Arcade Fire @ Obama Staff Ball (more by Bao Nguyen)

A list of celebrities, reportedly created by Obama's campaign, sent out on December 5, and acquired by the Tennessean (PDF HERE), is being passed around the internet. The list, heavily populated with people who we already know support Obama, is supposedly a wishlist of people the Obama administration hopes to get public support from again in this upcoming election. Among the names on the list: Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Wilco Regina Spektor, Janelle Monae, The Roots, Jay-Z, will.i.am, Jessica Alba, Laila Ali, Marc Anthony, India.Arie, Sara Bareilles, Jigga, Chelsea Clinton, George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, Fergie, America Ferrera, Jamie Foxx, Whoopi Goldberg, Al Green, Josh Groban, Neil Patrick Harris, Anne Hathaway, Jack Johnson, the Jonas Brothers, Jewel, Mila Kunis, Blake Lively, Ricky Martin, "Glee" star Lea Michele, Sarah Jessica Parker, Chris Pine, B.o.B, the Band Perry, Train, and Kate Walsh.

Speaking of Regina Spektor, who has played the White House, she has a benefit show coming up at Lincoln Center in NYC and is playing some shows with Tom Petty including one in Austin. All of her dates are listed below.

Speaking of Wilco, they're currently out on the road with White Denim who played a warm-up show at Hotel Vegas in Austin before leaving. All Wilco dates are listed below.

Speaking of Obama, he delivers a State of The Union speech this Tuesday.

Speaking of politicians, Stephen Colbert was spotted singing along at the Jeff Mangum show at BAM on Saturday night.

Continue reading "Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Wilco Regina Spektor & others on Obama wishlist"

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"

On Tuesday Michael Jackson will release a 25th-anniversary edition of it. The expanded CD/DVD package will include the original nine-song album, one unreleased track from the original sessions, and five reworkings with contributions from contemporary artists that range from innocuous to downright damaging.

Associating with will.i.am, Fergie, Akon, and Kanye West is meant to lend Jackson credibility with today's urban music fans, but adding modern flourishes to a record like "Thriller" doesn't do anything to improve it. If anything, it diminishes the one unblemished chapter of Jackson's creative life. [The Boston Globe]

Further diminishment: that commercial with the dancing lizards.

note: Super Tuesday is today, so don't forget to vote.

Wilco and Obama (CRED)

Music blog Hard To Find A Friend contacted a few musicians & industry people, and not surprisingly found out most of them were voting for Obama. Anyone who saw Joanna Newsom at BAM last week knows what she thinks, and Morrissey wears it on his shirt. Craig Wedren, Wilco, The Grateful Dead, and some comedians have also let us know where they stand.

The Guardian also has an article on this very subject today. They report that.....

...On the Republican side... there are not very many famous activist musicians. Ted Nugent, he who once said "We should Nagasaki [Iraq]" has turned out in favour of conservative Mike Huckabee, while moderate John McCain will have Burt Bacharach tickling his ivories. Libertarian long-shot Ron Paul is backed by Krist Novoselic, formerly of Nirvana. Country-singer Pat Boone has loaned his septuagenarian twang to the campaign of Mitt Romney, who can also count on the help of fellow Mormons Donny and Marie Osmond....

Other musicians for Ron Paul (not Ru Paul) include John Mayer (I think), and TV On The Radio's Dave Sitek. I wonder what his friend Scarlett Johansson would say. You can see her in one of the two Obama-themed music videos below.....

Continue reading "who are musicians voting for on Super Tuesday?"