of out-of-control in a pounding version of Magazine's "The Light Pours Out of Me." Queen of the post-punk furies Lydia Lunch played the same half of the night as Lady Gaga (who came out in next to nothing -- she made Love look demure). And a metal-machine-noise assault by Laurie Anderson (violin), John Zorn (saxophone) and Lou Reed (guitar distortion) eventually resolved into the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" with Friday, Bono and a cheerfully pickled Shane McGowan of the Pogues trading verses.

Bono was not just passing through between stadiums. He, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. were on and off stage half a dozen times; U2's Friday covers included "I Want to Live" (done with techno drive and Joshua Tree-like space) and the crusted-glam bomb "King of Trash." Bono also took a solo spot, turning on his Irish Sinatra for the Shag Tobacco elegy "The Last Song I'll Ever Sing." The Edge's brother, guitarist Richard Evans, joined Friday and singer Guggi in a mostly-intact Virgin Prunes reunion (the group broke up in 1987). Their overlapping vocal harangue in "Sweethome Under White Clouds," with JG Thirwell of Foetus guesting as a third voice, sounded like the Beastie Boys at the End of Days. [Rolling Stone]

A list of all the songs U2 members played on, more reviews and videos from the show, including the "Jean Genie" encore, below...

Continue reading "Gavin Friday & friends (U2, Courtney Love, Lady Gaga, Antony, Lou Reed, Rufus Waniwright, and many, many more) played Carnegie Hall (videos & stuff) "

Bono and Gavin Friday (U2Log)

On October 4 at New York City's legendary Carnegie Hall, (RED) unites a world-class line up of artists for a special (RED)NIGHTS concert "Hal Willner Presents: An Evening with Gavin Friday and Friends." The star-studded evening will feature Laurie Anderson, Antony, Elizabeth Ashley, Bono, Adam Clayton, Andrea Corr, The Edge, Flo & Eddie, Joel Grey, Bill Frisell, Guggi, Scarlett Johansson, Courtney Love, Lydia Lunch, Patrick McCabe, Maria McKee, Shane MacGowan, Eric Mingus, Larry Mullen, Jr., JG Thirlwell, Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright, Chloe Webb, plus special guests. Tickets for the event will go on sale beginning Wednesday, September 16 at 11AM EST via CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, carnegiehall.org and the box office. As is the case with every (RED)NIGHTS show, a portion of the proceeds from the concert will go directly to the Global Fund. For more information, please visit www.joinred.com/rednights or www.gavinfriday.com.

Longtime friends and professional collaborators, Willner and Friday came together to bring the concert to life and raise awareness of (RED)™'s mission. Friday, a childhood friend of Bono, is an Irish singer, composer and painter and founding member of the gothic rock group The Virgin Prunes. Willner has produced albums for Marianne Faithfull, Lou Reed, William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, yet is perhaps best known for assembling tribute albums and live events saluting Leonard Cohen, Thelonius Monk, Tim Buckley, Edgar Allen Poe and Marquis de Sade.

Willner said, "This unique evening is a celebration of Gavin and a gathering of friends and amazing musicians. We're all proud to partner with (RED) to help fight AIDS in Africa." "It's an honor to be a part of this (RED)NIGHT because I know the money generated will go directly to people who need it," added Friday.

That is an insane lineup.

Lydia Lunch also performs one day earlier with her band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Rufus and Martha Wainwright are appearing with their father Loudon at Highline Ballroom in NYC TONIGHT (9/15).

The Carnegie Hall event poster with more information below...

Continue reading "a new Hal Willner / Gavin Friday show @ Carnegie w/ Antony, Bono, The Edge, Scarlett Johansson, Courtney Love, Rufus Wainwright & MANY OTHERS!"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Stephen Merritt - Coraline sample 1 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Stephen Merritt - Coraline sample 2 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Stephen Merritt - Coraline sample 3 (MP3)

The Magnetic Fields @ Loews Theater (more by Chris La Putt)

MCC Theater presents Coraline, a musical with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields. Merritt's delightfully creepy and playful melodies and droll lyrics tell the story of lonely Coraline's discovery of another parallel world that is identical to her own -- with some scary differences. An animated film version of the story, based on the popular children's book by Neil Gaiman (author of the international sensation Sandman and 2009 winner of the prestigious Newbery Award) is currently in theaters. The production, which was adapted for the stage by celebrated downtown actor/playwright David Greenspan is the world premiere of Coraline for the stage.

Performances will begin at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on May 7 and continue through June 20, 2009. [press release]

Tickets for the show are on sale, as are VIP tickets. (There are also student & under-30 rush tickets available the day of each show). Samples of Merritt's Coraline songs can be heard above.

In other rock musical news:

Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark, featuring direction by Julie Taymor (Across The Universe, Frida, The Lion King on Broadway) with music and lyrics by 22-time Grammy Award-winners Bono and The Edge (from U2) will be holding open casting calls at major cities across the country starting next week. [press release]

The NYC audition is scheduled for Monday, April 13th at The Knitting Factory. Details on the casting call and info for other cities, below.

Advance group tickets are already on sale for Spider-Man, set to open February 18, 2010 at the Hilton Theatre.

