LL Cool J, who is everywhere of late, starring on NCIS: Los Angeles, hosting the Grammy Awards, and today releasing his 13th studio album, Authentic. His “Kings of the Mic” tour kicks off in late May on the West Coast and runs through early July, wrapping things up at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Accompanying the prolific artist will be Ice Cube, Public Enemy, De La Soul, and DJ Z-Trip. [Read more…]
80’s pop goddess Cyndi Lauper will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of her landmark album, She’s So Unusual, with a 22-date tour of the United States, along with an appearance at Summer Sonic 2013 in Japan afterwards. [Read more…]
Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, with Cheap Trick supporting on many dates, will hit major North American cities with their 43-date tour running June through August. VIP Platinum Packages are also being made available, with premium seats, meet and greet opportunities and more. [Read more…]
New Wave pioneers Pet Shop Boys today announced and put on sale dates for the U.S. leg of their upcoming world tour – their first appearance here in more than four years. Also today they have released a music video for “Axis”, off their upcoming album, Electric, due July 15th. [Read more…]
“I ain’t gonna waste a lot of time talking. All I’m gonna tell you is this… For the next two and a half hours, I promise to take you on a roller coaster ride you will never forget…” A pledge from the Bon Jovi front man, Jon Bon Jovi, about 15 minutes into their supporting act-free “An Evening With…” concert for their “Because We Can Tour” at the massive HP Pavilion in San Jose last night, which appeared near filled to its 17,496 capacity. Admittedly, I am not a dedicated Bon Jovi follower – I am a big fan of a handful of hits – so I don’t feel as though I was the intended audience. Having said that, I tried to imagine how I would take it all in if I were a fan, and I still find the roller coaster metaphor challenging to wrap my head around, as I found the show to be, for lack of a better description… ill-suited, and frankly boring… for such a large venue. While Richie Sambora did not make it through the tour to appear at this last date on the U.S. leg of their journey in support of the new What About Now album, I can’t imagine his being part of last night’s show would have been enough to overcome the shortcomings (and fill-in Phil X was fine). Bon Jovi seems like a genuine, appreciative, kind guy, but at least from my perspective, maybe he arrived last night and forgot to load that six string on his back.
Rihanna is an artist that is one of the hardest working in music today (on and off stage), and her only real problem with her show at HP Pavilion in San Jose last night was that she has so many hit songs – even at just 25 years old – she could not fit them all into a sprawling, nearly two-hour non-stop concert event. A prolific artist, Talk That Talk came out in 2011, just as she was wrapping up her Loud Tour (named after the studio album before that), she’s since release 2012’s Unapologetic, and tickets for this tour actually went on sale late last year as well. The show in the massive HP Pavilion was sold out and filled to its 14,500 capacity, and it was one of the best giant arena audiences I’ve seen. Rihanna did not disappoint, as the place was bouncing and euphoric before she ever took the stage, and things only cranked up from there. She put on her usual top class show fueled with energy and heartfelt emotion and gratitude, as I experienced at the O2 show in London in late 2011 as her last tour came to a close. This is definitely one of the must-see tours of the year, with both figurative and literal pyrotechnics.
Going to a Marilyn Manson concert is quite an experience, and probably not understood except by those who have done the same. To draw a comparison with the art world, it is akin to going to art museums in London and stopping in at the Tate. Except not to confuse matters… not in the past two weeks during Kraftwerk’s residency. That’s something else entirely. In any event, he puts on quite the impressive show, and is maybe the modern day rock concert equivalent of circus freak sideshows, only with Manson, though his band is supporting, it is decidedly a one man attraction. Most striking is how interactive it is – not just the literal interactions with the audience (and there are many), but his ability to lock onto members of the audience with his eyes, in a kind of staring match version of “chicken”, to see if he can make it striking enough to have you look away first (benefits of being right up close). He’s a natural performer, though interestingly comes across quite different off stage (more on that later). Really an exhilarating evening and hosted courtesy of Marilyn Manson’s unique and stylish version of reality.
Award winning singer-songwriter Jewel will be touring throughout the United States for the first half of 2013 promoting her Greatest Hits album, which was released last week. Starting on the East Cost this week, the signer, guitarist, producer, poet, and actress will start playing dates on the West Coast by Summer. [Read more…]
Marilyn Manson will be touring the United States and Canada over the next two months, starting at the Eagles Ballroom in Wilwaukee. The Grammy-nominated artist has a reputation for putting on exciting live performances, so they should be great concerts. [Read more…]
Bon Jovi will be touring North America starting in February, March, and April 2013. Tickets officially go on sale tomorrow, November 30, though there is a special pre-sale from promoter AEG that starts today, and special VIP packages are also on sale. This will be the first tour showcasing songs from the upcoming album, What About Now, due in the spring. The concerts are comprised of special, multi-tiered pricing, including some tickets offered for under $20, with frontman Jon Bon Jovi wanting to make sure that everyone who wants to see them has an opportunity to buy tickets. [Read more…]