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February 26, 2010
Classic Favorites Announce Summer Tours
It’s that time of year. Rock stars, promoters, managers and roadies start to prep for that next road trip, while fans hope it will bring their favorite act to a city near them.
It’s been eight years since Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers released their last studio album, but that drought is set to end with the release of Mojo. The album is due sometime this spring, along with the kickoff of a tour that one might expect to coincide with the release date of the album.
Petty’s tour begins in Raleigh, NC on May 6 and is scheduled to wrap up on August 27 in Saratoga Springs, NY. The tour will be supported by other acts, including Joe Cocker, Drive-By Truckers, ZZ Top, and Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Another classic rocker gearing up for a busy summer schedule is the Steve Miller Band. The man well known for such FM radio classics as “Fly Like an Eagle” and “Jet Airliner” is set to ease into the new tour with a single date next Tuesday in Nashville, and won’t resume until May 21st when they roll into Henderson, NV. The tour will continue through the end of July.
In addition to the tour, a new album is planned for release, although a firm date has not been announced yet. Some material from the new album, which was recorded at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch, will be showcased during the tour. No title has been announced for the new album yet.
We’ve been hearing stories from Aerosmith over the past few weeks suggesting that the band was coming back to life after a tumultuous period that had many fans wondering if the group would ever reappear with veteran frontman Steven Tyler again.
Well, it seems as if the boys are all back in one another’s good graces and Tyler will be rejoining his long-time mates for some road work across the pond. A recent announcement by Tyler states that he is back with the group and that Aerosmith will be “coming your way and rocking your world.”
It’s unclear when Aerosmith will be rocking audiences here in the United States again, since the only dates announced so far are for performances in Europe. The 11-date tour, entitled the “Cocked, Locked and Ready to Rock” tour hits Sweden on June 10, and winds its way down into Italy for the final show on July 3rd. Perhaps the boys want to be home in time to set off some fireworks and enjoy some July 4th celebrating.
February 24, 2010
High Voltage Show Set To Showcase Classic And Contemporary Rock Acts
The only problem with the upcoming “High Voltage Festival” is that it’s set to take place in London, England. Great for U.K. fans, but not so much for those of us located an ocean away. Unless you are in the habit of dropping hefty sums of money on live shows, the “High Voltage Festival” is probably out of reach.
It’s obviously silly to complain about the location of any given event, and that’s not the my intention. It would be more accurate to say something like: This sounds like a pretty cool event, but I wish it was closer to home since I think a lot of fans here in the U.S. would love to be there.
Even so, I suppose we have our fair share of events here at home to choose from, and as big as this country is, it is possible to bypass the airport and save some cash by driving just about anywhere you want to, if you want to see a show badly enough.
For those fortunate enough to making their plans to attend, the festival sounds like it will be a unique experience, with special attention given to pleasing rock fans of various stripes. It will feature a classic rock stage, a prog rock stage, and a heavy metal stage.
It appears that new acts are still signing up for the event, with Dweezil Zappa signing on just yesterday for his slot on prog rock stage. Zappa has been showcasing the music of his legendary dad, Frank Zappa, in a show that the younger Zappa calls “Zappa Plays Zappa.” Although this act undoubtedly belongs on the progressive rock stage, reflecting on the music of Frank Zappa makes me wonder if they should consider adding a “progressive prog rock” stage to the event.
Zappa will be sharing the prog rock stage with other well-known groups like Asia, Argent and Uriah Heep.
The classic rock stage will feature their own collection of big name rockers from decades past, and will include ZZ Top, Bachman and Turner, Foreigner, Emerson Lake and Palmer and more. It’s looking like the event may mean double duty for drummer Carl Palmer, who, as far as I can tell, will be on stage with ELP and Asia for this event.
With Aerosmith recently announcing new European dates for the 2010 summer concert season, one wonders whether they might end up on the roster for this show as well. They’re scheduled for the “Download 2010” event in the U.K. during June, so maybe sticking around for another month or so might be an option. I have no inside information about Aerosmith’s plans or summer schedule, so this is just random speculation on my part.
For more information and updates on the “High Voltage Festival,” you can visit the event’s official website.
December 28, 2009
AC/DC A Threat To Austrian Wildlife?
Known as one of the hardest-rocking classic acts to ever grace the stage, AC/DC sure knows how to play it loud. That’s what their fans pay to see, and that’s what they get. I mean, what would be the point of playing a track like “Highway To Hell” or “Hell’s Bell’s” at any setting below eight?
Despite the fans and their obvious love for the Aussie rockers’ thunderous sound, it appears that there may be trouble ahead for fans who have plans to attend the show at the Wels airport in May. The Wels Airport is in Austria, and is said by conservationists to be too close to the nesting areas of a bird known as a curlew. In fact, the area is said to be the
second largest curlew nesting area in Upper Austria.
Not surprisingly, the Wels airport show is already sold out, and there are bound to be a significant number of ticket-holders who are not pleased about the possibility of a cancellation.
According to Hans Uhl who is affiliated with a group known as BirdLife, they will take their efforts to halt the concert to the courts if they feel it is necessary. The group believes that the concert will disturb the nesting curlews, as well as other ground-nesting birds species in the area.
“The second biggest colony of curlews in Upper Austria and various other ground-nesting birds must not become endangered,” Uhl is quoted as saying.
