"I was really surprised. I didn't know anything about it. I wasn't happy about it," Madonna told Seacrest of M.I.A.'s flipped bird.

"I understand it's punk rock and everything, but to me there was such a feeling of love and good energy and positivity, it seemed negative. It's such a teenager...irrelevant thing to do," she continued. "What was the point? It was just out of place."

Madonna's September 6th Yankee Stadium show sold out this morning, so they added a 2nd show. The new date is September 8th and tickets go on presale Tuesday morning...

Onsale to General Public
Start: Tue, 02/21/12 10:00 AM EST

Icon Lifetime Legacy Member Presale
Start: Tue, 02/14/12 10:00 AM EST
End: Thu, 02/16/12 05:00 PM EST

Icon Live Pass Member Presale
Start: Tue, 02/14/12 11:00 AM EST
End: Thu, 02/16/12 05:00 PM EST

Icon Live Pass Access Bundle
Start: Tue, 02/14/12 12:00 PM EST
End: Thu, 02/16/12 05:00 PM EST

Citi® Cardmember Preferred Tickets
Start: Tue, 02/21/12 10:00 AM EST
End: Thu, 08/16/12 10:00 PM EDT

In related news, though it wasn't that funny (but for the record), like "Lana Del Rey" before her, "M.I.A." appeared on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. M.I.A. was there to discuss her Superbowl Halftime incident from the week before. You can watch that, and "Bein' Quirky with Zooey Deschanel" from the same episode (Bjork guest appearance included), below.

Continue reading "Madonna adds 2nd Yankee Stadium show; "M.I.A." discusses middle finger on SNL (that Zooey Deschanel hosted)"

"M.I.A. will end up paying any fines imposed on NBC as a result of her finger wag during the Super Bowl halftime show ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

Our sources say ... the NFL has indemnified NBC ... because the NFL is responsible for the halftime content.

But the NFL was smart, given the history of performers who wanted to do something shocking to get attention during the biggest TV event of the year. So we're told ... M.I.A. signed a contract with the NFL for the halftime performance, and in that contract M.I.A. agreed to indemnify the NFL for any money it might be forced to pay if the FCC comes down on the Peacock Network." [TMZ]

PREVIOUSLY: NBC & NFL apologize for M.I.A,'s "inappropriate gesture" during the Superbowl

by Ryan Barkan

The Darkness played a Superbowl commercial

Another Super Bowl, another year where the Cowboys didn't win, and another year of music-filled commercials. The Patriots entered the field to "Crazy Train" by English metal god Ozzy Osbourne (who is currently having a feud of his own with an old bandmate). The Giants entered to "Written in the Stars" by English rapper Tinie Tempah.

Did you catch that map of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in the Samsung commercial for their Galaxy (with stylus!)? You know, the one that had a sweet use of The Darkness jam "I Believe In A Thing Called Love"? Yeah, it was there and showed a close up of Berry and N. 1st in Google Maps. Did I mention they also have a stylus? The Darkness are currently in NYC, played Irving Plaza on Superbowl eve and do so again tonight (2/6). Watch the ad which stars the band's Justin Hawkins, below.

My personal favorite music-based commercial of Super Bowl XLVI goes to the Mr. Sandman-induced dream sequence in a new Kia commercial that featured two great music choices.

The spot starts with the Chordettes' "Mr. Sandman" for the first few seconds of the commercial. That song makes way for something completely different, like Motley Crüe. The band actually shows up and plays inside the race track-themed dream of the alpha male hero. He drives the track to impress Adrianna Lima while the Crüe shred on "Kickstart My Heart". Watch "A Dream Car For Real Life" below.

In the "did I just hear Megafaun in a commercial" category, Megafaun wins one for the little guys and gets a song used in a new Toyota ad. The band's song "Hope You Know" sounds super good as the soundtrack to a story-esque spot for the Camry model. Watch it below.

Also of significant note was another brand-infused OK GO music video. The band collaborated with Chevrolet to make a commercial/music video for the song "Needing/Getting", off the 2010 album Of The Blue Colour Of the Sky. The band is filmed strapped inside a Chevy Sonic, singing and utilizing both the car and a strategically placed course sprinkled with over 1100 instruments that more or less sound like the studio version of the song. The set up is meticulous, as is the band's ability to show up in a paid advertisement in an easily-digestible, yet very memorable way.

My single most favorite lyric placed in a Super Bowl commercial goes to the lines I know it must be killing time / unknowingly mine. Audi tries to end the whole Vampire craze with its 2012 game day commercial featuring Echo & The Bunnymen's "Killing Moon." Watch below.

continued below...

Continue reading "music & commercials of Super Bowl XLVI (Darkness, Motley Crue, Megafaun, Art Brut, OK Go, Echo & the Bunnymen, Madonna & more)"

I don't understand why people still care about a finger, but EW says:

During the Super Bowl half-time show, singer M.I.A. flipped off millions of viewers during TV's most-watched telecast of the year. She made the obscene gesture during a performance of Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin.'" M.I.A. also seemed to say an expletive ("I don't give a s***"), but it wasn't really audible.

NBC and the NFL issued dueling press statements. First, the network released an apology and called the moment a "spontaneous gesture" -- a phrase that might go down in history alongside "wardrobe malfunction." "We apologize for the inappropriate gesture that aired during halftime," the network said. "It was a spontaneous gesture that our delay system caught late."