Other bands with musicals in the works include Green Day, who are turning their 2004 album American Idiot in a Broadway show. About the adaptation, Billie Joe said to Entertainment Weekly:

It's about coming of age in a really politically-driven climate. It's pretty chaotic, and it's not by any means a conventional way of [doing] a musical. And that's why I liked [American Idiot director] Michael Mayer so much because of what he did with Spring Awakening. When I saw that for the first time I was like, this is not your grandparents' musical. He's going for it. He has a sense of anarchy in the way he approaches his craft.

Will the show have dancing?
Not "dancing" dancing. I don't know how to really explain it. It's got physical and violent moves. It's not like a Lion King thing. It's dirty and it's got a lot of heart and it's got a street mentality. There are no singing cats. No little girls with big curly red hair. It should be pretty cool, man.

Those aren't the only acts making the switch: Yeasayer guitarist Anand Wildeis working on a musical as well. And Amanda Palmer is in the process of producing an Airplane Over the Sea-themed high-school play, opening May 7th at Lexington High School in Lexington, MA.

Full Spider-Man press release below...

Continue reading "Stephin Merritt's Coraline (opening in May), U2's Spiderman (casting call info) & other musical news "

BILLBOARD: How does it feel to have two years of touring laid out in front of you?

THE EDGE: We're very excited to go on the road with this album. It's an album that I think is going to translate so well to the live context. The songs we've tried in rehearsal are sounding fantastic, so that's got everyone really fired up.

Going on a long tour is always difficult at first to say goodbye to the family and get on the tour bus, so to speak. But the shows themselves are always what really makes it worthwhile. There's such a special thing that goes on between the band and the audience at a U2 show, and we never get tired of that. It's always unique; it's always really uplifting. It's like a kind of semi-religious experience for the band and I think for the audience, too. I couldn't begin to explain why; it's just always been that way.

I think it's all to do with the music, and we kind of go there ourselves to serve the music and people's connection with it. For a lot of people it's the soundtrack of their lives. It's not just the band they're applauding, it's themselves and their own history and their connection with the music.

It's a very personal thing.

That interview segment comes from the new Billboard Magazine U2 cover story. The "U2360" tour (that is sponsored by Blackberry)...

Commenting on the new relationship between U2 and BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM), Paul McGuinness added: "This tour announcement marks the first stage of a relationship and shared vision between RIM and U2 that we expect will lead to new and innovative ways to enhance the mobile music experience on the BlackBerry platform for U2 fans. We look forward to sharing more details as the relationship unfolds."

...hasn't been fully announced yet, but four North American dates were revealed and one of them is September 24th at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. They also named a bunch of cities without exact dates or venues. All of that, below...

Continue reading "U2 - initial 2009 Tour Dates (Giants Stadium)"

Legendary singer Tom Jones releases his first new US studio album in 15 years. Entitled 24 Hours, most of the 13 songs are co-written by Jones and produced by British duo Future Cut, who recently helmed tracks for Lily Allen, Kate Nash, Estelle and others. Jones co-wrote over half of the songs on 24 Hours, a first for him. "It's all very well just singing songs, but for this record I really wanted to get properly personal. In other words, you listen to this album and you get the real me."

In addition to Jones' co-written songs, Bono and the Edge of U2 contribute and play guitar on a brand new song "Sugar Daddy," written specifically for Jones and inspired by a meeting of the friends in a pub in Dublin.

"24 Hours" was released November 25th on S-Curve Records. Speaking to Las Vegas Review-Journal, Tom said,

It all started with Bono, explains the singer, who plans to perform as many as six of the new songs in his MGM Grand shows through Jan. 28. The two met in a Dublin nightclub more than two years ago, and Jones said, "I'd love you to write me a song."

"(Bono) said, 'OK, but if I'm going to write one, it's going to be about you.' " The two went on to discuss Jones' past, with Bono confessing, "When he was a kid, he saw me on TV and he liked the way I dressed as well as the way I sounded. So all that stuff is in the song."

When the two met up again in another club -- this time in London -- Bono sang the rough product of his labors with U2-mate The Edge and writing partner Simon Carmody. The tongue-in-cheek ditty called "Sugar Daddy" captures the Tom Jones swagger by proclaiming "I'm the last great tradition" and boasts, "You don't send a boy to do a man's job." But it also confesses, "the older I get, the better I was." Jones says he and his manager son, Mark Woodward, have talked about pop singers aging and people saying, "Maybe he shouldn't be doing this anymore."

"But you get a blues singer, and nobody's concerned about his age. ... With blues singers, people seem to enjoy that these men have experienced life. And I think maybe this is what happened with this (album) as well. "Maybe it's because I've been around a long time, I think these songs are more fitting now."

After Bono went through the lyrics, he pointed out "That information you gave me in Dublin, there's a lot of that in this song."

"I said, 'Well, do I get writer credit?'
"He said, 'No.' He didn't even think about it," Jones recalls with a chuckle.

The singer remembered Bono's approach -- and took corrective action for royalties -- when the original recording sessions stalled out.

Tom Jones, currently in the midst of a residency at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, is coming back to NYC in February for a show at... Terminal 5. $50 tickets go on sale Friday. All dates below...

Continue reading "Tom Jones -new album (w/ U2), 2009 tour dates (Terminal 5)"