We are normally accustomed to warnings about loud music being detrimental to the hearing of human beings who like to crank it up, but this is the first time I can recall hearing that raucous rock and roll may be a danger to wildlife, and even cause them to become endangered.
It appears that the ball is now in AC/DC’s court. Will they decide to cancel the show, or flip BirdLife “the bird” and fight it out in the courts with the conservationists?
Originally seen in the Daily Telegraph.
April 28, 2009
Aerosmith Settles With Disgruntled Fans Over Canceled Maui Show
There is a saying that rather boldly proclaims: “You don’t mess with Texas.” Recent developments from the legal world suggest that the same may hold true for the state of Hawaii. At least if you ask Boston-based rockers Aerosmith and their legal team.
It all started last fall when Aerosmith canceled a concert that had been scheduled for the end of September on the island of Maui. The veteran rockers were accused of ditching their fans in Maui in favor of the opportunity to perform a show in the Chicago area where they would collect a bigger paycheck. The group was also invited to perform a private show for automobile giant Toyota around the same time, which was also thought to be quite lucrative.
Many fans who had tickets for the Maui show were determined to take action and make the group pay for ditching the show on the Pacific island and opting to grab for a different variety of green in the windy city. That, in so many words, was the way the story was presented by the legal team that was enlisted to level a class-action lawsuit against 
Aerosmith at the time.
Many fans were alleged to have been greatly inconvenienced due to extraordinary travel expenses associated with attending the show on Maui, and has also suffered monetary losses due to hotel and rental car reservations that had to be canceled and were not refundable.
Whether Aerosmith and their legal team recently decided on a settlement due to the goodness of their hearts or due to the concern over losing a few millions bucks is something that some fans may argue about for a while, but the settlement that was reached just days ago appears to be a clear win for the fans, and surely must be cause for smiles on the faces of Aerosmith fans in that region of the world.
Aerosmith has agreed to perform on Maui sometime this fall, after the group finishes up with their North American tour. Attorney Brandee Faria, whom we also heard from back when the lawsuit was first filed, has announced that the settlement provides original ticket holders with a free ticket to the show as well as all out-of-pocket expenses, regardless of the amount.
Whether or not Aerosmith’s decision to play nice had anything to do with a recent case in South Korea where pop artist Rain was forces to shell out a cool $8.1 million after the 27-year-old entertainer and his former management were found guilty of fraud after the abrupt cancellation of a show that was scheduled back in 2007 at Hawaii’s Aloha Stadium.
The Aerosmith case was set go to trial in May, and apparently the group decided that a few hours on stage in Hawaii would be less painful than finding themselves on the losing end of a lawsuit that was said to have resulted in losses somewhere between $500,000 and $3 million for fans who had made plans to attend the show.
I can only imagine how uncomfortable those first few moments will be for frontman Steve Tyler when he walks on stage for a show that the group is essentially being forced to put on. How do you greet a crowd under those circumstances?
However the show ends up being received, the “Bad Boys From Boston” might do well to remember that “you don’t mess with Hawaii,” no matter how rich and famous you may be – a lesson that Rain will probably not forget, although I expect he might be a rare sight anywhere near Hawaii for the rest of his days!
July 31, 2008
Concerts Mimic Life: It’s All About Who You Know
Although I have a hard time imagining politicians and judges at an Ozzy concert, there are those that surely are interested in some other classic acts.
Take Bruce Springsteen for example. There’s little doubt about the popularity of the Jersey boy who made good — so good in fact, that he has earned the nickname “The Boss.” And when it comes to getting access to the best seats at a Springsteen concert, there are apparently, a number of other bosses who happen to know the right people.
That’s not to say that this is unique to Springsteen shows, because that is almost certainly not the case. Heck, “The Boss” himself, as well as other artists, probably have little to do with behind-the-scenes deals where premium tickets are reserved for the well-connected.
When Bruce Springsteen took the stage at Giants Stadium, more than 1,000 of the better seats in the house had been reserved, and tickets for these seats were never offered for sale to the general public.
In the industry, these premium tickets are known as “house tickets” and the practice of reserving them is apparently very common.
At at least one of three shows Springsteen put on at Giants Stadium, some of these special tickets wound up in the hands of a judge, a couple of politicians, a former U.S. Attorney as well eight of them that when to an employee at a Broadway theater who put them up on an internet resale site for five or six times their original value.
The spotlight that is shining somewhat uncomfortably on this practice can be blamed on U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, who tried to secure 40 of these “house tickets” to offer as rewards for attendance at a $1,500 fund raiser. The effort to secure those tickets was abandoned when the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority decided to take a peek behind the curtain to see who the tickets were being secured for.
Along with politicians, judges, and a county sheriff, other house tickets went to various sponsors, sports teams and radio stations. And of course, 150 of them went to New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority commissioners, whose agency now says it is re-evaluating the house tickets policy. Pretty much what one would expect to hear from an outfit like that when they get their hand caught in the cookie jar.
I suppose one can understand some prime spots being reserved for promotional purposes, like radio station giveaways and the like. And I know that if I was a rock star, I’d probably make sure that some of the best seats were reserved for family members and friends who wanted to attend a show once in a while.
The whole “house tickets” things does not sit well with some fans who say that it ruins the show for them when all the best tickets are snapped up by concert goers who know the right people.
As a born cynic, this is not the kind of thing that surprises me much. Entertainment is big business and whether it’s television, movies, sports or rock and roll, there are always those who have access to the right people and the influence to get what they want. That’s just the way the world works.