The NFL issued a statement blaming NBC's monitoring system and condemning the incident. "There was a failure in NBC's delay system," the NFL said. "The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans."

M.I.A. is such a "bad girl"! Video of the "incident" below...

Continue reading "NBC & NFL apologize for M.I.A,'s "inappropriate gesture" during the Superbowl"

Yeasayer @ Hudson River Park in 2009 (more by Bao Nguyen)

tonight in NYC
* Whiplash @ UCB Theatre
* Chicha Libre @ Barbes
* Them Crooked Vultures @ Roseland Ballroom
* Yeasayer, Light Asylum, Bobo @ Bowery Ballroom
* Les Paul Guitar Tribute w/ Vernon Reid @ Iridium
* Reverend Vince Anderson & His Love Choir @ Union Pool
* Dinosaur Bones, My Pet Dragon, Otterclean @ The Cameo Gallery
* Horse's Mouth, Your Nature, Blast Off, The Wailing Wall @ Death By Audio
* Knight School, Diehard, Family Portrait, Golden City @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Unsound Festival: Anticipate Showcase w/ Sawako, Ezekiel Honig, Alexander Kaline @ Littlefield
* Destry, Mean Creek, The Narrative, Borrowed Eyes & The Blood Red Road @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn

The Unsound Festival continues.

Yeasayer kick off a two-night run of NYC record release shows tonight. Their much larger tour kicks off in April with openers like Javelin and Sleigh Bells.

Them Crooked Vultures play a show at Roseland Ballroom tonight. On Saturday they appeared on Saturday Night Live. Videos from that show below...

The Who played the Superbowl Halftime show on Sunday. Videos from that below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"

Waterloo Park on Sunday (more)

The Who will perform at Superbowl XLIV, marking the British band's first performance in North America since 2008.

According to a report on SI.com, the Sports Illustrated website, the veteran band will take the stage during the halftime show of the 2010 National Football League championship game, scheduled for February 7 in Miami.

The NFL has yet to officially confirm the report, saying, "When we have something to announce, we'll announce it."

During a recent stop on his "Use It or Lose It" solo tour, frontman Roger Daltrey told Billboard.com that he and bandmate/composer Pete Townshend were working on new material for the Who's followup to 2006's "Endless Wire."[Reuters/Billboard]

In unrelated news, a new remix of WHY?'s "One Rose" was posted to RCRD LBL.

The Boss had promised "the last 12 minutes of a three-hour show," and he delivered, starting at fever pitch and turning up the power from there. He did not really need the searchlights and the fireworks with his stalwart New Jersey troops behind him, but the extra power of 70,000 voices singing along did not hurt.

10th Avenue Freeze Out was almost a low-key opener, but once Springteen had strapped in his trademark Telecaster for Born To Run, the momentum was unstoppable. Working On A Dream, the title track of the new CD, was a nod to his stated reason for finally agreeing to do the show - "We've got a new album out" as he admitted last week - but a gospel choir and a stadium full of fans waving flashlights made it feel like an instant anthem anyway.

It was already a hard act for the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers' second half to follow, but the big question remained - what would be the finale? Surely not Born In The USA, an anti-war song despite its apparently patriotic chorus? No, it was Glory Days, an absolute stormer even if its message is downbeat, not that anyone in the stadium or onstage seemed to care. Glory Days, yeah they'll pass you by - was that directed at Kurt Warner of the Cardinals or Ben Roethlisberger of the Steelers? [Times Online]

Tickets for Bruce Springsteen's 2009 tour go on sale Monday, February 2nd, at 9:00 (Nassau Coliseum & Izod Center) and 10:00 AM (XL Center).

Tickets also go on sale Monday morning for Flight of the Conchords shows.

Tickets went on sale Sunday for the Paul Simon shows at Beacon Theater.

Video of the Superbowl halftime show, the guy almost dropping the guitar, and Bruce sliding into the camera included, below...

Continue reading "Bruce Springsteen - Superbowl Halftime video & 2009 tour tickets (on sale Monday morning)"

Phil Collins told Playboy in 1986, "I've always liked the idea of Springsteen - everyman's music for every-man, you know; it captures the imagina-tion of the workingman. Chuck Berry did the same thing. I don't know that much about Springsteen's older songs, but I like what he stands for. Born in the U.S.A. is just fantastic. It has great atmosphere and it's a great song."

Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band @ Giants Stadium (more by Eric Townsend)

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND will perform in the BRIDGESTONE SUPER BOWL XLIII HALFTIME SHOW on NBC Sports at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday, February 1, the NFL announced today.

The Super Bowl halftime show is annually the most-watched musical performance. More than 148 million viewers in the U.S. watched last year's show. The Super Bowl and halftime show will be broadcast worldwide in more than 230 countries and territories.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band join an esteemed list of recent halftime acts that includes the Rolling Stones, U2, Paul McCartney, Prince and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. [The Boss]

Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton, an 80-person choir and Phil Collins performed at the Superbowl in 2000. Sufjan Stevens and St Vincent performed a Phil Collins song this past Saturday night. Video of Bruce Springsteen and Axl Rose performing together below...

Continue reading "Bruce Springsteen to play 2009 Superbowl halftime show"

"Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will play the coveted halftime slot at the Super Bowl in Arizona on February 3, organizers of the year's No. 1 television event said on Sunday." [Yahoo]